Go Navy! Beat Army!

College football's best rivalry - yes, I said "best" - is this Saturday in Baltimore:

It's the Army-Navy game!

Under Armour is hosting a race on Saturday morning, and the winner will earn tickets to the game! Here's the details:

UA Game Ball Fun Run
Saturday, December 13
10:00 a.m.
Under Armour Brand House, Harbor East
Distance: 1.39 miles

There is no entry fee for the race - simply show up at 10am, sign a waiver, pick up your FREE shirt and the race starts at 10:30. It's a race over the connecting bridges and around a couple of the piers, ultimately finishing at Rash Field, where that "sports network" is hosting their pre-game television program.

That's all I know. I assume, but am not certain, that tickets are going to the fastest person. Not sure if it's M/F prizes. But, it's short, you get a shirt, and it's free!

I won't be able to make it on account of Celtic Solstice and USATF Club XC, but for those not running Celtic (or even if you are, this starts late enough that you could make it) it should be pretty fun. Team UA Run's Frezer Legasse will be the run leader.

Welcome to New York

Welcome to New York, it’s been waiting for you
It’s a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat
The lights are so bright, but they never blind me.
 - Taylor Swift, Welcome to New York

Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it coincidence. Call it whatever, but with this being the first song on Taylor Swift’s recently released album, it seemed as though my trip to New York City for the Marathon was meant to be. The stars truly aligned for this one, as just days before the race I was asked if I wanted to go up to Under Armour’s official launch of their new shoe, the Speedform Gemini, at their Brand House in Soho the Thursday before the race. Naturally, I said yes. Then they asked if I wanted to run the race. I initially declined, citing my lack of running due to my nagging Achilles injury.

“Don’t worry – you can just run with Chris McCormack.”

Exsqueeze me? Baking Powder?

Chris McCormack – as in one of the greatest triathletes of all time – and I get to run with him?

Without thinking, I said of course. I mean, I haven’t run longer than 14 miles in 3 months, but I could get through 26.2, right? If my Achilles wasn’t going to cooperate, I could always call it a day when I got back to Manhattan. I mean, the chance to hang out with one of my triathlon idols alone made the trip to NY more than worth it. And to get to line up with him at the start of the world’s greatest marathon? Psshh. To not do it would be like saying to Peyton Manning, no thanks, I can’t play catch, my shoulder hurts.

I made my way up to the city on Thursday, and found my hotel in Chelsea. It was insane. I definitely did not fit in – but I did my best. I dropped off my stuff and took the subway down to the Brand House for the shoe launch. The store was incredible, and I got to meet and chat with a few cool people – Team UA’s Nick Arciniaga, who I got to meet two weeks before at Baltimore, and Josh Cox. Josh was really cool and naturally (awkwardly) I mentioned I run the BMoreRunning Twitter account – he wasn’t creeped out and even paid me a nice compliment. We talked about Desi Linden’s chances for Sunday and as we did, who walks into the store: Kate Upton and Justin Verlander. Yeah, I know, I couldn’t believe it either.

After the event, I kicked it with UA’s own John Ealy, Sean Sharpe and Britany Williams as we cranked a few slices of pizza. And watched early Halloween revelers stumble up and down the street in front of the hotel. That was just Thursday.

Friday came and the nice weather had vanished. In its place was cold, grey and wind. I met John to go for a shakeout run – which ended up being 6 miles at an effort that felt faster than what I could run for a half marathon right now – and we finished at the expo. Since our entries had been sent in just a day or two prior, we weren’t even in the system. I was certain I was going to get stuck in the 4th wave, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I was in Wave 1, and in the first corral of the Green start. We ran back to the hotel, and then I headed back over to the expo because I wanted to meet a few people…

First up, the Oakley booth to meet the #1 ranked ITU triathlete in the world, Gwen Jorgensen. Gwen recently earned her first World Championship on the heels of one of the most impressive seasons in ITU history. And, as I later found out, former track club teammate of our own Amy Horst. Rather than ask nerdy questions, I asked more RM-like questions. She was a great sport and played along, as did her husband Pat. Like I did with Josh Cox, I made sure to let Gwen know that I run BMoreRunning, and she knew it too! As an added bonus, I also go to meet Ironman legend, Greg Welch. You cannot be serious.

I finally left them alone and snuck up to the Asics booth. Most people were waiting in line to get their personalized race split tattoo, and nobody was waiting in line to talk to Sara Hall. SARA HALL. I went up and, keeping with the trend, said I run BMoreRunning (in case you’re wondering, I run the very small time, modestly humorous BMoreRunning Twitter feed). Sara was exactly what I expected – an absolute stunner and beyond nice. If you haven’t been following, she’s raced really well this year.

On my way out of the expo I decided to head upstairs. That was new this year, and it was kind of strange – not really booths for selling, more of a small tour of the boroughs through which the marathon runs. But in the back I noticed the unmistakably effervescent voice of one Kathrine Switzer. Kathrine THE Great. After she finished her talk she welcomed people at her little booth. I went up to meet her – she hugged everyone – and she goes “you look familiar…” I said unless she remembered passing me at a race, probably not. She continued “you’re really fit – you must be a triathlete.” That’s when I was like “hey girl, I’m staying at the Dream Hotel…”

All this activity and it was only 3pm! I was hungry so I went to a Potbelly, then walked around Times Square. Yes, I realize how tacky it is, but I love it. I can’t remember the last time I was there so I enjoyed my little trip, and of course snapped a pic of New York’s best pizza. Then it was time to meet Brennan, so I walked back to the hotel.

I kept forgetting that it was Halloween. In the 10 years I’ve lived here, this was the first time I missed Halloween in Fell’s with Mike. Even the first year I ran NYC (2008) when Halloween was a Friday and the race was Sunday, I made it out for a bit. That year I was lucky to have a bunch of friends come up to watch me run, and of course they went out in the city for Halloween. I associate this race with Halloween. Naturally, I told Brennan we had to go out, costumes or not. After dinner we went back to the hotel, where they looked at us like “what are you doing here?” (there was an unreal Halloween party at each of the hotel’s 3 clubs that night)

We walked outside and around the corner saw a red carpet and some paparazzi. It was Heidi Klum’s Halloween Party. Crazy. Not too many “celebs” rolled through, but we did stick around for Heidi’s grand entrance. Then it was off in search of places we were more at home. We made it out pretty darn late. Good thing we didn’t have a race in two days...psyyyyyyche!

Saturday we woke up to rain. And it was cold. If the race had been that morning, there was no way I would have made it. I had intended on going up to Central Park to watch the NYRR 5k, but with the weather and 3 miles away, I opted to sit in the hotel room and follow on Twitter. Gwen Jorgensen won in 16:03 – the day before she said she didn’t think she’d run faster than 17 minutes. Must have been my pep talk. It rained all day, and we didn’t have much to do, so we just waited out the rain before getting a (very) late dinner at Chelsea Markets. Back in the hotel, the party was bumping again. I told Brennan we should just hang out in the lobby all night until it was time to go to the race.

My departure time with the UA Team was 5am. Way, way too early. Fortunately we got an hour back from DST, but it still meant a 4:30 wakeup. Went downstairs, lobby still jumping. Man, what was I doing running a marathon? After a few days mostly kicking around the city, it was time to get down to business. It was also time to get to meet Macca. He’s a larger-than-life character, and his excitement was contagious. We get on the bus just after 5 and we’re across the bridge and in Staten Island before 6. Yikes. It was so cold and windy, we had no option but to sit on the bus for as long as we could. All Macca wanted to hear was Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” so we blasted that and a few other pump-up jams on the warm bus. We finally headed out to the start line around 7:45, the whole UA squad.

I’ve raced New York on 3 occasions. The first year the conditions weren’t that bad – temp was upper 40s, maybe high around 50, a little overcast with glimpses of sun. But the past 3 years, weather has been the main storyline at NYC. 2012 canceled by the hurricane. 2013 temps in the mid 40s and strong headwind for most of the day. 2014 even colder and windier. For me, an annoyance but not a big deal. Up front, though, a game changer. One of the most stacked fields in race history saw the slowest winning time in 20 years, and America’s great, Meb Keflezighi, validated his Boston win with a 4th place performance. UA’s Nick Arciniaga finished 10th. On the women’s side, a great battle as Mary Keitany, who hasn’t raced in 2 years after giving birth, roared back with an impressive win.

For me, I knew based on my fitness that I had 16 miles in me, tops. I navigated Chris McCormack successfully to the start line, where we bumped into his buddy Tim Van Berkel (7th at Kona this year). We all started together, but after a mile those two were having too much fun weaving in and out of people and I backed off. The wind on the bridge was next level. So bad they had to move the wheelchair start to the other side of it. Once off the bridge it wasn’t as bad, and I hit mile 3 in 21:44 – not bad! As I turned right and the courses merged I hear “DDUUUDDEEEE!” Look behind me, it’s BRENNAN. Amidst all those people and starting in different corrals (he was on the top level of the bridge, I was on the lower deck) we bump into each other. Crazy!

We ran together for miles, ticking off 7:15 after 7:15. Around mile 5 I spotted the maroon hue of the Falls Road singlet – it was Meg McNew. Only 3 of us running New York this year and somehow we all converge on the course. It was a thing of beauty. I was running with my phone (note: I would never do that in my own race, but this opportunity was too awesome) so I grabbed a shot of Brennan and Meg. B and I stopped at mile 10 for a quick bathroom break, and got back. Around 13 (1:38, with the 2 minute stop) is when I started not feeling as comfortable, and by 14 Brennan took off to see what he could do. That took the wind out of my sails, and I struggled to climb up the Queensboro Bridge, and coming down the other side was even tougher. I hit 16 and made it onto 1st Ave but was slowing fast. Sara Spears said she was going to be at 82nd so that was my goal, get there. I made it there, didn’t see her or any of her friends, and then I took a little break.

The wind was really strong on 1st Ave, and I knew I was in for a long 10 miles. I climbed the bridge into the Bronx around mile 20, and as I turned the corner I saw it: a Dunkin Donuts. I was really, really hungry and knew I needed some sustenance. I had money on me, so I darted in real quick. People in line couldn’t believe I was still in the race and let me cut. The DD employees gave me my donuts for free. I ate one, then walked back out on the course with the other. People around me were cracking up. It was a funny moment, but 100% necessary. It brought me back to life.

Normally you’d think “just a 10k left, I can suffer through that” but man, was I moving slow. No 8 or 9 minute miles for me, we’re talking 12s. I didn’t care, I had enjoyed my day. The tailwind push was the only thing that got me up the incline at Central Park. I turned into the park, shuffled the last 2/10th and crossed the line in my slowest open marathon ever: 4:12:46. Ouch.

I kept shuffling to get through the line faster, and ran into the CFO of my company. Completely random. Walked out of the park with her and then went to find my brother and Brennan. Brennan had gone onto negative split to a 3:11. That kid is incredible. A half ironman and two marathons in the course of 4 weeks. We also heard that Michaela Courtney ran 3:12, and Meg McNew, who was sidelined most of the year as she came back from surgery, held on for a 3:38. The Under Armour guys ran well, but I did laugh when I saw that Macca and Tim went out in 1:29 and finished at 3:44. Had I know that I would have just kept running with them! Me, my brother and Brennan walked 30 blocks to his car, then swung by the hotel to get our stuff before heading back to NJ. Leaving the city after a weekend like that was a little sad, but boy was the view sweet – the Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty never looked so good. Fueled up with some pizza and headed back to Baltimore. It was quite possibly the greatest running experience of my life.

Rather than post pics throughout the blog (it was long enough), here's a link to my NYC Marathon Weekend pics on Flickr.

Lose (the) Control

The United States’ speed skating team broke the cardinal rule of competition:

Don’t try something new on race day.

The finger-pointing that arose following disappointing race after disappointing race seemed to single out Under Armour, who had collaborated with Lockheed Martin to develop the hi-tech suits the Americans were wearing. The culprit: ventilating holes on the back of the suits, designed to let heat escape, were allegedly creating drag – enough to be responsible for the slow times the skaters were posting. Apparently the athletes only received these suits in January, and had not worn them in competition prior to the Olympics.

We’ve all been there after a bad race. We’ll start up the excuse engine and crank out whatever we need to hear to make ourselves feel better. The Monday-morning-quarterbacking can sometimes prove essential to unlocking better performances later. We’re able to learn what worked, and what didn’t, and tweak our training programs for the next time around. This is suitable for most of us, who aren’t racing for our profession, or in the Olympics, but for these athletes, this may have been their first, or last, shot at glory.

When word got out that the suits were to blame, one of the first quotes I read was from the Dutch coaches. The Dutch always excel at long track speed skating, but so far in Sochi have been nearly untouchable. One coach said that they’d tried a similar ventilation system on their suits years ago, and saw that it was creating more drag. He, and many other coaches around the oval, kept muttering about it being the suits that were the problem – which got into Team USA’s heads.

If I were an opponent, regardless of whether it’s fact or not, I would absolutely do the same thing. You need to use anything you can (legally) to gain an advantage over your competition, and giving someone a reason to doubt themselves when they’re vulnerable is the perfect means.

I read this article today in the Washington Post (courtesy of Alyssa), and noted journalist and author, Sally Jenkins, hits the nail on the head: “High-tech fabric, the heat and atmospheric conditions — none of it mattered as much as what was between their ears.” Team USA had just psyched themselves out.

The article continued with a few quotes from Olympic gold medal winner, Dan Jansen, who placed some doubt on the entire Team USA system. “There’s gold in them thar hills” would echo how most athletes and NOCs feel about living and training at altitude, but it would seem that many are hung up on quantitative data and not qualitative data. Here’s where I would insert a clip from Rocky IV, when Ivan Drago had access to all the best technology and equipment and did everything in a controlled environment. That contrasted with Rocky’s grittier training techniques – low-tech training, suffering, isolation, outdoors – and we all know how that fight ended.

Sometimes, you just gotta feel it.

I bring this up because I see a lot of folks’ workouts, and I see how much they try to control them. By no means am I singling any individual out, because it goes for a lot of us (myself included). Using myself as an example, my weekly schedule has remained pretty similar for the past decade. I run the same runs, ride the same rides, swim the same workouts. Depending on the time of year, and my goals, there are certain things that will change, but it’s pretty easy to find me if you know what day of the week it is.

I wear a watch (if I can find it) and go on time and effort. I never have any idea of my pace, and have general ideas of how far I’ve run. I haven’t had a computer on my bike in at least 5 years. Because, while numbers allow us to gauge how hard we’re working or how long it will take us to do something, they don’t tell us how much we’re willing to suffer. We’ve come to rely on doing workouts in controlled environments – NCR, the track, Boston Street. Doing the same track workout-tempo run-long run combo week in and week out. We analyze the numbers instead of assess how we feel. When we don’t race as well as we expected, we try to sift through all of the data to understand what went wrong, instead of being honest and saying “I just didn’t have it.”

After a collective assortment of disappointing results any organization ought to perform its due diligence and inspect everything. But the devil is in the details, and you can drive yourself crazy overthinking things. It takes courage to be honest and say you just didn’t have it, and then pick yourself up and start again.

As Dan Jansen says in the Post article, all the training at altitude didn’t do much to prepare the athletes for racing at sea level in Sochi, where warmer temperatures have created different ice conditions. While they were focused on controlling conditions and going fast in training, they forgot that training is not racing.

You’ll often hear runners say “Oh, I’m just using this race for training” (guilty!). It allows us to assign a level of effort we’re willing to put out, and we can use it as a crutch when someone beats us. I say we all stand to benefit from going out and racing sometime – going harder than we go in training, getting pushed, blowing up. Because without it, we’ll never know how much we can withstand. You’ll pass out before you die. We need to get out of our comfort zones. We train at a pace we think we can hold, but we don’t train for the first quarter mile of a 5k where we’re 5 seconds faster than our training and can feel the lactic acid building by the mile mark. We do mile after mile at 6:00 pace, expecting to be able to walk through a 2:40 marathon, but we forget there are hills, or that we’re going to inevitably go out in 5:40 and have to absorb that quick first mile.

For most of us, we’re running for reasons other than winning. We want to run the races that will give us the best opportunity to run fast times. There’s no shame in that game. But no matter who you are, don’t forget to feel it. Race the race. When you cross the line, if the time isn’t what you expected, choose to focus instead on the effort. On that day, did you give your best effort? If yes, brush off the bad day, regroup, and move onto the next one. You can’t be 100% a hundred percent of the time.

Failure to plan is planning to fail.

Team USA accounted for everything in their training. They trained on a fast track and had sponsors create the (supposedly) fastest suit. What they had failed to plan for was the conditions. There’s a reason for training on the courses you’ll race, so you know what to expect on race day. Andre 3000 said, “you can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather.” We might not be able to always predict the weather, but we sure as hell can plan for it.