Faith, Hope & Charity

This week is a recovery week. Fewer miles, fewer hills, and a moderate pace. This is welcomed with open arms as I have developed some pains which may need a few days of rest to repair. While I'm recovering it gives me a chance to reflect on a recent homily at St. Joseph's on faith, hope and charity.

When I googled faith, hope and charity, here is one of the responses,

The three great virtues that the New Testament calls for in Christians. Charity is often called love. According to the Apostle Paul, “Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

In any long run or race I seem to experience faith and hope. I have faith before I start a run, that I will complete it, and will do so in a better mental state than I began. I hope during the run that all body parts cooperate and finish the mission without any undue pains or complaints. Runners as a whole are an optimistic bunch, seeing obstacles (hills, bad weather, injuries) as things to be overcome, which will ultimately make you stronger.

What about Charity you ask? Well today I want to thank all of you who have supported my Team for Kids run with you financial support. There are many charities out there and people asking for your money, all the time. I want to express my sincere gratitude to you, for choosing to support this charity. It is my conviction that running does help promote positive thinking and healthy living, and I have faith that your donations will help inspire some young runners to become greater (students, citizens, adults, runners, parents) than they ever dreamed they could be. I hope the Team for Kids program grows ever stronger in the coming years as well, serving kids throughout the country.

So here is a special thanks to: Martha, Jeff, Dayna, Ken, Ron, Anton, Hubert, Doug, Manus, Lisa, Thomas, Brad, Alex, Peter, Carol, Donna, Allyson, Kenneth, Stephen, Douglas and Mom!

Thank you for sharing your love!

Positively,

Peers

Sweet 16

Today's inaugural NYC half marathon was limited to the first 10,000 runners who signed up. When I went to pick up my race packet Saturday, I found I was not listed as a participant. Oh Oh! After some checking and waiting and discussing how I had signed up thru Team for Kids, I was given a number. Today I proudly wore entry number 12,805. Hey I may have gotten the last number...okay, kinda cool.

I arrived in Central Park at 5:30 am, and was pretty surprised to see thousands of runners already there. It was still pitch black! Our Team for Kids group met in Central Park at 6 am, stretched and then in our separate pace groups, ran 3miles, ending at the starting line of the race. This is where my number came in handy, because at this point, just about all of the 12,804 runners were ahead of me.

Once the race started it took our 8:30 pace group about 8 minutes to get to the official starting line and we slowly moved forward. The first 3 or 4 miles were spent mostly dodging other runners and trying to move ahead of them. No real pace can be set in this situation, you just do the best you can. The course was one loop around Central Park, then south on 8th Avenue. We finally found open running space as we exited Central Park, and just then the skies opened up and the rain poured down.

We were suddenly soaking wet, shoes a bit heavier and now dodging large puddles as well as other runners. Before we knew it we were in Times Square, and our pictures were being broadcast on the large NASDAQ screen overhead. At 42nd Street we turned right and headed to the west side highway. At this point we had run about 8 miles. I found myself tiring a bit and tried some of the Zen words and some Gatorade, and onward we went. Before we knew it we were on the Westside highway, a straight flat road 4 miles to the finish. Now it was just a mental game, counting down to the end, 40 blocks to go, 3 miles to go, 2 miles to go. One of our group members said, he was going to push the pace to the finish. We all increased our speed the final two miles and finished in 1 hour 47 minutes, for an average pace of 8:10 per mile.

Our target today was to run 15 minutes at 8:30 per mile, then run 5 minutes at 8:00 per mile. This was not going to happen based on the number of people, so we thought we'd try to run 2 miles at pace, the one mile faster, then repeat until finished. We were told not to worry about racing this event, that this was a training run, learning how to run in big groups and how to pace in a longer race. I think we met our goals today. At the end, I was tired, but not completely spent. Could I have tacked on another 10 miles today to complete a marathon? Well, maybe, but not comfortably. Good thing there are 8 weeks left to get prepared!

Here is a video from today's race from the NYRRC.

If you think you'd like to try a half marathon, try to get into NYC next year. It was a nice course and lots of fun.

Happy trails....

TGIF !

Was this a long week or am I just getting old (or both?).

My feet and right achilles hurt this week, but I plugged ahead each morning. Thursday was the hardest day. I ran three loops of a hilly course for a 9 mile morning. Friday is recovery, only 2 miles to get the kinks out and Saturday is a day off.

Sunday is a 16 mile day. Here is the plan. Wake up about 4:30 ayem, eat a banana and drink some gatorade and drive to Central Park in New York. Search for street parking and joining the Team for Kids group about 5:45. Run 3 miles with the group at 6 am, then line up for the NY half marathon and run 13 miles, around Central Park, then south thru the city to Battery Park City. The race begins at 7 am, so I should be finished by about 8:40. Then I need to find my way back to Central Park via subway, find my car and head for home to "start the day". I should be able to make 10:45 mass! Ahh the things we do for fun!

I had a few comments on my postings this week. My friend "Carla" questioned how we ran 1 mile underwater during the Detroit Marathon. We actually did it without getting wet or holding our breath...we went thru the "Windsor Tunnel", which goes under the Detroit river.

My pal Mike Beauregard shared the coaches Zen comments with one of his marathoning friends, who said her only Zen words during a marathon are....
"... gee I hope I don't die. :)"For inspiration this weekend, just remember, we are doing it to raise money for the kids running programs. Here is part of my team..... Cheers!

Runnin' buddies

Amazing how much better a long run becomes when it is shared with others. Here is our group, (minus Michael), prior to last weekend's 14 miler. I'm on the left, then there is Mario, Oscar and Bisi. We are all part of the 8:30 communte group, and seem to have one of the smallest groups of the team. No matter. We ran together, chatted a bit, helped pull and prod each other up the hills, and pushed together to finish the final 4 miles downhill.

I doubt I would have run this 14 mile course without the support of others. I seem to be able to push myself more with one or more running friends. In preparation for a marathon, the key seems to be the long training runs. Get in enough of these and the marathon will be completed without too much discomfort. Skip the long training runs, and the marathon becomes harder with each step past 16 or 18 miles or wherever you "hit the wall".

So here is a special thanks to all my running friends now, from the past, and those yet to come. Thanks for the companionship, and sharing some good runs together. And thank you to Team for Kids for providing the opportunity to train with a like-minded group! I am enjoying the training more than ever!

One of my college running buddies now lives in Alaska, and has recently completed his second 50 mile race. He and I ran Grandma's marathon together, as well as the Detroit International marathon (it starts in Windsor Canada and you run one mile under water!) . He sent me the photo below where he is "doing his water running" in Salmon, Alaska.
Some people really know how to train! Kudos Alex!

Monday Moanin !

Yesterday's 14 mile run thru Rockefeller Park was challenging. The first 10 miles had 5 hills, one of them 1 mile long and the others about half a mile. I said I didn't mind hills...ha, ha, ha...who was I kidding? Today my legs are a bit sore and it is a day of recovery which is good.


Coach Adam gave a little "Zen of running" spiel prior to the start, telling us that at times during tough runs, we need to find our own "power words" which will decrease our stress levels, reduce heart rates, and help up persevere. Here is the coache's email from early Sunday morning.


"It's 3:42am here in NY and time for you to finish off those last dreams of marathon greatness before heading out to Rockefeller Park to run with the deer, cows, pigs and geese.

Patience,
Cadence,
Strong,
Fly,
Relax,
Breathe.

Find the words of energy and affirmation that make your body react positively to your effort. Do different words have more power and influence under different circumstances? Try them out. Say them out loud as you run today through the hills and pastures of this park or wherever you will be putting in your 14.

Today, you are a marathoner!

- Coach Adam"


I have read a bit on zen, and enjoyed "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence" and the "Zen of Golf". I'll have to see if I can find a good book on the zen of running. Let me know if you know of any!

I have added the link to Rockefeller State Park, it is well worth a visit!

http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=60

Cheers!

Peers

Friday August 18th

As the first post of this blog, let me say I am excited to be running thus year's marathon! I have not run a marathon since 1999, so I feel like I am starting over from scratch, even though this will be my 9th marathon. I figured I didn't have the time to spend training anymore with two grade schoolers in the house, a steel trading business to run and a host of other commitments. However, I have found the time to run in the early mornings and have enjoyed the renewed energy the longer runs have given me. It also gives me more time to ponder life's ups and downs as I run, so I'll share some with you.

The Team for Kids group schedules a weekend group run and this weekend we'll run 14 miles in Rockefeller Park in Westchester. I have not run there before and am looking forward to it. It is supposed to be a hilly course, which is good! I don't seem to mind running hills much, and they really help increase your fitness level if done regularly. At the conclusion of the Sunday 14 miler, I will have run about 40 miles this week. I am feeling pretty good at this point of my training.

For inspiration this week, check out the following... about a father and son who compete together.

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

There is a link to a video of this dynamic duo on the right side of this page.



I hope this helps keep you strong!

Peers