Race Report: Ted Corbitt 15K

Date: December 8th, 8:30 am

Distance: 15K

Place: Central Park, New York, NY

Weather: 29 F, 54% humidity

Finishers: 4,971 total (2,553 men / 2,418 women)

Official time / pace:  1:31:02 / 9:46 min/mi

Swag: Long-sleeved tech shirt

 

This 15K race honors the life of Ted Corbitt, who was the first president of New York Road Runners (NYRR) and the first African-American to compete in the Olympic marathon. During his life, he ran over 223 marathons and ultramarathons, so many cool achievements!!!

Going into this thing, I was not really feeling the race because the weather report called for mid 20 F temperatures. Y’all know that I don’t mess around with super cold or super hot weather. However, I am glad that it did not rain or snow.

I was not feeling mentally strong going into this race, because of a couple of struggling ass short runs during the week. I did a (near) 5 mile run on Thursday, and it was so much of a struggle to finish. WTF? I just ran a marathon last month, but I was struggling to finish a 5-mile run. Since this race takes runners through two loops in Central Park, the plan was to run the first loop and do 400m and/or 800m walk/run intervals for the remaining distance.

Getting to the start was a little of a struggle because I did not set my alarm the night before. Why do I self-sabotage myself so much? I woke up at 6:30ish in the morning and was like I can sleep for about 15 more minutes. Yeah, I guess that 15 minutes became 60 minutes. Well, why did you do that? The race starts near 102nd St. in Central Park, and I live in Central Harlem in the low 120s. Basically, the distance is about a mile or so from the start. I am so glad that I laid out all of my clothes the night before. At 7:30 am, I started preparing the coffee, took a poop (while smoking a cigarette), threw on my clothes, hopped on a Citibike, and biked to Central Park just as the race was starting. I did not mind starting near the back of the pack (even though I was assigned to the B corral) because I knew that I was going to be a little lot slow for this race. Come to think of it, I did not stretch before starting.

Ok, let’s get to the damn race.

The race started off really slow even for being near the back. I think the cold made folks a little cautious about slipping. Also, I think many folks are still coming off of the marathon and were doing this race to finish up their 9+1 requirements for next year’s NYC Marathon. I think that I had the perfect amount of clothes for this race/weather. I never felt too cold or too hot.

Head: a Baseball cap and a head/ear band

Upper body: A singlet, two long-sleeved technical tees, and a very, very light hoodie

Lower body: A pair of shorts, tights, and over the calf socks

Hands: I only needed my gloves for the bike ride to and from Central Park

The crowd was pretty packed for most of the first loop (~4 miles). I decided that it would be too much work to zig in and out of the pack to pass people, so I figured that I would just “enjoy” the race. Although the weather was below freezing, I’m really glad that it was a sunny morning. Actually, it was a very picturesque run. Too bad that I could not take many pictures . . . dumb iPhone. I remember last year that it snowed a little bit towards the end of the race so this year’s race was leaps and bounds better than last year’s.

Finishing the first loop, we were able to see some of the elite runners finish. Man, they were so freaking fast. Ok, the annoying part of the run where I wasted some time.

I wanted to shoot a quick video of the top three runners, but my phone died. It’s getting that time of the year when my phone does not do well in cold temperatures. Before shooting the video, the phone’s battery was at 60%. After the quick, five-second video, the battery went to 2%, and the phone died. I am so glad

that I had my iPhone external battery/case. If you are in the market for a case/external battery, I highly recommend this case from Gasopic ( *** ). I completely charged my phone back to 90% and there was still 75% of reserved juice in the case. Although it’s a little bulky, I love this thing.

I think that my second loop went better than the first. Although I have not really investigated my splits, I definitely was passing folks and did intervals between two light posts starting at mile 7.

Interesting randomness:

• I ran a better marathon this year.
• I ran a faster Ted Corbit last year.

What’s the point of this info? I figure since I was in better shape this year, based on my marathon finish, I would do a better job for this year’s Ted Corbitt run. I guess that you can never use one metric for predicting your finish for a run.

Last year’s Ted Corbitt 15K

This year’s Ted Corbitt 15K

Eh. Oh well . . . what’s done is done.

With the conclusion of this race, I earned my 9+1 guaranteed entry for next year’s TCS NYC Marathon. 

Man, there were so many people waiting in a line to take a picture with the 9+1 sign. I swear, NYCers love to wait in lines for the most random shit. I pretty much took a selfie and kept it moving. It was far too cold to be bullshitting around in a line. 

I hopped on a Citibike and rode my ass home, and the BF had breakfast waiting for me!!!!

• Anyone else doing NYRR’s 9+1 program for next year’s marathon? If so, which race was your favorite?

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Random Thursdays

I’m trying to get back into my weekly flow of blogging again. I seem to have fallen off of the wagon with blogging . . . although, it’s not like I have a million followers, so whatever. 

Ok, let the randomness begin

• What the hell are the kids (not) learning in high school? Last week in my Biology lab section, I was lecturing about X-linked disorders, which meant a discussion about hemophilia among the various royal families. Please tell me why none of my students knew anything about the Bolshevik revolution? Not even my student who has an Eastern European background.
• Why do people enter and exit the elevators so damn slow? I’m like hurry the hell up and get out of the goddamn elevator because I have 80 million emails that need responses.
• I start my United NYC Half Marathon training plan next Monday. I’m a little afraid because I HATE running in the cold (and in the extreme heat for that matter).
• From the start of my training period, I’ll have 69 days until the Half-Marathon.
• Speaking of 69 and being random. I have a tattoo of the cancer astrological sign (a horrible mistake from my early 20’s). Back then, I kind of went a little crazy when I moved to NYC – I had red hair, got a couple of tattoos and a few piercings. Anywho, most people think I got a 69 tattooed onto my shoulder. 

I mean, it’s a 69 if you turn your head to the damn side

• I still do not really understand Instagram. Maybe I’m doing it wrong. BTW, you can find me @Swosei12.
• My office group is having a holiday potluck. What should I make? Someone already stole my plan to make a tres leches cake. 
• Why are many of my favorite YouTube personalities beefing with each other. I swear they are all in cohots with eat other. 
• Woo hoo!!! Saturday is the last race (Ted Corbitt 15K) that I need to run for my NYRR’s 9 + 1 program for 2019’s NYC Marathon. 

Ted Corbitt 15K

• This bar should change the sign to say – You can pee for a fee. 

Take it easy, y’all

Race Report: Race to Deliver 4M

Date: November 18th, 8:30 am

Distance: 4M

Place: Central Park, New York, NY

Weather: 42 F, 51% humidity

Finishers: 5,283 total (2,416 men / 2,867 women)

Official time / pace:  34:24 / 8:30 min/mi 3

Swag: Long-sleeved tech shirt

This is a race where running and charity come together. Race to Deliver with God’s Love We Deliver is an organization that provides food to NYCers who live with severe illness. God’s Love We Deliver has provided 1.8 million meals to over 7,000 people, which is quite a feat. This organization has been providing these meals for over 30 years, and this was the 25th anniversary of the race. After running this race last year, I looked into volunteering with this organization, but most of the volunteer slots are during weekdays (mornings and early afternoon), which did not really work with my schedule. Perhaps, I will visit the site again (after writing this post) to look into volunteer opportunities. 

I was a little tired when I arrived at the start because I flew into NYC the night before. What’s with me and flying the day before races? But, it was not a big deal because the race is only four miles. Although I had a B corral assignment, I decided to go to the C corral. After starting, I guess that I should have gone to D or E because those folks started out REALLY fast . . . for me. One of my upcoming fitness/running goals (a post on that later) is to become a faster runner.

Technically, I guess that I did become a faster runner because my stats from last year’s Race to Deliver Run was 35:21 min with 8:51 min/mi pace. 😉 Yes, I know that this probably is not a significant improvement from last year’s race.

There is not too much to write about this race, because it was a simple (near) loop in Central Park. I did not really run with any goal in mind, so I was really surprised that I ran faster than last year’s race. Maybe I was hungover (or still drunk) for last year’s race. 😉 Actually, now that I think about it, this year’s time would have been faster, but I had to take off one of my shirts and tie it around my waist.

After the race, I hopped onto CitiBike and rode about 3 miles home. All in all, it was pretty general and ho-hum run.

On my bike ride home, I saw this castle-like building, which I have never seen in the 16 years of living in NYC.

Random Thoughts: Ultramarathon

Although I have not run any distance farther than 26.2 miles, I have to give mad props (do folks still say that anymore?) to the folks who ran the NYRR 60K, which was held the day before this race. The running field was quite small with only ~300 runners. On top of that, the 60K is about 9 loops in Central Park. Running 26.2 miles through five boroughs takes some mental fortitude, and I can only imagine what mental strength you would need to run 9 loops and see the same crap 9 times. I do not have any desire to ever run this race. I would not mind running a 60 K (maybe), but it definitely would have to be in the woods or along a route where the scenery would change from time to time. In addition, it would take extra strength because this is not a popular race so the crowds are slim to none. Many times, the energy of the crowd is what got me through certain parts of the NYC marathon. Again, mad props to the runners and finishers of NYRR’s 60K.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week. 

Race Report: Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K

It’s been so long since I ran a race that I’ve forgotten my general template for the race reports.

Date: November 3rd, 8:45 am 

Distance: 5K 

Place: Manhattan, New York, NY

Weather: 53 F, 86% humidity

Finishers: 10, 859 total (5,113 men / 5,746 women)

Official time / pace:  30:24 / 9:47 min/mi

Swag: Beanie hat

This was the first time that I have participated in this race. In previous years, I thought the race was far too expensive for a 5K. I totally understand the need for the high price tag since NYC has to close quite a few streets for this race. However, this time around I was really behind on my 9+1 schedule. Also, there was NO WAY in hell that I was going to run the Midnight 4M on Dec. 31st, which is the last race of the year. 

I was very fortunate to make it to this race because I arrived at my apt around 2-2:30 am after my trans-Atlantic flight. However, I knew that skipping this race was not an option if I wanted to have guaranteed entry into 2019’s NYC Marathon. 

On to the race. 

This race starts at the United Nations, takes you pass Grand Central, New York Public Library, and through Central Park.  Aside from running through the streets NYC, which is rare for many of NYRR races, one of inviting features of this race is the chance to run the last part of the NYC Marathon in Central Park.

Arriving at the start was so invigorating because everyone was in high spirits because of the NYC Marathon, which is the day after this race. There was representation from so many countries; I saw huge contingents from France, England, and Argentina. 

I really did not put much effort, like most folks, running this race. Since I was jet-lagged, the plan was to walk the first half and do some sprints for the second half; however, I ended up jogging the whole thing.

Since this race was a few weeks ago, I can’t remember the details of how I ran (or rather how I jogged). I do remember that I really was not feeling the run. All I wanted to do was to get my bib at the Marathon Expo and have a long, long sleep to rest up for the marathon.

After the race, I treated myself to a breakfast quesadilla, which tasted more like a punishment instead of a treat.

 

I’ve been such a bad blogger

Could a brotha write an update every now and then?

Life has been super intense these past couple of weeks. I guess that I have not fully caught up from my vacation in Madrid, the marathon, and recruiting for my school at a conference. These are the things that I hope to update in the next few days.

Race report: Race to Deliver (4M)

Coming up with a year-long marathon (and diet) workout/training plan

My trip to Indianapolis 

Debating if I should start a higher education in STEM and scientific blog. I started a scientific blog last year, but I could not consistently update when I started my job search. BTW, I celebrated my year anniversary at my new job.

Toe injury update. OH, I should make my doctor’s appointment ASAP.

Book Report: The history of the marathon

I’ll be back later

Hope all is going well in WordPress World

TCS NYC Marathon Update!!!

Let’s do this

Quick highlights:

• Due to a foot injury during Mile 17/18, I did not meet my goal of 4:45 😦
• This was the first NYC marathon where I ran the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge. 
• It was the perfect day for a marathon. The previous day and the following day were really nasty and rainy. 
• My new jock strap was AMAZING; I had no groin chaffing. 
• This year more people called me K.O.S instead of “kos” or “cos”, compared to previous years. 

Pre-Marathon:

I was a little fearful that I would be too jet-lagged to run 26.2 miles. Actually, y’all made me fearful of being jet-lagged. I spent a week in Madrid, came back to NYC on Friday (technically Saturday; I’ll get into that with my vacation update), ran a 5K race on Saturday, then the marathon on Sunday. 

The marathon expo

I did not really spend too much time at the expo; I’m pretty much an in and out kind of guy when it comes to being around large crowds of people. Also, I cannot stand waiting longer than 30 minutes for anything. That said, I pretty much received my bib and shirt within 20 minutes. I will say that NYRR really has its shit together when it comes to the Marathon expo. . . I just wish that it was not so far west. 

The marathon village

Somehow NYRR assigned me a VERY low number for my bib, which meant I was in the first wave of runners. There must be a way to change your bib/wave assignment. The first issue is that last corral in Wave 1 had a predicted finish time of 3:30. Clearly, I am not at that level of running. The second issue is that you have to check your bag with your assigned corral, which means an even longer walk to pick up your bag when you finish. 

Taking the ferry to Staten Island probably is one of my favorite parts of the marathon. I guess because I rarely go to Staten Island. For some reason, I was not as chatty with my fellow marathoners on the ferry as I have been in previous years. Perhaps, this attitude was due to listening to Lana del Ray’s first album.

I feel kind of bad because I know that I spent most of the ferry ride rolling my eyes at people. Well . . . In my defense, a pair of women were a little too damn chipper (aka annoying) for 6:00 AM. 

But, I did manage to smile . . . somewhat (in my PJs) in the start village. 

Ok, this pissed me off a little bit. At the marathon expo, I purchased all of my Gatorade Endurance Gu’s. What do you mean they were giving them out for FREE in the start village? I could have saved $7.  

The marathon:

Mentally, I told myself that I would run the marathon like this: a 2-mile warm-up, followed by four 6-mile runs. For this marathon, I did not take as many photos as I have done in the past, because I was running kind of strong.  

2-Mile Warm up (Staten Island and Brooklyn)

Clearly, this is one of the best parts of the marathon. Everyone is stoked and ready to tackle running through the five boroughs of NYC. 

Instead of running with the first wave, I decided to start in the last corral of the second wave. I probably should have started with the third wave. 

First 6-mile Run (Miles 2 – 8, Brooklyn)

I was kind of killing it during this “run”. Because of my crappy training and a week vacation of eating like a pig, drinking like a fish, and smoking like a chimney, I was basically aiming to run a sub 5-hour marathon. At this point of the marathon, I was running a 4:35ish marathon, without exerting too much energy. The Bay Ridge/Sunset Park portions of the marathon probably are the most energetic because of the freshness of the crowds. 

Second 6-mile Run (Miles 8 – 14, Brooklyn and Queens)

I was still running pretty strong. My music playlist really got me through this section, because the Hasidic section of Williamsburg is really quiet compared to the other neighborhoods. This portion of the marathon was more of a snoozefest for me. The halfway point is right around the Pulaski Bridge, which takes you into Queens. Although my Apple Watch said that I hit a 2:08 half-marathon, I knew that I was running pretty fast and had plenty of energy left in my tank. After looking at my race results, my time for the halfway mark was 2:13. Clearly, I was on track for a 4:45, maybe even a sub 4:45   marathon.  

I do not understand why my Apple Watch’s GPS is always off compared to the official results. I know running to the tangent of the course makes a difference. BUT, I was manually marking the 6-mile segments. In the end, it did not matter, because the watch’s battery died somewhere around mile 19. Something that has NEVER happened before. I think that I forgot to turn off the watch’s WiFi so it spent most of the marathon searching for a wireless connection. 

Third 6-mile Run (Miles 14-20, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx) 

It was during this part where the shit hit the fan, but that will come later. My beer club volunteered at the Mile 15 fluid station, and it was quite invigorating to see them. Mainly, to shut up the haters who are always like “how can you run a marathon when you drink and smoke so much?” Bitch, it’s because I have evil on my side. That said, it was nice to see a bunch of people that you know, right before the Queensboro Bridge, which is the hardest part of the marathon for me. I would have taken a picture with them, but I did not want to stop because I was making good time. Had I known that I was going to fuck up my foot later, I would have taken a couple of shots with them. 

I was so proud of myself for running the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge, which was a first for me. I even managed to put in a few fartleks on this bridge. 

The second memorable part of this marathon was entering Manhattan . . . for the first time. The energy of the crowds really powered me through; maybe, it gave me too much power. Somewhere around miles 17 and 18, I felt I weird pain in my right foot. It felt like someone was stabbing my right foot every time it hit the ground. This was the first time that I walked during the marathon (aside from the selfies on the Verrazano Bridge). At first, I thought it was a passing pain, but it was clear that I would have to deal with this for the remaining 7-8 miles. Then, I was crushed. At this point, the following thoughts rushed through my head: 

1.  Hell no to a 4:45 marathon (my original goal).
2. You must be out of your fuckin’ mind for a 4:35 marathon.
3. Bitch, you would be lucky to finish for a sub 5:00 marathon.

At that point, I started texting and curing out the marathon on Facebook. Although this part was a struggle, I did see the free beer folks, and they remembered me from last year. 

Since I was in pain and did not give a fuck at that point, I had three “shots” of beer with them. That probably was a mistake. 

More shit hitting the fan (no pun intending). Something else happened to me for the first time during this marathon. I was really gassy (maybe it was the beer) around mile 18. I did not want to risk sharting all over myself. I could not find a porta potty to save my life; I eventually found one around Mile 22. I was quite annoyed with NYRR over this. Throughout this marathon, there were porta potties all over the place. Since upper Manhattan and the Bronx are not as “glamorous”, as the other sections of the marathon,  NYRR kind of dropped the ball with the lack of porta potties. 

The marathon photographers always manage to catch me bitching about the marathon on Facebook. 

Last 6-mile Run (Miles 20 – 20.2, Bronx and Manhattan)

The only thing I remember in the Bronx was how much my foot was hurting, and thinking “where the hell is a goddamn porta potty?”. 

Ok, I finally found a portapotty around Mile 22. I opened the doors to two of them. Looking at all of the poop, piss, and used tampons/pads on and around the seats, made my asshole clinch like nobody’s business. Pretty much, I was like I rather shit on myself (or in some bushes in Central Park) than to put my ass cheeks anyway near this.  Basically, I was all about finishing this thing with the pain in my foot. 

Another cool thing about this section was running through my neighborhood (around Mile 22). I probably could have gone home to take my dump. Actually, that would not have worked, because I did not have my keys. 

For some reason, running through my neighborhood gave me an extra boost of energy. I was walking/struggling and someone was like “I see you at the bar, and you better start running”. That’s all I needed . . . at least that part. 

This is getting long and I have to pee. 

Central Park was Central Park. Basically, you are done but you are not really done. It was a very pleasant surprise to see Cat ( *** ) in the Park. Although I was almost done, I still had to walk a bit so I could not sprint to the finish. Also, I always forget about that little hill right before the finish. It’s strange that I forgot about the hill because I ran the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line, which has the same finish as the marathon, the day before the damn marathon. 

Anywho, I completed it in 5:08 so I was a little disappointed with myself. Oh well, feet smell . . . I guess. Eh, at least I did way better than last year, so I guess Operation Redemption was not too much of a failure. 

Outside of getting a medal, this was the second best part of finishing. 

Taking off my shoes while walking to get my bag. I was like a woman who has been clubbing all night in heels and decides to walk around the city barefoot because her feet hurt. 

Now, the best part of finishing. This is especially for Runeatralph ( *** ).

I actually had two cigarettes back to back. These Marlboros are from Spain, and I don’t think the Europeans put that much nicotine and tar in them. 

Post-marathon, I hit up Crunch gym to do some much-needed stretching and bathing. I have to say that there was minimal chaffing this time around; my new jock strap worked wonders. 

Another marathon first:

Since this is the first time that I’ve ever lived near Central Park, I decided to get my medal engraved. In past years, it was not worth it to wake up early and drag my sore ass from Roosevelt Island or Brooklyn to wait in a line and get my medal engraved. This year, I think it helped that my body was still on Madrid time (6 hours ahead of NYC). – I woke up around 6:30 am (thinking it was much later)  the day after the marathon. 

Am I crazy to think this? NYC Marathon medal engraving used to be free, right? Had I known that it was going to be $25 dollars, my cheap ass would not have done it. Of course, I did not know NYRR charged for this service until after waiting about 40 minutes. At that point, I figure that I might as well do it. Did I just make up that engraving was free for previous marathons? 

Oh lol, the BF came with me get the medal engraved. Here’s a sample of our conversation after getting my medal engraved. 

BF: Kwamicito, I’m going to buy you one of these finishing jackets. 

Me: Bah, all of this shit is going to be overpriced. 

BF: [Looking a the price tag] $250!!! What the fuck?

Me: Told you. 

BF: I’ll buy you booze. 

Me: Even better than the jacket. 

BTW, I really LOVED the design of the finishing shirts. 

Long Overdue Update

I’ve been MIA for a bit, but it was for a very good reason. I was vacationing it up in Madrid!!!! OMG, it is a great city for foodies and winos. Well, wannabe foodies and alcoholics. I think that I’ve probably gained 10 pounds. I’ll give a greater update later.

Ok, it’s finally here. The TCS NYC Marathon 2018. Actually, I’ll be glad when this is over. 

Obviously, there will be an update about this, but the expo got me really excited for tomorrow. Today, I plan to chill on the sofa bed, do some stretches, and prepare my bags because I have an early wake-up time. Also, I think that I’m still a bit on Madrid time too. I do not think it will be too bad because I had to wake up at 6:00 AM this morning to run Abbott’s Dash to the Finish 5K. 

If you want to follow me tomorrow, check out the bib. 

Oh, random. I do not think that I’ve mentioned this, but I have finally joined the world of Instagram. So, find my ass, Swosei12