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.