Race report: 2014 Marcie Mazzola 5K

Coming in to the finish

Photo courtesy of The Petite Pacer

Today's run (Marcie Mazzola 5K): 3.1 miles (29:55) 

This morning I ran the Marcie Mazzola race for the sixth consecutive year. This was my first race after returning to running in 2008 and it's the only one I've never missed. In terms of performance, it was not only my slowest Marcie time, but my slowest 5K ever. That was a disappointment, but not to the point of discouragement.

I've definitely lost speed over the last couple of years and I'd hoped that the structured training I've been doing for the Brooklyn Half would reverse that slide. My speed training last Tuesday went well and made me hopeful for a sub-28:00 finish today. Running this race two days after covering 19 miles earlier probably didn't help, nor did some lacing issues I had during the race.

Although the temperature at race time was mid-forties, it felt very cold when we arrived. Even with a pair of track pants and a jacket (that I planned to take off prior to the start) it felt too cold to stand around outside. We ended up hanging out for a while in the lobby of the Huntington Y. At 8:00 we went over and watched the kids fun run and, fifteen minutes later, we walked down to the race's starting point. With only short sleeves and running shorts, I was anxious to get going so I could warm up.

The start on Park Ave.

Unlike most race day mornings, I was not particularly excited to compete today. I was almost in denial that I'd be racing, until reality hit when the horn went off. We were quickly dispatched up Park Ave on our way to Marcie's biggest challenge, the hill on South Woodhull Road. I saw my wife and kids cheering just before I made the turn on Woodhull. I took my first steps up the hill and told myself to focus and prepare to work.

The long run up Woodhull
Photo courtesy of The Petite Pacer

I thought I was doing well and passed a lot of people on Woodhull. I was hopeful that all the long runs I've been doing on hilly routes would pay off. I did start feeling the effort about 2/3 up this long hill and did my best to hold my pace. My Garmin chirped before the Mile 1 marker because I'd started so far back that it took me 20 seconds to get past the starting line. When I heard the volunteer calling first mile times in the 10 minute range I was shocked.

The second mile went by fairly quickly, with enough downhill sections to help make up for that slow first mile. My laces had been cutting into the top of my ankle before the race and I'd retied them a little looser to alleviate that pressure. That was a mistake. About halfway through the race, my right lace untied. I tried to ignore it, but the laces were whipping my legs and I was afraid of tripping. When my shoe began to slip, I decided to pull over and re-tie the lace. That cost me at least 30 seconds, but I wish I'd thought to tighten my left shoe at that time.

Lacing problems 

I made up as much time as I could from there, but when I crossed Main Street at Heckscher Park, my left lace untied. With less than a mile to go, I decided to risk the dangers of tripping and slipping and did my best to avoid a spill. I know this course pretty well and I anticipated the final challenge, a fairly steep rise where Sabbath Day Path connects back to Main Street. I was very ready to finish the race and plowed ahead. I knew that once I got past this hill, I was less than a quarter mile from the end.

Rounding the dogleg to the finish

The race ends with a run up the driveway of the YMCA and I put everything into getting past the incline. I saw and heard my wife and kids right before the dogleg that leads to the finish chute and saw that I still had a chance to come in under 30 minutes. I crossed the line and didn't even see TPP who was taking race pictures that she posted to the GLIRC Facebook group. She did a great job, just like last year.

In the end, I was glad that I ran the race. Although I would have liked to have cut a couple of minutes off my finish time, I felt I put in an honest effort. We hung out afterward for the raffle and went back to the Y building so I could get a cup of coffee. We ran into my friend Mike who was there to swim laps in the pool. Mike ran Marcie with me last year but suffered a heart attack right before this past New Year's. He's recovered well and is back to running and other sports. In fact he's planning to do an Olympic-length triathlon in May.

Post race food and recovery

We didn't win anything at the raffle, but that didn't matter. I saw my time posted on the Start2Finish truck and realized that I'd averaged in the mid-9:00 range. Small consolation, but I'll take it. Despite all my training thus far, I'm clearly not on track to PR at Brooklyn. What probably matters more is that all the base running I'm doing will make covering 13 miles a far more realistic challenge than it was a month ago.

Ready to race again

A return to race driven workouts

Today's run (treadmill): 2.5 miles

It's interesting how your running focus can ebb and flow throughout the year. In the first few months of 2012, my mind was on racing and I was happy to attain PR's for my 4 mile and half marathon distances. The experience I had at the New Hyde Park 8K was a turning point for me, and not in a good way. After that race, I'd lost some of my competitive spirit. I did run in a corporate 5K in July, but I skipped the Dirty Sock in August, a race that I'd run the previous three years.

Cow Harbor restored my interest in competing and although I didn't break (or even approach) a personal record, I loved being back in the game. Now that Cow Harbor has come and gone, I'm looking ahead to my next race. I've targeted the town of Oyster Bay's Supervisor's run that takes place in mid-October. It's a 5K that features a long hill going up and another long hill coming down. Happily they put the uphill and the downhill in the right order.

With my interest in performance restored, I've approached my last two workout runs with the mindset that I'm training for a race. By using my HRM to shame me into running faster, I'm managing to get past my natural dislike of the treadmill. It's fun to blip up the speed control until I get my heart rate to my targeted level. This morning I had another invigorating run at a speed that I usually avoid on the treadmill. I hope to take this focus back on the road tomorrow, when I return to the street.

Race report: Cow Harbor 2012

Crossing the line (in white, directly right of tree)

Today's run (Great Cow Harbor 10K): 6.2 miles

58:32 (9:26 pace)

Despite concerns about a rain-soaked start to the 35th running of the Cow Harbor 10K, we ended up having near perfect weather for the race. At the start it was overcast, and by the end it was sunny, but temperatures and humidity remained moderate. I didn't achieve a PR or even a PB for the race, but I was happy with my results that fell right in the middle of my prior two Cow Harbor efforts.

Team Emerging Runner arrived at Northport high school about ten minutes before 7:00 AM and we caught one of the shuttle buses that take runners and their crew to the Laurel Avenue school. This school is ground zero for the race and I made my way to numbers pickup before the lines got too long. I saw that I was assigned a 9000 series number, based on my predicted finish time.

The trick to managing 5,000+ runners is to put them into corrals with a staggered start every minute to spread out the field. It works extremely well but you need to do a little math every time they call a mile split, backing out the number of minutes based on your bib number. So if your bib starts with a 4, and the first mile split is called at 11 minutes, you'd subtract 4 minutes to get your pace of 7 minutes per mile. Easy right?

Dave 2.0, on left

We saw a lot of friends while we waited for the race to begin, including Dave who had suffered a heart attack at a race in February. He has recovered impressively well and it looks like he had a great race this morning, beating my time by over a minute. We had a mini reunion with a group of teachers from our kid's elementary school, and I saw my my work colleague Bill, who was running Cow Harbor for the first time. He was concerned about the James Street hill, but he ended up running a great race.

I didn't train intensely for the race this year and my only goal was to finish under an hour (mission accomplished). I was caught by surprise when it came time to release my start group. Due to the number of people in front of me, I thought there was still another flight in front of ours. That worked out well because I didn't experience the countdown jitters that I normally get.

Off to a good start on Laurel Ave.

I took an Accel Gel 2nd Surge twenty minutes before the start, and I felt good coming off the line. I was concerned that I'd have a repeat of the New Hyde Park 8K start, when I found it difficult to keep up with the crowd. Unlike that race, I wasn't fighting a cold, and I moved along well through the up and down (and then mostly downhill) Scudder Avenue. The crowds were out in force to cheer us on.

A little after the first mile, we turned onto Woodbine and ran near the water where the crowds were even larger. Between the noise, the people, and a large group of bagpipers, it felt surreal to be part of the entertainment. We quickly passed Main Street and reached Bayview Ave with a rise that only hints at what's to come 3/4 of a mile later. And by that I mean James Street - AKA, "Widow Hill."

Starting point of the dreaded "Widow Hill"

There are many ways to approach James Street in this race and I watched that play out once again as I began to take on the hill. Some runners attacked it and others chose to walk it. Like I did the previous two times, I accepted the challenge and adopted a steady pace that I felt I could sustain throughout the half mile of steep road.

I refused to look ahead lest I'd be discouraged by the amount of hill that was left to climb. When the road became even steeper I knew I was near the top. When it leveled out I felt great relief, but tried to increase my pace. The post hill section doesn't provide much recovery time as the road rises once again before leading to a lengthy downhill span between the 2.8 and 3.75 mile points.

Just after the 5K mark I spotted a work colleague who told me she'd be standing on the corner of Eaton's Neck Rd. and Ocean Ave. We tried to coordinate last year but I just missed her. It was great to see her and her dog at the halfway point of the race.

I felt remarkably good at that point, with the trauma of Widow Hill behind me and a stretch of downhill road in front of me. I wasn't monitoring my pace, but my heart rate was holding steady in zone 4, as I'd planned. I felt good but I knew I'd soon need to switch gears and take on the long climb up Waterside Ave.

Waterside Ave goes on for over a mile and it's mostly uphill. Some say this section is worse than James Street, but I disagree. Both require patience and an acceptance of the elevation, but Waterside's grade is far more subtle. I kept a pace that made sense and allowed me to stay with the crowd. I began to fatigue around the five mile point but I never had concerns about bonking. I'd filled my gel flask with two Accel Gels with the 4:1 formulation (carbs/protein) and I sampled it through the last few miles.

Pumpernickel Hill isn't as bad as James Street, but it comes near the end, after 1+ miles of fun on Waterside. I was up and over it fairly quickly. As I got to the top, a spectator was screaming, "A 77 year old man just took the hill!, a 77 year old man just took the hill!" over and over. Impressive yes, but enough already. And not in my ear please.

Encouraging message near the end of the race

I always expect the last part of the race to be triumphant, with a predominantly downhill section that leads to Main Street and the finish line. But after everything that comes before that point, it's hard to exploit the opportunity to push hard. It's basically a matter of holding the gains and pouring it on with whatever is left at the end. The finish chutes appear when there's about a fifth of a mile left in the race. Like an oasis, they seem to remain out of reach despite moving relentlessly toward the line.

I crossed the line 58 minutes after I started, though I didn't check the clock when I came through the finish. I saw my wife and kids and that made me happy. They are a great support team. I had to look up my results later, and they closely matched my Garmin's time.

After the race we headed to the crowded waterfront festival where I was able to get Gatorade and a couple of bananas that helped restore my electrolytes. There was a great band playing and lots of booths showing products and services. We ran into Bill and one of my daughter's teachers before getting back on the bus that took us to where we parked the car.

So one more Cow Harbor race is on the books. Mohamed Trafeh won the race today for the fourth time and Alisha Williams was the first woman to finish. I know there are bigger races with many more participants and more features, but on Long Island, (giving due respect to the LI Marathon Festival of Races) nothing quite compares.

Race day Sunday: may the best me win

Today's run (street): 2.6 miles at 8:44 per mile

Despite my racing I'm really not a competitive person. When I line up for a race I sincerely hope the other people run well and when someone finishes ahead of me I am happy for them. But there's one guy I really want to beat this weekend. He's a year younger than me but I'm a year smarter than him. Last year he went out too fast and finished too slow and I plan to do the opposite on Sunday. I think I'll have some other advantages this year. I know the course ahead of time and I'm planning to wear my Saucony Grid Tangent 4's that seem to perform better than the other guy's Brooks GTS-9's. We'll see how it goes.

I'm not sure I'll run tomorrow. I may do an elliptical session or just rest for two days. This morning's run was one of the best I'd done in the last couple of weeks. Conditions were ideal at 4:00 AM. The air was cool, the skies were clear and I felt more rested than I did on Tuesday. I knew I was moving faster than normal, helped along by the Tangent's, and the first mile came faster than I expected. That's always good. There's a way of running when everything is working together and I had that this morning. I felt a bit like I was running my whole route downhill. I regretted my limited time today and wished I had another 20 minutes for my workout. I know I'll need to deal with sun and more heat at the race but I'll be mentally prepared for that. It would be great to have some cloud cover on Sunday morning but I won't count on it. That other guy better watch out.

I am the man to beat

I'm kind of happy that my race this week didn't fall on Thanksgiving Day. Although there's a good chance that I'll do a bigger race next year on the holiday (Garden City or Prospect Park Turkey Trot) this year I could look ahead to two separate events, Thanksgiving with family and the Bridie Goldstein 5K on Saturday.

Among the many great things that come with running is the framework for self competition and the events behind that. Races are fun because they allow people to test themselves in a way that's hard to duplicate elsewhere. We gauge our success in business different ways and rarely do we get to see direct results from single activities. The opportunity to compete in a race is appealing because the stakes are low but the rewards are high. I don't really care how I do against the people that line up with me on race day. It's fun to pass people and annoying when others pass me in a race but in the end these folks are really just background color. The real competition is with myself.

Tomorrow's race will be the first time I compete at a distance that I've previously raced. I'll be looking to challenge my PR of 8:33 per mile. I really don't know how I'll do since most of my runs are at a slower pace and I am usually pleased if I'm able to break 9:00 per mile. I've typically done better than that during races and I attribute it to the instinctive process of keeping up with traffic. Yesterday I ran 3.6 miles at Stillwell on the perimeter trail of the open field. I managed a pace just under 9:00 per mile which is good because I tend to run more slowly on dirt than on pavement. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be high 40's with strong winds. Those winds can both help and hurt. Either way I'll be facing myself on Saturday for the first time. May the best man win.

5 kilometers of fun

5K UPDATE - Official Results are in: 26:34 (8:33 Pace). Finished in top 20% and placed 2nd in my age division.
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I've completed my second race in as many weeks and I'm very happy to report that it was another great experience. They haven't posted the official results but (by my calculations) I finished with an 8:31 pace. There was some drizzle about 30 minutes before the start but by the time we took off it was dry and clear. I wore a very light, waterproof but breathable running jacket that my wife encouraged me to buy at the Super Runners Shop booth at the Health and Fitness Exposition. The Expo was located adjacent to the race check-in area. I decided to wear this jacket even though it wasn't raining at the start and I regretted that near the end of the race when I started to get hot. It didn't make any difference in terms of my performance and I was relatively strong by the end of the race, much more so than the 4 mile race on the 19th. The differences between those races explains that as the 4 miler had some formidable hills and was a mile longer. Rounding out my gear, I wore a dry wicking running hat, my Pearl Izumi running shorts and a couple of items that AG gave me, some Merino wool socks that provided the extra cushioning I needed for my aging Nikes and a Nike Fit jersey that did a great job of keeping me dry.

Joining me this morning was my friend RDV who was running in his first race. My wife and kids served as the cheering section for both of us and there was a lot of excitement as we waited for the race to begin. There were a couple of short speeches and then we were sent off at the sound of an air horn. I started faster than I'd thought I'd go but I felt good and I was still cool so I figured that I could dial it back if I felt like I had been too aggressive. I passed a lot of people over the first half mile and most of them stayed passed throughout the race. Unlike the 4 mile race I also passed a few runners near the end. I was surprised when I saw the mile 1 clock reading 8:25 and I worried about sustaining that pace. My Garmin failed me again and for the second time it recorded time but did not display distance. I tried to start and stop it which had worked once before but it was a lost cause today. There was no clock at the two and three mile marks so I didn't know my splits but I had a feeling that I was doing well.

As I came around the final bend and saw our starting point I began to really enjoy myself knowing that I was about two or three minutes to the finish line. The race ended with a run through the stadium at the Mitchel Athletic Complex and I was pleased that I still had enough energy to push my speed for the last 100 meters. Looking up at the clock I was surprised to see that I came in well under 27 minutes which was my goal for the race. My friend RDV finished a couple of minutes behind me and he also exceed his pace goal.

So that was the day and I am happy to have completed one of my 2009 race goals (running at least 3 miles under 8:40/mile) and I'm halfway through my goal of completing four races this year. I want to start working on distance now so that I can run a 10K and be more comfortable on longer runs. But that will have to start next week, I'm going to relax the rest of today and maybe even tomorrow. I want to thank my family, my friends and my my blog mates who have been so supportive. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning. I'll post the official results when I get 'em.

The tail and the dog

As I edge closer to my April race date I find myself tuning my runs for greater speed and distance. Knowing that these upcoming races are looming creates an urgency to my training. Four miles on April 19. No big deal for most runners but it's still a challenging distance for me. I have exceeded the four mile mark a few times and I could probably even run five now but I wouldn't be too happy by the finish.

I recently ran into a friend who I haven't seen in a while. Like everyone who knows me but hasn't seen me for six months he looked concerned and asked warily if I'd lost weight. I told him yes, that I'd been running. He told me that he runs and has been running for years. I asked him about distances and he said he runs six miles during the week and over ten miles on weekends. We compared paces, etc. and once again I was humbled in the presence of a real runner.

I told him that I was signed up for a couple of races in the spring and I asked him how often he competed. He surprised me by saying he didn't race. In fact he had never raced and didn't see the point of it. To him running, not competing, is the point. When you're competing you spend your time focusing your activity on a single event - not on the enjoyment of the sport. Running is the dog and the race is the tail. Most people chase the tail and miss the fun. He said he'd rather just run. I asked him then why he tracked distance and pace and he laughed and said it was a force of habit.

I'm not sure that I agree with my friend on this. Training for a race can be fun. Making goals and training to exceed them can be an enjoyable experience. I don't expect to win on April 19th but I'm going to try. There are worse things to do on your birthday.