Running and running...knees be damned

Philly Race Report

2006-11-21T22:13:00.000-05:00

Ok...so the long awaited - mostly by my parents - race report from Philly. I am sure that I am going to leave out a lot of details, but I really needed to get this posted. First of all, thanks to Maggie Mae, first of all for commenting on my blog and second for the picture of the medal that I stole from her blog. Congrats on your first half marathon! I needed a good pic to show to my parents.

So Danny and I drove down on Saturday to Philadelphia. There we met up with Shore Turtle who had been kind enough to pick up our race packets. An early shout-out to the turtle who completed the FULL marathon in the speedy (non-turtle-like) pace of 3:53:02 in his first marathon! We met his mom who has recently taken up running and has won a few races in her age group. This is a pic of me in the lobby of ST's hotel (thanks to Danny for the pics). We met up with Sara and a friend of hers in West Conshohocken where we were staying. We hung out for a little bit and then tried to head to sleep. The beds were really comfortable, I am not sure if it was the excitement of the coming race or the unfamiliar bed but it seems that non of us could sleep. I think I woke up just about every half an hour.

Sunday 6AM - wake up! I had laid out all my gear the night before but I still had to decide what to wear. The weather said that it was already 42 degrees, so I wore running pants on top of my shorts with the intention of ditching the pants before the race started. We took a cab - parking would have been impossible in Center City - and met all our fellow runners in front of the Art Museum. The famous stairs from Rocky! With my kean vision I spotted Shore Turtle and we hung out for a while before the race started.

Before the race

Danny and I were planning on lining up with the 9minute mile pace and Sara was planning on lining up with the 10 minute pace. However, we only lined up a few minutes before the gun time and the place was packed. We ended up lining up together and were over 8 minutes behind clock time. Danny and I stayed together for the first mile or so, but similar to the Poland Spring race a few weeks back I accelerated a little during some of the weaving and lost track of him. I hadn't run that much in the prior couple of weeks and I was feeling it. I felt that the first few miles were much harder than any of the practice long runs - granted I was running faster. I was running between 8:15 and 8:30 miles. I kept on feeling like I was going to need to stop but I kept pushing myself. I was mostly focused on my running but I remember passing the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall, we ran through Chinatown (where the paving was horrible) ran along the Schulykill. At about 2 miles in we passed under a bridge, not sure which one, and all of a sudden I saw people on the side of the road stopped and I was thinking to myself - boy this is early for them to be wiped already. But that was just my naivety since this was my first long race (it was just pit-stop - too much pre-race loading). It was somewhere around this point that my Garmin began to act up. At first it jumped ahead by about 3/4 of a mile. Later on during the race around 6 miles or so it lost mileage and all of a sudden I was half a mile behind the mile markers. Note to self and all future runners of this race - if they keep the mile markers the same - the Mile 3 marker was off by a lot - so don't get worried.

I remember passing a guy in a red dress and red beret - someone told me he said that this was an easy race - he wasn't wearing heels. I kinda stuck to myself mostly, thinking: "Right foot...Left foot...repeat." We ran down UPenn's frat row where the frat guys were offering beers to the runners and it was around that point that I first noticed my right knee beginning to act up. I had left knee problems in the past which had mostly gone away with stretching and I had done a bunch of stretching before the race. Anyway, at about mile 7 or 8 I needed to pull over to stretch it. I adjusted my knee braces and set off again - not sure if the stretching helped, it certainly felt as if my knee was actually worse when I started running again. Between miles 9 and 10 there was a really steep hill - we didn't know about that hill. My knee just totally gave out at that point. I had to stop again and I began walking. I ran a few more steps and needed to stop again. Danny caught up with me at that point and I tried to run with him but I couldn't make it. I sent him off. I was still on pace to finish in sub-2:00 but I knew that I couldn't do much more walking.

Perhaps the most annoying part of the race was between miles 10 and 11. Just after the mile 10 marker the path split - the half marathoners turned to the right and the full marathoners continued straight through a gate - maybe to the zoo? A few hundred feet after that split all of a sudden we met up with the full marathoners again, it was a little confusing. Then to top it all off we hit mile marker 11. I was really afraid that I was on the full marathon trail. I looked around and saw another half marathon bib (the full marathon bibs were light blue, ours were pinkish). I turned to the guy running next to me who was running the full and he confirmed that our trails had joined up and that likely that mile marker was for the full and not for the half. Sure enough just a little over half a mile later we hit another Mile 11 marker. Now get this! The mile markers for the half marathon were on blue boards and the mile markers for the full marathon were on pink boards - wouldn't you have thought that the colors should have matched our bibs?

But anyway...at that point I don't know if it was my knee, the pace or deconditioning but even when I could run I was super-tired. I pulled over for a pit-stop between miles 11 and 12. When I was running I was running a good pace - but I needed one more walking stop for about a minute. The last couple miles were along the Schulykill and as soon as the Art Museum came into view I just prayed for the finish. I continued running along - seeing the Amtrak building (which is so cool at night - it has blue lights along each floor that sequentially turn on and off along a diagonal, I am doing a bad job describing it - but it's cool). I ran up the last short hill made the turn and crossed the finish line. I was beat but so happy - I made it in Sub-2:00. Sure I was disappointed that I didn't run the whole way but even so - I made sub 9:00 miles. I know I can do better, but I am happy with this performance.

After the race.

After the race with Shore Turtle.

Afterwards I looked around for Danny but couldn't find him - I knew he would be watching the finishing full marathon runners. Congrats to the USA we took the silver and the bronze in the men's race. As I limped around I finally was spotted by Sara, her dad and her friend who were sitting at our meeting point. Danny shortly after joined us. We were going to wait for Shore Turtle to finish. In the meantime we hung out with Sara and crew and when they left we made our way into the Amex VIP tent where we got massages - which is just what the doctor ordered. ST finished in sub-4:00 we met up with him and his team - which was really cool.

I am out of time now - and not much else exciting happened, so I am basically gonna end here. It was a great race, I was glad we ran it.

Ok - 2 pieces of background information that are tangentially related to my race. 1) I have been having a bunch of trouble with my Garmin 301 of late. When I first got it I was very happy with it, but lately it has been losing mileage (I have tried playing with settings) which is the cause of a lot of frustration. 2) Last week I bought myself the new Ipod Shuffle and it really is tiny. It's so cool and only slightly annoying that you can't see which sound you have chosen to play. It weighs absolutely nothing and is perfect for running. I ran with it on Sunday, it clipped right on to my fuel belt, and didn't feel it. I doubt I could have made it without it.

Woohoo PHILLY!

2006-11-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

Quick update - don't really have time to blog - I am exhausted and on call tomorrow. Ran the Philly half today. I have to give a huge thanks to ShoreTurtle who picked up our packets for us. Drove down last night with Danny and Sara. The race was great - except for some knee pain that hobbled me a little - finished in 1:57:14! A PR! and a sub-2:00 - which was a major goal for me!

Got a cool tec shirt and medal, pics to come. Met Shore Turtle's wife and mom and Team Shore Turtle - you guys are so cool! Time to show off my medal in the hospital!

Playing doctor

2006-11-09T06:22:00.000-05:00

Been really busy in the hospital of late and been a little injured from Sunday's run - so it's been a slow running (actually no running) and blogging. Hope to get back on the horse over the weekend.

Can't believe no one commented on the new profile pic - that's a doctor doll with the Poland Springs medal around it - I thought that was cute. :)

Thought I would pay tribute to the inspiration behind of this blog...my condolences Lance - I know what you went through. Though...congrats on the marathon - you made it sub-3:00.

And now begins the taper...

2006-11-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

Today was marathon Sunday! How could we not run? I would have felt like such a slacker, though I must say that I was tres jealous of all the people who were actually running the marathon. I further firmed my resolved to enter the lottery for the 2007 ING and to run enough NYRR races in 2007 to guarantee 2008. Whether I will be able to properly train either of those years considering my residency - we shall see - but hopefully the opportunity will be available.

We were scheduled to do 11 miles today and 12 next Sunday - but we decided to do the 12 miler today and a 6 miler next Sunday and start tapering a little earlier. Works out well for me because next Sunday I am on call - so I wouldn't be able to do a long run anyway. We got a little bit of a late start because we went to a party this morning - one of the Rabbis in our community had a baby boy - so we didn't leave until a little after 10 and we got to 96th street on the West Side Highway a little before 11. We decided to run north toward the George Washington Bridge and see how far we could go.

The weather was nice - mid 50's - perfect day for a marathon and a run - my only regret was not taking my running gloves with me. Seems that I have poor circulation in my hands - so my hands were freezing the whole time even though the rest of me was warm in my shorts and long sleeve t-shirt. One cool thing about the map - you can just barely make out the tip of central park in the bottom of the picture. (Not sure what's going on with the water - looks really weird).

We got up to about 125th street at which point the path kind of took a detour through the streets for few blocks until we got back on the path. It was a really nice path - quiet, a little secluded (but not in that "Oh no! someone is going to mug me way") but rather more in the calm and serene way. We ran alongside the tracks - who knew that there were tracks there? Of course there have to be tracks how else does Amtrak and the other trains run north? But now subways run there. Saw a cardinal or a robin? Kind of late in the season for them - I thought.

We ran up toward the George Washington Bridge that looms ahead and then overhead. Right after the bridge we hit the first of two really hard uphills - they totally killed me. About a mile later we hit the second one - and this was only about 4 or so miles in! They were killer. We continued North passed the area that collapsed in 2005. We were almost in Riverdale when we basically had to abandon the running path - though I am sure it continued - and turn around. We were just under 6 miles - but far enough that when we returned to 96th street the extra bit we would have to do wouldn't take us to the cobblestone part in the high 80's. It was hard going back - the 2 steep downhills wreaked havoc on my knees. We had been going at a pretty slow pace - around 10 minute miles. Not too much exciting on the return trip other than nice weather, relaxing run - pain in my knees - and a feeling that I was going to die. I picked up the pace the last coupel of miles and finished by myself - rounding out my last 2 miles in 8:38 and 8:17. Total time 1:55:18, for an average pace of 9:36.

Note to self: the fluid bottles from my fluid belt leak - so when I filled them with red Powerade - they leaked on my shirt. Remember to fill with something clear - or to not wear a white shirt. Cheap fluid belt!

We then walked over to the 5th Avenue to cheer on the marathoners. I remember watching the marathon last year as I tried to find Danny and being awed by the sheer number of people who were pushing their body to 26.2 miles. I remember thinking: "I could never do that" and here I am - just about halfway there - with plans for a marathon in the spring. I am still in awe of these guys - it's an amazing accomplishment - and I will be very happy when I can join their ranks. Besides, the medal that I got from the Poland Spring Warmup race - looks kinda cheesy and lonely - it need neighbors.

I felt particularly bad watching the people who had bleeding nipples run by during the race - I knew the pain they were going through (from that aspect) and how much pain it was going to be later. Sara said to me: "That looks like it must hurt" and I was like: "YAH! A lot!" I asked Danny to take a picture - I was going to post it as a profile picture in their honor.

Coolest part of my day: We met the wife of a friend of Danny's (the friend was running the marathon) and in the course of the conversation she says to me: "Are you bleedingnipples?" and I was like yes I am! I am famous - my first recognition - twas so cool!!!

Anyway, to wrap this up - went to see Borat tonight. Was very funny - though the humor is disturbing in that it clearly illustrates how uneducated many of the people in the country are. It has been said that anti-semitism results from a lack of education - it couldn't be any truer.

Tomorrow to the hospital!!!!

2006-11-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

Today brought another 5 miles with Danny. We were supposed to run it at race pace. We finished the 5 miles in just under race pace, but we picked it up the last couple miles (8:24, 8:01). It's really hard to know how much further I could have gone - I doubt I could have finished another 8 miles at that pace, but I think I could have slowed down and finished. Pacing is going to be a real issue for me come race day - I am going to have to struggle to not blow it too early. I think I will need to get myself into a good pace group and run with the group.

Sunday is the long run - 12 miles along the West Side Highway. Last time we ran there we passed Flygirl - but I guess this time she will will be running up 1st Avenue and then into the park. Can't wait until I run a marathon - I am so jealous of you guys - it must be such an amazing feeling to finish a marathon - to know that you have done something that very few othes can do - that you pushed your body to the limit and succeeded.

In preparation for the winter running I bought a pair of running gloves - Brooks. I ran in them this morning - they match my shoes. I had a cheap pair of gloves that my hands had a tendency to overheat in - I am sure these new gloves are overkill - but they were comfortable to run in. But the best part is that instead of having a little clasp that holds the two gloves together it has magnets. I am such a science geek! I love the magnets it's such a cool feature!

In other news got the pictures from Sunday's race - not the best pictures that I have ever taken, if only I new how baggy that silly shirt was going to look.
Good luck to everyone running NYC - can't wait to read some race reports.

Tempo Running

2006-11-02T09:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was tempo day - my absolute weakest. It's hard for me to maintain the same pace. It was supposed to be 45 minutes - I wanted to run 9:00 pace/8:30 pace/8:00 pace/8:30 pace/9:00 pace. I went running with another friend who did the Ironman last year - he's just getting back into running - but he's much stronger than I am. For whatever reason my Garmin lost its signal about 50 feet into the run and I couldn't get a signal back until 1 mile. The 2nd mile I did about 8:45, the 3rd and 4th at 8:00 and 8:09, and the last mile at 8:39. I guess my tempo didn't work out exactly as I planned it. Total pace time for those 4 miles was 8:19, should have been 8:30 - so I was a little faster than planned. I need to work more on running a consistent pace.

Running the 8 minute miles was tough, especially considering that my last 3 miles on Sunday were about 8:00 - I think my legs are probably still tired from that effort. It never ceases to amaze me how people are able to kick it up a notch on race day. My estimated total time for the full 5 miles last night was probably pretty close to my timing from Sunday's 5-miler - but I felt so much better after that one - maybe I just paced myself better because there were people around me.

Anyway - today is a rest day - though I am considering a short run - not sure. Five more miles at pace on Friday - which I guess for me is somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00/miles. Sunday we're going to run 12 miles and then go watch the marathon. My friend, Ryan, who's running the marathon on Sunday was featured on the local Bronx News network. It was a cute, but a little lame piece. They made him run up and down in front of the camera, they videoed his refrigerator. It was kinda cheesy - but cool that they did a piece on him. GOOD LUCK RYAN!

71 miles last month - a record for me! But then again, everything is a record for me. It's so nice running races these days because everything is a PR. Got the 1/2 marathon coming up in 2 weeks and then a 10k in December - after that I think I will have the basics covered - then it will just be depressing when I don't make another PR. Better savor it while it lasts.

I start my sub-internship, basically I function as an intern in the hospital on Monday. It's going to be hard to continue my training during this next month, but I am really going to try to push myself to get at least 3 runs in per week. I am kicking around the idea of a marathon in the spring - maybe the NJ marathon or the Long Island marathon. I started looking at Hal Higdon's training regimen. Think I am going to take the novice route - 18 weeks of training. I can start the end of December and get those 18 weeks of training in. Any suggestions what I should do if I want to start training a few weeks earlier?

Off to do some real work -

Looking toward the future and at the past...

2006-11-01T08:25:00.000-05:00

Thinking back - I remember when I started this blog - it was just over a month ago - I think, maybe a month and a half, and Danny, Sara and I had just completed a 6 mile run. I remember being so impressed with myself - this was the longest run that I had ever run. In hindsight - it doesn't seem like such a big deal. This week, alone, I am scheduled for 4 x 5mile runs. 6 miles doesn't seem the insurmountable amount it once appeared. With the half-marathon coming up in 2 weeks, that doesn't seem insurmountable either. No longer am I worrying about finishing - I know I can if I just pace myself properly - but rather what my time is going to be.

I wanted to take a few moments to thank my running partners D&S. Without the two of you I wouldn't be running. It may seem like I pushed you guys to run (Danny I am sorry if I pushed too hard and you are paying for it) but without knowing that you guys were there to run 4 times a week and training together I would never have gotten out there. Philly is going to rock! Also, thanks to all my new RBF friends - you guys have welcomed me into your community and made me feel like I belong. dIt's a great family to be part of. Lastly, but certainly not leastly, thanks to my family and friends. To my parents and family who religiously read my blog (though never comment) from Israel and have been so supportive of everything that I have done. To the friends here who make fun of my running and blogging (I know that you really mean to be supportive) and especially to the person who decided that my blog was important enough to print out in AECOM. To all my close friends who have supported me through everything and without whom a lot that I have accomplished would not have been possible.

I feel cheesy - but I have meant to write a thank you post for a while now. Maybe I should have waited until after the race - but it somehow feels more genuine this way. Thanks to all of you.

So looking toward the future...my next goal is to run a marathon before graduation. Which one? I am not sure maybe New Jersey, maybe Long Island - maybe I like my knees and legs too much to run one. I certainly hope not. I am sure it's going to be hard training through the winter - but I know I can do it - at least I hope I can.

But for now - two more weeks to the Philly half! Cya there Shore Turtle.

Realistic goals?

2006-10-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

Quick post - maybe I will post more later. Another 5 miles this morning, was hard to get going, but finished strong - had a great conversation with Sara which kept me going.

So I have been giving thought to what my goal time for the Philly half should be? I would like to run it sub-2:00, which translates into 9:09 miles. I ran a 5-miler on Sunday in 42:11. Is that a realistic goal. Any help in trying to pace the miles would certainly be appreciated.

This is the song that never ends...it just goes on and on my friend.

2006-10-29T13:58:00.000-05:00

Today was the Poland Spring 5-mile Marathon kick-off run. It was the lower loop in Central Park. I had been planning on a 45 minute PR (my first 5M so anythign would be a PR :)). We got to the Park a few minutes before the start time of 9:00AM. It was cool and windy, though last night we had heard that they were predicting 25MPH winds (thankfully, they were not that bad). I had picked up the packets for the three of us last week - so we dropped off our bags and were ready to go. The start point was at Tavern on the Green - Danny and I lined up with the 9minute/mile group and Sara lined up somewhere behind us.

Danny and I ran the first mile together in about 9:30. We met up with a friend of Danny's who runs bangitout.com. He's organizing a memorial race for his father in a three weeks - if you want more information drop me a comment and I will get you in touch. We ran together for a little while. It was quite crowded and I had to focus a lot of energy on running between people. I think people just lined up and started wherever the wanted to, rather than with their pace groups. The loop in the Park was open for regular foot/bicycle traffic during the race - most people run the loop counter-clockwise, we were running it clockwise. They wanted us to stay to the right but there were so many people that we were spread out. There were a bunch of orange cones down the middle of the path and I managed to trip over one of them while talking to Danny - but I recovered and managed not to hit the ground, thankfully.

At about a mile and a half I was cutting in and out to avoid people - I put some distance between Danny and me. I didn't mean to take off, but by the time I turned around and tried to find him, I couldn't. So I just gave up - figuring that he would come zooming by me at the end just to show me up (a la New Haven). We took the 102nd street transvers, cutting out the big hill, and I looked at my garmin and noticed it said that we had reached 2 miles. I hadn't seen the 2 mile marker and it felt too early for it. Turns out somehow the garmin picked up 3/10ths of a mile and I hit the 2 mile marker around 18:30. I had gotten down to my target pace but still needed to make up about half a minute. I think the garmin was having some difficulty with all the trees, because I couldn't get a good read on pace. I passed on the water station at 2 miles, thinking I would grab a quick drink at 3 miles. I was feeling mostly good, with some mild right shin pain - but I was annoyed that I couldn't really figure out my pace. I spent most of the 3rd mile trying to catch up with my goal time of 27 minutes. I was definitely running harder than I normally do - I felt that. There was no water station at the 3rd mile - had to wait to grab a quick drink of guess what? Poland Spring water! at a little before the 4 mile marker. As I got to about 1/2 a mile left I passed a woman who was breathing really hard - I looked at her and said "We're almost there!" She smiled at me - I felt like part of a community, it was cute.

I finished in 42:11 I don't know how much more I could have run. I am really happy with that pace - gave me a 8:27 pace, but my last 3 miles were at 7:50 (roughly, it's hard to get a great estimate because my garmin was off a little and I forgot to hit the lap button). I was able to edit the run on sports tracks a little - but still only able to get it to 5.2 miles. My garmin read 5.5 when we finished. Estimated splits are below:

1 - 9:30
2 - 9:12
3 - 7:55
4 - 7:44
5 - 7:50

As Danny said - there is something really cool about the environment of a race - a certain comraderie. As we were waiting to get our medals and take our pictures I schmoozed with a girl standing next to me who's running ING next Sunday. I was talking about Philly and how there's supposedly a couple of miles of cobblestone - she told me she ran a marathon in Alaska that had 11 miles of rock. I was like wow!

We met up with a friend of Sara's who's also running ING next sunday and we got some breakfast/early lunch.

I am amazed, why do my posts end up being so long - Sara's will read something like this: "Went to Central Park to run a 5-mile race. Ran it in about 48 minutes, then went out to breakfast."But somehow mine turn into a 2 page post. But hey! no one is going to answer that question - b/c no one reads this far down into my posts.

But I was very happy with my run - felt good. Some more mileage this week. Pictures to come...

Ah....Fresh Water!

2006-10-28T20:51:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's Poland Springs 5 mile race. Here's my bib!

Running for the Gang

2006-10-26T14:10:00.000-04:00

One of my classmates, Ryan, is running this year's NYC Marathon to raise money for the Hole in the Wall Gang, an organization that runs summer camps and other programs for kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Please support him if you can.

Zoom Zoom Zoom!

2006-10-25T23:21:00.000-04:00

So today was a speed training day - not sure what excatly the point whether it is to push yourself for better speed or to learn how to pace yourself or a combination of the two - but Sara and I were off to the track today to work on all of that. Unfortunately Danny couldn't join us - I hope he made it to the track - but not sure. We were set to do 9x400 with jog/walk laps between each lap. I was aiming for 1:45 laps or so - not sure where that number came from. I remember reading somewhere that your estimated full marathon time was your 800meter speed - so, even though I am not preparing for a full marathon - a 3:30 pace seemed like something that could eventually be a realistic goal. I kept most of my laps between 1:32-1:36. I walked laps between each run, I don't think I could have kept up that pace if I was jogging between - but I think I will try that the next time I run. It was really hard - at the halfway point, I remember on each lap that the wind was blowing really strongly in my face - that definitely made it harder. It was also the first time that I basically ran all out. I know that I was supposed to do it at 5k/10K pace and I ended doing it much faster - but for me, especially today, it was about building up some stamina for faster speeds. I really want to get the half marathon in under 2-hours.

Times:
1:32
1:36
1:30 (The last 150 meters or so I flew - made up a bunch of time and was going at least 12MPH).
1:47 (still recovering from the prior lap)
1:34
1:33
1:32
1:33
1:23 (I gave it all I had - but I was petering out by the last 100-150 meters. I think I could probably do a lap in 1:15 or so if I was fresh)

By the way - the picture of the track here doesn't do justice to what's there now. The track is really nice, really soft on my knees - and except for the few areas where people felt the need to spit on the track - it was clean. As Danny posted during his last speed run - I can't figure out why people feel the need to walk on a track. Obviously they have the same right as I do to be on the track - but I think they should be considerate enough to stay on the outer lanes, since I think most runners prefer to run in Lane 1. They wouldn't even move when I was running - I had to run around them - ws a little annoying but not so bad. But the track was really nice. However, the picture must be a couple of years old. Now the track is very nicely (I don't know what the word is for putting down a soft track) and the inside of the track is a football field. There were a bunch of guys playing some sort of league game - we couldn't figure out why these guys (who I think were in their mid 20's) weren't at work or at school. Also, there are a bunch of a few hundred foot poles, I don't remember what they were - maybe lights - that Sara pointed out to me all had birds' nests in them. What was totally cool was that these birds were a lightish green. Were they parrots? Unfortunately, unlike Danny I was not prepared with a camera to take a picture. Maybe the next speed day.

Yesterday Danny and I did a 5 miler. It definitely started out rough. First of all it was 40 degrees (I know that's not so cold, but this was the first time I have ever run in weather that cold. I got to wear some of my new winter running clothing. (All I have to say is that thank God runners are not judgemental because I don't think I looked all that cool in my running clothing) I was sore from Sunday and the first mile really hurt. Danny started about 3/10ths of a mile before me so he paused at 2.5 miles while I continued to my 2.5 and doubled back to him. We did the first 2 miles or so at about 10 minute pace. The next mile which I ran most ofby myself I picked up the pace. By the third mile my knee was aching a bit and I had to continue at a faster pace (I am sorry Danny). Average pace time was 9:08, but I was getting tired by the end. I don't know that I can keep that up for 13.1 miles - we shall see.

Final splits times:
Mile 1: 9:53
Mile 2: 9:50
Mile 3: 8:42
Mile 4: 8:34
Mile 5: 8:41

In really great news, hopefully, I got my schedule for next month. I will be starting my sub-internship in internal medicine at Jacobi Hospital. Basically I function as an intern on an inpatient floor. I have my own patients - I round on them every day, write their notes, orders and lab tests. I am quite nervous about it - it's going to be a big change and responsibility. It seems that the weekend of the Philly Marathon is the one weekend that I have off - so I will be able to run the race with Danny and Sara - and meet Shore Turtle afterwards. Also, thankfully - my knee has been holding up - it seems the ITB brace is working well (thanks ACE).

Friday is an easy 3-mile run - should be nice and relaxing. I am looking forward to it as my body is a little sore from all the running this week.

And now for totally unrelated thoughts:

1) One of my favorite Simpsons episodes is on as I write this. Bart is recruited to join a boy band (NSYNC spoof) and they sing a a song Drop Da Bomb - with the chorus YVAN EHT NIOJ (or JOIN THE NAVY) backwards. They are making a subliminal recruiting video for the navy, lol... Now followed by the Scrubs episode where Turk fights off all the Asian surgical residents while "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting" so realistics - that's what always happens during surgical residencys. And why is the x-ray backwards in the beginning of the show - Situs Inversus?

2) Did anyone see Lost tonight! How crazy is that show - it's awesome - but I still can't figure out what the heck is going on on the island. I know there are a million websites, last year I was more into all these theories - now I am just enjoying it episode-to-episode.

3) A quote from an e-mail from Running Shorts (I mean Shorts Running): "i WOULD like to meet you all and cheer everyone on-but i am so busy. and poor" I wanted her to come meet us in Philly - but no! How lame! :( Would've been nice to meet ya.

Go go gadget legs!

2006-10-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

(Isn't the picture cool? I love how you can almost see the entire Manhattan and the park in the middle. Somehow it seems like our run was so much longer than if we had done a couple 5 mile loops in the Park - but I guess that's just an optical illusion).

Yesterday - the highlight of my running career - my first time breaking 10 miles. For me I felt as if I jumped over a huge hurdle. I was nervous going into the run because my prior long run was 7.2 miles and I had to stretch in the middle of that run. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make a 10-miler, even though my shorter distances had gone well last week. We debated between running in Central Park or down the West Side Highway and the clincher was that we found parking at Riverside park - which is 96th street on the water. After some stretching we were off...

The first couple miles weren't bad - but then my knee started aching a little - I ran through it. It was cool running down the West Side Highway as you can count blocks watch the goings on - it is more exciting than running in the Park. There were all these sports games going on - there was a bunch of little kids having soccer practice. I think that it would be nice to live in that area and be able to go for runs and walks on the water - it seems so pretty (cute?). The only hitch was that at the end of the 2nd mile we ran under the highway for a good 3/10ths of a mile, longer on the way back and both of our Garmins stopped picking up a signal which messed everything up. Up to that point Danny and I had similar distances after that point mine was behind by about 0.1-0.15 miles, which was annoying.

Around the Lincoln Tunnel we passed under the watchful gaze of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Z"L - smiling at us as we continued our run. At 34th street/near the Javits Center we passed a procession of police cars with their sirens on - not sure what it was but I liked to imagine they were there to cheer me on as we were now a quarter of the way done. (Hmmm...did the procession have to do with the billboard?) We passed Chelsea Piers where we planned a quick stop for the restrooms on the way back (I think it was just leaving ourselves an option for a stop to prod us on). At some point between the Piers and the halfway point Danny's Garmin fell behind mine. We got down to Clarkson avenue which was a drop over 5 miles on my Garmin and turned back.

The first 5 miles were tough - I don't think I was physically drained but mentally, I am not sure why, I felt that I really had to push myself. Something clicked, though, in those last 4-5 miles. Danny and I had been running together with Sara consistently a few paces behind us. I am not sure if it was me or Danny who picked up the pace and we cut all our miles to below 10:00. The 5 mile pace was 10:04, the 2nd 5 miles were 9:30, with a negative split (50:22/47:34). I think it just took the first six miles or so to really get into it. Once we hit that 6 mile mark I felt like I was just cruising, looking forward to the end - but I knew that we could make it. 7.2 miles came and I thought to myself - woohoo! longest run every without a stop!

Danny's Garmin fell even further behind mine, we knew that the first leg was more than 5 miles - we discussed stopping at 10 miles and walking back to the tennis courts at 96th. In fact, if I was alone I think I would have done that. They are doing some construction around 86th on the water so the running path that normally runs straight is closed and you have to cut a little bit east and there was a significant uphill. It didn't seem so bad on the way down - but at the end of the run it seemed downright daunting. I turned to Danny and asked him if we were stopping at the 10 mile marker and he said no! I wanted to kill him. That uphill, even though it was short, really took a lot out of me and I was a little out of breath - both from the uphill and the pace. The last mile we did at 9:07 pace, our fastest mile. But I am glad Danny forced me to keep on going, once we flattened out it was much easier and then I saw those beloved tennis courts - I sprinted the last bit to cross the finish line where I was showered in flowers and champagne. A great run!

Splits:
1 - 10:12
2 - 10:18
3 - 10:07
4 - 9:47
5 - 9:57
6 - 9:49
7 - 9:40
8 - 9:34
9 - 9:24
10 - 9:07
10.5 - 4:06

Follow-up: got home, iced, showered and went to friends' wedding. It was a really lovely wedding - mazel tov to them. Danced up a storm and the knee held up. Today everything is sore but in that good way where you feel you did it! Think tonight will hopefully be a pig out night! I am really hungry!

In more running news I signed up to be a member of NYRR today and signed up for the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff next sunday - only 5 miles, I think I am aiming for 45:00, I think that's attainable - need to figure out a playlist. It would be cool to meet some more RBF peeps at the race, we'll see - Danny and Sara are running it. The NYC marathon is in 2 weeks and we are scheduled for 11 miles that day and Danny wanted to make it to the marathon - hopefully we will.

Good luck to all those training for NYC 2006 and 2007 :)

Busy...busy...busy

2006-10-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

Couldn't resist posting this - I wish someone would do this in my library. It's from the group Prangstgrup, they have some cute videos. Found out about the group from my friend Shev - thanks :).

I haven't posted in 3 days! 3 DAYS! I think that's the longest that has gone by without posting since I started this blog just over a month ago. Anyway, been kinda busy the last few days. For those of you who don't know me I am graduating Albert Einstein College of Medicine this year. I took last year off to do a Masters in clinical research methods with my thesis on cervical cancer. I am currently applying for a residency in Obstetrics/Gynecology - my interviews start in about a month. After the 4 year residency I hope to start a fellowship in Gynecological Oncology (a specialty that treats cancers of the female reproductive tract: ovaries, uterus, cervix, etc...). My mentor asked me to coauthor a chapter on cervical cancer and HPV(Human papillomavirus - the virus that causes the vast majority of the cases of cervical cancer). I accepted knowing that this was a great opportunity for me but not realizing how much work it was going to be. I spend my days in the library reading articles and trying to figure out how to write this chapter. So it has kept me busy - though I have to admit I have played a lot of games of solitaire since I started working on this chapter.

On the running front - I ran for the first time on Wednesday with the knee ace bandage I bought. I ran 3.25 miles and I had some mild discomfort during the run, but the good news is that I didn't have to stop at all to restretch my IT band. Also - even more importantly I had very minimal pain the couple days after the run - which is not something I am used to - so almost no Motrin this week since wednesday. Today the Q and I are scheduled for 5 miles - that's the big test for me. Sunday they are scheduled for a 10-miler, I don't think I am ready for that - since I missed last weeks 9-miler. I will definitely go as far as I can without injuring myself - if I can make it all the more power!

Yesterday Danny and I went to Target to get winter running gear - I have been running in the C9 line by champion - may be exclusive for target - but I have been happy with it - so I got a few winter shirts and pants. Have never ran outside for a long distance during the cold of winter - so I may need to supplement with some extra warmth - though I do tend to like it cold and warm up quickly.

Getting pretty close to signing up for the Las Vegas half - that's going to be a momentous day for me. The bad news is that I am likely to have an interview on the East Coast the Friday before which means I am going to be stuck flying out 8PM or so on saturday night, getting in around 10:30 vegas time for a 6AM start time - not the optimum prepping for a race - but I can't miss this race - I have been focusing on this one since I started running.

Gotta go cook a little for shabbos - will try to post a picture of the 5-miler later - I want to change the route a little instead of heading toward city island - maybe continue for the extra 3/4 mile up into westchester - along the route that Danny and Q ran last week.

Q and I did 5 miles at 3:49PM today. Why 3:49, not 3:45 or 3:50? I don't know - Q is quirky like that. Anyway, had my knee brace on - run went decently - had some pain - but you guys don't care about that - I finished 5 miles, which is my longest run in about 10 days, also the first time that I have done that without needing a break in a long time - so it was definitely an ego boost.

If you guys pay any attention to my maps at all you will notice that the route we do crosses over the Hutchinson River - we cross the Pelham bridge. Just over the bridge we hit Shore Road and frequently we go southeast at that point toward City Island. Today we changed things up a bit - as mentioned above we continued North (similar to the 9 miler they did last week). It's so quaint as you head up toward Westchester. We passed the Bronx Equestrian Center - I was so impressed, so that's where all those champion Bronx riders train...very cool! Almost got run over by a car that decided that Stop Signs were merely suggestions. Our halfway point was just at the beginning of the Split Rock Golf Course. I actually played the front nine there about 3 years ago. I have been told that they hosted the US Open a long time ago - but couldn't confirm that online in the limited time I had.

Anway...more to come...

Pasta Fagioli --> The origin of Man

2006-10-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

That's the type of soup that I had for lunch today - why do you care? I can't imagine that you do. But anyway, I have eaten this soup multiple times - seems that the cooks in the kitchen here take some sort of noodle (it's always different - today it was a large bowtie like noodle) throw it in a pot with some water, through in buckets of what looked like lima beans, a couple of kidney beans and just a tad of seasoning (wouldn't want people to actually taste their food). But I have always wondered what it really should taste like. Rule of thumb - many things in the cafeteria by me are based on a real dish - but execution often leaves much to be desired.

So anyway - Pasta e Fagioli is a tradiational Italian peasant dish made with beans, pasta and a tomato and seasoning base. It can range from a soup to a much thicker dish. One recipe I found for it. Both those sound good - wish I could have had that for lunch. But for more important things what does fagioli mean? Apparently it means beans, usually a white kidney bean, - which is a good thing - because there were a lot of beans in my soup. Fagiolini is the word in Italian for string beans. I have been trying to find the etymology of the word fagioli but having great difficulties - guess I am not a linguist. This is the extent of what I could find on etymology but I couldn't understand it. If anyone understands it - drop me a line. But what I did find that was cool was the Tower of Babel Project. They attempt to find connections between the world's 6000 different languages and finding the origin of these languages. See here for more information. I am humbled by the work they are doing - sounds pretty smart. If you read through that page what's pretty cool is that they learn about the hisotry and the advances of society through the availability of words reflecting different things in their lexicon. Pretty cool - makes sense when you think about it - but I didn't think of that.

Now I am hungry again....

Back and pounding

2006-10-17T08:32:00.000-04:00

Danny and I went out for the schedule 4.5 miles yesterday. My legs felt better than they had in a couple of weeks with aches here and there. My left knee started acting up about a mile in - the pace was a little slow for me - I am not sure I understand why, if someone can explain to me - when I take the pace down from a 10 minute mile to a 9 minute mile my knee hurts less (or is it that I just don't think about it so much). I had to pause at about 2.5 miles to do a couple of quick IT band stretches, but I finished the run without too much trouble. Pace was just a drop over the 9 minute pace including the stretching time - a little less than that without the pausal time. I bought one of those Ace knee bands - that i am going to try out the next time I run. Shoreturtle said that he uses his IT band pain.

In other news I had the opprotunity to read Kite Runner over the weekend. It was an excellent book - couldn't put it down after picking it up. It was extremely thought provoking - I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it (I highly recommend it) but I would love to hear other people's thoughts about the book. Hmm...there's an idea - the running, blogging, reading family? Let me know if anyone else has thoughts about that.

Met up with a friend last night for dinner and a movie. The Illusionist - man oh man I have had luck with my arts lately (read a great book and saw a great movie).

More running to come...

:(

2006-10-13T15:34:00.000-04:00

Quick update before the weekend holiday:

Yesterday morning, my foot was feeling better so I tried to run a 5k on the treadmill. It didn't go too well - I felt like I had hit a wall in my training, and was deconditioning, I only made it 2 miles. Danny said this wasn't uncommon and had probably been pushing myself too hard. Anyway, I lost a lot of confidence in my running so when Sara said she was going to do a 3 mile afternoon
run I decided to join her. The 3 miles were a piece of cake - map to follow - we averaged 9 minute pace and felt really good. I had no pain during the run and some of my confidence was returning. Unfortunately as we were driving to pick up dinner I noticed a lot of pain in my knee, felt something strange. I iced it and the pain went away, but my right ankle started feeling weird...

Seeing a pattern here? I am falling apart limb by limb.

This morning I noticed a black-and-blue mark on the outside portion of my right ankle, it looks like somehow I sprained it - don't remember doing that - certainly don't remember any pain.

But anyway - looks like I am going to be taking about a week off from running. No long run as planned today - gonna have to try to do some cardio/cross training next week so I don't decondition too quickly. I am pretty bummed by this development, also feeling that Danny and Sara are going to be leaving me behind as they cruise toward their half - but hopefully this will resolve soon and I will be back out on the paths.

Enjoy running - I am rooting all you guys on from the sidelines.

Homeward Bound?

2006-10-11T14:52:00.000-04:00

I am currently sitting in Ben Gurion International Airport waiting for my flight back to Newark. The nice thing about this airport as compared to the NY airports is that there is free WiFi - so I can sit here blogging.

Everyday I have been getting a little bit better. After last night's elliptical workout (I can't believe I did a full hour and wasn't dying) my foot felt really good. THis morning it hurt less in the morning than it had yesterday and I did some walking, not too much on it and it's holding up. I definitely pulled something in the arch - but it seems that it's getting better. Thursday will probably be another rest day and I will see how it feels on Friday. I had a scary thought taht maybe it had something to do with my new sneakers. Granted I got the same pair that I already had - but they show up as 2 different shoes on the roadrunner sports website - so I am not sure, maybe they are basically the same with just something a little different. Anyway, been taking chronic motrin - and I am feeling a lot better.

Today I hit the elliptical again, 45 minutes - did it at a pretty brisk pace keeping my average HR in the 160's - I think I get a better CV workout from the elliptical than running - but nothing beats running. I packed - went to visit my brother and his kids. They are so cute! They are such happy kids - I really miss them when I am in America, though I don't do a good job at all of keeping in touch. Maybe I will try to be better about it this year. Got to say goodbye to them which was nice, last night my parents and I went to visit my sister and her kids.

For those who haven't spent time here before it's hard to explain, but I am really sad about leaving. It's more than just the leaving of my family and the end of a vacation. There is something special about Israel - it's the center of 3 major religions and it has so much history. I feel that this is my home and that everytime I leave I am really leaving my home. There is something incredible about walkign in a country where you know that your ancestors walked and lived thousands of years ago - just something you don't have in the US.

I turned on my Garmin to record the trip to the airport. It was just over 33 miles from my parents' apartment to the airport. One of the things I was thinking was - Hey! There could be a marathon from the airport to the edge of Jerusalem - that's about 26.2 miles. It would be hard to run up to Jerusalem as the path decreases by about 2500 feet as you leave Jerusalem - and running from Jerusalem to the airport wouldn't be nearly as exciting.

On a side note: Congratulations to Darrell on finishing the Saint George Marathon (a PR for him - he has now finished 7 marathons in 7 states, only 43 states to go) and to Shoreturtle on running the 18 mile Long Beach Island Memorial.

Life doesn't end just because you don't run....does it?

2006-10-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

Ok...hit a snag in my training (if you want to even call it that - more of just pseudo-training for a half marathon...hey! maybe that's the problem!). I am still in Israel and I last ran Sunday morning, not my best run ever. Since then I have been plagued with two problems: 1) my typical left knee problems, which have resolved mostly with stretching, 2) severe pain in my right arch. Not sure what it is - but I think it's either plantar fasciitis or a march fracture (I certainly hope that it's the former).

The foot pain has been so severe that it has pretty much curtailed my ability to ambulate which means that I haven't been able to do activities with my nieces and nephews while I am here (this stinks because I only see them once or twice a year). I have been reading up on plantar fasciitis and have tried to do some of the stretches that were suggested, but nothing seemed to improve it. (Yes! I am very impatient, I don't want to have to wait for things to get better - I want to be able to stretch the pain away in an hour). So I have been immobile - bummer!

Twas interesting, was listening to an early Phedippidations about the need for rest tonight and Steve was saying that a lot of people believe that the answer to running injuries is not rest - but rather getting back out there - unless the running is going to make the injury worse. (I told this to my Mom - who asked the obvious question - how do you know if it's going to get worse? Valid question, but I guess you just kinda figure it out). This is an interesting approach, maybe the best way to resolve the arch pain is to get back out there. I have a theory as to what happpened. The path was very bumpy, cracked and cratery and also about 5 miles in I started having some shin splints (damn you Osgood and Schlatter), I think I might have changed my stride, or repeatedly landed in a strange way on my arch over-stretching the plantar fascia.

So...I pigged out today - well not really, but I ate a lot more than I normally do - which of course made me feel lousy. So, I decided to try my parents' elliptical. I wasn't sure what to expect - I used to use it once in a while when I went to visit them for the weekend and I remember feeling like I was going to die after about 30 minutes. I knew I was in better shape now than likely I had ever been - so I planned on 30 minutes. Well 30 minutes turned into 60 - I probably could have gone further, but enough was enough - it's like a treadmill you get nowhere! I had my Garmin 301 on with the chest strap - had an average HR of 162 - which I think probably gave me a pretty good CV workout. Machine said I burned 900 calories - which I think probably got me to about even or negative for the day. Very importantly - no knee or foot pain (they say ellipticals are good for non-impact workouts) and my foot isn't hurting as much now (maybe it's the 600mg of Motrin I took before I started, maybe I stretched the fascia, maybe it's the placebo effect of getting back out there and exercising again. It feels great to exercise - I love it!

Anyway, I am returning back to the US on a flight tomorrow night, will be back Thursday morning. Hoping to do a long run with Danny and Sara on Friday.

Wanted to give a shout-out to the new people who have visited my blog - thanks so much for your comments. You guys rule - I wish I was in the same league as you guys.

Also, a quick word - thanks to everybody who has played such important roles in my life, to my parents especially (I know you check out this blog even though you refuse to post), my family and my friends - especially the close ones. The support you have given me throughout my life has really made it possible to accomplish what I have.

One last thing - let me point out a new feature - in the right sidebar - the movie of the day/week/month - not sure how often I will change it, I find them funny - hope you do.

Running in the Holyland

2006-10-08T06:39:00.000-04:00

I got up at 4:30 this morning - my dad was going to prayers and I was going to run. I had laid out all my equipment last night, shorts, running shirt, garmin, ipod, bandaids cut to size, body glide...he drove me about 5 minutes away to the entrance to Gan Sacher which is one of the big parks in Jerusalem. I got there at about 5:10 - and did some stretching at the entrance to the park and was off and running.

I was a little nervous about running in the park - when I first started there was no one else in the park - my father was nervous, but I had one of my parent's cell phones and I promised to be safe.

This time I paced myself a lot better - however, and I am not making any excuses (really I am) the running area was horrible. The asphalt was all bumpy, cratery and completely cracked. It was absolute hell on my knee. In addition at the end of the loop that I did 4 times there was a steep uphill which really knocked me down hard (I only did 4 complete loops of the park, after that I cut out that uphill part at the end and did 4 shorter loops). I was only able to complete 7.2 miles. At just over halfway through my left knee really started hurting and I had to stop for a little bit to re-stretch. I was afraid that I would have to call it a day - but I was able to finish up the last 3 miles or so. It wasn't the 8 miles that I had been hoping for, and it wasn't straight through, but it might have been the best that I could ask for. My final pace was 9:30, my fastest mile was a drop under 9 minutes and the slowest was a drop over 10 minutes.

I miss you Danny and Sara - running is just not the same by myself.

There is definitely something special about running in Jerusalem, it's hard to explain - it may be that I feel that I belong here - this is my home (no matter that I live in Da Bronx). I tried recruiting someone to come run with me this morning - but couldn't convince anyone, but I am scheduled to run 5 miles with my cousin Tuesday morning. The only thing that bothered me was that I am used to the early-morning runners being friendly to each other and wishing you a good morning. Here, it seems the custom is not to be friendly when running. Even when I said "Boker tov" (Good morning in Hebrew) I often didn't get a response and even when I did I don't think I ever got a smile. Guess that custom hasn't made it to Israel yet.

Afterwards, I went back to my parents' apartment and went with them and their friends for breakfast. Afterwards we went to the Herzl museum. Theodor Benjamin Herzl, for those of you who don't know (I will summarize from wikipedia) was the founder of Zionism. He lived in Vienna in the late 19th century and was greatly influenced by the Dreyfus Affair (a Jewish Captain in the French army was framed for treason) which he covered as reporter for an Astro-Hungarian newspaper. He organized the first Zionist Congress in Basel - one of the famous quotes from his speech is:
''Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word - which I shall carefully refrain from uttering in public - it would be this: in Basel I founded the Jewish state. If I were to say this out loud today, everybody would laugh at me. In 5 years, perhaps, but certainly in 50, everybody will agree.''

He spent the rest of his life travelling the world, speaking with different world leaders, trying to obtain the rights to then Palestine for the Jewish nation. He died in 1904 before realizing his goal.

The museum was nicely done, in an interactive manner. Basically they set it up as if they were training an actor to play the role of Herzl in a play - and it was the education of the actor on the life of Herzl that we watched. Couple of major mistakes in the movies they showed: 1) The actor playing Herzl writes from right --> left, even though Herzl never wrote in Hebrew. 2) There is a train scene where the director of the play and the actor playing Herzl are on a train playing chess. The director castles and then un-castles (if that is even a word, I don't know what to call it since it is an illegal chess move). But I am just being picky here. :)

He is buried in Jerusalem.
A picture of his tombstone.

Anyway, congratulations to Danny and Sara on completing their long runs - maybe I will be up for another one on Friday. My knee is sore right now - so I am going to rest it for a while, will have to see about that Tuesday run. Chag sameach!

Stupid rookie mistakes...

2006-10-06T07:47:00.000-04:00

My flight to Israel was scheduled to depart from Newark Airport at 4:05PM today, which meant I needed to leave my apartment around 12:30. I am very anal about travelling and I need to get to the airport very early - I would rather wait in the airport than wait at home. Once I get in travel mode I can't seem to accomplish anything else - so I might as well be in the airport.

Anyway, I wanted to get a run in before I left, knowing that I wouldn't have time to run on Friday. I know...I know...too much running in too short a time - 4 runs in 3.5 days - I am overdoing it - but I am addicted, what can I do. Coming off the high of my fast treadmill 5k the problems were only beginning. Anyway - I got out the door a little after 8, leaving me just over 4 hours to get my run in, cool down, shower, finish packing and take care of the few things I had to finish up before I left for a week. Needless to say - I should have been smart enough and realized that I didn't have enough time to do all these things - and just accepted a little bit of defeat and called off the run. But I couldn't (I am still learning my limits). So, problem #1 - running too much without enough rest, problem #2 - I didn't stretch enough. As I have mentioned on this blog before I think I have IT band issues. Ever since I started stretching, while I have had mild aches during the run, in general I have been without any major issue - no pain after the runs. So I think those stretches have been working. Anyway, I didn't stretch properly before this run.

The only good thing about the run was that I finally got to try out my Garmin Forerunner 301 with the chest strap. The chest strap picked up a HR off and on - though the program afterwards didn't show so much drop out. Now I can finally pace myself, which leads to problem #3 - I totally did not pace myself - I was running 8:15 miles, something I had never done outside before and each time I thought I had slowed down I didn't. I was huffing and puffing by mile 2 and had to stop for about 10 seconds after mile 2 and a more than that during mile 3 (I didn't stop the Garmin timer for this one). By the end of the 4th mile I had been rocked. I was sore everywhere, my calves, my hams, my left knee. I was really upset. I had a pace of 8:15 - my splits were:

1st mile: 7:38
2nd mile: 8:03
3rd mile: 7:41
4th mile: 10:32 (looks like I walked about .15 mile).

I was mentally rocked - I totally hit a wall and it was just a really horrible run. In fact I am pretty embarassed to post about it - but part of my reason for this post is to learn from my mistakes. I was not ready for the pace that I pushed myself at, I didn't prepare properly and because of that I had my first really horrible run. The picture is a little off - but I used Sports Tracks to create it and exported it to Google Earth, need Danny to show me how to edit the path. GPS isn't perfect, far from it, but I still really like my Forereunner 301.

Anyway, now I am in Israel and have a 7-8 miler planned for Sunday. I left a couple messages for Mal James - I was hoping he might have some suggestions for a good run in Jerusalem - but I haven't heard back from him. If any of you have an e-mail address for him could you drop him a line and ask him to contact me - or if you could drop me his e-mail address. My goal for Sunday is a pace no faster than 9:30 for at least the first 6 miles, if on the last mile I want to pick it up a little - that should be ok. Sunday is about endurance, another step on the path of getting myself to tolerating a half.

More to come from Israel - I am going to post another soon - just a walk from my parent's apartment to my brother's apartment - it's so cool what the forerunner does.

Go Speedracer! Go speedracer! Go!

2006-10-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

This is a quick post - I am in the middle of packing for my week trip to Israel. Today was the day that I had planned to do some speed training. I am not sure if it's a good idea - but what I envisioned for speed day was to run a 5k. The last 5k I ran was in New Haven, where I had a time of 26:38 (that's 8:35). Today I decided my goal was to run 8 minute miles. I know I cheated since I ran on a treadmill but I finished the 5k in 23:55 (7:43 pace). It didn't even seem that hard. My knee held up well and I felt like I could go further, but I didn't want to push it.

The only depressing thing about it, besides for the fact that it was on a treadmill, is that pace is still not good enough to qualify me for Boston. But! the run totally pumped me up - I definitely think a sub-2:00 half marathon is doable. That's all for now - I will post from Israel, hopefully I will have a map of the run there - that would be cool.

I like to move it, move it....

2006-10-03T23:26:00.000-04:00

New shoes! Yay! Well new - but the same ones I have been running in...
Danny, Sara and I went to JackRabbit today to look at shoes. Sara recently got the Asics Nimbus VIII, so she wasn't looking, but Danny and I both needed a new pair. I think I only put about 250 miles on my shoes, but last year I probably put about 150 on them when I stopped running because my knee was hurting and then I used them recreationally - so the soles were pretty worn down. The cool thing about JackRabbit is that they have 3 treadmills, each of them have a videocamera on the level of your feet. They take a video of you running and then can analyze whether you overpronate or underpronate. Look at me running in my skydiving t-shirt (that's a story for another time), there's a message for life! "Shut-up and Jump!" The guy to my left who was watching my video, very intently, qualified in last year's NYC marathon for Boston in 3:03 - to which I was like wow! i can't imagine ever qualifying for Boston - though I think I may have to try at some point - I don't like failure.

It turns out that I overpronate a little - which I guess they must have seen when I bought shoes at Super Runner's Shop who sold me my first pair of Adrenalines. Turns out I still over pronate and I need my shoes to compensate. I tried on a few different pairs including a couple of Saucony's and one Mizuno, but I didn't really like how any of them felt. I really liked my Adrenaline's - but unfortunately they changed the colors so I think they are kinda ugly now - but I bought them because they feel good. Who cares if they are all going to laugh at me.

I also bought a few packs of sport beans: 3 each of orange, lemon/line and berry blue. I wish I could use GU or an equivalent but they are not kosher. Also, and perhaps more importantly I noticed a seasonal flavor of Cliff Bars - Caramel Apple Cobbler. Now, I love the Apple Cranberry flavor - and I had a feeling that I would really like this new flavor. But since it's a holiday flavor they were going to be limited - so I bought the store out. I hope I like them.

Danny couldn't decide on shoes - read his blog one of these days when he gets around to posting - so he bought socks and beans. Sara got socks. So all-in-all I was the big winner. Afterwards we got some dinner - very unhealthy - and headed back to the 'stein (that's Einstein - our home base).

I wanted to run today because I am leaving for Israel Thursday afternoon and I was hoping to get 3 runs in before then - so it was either Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or M/W/R. I convinced Sara to come with me but Danny was still sore from yesterday's run. I have been giving a lot of thought to what my goal time for the 1/2 marathon is - and I think I really want to run a sub 2:00, which means that I need to run 9:09 miles. I haven't been running that fast up until now. I felt the need for speed tonight so I pushed us. We finished the first 3 miles at 9:30 pace (approximately, it might have been a drop more than 3 miles). By the last mile I was feeling a little more tired than I usually am at the end of a 4-5 miler, but as has become my custom I try to pick up the pace for the last 1/4 - 1/3 mile. I finished the last mile in 8:45 pace. Granted, these are all approximates since I didn't have a digital watch or a Garmin. Tomorrow (Wed.) my Garmin comes, I can't wait. We did about an extra 1/3 - 1/2 mile after the 4 miles, at a pretty slow pace, we were both tired. I am energized by tonight, I think it means that there is a decent chance I can get my pace down to 9:09.

Tomorrow Danny wants to go to the track to work on some speed training - we'll see how that goes.

Anyway - in other news, I had a paper accepted for publication last week - that I am pretty far down on the author list, but an author nonetheless. Today, I got comments back from the reviewers on a paper that I am second author on - they were very favorable and they wanted minor revisions. I am told that's a good sign - not counting any chickens, but hoping for the best. Gotta resubmit with the revisions.

Post-fast run - keeping the legs pumping

2006-10-03T08:06:00.000-04:00

So as I have mentioned a couple of times over the past week - yesterday was Yom Kippur and was a fast day that started Sunday at sunset and lasted until yesterday at sunset. That means no eating no drinking - the eating wasn't that bad - but I got a headache at the beginning of the fast that lasted on/off for a good chunk of monday, I felt a little dehydrated even though I had hydrated pretty well before the fast. I stayed at Albert Einstein (my medical school) for Yom Kippur (many people my age tend to go home to their parents - but for the last five years I have been there).

Pretty much all day, yesterday, was spent in synagogue in prayers. Both Danny and I led the services. It was really a very moving and emotional prayer time. The idea of the prayers is to repent from the sins that you have done all year and to recognize that distance that you have created between God and yourself. The prayers were a really nice mixture of traditional tunes and more contemporary tunes with the congregation getting very into the prayer (which always makes it nice). My biggest problem with the services that I led was that for the first chunk I couldn't find a good key for the congregation to sing along - so I was singing much higher and by myself for a while. Danny on the other hand had no such problems and did a wonderful job.

Being that we now consider ourselves real runners - and I am certainly addicted to running - we broke our fast around 8:15 last night and the first question that we asked each other was - are we running tonight? I think that everyone that broke their fasts with us and were sitting around the table in Sara's apartment thought we were totally crazy - but we were loving it. By 9:15 we were on the road after doing some decent rehydrating and we did just under 4.5 miles. Did it in about 10 minute mile pace (according to Danny's garmin) - which is a little faster than we have been running up until now. The run definitely felt like we were going faster than that - but who's gonna argue with satellites. My knee only ached a little bit - no more repeat episodes of my knee giving out on me. I have been doing a couple IT band stretches which hopefully (at least psychologically) are helping.

We are nearing that date that I set for myself that if I was still running I was going to register for the LV half - getting really excited. The three of us were discussing it last night - the dates of the trip and other plans - I can't believe this may actually become reality (but until I do it - gotta keep that in check a little). On very exciting news I ordered my garmin 301 last night - gonna hold off on that nano for now - though we're discussing buying matching ipod shuffles and having them engraved something like "Einstein Road Runners 2006," we shall see.

I am off to Israel on thursday - my garmin is coming tomorrow - I signed up for a free trial of amazon prime - and they charge 4 bucks for next day shipping - I thought it was worth it. So I am going to take it to Israel with me for the long run that I have planned for Sunday morning - and then I can post a map from Israel - that will be so cool.

Last note for now: I have been running 3 days a week, 2 mediums and a long - I am thinking about adding a 4th day for a short run (maybe a faster run). I was thinking about running a 5K once a week and trying to get that time down - did about 8:36 at the New Haven road race - and it would be great to get that down to 8:00, if possible. I am hoping for a sub-2:00 half in LV. Don't want to overwork my knee - so we shall see.

Until later - to the library to finish up some papers.

Hmmm....fooled everyone! They think I am a real blogger.

2006-10-01T14:33:00.000-04:00

For those keeping track, meaning me - this is post #10 on this blog. I feel like that's a big accomplishment - I am not sure why.

Anyway, Yom Kippur starts tonight, 25 hours fast - which means no running today or tomorrow - though Danny wants to run tomorrow night after the fast is over - we'll have to see, maybe - I think I am addicted.

Anyway, the main reason for this post was that I am finally part of the RBF family - check it out: RBF new blogs.

Now I have made the big time. Stay tuned....Thanks Daryl for pointing it out!

Tomorrow I am leading services, see post below - my throat is a little sore - I guess I should rest it a little - but I don't really need my fingers, so blogging is okay. Anyway - a lot to do and very little time left, this day has been way too busy.

Woah! We're half way there!

2006-09-30T21:33:00.000-04:00

We're officially 1/2 way trained to the half-marathon. I stole Danny's picture - I really need to figure out how to turn gmap into a pic.

So, I know that I am a day late, but I got busy with my 2 other posts yesterday, so it's only tonight that I got around to writing about yesterday's run. This was another milestone for me - my longest run in my life. The day was a perfect day for running - it was cool, Danny and Sara were a little cool when we started and Sara was also half asleep. I was pumped - I had been talking all week about the 7 miler that we were going to do today. My only hope was that my knee would hold up. I had been doing some extra stretching and my knee had felt really good after the 4.5-miler on Wednesday.

As we started walking to our starting point it started drizzling a little bit - thankfully Danny was like of course we are going to run. The run started off well - we were doing about 10 minute mile pace - my knee started aching a drop about 1.5 miles in - the same that it has on other runs - but nothing too bad. We continued over the bridge and headed towared city island. At about the 3 mile point the trail switched to concrete right before we hit the bridge to city island, which I am thinking wasn't so great for my knee. We continued for another 0.3 miles or so on city island concrete sidewalks. City Island, a place very close to me where I have spent very little time, is so quaint. I never realized what is was. It seems like this fishing town - there are shops that are full of fishing equipment. We must have gotten there about 8:15 or so, maybe a few mintues after, and the place was so quiet. It is so different than the Bronx and the rest of NYC where I have spent all my life. Not sure the pace would agree with me long-term but it certainly was cute in the middle of an earlyish morning run.

Anyway - we reached our halfway point, turned around headed back over the bridge and were 4.1 miles into our run when my left knee all of a sudden really started hurting me - I took another 10 steps or so when my knee totally gave out and I couldn't support any more weight on my left knee. I tried to walk it off for a couple of seconds and Danny and Sara stopped with me. I tried running again, but couldn't. I sent them on ahead. I walked for the next 3-4 minutes, interspersed with attempts to run and couldn't. I finally changed my stride a little bit and began running a little faster and tried to catch up with D&S. I never quite let them out of my sight, I guess it was good that it's a relatively straight run, and after a couple of minutes of painless running I caught up with them. I told them that the quicker pace that I was doing (I have no idea how fast I was going) was easier on my knee and I was going to finish up the run and wait for them at the end.

The rest of the run was relatively painless. Don't have an exact time - probably about 10 minute miles. Couple of points where my knee ached a little, but otherwise no problem. The only thing that was hard about the run was that for most of the run back the wind was blowing in my face - which certainly made the run harder. I can't wait for the rest of the fall and winter runs when I am sure the weather will be just dandy - any suggestions are welcome.

I took a couple more aspirin on Friday afternoon and since have been pain-free. I have no explanation for what happened in the middle of the run and I am definitely greatful that my knee has been in good shape since. A couple of weeks ago I had a lot of pain after a run - and had to take the rest of the week off.

One note: I bought a fluid belt last week and had a chance to use it on Wednesday and Friday. Friday's run I used all 4 bottles, 2 of them I froze halfway and filled the rest in the morning before the run so I could have cool water for the way back. It worked well and I definitely was happy for the water.

Not sure when my next run will be - definitely going to try to run on Tuesday and Thursday (maybe 5-milers each). Have to see if I feel like a run tomorrow morning - but I got Yom Kippur ahead of me with hours of standing in synagogue - so I have to see if I think that's a smart idea. I am leaving for Israel Thursday afternoon for 6 days. Going to try to get at least one run, maybe 2 in Israel - maybe I can do a 7-8 miler next Sunday morning (I only observe one day of holiday in Israel).

To all those fasting tomorrow - have an easy and meaningful fast. And to the few people who have come to my blog who I don't know (Darrell - good luck on your 50 marathons, I will be happy if I ever make it to 1) thanks for coming and dropping me posts. I feel lucky to have joined the RBF family - hopefully soon my blog will be listed on their official list.

Happy running and fair winds.

OMG!!!!

2006-09-29T14:39:00.000-04:00

I just saw this and I had to post about it - I still have yet to post about today's run - see danny's blog for a picture of the run.

Apparently Swanson came out with a breakfast meal - called Hungry Man! They have these commercials with overweight-obese men say things like: "I know what I like and I like a lot of it" Now granted I will never eat one of these, nothing to do with health, but rather because they are not kosher - but I always wonder about commercials for food that show huge men.

I went to the Swanson website which has a huge picture of their "HungryMan salisbury steak dinner." It doesn't even look good - but those peas and carrots sure look healthy.

So I went online to find out more about what's in this breakfast and the nutritional contents of this breakfast delicacy. From the picture I saw - it would appear that 3 pancakes, 3 pieces of sausage, a couple of strips of bacon, 2 huge home fries and some sort of fake scrambled eggs. Now that certainly is a lot of food. The box proudly advertises "Over 1lb. of food" - hmmm....does one person really need that much food?

But what really blew my mind was the nutritional contents. 1,030 calories for the whole thing. To put that in perspective - the average male is 5'9". If we assume a weight of 180lbs (giving him a BMI of 26.6 - in the category of overweight) then he will burn off about 2050 calories per day - so he will have consumed >50% of all his calories by the time he finishes breakfast. Now granted the guys in this commercial may have been 5'9" but they were more like 250lbs (BMI=37 = obese), but even so their basal metabolic rate will only burn 2350 calories/day. But let's imagine that I didn't keep kosher and I ate one of these - I could burn off all the calories by doing an 8 mile run. So I could stay skinny, not bad.

But wait! it gets better - it's like one of those late night infomercials. Nearly 100% of one's daily fat intake and >100% of their saturated fat comes from this one meal. 231% of the daily cholesterol - which we know is a risk factor for heart disease. So I guess it's not all good!

But to be fair - It does have 25% of the daily iron and 20% of the daily calcium.

So for all you hungry men out there - go eat!

But wait again! I just had a brilliant idea - I am a very hungry man - what would my day be like if I had the HungryMan breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am going to have the hearty breakfast, the HungryMan buffalo style chicken strips for lunch and look what I found! a HungryMan XXL (1.5 lbs of food - if 1lb wasn't enough).

Here's the totals:
Calories: 1030+920+1450 = 3400
Total Fat: 64g (98%) + 53g (82%) + 58g (89%) = 175g (269%)
Saturated Fat: 21g (105%) + 14g (70%) + 26g (130%) = 61g (305%)
Cholesterol: 230% + 50% + 55% = 335%
Protein 36g + 34g + 47g = 117g

Well at least it's got a lot of protein.

And I wonder why people are so fat! I think I am going to go vomit now.

Before God You Shall Be Purified

2006-09-29T10:46:00.000-04:00

I have been telling myself for the last few days that I was going to post some thoughts about the high holidy season that we are in now, it starts with the Jewish New Years - which is actually two days (last Saturday and Sunday) and spans 10 days. The culmination is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) which is on Monday. This is a time during the year that is set aside for repenting from sins that one has committed during the course of the year and to commit oneself to improving in the coming year. There are extra prayers that are added during this time of the year and of course the services on the New Year's Days and Yom Kippur span close to the whole day. It is a somber time, one in which we recognize how much we have sinned and how those sins have caused us to become distanced from God. It is a time for evaluating goals and priorities.

The Yom Kippur day is spent mostly in synagogue in prayer. In addition it is a 25 hour fast, that spans from sunset on Sunday to sunset on Monday. Prayers are led by the "Chazzan" or cantor - and in many synagogues each of the different prayers during the day (there are 5 on Yom Kippur) are led by a different individual. I will be leading the morning services on Yom Kippur and Danny has an even more difficult job will be leading the longer services that follow. While this is a huge honor - it is also a tremendous responsibility. During the times of the Jewish Temple - the High Priest would do all the services of the day - which included many different sacrifices. The cantor is considered almost the equivalent of the High Priest during the leading of the services. It is the responsibility of the cantor, so to speak, to bring the prayers of the entire community before God.

I asked the Rabbi of the community where I live to talk for a few minutes on different thoughts that the cantors should have while they are leading prayers. I didn't get any specifics, but he certainly impressed upon me what a huge responsibility I have. I have been preparing for a few weeks now - didn't prepare as much as I would have liked last week because of a rough schedule in the hospital, but I think I caught up this week. I think that the words of the prayer that Danny will recite completely express what I am feeling: "Here I am, impoverished of deeds, trembling and frightened from the dread of Him...I have come to stand and supplicated before You...although I am unworthy and unqualified to do so...Accept my prayer like the prayers of an experienced elder, whose lifetime has been well spent...whose voice is weet and who is genial with other people."

May this coming year be a year of peace in the world and prosperity. May we see great advances in science and medicine and a decline in illness. May we all be blessed with good health and happiness.

Over the river and through the woods....

2006-09-27T23:27:00.000-04:00

On the schedule for today was a 4.5 mile run. I was worried, since the last run on Monday night - my knee was really not happy with me - as I think I blogged a few times it felt like it was totally giving out underneath me.

Danny directed me to a great site last night Sports Injury Bulletin where I read an article about Runner's Knee leading me to diagnosis myself with Iliotibial band syndrome. So I started doing some extra stretches, even found an article which demonstrated a couple of stretches. So I stretched last night and this morning and lo and behold today's run was much better - and my knee feels much better today than it did on tuesday, but it could all be in my head.

So Sara and I set out on our regular route across the bridge (Danny had an early case this morning - we missed you, conversation is just never the same without you). The weather was absolutely beautiful - so far, hopefully not to jinx it, but the fall weather has been spectacular. We continued for an extra 1/4 mile to push our round trip to 4.5 miles. The only part I regret now was that a large chunk of that last extra 1/4 mile was uphill - which was tough at the midway point - but at the top we got through some trees and we could see the road ahead which we will take on our 7 mile run on Friday. The way back was good - got into a groove, stopped talking so much as I concentrated on finishing the run - which I guess made me not the best running partner.

We finished in just under 45 minutes, roughly - 10 minute miles - a little bit faster than we had been running, guess I was pacing this one a little faster. Didn't sprint at the end, but broke into a run. It's amazing how good a run feels - especially at the end of the jog. I wish my stamina was up enough that I could run the whole way (it might be easier on my knees).

I am gonna try to get a picture of the route up when I can figure out how to do that. Until then Map.

More later on preparing to lead services on Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement).

Nite all - here's to a 7 miler on Friday!

New Haven Road Race

2006-09-26T07:58:00.000-04:00

My - I look kinda pathetic...running out of steam. Thanks for the pic Danny.

Finally back on the road

2006-09-25T23:27:00.000-04:00

So last week was a tough week for me - really long hours in the hospital, though I saw two really cool cases on Thursday, and my knee was a total wreck after the six mile run last Sunday.

But...it was a new year - and my commitment to make the LV half is still there - so I needed to get back on track - need to figure out how I can replace my knee :). Anyway - so today was a Jewish fast day - we fast from sunrise to sunset (which was about 7:30 tonight) - I convinced my running partners that we should get our running week started. I kinda wanted to do a six-mile run - but they convinced me that was overly ambitious and too much this early on - especially since we have a bunch of weeks until the half (though SQ is hoping to run the half in Philly - maybe if I am off I can come and cheer you on - we shall see).

I started out and I was feeling really good - my knee was a drop tender but held up well through the first mile. I felt myself holding back - but I didn't want to overexert. At about the 2 mile point - my left knee just decided to go to absolute hell. I started getting shooting pain in the lateral part of my knee and there were points were it buckled and I almost lost my stride because of the pain. But I persevered on and made it back (maybe it was stupid). I think a lot of the problem with my knee had to do with all the stairs I was running up and down in the hospital - so hopefully since I am not working in that hospital anymore it will be better. As we were nearing the end - with about a quarter of a mile to go - one of my partners decided that it was time for her to sprint. I couldn't hold back anymore and sprinted to catch up with her and then ran the last bit. Though I didn't time it - it definitely felt like the fastest that I had run in the last few months. Amazingly, my knee felt better when I was sprinting/running than jogging - maybe I need to pick the pace up.

I don't know an exact time - I am guessing we did the 4 miles in about 41:30 maybe less, the last 2 miles i paced at about 19:30, way off my treadmill pace. It felt so good to be back running, I think I am reaching that point where I feel addicted. It is really fun to run with friends and thanks Danny and SQ - without you guys I would be much less motivated. I know you think you hold me back - but the truth is you keep me going. Thanks. So, if my knee holds up I would like to maybe another 4-miler, maybe shorter on wednesday - and a 7-miler on Friday assuming the body holds up.

In good news - I think it's time for new shoes for me - I think I have put close to 200 miles on them so far - in addition to a lot of other wear and tear. I have really enjoyed the GTS 6 that I have been running and will probably continue in a new pair - but I would like to go try on some others.

On a different note - a patient that I had been seeing for a few weeks had gotten transferred to a palliative care hospital (where she could live out the rest of her life in comfort, with her family being able to visit her whenever they wanted) last week. The hospital is across the street from where I live and I had decided to go visit her. Unfortunately, after she went there last Monday I didn't have any time last week - so I walked over this afternoon. When I got to the front desk they didn't have any record of her. I spoke to the admitting office only to find out that she had passed on two days after arriving there. I feel bad - I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, I didn't think that she would pass - I wish I had known - I would have gone last week. However, she is in a better place - she was in so much pain. You will be in my thoughts and prayers - I am sorry I didn't get to say goodbye.

Time to go to sleep - lots to accomplish tomorrow.

Nike + vs. Garmin

2006-09-17T21:14:00.000-04:00

Thought that maybe I could get some input here. The new ipod nano just came out and i considering getting it with the nike + and the cool case that allows me to hook it to my regular sneakers without buying nikes. The other option is to get the garmin 301 which I have seen for as cheap as $147 + shipping.

Any suggestions?

Scotchie...scotch...scotch

2006-09-17T19:24:00.000-04:00

Will Ferrel (Ron Burgundy) professes his love for scotch.
I too love scotch - though I must profess my love for scotch is shared by my love for vodka. But getting back to the scotch - I am a scotch snob - single malts only for me. So I am going to try to keep a log of the scotches as I taste them. Friday night - I had the opportunity to go back to one of the basics of single malt scotch - the 10 year Balvenie. For those of you who know the Balvenie distillery this is basically the youngest that comes. From my limited understanding of scotch - each year the distillery needs to decide what percentage of the casks that they have they are going to open and sell and what percentage they are going to keep. Scotch matures only in the cask - so a 15 year old bottle that you have had in your basement for 15 years - is still only a 15 year old bottle - not a thirty year old bottle. So anyway - I can't recall seeing a single malt scotch less than 10 years old - but I am sure that there are.

Anyway - I prefer the smooother, non-peaty, non-smokey scotches so Balvenie is usually a good choice for me. I had Friday night dinner with some friends and enjoyed about 3 fingers of the 10 year Balvenie with some chicken and noodle pudding. It was good - a little harsher than I remembered it - but it was generally smooth. A slightly woody taste - don't I sound sophistimicated now - otherwise I didn't taste any flavors that jumped out at me. Not nearly as good as the 21 year Balvenie that I have sitting in my apartment. For those who don't drink single malts often - apparently the proper way to drink it is to let it sit for a few moments (like a glass of wine - "to open it") and then swirl it in your glass. Then sniff the scotch to please your olfactory buds and then take a small sip - single malts should not be downed. Anyway - I still prefer the 12 year double wood - but in lieu of it the 10 year will suffice, especially since I didn't pay for the bottle :).

Enough scotch for now. Until later this is kivster with your scotch update for the week.

My first post - and my longest run to date.

2006-09-17T18:30:00.000-04:00

This is my first attempt at a blog - so you will have to bare with me. Anyway, I got started on running again about 2 months ago - inspired by my running partner Danny who ran his first marathon last year. So - we had been running shorter runs - see his blog for most of those runs - and then we decided to run in the New Haven Road Race, which was a fun run through New Haven where the people are great. I met a bunch of Danny's blogger friends who are all really cool and really inspired me to take my running to the next level.

Danny and our other running partner Sara decided they were going to train for a half marathon, I think in Philly - but alas, I didn't think I would be ready - and since I am in my 4th year of medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and will be playing doctor that month wasn't realistic for me. So after some web searching I found the perfect answer - the Las Vegas Half Marathon - 13.1 grueling miles - enough to grind my knees and menisci into dust. What an awesome excuse to go to Vegas for the weekend.

And so began our training - it's been really hard for me to run the last couple of weeks - as I am doing an elective at NYU Medical Center in Gynecologic Oncology - meaning specializing in cancers of the female pelvis and working crazy hours - really rewarding but hard work. But have managed to get a couple additional runs each week in on the treadmill besides my longer Sunday run.

So today - I proposed a loop of Central Park - 6 miles - longer than any of us had done in a long time, longest for me and Sara - not nearly Danny's longest :). And today I found out that I am halfway to being a real runner! Thanks to my chafing t-shirt I had 2...not 1...but 2! blooody nipples! Woohoo! I have arrived. No runner's toenail yet - but hopefully soon. My left knee has been bothering me a lot - I am sure that I will post many posts about it - not fun going up and down stairs - but it held up well throughout most of the run. I really got into it towared the end and kicked up the pace in the last mile or so - I felt really good at the end - just in time to finish. I finished in about 64 minutes - just over a 10minute/mile pace - I had been doing about 8:40 on the treadmill, but I think that the last mile for me was much faster. I think I need to get my speed up a little bit - my supreme goal is 2 hours for the half marathon which is a 9:10 pace, we will see.

After a long winded breakfast in the city - we went back to the Bronx...home sweet home...for some well deserved rest. Here's to long runs!

Thanks Danny and Sara for making it an amazing morning - back to the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning. Hopefully at least another 10 miles this week. Time to consider buying a second pair of sneakers.

Cheers!

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