Check it out:

 8:00PM-9:00PM  Free Six Point Tall Boys **While Supplies Last** 

 9:00PM         Aja Marsh (NBR founder) Welcome Speech
                & Premiere of "Sh!t North Brooklyn Runners Say" 

10:00PM         Presentation of NBR Merit Badges 
                & NBR Superlative Awards 

11:00PM-1:00PM  PARTY TIME!!

See you there!

-Gala Committee

1) Gala Awards Online Voting Ballet.

2) Fill out your Merit Patch Online Form.

You won’t want to miss this – get your prom tickets before they are gone (which will actually be never, but the price goes up by $10 if you wait until the day of!)

Full Gala Details.

-Your 2012 NBR Gala Awards Committee

Rodrigo Toscano talks with JAMES CHU

After 9 years completely off from running and a 17% weight gain (going from 145 lbs to 170 lbs), James Chu (a former Princeton University track runner—1:58 min / 800 meter brawler), decided he “was sick of being a meatball” and resolved to give running another shot (not of Jameson Whiskey—though Linda Daniels is dedicated to overseeing that part of his training regimen). After seeing the NBR men’s squad run a very respectable top 5 in the Scotland 10k, he contacted NBR founding member, Matt Decker, and joined in May of 2010. Since then, James has competed in all middle distances, up to the half marathon.

He placed 2nd in the Greenpoint 5k, reeling in a dozen or so rabbits in the last kilometer. Since joining the team, his mile PR is 4:39 (4:27 is his lifetime PR). He was 5th overall in the Norway 1.7 mile—at 5:05 pace. In the Ted Corbitt 15k, his splits averaged 5:46, earning him 2nd in his age group. For the Manhattan Half Marathon, James dialed his 15k pace back by only 9 seconds, ending up at 1:17:43 (average sub 6 min. pace). In the Coogan’s 5k in 2011 (a northeast regional PR-blocking race, featuring pyramid-like hills), he ran a 16:40 (5:22 pace), 7th in his age group.

James’s favorite group run is the Saturday morning coffee Bridge Run. Anyone can easily approach him there to talk about his favorite sport. Whether it’s NCAA track & field, or global elite standings, or the local sub-elite scene, James is your hard-info + throw-down opinion central! He is also (and this from someone who’s been known to “dead dog” (going on all fours dry heaving after a race effort)) legendary for his cautionary approach to training, advising team members against the perils of hyper-training.

Born in Arlington, Texas, but re-routed to Midland, Michigan at age two (to nine), James suddenly found himself in central Connecticut. You can spot him now on “controlled” runs along Kent Avenue.

RT: James, let’s jump right into this…

Non-race “tempo” lactate threshold (LT) cruise intervals as being an alternate / complementary training to continuous LT tempo runs…the Tuesday running groups (both the morning and night groups) have done an excellent job by cutting this precious stone of a workout into a mesmerizing array of varieties, nonetheless, as a whole (I contend—from a bar stool—in the dankest & deepest nook of Greenpoint), this club, like so many others, still leans too much toward the “continuous run” end of the spectrum, with one (probable) result being—injury. What’s your take on this?

JC: I think running too hard during training, not running easy enough on recovery days, not taking enough recovery days, and racing too often are the things that lead to injury. As far as continuous tempo versus tempo intervals, I think that you need both. When you do certain types of workouts over and over again, you get diminishing marginal returns as the body adapts to the stress. I train in phases to introduce the body to new types of stress in each training phase.

I start out with 2-3 months of base phase just building up my weekly mileage and long run to improve aerobic fitness. During this foundational phase, I am running long continuous steady state runs (just below LT) building up from 35 to 60 minutes in duration (not including the warm up and cool down). A variation of this is the progression run which is similar in duration and average pace, but whereas the steady state is hitting a tight range of paces (i.e. all miles between 5:55-6:15 pace), the progression run has a wider range of paces. I may start at 6:20-30 pace and progressively lower the pace to finish around 5:40 pace. So at the start of the progression, I am well below LT, in the mid to late stages I am approaching or at LT, and in the final late stages I may push just past LT. I run these workouts based on perceived effort. LT pace for me might be what I perceive as my 15k race effort. Below LT pace should be my perceived half marathon race effort or 5-10 seconds per mile slower. These workouts are bread and butter workouts for the long distance runner. I live by them, and I can see that I’ve made believers out of you and guys like Todd Zino (one of the Tempo Tuesday run leaders).

Up to this point, I am running below LT which is a controlled comfortably uncomfortable feeling. I can basically camp out at that pace for an hour or more. In the next phase, I add the tempo run workout. The tempo run is at LT pace which is like controlled discomfort. Actually, it’s comfortably hard for about 15-18 minutes, but then starts to wear on me from 18-25 minutes. I like to run 4-mile tempo runs on the track at around 5:35-45 pace or somewhere around 10k-15k race pace. This is also the time that I would incorporate tempo cruise interval type workouts like 3×10 mins, 4×8 mins, or some other combination of longish intervals totaling about 30 minutes of quality. And since the quality is broken up into intervals, I can run at LT at the beginning of the workout and push it a little past that if I am feeling good.

RT: These paces and durations blow my mind, but one essential lesson I’m gleaning from what you’re saying is that everybody is somewhere. Nobody is “nowhere” in terms of how their individual running systems (LT threshold capacity, Vo2max, etc) behave and how those systems interact with each other. So we immediately have a common language we can use, if we want. Other cultures might have entirely different words for these systems, but the interrelated concepts of stress, recovery, and adaptation, I bet are nearly universal. For many in the NBR doing a 4-5 mile run, to start at 8:30 pace then dialing down to 7:30 on the last mile might feel exactly the same as it does for you on a similarly spread out progressive run.

Which brings up a point: going anaerobic on a 5k. When does that happen for you? Like on your Coogan’s 5k (16:40), were you “there,” by, say, minute 5? Leaving you an agonizing 11:40—plus final surge (a different capacity, requiring its own fine tuning to be sure)? I am bringing this up cause I am pretty sure that by minute 6 of my 19 + a few pennies 5k, I am “there” (on the brink, near VO2 max) leaving me about 13:00 minutes to slug through—and fading somewhat, I admit (“negative splits!” you’re gonna hammer me—but wait). I am talking about equivalencies. If someone is running a 30 minute 5k, advising them to run 70% of the race at (or very near) Vo2 max (21 minutes!), isn’t that nuts? And, isn’t that what some people actually do (!)

JC: I am perhaps often guilty of running too easy in the early going of races for which Owen (Kendall) and Pavel (Marosin) lovingly berate me. But I have years of racing experience to draw from that indicate more personal success with a negative splitting strategy. I say personal success, because I think that everyone should discover for themselves what strategies work best whether it’s going out hard and trying to hang on, even splitting, or negative splitting. It also depends on the distance of the race. In the 800, I would hit the first 200 in 27-28, through 400 in 57-58, through 600 in around 1:28, all in the hopes of being able to hang on to break 2 minutes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been through 600 in 1:28 and failed to finish that last 200 in under 32 seconds. I did finally do it indoors at Princeton and finished in 1:58. After so many failed attempts going through those exact splits, I was relieved and immediately quit the distance to move up to the mile. But I do think that going out ahead of goal pace and trying to hang on is appropriate for the 800. From around 1000 meters to the mile or even 2000 meters, even splitting is more appropriate. For 3k and up, negative splitting is the way to go. But this varies depending on how quickly you can cover these distances.

Most trained runners can run above LT (go anaerobic) for around 6-10 minutes. For me, at the end of a race that is nearly 2 miles. So like you said, in the Coogan’s 5k, I was just focusing on staying relaxed through the first mile. I push the pace past LT and towards red-lining when I am 6-10 minutes away from the finish. This is why VO2 max speed workouts are far more important for the middle distance runner than for a half marathoner or marathoner. Running above LT pace for 10 minutes is around 60-70% of the 5k race or nearly 50% of a 4-mile race. In the half marathon or marathon, 10 minutes is only 5-10%. So if your focus is the HM or marathon, you are better served by raising your lactate threshold rather than your VO2 max.

RT: One VO2 max workout that I used to do and really paid off was rapid hill repeats on the Long Island City side of the Pulaski Bridge. It’s about 250 meters at a pretty steep incline. Taken at “power mile” pace (20-25 seconds slower than race mile) the heart rate (HR) shoots up very quickly. By the end, it’s usually a couple beats away from V02 max, which for me (at least by last year’s numbers) was about 180 HR. A jog down taking about a minute and a half followed is followed by a repeat. I got up to ten sets of these. I called this workout the “surge protector,” because the benefit I quickly noted (maybe 4 days later) was that my HR had a hard time rising on a medium-rigorous road run. It’s a brutal workout but one that worked for me (one added benefit to hill work is also having to strike the ground at front foot or mid-foot; hills are quiet, but firm form-correction coaches).

So, as Randy (Locklair) said, “running is CRAZY individual.” Some people respond to particular workouts fairly quickly while not responding much to others. This too, some people who are convinced that they’re of the “go long” tribe of runners, might actually be (physiologically) repressed speed runners; or the converse, some fairly good 10k-ers, if you loan them 10 seconds per mile, they’re able set up shop there for an entire half marathon! But they identify with the Cheetahs. Then there’s Bonobos—we have a fair number of those as well.

I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a long time now…given that you are currently shredding races at all distances (carefully picking your races and gearing your training to those races), do you still look at yourself as an 800 meter (or 1500 meter) guy who’s “extended” over the years? Or is your reference point (self-identity) now the 5k, occasionally nabbing shorter races while gliding up to longer races by way of your 5k prowess?

JC: The race distance I raced the most in my life is easily the 800, but at this point in my running life, I do consider myself a 5k guy. I feel most comfortable racing 3k/2 mile races on the track, 5k races on the track and roads, and 4 mile road races. My personal feeling is that I haven’t quite mastered the 5 mile and 10k race distances. I am very comfortable pushing the pace without blowing up in the 3k through 4 mile race distances, but I am somewhat more afraid of blowing up in the 5 mile and 10k. That fear leads me to run those distances at too slow a pace. If you look at my past results, inexplicably, there is a significant disparity between my 5k/4 mile race pace and my 5 mile/10k race pace. My 5 mile/10k race paces are so conservative that they are actually closer to my 15k and HM race paces.

RT: This is interesting. Two things immediately come to mind. The first is strategy. Perhaps you haven’t yet found a strategy that you fully trust for the 10k. And the second thing is—and this is weird, but it might be true, that you have two basic “sweet spots”: a short duration red-line zone (3k, 5k, 4 mile) which you know well from your track days—you can endure it, even play with it; the other is a notches-above-LT zone (15k, Half Marathon) which is an ability perhaps more new to you, but one you’ve learned to count on. Maybe one way to address the question of strategy might be to actually count out kilometers, you know, smaller units to toggle in a more nuanced way. Maybe you’re doing something like this already (whether consciously or unconsciously) with meters in the short races, but at the longer races, or rather mid races, the mile itself might be a problematic point of reference. How you approach and perhaps resolve this quandary in the upcoming season will be a fascinating chapter in your running story.

I want to talk about life now, that most adaptable (and injury-prone) activity of them all. Ok, so, you work, you have personal relations to attend to as well, “alone time” somewhere in there I imagine too. The following question I ask everyone—some version of it. How does running cut into or inform or take away or amplify or mute those other aspects of your life?

JC: I work Monday through Friday from 7:45 in the morning until 1:45 in the afternoon. I trade options on COMEX (Commodities Exchange) Gold and Silver futures. Running actually helps me deal with the constant yelling that goes along with trading in the gold pit on the exchange floor. Running is good for stress relief and is a confidence builder, both of which are invaluable towards keeping me cool-headed and effective at work. My work schedule is dictated by exchange hours, which for gold is 8:20 am until 1:30 pm. I am usually home by 2:30 everyday. Fitting running into that schedule is not nearly as difficult as it is for most New Yorkers. The only problem is finding training partners on similar schedules that are able to run at 3 or 4 in the afternoon on weekdays. Luckily, I recently discovered that fellow NBR Tim Cote is a biology teacher and is usually ready to run between 3:30 and 4:00. It has been extremely helpful and motivating to have someone to run with and trade off pacing during tough workouts.

As for the other part of your question on maintaining relationships as a runner: my wife Sarah is a non-runner. The life of an obsessive long distance runner is infamous for causing strain and friction in relationships. She works normal to longer hours as a graphic designer, so I am typically done running before she even gets home. On weekends, I am often done with my morning run before she even wakes up. On the surface, this would appear like an ideal situation for a runner and non-runner couple; in many ways, it is probably as frictionless as it gets. But there are issues that we face in our relationship aside from the physical act of running. As a competitive runner, I spring things on her like: “I can’t go out/can’t drink/can’t party tonight, cuz I have a long run/race in the morning.” The actual schedule of running isn’t what is getting in the way; it’s the plan of future running that is an interfering factor as well. What seems to help is that I resign to running my long run on Saturday mornings, so that we can do the fun things on Saturday nights. Then depending on how I feel, Sunday is an optional day. Being flexible is key; I have to remember that I’m a husband first, and a runner second—if I want to continue being a husband. The important thing to remember is that if all else fails, she’s always right.

RT: Right (chuckling here). But I hear you too, brother, loud and clear. One of the several reasons why I love to do these profiles, is to vent / nerd-out / rip a bong-load full of running talk so as to not drive everybody around me crazy. Still though, fever is fever, and fever tends to stalk the hopelessly fever-stricken. Funerals, dream vacations, revolutions, the caesarian birth of Horatio Hornblower Jr, all are subject to: “but how am I going to fit my long run in?” Our inner-zombies need deep massaging, uh, pretty badly.

And curious happy people want to know, have you caught the marathon bug yet? And do you have your sights set on our first official NBR track meet coming up?

JC: I would definitely like to race a marathon a few years down the road, but right now it feels more like an obligation to appease the non-understanding public that know me as a runner training around 70 miles/week for a race so “short” as the 5k. Many people think that completing a marathon is the very pinnacle of the sport. For me, I would have to race (not just complete) around a 2:35 marathon to even compare to what I am capable of in the 5k. This is according to the McMillan running calculator as regards to comparable efforts. Right now, I am more interested in running a good time in the 5k rather than a mediocre time in a marathon.

I plan on participating in the NBR track meet, but I am unsure in what capacity. At the very least, I will volunteer at the meet. The meet is less than a week after the first NYRR team points race of the year—Coogan’s 5k. I dealt with a few too many injuries last year. I am being more conservative in avoiding early track meets this year. Honestly, I need more preparation to jump into the intense speed of track race distances, and it’s just too early in the racing year for me to risk injury. But I might not be able to resist running a DMR (Distance Medley Relay: legs are 1200m – 400m – 800m – 1600m) just for fun.

RT: The lusty gods that haunt the sacred precincts of Delphi will be watching these displays of heroic vanities with not a little envy. The word, “fun,” as used by runners, is a most elusive, most mysterious word for non-runners.

“So, what are you doing this afternoon?”

“I’ll be attempting to achieve a controlled comfortably uncomfortable feeling moving parallel to the East River.”

“Have fun!”

You know what I mean? Sometimes it feels like we live on a different planet. Oh, I just remembered something. Remember, before we started this talk, how you jokingly said you’d reveal the secret of running. I bid you now, sir, reveal this oracle to us.

JC: I was half joking, or maybe one quarter joking. But seriously, I do think that the secret to running is consistency. If you are able to run and train consistently, the times or weight loss or whatever goal you set will follow. And sometimes maintaining consistency means taking a day or two off to tend to minor aches and pains and not allowing them to become major injuries. Also, don’t skip training phase steps. Just today, Linda Daniels, who has been recovering from a major injury, asked me if I thought she could be ready in time for such and such a race. I told her that it depends on your definition of ready. She stated a pretty legitimate goal, and I responded that if I were coming back from such an injury, I would not consider myself ready for a race until after 2-4 months of base training; for her, since she was coming back from an injury that kept her out for a significant amount of time, even longer—maybe 3-6 months. And even then, I would choose a longer race like a half marathon during base phase rather than a shorter more intense race like the 5k. Don’t skip steps. Remember, first comes base, and last comes racing.

RT: James, thanks so much for sharing with us your thoughts on running. Your devotion to the sport is both admirable and inspiring.

JC: Thank you, this has been “fun.” Go NBR! See you on Kent Avenue, or as Todd so aptly nicknamed it, “Kent Avenue Speedway.” I actually write Kent Avenue Speedway in my training logs now. No joke.

Anna inspired a group of 12 of us to postpone our Friday drinking until roughly 11 a.m. over at the Blue Point Brewery in Siskiyou County – the first venture into the “long” portion of Long Island for many of us.  And bless her heart she designated herself driver of one of the three soccer momobiles we needed to cart us to a start of inconvenient location and unfortunate name in Patchogue, N.Y. (incorrectly pronounced puh-CHOO-ga).

*Results*: We had five runners finish under 1:10, multiple PRs and solid team representation at the beer tent. Anna rolled off the couch to a 4th place finish in her age group, within five seconds of top three status and a coveted Blue Point pint glass (awarded to top three of each category, not including top three overall for guys and gals, who got the superior beer vessel, a stein, mmmm, Munich). A split-second and perhaps just a costume choice behind Anna was Mishka,  5th in that same age group. Our great young hope Aviva forgot this was a 10 miler and proceeded to run her 10K pace, wrapping up fifth place in the 20-25 ladies. Joe Runner came in 9th in a highly competitive master’s category. Evan capped our under 1:10 group off in the longest distance he’s ever raced. I’m certain I was top ten in my weight class for beer consumed post-race. And just for romance’s sake, I think pretty much everyone else PRed (see full race results below). We had no representation in the Clydesdale category – someone mentioned there was one though I didn’t see it – but along those lines Tara Costa from Biggest Loser Season 3 was in attendance! And she continues to inspire with a respectable 1:39:17. Props to big fan Aviva for noticing and engaging in
conversation.

“Oh my god, are you Tara from the Biggest loser?”

“Hi, yeah, where’s the beer?”

“Oh, the beer tent is over there.”

“Great thanks, have fun!”

*Further details:* Put on by the Greater Long Island Running Club – GLIRC– sponsored by the Sayville Running Company and most importantly the Brewery, it was quite possibly the best value I’ve ever gotten in a race – and after all these market forces acting on and perpetrated by NYRR makes me really feel like NYRR can just go GLIRC itself from now on.

*What you get for your $30:* a scored race on a flat out-and-back 10-mile course through small-town streets (minor driveway issues), a micro-fiber t-shirt with a picture of running beers on it, Asics arm warmers, all-you-can-eat pasta (both rigatoni and mostaccioli), giant cupcakes of all flavors, bananas, donuts, juice boxes, bagels with all the peanut butter, jelly, cream cheese, etc. you can slather on them, live music, celebrity(ies?) sightings, and… beer unlimited. When I learned that this year’s registration was double that of last year’s I was certain it’d be one, at most two beers per person. Nope. All. You. Could. Drink. Of pretty much every beer they brew over there. My best experiences with NBR and beer always seem to revolve around Hoptical Illusion (see Scavenger Hunt). They had that, as well as Blue Point’s Oatmeal stout, Pale ale, Oktoberfest, Golden Ale, Extra Special Bitter, and a few others. I mean holy shit. Did I mention how delightful this was?

Us:

Place Name             Bib Gend Age Group Total Time     Pace
56    Max Frumes       270    M  10 30-34  1:06:12.8   6:38/M 
63    Jose LaSalle     458    M   9 40-44  1:07:18.1   6:44/M 
91    Anna McCusker    533    F   4 30-34  1:09:23.2   6:57/M 
92    Mishka Vertin    832    F   5 30-34  1:09:23.6   6:57/M 
98    Evan Schnittman  730    M  13 25-29  1:09:44.3   7:00/M 
112   Kenneth Allen     13    M  16 40-44  1:11:08.2   7:08/M 
153   Aviva Gat        285    F   5 20-24  1:12:57.0   7:19/M 
246   Beverly Walley   844    F  15 30-34  1:16:51.2   7:44/M 
251   Daeha Ko        1318    M  29 30-34  1:17:05.0   7:44/M 
385   Karen Marmon     512    F  25 30-34  1:21:50.0   8:12/M 
816   Marie Mcgill    1322    F  65 30-34  1:39:14.3   9:59/M 
898   Amanda Caton     108    F  45 25-29  1:46:05.1  10:38/M

Ben Starr – Not in attendance due to illness (prepping recipes to maintain MasterChef rep?)

Full Results.

-Max Frumes

March 10th, Saturday, 9:30AM – 3:00PM
McCarren Park Track – Driggs Avenue between Lorimer St. & Union Ave.

After months of harassing OSA and requesting permits, NBR has been approved for a track meet on *Saturday March 10th 2012* at McCarren track. More details in the weeks to come (including a plea for volunteers). The track will be ours until 3pm so keep your morning/afternoon free.

All the details & link to online sign-up on The Official McCarren Park Track Classic Page.

Let’s start putting positive thoughts for non rain/warm(ish) weather.

North Brooklyn Runners Gala 2012

Track to the Future: Enchantment Under the Sea Dance

Friday February 10th, 1955

Warsaw: 261 Driggs Ave, Greenpoint 11222

8:00 PM – 1:00 AM

Tickets and Details Here!

-NBR Gala Committee

Filed under: Events, Members, NBR Goings On ]]> http://northbrooklynrunners.org/2011/12/21/gala-is-here/feed/ 0 northbrooklynrunners NBR Gala Banner WEB http://northbrooklynrunners.org/2011/12/11/nbr-holiday-sweater-party/ http://northbrooklynrunners.org/2011/12/11/nbr-holiday-sweater-party/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:29:48 +0000 northbrooklynrunners http://northbrooklynrunners.org/?p=3389 ]]> Sunday December 18th
2:00 – 6:00 PM

The Gutter – 200 N14th Street, Brooklyn 11211

Come and bring your holiday cheer to NBR’s Holiday Sweater Party on December 18th! This festive event is a time for us to get together and save each other as the madness of the holidays sets in and right before the frost bite of the winter running season descends upon us. It will be at one of North Brooklyn Runner’s favorite haunts, The Gutter. So lets bring so much Holiday tackiness to that rickety old bowling alley, that the tinsel sticks to the walls for years to come. Holiday Attire maybe voluntary…. but lets be honest, you don’t wanna be the party-pooper looking drab at an NBR party. PLUS there will be a major award given out the best sweater of the night! Other tidbits to be excited about, bowling available for those interested, potluck style food (Gutter lets us bring in our own food so lets take advantage of that), and collecting coats for NYC coat drive.

• Major award for best sweater of the night
• Potluck stye food (Bring a dish to pass if you want)
• Bowling!
• Bring an extra coat for the NYC coat drive

Facebook invite here.

This is a special Jackrabbit Night…

All NBR members who go to the 14th St location of Jackrabbit and mention “NBR” to the cashier get 15% off all non-sale purchases!

Plus…that’s not all!

Toys for Tots

Jackrabbit will be collecting toys for the Children’s Harlem Hospital through the month of December for the Toys for Tots program. Toys should be unwrapped and appropriate for children ages 3-14 yrs. This event caps our collection period. YAY presents for kids!

AND, Jackrabbit is also hosting a running workshop at 6:30pm:

How to Prevent Common Running Injuries: (Tuesday, Dec 13th@6:30pm)

The holiday season is upon us however you’re still feeling those nagging aches and pains from your late season runs. Grab an unwrapped toy and join NY Sports Med as they lead a conversation about how to prevent common running injuries.

Facebook invite here.

Come out this Sunday for NBR’s first doughnut run! Meet at the usual spot, Northside of McCarren Park Track by the recycle bins at 1:15PM for a tour of three of Brooklyn’s best doughnut joints!

1. Peter Pan
2. Dun Well Doughnuts
3. Dough

The roundtrip route is nine miles total.  See you there!

-Brian C.

(Click on map for larger view.)

The late September Fifth Ave Mile was my next race after the early August five mile Team Championships and so once the mile came along, since it wasn’t very long of a race, I figured I could push more than I was accustomed to and not worry too much about the upcoming marathon season. With that result, along with Jennifer‘s pushing of the McMillan Calculator and I guess Sayo‘s pushing all made me believe that Chicago should be pretty simple but it was Todd that convinced me to race Chicago and not worry about New York “Always race the race in front of you since you don’t know what will happen after.” Still, I wondered if could really go all out in a marathon the way I did in a mile.

Well the race in front of me was actually Grete’s half, which I would run with a pain in my calf that I had not been able to shake off completely since before the Team Championships. A series of NBR folk led by Misha and Sayo convinced me that my Achilles and calf problems could go away with some stretching, rolling and the like. Come Greta’s the calf still hurt but I had Aja on my tail most of the way and I was a little tired of her beating me from behind both in the Scotland Run and the Brooklyn Half; plus, although I thought I was going to take Grete’s easy and rest for Chicago coming up the next weekend, Linda screamed out at me from her bike telling me to PR and “Fuck Chicago”. That brought me back to Todd: the race in front of me right there and then was the one I was in and not Chicago.

I took off three minutes from my half after having taken one and half minutes off the mile the weekend before. I knew that Aja wasn’t taking me from behind on that day; so I slowed to give that calf a break and I did confess to Summer that once I knew I had a PR I pulled back more still, prompting her to coin all my PRs from this year as “fake PRs”. During that week I took stretching and rolling more seriously. I hit the half way mark in Chicago the next Sunday only adding half a minute to my half PR in central park and took 26 minutes off my full from last year’s New York. The next weekend the Front Runners fantastically gave us a 20 mile marathon tour. I slept 8 hours the night before. I have yet to do that before any race. Those were the most comfortable 20 miles I ever ran. Iman, and the Front Runner that works at the Mexican consulate noted and reiterated the ease and speed of my pace just one week out from Chicago. Monday I felt light on my feet. Summertime’s Achilles and calf problems and spring’s planter and shin pains were all gone. Mid October felt incredible. New York neared and the notion of fake PRing was ringing in my head and I started to question how warn out I really was after Chicago if at all. Carla believed there was no way I would not drop whole minutes from Chicago because it would not be as hot in New York. Anna started talking about Boston. I can’t remember what @Karen said but she said it a lot. @charlie and I had the conversation about Boston early the morning of New York. Why not try it now, why not try the race in front of me -for Boston.

I needed to knock off 18 minutes. I knocked off another 10:36 total from New York the year before, the same number of minutes as my age now.

No Boston.

Although I never before believed I could get into Boston, now everyone I run with does.

@Sherry, post Chicago, called my drop from the 09 to 2010 to 2011 marathons an inspiration: post New York she didn’t need to say too much.

Chantel, my fallen Chicago comrade, filled my head with praise; exaggerated or not, it was important for her that I believed it and so I did.

I wasn’t initially registered for the next points race. I didn’t want to obsess over running and so I missed a chance to register for the New Orleans Marathon for virtually nothing. I started playing soccer to do something else for a bit but it still took me two weeks to take two consecutive days off since the New York Marathon. I couldn’t stay away.

@Ken Allen’s offering at track workout: “Everybody is wondering how fast you are going to get” was more serious than “Are you on steroids?”

I don’t know how fast I am going to get but I wanted to know how fast I am now.

Join the Voices became the next race in front of me.

@Katie Winther got me to return to tempo and keep coming back plus she continues to support my Sunday Night Kenyan Night Cap which I still feel does wonders for me.

Morning Doves with Ismael: his watch stopped -and I don’t use one- but he claimed we did low 6 for 6 miles plus…Low sevens was my mark just this spring for that distance in a race.  Ismael was confident about my chances on Sunday and at that point so was I until I could not haul my ass back up the Williamsburg Bridge.

Coffee Run: Lou saw me hauling my ass back up the Williamsburg Bridge: “when did you get so fast?”.

Race day came at the end of a ruff two weeks but that didn’t seem to matter. No sleep; but I have trained for that too. I didn’t know the race was about cancer research. I thought it was some Christmassy choir thing.

I started from behind in red and kept passing people except on those hills… Then I remembered Owen from the early Nite Owls’ days. “shorten your stride up hill…let your self fall on the down hill” tuck in your legs high and then bring them to the front and feel the turn over become automatic. -Raise the top of your head.  The hills were gone.

I know there were people cheering, I know I passed people and didn’t turn to look at them.

I didn’t need to look at you because all your faces were pretty damn clear in my mind.

In short, to find the answer to questions about my improvement is to just take a look at the kind of people you have around you: Go team.

-Fernando Feria