NYRR 5 Borough Series: Queens 10k Playlist

Sunday Alek and I will run the NYRR Queens 10k. My 1 hour Queens themed playlist follows.  All except two songs on the list are by musicians from Queens.  The other two feature Flushing Meadow Park, where the race will be held, in their videos.

What a Wonderful World     Louis Armstrong
 You Can Call Me Al   Paul Simon
 All I Have  Jennifer Lopez  ft LL Cool J
Girls Just Want to Have Fun Cyndi Lauper
Shoop Salt-n-Pepa
 Men In Black Will Smith
 Blitzkrieg Bop Ramones
 Mo Money Mo Problems (feat. Mase & Puff Daddy) The Notorious B.I.G.
None of Your Business Salt-n-Pepa
In da Club 50 Cent
It's Tricky Run-DMC
Walk This Way Run-DMC
Whatta Man Salt-n-Pepa & En Vogue
I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones
Push It Salt-n-Pepa
P.I.M.P. 50 Cent
Let's Talk About Sex Salt-n-Pepa

Race recap: Fairfield Half Marathon

Alek and I left for the Fairfield Half Marathon around 6am on Sunday.  From Brooklyn, the drive was about 1:10.  By the time we got to Jennings Beach, where the half marathon would start and finish, the main parking area was closed.  We parked in another area within easy walking distance to the start.

I picked up my number and then had to go onto the beach to get my technical race shirt.  Shirt pickup on the beach was a bit unfortunate since I got sand in my shoes before the race (Note to race organizers: this is a BAD thing).  After getting everything we had about an hour to kill before the race would start at 8:30 AM.

In the shade, waiting for the race to start!

Even by 8:00 AM the temperature was quite warm.  I was a bit nervous about how the temperature would rise as the morning wore on.  I'd also only looked at the elevation profile of the race the day before and realized there would be hills to rival Sleepy Hollow.  At least I knew going in that I wouldn't be setting any personal records on the course!

Course map, but more importantly check out the elevation change between miles 4 and 6!  Yikes!

Shortly before the race started, I ran into Kathy who came from Hoboken to run this race with me!  It was the first race we've started together (I can't say run together because Kathy is faster than me)!

Around 8:30 we were off.  Women had a separate starting area than men, although several men did start with the women.  I believe this was to make starting bearable on somewhat narrow streets.  From the first mile, the Fairfield community was out supporting and welcoming all of the runners.  Through out the race there were folks with hoses and sprinklers aimed at the street giving us a much needed spritz to help cool off.  Also similar to Sleepy Hollow, there were kids at the water stations and throughout the course excited to get high fives from the runners.

The CT Post wrote a piece on the race spectators including some images, so you can see for yourself.  Alek was even interviewed and is included in the article!

Despite my fears about the heat early on, having much of the race course in the shade and spectators sprinkling the course with hoses helped keep the temperature from being too overwhelming.  I did see a few runners getting medical attention along the course, this made me be more cautious about hydrating at all of the water stops.

After 2:11:35 of running up and down massive hills, I finished with a 10:03 average pace!  Not only was this my longest run since the NJ Marathon, it was also my hilliest!  The challenge and success gives me the confidence that I am completely recovered after the marathon!

Finish line behind me!

We didn't stick around for the beach party after the race.  We were both tired, and I'd forgotten sunscreen. Overall it was a really fun race and I loved the town's spirit when people were on their lawns cheering and being supportive.
Full results can be found here.

Race Recap: Front Runners Lesbian and Gay Pride Run

At 9AM on Saturday Alek and I lined up for the Front Runners Lesbian and Gay Pride Run.  Constantine Maroulis of American Idol and more recently Broadway fame started us off with the national anthem.

Ready to Run in my new tech shirt!

After a few announcements we were off for our 5 mile run.  Many runners were wearing their pride in their clothes, hats, or even running with a rainbow flags.  The cheering crowds were mostly centered around the start area but the spirit amongst runners made running fun.

It was hot in the sun but not so bad in shady areas.   Grabbing a cup of water from the water stops and pouring it over my head made me feel better!  I'm not usually a huge fan of Central Park races since you're either running up or down hill.  I'm used to some flat stretches which give you a chance to rest your muscles - so it adds some extra challenge to the races.

I finished in 44:31 for an 8:55 pace. (So close to my official NYRR pace of 8:50!  Next time, I'll be faster!)  Alek finished in 50:12 with a 10:10 pace!  Awesome job on your longest race to date!  Full results can be found on the NYRR site.

After the race finish!

Unexpectedly for this race, we got some nice new technical shirts (see us sporting them in front of the finish line in the photo above).  We could choose between white and blue, so we chose not to get matching shirts!  Overall, this was another well done race by NYRR and Front Runners.

We're also one race closer to the 9 needed to qualify for the 2013 NYC marathon!

Fairfield Half Marathon Playlist

This will be a two race weekend with the Front Runners Pride race on Saturday and the Fairfield Half Marathon on Sunday.  In honor of my first half marathon of summer 2012, I've created a summer themed playlist.  It is about 2:12 long and I hope to finish before it does! (This will be my longest run since the NJ Marathon, so I'm not sure how my speed will be).


Fair Remy Zero
Summer Day Coconut Records
Summer Skin Death Cab for Cutie
Tail Of The Sun Stroke 9
The Sun Maroon 5
Island In The Sun Weezer
Paradise Coldplay
I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song) Fall Out Boy
Under the Boardwalk The Drifters
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)  Meat Loaf
Summer Love Justin Timberlake
Walking On Sunshine Katrina & The Waves
Blister in the Sun Violent Femmes
Summer Nights  John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
Summer Girls LFO
What I Got Sublime
Hot Avril Lavigne
Summer In the City The Lovin' Spoonful
Me Love Sean Kingston Sean Kingston
Doctor Jones Aqua
Stay (Wasting Time) Dave Matthews Band
Mexican Wine Fountains of Wayne
This Fire Franz Ferdinand
All Star Smash Mouth
Bones The Killers
Doin' Time Sublime
Chasing the Sun The Wanted
We Are Young Tonight Fun
Somebody That I Used to Know (Miami Nights 1984 Remix) Gotye
Dog Days Are Over Florence + The Machine
Paradise City Guns N' Roses
About an Hour Ago O.A.R.
The Boys of Summer (Radio Version) DJ Sammy
Welcome To Paradise Green Day

Front Runners New York Lesbian and Gay Pride Run Playlist

Saturday Alek and I will run the Front Runners Lesbian and Gay Pride Run!  Its a 5 mile run, celebrating pride in Central Park.  This race will also count toward our NYRR 9+1 to qualify for next year's NYC Marathon.  For the occasion I've created a 53 minute pride themed playlist:

Imitation of Life   R.E.M.
I Want You Savage Garden
Come to My Window Melissa Etheridge
Crocodile Rock Elton John Elton John
This Modern Love     Bloc Party
It's Gonna Be Me N'Sync
Macho Man Village People
All The Things She Said T.A.T.U.
Born This Way Lady GaGa
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Wham!
Y.M.C.A.  Village People
Livin' la Vida Loca Ricky Martin
We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions Queen

100 Pushup Challenge: Week 1

After completing week one of the 100 pushup challenge, I've decided that I will repeat week one.  I was able to complete 8 pushups during my final max set on Saturday.  My form is bad enough that I think its worth repeating the week until I'm comfortable with my pushup form.

Repeating week one should be a breeze, right?

100 pushup challenge

On Monday, Alek and I started the 100 pushup challenge.  During my initial test, I was barely able to do one pushup.  Starting the challenge again reminded me that I'm not as generally fit as I like to think I am.  I'm not certain that I'll work my way up to 100 pushups by the end of six weeks but I'll share my progress here!

Surprisingly to me, my limiting factor is ab pain rather than arm or shoulder pain.  Hopefully I overcome that by building up more ab strength during the next 6 weeks!

I'm doing my final set for week one tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned on Monday to find out what my max number of pushups was after week 1!

Fahrenheit 451

I recently finished listening to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 as my running book.  The audiobook is just over 5 hours long taking just over a week for me to get through the entire story.

After I started listening, I'd remembered that I was assigned this book in high school and never got into it.  I also understood why. The story starts abruptly and its a bit hard to follow for the first hour or so.  After the first hour it was an interesting and even profound book.  While I do recommend reading Fahrenheit 451, I do not recommend listening to the audiobook as entertainment during workouts.

Spring Training: speedwork

My marathon recovery is officially over today.  Without another marathon to run until January, I'm in a bit of a training holding pattern.  I'll still be running frequent half marathons so I need to keep my long runs over 10 miles.  Since I don't need to work on longer distances, I'll have more time and energy for speed work!    Today I'm starting Hal Higdon's Spring Training program.  This combination of running up hills, running intervals, and tempo runs is sure to help me hit some new personal records.

I'm tweaking the program a bit to make my long Sunday runs alternate between 10, 12, and 14 miles.

Cross Training: Yoga

A few weeks back I began to attend a yoga class once a week.  Before starting the class, I thought I was in pretty good shape.  I've quickly learned that being in shape can mean different things.  While I have strong legs and cardio, I have limited flexibility and upper body strength.

Yoga compliments running well.  My abs, biceps, and shoulders are usually pretty sore after each of the one hour sessions.  This is great because I'm actually working them!  In addition balance exercises are great for ankle strengthening and working different leg muscles helps the legs to be more balanced.

Hopefully after a few more weeks I'll be a bit less sore after each session!

"It's a pretty good book ... You should try it. It's about bunnies. They talk."

Last week I finished listening to Richard Adams's Watership Down.  Watership Down was the first audiobook that I've used as running entertainment that wasn't a part of a series.  I decided to read it because it was on NPR's top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy books list.

Before listening to the story, I was skeptical.  How could a bunny adventure possibly be interesting to an adult?  But somehow it made it to 32nd place on the NPR list, so I decided to give it a try.

I quickly learned that Watership Down is not just a bunny adventure.  It is about leadership, loyalty, and bravery in the face daunting odds.  The story starts with a band of rabbits setting off in search of a new home.  The lead characters (Hazel, Fiver, Pipkin, Bigwig, Dandelion, and Blackberry) are richly developed with differing personalities.  I gained a new sympathy for wild animals and the dangers they face.

The rabbits also share tales of their folk hero El-ahrairah throughout the book.  El-ahrairah was everything that a rabbit should be: brave, clever, and a great leader to his people.  The stories, usually told by Dandelion, inspire the rabbits when the world around them seems too treacherous.

Alek started to read Watership Down after I raved about how great it was during the 6 weeks it took me to complete the 15 hour audiobook.  I found the book to be a bit more suspenseful than he has, mostly because the start and stop nature of listening to an audiobook only when running causes more suspense to build up.  Alek can just keep reading.  I think that makes it a great book for running since the suspense only makes the story better!

Getting the NYRR +1

On June 2 Alek and I got our NYRR +1 volunteer activity.  This along with running 9 NYRR races in 2012 will give us guaranteed entry into the 2013 NYC Marathon.

We signed up for a packet pick up shift for the NYRR Celebrate Israel run from 10:30 - 1:30.  When we got to the NYRR headquarters, Alek was put on T-shirt duty downstairs while I was sent upstairs for bib duty.  Packet pickup didn't officially start until 11:30 but we were ready and at our stations by 10:45.  As a result the first hour passed slowly.  After 11:00 people started to come in.   Overall, it was a fun volunteer experience.  We got to meet other runners and understand some of what it really takes to put on a race.

The NYRR staff let us go at 12:30, so Alek and I took advantage of our extra time on the Upper East Side by walking around Central Park.  It was a beautiful day, with many musicians, cute dogs, and turtles by the turtle pond!

Turtle at turtle pond

Race Recap: Wall Street Run

Yesterday evening was beautiful for a 3 mile race.  The Wall Street Run began at 7PM.  Alek and I lined up on Greenwhich Street at 6:30 and waited while our Garmins found GPS in the skyscraper valley.  The Wall Street Run has no formalized corral system so everyone self organized into what they thought their pace would be (or well, they were supposed to...).

Waiting for the race to start in the valley of skyscrapers.

The race actually began a bit after 7PM.  It was fun to run on closed off streets downtown.  Many of these streets are fairly narrow and that combined with the somewhat disorganized start area made it difficult to maintain any sort of pace.  At various points on the course, pedestrians crossed somewhat dangerously between runners.  I managed to run into someone (whoever you are, sorry about that)!

Alek and I ran together for the first two miles (yeah Alek!  He hasn't trained much over the past few months).  After that he told me to go ahead, so I darted off without him for the last mile.

This year's Wall Street Run passed over Wall Street three times but the course never actually followed Wall Street.  It finished close to the river where the path narrowed enough to make a half mile sprint across the finish line impossible.

Despite the crowded course, the race was a lot of fun.  It was great to run a race that didn't require us to get up in the wee hours of the morning.

I finished a few minutes ahead of Alek and waited for him at the finish line!  Usually he's the one waiting for me, but not yesterday!  I finished in 28:24 for a pace of 9:28, Alek was 30:32 for a pace of 10:11.  Full results can be found on the NYRR results site.

We finished!