NCR Marathon - Marathon#18

The NCR marathon advertises itself as a flat and fast marathon and with 400 feet of elevation gain with the latter half a steady downhill the course is definitely a fast one.  The race uses part of the Northern Central Railroad rail trail.  The trail is about 10 feet wide and on hard stone dust surface and goes through wooded areas.  Here and there you get views of ponds and trees not fully bare yet which made the run scenic at points.  Parking was probably the biggest hassle for the race.  Parking space was limited at the race site so the major parking lot was 2 miles away with shuttle buses moving runners.  That’s not bad in the morning when you’re fresh and all but fairly annoying after running a marathon.  The first half mile of the race started on road, similar to how trail races usually start on dirt roads to separate the field out a bit.  Once you hit the trails there was less space to aggressively pass loads of people, it still wasn’t a single track trail so it wasn’t too bad.  

I had about 4.5 hours of sleep and a 3.5 hour drive to the start so the first 7 miles went by with me in a sleepy state.  Around mile 7 I started to have fun.  I was running at a steady easy effort, I would say 60% effort.  The course went about 13.5 miles out and then back (to a slightly different finish area).  Around mile 10.5 is went I started seeing people in the turnaround.  As typical trail fashion I said things like good job, nice work as people passed by.  Response varied, front of the pack and back of the pack were most likely to respond.  A lot of people had headphones on, a bit weird to see on a trail.  Miles 11 to 13.5 I struggled a bit, maybe I just spent too much time saying good job to people or something.  

At the turnaround I feel much happier, got over the mental block.  The disadvantage to this race was though scenic at points, most of it was the same woods view.  The trail doesn’t twist or turn, there is no mountains to climb or fly down from.  Nor any breath taking views.  The ground is pretty much the same too, just hard surface.  I found it more boring than a road race.  At mile 21 I no longer felt my effort level went to around 80%.  I was still trying to maintain pace and be steady but the distance just started to do a number on my legs so it felt harder.  The next two miles were mentally tough as I wanted the run to be over.  I started thinking of volunteers that have helped me in the past, friends, and family to keep going.  I passed quite a few people here as typical of any race.  The last 5k of the race went pretty easy as my brain realized the end was near.  I didn’t gut out the end but you could see the finish from about a half mile away so I did speed up to 90% effort.  My time goal was 4:37 which I sort of made up.  I had no idea what an easy pace marathon was at this current level of fitness.  The race completes Maryland on my quest to ran at least 26.2 in all 50 states and completes my last big long run before my 50 miler in Arizona.

After the leaves have fallen half marathon

I learned about this race last year when learning about shawangunk ridge runners.  I actually thought Red Newt racing was the only trail racing organization in NY.  Glad to find out I was wrong.  The race sold out last year but just from the sounds of it, a half marathon in Minnewaska state park got it in my to do list.  This year I learned about the race just in time and registered.  I posted the link on my facebook account and another two friends got in.  Another two were too late but got in by posting in the event page.  Transfers were allowed till the Thursday before the event.  This was my only event with Shawangunk ridge runners this year, finishing my 100 miler in September had me on a 5 week break from training and I didn't want to keep pushing it on races.  I hope to do more next year!  One of my friends ended up Houston so there were four of us in the race.

I hoped to run the race with my friends, I ran 21 miles the day before and this was just an easy run to help me do my double long runs (I'm doing a quick ramp up for a 50 miler in December).  One of my friends, Christina was doing her first half.  Another Brenda was doing her third half this season and another Louis DNF with me at the Ironman half Lake Placid (we both didn't make the swim cutoff).  A half mile in Louis fell behind and a mile in Brenda looked like she was struggling.  I fell behind to run with her but she didn't want to feel pressured to run faster so I ended up running with Christina.  I talked my mouth off doing the run, sharing my first half marathon experience and such.  The views were gorgeous and I was happy to make a few quick stops to soak it in (and take photos).  The course was all wide easy trails, a few hills (1,000 feet of gain) but overall easy trail race.  I strongly recommend running here!  Brenda finished 12ish minutes after us and Louis about 6 minutes after her.  It was great to get a chance to cheer them on in their finishes.

Pre Dim Sum Long Run

Fellow QDR teamate Julie organized a Dim sum brunch at Vegetarian Dim Sum house.  I have a long run scheduled that day so I decided to do my run to it.  Always a fan of NYC parks I decided to run from place in the LIC/Sunnyside border to Juniper park, then to Forest Park, to Highbridge park, to Prospect Park and then over the Manhattan Bridge to Dim Sum.  If I was early I would continue running along the perimeter of the Island.  It was a cold morning (26 degree when I started) and finding my winter gear took a bit longer than expect causing me to leave a bit late.  For the run I wore my Ultimate Direction SJ vest packed with a change of clothes, a health warrior peanut cacao chia bar, madegood banana granola bar, and a mix of soda with hammergel Montana huckleberry gel in a gel flask.  I also decided to listen to the ultra running and Rich Roll podcast in one ear for the run.  I don't run with music or podcast ever but I wanted to try it out.  I found myself laughing and correcting some of the speakers at points doing the run.

The run to Juniper park in Middle Village went through the industrial side of Maspeth.  Not an exciting path, few blocks didn't even have a sidewalk.  Once at Juniper park I ran around the track and continued my way.  It was a quick path through Queens neighborhoods to get to Forest Park.  When I arrived, there was already a soccer game going on.  I ran around the track.  Orginally I had planned to go farther into Forest Park and do the out and back which ends up being a 5k but being short on time I continued on to Highland park.  The path to Highland park went mostly on Jamaica ave and Highland blvd, major roads but early in the morning, mostly empty.  Highland blvd went along a cemetry making for a quieter run.  This was my first time visiting Highland park and it was beatiful!  Around the Ridgewood Reservoir you see a lake surrounded by wetlands.  A view that looks more like farther away Jamaica Bay than Brooklyn.  Afterwards was the run to Prospect park.  The path was a bit confusing and I had to reference my phone a few times.  I saw two runners come out of a cemetry, perhaps that was a running route among locals?  I also passed by a large church with a line in front.  Felt a bit sad since it was pretty cold.  The run to Prospect park felt fairly long.  In Prospect Park I noticed a bunch of white tents set up as I approached the hill but I didn't investigate as I was starting to be late for Dim sum.  I exited via Grand Army Plaza and went down Flatbush to over the Manhattan Bridge.  The path to the bridge was my fastest mile as the more traffic prone area of Brooklyn had me pushing to get through lights.  In Manhattan it was a short run to Dim Sum.