Changes to the NYCM Start Process
Acting on feedback from runners, the NYRR will be implementing several changes to the start process this year. Chief among them are the Wave Start and the Baggage Handling. With these enhancements to the system, NYRR hope that runners can look forward to the following benefits:
1. Reduced crowding and wait time standing in corrals
2. Reduced crowding and wait time standing on the bridge, waiting for the race to start
3. Reduced time to cross the start line (NYRR hopes that runners can cross the starting line within 6 minutes)
4. Reduced crowding on the course and at the finish
So what’s the Wave Start all about? Instead of releasing a mass start of approximately 40,000 runners at one time, the field will first be organized into three separate start lines designated with blue, orange or green colors. Then each starting line will be broken down to 3 waves designated white, yellow or blue. There are 6 corrals within each wave – A to F. Each wave will have approximately 13,000 runners and will be released at 20-minute intervals. Wave 1 will begin at 9:40 am., followed by wave 2 at 10:00 am., and then wave 3 at 10:20 am. The runners will be allocated their “waves” according to their projected goal time. I’m so average that I’ll probably be placed in either the Wave 2 or 3. Wave 1 would probably be assigned to the elites and sub 3:30 finishers.
Runners fearing the loss of the unique starting experience – the firing of the starting cannon and Sinatra’s rendering of “New York, New York” – need not worry as each wave will still have the same ceremony. The cannon will just see more action and Sinatra will have to sing a few more times!
Baggage Handling is also revamped. The UPS trucks will be parked near the entrance (in the open zone) to the Staging Area to receive your checked in baggage (in case you’re wondering, only official clear goodie bags are accepted for deposits). From the alphabetically sorted manner of yesteryears, the organizers are sorting the trucks by bib number in increments of 1,000 this time around.
My plans for race morning as follows: Get up early at 5am (since there are bound to be some queues at the hostel toilets) and leave the hostel by 6:30am by subway. I sure hope that the other bed in our room is taken up by a fellow runner! At this juncture I’m not sure if we need to pack extra breakfast since a wide variety are available at the staging area from tea, Poland Spring Natural Spring Water, Gatorade Endurance Formula, bagels, PowerBars, and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. The posse should arrive at the Battery Park ferry terminal at 7am and take the 30-minute ferry ride to Staten Island, in time to hop onto the 7:30am Staten Island shuttle to take us to the Fort Wadsworth staging area. While making new friends from all over the world are all part of the NYCM experience, it’ll be even better if my friends and I are assigned to the same starting line, wave and corral. At least if we’re within the same wave, we can still hop between corrals. Well, we’ll know in September.
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Base Phase Week 3 & 4: 35.42K & 50.72K
Week 3's training was a downer. Things were going well and I thought a
50K week was a clincher. Easy peasy. I caught some of my colleagues' flu
and was out for a day (only) and managed a few very good midweek runs.
There was even a day of double workout, though in retrospect it might
have come too early at this phase. I was quite tired because of it. Then
Carbokid 2 fell ill, floored by cough, fever, flu with bouts of
vomiting. The 3 adults at home were running around like headless chicken
attending to him. And if you know C2, being a feisty character that he
is, it's not easy getting him to cooperate. He's so different from C1
whom you can at least negotiate with. The couple of rough nights knocked
me off and the targeted 19K on Saturday were busted. I managed to
salvage a 13K on Saturday evening but couldn't recover on time for an
early run on Sunday morning, and I ended the week on a low.
After such a seemingly discouraging week, the natural reaction would be
to hammer the next week like crazy right? Then I thought about it and
put everything in perspective. I've been running really well. I've not
lost any of my speed - in fact I've been running faster, very near to
marathon goal pace. I don't think I've problems hitting a sub-50 minute
10K. So I've taken slightly longer times to recover but that could be
due to the generally faster pace I've been running. Perhaps I should
take it easier so that I'm able to last through the week in better
shape.
Week 4 ended quite well. Other than hitting the 50K milestone for the
NYCM training, the quality of workouts have been consistent. I'm getting
more comfortable with steady-state runs and remained in control on the
faster sessions. My stated goal for the Base Phase is 55K weeks and if I
pace myself accordingly I should be able to hit it either this week or
next. I plan to be consistent throughout this training even if the
volume remains just so-so. My aim is to make sure that lower volume,
with higher quality will bring about peaking at the correct time.
Certainly events, unplanned they may be such as C2's continued illness
and my brushes with cold/flu, are making sure that I don't overdo
things. I ran 5 days last week and due to some pre-planning, I knew that
I could run in the evenings. That allowed me to sleep in on weekday
mornings, even if that only meant an additional 10 minutes in bed.
Tuesday's 11.8K was fantastic - 6:02 pace aerobically - while Saturday's
stupendously hard hill workout with running partners, at first with
Geraldine and Loke, then Geraldine (up the 2.4K Kiara Hill) and finally
with the RunnersMalaysia group with last 2K with Chen. The trip up Kiara
Hill deserves a special mention due to the hard work it brought about.
It was a new route for me and I ran without knowing where the peak was.
It was a series of curves and more curves that took its toll on the
lungs (I maxed out my HR), quads, calves and glutes. On a couple of
stretches I was even reduced to walk breaks. Sweat were dripping off the
tip of my nose! And Geraldine couldn't be seen in front!
See the elevation spikes?
Despite the 2 days, the run that took the cake was yesterday's late
evening 9K which I somehow cranked out at 6:06 pace despite the sore
legs. I shall be returning to this hill a few more times before the main
event. I'm thinking of this workout to simulate late stage hills - a 10K "warmup" incorporating 3K easy, 7K at LT pace around the lake before
heading to the hill. There, do 6 repeats up the hill before a 2K easy
warmdown around the lake.
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Base Phase Week 1: 44.88K (July 13th 2008)
The upwards movement of my mileage continues. I'm 3 weeks into my training and I've managed a very modest mileage. It's approximately half the volume that I'll be doing in 2 months' time and I'm glad to be getting in some quality runs. I've moved some runs to the morning and it wasn't too bad either. I just needed to ensure that I get to bed by 11pm. The earliest and longest run so far was a 19K with Geraldine and Loke at 5am Saturday morning. Going long was fantastic and I thought finishing strong at the end of long runs were important. We covered the final 2K in under 5:30/K splits.
I've been eating well too. Plenty of smaller meals and snacking, so that my energy level is on the level. My weight stands between 57-58kg.
Nike have been most generous with their support. I'm rotating between the Vomero 2, Structure 11 and Elite 3. And just 2 days ago, I laid my hands on the cutting edge Zoom Victory+. Wearing it is an experience. I'll just say for now that it'll see some action in speedwork and short races - definitely the pair for the Aug 31st Human Race.
Week 2 of Base will have me cross the 50K mark for the week and it's a mark that I plan to hold till the end of Base Phase. Time for bed now. Have a good running week ahead!
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Periodization Week 2: 35.46K (July 6th 2008)
Today sees the completion of the 2-week Periodization Phase. Not much change to the weekly mileage and I ran without pressure. No chasing of splits, mileage or anything of that sort. Just go out there and run 4 times a week.
I noticed that the weather in the evenings have been very hot of late with temps hitting 34C even. Just like today. I'll never be able to run in temps close to NYC. So the feel of cold weather will be alien to me until Oct 30th when I arrive at The City. The sun was still blazing at 6:30pm but I had a run scheduled. After guzzling down copious amount of fluids, I put on my shades, changed into a lightweight NikeFIT vest and shorts and went into the kitchen filling up 2 bottles of iced isotonics. 10 minutes later after tying up the Vomero 2+, I was out of the door. I usually don't train with my sunglasses (Oakley Half Jacket) on - the fact that I did today pretty much tells you how glaring it was.
At the office, work has been holding steady but our Department has been rocked by 4 resignations of late. With replacement head counts difficult to get, expect more work heading my way.
Tomorrow will see that start of the 6-week Base Phase. It's a very important period where mileage will be gradually increased to the mid 50s per week. No matter how many times you've done it, it never gets easier. As you grow older, you'll need to monitor your recovery period and so on. Focus will be on quality not quantity... for now.
This is when real work begins.
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Periodization Week 2: 35.79K (June 29th 2008)
Week 3 of light training is over. Am glad to report that it's been quite good thus far. Highlights of the week were the late afternoon tough runs at Lake Gardens on Tuesday (9.6K) and Wednesday (11.1K). Weather's been scorching of late and within the first K, my heart rate would have climbed to 70% MHR.
After being razed by the sun on Tuesday during which I did 3 lake loops and 1 Carcosa, I ran a shadier route on Wednesday. Started from the Bkt Aman Car Park then headed down to the National Mosque before hitting the lung-quad busting uphill at the Islamic Art Museum. Down past the Deer Park, hang left around the lake then the reverse Carcosa Hill, round the playground and back to the car park for a drink before heading the second loop.
I took Thursday and Friday off to rest and focus on clearing work. Saturday comprised of 11K and 4K, while poor weather waylaid my evening run plan. Fitness is pretty much still work in progress and I'm glad for it. I'd be concerned about getting through the workouts easily. It's not been easy, trust me, even if the volume and variety is standard stuff. I like it the way it is as this means that I've the luxury to slowly build the body up over the coming months and peak as close to the race as possible.
My goal for the Periodization Phase is max 30K weekly mileage. Ooops, looks like I busted it! Next week is the final periodization week before the start of 6 weeks of Base Phase. It's going to get more and more interesting!
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Pre-Periodization Week 2: 29.85K (June 22nd 2008)
Still keeping to the light and easy theme, there was an increased in the weekly mileage even if the frequency of runs dropped.
The week's highlight was Saturday's first long run. I woke up at 4am and as usual the first thought that ran through my mind was "Here we go again!" but not with that kind of enthusiasm that precedes second helpings of ice-cream, mind you. Fueling was a slice of peanut butter bread with black coffee and after averaging 90km/h I reached the BA car park sharp at 5am. No other runners were there and while I got ready, Geraldine pulled up. 5 minutes later we were huffing off into the dark. I wore the blue-silver stability Nike Air Structure Triax 11+ (AST11+) as part of the breaking in process. On my right wrist was the Nike SportBand and the left wrist my Forerunner 205.
The effort were conversational and there wasn't much problem except for a spot of surprise at the Arabic School just before the Bukit Tunku hills. A dog which we didn't notice suddenly jumped out with a growl. We stood our ground and it didn't come any closer and reluctantly walked away still with some menace. That got the blood flowing a bit and we were definitely fully awaked after that! Kit's friend Fu Yee (hope I got his name right - thanks man!) generously provided us with some drinks at the Hartamas stop and we gulped down the H2O quickly and made our way back.
It got a bit chilly for me as we headed back - my shirt was soaked through. After crossing Jalan Duta and a road kill later, we ran into Ronnie and his band of runners (over 10 of them!) on their way to the 15K route. 30 minutes later I was back at the car park ready to take on another 4.5K with the RunnersMalaysia group. Now that second run was certainly tougher, indicative of my fitness level. But time is on my side and I'm glad to have maintained the slight momentum going into the actual 2-week Periodization Phase which starts tomorrow. Periodization Phase calls for more regular runs, with no single runs exceeding 20K. Weekly mileage peaks at 30K though I think I may not be able to stick to that number. We'll see.
I met with Wong, an EKIN with Nike, who was there to exchange the Pegasus 2007+ with the Zoom Elite 4+, which looks really great. Compared to the E3 (my PR shoe), the 4 has fewer overlays (good!), is Nike+ enabled (moving with times!) and reportedly lighter (great!). The most significant change is that there's no longer a full-length Zoom Air due to the accommodation of the Nike+ shoe sensor. I shall be reviewing the Elite 4 after the SportBand and AST 11+. I know there's quite a lot of cool gear to test out and that's certainly keeping my training very interesting indeed. Thanks once again to Nike for all the cool hardware. Check out my review of the Zoom Elite 3 here.
The Elite 3 (left) and the 4
Before I end this posting, I got the chance to test-run (OK only a few steps!) in the yet to be launched 9oz lime green Lunar Trainer (see image below). It felt like a pair of Frees with more cushioning. It's pillowy ride is different from Nike's super soft Vomero and all I can say for now is that it's revolutionary. The secret to achieving all that is via the use of Lunarlite foam which was developed by the aerospace industry. It's 30% lighter than Nike's Phylon (the company's hitherto lightweight midsole material). I'm really getting ahead of myself here but it's something to be really excited about in the later part of the year.
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Pre-Periodization Week 1: 19.31K (June 15th 2008)
Ran 4 days this week. Not bad although I kept all the workouts short. Total mileage is just a shade under 20K. Tried out several Nike apparels and they were all quite nice and certainly comfortable. Best is the Nike Pro compression tee. Not only it looks really good, it provides a snug fit that I like in a pair of running tights. Don't let the looks deceive you - it's definitely not hot. Ventilation is good and I may just wear this as a base layer in New York.
Another cool gear I'd the privilege of trialling is the Nike+ SportBand. This hip looking band does away with the need of an iPod to keep track of your workouts. You'll still need the shoe transmitter to be sure but with the iPod out of the equation, you're virtually wireless now. A review is definitely forthcoming.
With another week to the start of the Periodization Phase, I decided that it's time to break in the Air Structure Triax (AST) 11. The AST 11 is Nike+ enabled and is a big departure to the clunky ride of the 9, which I had a brief experience with. I tangoed with the 9 during the Nike+ preview last year. I'll also be writing more about this shoe in the near future.
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New York City Marathon Training Plan (june 10th 2008)
Through the detailed logging of my training for my last 3 marathons, I've noticed that I'm able to sustain the intensity and mileage for only 2 weeks at any one time, before the mileage and quality of the runs take a dip. This 2-week up and 1-week down (2:1) cycle is perhaps the way my body and mind are responding to the stress. It also proves the need for a period of recovery and lower intensity following every 2 weeks of hard work.
While I've not drilled down to the details, I've finally completed the high level training plan. For a change I've incorporated a Periodization phase to ease into the program rather than jumping right into it. I recognize that the training will be tough, and rightfully so since doing a sub-4 meant running an average of 5:40 pace for 42K. Time will tell if I can carry it through. One thing's for sure. No matter what happens, I intend to treasure the entire experience. I don't feel any pressure at all with regards to the goal time. And that's a good thing.
Goal: To run a sub-4 marathon in New York on November 2nd.
End to end: 19 weeks
Commencement: 6/23
Periodization
Duration: 2 weeks
6/23 to 7/6
Focus: 3 to 4 runs a week with focus on enjoyment and relaxation, core strength
Goal: To get into the training psyche
Peak weekly mileage: 30K
Base
Duration: 6 weeks
7/7 to 8/17
Focus: Aerobic stage workouts, core strength, 1 short race
Goal: To be able to run comfortably for up to 20K
Peak weekly mileage: 55K
Mileage
Duration: 6 weeks
8/18 to 9/28
Focus: Variety, building up the mileage, core strength, staying healthy and injury free, 1 race
Goal: To be able to sustain the stress of mileage
Peak weekly mileage: 90K
Sharpening
Duration: 3 weeks
9/28 to 10/19
Focus: Hills, tempos, repeats, sandwich, long runs, race specific workouts, 1 race
Goal: To be able to sustain the combined stress of mileage and intensity
Peak weekly mileage: 85K
Tapering
Duration: 2 weeks
10/20 to 11/1
Focus: Staying loose and relaxed, healthy and settling last minute travel plans
Goal: Recover, recover, recover
Peak weekly mileage: 20K
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