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I did a timed training circuit yesterday. It was great — especially with the squat thrusts mixed in! I would like to do this routine more often. Here’s the breakdown:

1. 1 mile sprint at about 5:20 pace (on the treadmill)
2. 50 body weight squats
3. 25 push ups
4. 50 sit ups
5. 15 pull ups
6. 20 squat thrusts
7. 50 more body weight squats
8. 25 more push ups
9. 15 more pull ups
10. 20 more squat thrusts
11. 1 mile sprint at 6:00 pace (on the treadmill)

My total time was about 20 minutes and 15 seconds. I have to consider the fact that I ran 16 miles the day prior, which surely affected my performance. After that, I threw around the kettlebells a bit. I did three sets of one-arm kettlebell snatches, and three sets of double-arm dead cleans into push presses. Between sets, I did v-sits and stability ball passes.

Today I ran my obligatory eight miles. My legs were burnt out a bit after yesterday’s sprints, but I pushed through and finished in about 63 minutes. Tomorrow is a rest day (sort of). I have a short warm-up jog, then karate training at 5am, but no serious running scheduled.

Thursday I’ll be in NYC but need to fit in an eight mile run. I think I’ll bring along some workout clothes and run around battery park and along West Side Highway. Should be a nice change of scenery.

One week ago was the Philadelphia Distance Run. I improved my time from last year by a bit more than three minutes. Finish time was 1:36:18. I expected better, but wasn’t really tapered having run 20 miles seven days prior and having done seven miles of speedwork just three days prior. Unfortunately, if this half-marathon is an indicator of my performance on Nov 2 at the ING NYC Marathon, I won’t hit my 3:10 mark. I need to dig deeper with my training.

And so I think I have — all my runs were outdoor except for the speed work. I ran an eight mile “easy run” on Tuesday (two days after the half-marathon) in 61 minutes. On Thursday I did speed work: 6 miles total, 4 x 1600 at 6:07… only possible because I was on the treadmill. On Friday I ran 7 miles in 51:27 — in the rain. I felt great though and think the rain helped.

This morning I started my 16 mile long run just before 6am. 20 minutes into the run, the rain came. And the rain never stopped. Sure, it keeps you cool but ’tis a bit of a drag running 16 miles in the rain. The sun never peeked through the clouds during my run. My performance was good — first four miles at an 8 minute pace, then slowed the pace to about 8:20-something.  I haven’t uploaded my garmin stats yet but I finished in 2:13. That’s two runs back to back in the rain. Yesterday I trained twice — an hour of karate at Gold’s and two hours of karate at the dojo. And my core training during the week is really making a difference – I feel more solid during my runs.

I tried something new today — I carried gatorade with me. In the past when I drank gatorade on the race course, it sat in my stomach like a rock. But I think I’m finally ready to take advantage of all the positive things it supposedly does for you during long runs. I plan to use gatorade in the NYC Marathon so I need to get used to it. The first few drinks I took today were unwelcome, as I’m used to simple water, but I adjusted. I carried a 24 ounce bottle of grape G2 and came close to finishing it. After the run, I downed two servings of muscle milk, finshed the gatorade, and drank another 20 ounces of water or so. I wasn’t dehydrated (as evident by my “color” during elimination) — I was just very thirsty. Through the remainder of the day, my hunger was insatiable. I think I may have consumed too many calories, but the bulk of them were good calories.

Next week’s training schedule is a relatively light one, but I have some extracurricular runs squeezed in. The sked calls for 8 miles on Tue, 8 miles on Thursday, 7 miles on Friday and 7 miles on Sunday. I’m running the JP Morgan Championship run (3.5 miles) Saturday with the News Corporation team. The race is on Park Ave in NYC at 9am. And tomorrow I’m doing a performance test, which includes two one-mile sprints. It will be interesting to see how that goes, the day after a 16 mile long run.

On June 18, 2008 I ran the J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in NYC Central Park. I finished fourth in my group from Dow Jones with a time of 23:29 for 3.5 miles.

It started raining just as the race started, which kept 15,000 runners cool on a June day.

I’m looking forward to improving my time next year. In the meantime, I have my sites set on these next few races:

Belmar 5 – July 12, 2008
Philadelphia Distance Run (half marathon) – September 21, 2008
Long Beach Island 18 Mile Run – October 12, 2008 (if I’m not in Milan)
ING NYC Marathon – November 2, 2008

I ran the St. Paddy’s Day race in Bordentown, NJ yesterday. It’s a 3.1 mile course and is relatively fast and flat. My finishing time was 20:17. This is a record for me, by just a few seconds. My pace was 6:54 per mile.

The weather was perfect for running — the morning rain had stopped and the temperature was in the high 40s or low 50s.

Matthew and Peter did the one mile children’s run before the 5K began. Matthew placed 16th with a time of 7:19 and Peter finished with a time of 9:19. Nice job guys!

I ran the E. Murray Todd Half-Marathon on March 2, 2008. The weather was good for running – just cold enough for your hands to turn red, but not need gloves.
I finished in 1:34:51, which is a 7:15 pace. Considering the hills in this course, I’m am pleased with my finishing time.
I didn’t train specifically for this race. I simply used it as a training run for the New Jersey Marathon which I am doing on May 4, 2008.
My training schedule called for a 20 mile run on Sunday March 2. So after I crossed the finish line of the half marathon, I turned around the ran another seven miles.

Karate Winter Special Training started at 5am on January 2nd, 2008. This marks the 38th year that Japan Karate Association of New Jersey hosted KWST. Kisaka Sensei led the class through some vigorous stretching, kihon, kumite and kata each morning. We had a good mix of dan students and brown belts. Everyone involved demonstrated good spirit and benefited from the experience.

As is the custom, we ran outside barefoot without shirts. The temperature on two of the mornings was perfect for our routine: 18 degrees, but felt like somewhere between four and ten degrees with the wind chill.

We had some good participation this year, as almost 100% attended training every morning, on-time. This marks my fifth year with perfect attendance; but I’m sure there are others out there from prior years that achieved better records than that.

Jan 1 – Hamilton Hangover Run
Jan 2 – Jan 5 – Karate Special Winter Training
Feb 5 – Feb 9 – Karate Special Winter Training II
Feb 23 – Polar Bear Plunge, Seaside, New Jersey
Mar 2 – E Murray Todd Half Marathon
May 4 – New Jersey Marathon
May 4 – Broad Street Run 10 Miler – Can’t do this as it’s the same day as the NJ Marathon.
Mar 15 – St Patty’s Day 5k in Bordentown
May 24 – Spring Lake 5
Sep 21 – Philly Distance Run – Half Marathon
Nov 2 – NYC Marathon

Looking for the results of the 2008 race?
http://www.compuscore.com/cs2008/janfeb/hamhang1.htm

Ironically, just days after I posted the course map online for the Hamilton Hangover 5 Mile Run, the race officials changed it. The change is a good one in some respects because the run no longer traverses the mud and tree roots along the packed dirt path. Unfortunately, there are now two 180 degree turns. The first one is near the east entrance, marked by a set of traffic cones. The second one is near the west entrance, marked by a large stone. The new course map is here:

Alternate 5 Mile Course Map, Hamilton NJ NJ07031LMB [PDF]

The five mile race began at 12:30 today. Yesterday’s rain which continued into the morning had stopped and the sun joined us for the run. My official finishing time was 35:31. This is not my best time, but I didn’t do any speed work to train for this. Now it’s time to focus on the 2008 E. Murray Todd half-marathon in March and New Jersey Marathon in May.

The Hamilton Veteran’s Park five mile course begins in the same location as in years prior, on the main park road near the south entrance tennis courts and parking lot. It circles the Albert Cowell Soccer field and Bob DeMeo Baseball field in a clockwise direction and doubles back onto the main road and then into the woods.

After the turn in the woods is the first mile marker. This is where the course has changed. Traditionally the course would branch to the left toward the lake, but turn abruptly onto a packed dirt path, eventually onto the boardwalk. Instead, it branches to the right, downhill to the children’s playground entrance. After crossing the footbridge, the course circles the formal gardens and Veterans Memorial Plaza in a clockwise direction, crossing the north entrance just after the second mile marker.

The course doubles back on itself near the footbridge and entrance to the playground, then heads left toward the east entrance. At this point runners coming from the other direction are visible; give them a high-five! The course turns 180 degrees just before reaching the east parking lot. As you double back west, runners advancing in the opposite direction can be seen again — time for another high-five.

Just after the third mile marker is a gazebo at a fork in the path. The course follows the right branch, with a slight incline. Traditionally, you would be running in the opposite direction during this leg of the race. I believe this is the first noticable incline on the course, not counting a short hill by the soccer field.

The course continues toward the west entrance with a view of the lake to the right. There is a sharp downward hill which can be slippery after a rain, than a short uphill before running along the hill with the lake immediately to the right. There is a 180 degree turn just prior to the Robert Martin Monument, fountain and west parking lot. Again, as the course doubles back other runners will be travelling in the opposite direction. Just prior to the same short steep hills you descended and climbed is the fourth mile marker.

The course doubles back again, this time onto the first mile, heading south. Emerging from the woods, the course turns sharply to the left at an incline, around the soccer and baseball field a second time. After passing the dog park on the right, make a right as in the first mile and toward the ball field parking lot, but then a left toward the finish line near the pavilion.

Happy New Year.

[correction- please see my new post]

I’ve done the five mile New Year’s run in Hamilton Veteran’s park for several years. The course follows paved trails for much of the distance. However, shortly after mile one the course turns left onto grass and eventually onto a dirt path, riddled with tree roots and sprinkled with mud puddles after it has rained. At least have of the runs I’ve done on New Year’s have been in the rain or just after a good rain. This always makes the second mile more exciting.

The course traverses three of the four entrances to the park: the start is near Kuser road adjacent to the tennis courts; mile two passes the West entrance adjacent the lake and hospital; mile three takes runners across the North entrance near the Veterans Memorial Plaza and gardens.

Each December I look for a map of the course online, but never seem to find one. So last January, I tucked away one of the paper maps that are distributed prior to the race. My intention was to put it on a website. I came across my paper copy a couple days ago which sparked a memory of my plan. So, I’ve scanned and uploaded the course map. If you’re looking for it, you will find it here. The map is the one provided by the organizers of the race each year.

Hamilton Veterans Park 5 Mile Couse Map Dated 3/24/1986.

See all you runners January 1st at noon.

In addition to doing the New York Marathon in November of 2008, I’m preparing to run the 2008 New Jersey Marathon.

I just finished preparing my 20 week training schedule. I employed the use of a spreadsheet to make the date calculation easier. You can see the spreadsheet here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pJjURRqYxprqK-lVXVPAgVQ.

Following a marathon training schedule is always a challenge when coupled with my heavy commitment to karate training, weight training, and boxing at Gold’s Gym. The first week of the training program begins December 17, so I have just about one month to set my base mileage of 20 miles per week.

As part of the training, I’ll run the Hamilton Hangover 5mile Race on January 1st and the E. Murray Todd Half Marathon on March 2nd. January and February will bring two weeks of special winter karate training, as well as a polar bear plunge. April is sure to bring a karate tournament.