I'm afraid of trees

Its a blustery day in New York City.  There is a high wind warning with sustained winds 25-35 MPH and gusts up to 60 MPH.  Not the best day for a run in the park, lest a tree limb falls and I happen to be in its way.  NYRR considered cancelling the Al Gordon 4M today.  When they didn't cancel, I decided that my fear of trees was too great to actually run it.  So I'm still 0/9 in my qualifying runs for the 2013 NYC Marathon but I've got plenty of time to get those races in.

I'm sure no runners in Prospect Park were hit by tree limbs this morning.  For me, it wasn't worth the risk.  I still got a nice long sleeved t-shirt though!

2012 NYRR Al Gordon Classic 4M Playlist

Tomorrow I'll run the NYRR Al Gordon Classic, my first NYRR race of 2012.  I expect to take about 40 minutes but have a 47 minute playlist.  There is no theme this time - its just a fast playlist for a short race.


Let's Get It Started (Radio Version) The Black Eyed Peas
Party Rock Anthem Lauren Bennett; GoonRock; LMFAO
Telephone   Lady GaGa & Beyoncé
Stereo Love Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina
Cry for You (Radio Mix) September
Tonight Tonight   Hot Chelle Rae
Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West) Jay-Z
Princess of China Coldplay & Rihanna
Price Tag (feat. B.o.B) Jessie J
Like a G6   Far East Movement
Me Love Sean Kingston
Knock You Down Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo

In and around St Pete

Some of the places you should hit (or miss) if you're in the St Petersburg, FL area for a race or otherwise.

Restaurants

• Meze - Great Mediterranean themed vegetarian bistro.   Alek and I shared a few dishes.  Everything was delicious, especially the bourekas!  Definitely stop in here for a quick lunch.
• The Moon Under Water - Alek thought his Chicken Tikha Masala was ok.  I found the Vegetarian Shepherds Pie to be too vinegary.  Pass on this place if you visit St Pete.
• Columbia Restaurant - A spanish restaurant on the 4th floor of the Pier building.  Not only did we have an excellent view but the food and drinks were quite good.   The vegetarian selection was small but I enjoyed the Eggplant Riojana.  Also, the Café con Leche was the best coffee we had during the trip.
• My Yogurt Cafe - Self-serve frozen yogurt.  The peanut butter was tasty.
• Paciugo - Gelato and coffee.  Apparently the best gelato in the Tampa Bay although its the only one we tasted.  The gelato was good, coffee was meh.  Again, I went for peanut butter (maybe I'm biased). Alek had the mint chocolate chip with the amaretto and really liked both. Make sure to ask for their free samples before ordering.

Recreation

• Vinoy Park - A waterfront park where you can do lots of bird watching.  We saw a bird catch a fish in its claws and fly away with it.  Very cool (poor fish).   We also saw a large raptor just flying around. 

• Clearwater Marine Aquarium - Home of Winter the dolphin!  The aquarium was small but fun.  All of the resident animals are unreleasable due to injures.  We went on the Behind the Scenes tour and got to see some turtles that would eventually be released.  We also learned that most of Dolphin Tale was fiction.  Winter never wore the prosthetic during our visit.  During her presentation they said that her trainer stretches her peduncle and she has some physical therapy exercises to manage the side to side motion that allows her to swim.  This was an interesting place to visit with lots of cute marine animals!

Winter the Dolphin!

• St Petersburg Museum of History - A fun little museum where you can learn about the history of St Pete and get a glimpse of the future.  It took about an hour to go through.    

Recap: 2012 St Pete Rock 'n' Roll Half

This morning started at 4:50 with a bagel and coffee.  Alek and I got ready to head out to the shuttle that would take us about 1.5 miles to the race start.  Yes, this is an easily walkable distance.  But at 6:00 AM, if there's a shuttle, why not?  When we took our seats on the bus, I looked at my wrist and gave an exasperated "My Garmin!"  I'd forgotten it in the room.  I considered running without my gps watch, but my pacing would have been all over the place.  We decided to sprint back to the room in hopes that the bus would still be there when we got back.  If not, we could just walk.  We still had over an hour until the race start.

When we got back, the bus hadn't left without us!  At the start line, as the bus was unloading, no one was in a hurry to get off into the 40 degree morning.  I planned this race-cation in hopes of running in 50-60 degree weather but got stuck with 40.  Mother Nature was unkind.  We did our best to keep warm by pacing around the Tropicana Field parking lot while passing the time.  Finally I entered my corral ten minutes before the start.

Freezing in the corral.

The first corral took off at 7:30.  This group contains the race winners, people who can run 13.1 miles with a 5:00 pace.

The fastletes getting ready to start.

I was supposed to start with the 7th corral, but there was some disorganization making corral 7 fall apart.  I started with corral 6.   With a total of 12 corrals, bumping up by one wasn't too big of a deal. The race course itself was almost all flat, making it fast.  I got a bit warm during the first half while running through non bayfront areas.  

Between miles 4 and 5, non-bayfront

Miles 8 through the finish were nearly all bayfront.  This was inconvenient since by that point I'd become quite sweaty and the wind on the wet made me cold again.  There was an out and back on The Pier of St Petersburg between miles 8 and 10.  This was especially cold.  It was also neat because at the end of The Pier is an odd shaped building that houses an aquarium (but not the aquarium where Winter the dolphin lives).  

Coming back from the loop around The Pier

There was more beautiful waterfront running after this, but miles 11 and 12 took us through a residential neighborhood.  With the flatness of the course, this was a bit boring.  Also the last couple of miles did an out and back over a narrow bridge.  This was poor planning since most people like to speed up for the last few miles and its difficult in a crowd.

Overall it was a fun race.  The course entertainment was more sparse than it seemed it would be based on the map.  Fortunately I had my St Pete Valentine's day playlist to keep me entertained.

One of the band stages

I finished in 2:04:57 with an average pace of 9:32/mile.  A NEW RECORD (for me)!  

Post finish, in front of the bay with my medal!

St Pete Rock 'N' Roll Pre Race

We made it to the St. Pete Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon Expo this afternoon.  The Expo took place in Tropicana Field.  It was pretty cool to walk on a professional baseball field, definitely a first for me.  Otherwise the expo was a bit underwhelming.  This is my first Rock 'N' Roll event so I wasn't actually sure what to expect.  The expo had fewer people and vendors than any I've visited before.

Another oddity for this race was that they didn't put the race information pamphlet with course map and other race info into the goody bag.  I had to pick it up at another booth in the expo.  It seems like in the goody bag is a no brainer since runners and the spectators they bring will need this info.  

In any case, St. Pete seems like a nice town.   I'm excited to explore its streets during tomorrow's half marathon!

Inside Tropicana Field for the Expo

Run Away With Me!

This year I'll turn 30.  Inspired by Ben Davis's video that includes finish line shots with his dad and brother, I want to run a race with friends and family.  The race I choose is the LVHN Half Marathon starting in Bethlehem, PA on Sept 9.  Why am I posting so early?  Registration opens today!  If you're interested in joining Team Sadpony for a 30th birthday run, sign up now and tell me!  We're going to make technical shirts that will be about $30 each for anyone who is interested.

There's even a VegFest in Bethlehem on September 8!  It'll be a fun weekend in the Lehigh Valley! 

Will this be your first half marathon?  No problem, you have plenty of time to train up to it!

St. Pete Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Playlist

On Sunday I'll be running the St Pete Rock 'n' Roll Half.  I decided to go with a Valentine's Day themed playlist as the race is just before February 14th (and my Valentine will be there with me, watching)!  The list lasts about 2:18, I expect to finish in 2:10.  I have a few extra songs in case I have a slow day.

Here's the list:



Hey Girl O.A.R.
Halo   Beyoncé
Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison
Cant Get Enough Of You Baby   Smash Mouth
Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond
Sweet Child O' Mine  Guns N' Roses
Sweetest Thing U2
Friday I'm in Love The Cure
Such Great Heights The Postal Service
You Are A Tourist Death Cab For Cutie
I Think We're Alone Now   Tiffany
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)   The Proclaimers
American Boy (feat. Kanye West) Estelle
Stereo Hearts (feat. Adam Levine) Gym Class Heroes
Just Can't Get Enough The Black Eyed Peas
Cupid's Chokehold / Breakfast in America (Radio Mix) Gym Class Heroes featuring Patrick Stump
Your Love Is My Drug Ke$ha
Come And Get Your Love Real McCoy
You Make Me Feel... (feat. Sabi) Cobra Starship
Summer Love Justin Timberlake
We Found Love (Feat. Calvin Harris) Rihanna
Happy Valentine's Day OutKast
Clumsy Fergie
SOS  Rihanna
I Believe in a Thing Called Love The Darkness
Stereo Love Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina
Ma Ya Hi (Dragostea Din Tei) [Valentin Radio Edit] O-ZONE
Lazy Eye Silversun Pickups
This Love  Maroon 5
Dog Days Are Over  Florence + The Machine
Grenade Bruno Mars
This Will Be Our Year OK Go
Fool for Love Stefy
The Curse of Curves   Cute is What We Aim For
Yellow Coldplay

Winter has come

For nearly a year I've been listening to George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series as I run.  The series is great and I often couldn't wait to see what would happen next.  It provided motivation to get out there and find out what the fate of my favorite characters would be since I only allowed myself to listen while running.

But thats all over now.  I finished the published series and must await the forthcoming Winds of Winter before I can continue.  Over the year I grew attached to all of the characters in the series.  Its going to take some time to warm up to a different audiobook as I run.  I'm thinking of listening to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins next.  I've heard a lot of good things about the series.

What are some of your favorite fiction series?  I'll need suggestions again soon, as The Hunger Games will only last for about 30 hours.   For reference each novel in the Song of Ice and Fire series was between 30 and 50 hours long.

Motivations: The views

I have great respect for anyone who runs without a beautiful backdrop.  I have two normal outdoor running routes.  One is along the east river in Brooklyn where I have wonderful views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges along with Manhattan to the north and the Statue of Liberty to the south.  This route takes me down the Brooklyn Promenade and through Brooklyn Bridge Park.  It is especially nice at night.  Occasionally, there will even be fireworks over the river as I run.

My other favorite route is in Manhattan along the Hudson river south toward lower Manhattan.  The views aren't as spectacular as from Brooklyn but looking over at Hoboken and Jersey city as well as watching construction of the Freedom Tower makes the miles go by fairly quickly.  

Throughout the year the routes naturally change.  Flowers come and go, leave change colors, and there is an occasional (very occasional this year) bit of snow.

Do I think I'm lucky to be a runner in New York City?  Heck Yes!