Runner Search

Report by: Frank Tai

First of all, I owe a huge THANKS! to everyone who helped me in my training this last month by either running with me or cheering me on during the club’s Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday workouts. I definitely couldn't have done it without all of you.

Second, I hope it’s OK that I’m writing this about a half-marathon whereas these are usually about marathons (Stephen?). I run one race a year and personally it’s a great way for me to remember past accomplishments (and failures).

Third (and the punch line), I completed yesterday’s Staten Island Half-Marathon in 1:41 (7:47 pace) and qualified for next year's New York Marathon.

Now on to the minutiae, so feel free to delete. I’m afraid this may end up being long…

Why run a half-marathon in New York?

There is no place like New York, with it’s sights, shows, food, people - I need to get my fix every year (I’ve done 13 of the past 14 NYC Marathons).

The NYC Marathon is truly an event, not only world class and the largest in the world (52,000 finished in 2018), it takes over the city, so as a runner you are part of the celebration. Also, New York was my first marathon, so that makes it special for me.

The only way to guarantee entry into the marathon as a non-local is to run the marathon or one of their (NYRR’s) 5 half-marathons in under a qualifying standard. It ain’t easy, ~15 minutes faster than Boston, - but all of you could do it.

Why NOT run the NY Marathon or a NY Half?

Most people have either a love or hate relationship with New York City. It is crowded - there are lines everywhere, for everything from transportation to restaurants to shows to... It’s expensive - hotels rooms start at $300, about the same for Broadway shows, marathon entry is a whopping $255. Getting to the race is a hassle - taking as long as Boston (about 4 hours), much longer than any other Marathon Major.

My Training

I did my usual transition to running (from cycling) 5-6 weeks ago. Because of two last-minute trips overseas and to New York, I had 3 Saturday runs and about the same number of track workouts. That was enough (for a half, definitely not for a full) especially given the support from team members. My three Saturday runs were 10, 11 and then 12 miles at close to the pace I needed to run. My three Tuesday track workouts were Eric’s usual killers that have you feeling you want to vomit at the end. And my two Thursday Mahurin workouts were tempo’s which rounded out my training. Because of potential knee and plantir issues, the only other running I did was an occasional jog on the sand. But like I said, that was enough.

The Race & The Weekend

I’m going to say it now and probably again, "Trust Your Training” (I don’t recall if I learned this from coach Eric or a previous coach).

At track, 5 days before the race, I tweaked a quadricep. I immediately shut it down so it wasn’t too bad (it was in the last run so I don’t understand why it happened). I did not run again before the race - instead I did E-Stim, did some sauna, got some massage therapy, etc.

A few days ago I started developing a cold (it’s now a full-blown cold).

I had planned on doing so many fun things in New York that I hadn’t allowed enough sleep time (only ~5 hours/night). So I was pretty sleep deprived at the race start.

But that didn’t matter, because I knew that if my quad cooperated, I could run according to plan.

Oh also, a good thing (a really good thing) - in the last week I discovered that I could run 5 minutes slower and still qualify. You see, I had been looking at the qualifying time for my current age group. I’m at the top of the age group and my qualifying time for the 2020 marathon will be based on my age on race day. 5 minutes, 23 seconds per mile, that’s huge.

I arrived at the start. Now I have to admit that I’m quite boring in races. I find a pace group and stick with it as long as I can. The only question is which group. The 1:40 group (7:37 pace) was close to my plan after my last Saturday run. The 1:45 group (8:00 pace) would put me just under my qualifying time. What the heck - I knew I had the training for the quicker 1:40 group and in spite of my sleepy eyes, coughing and running nose, I decided to join them. Oh also, the weather was a perfect 55°, it was dry & sunny, there would only be an 8 MPH headwind during the 2nd half and there were just 2 hills at miles 8 and 10 - much like San Vicente and Ocean Boulevards in September.

The start was uneventful, just the jostling typical of a race with 13000 starters. Like at all NYRR races, there was water and Gatorade at every mile, and digital clocks at every mile and 5K. My quad was “OK”, it didn’t feel quite right but didn’t hurt like 5 days earlier - and it was probably helpful that we started slowly because of the crowds. There was a turn-around at mile 6 so you could see the leaders (btw, that’s also a nice feature of the Tokyo Marathon). From early on, our pacers kept telling us to be prepared for the hill at mile 8. They said they were going to hold pace on it so I decided to let them pull ahead and then I’d catch them over the following mile. That worked. My intent was to do the same on the hill at mile 10. But a combination of how my quad felt, how my cardio felt (I was starting to labor) and the knowledge that I had 7 minutes in the bag (relative to my qualifying time) convinced me to let the group go. It wasn’t worth jeopardizing qualifying to run a couple of minutes faster (I knew that I was not going to podium, for that I needed to run 30 sec/mile quicker). So I eased it in those last 2 miles, finishing 2 minutes slower than my group, but well under my goal/qualifying time. In the end, I think my decision to slow down at mile 11 was right because my legs are sore and my feet pounded - so I know my effort was decent.

Overall, the race and our time in New York was great. After the race, I got a Chinese foot massage and then we saw our 3rd show of the weekend, got 4-5 hours of sleep and then boarded our early flight home.

If you are considering running a NY race, let me know. I can give you lots of advice (I’ve run the marathon 16 times). But even better if you are doing the marathon because I’ll likely be there.

Thanks again everyone at the TCLA workouts. Whenever I show up after months and months off, it’s great that it feels the same and that I can just slip into my workouts from the last time I was there. I sure hope that never changes.