fun with numbers

Talk about being on the ball.  We're 6 and a half weeks out and MCM has already assigned us our bib numbers!!  (I seem to remember around this time last year, still having to wait another month for my NYCM number...oh and back in 2006, they waited til the absolute last minute...)  Anyways, I am the proud owner of...Bib # 8092.  So of course, now it's time to obsess about the number and see if there are and hidden (read: lucky) meanings there.  Hmmm...well 8 plus 9 plus 2 is 19...and 1 plus 9 is 10....perfect 10?  Or 1 plus 0...number one!!  Wow, I wonder what else I can come up with....

Enough is enough there.  I just gotta get myself to the start line without psyching myself out or something.  So far this week...my "First Monday" run with the Flyers...and I ran down from the UWS to meet up with the group, so I got 10 total miles for the nite.  Was actually a nice nite...just me and the guys :)  After a lovely sunset run on the west side (and thankfully no biker collisions this time!) we "toasted"...or mourned, depending on your take on things...the end of summer at Chelsea Brewery...great way to spend the evening of Labor Day, before having to get back to reality (aka work) the next morning...sigh.

Some easy miles in the park last nite, some hard stuff this morning.  I remembered doing this workout at this exact week last year, and remembering it went very well too.  So I decided to do the best I could to try and replicate it, being that I don't have access to a track in the early morning (so envious of those who live near the east 6th Street track...)  So I improvised...what I decided to do is use the Great Lawn Oval and have Mr. Garmin take .25 mile splits (.25 mile, 400 meters...close enough.)  Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as I would have liked....

I don't know if Mr. Garmin was acting flukey (I know that at least the heart rate monitor was...some of those numbers make no sense!) or if that oval is actually part downhill part uphill, but as you can see my splits were all over the place, no consistancy...not happy with that (8:32 pace is not tempo for me!!  Or shouldn't be.)  Part of the issue was that even at the early hour of 6:30 AM, the oval had quite the share of unleashed dogs, which I had to dodge more than once and threw me off once or twice or more!  (A friend of mine told me that the Great Lawn Oval is the only place where dog owners can let their dog off the leash before 9 am.  Definitely good to know for future reference.  Wish I had known before...doh!!)  And then for the last quarter mile...I was hoping to close strong and throw down better than the previous 1:37, but with around .05 mile to go, a truck was blocking the road...which forced me to take an alternate route and have to turn around, therefore slowing me down...oh well.

Well, what is worrying me is that this is the 2nd speed workout in a row where I'm not feeling great about it, didn't have that "I nailed it" feeling that I've had before.  And being in the thick of training, it has me a little worried, especially hearing about a lot of other people having great workouts.  And I'm not sure what to do.  Am I overtraining and I should give myself a break from speed workouts and just concentrate on getting in the mileage?  Do something different?  This is where it sucks feeling like I'm going about this alone.  When I start to doubt myself and my training...and don't know what the right path is to take.

Well, at least I have 2 "fun runs" in the next couple of weeks to look forward to.  This weekend will be a reprise of the "3 Bridges Run" that the Flyers and Urban Athletics put on last year.  Last year I led the 9:30 group-and wound up averaging a 9:31 pace overall, aren't I the coolest? :)  So I was more than happy to step up and lead that group again this year.  Then next weekend's half...and dear running gods, please be good to me that day and show me that my training is possibly on track.  That is all.

And ahhh...lotsa sports action tonite.  Derek Jeter tying the Yankees all-time hit record...and now the Federer match is on...the remote is being utilized a lot, flipping back and forth!!  And even though the Melanie Oudin match didn't end the way I think a lot of people (including myself!) would have liked, this will definitely not be the last we see of her!!  And I can say I was there to witness her first upset at the US Open :)  I honestly don't care who wins for the women right now but on the mens side...Nadal FTW!!! :)

money's worth

another year, another US Open, another beautiful day.  Baby bro and I did our annual "Thursday before Labor Day" thang in Queenz :)  And always, hoped for the best in terms of what players we were gonna see...little disappointed that Andy Roddick had the night session, and that Andy Murray was playing today instead, but little did we know-we were in store for some exciting matches anyway!!

Oh and in the "we can't go anywhere without seeing someone we know" files...I see one of my Flyer teammates, my brother sees a co-worker, and it turns out our cousin was visiting the Open too...so we met up with him for a little bit.  And of course, we got our usual pic in front of the big tennis ball-holding beers of course...wouldnt expect anything less of the 2 of us!!  That was just one of many, uh, refreshments consumed that day...

And believe it or not, we did actually watch some tennis.  Saw 2 upsets on the women's side in a row-#4 seed Elena Dementieva and then #5 seed Jelena Jankovic.  These two matches...different, but the same.  Both were over 2 and a half hour three-setters, where it could have been anyone's match.  (and my cousin said that watching women's tennis is boring!!  I mean yeah, the men are better for eye candy...and they can play too...:) )

So the James Blake match-which is the one I most wanted to see :)-didn't start til around 5:30-which left us wondering what they were gonna do, as the night session started at 7 pm.  Guess they'd get the match in, but keep the TV breaks to a minimum and hope for a straight-setter!!  Blake took the first set, his opponent the second...so much for straight sets!!  Third set went to a tiebreaker...Blake was playing a little sloppy (lotsa unforced errors) but he pulled that one out.

Oh yeah-did I mention that at around 7 pm, everyone who had day session tix for the promenade (aka upper tier) were allowed to move down to the loge and take empty seats there-in other words, a free seat upgrade for the rest of the match!!  We were sure taking it :)  So yeah, we had a better view for the rest of the match...which Blake was able to take in 4 sets, he dominated that last set!!  No time to watch interviews-we had to get out of the stadium right away...where we saw the mass of humanity, otherwise known as the night session ticket holders waiting by the fountain to enter the stadium...and i'm sure after waiting for an hour and a half, they were restless!! 

As for me-just tired...long day, we were there for over 9 hours...hell, thats almost like a workday and I said that-but as my brother said "this is the furthest thing from work!"  Finally got home around 9:30ish...and couldn't even stay awake to see the end of the Roddick match...

Well, we definitely got our money's worth for our day session this year...some great tennis, a free seat upgrade, our session extended by an hour and a half-I'm sure when scheduling, no one expected the 2 womens matches to be 3-setters-and the second one with tiebreakers up the wazoo!  Ahhh, can't wait til next year :)

another fine day at the open

Once again, me and baby bro took our annual day trip to Flushing Meadows for the US Open day session. Hoping there would be some good matches on the schedule yesterday-especially on the men's side for me :)-and indeed...James Blake would be playing-I hadn't been able to see him play yet (last year I got to see Andy Roddick, 2 years ago I got to see Rafael Nadal-who unfortunately was playing the night session this time!) This year, we definitely got our money's worth...

First, proving the latest news, that the Grandstand court is the cool place to be...it was almost impossible to find 2 seats together, in the shade, with an unobstructed view (even if it wasn't close enough) but finally we did. First match we saw was of wildly dressed American player Bethanie Mattek, whose attire of the day seemed to be inspired by the beach volleyball team-or at the very least her sports bra was, with the top over that just as a formality (this pic can explain better than i can) After a while, we took to calling her "Britney"-all those "B" girls are the same :-p Anyway, she was done in straight sets (complete with "a couple of screaming outbursts, one of them including an expletive that invited a warning from the umpire" in the second set)

...then came the match on the Grandstand court that we really wanted to see, that of Brit player Andy Murray. And it was a great first set, both players really on their game, but Murray was broken quickly in the 2nd set. We had to leave during that set to get over to Ashe stadium, as the James Blake match was about to start...

...and it was underway by the time we got some more, uh, refreshments and found our seats. Blake didn't look to be having a good day at all though...he was making quite a few errors and let the first set get away from him. Did appear more dominant in the next set and took that one...then with the third set just barely underway, his opponent retired with a back injury. Damn! If only we had known...we would have been better off staying for the rest of the Murray match, as apparently that turned out to be an exciting one!!

We wound up staying for one more match-women's #1 Ana Ivanovic had her match moved over to Ashe stadium. This was probably the best match of the day that we saw...Ivanovic was playing a French qualifier ranked #188th, but she was having her work cut out for her...as she made a lot of errors and lost the first set. She managed to make less errors and save herself by winning the second set...but lost the 3rd set (even after her opponent squandered 2 match points by double-faulting!)-leaving us to witness an upset (according to the press, "one of the biggest upsets in tennis history!") that no one would have called!!

Finally leaving at 6:30, we called it a day and headed on the 7 train back home. Til next year!!

maybe blue moon isn't the best carbo-loading source

For the record-despite what the post title says, said Blue Moons were not my sole carbo-loading source last nite. Actually, I wasn't planning to indulge, but I had a request from a coupla friends to meet up for a drink or two so why not. And I wasn't planning on getting loaded with an early wake-up call this morning.

So today, to finish off week 1 of marathon training, I did my long run at Rockefeller State Park. Although I knew other Flyers were doing a long run in Central Park...hmmm, Rockefeller vs. the CP bridle paths, tough decision!! I wanted to do about 12 miles, which I thought was completely doable (never mind the fact that I hadn't run that far since the very beginning of this year.) C'mon, I do 16-mile training runs in Central Park at 9:30 pace!! 12 miles is EASY!



Good lord, even though I have run there before, I forget how nasty the hills are. I'm sure you can tell from my splits what the worst of it was (and where the downhills were too!) But man, this was the toughest long run I've done in awhile, and the mental demons definitely did get to me in the last 2.1 miles, I was at the "just move your feet as fast as you can without stopping and walking" point. (Though throughout there was a lot of cursing and "I hate you all!" under my breath :-p) Thankfully-the predicted rain held off...and actually wasn't brutally hot for a change!!

Boy did that long run humble me, I know what I'm capable of and it's better than this...guess I am not as hill trained-or distance trained-as I thought!! I did briefly wonder if I was falling into the overtraining trap again but I don't think thats it (plus my RHR has actually gone down a few beats since I checked last-which as far as I know, contradicts that.) Nope, I just think that if I want to break 4 again, I'm gonna have my work cut out for me for the next 17 weeks-no resting on the laurels of 2006. Wish me luck...

Needless to say, after that run, brunch and then even more beers when returning to the city was just what the doctor ordered. As well as watching a killer Wimbledon final...GO Nadal!!! I so hope I get to see him play again at the US Open this year :)

Man, this has been an exciting sports week!! Even more dramatic moments at the Olympic trials...

• The womens 5K final!! I'm sure Shalane Flanagan thought she had it wrapped up, but guess again...Kara Goucher and Jen Rhines gave a sneak attack at the very end that she couldn't respond to! I was glad to see Kara win after coming in second in the 10K, and I like Jen Rhines because she supports the whole "you-don't-have-to-run-marathons-to-be-a-runner" thing :-p
• And on the topic of Kara, did anyone notice this comment she made in her post-race interview? "I told my husband and my coach that I'd do them both if I won." Yeah of course-she was gonna do both the 5K and 10K in the Olympics!! Some people, who will remain anonymous (well considering they post on LetsRun, of course they'd be anon!) thought otherwise. :-p You be creative and figure out what the misconception was.
• Tyson Gay in the 200m-YIKES!! Here's hoping he rehabs in time for the Games
• Great run by Anthony Famiglietti, he just dominated the steeplechase!! Nice to see one who's a regular on the NYRR race scene win big :)

Now that the trials are over, I can actually get to sleep at a decent hour. At least until August 8th! :)

good sports day

That would be yesterday!

Yanks swept the Sawx...

The Mutts got swept by Philly...

My bro and I attended the US Open for the 2nd year in a row and got to witness Andy Roddick win, as well as Martina Hingis (well the latter was more important to my brother.)

Almost makes up for the fact that I had to turn down a last-minute ticket to Wednesday's Yanks-Sox game due to being stuck at work til 8pm. Oh, the price I have to pay to see some live tennis...

us open recrap

pretty nice, huh? the view of the unisphere, and some of the smaller courts, from arthur ashe stadium.

well, as I mentioned a couple months ago, i snatched up U.S. Open tix for my brother and I for yesterday's day session. And thankfully the weather gods decided to cut us a break for this one!!

So I rode on the painfully slow 7 train out to Queens and got there a little after 11-but had to stand on a very long bag-check line before getting in (worth it in the name of security, I guess...) My brother had printed out the schedule for the day and came up with a game plan. Little heavy on the women's matches, but we got to see one very good men's match.

First off was Rafael Nadal vs. Luis Horna. This was probably the best match we saw yesterday. Nadal looked great in the first set, we thought this was gonna be a straight-setter-but Horna took the second set. Nadal wound up winning in 4 sets-a very exciting match, some great tennis being played, just very fun to watch. (And Nadal was rocking the capri pants...tee hee)

We saw part of the first set of Daniela Hantuchova vs. Serena Williams-my brother is not a fan of the Williams sisters at all (and I was not a fan of Serena's outfit...ugh, her stylist should be fired or something.) Hantuchova started off strong, as Serena didn't seem to have the fire she used to have...but she came back late in the first set. (and wound up winning the match.) We had to leave as there was a more important match to see in Louis Armstrong Stadium :)

We walked over to Louis Armstrong Stadium, waited on a long line and got seated just as Maria Sharapova was leading Emilie Loit, 4-0. This was a very lopsided match if I say so myself...poor Loit did not stand a chance. Though I think everyone cheered when she stole one 1 game in the second set :) Anyway, after 52 minutes, Sharapova was victorious and my brother had new picture wallpaper for his cell phone :)

We stayed to see Amelie Mauresmo play Meghann Shaughnessy. Even though this was not as lopsided as the previous match, this was very lackluster. Mauresmo...didn't seem to have the spark of a #1 player (as my brother said "she's overrated.")

So all in all, was a lot of fun-I think we may make this an annual thing. Something I wish I had done a long time ago...back in the day, I would have loved to have seen Jim Courier and Stefan Edberg play live!!

(some pictures taken from my camera-phone are here...we both forgot our digital cameras!)

membership has its privileges

even though there are places it's not accepted, ahhh...the perks of being an Amex cardmember...membership rewards points to redeem on cool things...and this week, pre-sale tix to the U.S. Open!! my brother gave me the heads up this morning and I snatched up tix for a day session during the first week. for years, we've said we'd try and get tickets but for whatever reason, we never have (i'm thinking that everything except the ridiculously expensive tix got sold out too quickly or something?) so this should be fun :)

on a completely unrelated topic, anyone else catch the Apprentice finale last nite? i was satisfied with the winner-anyone else? i just wish they had done a review of the tasks in the boardroom...it seemed reminscent of season 1 when Omarosa lost the final task for Kwame. Would have been interesting to see instead of a ping-pong match of "who's smarter."

and as if i didn't already have an excuse to push hard in speedwork tonite (the new shoes!) last nite my latest dating prospect sorta gave me the cold shoulder when i saw him. meh. not angry, just disappointed, i would have liked a 2nd date with this one, but what can you do. at least it happened the day before speedwork...time to channel it again into running and racing... :)