Another new PB

Wednesday night was the 2nd of the PPTC 5K series. I went off faster than the previous one to see if I could improve on last times 18.24 effort. I guess these little midweek events on the same course let you try and approach the race differently to see what best works.
So it was a 5.57 opening mile up the hill, then a 6.04 2nd mile followed by a 5.44 downhill and 33 sec slog where I had nothing left.
The clock came into focus right on 17.59 and I really was hanging on as it was a bit warmer that night too. 18.21! A few seconds shaved off I guess although I get the feeling that going off a little slower and trying to finish faster feels the way to go but you just get carried along with who you're racing alongside too.
Trouble is, it's only going to get warmer and more humid here as the weeks go by!

Walkabout

After I got a glimpse of the area near the top of Central Park when I walked to the Riverside run a couple of weeks ago I thought it looked like a nice place to go back for a better look.
We haven't done this for a while but Heather and I went back on Saturday for a wander around the neighbourhood.

We got the subway up into Harlem then walked over to Morningside Heights which then leads down into the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We had a little wander through Columbia University grounds which were open as it was the end of graduation so they had a tents up and people taking photos, the immaculate grounds and imposing libraries show why it costs $100,000 a year in tuition.

Just a block away, the Cathedral Church of St John the Devine was impressive.

 
We had lunch in the little park next door which had a children's sculpture garden with an undersea theme.

It started to rain on and off and Heather needed to collect stuff from work so we took the bus all the way down from 99th to 42nd street. In amongst the tourist throng in Times Square there was a couple getting their wedding photograph taken.

Then on the way home we stopped off in Brooklyn Bridge Park where there were at least two other wedding parties including one beside the carousel with a large contingent of men in kilts. We got a bit of Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes as we walked around them. 

Maximo Park storm it.

Friday night I came home from work, ate, got my stuff ready to run into work on Sunday and then went back off out. There were thunderstorm warnings for all evening but when I left it looked a little dark but was fine in Brooklyn. I got out at REI to dump my Sunday stuff and it was a lot darker in Manhattan, almost like the sun had set already. I was only in 5minutes but when I exited it was torrential rain with everyone sheltering from the thunder and lightning.

Luckily the Maximo Park concert we were going to was moved to the Gramercy Theatre so I could immediately duck down into the subway outside work and the venue was a 1/2 block walk from the other train I transferred to so I didn't get too wet. Unlike Heather, who went for a run after work and got absolutely soaked. She met me in the venue and shivered her way through the concert for me.

Maximo Park were superb despite a couple of venue electrical problems where they had to leave the stage for 5 minutes! They were late in starting so it was a late night finish, luckily I was off Saturday so I could have sleep in before going off for a run and then enduring the Champions League final with the American commentators.

Wednesday night racing

Later that day, after I'd had a very tired one hour nap on the sofa, I downed a plate of oatmeal and put on my shorts and vest for the first in this years Al Goldstein Prospect Park Track Club 5K series of races.

I initially didn't feel that great, but it was more just tiredness and I managed a good couple of mile jog, mainly to the registration area at the bottom of the park and then another 1/2 mile looking for a toilet 3 minutes before the start! I would've had plenty time but they couldn't find my pre-entry. Turns out I hadn't entered as I thought, it was only the Roosevelt and Riverside Series I had entered, oops.

It was a mildly humid night so I was well warmed up even though it meant running the whole race with annoyingly dry lips. Due to the building work around the new centre there was a slight course alteration where the start was moved further down the hill to the bottom. This meant the first mile, luckily when you're fresh, was a gradual incline all the way before hitting the hill.
The second mile is along the top of the park rolling down into the completely downhill third mile, turning the corner into a nice flat run in to the finish.

It was a little difficult to pace yourself from the start immediately heading uphill but knowing it was just a 5K. I ended up with splits of 6.08, 6.05 and then a 5.41, pulling away from the couple of guys I'd been pacing with thanks to my new found strength, ha ha and finishing in a PB smashing time of 18.24 (@5.56 pace).

The better quality of the 231 runners meant that was good for 9th overall but only 3rd in my age group! Indeed, I ran side by side with an 11 year old for the first mile then watched him finish in 18.59!

Attorney at law

On Wednesday I worked until 11.30am then headed back into Brooklyn to meet Heather who was getting sworn in, the final act before becoming a fully fledged attorney. The process from her starting law school, passing bar exams, character assessments, various other interviews and now this seems almost as drawn out as me getting my US visa!

The courthouse had typical security screening to get in and then that feeling of there being many rules that you didn't want to get pulled up on by the many court officers present.
The lawyers were led into the court while all the family members and friends, the majority all suited and dressed up, sat or stood around the court.

There was a little opening statement on the procedures involved, a roll call and then it was "all rise" for the five sitting judges that entered. Then came the weirdest part. They mentioned something about the flag and everyone pledging allegiance to the flag. Almost instantly everyone, EVERYONE, except me which I felt very conscious of, raised their hand to their heart and said the pledge thing.
I almost expected one of the court officers to come over and ask why I hadn't taken part bearing in mind how they warned everyone about not using flash photgraphy.
The officers had to come over and tell a couple of people to stop taking photos when they couldn't work their camera to turn the flash off. This was before the judges came in and while waiting, one officer told us the judge wouldn't want a flash going off in his face while he was giving his speech, all very very strict.

After the speech all the family members were sent to the lounge to wait while the lawyers took their seats then were called up to sign a book and get their paperwork. We could see a little on the screen but no sound.

The room was quite cool with all the pictures of each years sitting judges. Funny to see how it was all white old men, then when it hit the seventies, some younger looking men, then it looked like the 90's before you seen a female, then the recent photos had more members of both sexes and all ethnicities.

Then I met Heather outside where she displayed her certificate copy, the real one she gets in one year, ha ha. The first benefit she gets is an instant pay increase in any legal job now that she's an attorney.
Indeed, I learned that a lawyer is anyone who has gone through law school but to be an attorney you have to then pass the bar exam! So all attorneys are lawyers but not all lawyers are attorneys, although most people just say lawyer as a general term I guess.

Gig time

On Friday I finished off Bike to Work Week (12th - 16th) by biking into work and making it about 56 miles for the week made up of a 7 mile each-way commute and Monday's couple of laps of the park before home.
On the last day the Transportation Alternatives people had various stations around the city such as on the exit of the Manhattan Bridge where as well as trying to sign people up they dished out free coffee, apples, Kind bars and coconut water.

This picture was obviously taken last year as my Friday, although warm, was cloudy with the prospect of torrential rain later. They also organised a bike party under the Brooklyn Bridge later that night but we had a concert to go to!

We went to Webster Hall on the east side of Manhattan to see Elbow supported by John Grant. Both were really good and the crowd had quite a few British, well English, voices along with some older couples complete with shouts of Manchester and occasionally flying their Lancashire rose flag.

When you see on the forecast is supposed to be 100% chance of rain and it's classed as "thunderstorms" you know you'll get wet at some point.
Around 10.45pm everyone exited the venue anxious to see what it was like outside. Yup, absolutely pissing down with water running down the streets!
Still warm enough for shorts though and now that mild humidity has broken and the weekend forecast is for 20 degrees and sunny. Great for running to work on Sunday to pick up my bike and bag from Friday!

Riverside Park Series No. 1

Wednesday night I tried another new event. A once-a-month 5K race held away up on the East side around 110th street in Riverside Park. It was only $30 for the entire 4 race series, worth it even if I just manage a couple of them.

I finished work at 4.30pm, ate a bit of food, cleaned my bike, ha ha then headed up to the very top of Central Park West. I've never actually walked around this area before, it is really nice. Definitely have to come back to explore more.

So I got there in plenty time, couldn't really remember the course apart from it is was all within the park and had a loop back around to the finish so I had a little jog warm-up to see what it was like.

The guy on the bike out front informed the runners on the line that he would lead but would have to pull away a little on the big hill in order to stay in front of us. I was like what big hill??!

Once the race started I was already in the front 4 or 5 runners.  The course was like one big running track shape with a flat front half and a rolling back half complete with incline to get up onto that level. At the far end you looped around a playpark and headed back up to do the top rolling section before dropping back down the big slope and having a nice straight sprint to the finish.

I kept steady in 4th place for most of the race and then really reeled in the 3rd place guy during the last mile, especially on the downhill then pulled in the 2nd place guy and finished on his shoulder with the exact same finish time.

Despite barely running for the last couple of weeks as I recovered from Bear Mountain, that training and last weeks 10K race, combined with cycling 42 miles this week as part of New York's Bike To Work Week I had a strong finish and came in at 19.21 / 6.15 pace... and won a mug. They gave out awards (leftover mugs from a previous race) to the age groupers and said where a lot of people were representing, clubs, etc. So when I went up for my award I said "representing Scotland" so the lady with the loudhailer told everyone "Representing Scotland. Let's have a round of applause for Scotland"... and they did, ha ha. By the time I waited for the awards, waited in line to get a burrito and took a couple of trains home it was time for bed. Ended up being a long day out, up at 6.30am and didn't get home until 10pm. I'll definitely be back to do more of the series although it won't be long before it's really warm and humid and nasty.