peace out, nyc

Tonight I sit at 147 West 136th Street for the final time. I was thinking about spending my final night in NYC at Dive Bar or Professor Thom's, but it seems fitting that I spend my final night in my apartment in Harlem. 


I am spending my final night alone as my wife is in Connecticut for business. Tomorrow night we will be heading to Ohio for the weekend (and my first 50 mile ultramarathon) on our way to our new home in Chicago.


On Monday I start at Red Frog Events. I am extremely excited to work there and am excited to move into an awesome apartment with my wife and sister...but I will always miss NYC for a number of reasons.


NYC will always hold a special place in my heart. For one thing, it was the first "real" place Liz and I have had. Sure, we lived in Princeton for two years, but we lived in married housing, which was basically a glorified dorm room. I feel like our Harlem apartment was our first real place: we moved here by ourselves, spent the huge majority of time with each other, and got to explore our new city together. I'll never forget this apartment or the memories that we made in it.


I've also had some amazing times in NYC: running in Central Park, seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from a $15 million apartment on Central Park West, seeing Wicked and The Book of Mormon on Broadway, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and having brunch in Vinegar Hill, exploring Bottle Neck Beach, catching a subway and being at the foot of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, ice skating in Bryant Park, taking classes at Columbia, interning at Redeemer, running through Harlem, doing a half marathon with Liz in Central Park while it's snowing...so many memories that I will keep for a lifetime.


Walking through Harlem tonight on my way to our favorite pizza shop, I couldn't help but reminisce about the amazing times that we have had in this amazing city. I definitely had a moment with myself. This past year has been amazing.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I love NYC. Not only that, but I loved being a New Yorker this past year. 


I'm looking forward to Chicago and it makes it a little easier knowing that we are moving to another worldclass city...but I'll never forget our time in NYC. Just me, my wife, our pup, and the city that never sleeps.

last long run (and nasa)

So today I set out for my final long run before my 50 miler on May 12. I set out to run at least 20 miles. I left our apartment in Harlem and went west to the Hudson. I stopped to watch the space shuttle being flown over the Hudson. It was an amazing site.

I then ran through Riverside Park to Central Park at 96th St. I ran a Central Park loop, then a bridle path loop, then another Central Park loop when my watch, which I have neglected to recharge, pooped out around 14.7 miles. I ran another Central Park loop (6.3 miles), so I ended the day with about 21 miles.

I felt good and don't feel too sore tonight (we'll see how tomorrow looks when we get there), so I'm encouraged. 50 miles will be a beast, but I'm sure I can do it!

Keep running!!

cold & rainy

This morning I had some things to do for work and for our apartment application in Chicago. I wanted to get out early for a run, but it just didn't happen today.

So I left for a run early this afternoon and wanted to do around 20 miles. I got to 3.75 and hit the curb at 96th & Broadway oddly and felt the tightness in my right calf act up again. So annoying!!

I'm going to stretch it tomorrow and see how many miles I can do. Hopefully upwards of 10. I'll have to save my 20 miler until Friday since I'll be in Princeton on Wednesday for work.

Keep running!

a bit short

Today I was hoping to run at least 13.1 miles.

I ran from Harlem over to the Hudson to a new route through Riverside Park (a very nice find, which I will frequent from now on) down to 96th Street and then over to Central Park. During my second loop around Central Park at 10.75 miles into my run I felt a little twinge in my right calf (high on the muscle). I stopped immediately. I've only had one injury during my running career and it was my right calf (high on the muscle) about two years ago. It sidelined me for two weeks. I obviously didn't want a rerun of that situation.

So, today was a bit disappointing because I didn't get the mileage that I wanted, but I least I hit double digits. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I don't want to take the day off because I know I will most likely have to take Friday off because I will be working in Princeton all day and probably won't get back home in time for a run. We'll see how it turns out. I guess two days of rest is better than pushing it with an injury when you are less than a month away from a 50 miler!

Keep running!!

long, short, long

To many people the life of an ultrarunner is the culmination of a lifetime of poor decisions...I can't say I disagree.

I submit into evidence yesterday's decision: an 80 degree day with zero cloud cover and I decided to go out for a 20 miler with only 2 carb gels and no sunscreen. Not the greatest decision I have ever made in my life, but I needed the mileage. Needless to say I slept well last night...save for the sunburn,

Today I went out for a 3.5 miler around the bridle path in Central Park. I wanted to do at least 3 miles just to stay loose.

Tomorrow I'm heading out early (before it gets too hot) to do at least 13.1. I'd like to do closer to 15, but we'll see how I'm feeling after my second loop around Central Park.

I leave you with Anton's reflections on injury, being patient, and moving into your truck.

Keep running!!

i'm back

Alright, enough time off. It's time to get back into the swing of blogging. Sorry for my absence, which I'm sure you've felt created a large void in your life. I apologize for any pain this may have caused you.


I'm ramping up my mileage lately because my 50 miler is less than a month away. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it will be worth it.


Today I ran 11.88 miles. I ran through Harlem, down Riverside Drive to 96th, and then to and around Central Park (once on the road loop and once on the bridle path loop). 


I've been running in the new New Balance MT110s (pictured), which were designed by Anton Krupicka for running in trail ultramarathons. He runs in the Minimus for shorter distances, but needs the support of the MT110s for ultras. I like them because they are minimalist, yet they have more padding than the MT00s (the new Minimus Zeros) or the MT20s in which I have been running. They also have a rock plate in the forefoot which is much appreciated. I've been wearing them without socks and haven't had any issues with blistering. They wick away moisture really well and don't have any problem areas. I found the MT20s to have a large stitch near the arch of the foot that would cause blisters on longer runs. The MT110s don't have that problem.


In other news, I'm down 20lbs since January 1 (from 196 to 176). I still want to break into the 160s before my ultra. I may have to resort to drastic measures and stop drinking beer until then. We'll see how it goes!


Keep running!

update

Shot of the JKO Res that I took this fall. My favorite
part of the Bridle Path loop in Central Park.

So it's been about two weeks since I've updated...sorry for the lapse! I've been working a lot as well as studying a bunch for midterms. Since they are on Thursday and I've already studied, I decided a quick update would be a nice break before Biggest Loser.


I've been consistent with my P90X and Insanity workouts. I've also been consistent in running...but, truth be told, I did not run the day before or the day after my ultramarathon. It's a shame. I had a pretty good streak going but the day before the ultra I was working in Princeton all day and just barely made it back to the city for the reservations my wife and I had that night. The day after my ultra I was just too sore to move. Running would have made it worse.


So I've now failed with both of my New Year's resolutions. Oh well. I'll need some rest days as I ramp up my training for my 50 miler in May, so it's probably for the best. 


Today I did Legs and Back as well as Ab Ripper X for P90X and I did Max Interval Plyo for Insanity. I also ran around the Bridle Path in Central Park (3.8 miles) and rode my bike about 10 miles to classes. Not a bad day.


Tomorrow I will be working in Princeton again, but I hope to get back with enough time to do another 3–4 miler. We'll see how work goes.


I leave you with an excellent article by Anton over at his Running Times blog about what he thinks about while he runs. If you have a runner in your life and tend to wonder what they think about while they are out running for hours at a time, give this a read. It gives you a little insight into how us runners think.


Keep running!