Empire State Of Mind

"New York,concrete jungle where dreams are made of there's nothin'you can't do now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new,big lights will inspire you let's hear it for New York,New York,New York"
Empire State of Mind-Jay Z and Alicia Keys

Ah shit!anytime I'm quoting Jay Z you know I did the business up in NYC!!!
Let me back track first,this morning inspite of not getting home till 1.30am and not hitting the zzzzs till 2.20am I was up by 10am,and out on the road by 11.20am to do my 9 miler to round out my weekly mileage at 40 for the week.
Prior to my run I did my online registration for Masters Indoor Nationals,I'd deflected questions as to what events I'd compete in in Boston till after my 3,000m yesterday,now that I know I've got the chops for the 3k it's the 3,000m,mile and 800m.
And so to yesterday............

It was a long day for just over 9 mins worth of work but I wouldn't trade it,out by 10.45am and over to 30th St train station,knowing a long day was on tap I grabbed lunch b4 taking the R7 to Trenton at 11.49am and then catching the NJ Transit train to Penn Station at 12.59pm and arriving in New York by 2.35pm.
The only minor glitch of the day was the C train not running,no worries hopped the E to 42nd St b4 switching to the A train and arriving at The Armory by 3.15pm,however it was closer to 7pm b4 I ran.
Killing time between 3.15pm and 7pm was no problem,although I was only one of three Greater Philadelphia athletes here I knew several of the Central Park athletes and Shore AC in attendance, a perk of being no stranger to running in New York.
Given how glorious the weather was outside I did my mile warm up outside running around the block,passing Coogan's..........no I didn't stop in for a "swift half " or a pint of Guinness!! but I did think that maybe I could've double dipped this weekend,Mac C'ships Saturday and Coogan's 5K Sunday,maybe next year.
Clearly I wasn't rushing back to Philly for Sunday's Mid Atlantic C'ships at Glen Mills, I despise Glen Mills but I was willing to make myself available for a 4x4 or 4x8 relay....however due to time constraints there were no relays.....wtf!!! how can you have a Championship meet w/out relays??? and they wonder why I boycott the Mid Atlantic C'ships,put it at a decent venue and maybe I'll show up to compete.

It was decided to combine the masters,open and women's 3,000m into 1 race,there were only 2 women to begin w/ and frankly 18 athletes on the track for a 15 lap race isn't a big deal,I was seeded 10th and lined up on the second line.
For once my reaction to the gun was good but my one mistake was when we broke at the beginning of the back straight,being lined up in lane 4 I went around the four athletes from the line up ahead of me,that second I lost going wide into lane 5 instead of inside them into lanes 2 or 3 cost me from getting onto the end of the lead pack which was already strung out,effectively I was in no mans land too far off of 7th but clear of 9th and the rest of the field.
Why there was no clock at the start/finish line is beyond me,for a championship meet I expect a running clock,I'm sure all athletes competing over 400m and up would echo that sentiment.
I clocked 36 seconds for my opening lap,BDA...balls dead accurate,I then clocked 1.11 at 400m,after that I can't remember my splits.

I forget on which lap I lapped my first runner but I do want to give props to the lead female runner, coming up the home straight she heard me coming and moved out to lane 2 to allow me to pass her,kudos for knowing your track etiquette young lady.
I wasn't immune to being lapped, the leader Chris Pannone passed me w/ 5 laps to go on route to a 8.27 winning time.
It almost threw me off for a split second,Ian Brooks announced there were 4 laps to go but he was referring to Chris but for a split second I though I had 4 laps to go,luckily I quickly realized I had 5 laps left.
The draw back of no clock meant I was running blind the last couple of laps,once Chris crossed the finish line the running clock on the scoreboard stopped so I had no idea what my actual time was.

Going through the bell lap Chris and Atilla had already finished,coming off the top turn I saw two runners ahead of me whom I already lapped,since I was going to have to pass them out in lane 2 I dropped the hammer for the final 150m,but crossing the finish line I didn't know my time.
W/ that strong finish two things spring to mind,the increase to 40 miles a week{Thank You Francis and John for drilling it into me that I needed to up my mileage} hasn't blunted my speed as I've gotten stronger but also it harps back to getting detached from the chase pack early on,who knows the outcome of my race if I'd gotten up w/ them,lessons learned for next time,there's nearly always a next time.

I did my 3 loop/mile cool down outside of The Armory b4 returning to get changed and bounce ideas off of Atilla who finished 2nd,he's a 3,000m/5,000m guy who gave me some pointers for my training,not radically different from what I'm doing now but they will make a difference.
Finally the moment of truth,the results were ready,8th place in 9.13.66.
I'd slashed 25 seconds off my pr of 9.38.35 and 12 seconds off the club record of 9.25.4 and answered questions about moving up to 3,000m and more than likely 5,000m outdoors.
Upping my mileage to 40 miles a week has worked though I may need to add more but for now I was going to enjoy the moment b4 getting my head around my next race 2 Miles here at The Armory{where else??} and the the 3,000m at Indoor Nationals.
I turned down an invite to Coogan's albeit reluctantly as I knew I was looking at a long enough nite commuting back to Philly.

Out of The Armory by 8pm I was at Penn Station in time to catch the 9.01pm NJ Transit train to Philly to catch the 11pm R7 back to 30th St and potentially be home by 12.30am,however fate intervened.
Sitting on the platform at Trenton I got talking to Melinda a Villanova senior{I know what are the odds right??}who was arriving back from Antigua via Newark International airport,like I said we got chatting as it helped pass the time but when Melinda mentioned trying to be back to 30th St by 11.49pm to catch the R5 to the Main Line and Villanova I knew that chances were we'd arrive just after the R5 had left....unless it was running late....what the frick it's always running late when I take it to Ardmore to work out at Lower Merion.
Sure enough we got back to 30th St at 11.52pm and the R5 was on time and already gone,in fact I think it passed us as we were approaching 30th St.
I wouldn't have felt right leaving a woman by herself for almost an hour at 30th St so I offered to sit w/ her till the 12.49am R5 came in.
Sure I'd miss the final el train of the night and have to take my chances w/ the trolley and or nite owl bus but after a day when so many of my prayers were answered I felt the need to give something back so I sat w/ Melinda till the 12.49am R5 showed up,I wished Melinda all the best w/ her final semester at Nova and said I'd be thinking of her come Graduation in May,Melinda wished me good luck w/ my running.
At a time when I can't buy a date to save my life it was nice to know that fate still exists and if I believe in it enough who knows Ms Right could still be out there.
Home by 1.30am,wrote a blog blurb to report my pr b4 emailing Chuck to let him know the club website needs to be updated w/ the new 3,000m club record.

Eye eye!Spurs had drawn 0.0 at Fulham in the FA Cup 1/4 finals at Fulham so we get another crack at them and a place in the semi finals at White Hart Lane on March 24th and even got to cop the highlites at 2am on Fox Soccer Report b4 calling it a nite thus bringing down the curtain on another memorable New York race,no wonder it ranks as my second home.