4 in a week

As it turns to Fall here, it also seems to be gig season for us. Got a few more coming up that I'm looking forward to but we started last Friday with a trip to the local Barclays arena to see Vampire Weekend.
They sounded great, the set was really clever with a mirror behind the band that reflected the crowd near the front. We also noticed the crowd seemed a little bit collegiate and some were very young indeed. Let's just say there were a lot of guys with baseball caps on backwards.

The very next night we went into Manhattan to see the Stereophonics. Tickets were only $25 for this one. We weren't that enthused about going but again, a smaller venue and they sounded really good. They've gotta be pretty unknown in America so this time the place was full of Brits I guess, with probably New York's Welsh contingent. A couple of Welsh flags and some rowdy folk, at one point there were guys on each others shoulders, three tall!

So that was two late nights where I didn't get to sleep until after 2am and then I ran the Fifth Avenue Mile on the Sunday morning. In some ways I was lucky it was just a mile!

Tuesday night we went to a new venue. The Skirball Centre at NYU (New York University) to see KT Tunstall. It was a really plush small theatre with American width seats, ha ha, I've never sat in theatre seats that wide. All the tickets were the same price but I must have got in there early because, and I'd forgotten this, that we were at the very front, in the centre.

The set was much better than I thought considering the new album is more mellow. But she has good banter with the crowd before every song and does that whole one-woman band thing where she plays sounds like her hand drumming on the guitar or the crowd clapping, recording it, then looping it in the background while she plays the song.

On the second last song, as the lights dimmed, she threw her guitar pick in to the crowd and it kind of fluttered into our row but we couldn't see it. Then as the gig finished she bowed and walked along the front and high-fived our half of the crowd, starting with me!
Then when the house lights came back on and we picked up our bags, we only only went and found her guitar pick (Heather has never heard the word plectrum) under our bags!

The very next night a friend had managed to get tickets to a special album launch gig by Tired Pony in a Housing Works Bookstore, luckily round the corner from work. I left work around 9.50pm and they opened the doors just after 10pm.
I was expecting at least a kind of small hall or a cleared space but it was indeed just a bookshop!
A different type of gig for me and it was amazing. Gary Lightbody mentioned how he loved R.E.M. growing up and how it was amazing enough to play with Peter Buck in the group but even better as he brought up Mike Mills from the crowd to do vocals on one song.
As he left the stage he brushed right past us and then we glanced over and he was only standing at the back beside Michael Stipe!

At the end of the gig Heather asked the nearby guitar tech if she could have his set list. He said he normally keeps them but he gave it to her. Complete with guitar tunings for each song.

Fifth Avenue Mile

The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual NYRR event that has run since 1981 and 5182 runners were out to test themselves over the one-mile distance.
It was a cloudless, cool morning on the first day of autumn and we had a very mild wind at our backs.
The course is a straight run down Fifth Avenue from just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 80th Street to Grand Army Plaza at 60th Street.

A very unusual race distance.... unless you're a track athlete I guess.
As well as the elite races all the other runners go off in age groups. So when we got there we watched the males 30-39 running down and I noticed how many there were and especially how closely packed it was at the start. I only had time for a 10 minute jog with a few strides beforehand as I deemed it more important to be lined up further forward in the coral waiting to start rather than doing a longer warm-up. The other thing I thought when the 30-39 age group was running past was, are you sure that's not MY age group?!

NYRR

There were 579 men in the 40-49 age coral but the results were split 40-44 and 45-49.
So I spent around 20 minutes standing in the sun waiting as the women up ahead ran then we were pulled forward to the line. The nearby DJ played age appropriate music as we waited, tailoring it to each age group as the ages ranged from around 12 to 94!!

Once we started it was difficult to know how hard to push. I didn't see the supposed 1/4 mile marks probably as the first half I spent picking a route among the runners that had gone off too hard. The other thing I remember is that my mouth and lips were so dry!

It was strange, I looked at my watch and seen 3 minutes-something so I picked the pace up thinking that's less than 3 minutes of running to go. Then I looked up and could see the finish banner but objects on the horizon can be further away than you think and I was trying to hold a little back for a good finish. Then all of a sudden it was within touching distance so I went all out and was passing runners, finishing strong, then it was over!!

I had no idea what time I'd do but having done a final mile 5.59 back in May's 5K I was thinking anything below that was the aim. As I approached the clock and seen 5.20 I pushed on and finished in 5.23 for 46th place in the age group (375th out of 5182).
Kind of immediately I wished I could do it again, part novelty factor but more that I thought I could pace it better. After walking round the corner to meet Heather it felt like you had barely done anything! It had all the trappings of a regular race, the early mornings, the travel, the nerves, etc without the feeling you had pushed yourself hard for a certain length of time... I burned about 99 calories.

NYRR Medalist

Sunday was the NYRR Henry Isola Cross Country Classic back up around Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. My first race in the Over 40 category (40-44).

The weather had been 90 degrees a couple of days before, one of the latest in the year 90 degree days for a long time apparently. But after a quick thunderstorm complete with crazy lightning, the humidity was gone and it was perfect running weather again, around 19 degrees.
Of course I now have a light sunburn mark from my vest despite being in the sun for all of 30 minutes!

The park area looked good, lots of football games on and a couple of groups of Indians playing cricket. Plus before our race there were some school cross country championships on too, which included a few runners that looked like running wasn't really their primary sport.

Two loops, around the grass field and up and down a short sharp hill among the trees with a good long gravel stretch to unleash your kick to the finish.

Around 250 runners, I went off hard and quickly settled in as normal, going back and forth with the same couple of runners. Getting passed on the uphill and passing them on the downhill. Used another runner to drag myself towards a stronger finish than if I'd been on my own for sure.
Then as I walked past the table at the finish they handed me a medal! Second place in my age group!

Woo-hoo, my first medal in NY. I knew I needed a combination of a good run and good luck as I came in 23rd overall! 26.01, 6.31 pace, also 1 min 30 behind the 1st place 40 year old which I was glad to see, nothing worse than if the guy that finished in the same time as me was the other 40+ runner.

So next Sunday is the Fifth Avenue Mile where my biggest concern is what kind of warm up I do for that??
Then Heather deferred her entry to the Marine Core Marathon until 2014 so we're not going to bother going down to DC for my 10K. That was what I was training for, along with an upcoming trail half marathon. So instead I paid way too much to enter the Rock and Roll 10K in Prospect Park in October so as not to make the training totally worthless as I attempt to get a PB in a 10K this year too.

Anyone for tennis?

So, I guess I'm 40 now! We couldn't really afford to go out to a steakhouse like we planned so instead we bought $40 of good meat and had a meatfest at home. We just failed in polishing the whole lot of in one go :(

NY Strip x2 & Boneless Rib

Then midweek, we were back on the concert trail with a good gig on Wednesday. Heather's favourites Mumford & Sons were back in NY and were at a new location for us, the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens.

We'd read about the venue when we managed to get the tickets and it was also in the news in the run up to the concert as it apparently hosted the U.S. Open tennis until 1978 and had hosted concerts before by such famous folk as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and the Stones.

Despite them still using the rest of the tennis courts and surrounding country club the main stadium which is 90 years old had been derelict and falling into disrepair. Mumfords helped a local promoter reboot it as a concert venue and this was the first gig here for more than 20 years but with the promise of more to come in the next couple of years.

The gig was sold out with nearly 17,000 people cramming into the place. There were some first gig teething problems including a near 40minute wait in the pizza line. A wood fired oven pizza truck though so it was worth the wait…. I think.
The gates opened at 5pm and I had to reschedule my work days so we could leave around 3.30pm to get there just after 5pm. Just as well, as the main problem seemed to be a lot of late arrivals who couldn't get into the venue.

Like most things in NY, a lot of people show up just after it starts but this time there was nowhere for them to go once they started to come up the stairways so it provided a slight distraction as we watched them argue with security who wouldn't let them up the last few stairs as there was literally no space to be filled. Indeed, they were telling people that if you left you wouldn't get back up. This was also causing some problems for the people who can't go 15 mins without a beer!
It did calm down slightly near the end but only cause people must've gone elsewhere.

Always spot the Scot from afar!

Not really a bad view in the place, could be a good venue to go back to for sure. Most importantly of course it was just a 5 minute walk to the train and apart from the hour trip involved no transfers! Hopefully they get some good performers next year.

I'm off Labor Day Monday, don't know what it is but I'll take it. I think it signifies the end of summer here, the school holidays are over.

My last...

Last Saturday morning I once again trekked up to Van Cortland Park in the Bronx to take part in a 10K cross country or as I said in previous posts, "cross-country".
I might not have bothered if I hadn't already entered as on Friday night when I checked the weekend train situation I found out the 1 train you take all the way up to the park at 242nd street stopped running at 225th. So it meant getting the F, switching to the A train up to 207th and taking a shuttle bus to take you up to 242nd. It sounded like an awful hassle at that time of the morning but they do have people outside the stations and plenty signs on display inside the station so it actually went really smoothly considering I don't know where I am up there. Took about 1hour 45mins in total.
On the return journey they were politely shouting at people that there were no trains today and a bystander jokingly shouted "welcome to new york" and they laughed.

So this was my last ever race as an under 40! Hopefully if I can find a small enough event and be lucky in who turns up maybe I can pick up a prize for over 40 age grouper, ha ha. Doubtful as the small races don't seem to do more than one prize and the larger races obviously have hundreds of top quality runners.

The course is all on gravel paths but was a really good two loops, with a slightly different hill on the second loop. Around 420ft of climb in total and as they said at the start, if this is your first 10K then errr, good luck with that. A show of hands showed that for about 3/4 of the field this was their first time running up in Van Cortland Park. As I said before, if it ain't Central Park then a lot of regular runners don't bother with the trip into unknown territory. A glance around at the starting line up showed it was indeed a smaller field.

I've been doing some good rep sessions for the last few weeks and the weather has improved to just sunny hot mid to high 20's rather than humid so I've managed to pick the pace up in training. I was about 8th going round the bottom of the field after about 300m so that felt good for a change to be so high up in the race.

I ran it hard, and again used my downhill experience, to come in 7th overall! 4th 30-39 age grouper, damn common age. There were only 130 finishers, gotta be one of the smallest races in NY, although I think there was a few non-finishers too as it was quite warm and pretty tough going for a newbie.

Whatever my next race is will be my first as a 40+er, used to think a Vet (40+) sounded really old, ha ha.

On the way back home I stopped off at the British store in the West Village to restock on Salad Cream and I'd had a craving for some black pudding. I ended up coming away with a couple of packets of Angel Delight. Stuff that I wouldn't buy back in Scotland but it must be a nostalgia thing, and very nice it was too. Then I walked round the corner to try a little place that sold shave ice like we'd had in Hawaii. Unfortunately it wasn't of the same quality as the originals, but after a race on a hot day it was very cooling.

Coconut & Pineapple

My first.......

With everything that's on offer in New York it's easy to discover new things or experience your first ever..... even after living here for 15 months and visiting for a few years before that.
So basically last week I had my first ever New York City bike accident! Ha ha.

Unfortunately it's not just the horrendously bad drivers you have to watch out for, nor the pedestrians blindly oblivious to everything but you also have to watch for other cyclists.
For example I've learned the phrase "bike salmoning" where someone cycles the wrong way down a bike lane as a lot are on the one-way streets.

Like most accidents here, this one was more just a lack of common sense.
After I cross the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn on my way to work I go an extra 1/2 mile out of my way so I can use the supposedly safer protected bike lane on Allen Street.

It is segregated from the road, apart form the crossings, and has little pedestrian areas every so often.

So I'm coming up behind a girl on a bike and as we approach the wide pedestrian area I decide that would be a good area to overtake, but just as I'm alongside her she decides now would be a good time to turn 90 degrees to her left and cycle across the pedestrian area with not so much as a glance, never mind behind, not even to the side.... straight into me.

Luckily we were both okay but as I'm clipped to the bike and had both bikes on top of me as I fell to the ground I came away with the cuts and grazes. A couple of friendly pedestrians as if we were okay and offered me some napkins when they noticed before I did that I had blood running down my calf.
I've been angry with drivers before, in some close incidences but never had anything close with another cyclist before but I was polite and checked she was okay. A couple of people at work said how they would have shouted abuse at her.

5 days later

I was only 5 mins from work and luckily we have the bike shop there so they tidied up my bike (free of charge), truing the wheels and replacing a bent skewer, so my bike was all good to ride home later.
Although they did remark that my brakes were the wrong way round, ha ha. I made sure when I bought the bike they reversed the normal US brakes, what with everything being back to front here.

That's more like it!

Another Saturday morning 5K in Prospect Park, The Central Park Founders 5K in tribute to the guy that had founded the Central Park Track Club.

After another uncomfortable couple of weeks, the humidity finally broke on Wednesday night. I did a speed session of sorts on Thursday morning and felt amazing... the fresh air and lack of humidity was I'm guessing like the feeling you'd get if you've been away training at altitude and come back down to sea level so I was hoping for a better time than the last one two weeks ago.
A slightly later start time of 9am, and although the sun was out and it was hot under the sun, the lack of humidity was noticeable and probably 90% of the course in in shade.

When I got to the start line it turned out a tree had fallen down and hit someone earlier on so the start was delayed 30 minutes. Unfortunate for the guy, who was apparently alright and bad news for us as it meant I had to pass the time by sitting on a bench for 20 minutes meditating, watching the swans etc.

The smaller 389 finisher field start

© 2013 SmugMug, Inc.

A woman who is maybe connected to the CPTC took some photos and I popped up in a couple.

Then when we lined up at the start we were informed that because the start had to be moved up a few hundred metres they didn't have time to realign the mile markers so they would be out. Plus the wrist strap on my Polar heart rate monitor had snapped on Thursday. So no mile splits and no heart rate! I don't really use the heart rate on a 5K race but it's nice to see the averages etc afterwards.
So basically I just ran! First time in ages I've not looked at my watch or anything and just ran on feeling, knowing how fast I can hold for a 5K while knowing the course obviously helped.

© 2013 SmugMug, Inc.

I was pleasantly surprised to finish in 19.14 (6.12 mile pace, 62nd/389), about 26 seconds slower than my best time from May's month of supreme fitness, ha ha.

Then a jog up to the farmer's market where I picked up a raspberry danish, a cherry pie pocket, a sweet onion and goat cheese focaccia and some carrot cake.