And Another One

Got out this morning for 30 minutes. Nothing noteworthy about it, but a beautiful day for a run in the Park.

New Route

I lapped the perimeter of Morningside Park last night. It's a big park. Two times 'round took me a little more than 30 minutes. There is a monster climb, starting on 123rd Street, up two blocks on Amsterdam and then to the crest of Morningside Drive. That really kicked my behind. But I enjoyed the change of scenery. Morningside Avenue has enjoyed a quiet renaissance, the Park is beautiful -- lots of cherry blossoms in bloom -- and the apartments along there make me envious.

I'm still not feeling great on the road but am striving to stick to a schedule. My next race is the Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park, May 15, sponsored by the headman of the United Arab Emirates. I ran it last year and it had great swag, as befits an Emir. (I remarked recently to Mrs. FA that we've reached a point where we can say, ran this race last year, etc.)

My time last year was 1:01:25. Given my 3 and 6 mile splits during the 15k last month, I am aiming for sub-57 minutes on this go.

10K

Got out for a mellow 10K today before running off to a meeting. It felt pretty good, not great, but not bad. It was mild and not raining today, so that was good. The sun came out after the run, but what can you do?

I'll try for another 10K tomorrow as well to get in the mileage. I noticed that my left leg was a bit sore today in the quad -- I think it has something to do with the fact that for much of the ES20 it was the leg on the high side of the road and it felt more tired during the run than the right leg (could be total poppycock, I don't know, but it seems like a plausible theory).

Race Report: Super Sunday 10K

I headed out on a beautiful bluebird of a day to run the Marathon Sports Super Sunday 5k/10K race. Held along the Boston waterfront this race is only it's third year and it is well attended, and, like Marathon Sports other races very well run. This years course was very similar to last years except that we started at 390 Congress St which was much more roomy and comfortable for the large field. Last year we started from in front of the Harpoon Brewery and it was a little crowded -- so that was a good move. This year's race also went off on time which was appreciated because it was only about 20F with a stiff breeze.

The course wound its way through the rapidly changing Boston waterfront, down Congress St and back, around the new courthouse, by ICA etc. The course was pancake flat as is to be expected on harbor roads and quite fast. The filed was quick -- lots of Boston trainers I think -- and trending young. One of my favorite sites on the course is the tiny Our Lady of Safe Passage Chapel -- located between two huge parking lots and across from some very new, sleek glass office buildings (the thought of the value of that property is astounding -- it's diagonally across the street from 56).


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I ran a nice first half, 23:43 or something and felt pretty good coming into the second half (the race was a couple of loops of the same course). Out to mile four was a nice tail wind, but mile 4-5 was right back into a stilff headwind, and I sort of flagged on this leg and recorded what was probably my slowest mile ~7:55 (39:35). The buildings broke the wind around this point and I dug down and worked a bit harder. I crossed 6 miles at just about 46 even and finished around 46:43, I think, it was definitely below 47 which was cool but the official results will be posted and I'll know for sure tonight. I had a nice kick through the last .2 and was working hard down the home stretch and trying to catch a guy who was in front of me. He picked it up too and held me off by a step. After we crossed the finish line he turned to me with a huge grin and said "thanks for pushing me!" and shook my hand -- that was cool. I had a huge rush at the end of this and totally felt that ever elusive runner's high, It was fun. I remembered why I love to run. Bennu did a nice 5 K as well,it was good to see him.