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Al Goldstein 5K Speed Series - even
in the midst of a downpour! |
This past Sunday
was the culmination of a four month long training regimen, my first running of
the marathon distance at the 37th Annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Since I didn’t qualify with
9+1 in 2014 (the completion of nine New York Road Runners (NYRR) races and
volunteering at one event in one calendar year for NYRR members to qualify for
the following year’s NYC Marathon) for New York City this year, and didn’t get
in via lottery, I tried my luck with Chicago’s lottery in March and got news in
mid-April that I got in. I began my
training regimen after joining Front Runners New York in June, and was able to
get some coaching advice from Coach Mike Keohane and used his marathon training
calendar to get me started.
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My 14 mile long run route
to the Rockaways |
I trained
for the most part on my own, and also began to increase my weekly mileage in
June. I ran in a bi-weekly 5K series in Prospect Park, hosted by the Prospect Park Track Club (where I ended up setting PR’s at
every subsequent race!) and also took a 10-week session of running classes with
New York Road Runners, which helped to Improve my running economy, form,
muscular strength, endurance, and speed.
By this time, I had already scheduled a few races in the early fall, so
I tweaked my training calendar to my racing schedule.
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My first #victoryheadstand photo,
after RnR Chicago |
I also
arranged my long runs – 14 miles, 16 miles, 18, 20, and 22 at various points
throughout my training. Being one to not
really enjoy multiple loops of Central Park since New York City racing is
pretty much held there week in and week out, I sought out some fun and
potentially scenic routes to do my training.
My 14 miler happened just after July 4th weekend, and I got
my pal Josie, who I had reconnected with running into her at baggage check for
the Brooklyn Half in May, to join me on a run from the Aqueduct Race Track in
Queens down Cross Bay Boulevard through the neighborhoods of Howard Beach and
Broad Channel into the Rockaways, where we would continue along Beach Channel
Drive and Rockaway Point Boulevard to Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park. It was my first running of a “further than a
half marathon” distance where I didn’t get a medal at the end L.
In mid-July I did my first back-to-back races, a 5K on Saturday and a
half on Sunday (where I PR’d, see the mention in the previous post), in Chicago as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll series;. It
also gave me a bit of a preview for the “lay of the land” for the Chicago
Marathon. I also treated it as a 16 mile
long run, since my recovery time between races was pretty short. Not
necessarily advisable, but I was at that time, running every other day, and
strength training in between.
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My 20 mile route from Greenwich, CT
to City Island in the Bronx |
In August, I
did a true 16 mile long run, running from my apartment in Jackson Heights,
Queens, down Northern Boulevard across the Queensboro Bridge and into Central
Park, where I did two loops – I was joined on the second loop of Central Park
by new friends Hilary and Cory, who would later participate in the Ragnar Relay DC with me. Mind you, this was the day
after my fastest loop of Central Park, where I was able to complete the NYRR Team Championships 5 Miler in 42:20, just about an 8:28 per mile pace. I ended up skipping my 18 mile run, since I
had done back to back mileage adding up to 21 miles. A few weeks later, I ran my
20 mile long run, and this was a fun one.
I took the Metro North up to Greenwich, CT, and mapped out a route down
the old Boston Post Road, an old system of mail-delivery routes between Boston
and NYC that evolved into some of the first major highways in the US, through
towns along Long Island Sound all the way down to City Island in the Bronx.
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Bike and running paths through
Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx |
This was where
trouble began to brew. I ran that 20
miler in a conservative 10:38 per mile moving pace (not counting stops along
the way for stretching and a 10 minute break at the halfway point at a
Starbucks in Mamaroneck). I reached City
Island at about sunset, and settled down for a delicious seafood dinner at
Sammy’s Crab Shack. As I was finishing
the run, right around mile 18, I started to experience a little tinge of pain
on the inside of my knees. After sitting for two hours eating dinner, I
immediately felt a more throbbing pain in both knees. As I was getting back up
to head back to Queens via public transportation, it started to feel a bit
worse. Over the course of the next
couple weeks, there was a bit of "popping" with dull pain (eventually
progressing to slight or no pain) right at the outside of my knee joint; after
about a week I was able to walk fine, but felt like I was definitely
compensating for the issues in my right leg if I tried to run. I took a solid
two weeks off of running and consulted with two physical therapists for some
different sorts of treatment….
[to be
continued!!]
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