A Bronx Tale

It,s hard to fathom that today was my 7th race at famed Van Cortlandt Park in just three years not a bad return for someone who has only began to embrace xc running in the last two years.
Such was my desire to run here the first time in the 05 NYRRC XC 5K that I ran a week after the Athens Marathon,trust me you don,t want to run at the "East Coast Mecca"of xc running a week after a marathon!!!
Three months later I returned to run"Van Cortlandt Lite"as the 4x 2k loop for Winter Nationals was dubbed,not surprizingly my 06 NYRRC XC 5K not off the back of a marathon the week b4 went much better.
Last year I got my first taste of the 8k xc course as"Bad Boy IIII" chewed me up and spat me out,however a week later I returned to run 14 seconds slower than the year b4 but yet snag a 3rd place age group award at NYRRC 5K XC,and now here I was for the 08 version fresh off of last weeks 29.57.22.Bad Boy V and looking to bring down the curtain on my 40-44 career w/ another great performance.
Like last week the regular distance had to be altered,today became a 3 miler instead of the traditional 5k,.1 of a mile less to run!one thing not altered from previous years was the conditions,sunny and mild,a blessing in early to mid November.
3 mile warm up over I stretched b4 stripping down to race gear w/ 10 mins to spare,I spotted my two fellow Irishmen from West Chester John Cummings and Connor O Driscoll and said my hellos and wished them both good luck.
From the gun I was pleasently surprized how near the front of the field I found myself,rounding the second flagpole b4 entering Cow Path I counted off 17 runners ahead of me,untill exiting the back hills I was never lower than 20th,it didn,t dawn on me till post race that the reason I was as far up the field was probably the fact after back to back 8k and 5 mile races I was back down to 5k,much closer to my comfort zone,though in fairness I feel I proved over the past two weeks I,m capable of moving up in distance and handling my business.
As ever the uphills on the back hills proved to be demanding,the latter half of mile two is mostly uphill,but once I hit that first downhill it is very much all downhill for the final mile.
Off of the final downhill John Cummings blew by me,try as I might I couldn,t go w/ him,I guess that,s the difference between John,s 50 miles a week training and my 30 miles a week training,then again I,m sure John isn,t running 1.59 for 800m,4.10 for 1,500m,4.17 for the mile so horses for courses there!
Making the sharp right out of the back hills onto the final downhill I propelled myself downhill as fast as humanly possible,18th again,John was away for slate but"Shirtless Joe" whom I,d battled w/ along Cow Path was w/in range as we entered the final 600m,try as I might I couldn,t overhaul him,however he overtook 16th place inside the final 100m which seemed to brake him,w/ real estate running out I managed to overtake him to claim 17th right b4 the finish line.
17th overall,3rd in the 40-44 age group and anothe plaque and w/ an impressive time of 16.45.71,I was hoping to go sub 17 today and I tend to think had today been 5K I,d have gone sub 17 for the first time as a Masters runner,knowing how tough the Brandywine course is it,d be wishful thinking on my part to think I,ll get it there..............but stranger things have happened!
Managed my three mile cool down w/ John and Connor{three Irishmen in New York City..who knew??!!} and my fellow GPTC team mates Chuck and Bob to round out my weekly 30 milage at 30 miles,not bad off of two missed days of training and I returned home w/ 5 minutes to spare b4 the Man City Spurs game came on,the revival under Arry Redknapp continues,a 2.1 win to move us off the foot of the table,not a bad day

Going The Extra Mile

The key components in todays easy 6 miler were easy and the extra mile I threw in.
After last nites successful repeats and tomorrow,s race GP was at pains to stress the need for an easy run today period,factor in the additional mile I threw in at the end and you could see why and where he had a reason to be cautious,he needn,t have worried,I,ve never been the best first thing after I wake up runner ever and these days I,m greatful my early morning runs tend to be of the easy/recovery varity since mileage not speed are the primary goal and my pace tends to be just a notch above"soft shoe shuffle"
The extra mile came from my desire to still notch 30 miles this week dispite missing two days,upon compleation of todays 6 miler my weekly tally resides at 21 miles,my game plan is a 3 mile warm up,3 mile race,3 mile cool down tomorrow or at the very least a 3 mile warm up,3 mile race,1 mile cool down b4 coming home and if needbe crank out a 2 miler,I would prefer to do it all at Van Cortlandt Park period as the prospect of a 2-2&1/2 hr car ride home does little for the limbs knowing four loops of the lower loop of Clark Park are still required....plus Spurs Man City is on at 4.30pm!!!.
Anyways this is all food for thought for manana,today I feel a feet up,catch up on my dvr,d tv shows,dinner,Footie Tonite,shoot the proverbial w/ GP,cop"Juno"on Cinemax at 10pm kind of evening is on tap,sounds like a plan to moi.

A Positive Negative

It always feels good to be on a running track,the fact tonite was the first time since last Thursday made it feel even better than usual.
Off of a short week I was determined to make my sole repeat for the week count.....but not at the expense of Sundays race,ergo a 2x1,000m repeat,last week I,d managed to go 2.52.37-2.55.37,I was hoping to improve on that.
Conditions were ideal,shorts and tshirt weather,you have to grab those days w/ both hands in November,w/ my warm up miles,stretches,mile of strides taken care of it was time to have at it.
I usually look to open in 70 seconds and tonite was no different as I went 70,72,33-2.55.10.a good start,although if I could alter anything about it I,d angle towards a 31 second closing 200m for a 2.53.10.split.
Mild conditions or not I made sure to throw my jacket and 3/4 lenght bottoms on during my 12 minute recovery,I couldn,t risk getting a chill or allowing my muscles to get cold period,muchless w/ a race on tap Sunday.
#2,70 seconds to open is ambitious,granted I managed it last week but tonite I went negative mad style,72,70,30-2.50.28.my first negative 2x1,000m repeats in eons{June 26th to be exact!}
so I,m pleased w/ that.
Granted this week has been up and down,invoking early rest days and rain but tonite is a confidence and moral builder going into the weekend.

A Day Late,A Dollar Short,But It,s Ok

No run yesterday, a little too much rain for my liking plus an outstanding family commitment needed taking care of,no opportunity to talk about Obama,s victory{yea!}and Guy Fawkes Nite,although Spurs provided fireworks of their own tonite.4.0 at home to Dynamo Zagreb......boom!
An easy five miler this evening,I,ll do a 2x1,000m repeat session tomorrow{rain permitting}granted my three repeat session has gone for a burton this week,but w/ a little hustle I may still get my 30 miles in this week,glass half full I,ll be rested for Sundays NYRRC XC 5K

Listening,Change,Brass Ring

No workout yesterday,remembering what GP has said in the past about listening to what my body was telling me it told me yesterday that I was still feeling the effects of my weekend trilogy so rather than run a half hearted,half arsed 6x600m repeat or a going thro the motions 5 miler I opted to invoke my rest today at the start of the week and come this evening I felt all the better for it.
Granted my 3 repeat week went out the door w/ last nites decision to bag the 6x600m but I,m ok w/ that,upon discussions w/ Dibble this evening we,ll modify tomorrows 6x600m to 75/30-1.45s I think they,re doable,the 30 sec closing 200s will aid and abet my potential 4x400m relay coming up at Seton Hall on Dec 7th as GPTC seeks to improve our Millrose Games chances on Feb 6th.
Dispite drizzle and the now earlier darkening skies I got my 5 mile run in b4 going off to cast my vote,who I voted for is my business,all I will say is even now in 2008 we as Americans or in my case Irish Americans should not overlook the fact we live in a country where freedom to vote is given right,you only have to look at the debarcle of recent elections in Pakistan and Zimbabwe to realize how fortunate we are and we should never take that for granted.
As the nation awaits the outcome of one of the most eagerly awaited elections in decades I also have to wait for an outcome I,ve been working towards for the past few months,I had hoped today would put me over the edge but fate,the cruelest of mistresses intervened and I,m left still trying to grasp the brass ring,what,s another week I ask myself?,anything in life worth having should be something you fought for,earnt,not had handed to you on a silver platter.
"Even when you see me fall,my heart won,t let me down,because I know there,s better things to come,oh yeah and when life gets tough and I feel like heading off I hold onto a distant star
I,m thinking about all the things I,d like to do in my life"
"Distant Dreamer"
Duffy

Because It Matters

After compleating the third part of my weekend trilogy Duffy and Coldplay I was more than happy to not set the alarm for this morning,choosing to take advantage of the extra hour in bed,trust me I needed it!!
Having managed a two mile warm up and mile cool down I still required a 2 mile run to round out my weekly milage at 30 miles,I waited till mid afternoon and post chores to "lace em up"and hit Clark Park for two big loops and one small loop to log my two miles.
So why did it matter so much?to the untrained eye I,m sure there,s little difference between a weekly tally of 28 miles as oppossed to 30 miles but it mattered to me,why?since April for the past 31 weeks I,ve logged 26 30 mile weeks,my last non 30 mile training week was way back in mid May{technically mid September in the week leading upto 5th Avenue Mile and also the week of Nationals but both of those were stratigic}and I believe in the old adage"if it aint broke don,t fix it"even if the English major in me knows that gramatically that,s incorrect,the runner in me knows it,s balls dead accurate!!!
This coming week sees me tweak things slightly,doing my best Billy Bragg and going"Back To Basics"three repeat sessions per week for the next three weeks b4 a two week interuption to accomodate my final two xc races.
Glass half empty,the clocks going back means it,ll be darker earlier,glass half full I,m a week closer to indoor season..............any craic regarding Irishmen and empty glasses will not be taken lying down!!!!

Over/Under At The 30 Mark

Following a nite of grooving to The Sisters Of Mercy it was up early{5.45am early....:( }to get to Willow Grove to meet Chuck and Neil on our way to famed Van Cortlandt Park for the fifth running of Manhatten Track Club,s Bad Boy 8K XC.
Next Sunday marks three years since my VCP debut but this race saw me in the best xc shape of my life,last years race was one of the worst races of my career,probably my worst ever xc race but buoyed by Sundays 28.16.62 at the NJ C,ships I was confident of a much better performance.
The conditions were as different as chalk and cheese,last years overcast grey skies and biting wind were replaced by sunshine,blue skies and dare I say it a tad warm come gun time at 11.30am,in a field exactly half the size of last years I got into my stride early on,due to renervations to the soccer fields where the traditional starting line is all races now have a different start,subsequently the mile markers are now off....less splits to recall!!!
I feared my long week at work plus last nites rare nite out and subsequent early start may come back to haunt me,certainly going up the hills on the back hills felt taxing but I caught some major air on the down hills and went thro the finish at 5k in 18.03.
I knew Chuck was close to me b4 exiting the back hills and whether it was legit or not Armondo Olivara from CPTC told me Chuck told him he thought he,d beat me last week over 8k,he was clearly "well up for it" today and inbetween the first and second flagpoles Chuck made his move.
I knew to maintain my unbeaten run this xc season over Chuck I,d have to stay close to him,my superior finishing strenght would count for little if Chuck opened a sizable gap on me,and entering the cow path I overtook Chuck and picked off two runners to put some bodies between us as we went up Cemetery Hill.
Last year I felt I was dying up Cemetery Hill but I knew I had to work the up hills,Chuck is a demon on the downhills,ask Bob Rimkis and I could ill afford any margin of closure on my lead over him.
Cresting the final uphill I almost felt I was running on the spot,mercifully I couldn,t hear Chuck gaining on me as I flew the final two downhills to the final 600m path to the finish,switching my focus from what was happening behind me,I began to focus on the two runners ahead of me"I pity anyone ahead of you w/ 400m to the finish"wrote Ray in an email Friday and for the 5th time this xc season I proved it,s not just on the track I possess a kick finish,reeling both of them in I reached the finish in 28.57.22,my pre race target time was 30.00,dispite passing those two runners inside the final 250m I just missed a top 30 finish,33rd,but for the second week in a row first masters runner which earnt me a brand new Timex stop watch....which unlike my present one takes splits..........freakin sweet!!!
Even sweeter, another club xc record,the race was meant to be an 8K however w/ the soccer pitch renervations and new start the race was altered to a 5 miler and like the Osprey 6k I was the first GPTC runner to finish hence another xc club record and another in a long line of New York City big races for me,next stop on the Top Cat fall tour right back here for the NYRRC 5K XC next Sunday,w/ all this success at xc I need to add John Treacy to my list of great Irish inspirations,long b4 his Los Angeles 84 silver medal in the marathon Treacy was a two time World XC champion in 79 and 80 which earnt the nickname "The Mudlark"for his love of xc,it,s hard not to run in NYC w/out an Irish point of reference but for all nationallities compeating in the New York City marathon tomorrow this Irishman wishes ye all the best of luck being a two time finisher myself in 90 and 03.