Working the High Line

As an outdoor company, REI likes to give back to the outdoors by conserving and protecting various natural spaces, working with local communities and volunteer groups.
As such, they like their workers to sign up to some of the volunteer projects the store gets involved with in the New York area. One such project that at least I had an interest in seeing as we have enjoyed visiting there on numerous occasions was the Spring cutback on the High Line garden.
The High Line is the park built on a one mile section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan.

We learned that the High Line’s plants are not trimmed back at the onset of cold weather in the fall but instead the landscape is left intact throughout the winter and as spring arrives, Friends of the High Line staff and volunteers work together to cut back the plants to prepare for the new growing season.
More than 100,000 plants are trimmed back during this process.

Here we are getting our instructions:

Photo by Liz Ligon

After our volunteer date was rained out for two weeks in a row the third and final day was a perfect Spring day.

Photo by Liz Ligon

Working with Heather, one twisted and one cut. Then we used fine trimmed and raked up. Easy.
Oh, and tried really hard not to step on anything that we shouldn't be stepping on!

It will be good to come back to the same area later in the year once everything has bloomed and we can be proud to say, hey, we did that.... little bit there.

Photo by Liz Ligon

Easter sightseeing

Firstly, last Friday at soccer, a couple of us were standing on the sidelines as our game started and were 'lucky' enough to see something like this flying across the sky.

We were a bit shocked as we didn't know what it was. It was super fast, like a rocket, flying straight, seemingly out of nowhere and then disappeared as quickly. Kinda scary at the time but I later read reports of meteor sightings up the Eastern coast of the US that night.

Heather and I went up to Central Park for a midweek run. At the entrance we happened upon some nutritional bar promo thing, nearly as disturbing as the meteor!

Then after our run we checked out some sculptures, United Enemies, at the opposite side of the park.

© Columbia Daily Spectator

The other pic I took was on my bike ride home one day I stopped at one of the piers in Brooklyn where the HMS Edinburgh was on a tour before being heading home to be decommissioned.

The training starts now

This year's main race entry and target goal is the North Face Endurance Challenge up at Bear Mountain State Park on May 4th. I drew up a race training plan as best I could given the type of event it is and the training started today.
They have distances from 5K right up to 50K including a marathon relay but along with a couple of friends we have decided to give the half marathon a go. The finishing times from last year seem to add a good 30 minutes to a 10K and having read a couple of forums and seen the course profile I can see why.

I only ever have work schedules up to the end of the following week and with such differing shifts it could take a bit of planning and getting used to running at different times in order to fit the sessions in if I want to give it a good go.
Although I love trail events and good challenging hills so this should be brilliant, the worst part again will be getting up in the middle of the night to get out there for the 8am start.

Woo-hoo, 5 star scenery! I always trip off-road when I try and look at something like the view though.

Today I had my first encounter with any kind of American health care as I had to get an eye-check up to get more contact lenses. They had real trouble finding my health benefits as there were no details  listed under my plan. I called my provider and got them to email the details and apparently I just get some kind of discount plan on eye care.
It was also maybe the first time I had heard the phrase "at your age", as he recommended getting the eye drops thing so he could see behind my eye. I definitely think it's a very American thing to be referred to a specialist for everything. So now I have to see a retina specialist to take a digital photograph of the back of my eye to give them a baseline record in case anything changes. And even with my discounts it was around £53 just for the eye test and contact lense checkup.

Back to the park

I took most of this week off after last weeks running, partly due to the poor weather, work schedules and sleeping in!
Got back into it on Friday by deeming it safe to resume the 5am bike ride into work. It was a bit colder than the last time I did it back in December and my hands and toes were cold by the time I got there. It didn't help that the manager on duty was late and we had to wait outside for nearly twenty minutes! Did my warehouse shift then cycled back home.

Two hours at home and I was off on the train to the New York Road Runners office on the upper east side to pick up my number for Saturday's race. I then ran across Central Park and then took another train down the west side to where we play football, as Friday night is 'soccer' night.
The new pitch we use is a lot wider and firmer than before though, and it kills my muscles. It's funny, I can run up the Empire State Building and race ten miles with no pain but a game of football leaves me with a real sore hip and two sore ankles from a bad tackle and a blocked shot. The fact we do no warm down and sit on the train for 40 minutes home doesn't help, I could barely make it up the subway stairs!

After Friday's 4.30am start, Saturday's 7am alarm was like a lie in. It was the Al Gordon Classic 4M in Prospect Park and with an 8am start I jogged over at 7.45am just in time to jump in the appropriate coral before they closed it off to others.

It was about 5º with drizzle in the air but with little wind this time. Waiting at the start line, the announcer made reference to the number of Scottish hats he could see and how the weather may well have been imported from Scotland. I had noticed at last weekends race that there were a few Saltire hats, probably given out in the NYRR's Scotland Run. Coincidentally, another upcoming (April) race I have just entered.

From the photos on the Road Runner's website I made a little compilation of the hats on show:

The first half mile was pretty tough making my way through the crowds but after that I got into my own pace and finished in 26.48, around 6.42 pace. There were some fast runners out there as this was 180th place out of the 3605 finishers.
Pretty shattered now but thankfully I have Sunday off too before another opening shift on Monday.

My strong finish ©Marathonfoto.com

According to the Road Runner's website "Saturday morning's Al Gordon Classic in Prospect Park was a four-mile tribute to a man who lived for 107 healthy, active years.
Gordon started running marathons at the age of 80, proving that it really is never too late to start. And it's never too early, either: More than 200 of the finishers in the four-mile race were between the ages of 12 and 19."

Cherry Tree 10 Miler

I just completed another race, Sunday's Cherry Tree 10 Miler in Prospect Park. I didn't really fancy doing a ten mile 'race' at this time of year but it was only £15, didn't start until 10am and the start is about half a mile from our house!
It's organised by the Prospect Park Track Club and they call it 'the race for the hardcore' because of the time of year. This was proven by the -3º temperature combined with winds of up to 30mph thus giving around 650 finishers from an entry of around 1200.
It was an unusual race preparation for me this morning. I got up and had some porridge, then went out and up the block for a 5min walk to the high school where the registration was. I picked up my number and free gloves and then came back home.

Fleecy!

Actually, I also carried a bin bag full of still packaged Aberdeen 10K (2010/2011) t-shirts that my dad used as packaging for my shipped goods. They had asked for donations to be sent to runners in Belize so I guess soon there will be some Belize runners running about in City of Aberdeen race tees complete with The Running Shop logo.
I decided I would take a chance on wearing my long shorts and compression socks along with  a thermal top, short sleeve zip and hat & gloves.
So I waited at home until 15 minutes before the start then jogged over. It was perfect for just walking down to the start and with only a 3 or 4 minute wait we were off.

The course is basically 3 laps of the park. The profile is this:

There is a long slight descent, flat and then shorter steeper climb, nothing major but three times and of course the wind was in our faces for this part!!
At some point I actually even noticed my glutes feeling numb from the cold, they were already partly sore from Friday's hard soccer pitch. I was also constantly pulling my sleeves up and down as one minute the wind was behind us and it was sunny, the next it was in your face and shady.

This photo of the start makes it look sunny and warm with some of the fast guys in their shorts.

The start ©Lynus Ly

And then this is what most other people were wearing!

Anyway, I ran negative splits and finished strongly, the downhill helped, and without even trying if you know what I mean, finished in 1.09.59!
I was 89th out of the 650 and 17th in my age group. Really pleased that I have held onto the endurance I built up last year especially as I am just getting over the cold again.

The walk back to the top of the park was so cold, into the wind I had to hold my hands behind my back. I slowly jogged home, stretched, got changed and then walked back to the high school to pick up my free bagel, hot chocolate and the free ice cream sample they were giving out, ha ha, what I'll do for free food.
This was the coldest race I've ever done and although I have probably overdressed for winter races in the past this was on the line for being a bit too much on the cold side.

Then we went back out in mid-afternoon to try a new pizza place that just opened on our high street. Pizza slices, some with some non-traditional toppings. So I tried the thicker square sicilian style where the sauce comes on top, a philly cheesesteak slice (steak, onions, cheese) and a sausage stromboli, while Heather had the chicken salad slice. I'd never choose that but I had a bite and that wood-oven taste you get on the bread actually made it really nice. It might take a while to try them all, but I'll certainly try.

© windsorterrace.patch.com

Finally, a run in the snow

Superstorm Nemo hit New York on Friday. The local media really love to build things up and although it looks a lot worse in the 'burbs, there was a really just a few inches of snow overnight here in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Saturday morning was lovely and sunny and although the temperature was around zero there wasn't much wind. Luckily I didn't start work until 2.30pm so had plenty time to get out for a run in Prospect Park.
Although, the park was jammed with kids and parents sledging, or sledding as they say here, and a lot of walkers (and photographers!) there were very few runners compared to normal.
I've always loved running in the snow, it's like a challenge, getting the legs and breathing going running across a whole field of it. It was also nice that it was a little quieter than normal as I think in general most locals don't run the off-road as much.
Anyway, here are some lovely park pictures I took:

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Racing: horizontally & vertically!

Superbowl Sunday started with a 4 mile race in Central Park, the NYRR Gridiron Classic.
Just as well for pre-entered races! When money is tight it gets you out of your bed and onto the start line especially when you've just picked up the cold (for the fourth time since November!) and wake to see that it's snowed in the middle of the night.

The morning view from our back window

Like most places, the wind makes all the difference here as to whether it's just cold or right through to the bone cold. Luckily it was a light wind, so I even ran in (long) shorts (and compression socks). The hat and gloves did stay on all the way round though.

I still haven't done enough races in Central Park to get sick of it or know where I am in the park while racing. The starts are still a bit of a struggle with the sheer volume of people and although it clears up a little, you still have to watch where you are the whole way round. Over 5500 people on a minus 3 Sunday morning.

As well as a pre-race longest throw competition, halfway round there were a couple of gates with timing mats so you could choose who to vote for, either the 49'ers or the Ravens.
I voted for the eventual winners, the Ravens, but it was the 49'ers that apparently won the vote. Not sure if more people actually thought they'd win or whether it was just their gate was on the inside of the bend on the road!

NYRR

Felt quite strong despite not doing any actual training since October, just general running, and I finished averaging 6.49 pace which was what I did for a 4M race in Prospect Park in October!
I think starting to cycle to work, at least I was until the weather changed, had helped keep my fitness, especially the uphill stretch from the Manhattan bridge back to Prospect Park.
Walked a little afterwards and took a couple of photos of the snowy frozen Central Park.

And click here to view a cool 360 degree pic of the Bethesda Fountain and lake.

Wednesday night was the vertical one. The Empire State Building run-up!

I'd heard of this event before moving here and when I seen it advertised on the New York Road Runner's website and found out it was a lottery entry I decided to apply. Amazingly I only went and got accepted first time!
The 1576 steps to the observatory on the 86th floor were quickly put in perspective with the three flights of 15 steps we have in our building that often seem a struggle when you come home with groceries or after a run, etc.
So I took to the internet to see if I could find any training advice etc. The main thing I read was that unless you find a minimum 40-storey building to practice in, then some general running or cycling involving hills would probably suffice. Some people had also commented that because it's only a 1/4 mile in distance that you're not going to fail physically on the distance and WITHIN 3 FLIGHTS of stairs you'll feel like you've been punched in the stomach and can't get a breath anyway. The air quality in the stairwell and the hundreds of other runners sweating it out with you doesn't help.
One good piece of advice that I did follow, especially with my cold, was to take some chewing gum to keep your mouth and throat from drying up, totally worked!
One other difference is also going from races that start at 8am or the leisurely 9am last weekend to this, where my heat didn't get started until 9.20pm!

They have different heats. "Elite" invitationals, a media heat, a brokers heat and a charity heat. It was all in aid of Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation which uses orange in its colourway, hence the building lighting scheme that night.
These heats are smaller and all start with a traditional line start, racing the 10m to the doorway to begin the ascent.

Men's Invitational

I was in the open time trial heats which thankfully they moved from these type of mass starts to heats of 100, with runners starting every seven seconds. With my number being 1000+, I had a bit of a wait. While you waited they had loud (crappy) music and a girl interviewing people in the next line of runners waiting to start. One guy's advice was apart from enjoying it, to save some energy for floors 70+.
When we finally got called to line up, the runners that had finished were coming past on the other side of the rope with their medals, half looking exhilarated and half looking pretty tired.
There was humorous advice about not peeing or smoking in the stairwell and of course the "what happens in the stairwell, stays in the stairwell".

We got walked down the hall, downstairs, past the main lobby and round to the start mats. Of course, I didn't really think about pacing myself as such and just ran off at normal speed. I still have enough competitiveness about me that although I made sure to savor the experience and take in my surroundings, I was there to do it as best as I could.
Taking two steps at a time as I had read on one website went out the window after one flight, but I did use the handrail and especially the to post to pull myself up.
It's not actually one complete flight of stairs so you switch stairwells on floors twenty and sixty-five, which is handily where they have some water stops. I passed on the first but was glad of a mouthful on the second stop. And I did appreciate the doormen stationed every few floors encouraging the runners, although not so much the one guy near the start that said only 80 floors to go.

In terms of running up, you were told it was customary to run on the left (inside) and to pass on the right. I don't think I was passed by anyone and after a few floors started catching up the people from the previous heat(s). This is where the elite have it easier, as passing other runners means going the long way round and as you are often just a fraction faster it means running a flight alongside them and then trying to run past before the next turn up the next set of stairs. Everyone was nice and polite though and followed protocol.

I certainly didn't count the floors, the exit doors are numbered with the floor and it helped that I couldn't or didn't see them all. So before I knew it I was around 30 and then 60, only 20-ish to go I told myself, then floor 82, by then I could hear the shouts from the finish up outside. A quick dash across the floor and out the door, round the corner and across the line.
As you got ushered inside you got the amazing view of downtown New York lit up on a clear night sky and although you could then go back outside it was so windy and cold I just headed back down.... the elevator.

Sure, I was out of breath very early on and your thighs fell the burn as you get closer to the top but I was amazed I had no soreness in my calf muscles and no soreness at all the next day either!
I finished in 15.18 and was chuffed to find out that was for 41st place (out of 572) in the time trial and about 77th out of the total 724 finishers from all the other heats.
It was short and sharp as although I only burned 261 calories, I did average 197bpm and my heart rate maxed at 205 at the top, ha ha.

NYC TV show host video clip: