| About Me |
 |
| Photos |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| Links |
|
|
| Powered by |
|
|
| Alumni Updates |
| Tuesday, February 26, 2008 |
John Jay alumni that are competing in college are into their championship season. Tom Hyatt helped Sacred Heart University to its first ever NEC Championship by scoring in two events. Tom took 6th in the pole vault at 13' 1.5" and 6th in the high jump with a leap of 6' 1.25"
Three JJ alumni scored at the SUNYAC Championships. Kevin O'Connell (Geneseo) took second in the pole vault with an outstanding performance of 14' 5". JC Kennedy (Brockport) took 5th with a vault of 13' 11.75'. In the triple jump, Ryan Joyce (Geneseo) was 6th with a jump of 43' 8". All three qualified for the ECAC Championships which will be held at Harvard on Mar. 7th and 8th. |
posted by Steve @ 1:07 PM  |
|
|
|
| Harbinger of Spring |
| Monday, February 25, 2008 |
Last fall I splurged and bought myself a present - a new carbon road bike. Because it was a 2008 it didn't arrive until mid-October, leaving only time for a few rides before the winter weather set in.
Where it sits in the garage I walk by it every time I go in and out. Most of the winter I gave it hardly a glance. Lately however, it's been calling me pretty much every time I go by. With the longer days and the approach of March the bike has begun to take on a lifelike quality. It's got cabin fever and wants to be let out to explore the open road.
It's hard to tell it that the time has not yet come - it must wait a little longer. When the red-winged blackbirds return to the marshes it will be time to ride. |
| posted by Steve @ 11:57 AM |
|
|
|
| Hydration on the Long Run |
| Thursday, February 21, 2008 |
Probably the most fundamental part of marathon training is the "long run." Those that don't put time on their feet getting ready to run 26.2 miles almost always pay for it on race day. One of the biggest challenges of the long run is staying hydrated, which also gets your body used to taking in fluids and using them while running.
In a well organized marathon you can expect "hydration stations" at regular intervals along the course. Such is not the case on your long training runs. What to do? Personally I hate carrying water. I have two water belts, one of which is over 25 years old. I use them only as a last resort. Speaking of water belts, there is a phenomenon associated with them that I don't understand. When I'm carrying bottles of water in my belt they are heavy, I can feel the weight of each one. When I drink a bottle, the water or Gatorade is now still on my body, just in my stomach, yet somehow the weight of the liquid is gone. Has anyone else noticed this physics defying phenomenon?
So if you're like me and hate to carry fluids, what else is there to do? Option #2 - leave stashes of drinks at intervals along the route. This saves carrying the drinks, but requires time before the run to make the stashes and time afterwards to retrieve the empties. Depending on the route, that could mean lots of time in your car.
My favorite is Option #3 - find a central location with a variety of loop options of around 30 - 40 minutes each. That way you can park the car, leave all your drinks inside and return to the car every 3 - 5 miles for refreshment before heading out for another loop. I employ this option quite often at Taconic-Hereford State Forest, aka "909".
A couple of other options you might try: find a friend to carry a backpack full of drinks while he or she accompanies you on a bike; plan a route that passes some friends' houses and have them put drinks out for you. Many years ago there was a regular Sunday morning long run from AHS and we could always count on a cooler full of drinks in front of Charlie Sprauer's house at the top of the hill on Rossway Road.
At this year's Turkey Trot I overheard one runner espousing the idea of doing long runs with no fluids as a way to stress the body to get it ready for a marathon. He claimed he never drank anything on his 20 mile runs. My advice - don't even THINK about trying that. |
| posted by Steve @ 9:19 AM |
|
|
|
| I Miss The Trails |
| Monday, February 18, 2008 |
I don't mind training when it's cold, snowy or even windy as long as it's not too insane. The biggest negative by far of winter running is not being able to get on the trails.
Except for the occasional race or run from a friend's house, it's been a number of years since I've run on the roads. Physically the pavement is just too hard at this stage in my running career. Mentally I much prefer the serenity of the woods to the tension of running only a few feet from tons of speeding steel.
There are many places to run trails in the local area, making it easy to run days at a time in different sylvan settings. With the trails covered in snow and ice it leaves few options to get off the pavement and away from traffic. Fortunately there are some secluded dirt (sometimes muddy and /or icy) roads that provide a haven when the trails are inaccessible. Still, they are roads so there is some traffic. Also, there aren't many of them so it's many days of running the same route over and over. I miss the variety of all my trail options. We're passed the middle of February and I'm keeping my eye out out for bare spots of ground in the woods. |
| posted by Steve @ 9:04 PM |
|
|
|
| Alumni Update - UW Invitational |
| Saturday, February 16, 2008 |
| John Jay alumni Hakon DeVries, who is currently running for Stanford, is getting closer to breaking 4 minutes for the mile. At the University of Washington Husky Invite he ran a personal best time of 4:03.91. This time is a D1 NCAA provisional qualifier for the NCAA Championships. Hakon now has provisional qualifying times in the 3K, the mile and as part of the Distance Medley Relay. |
| posted by Steve @ 9:03 PM |
|
|
|
| Grandkids |
| Friday, February 15, 2008 |
Sometimes I just can't resist putting a picture of the grandkids up. Sadie is almost 3 and Madison will be one at the end of March. I think Madison is onto a new sport: soccer in a tutu. |
| posted by Steve @ 5:56 PM |
|
|
|
| My Baby's Having a Baby |
|
My youngest child, Sarah is expecting her first baby early in March. Last weekend we had a really nice baby shower at her sister Heidi's house. Heidi is the oldest of my four kids. There is an interesting combination of genes that were passed on to my children. The first and third are on the short side and the second and fourth are on the tall side. It's pretty apparent when you look at the picture of Sarah and Heidi. |
| posted by Steve @ 5:45 PM |
|
|
|
| John Jay Alumni Update |
| Wednesday, February 13, 2008 |
| Dan Jordy was back on the roads again finishing 3rd in a HMRRC 10 mile race in a time of 59:28. It's great to see Dan venturing into the longer distances. He was primarily an 800 meter/miler in high school and college. |
| posted by Steve @ 9:22 PM |
|
|
|
| Running Companions |
|
Sometimes it's the smallest, almost imperceptible things that remind you of how lucky you've been. That life lesson was proven true again on a recent run. The run came on a day following a tough workout, a run on which I was struggling to keep up with my two running companions. At about two miles into the run we hit a nasty little hill, one that I don't like even on the best of days. Part way up the hill, almost simultaneously, both of my companions realized I was struggling and each, without a word being spoken, eased back on their pace just a little to match mine.
It wasn't a big thing, yet it made me smile to myself. At the end of the run I thanked them for going easy on me. Later that evening, when I recalled what had happened, it got me thinking back over my almost 30 years of running and how many different running companions I've had. Companions is certainly the right word for them. Even though we were often competitors in races, it was always different on runs. Runs were for companionship, for sharing the experience of the run, sometimes even confiding important details of our lives.
How I've been fortunate enough to avoid those runners who view so many of their runs as a race I'm not sure. Possibly I was a quick learner and after one run that turned into a race I avoided that runner on future runs. The companions I've spent most of my running carreer with have been like the two the other day, tuned into each others running and adjusting the day accordingly. Their subtle move going up the hill was a nice reminder of how fortunate I've been. |
| posted by Steve @ 9:00 PM |
|
|
|
| The New, New MHRRC Website |
| Wednesday, February 6, 2008 |
For a number of years the MHRRC had a website. As all the members were aware, it was a website with multiple problems. It was rarely current, sometimes even wrong. The web master (although well intentioned) was hard to contact and often took a long time getting important information on the site.
Fortunately for the MHRRC, there was a new member willing to take on the monumental task of being the new web master. In a short period of time she was able to develop a site to replace the old one. The new site had wonderful new features, current information (including race results) and a nice new look. The whole MHRRC was ecstatic.
However, even this site was a static site with major limitations and problems. The biggest problem from the web master's standpoint was the large number of hours needed to keep the site up to date. She envisioned an active site that would become a living part of the MHRRC community. A site that runners themselves could add to (members' kudos, blogs, etc), a site that qualified other members could update and add information to (race results, important announcements, member musings, etc) and one that even when she was away or was no longer web master could still be kept current and active.
Human nature being what it is, never liking too much change, a number of people have been taken aback by all of the vast, dynamic improvement. Yes, it's new. Yes, it's different. Yes, it might take a little work on your part to get comfortable with all the possibilities. There's a lot there, with more to come!
Give yourself and the website time. Before long you'll wonder how we got along without it. And next time you see Deborah Schwartz thank her for the countless hours she has put into making the MHRRC better. |
| posted by Steve @ 5:12 PM |
|
|
|
| Winter Run |
| Monday, February 4, 2008 |
With the Winter Run coming a week after the Miami Marathon it seemed like the perfect race to get in some volunteer work for the MHRRC. It's fun to sometimes be on the other side of the operation and help make a race happen instead of running it. Working the registration table is great because you get a second to say hello to all the runners as they come in to register. There are lots of names I see in results but have no idea who they belong to. If you're handing out numbers you get a chance to put a face with some of those names.
From there it was out to mile three at the corner of Stringham Road and Noxon Road to do some traffic control. Marisa Hanson joined me, helping make the task much easier. It would have been a tough spot for one person. Most of the motorists were quite patient with waiting their turn to get out of the end of Stringham onto Noxon or to make the turn onto Stringham. What was scary was how little the drivers on Noxon Road slowed down as they were driving next to the runners. Even waving a flag in front of their speeding cars had little effect. To make matters a little scarier, the bridge over Sprout Creek was under repair and the shoulder that the runners needed to run on was barricaded off, forcing them to move out onto the road. Happily no one was injured.
It was interesting getting to watch everyone go by and to cheer on those we knew. If you haven't volunteered for a race in awhile (or ever), why not get in touch with Linda Stow and volunteer for the Ed Erichson run in March. Pictures from Chris Walsh here. You can also see pictures from Bob Kopac here. |
| posted by Steve @ 1:12 PM |
|
|
|
| Marathon Redux - Miami 2008 |
| Friday, February 1, 2008 |
The unfathomable passage of time always takes me by surprise. Somehow my age now starts with a six, this year will mark my 40th wedding anniversary, I have two grandchildren with another due in a month, and it had been more than 21 years since the last time I ran a marathon. This one came about innocently enough with the suggestion back in September, by a couple of people that I coach, that instead of just writing workouts for them, why didn't I train with them for Boston. There was one minor problem with that idea. If I were going to run Boston I would need to qualify. It didn't seem that there was any way they would take my time from the last Boston Marathon I ran back in 1983 or even the last marathon I ran, which was 1986.
With all this starting in September and Boston seven months away the plan was to find a warm-weather marathon in January to use for a qualifier. This would give me enough time to get ready to qualify, take an easy week, which would then give me three months to train for Boston. I also needed to find a marathon that would provide a nice vacation opportunity after the race (it's always important to keep your support person happy). The first place I looked was Disney, but it was already full. Miami was the second choice and in retrospect I'm glad Disney was full. Miami was great. From there we would go to Key West and spend three days in nice, warm, southern-Florida weather.
Right from the start we were very impressed with the organization of the race. The check-in at the Miami Convention Center could not have been any smoother or the people any friendlier. Race morning was the same way. Start time was 6:15AM. We were at a hotel about four blocks from the start and one block from the finish. At about 5:20 I left the hotel and moseyed my way toward the starting line, eating my Powerbar, a banana and drinking a Gatorade in the pre-dawn darkness. There were portable toilets everywhere. At about 6AM I entered my corral and immediately bumped into Mary Veltre. We chatted until about two minutes before the start when she really put her game face on, stepped a few steps away and got ready to run. Once the gun went off I never saw her again, she was GONE!
It was a little over two minutes to get to the start line. By then we were running pretty free and easy. The temperature was 66 degrees with a nice cloud cover. It stayed that way the whole time I was running: perfect marathon weather for Miami. My plan was to run very comfortably for at least the first 20 miles, then sometime after that, if there was anything in the tank, pick up the pace. Following that plan, every time I felt myself pushing even a little bit I pulled back on the effort. My splits were nicely under the qualifying time I needed so there was no need to push. They had twenty-two water stops with water and Gatorade. Some of the stops also had energy gel packets. The crews at the water stops were outstanding. Since I was a little worried about the humidity I probably made use of twenty of the twenty-two water stops.
The toughest part of the course for me was from mile 22-24, where, as you're heading back toward the finish, they send you out a mile on a causeway, then you do a u-turn and head back toward the mainland. It's basically two miles that seem to go nowhere. Once you're off the causeway and hit the 24-mile mark, the tough mental stretch is over and you know you're almost home.
My qualifying time for Boston was 4:00, so my finishing time of 3:41:02 was a nice surprise. In looking at my mile splits the next day I knew I had run a smart race. In the first thirteen miles there were only three splits under 8:20 per mile pace. In the second thirteen miles there were ten splits under 8:20 and my splits from mile twenty-four to mile twenty-six were 7:45 and 7:41. All that added up to a negative-split of 3:34.
We didn't stay for the post-race festivities. Vince and Mary said they were really great. Instead we headed out for Margaritaville to see if we could find Jimmy Buffett. |
| posted by Steve @ 8:21 PM |
|
|
|
| Miami |
|
| We got home today after spending a few days in Key West to recover from the marathon. In case you haven't heard my time was 3:41:02. I'll write a longer summary of the race and the trip tomorrow after a good nights sleep. I also have to figure out this new blog that Josh set up while I was away. He says it's easier and more efficient. Thank you all for the well wishes and congratulations. |
| posted by Steve @ 3:55 PM |
|
|
|
|
| Announcements |
MHRRC track workouts are scheduled for:
Tues. July 22
Tues. July 29
Tues. August 5
Tues. August 12
Tues. August 19
please email me at
runtuff@hotmail.com
with any questions.
|
|
