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After I finished 7am karate class, I headed to Bordentown to meet up with Jeannie and the boys for the 9am race. I got to the Clara Barton gymnasium and found the family in line waiting to get race bibs. Matthew and Peter were running with me, but Jeannie had originally planned to work today, so she wasn’t signed up. The weather was just a tad chilly, but I knew once I started running I would feel great.

My legs and lower back were pretty sore going into this race. I did lots of kicks in karate class this morning, and crossfit workouts this week were intense as usual. I didn’t taper at all yesterday. In fact, I still ran to crossfit and back home, logging 7 miles. I also did my “March Pushup Madness” routine yesterday (and will need to do it later today as well).

The race started on Crosswicks St., then made two loops around Farnsworth, Courtland, Prince, and West Chestnut, finishing back on Crosswicks.

I didn’t have high hopes for this race given my shin splints and sore muscles and joints. However, I pushed hard in the first mile, then felt the issues in miles two and three. I probably went out a bit too fast, at 6:05 for the first mile, but it does include a downhill at the start. In mile two, my legs started feeling pretty heavy but I kept pushing. I managed to squeeze out a smile as I ran past Jeannie during the end of the first loop…

…but in the second loop at about mile 2.8, my form was not ideal and I was not smiling much anymore.

According to my Garmin watch, I crossed the finish line in 19:56. I was surprised to finish in under 20 minutes given my maladies and lack of proper taper. I can probably attribute that to all the short intense training bursts from CrossFit Mercer WODs.

Matthew had been hoping to break 22 minutes today, but he hasn’t been training for this 5k. He was pretty disappointed, but I think he did great considering his lack of training. And to boot, he placed second in his age group with the time of 22:49. Awesome!

After I crossed the finish line, I raced backwards along the course, snapping pictures of Matthew, and other friends, in my attempt to find Peter. I saw all the folks from Crossfit Mercer (Jen Soss, Donna, Jodi, Mark and Jen Costner, Patti, Rob D, etc), and John B, Angela M, and Neil Proshan. I found Peter on Prince St near Neil Proshan. He told me he hadn’t stopped to walk at all yet, and I was very proud of his efforts. I ran with him until about 0.25 miles from the finish, where I sprinted ahead to get some additional pictures of him approaching the finish. Looking at the results now, I can see that Neil finished at #427, while Peter finished at #395. So he essentially passed 32 people in the last mile. Nice job!

Here’s a shot of us that Jeannie took before the race:

The CrossFit Mercer crew did well too. Three of us placed: Jennifer Soss finished with a time of 22:38, slightly behind my friend John Beck (who is chasing a 20 minute 5k this year) and earned second place in her age group. Donna also placed second in her age group, with a time of 29:45. And my official time was 19:57, first place in my age group, 11th place overall.

Here’s the team from CrossFit Mercer (minus Patti who had left):

Here’s the course (click for a larger version):

And here are the results for 2013.

On Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 I’ll be at Seaside Heights, New Jersey to jump into the Icy Atlantic Ocean. The cause is the New Jersey Special Olympics and the event is called the Polar Bear Plunge. Spectators are welcome – or you can sign up and plunge with me and about 3000 others.

Please consider donating to SONJ. All proceeds collected benefit Special Olympics athletes and help further the Special Olympics New Jersey mission. They’ve made submitting a donation an easy process. Just follow this link to help out.

Here’s an easy link to remember: http://sconzo.com/plunge/

• Fri. March 23 – Extreme Challenge 75 – Mixed Martial Arts Cage Fighting at Sovereign Bank Arena
• May 5 – Spring 2007 JKA-SKdI New England Tournament Shotokan Karate Tournament
• May 6 – The Broad Street Run – 10 Mile Race on Broad St. in Philadelphia
• May 26 – Spring Lake 5 – Five mile race in Spring Lake, New Jersey
• July 14 – Belmar 5 – Five mile race in Belmar, New Jersey
• July 22 – NJ State Triathlon – Sprint and Olympic Distance Triathlons in Mercer County Park
• September 16 – Philly Distance Run – Half-Marathon
• November 4 – ING New York City Marathon
• November 18 – Philladelphia Marathon

This marks my fourth year plunging into the icy Atlantic Ocean waters to help raise money for the New Jersey Special Olympics. The Polar Bear Plunge was held on February 24th in Seaside Heights near the Aztec Ocean Resort. I joined a team of fourteen others from my karate training group for the plunge. Together we raised $2,195.00 – Team Page.

The water temperature was 33 degrees this year — the coldest water I’ve personally experienced. Last year the water was a mild 37 degrees and there was snow on the beach. Unfortunately we didn’t have snow on the beach this year; a rain storm cleaned up all the snow a few days before the plunge.

I jumped in four times; one or two times just isn’t enough. During the fourth trip in, I was starting to get comfortable in the water while waiting for my friend Gary Grainger to snap a good picture. In all honesty, my body was probably too numb at that point to react in survival mode. I recall my first year doing the plunge – once my feet were in the water I realized it was very cold but pressed on. At waist level, I started seriously considering an about face. At mid-chest level my survival instincts kicked in and every ounce of my being wanted to get out, but still I persisted. Finally, at neck level it felt like my chest was caving in and I literally could not breathe. I suppose it’s the contraction of the lungs from the cold and the water pressure which makes breathing very difficult. Both mind and body are fighting to get out — this is where spirit takes over. It is similar to the classic adage “mind over body”, but in this case I have a new saying: “spirit over mind and body.”

SONJ raised 640,000 dollars this year and there were about 2,800 plungers in Seaside Heights, NJ. The Polar Bear Plunge is the largest fundraising effort benefiting Special Olympics New Jersey in the state. Participants collect pledges and plunge into the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean. All proceeds collected by Plungers benefit Special Olympics athletes and help foster mission of the Special Olympics New Jersey.

Thanks so much to my friends who donated to SONJ: Tom, Saundra, Gary, Tricia, Ralph, Cielo, Vitali, Jim & Vicki, Zubair, and my other friends who want to remain anonymous. Check out their names on the honor roll, located on my SONJ donation page.

The plunge was a blast, as usual! I’m already looking forward to next year. I’m hoping for snow next time though.

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