Category Archives: Running

weekend recap

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I had a pretty low key weekend with plenty of family and friend time. Saturday, I blew off running altogether (which tends to be very easy to do during rain storms). But I did bang out thirteen miles on Sunday night. It was a beautiful night, temp-wise. Also, it reminded me how enjoyable it can be to run after the sun goes down.

Next weekend I will be in Huntington Beach. I have a 14mi. run scheduled on Sunday. For some reason it is always a challenge for me to put in long miles when I’m traveling. I’m not saying it won’t happen. I’m just saying it might be tricky. Have a great week!

[photo: Trix doing her thing in SoHo]

bike hill bike

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cycle-hill

I switched things up a bit this morning. Part of the training program that I’m using calls for hill reps. The only problem with that is there are not any hills nearby. So I decided to utilize the ones in the north end of Central Park. There is a great spot on the west side of the 125th St. Transverse where you can alternate between the hill on the transverse, and the hill on Park Drive West. Since the park is a few miles from where I live, I thought I would ride my bike to the park then run the hills. Riding in rush hour up 8th Ave. was a great way to wake up quickly and also warm up.

I didn’t wear the Nike+ SportWatch during this morning’s workout. One thing that it does not have (that I wish could be incorporated eventually) is a way to denote cycling vs. running on the dashboard. You could def wear the watch cycling, but it would throw all of your running stats off. The Garmin tool does give users the option to distinguish the type of activity that is being logged. For example the workout above I logged as cyclocross (since it was a mix of running and cycling). Even though it wasn’t truly cyclocross, when I run a report on my stats, it will be distinguished from my running, and regular cycling. I did rock the FuelBand though.

After running hills, the ride home was a bit interesting. It took a couple of downhill coasts to get my quads to recover. It also made the ride into work a bit slower than normal, which is fine (because: less sweat).

nike+ sportwatch maiden voyage

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Marathon training officially started for me Monday. Thk goodness it was only a 3mi. jaunt. I’m not sure that I would have been up for much more. I’m logging the next 17 weeks over here. What’s more, is that I’ll be reviewing the Nike+ SportWatch side by side with the Garmin Forerunner 410. Yes, I will be wearing a GPS device on each wrist 6 days a week for the next 17 weeks. I’m sure that I’m going to get some interesting looks. I should also make it very clear from the get-go that neither Garmin or Nike is giving me any incentive to write this review/comparison. I should also say that everything that I write is going to be my opinion based on my experience with the devices, and there is no scientific methodology involved.

Let’s get started with a few of the things that I really liked about the SportWatch right off the bat. As you might recall from this post, I have become slightly obsessed with Nike Fuel. As I also stated in that post, the Nike+ SportWatch also measures Fuel. I also love the display on the SportWatch. Oversized numbers are boss. I have always been a fan of the Nike+ user dashboard. I like it even better since it was recently redesigned. Checkout the screenshot of the new Nike+ running dashboard below:

nikedash

fuel band update

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You may recall me mentioning this little gadget a few weeks ago. I was a bit skeptical about its accuracy, how much I would actually wear it after the promo period, etc.. Well, here we are nearly two months later and I really only remove it to shower and charge it. I’m referring to my Nike+ Fuelband. I am a bit of a gadgetwhore, this is true. But I really believe that my fuelband has caused me to be more conscientious about how active I am during the day. On top of that, the pedometer appears to be pretty accurate, despite not having a foot pod (like the sportband). What is more, is that Nike recently melded the Nike+ Running dashboard with the Fuel dashboard. I have it on good authority that new new sport watches will also be measuring the “Fuel” metric. Even if all of it is smoke and mirrors, I can’t deny the extra motivation that I get from seeing the numbers and graphs go up when I have an active day. Also, my daughter loves pressing the button and watching the LEDs light up.

happy friday

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bpcfisherman

I rode past this dude fishing off of the BPC esplanade, on my way into work this morning. I had to stop and get a shot of that striped bass that he had just landed. It looks like it is probably a 10 pounder. I felt bad for him though, because as he was wrestling the hook out of the fish’s mouth, he knocked one of his poles into the Hudson. So, in the shot above he is actually cursing and attempting to snag his other pole with the gaffe. Poor guy. I hope that he was able to find it.

Speaking of the esplanade, the Wall St. 3 mile race was last night. The finish line was about a half mile south of where I snapped the shot above. It was a lot of fun. A few of my friends from the running club were there, as well as some friends that I used to work with. We all met up before and after the race. The race itself was as crazy as usual. But I have to say weather-wise it was probably the most pleasant iteration that I have seen, to date. I think that I ended up with a 19:30ish. But the official results still weren’t up when I started writing this.

For the weekend: mellow mixed with mellow is what I’m hoping for. Next weekend I’ll be off to Charleston. Enjoy the weekend!

props where props are due

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jessiehalfmara

Over the weekend, while some of us were struggling through 10ks, My BIL Jessie was whooping some a#$ in a half-marathon. Homeboy took 2nd place in weather that most people would not have gotten out of bed for. Alaska: the land of Seward’s folley, and pure badassery. Congratulations, Jessie!

[Photo: Sarah McCarron (I feel like this should be a Nike promo poster, BTW)]

w-end recap

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This past weekend may have been the pinnacle of spring weather, as far as weekends go in NYC. The temperature was perfect. The sun was out. The breeze was delightful. Fortuitously, I was able to spend a solid chunk of my time outdoors enjoying it.

Saturday morning was the Healthy Kidney 10k. It wasn’t a great race for me. But, here are my results anyway.

Last Name First Name Sex/
Age		 Bib Team City State Country Overall
Place		 Gender
Place		 Age
Place		 Net
Time		 Split
Time		 Pace/
Mile
Breinholt Jacob M35 188 NYRC NEW YORK NY USA 594 551 106 0:43:36 0:21:05 07:02

Sunday, I opted out of running the Japan Day race to head upstate and get an early jump on my Sunday morning family time. It was definitely time well spent.

When I arrived back in the city on Sunday afternoon, the weather was so nice that I had to get back out there. So, I put on my sneaks and did some distance work. It was one of those 2 for 1 days. I was able to work on my vitamin D levels and workout the legs at the same time, hehe. I ended up knocking out 14 miles, and got a little bit of color on my nose. If nothing else it was a little confidence booster for next Saturday’s half-mara.

I took a quick nap after the jog and then headed out with my friend Sam to shoot some board shorts. Ultimately we are going to have to do it again on a different day, because the stupid clouds rolled in Sunday eve. It kind of spoiled the look that I was going for. But here is one anyway, from the throw-away session–

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Have a great week!

weekend recap

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Sunday was an incredibly productive day. I woke up super early and ran to the park for the race. It was the same 4 mile course as last week. I finished 4 seconds slower than last week, hahaha. I wasn’t able to linger after the race and hangout with my friends, like I normally enjoy doing. I motored up to Westchester for some quality family time. Upon returning to the city, I stopped through B&H to pick up some stuff for a shoot that I have lined up this week. Afterward, I rolled down to SoHo for a bit of shopping.

Nixon came out with two new styles of watches with canvas bracelets. When I first saw them announced last month, I was pretty excited to pick one (some) up. I have been calling the Burton store for a couple of weeks waiting for them to be in stock. They finally got them in as of yesterday. I grabbed a “Mellor” (which I snapped a shot of, above). I also picked up a white “Quad.” I’m pretty amped about both of them.

After SoHo, I walked a bit south still for some location scouting in TriBeCa. Pretty excited about the options that I came up with. I was able to catch a quick round of Rock Band at my friend’s pad before heading home in time to catch the sunset. Hoping for a great week.

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weekend recap

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Above –^ is what most of the day looked like on Sunday. However, there was a sweet spot in the early AM when the rain Gods spared 7000+ runners a wet and miserable race.

Sort of funny story (in retrospect)– The race started at 8. So, I was going to try to be at the CP band shell by 7:30 to pick up my #/ locate some friends, and casually make my way to the starting line. I was standing on the C train platform in Penn by 5 after 7. This should have given me scads of time to accomplish all of the previously stated activities. After waiting for 20 mins for the train (and having none in sight all of the way down the tunnel), I started to panic a bit. I didn’t bring anything with me but a metrocard, or else I would have just grabbed a cab. I decided that it would probably take the same amount of time to walk back to the apt. and get cash/jump in a cab, as it would to just run to CP. So I opted for a 2.5 mile warm up, hahahaha. There was hardly any traffic on 8th Ave. So, I just rocked the bus lane all of the way uptown. I arrived at the registration tent just in time to slap on my number while walking to the start chute. All things told, it worked out perfectly. Here are my stats–

Last Name First Name Sex/
Age		 Bib Team City State Country Overall
Place		 Gender
Place		 Age
Place		 Net
Time		 Pace/
Mile
Breinholt Jacob M35 94 NYRC NEW YORK NY USA 395 365 80 0:26:59 06:45

In the post finish I ran into all of my teammates and a bunch of other homeys that I hadn’t seen for a long time. We exchanged sweaty hugs and chatted until we were shivering before dispersing to our respective destinations. It was raining by the time that I came back above ground 25 blocks later. Bonus= the apples were delicious.

this ‘n’ that

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I wanted to post these moodyish shots from the weekend. Sunday evening I was able to just chill for a bit near the water to watch the helicopters come and go.

I also want to write a bit about running. A few weeks ago (seven, to be exact) I wrote about about how I was going to be in shape in six weeks. Wellahhhh, I’m not exactly there, but have made a lot of progress. Last weekend, I finished my first double digits run of the year, and felt great afterward. I followed up with 4 the next day and had no problem keeping the pace right around 7mm. I haven’t been as consistent as I would like to be. But I think that with the weather getting nicer, it will be a lot easier. So there is my positive little note to accompany these moody photos.

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happy friday

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wfc

I wish that the weather today was like in the image above. But, as far as February weather goes, I can’t really complain. I did break through my funk of outdoor running yesterday morning and it was gorgeous. I went with two friends, which made it even more enjoyable. I planned on doing the same again this morning, until I woke up at 5 AM to the sound of rain pounding on our windows. It would have been nice to have 2 good runs in a row.

I had all of these intentions of being in shape by today. Six weeks ago, I set a goal to have the winter body blah under control. I went to the gym very consistently for like 2 weeks, then I started to get too “busy.” I wouldn’t say that I’m worse shape than I was when I made the goal. But I also haven’t really made any measurable progress.

I’m not going to kid myself and pretend that I’m going to have any amazing workouts this weekend. But starting Monday, I’m going to reset the 6 week clock. I’m crossing my fingers!

[Image: iPhone with Olloclip fisheye]

i know that i shouldn’t compare, but…

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Since I have been working out again with some degree of regularity, I have also started recording my personal metrics again. Just for kicks, I pulled up my totals from last year, and compared them to my totals from 2010.

2011-running

In 2011, I only had 552 total miles, with an average pace of about 7.5 minutes per mile. I have to say that the Garmin reports (above) are not nearly as interesting to look at, as the ones that Nike+ generates (below). But I am willing to give up the fancy graphics for the additional accuracy that Garmin provides. According to my Nike+ stats from 2010, I ran 798 miles with an average pace of just over 7 minutes per mile.

running-2010

I’m pretty sure that the Nike+ stats are padded resulting from inaccuracy. But I know that I ran a lot more in 2010 than last year. In 2011 I didn’t run at all until March. I took the beginning of January off, this year. But as of last week, I have already racked up a handful of miles in 2012. So, I already have a leg up on last year. Here’s to beating last year’s 552 miles, in 2012.

more marathon hooplah

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I just wanted to share two more things that I came across, yesterday as I was flipping through all of the marathon related media coverage. The first item, is this video from MTA Bridge and Tunnel crew. It is a time lapse of the start of the race, on the Verazzano Bridge. This year they added some new camera angles.

The next items came from Laughing Squid. It is a story about an illustrator Christoph Niemann, who illustrated at various points along the race course as he was running, then tweeted his drawings/paintings. I seriously love this kind of stuff.

The caption of this one is “Bottom of the Willis Ave. Bridge”

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This one is “To of the Willis Ave. Bridge” Hahahaha

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And here is crossing the finish line.

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Check out the full photo story, starting at @abstractsunday, which became locked up and eventually moved to @abstractsunday1.

 

NY Marathon 2011

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garminmara

Oh man, I love this race. There has been so much going on in my personal life lately that I never really had a chance to get excited about the race this year. In fact, I even considered sitting it out, especially after the crazy weather the previous weekend. Thanks to some good friends’ motivational pep talks, I showed up yesterday morning with my running sneaks on. I’m so glad that I did.

I rode down to the SI ferry with my same friends that I ran Chicago with. There was some drama with the car service. But that was really the only setback of the morning. By the time we arrived in Staten Island and boarded the buses for Verazzano Bridge, the sun was already coming over the horizon, and I could tell the weather was going to be phenomenal.

My friend Becca agreed to run with me. Which was very gracious of her, considering that She tends to totally crush the NY Marathon. She PR-ed in it a few years ago with a faster time than I have had at any marathon, which is super impressive for such a difficult course. Anyway, it was so great to have her there, to chat with her in the staging area, because it gets so boring waiting and waiting for gun time.

It is always so exciting when you finally get up onto the bridge and can see the start line. Bloomberg gives his little good luck speech, and the cannon goes off. There is suddenly a sea of bouncing heads that begins pouring onto the bridge toward Brooklyn. It is the most amazing sight, ever. On my way across the Verazzano, there was a Coast Guard Black Hawk on my left side, along with a TV news helicopter. On my right hand side was an NYPD helicopter. They would fly right up next to the bridge. Coast Guard was waving through the open side door. I waved back, of course. Hehe.

Becca and I kept a nice comfortable pace just under 8 minute miles through all of Brooklyn and Queens. We even tackled the Queensboro Bridge with a pretty good pace (mostly thanks to Becca). Once we made it into Manhattan and started to charge up 1st Avenue, I began to struggle. Thankfully, Becca was really good about not letting me slow down much (even though I really wanted to). By mile 17, I was really wishing that I had brought some energy gels with me. Thankfully at mile 18 they were handing them out. But, by the 20k mark, I was really losing steam and thankfully Becca didn’t let me slow her down anymore. I watch her fade into the crowd of runners in front of me. Around mile 20 the energy gel started to kick in, and I was feeling a little bit spry again.

As I was coming off of the bridge into the Bronx, without warning, my left hamstring cramped up really hard. Like, so hard, I was worried that my race might be over. I hobbled over to the sidewalk (without tripping anyone, thk gdnss), and stretched it out for a few minutes. It ended up costing me. That mile was a 12 minute mile, hahaha. From then on, I knew that I wasn’t going to get any sort of amazing time, so I just settled in at a 10 minute mile and enjoyed the home stretch. It was almost existential. I stopped looking at the pace clocks, and my watch, and just enjoyed the crowd. I crossed the finish line at the same time as Jack Waitz, husband of the late Grete Waitz.

Thank you so much to everyone who provided encouragement to me about this race. Also thanks to everyone who tracked me, and came out to cheer.  It was pretty awesome. Can’t wait to do it again next year. Here is a link to my Garmin stats.

Chicago Marathon

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chiresults

I had a fantastic time in Chicago hanging out with my friends Carl and Becca, as well as reconnecting with my friends Mike and Jeni. The weather was fantastic. Ok, actually it was a bit on the warm side, in the context of distance running. Anyway, I scored a 3:32. Not my best time, but certainly not my worst. I paced with the 3:20 group until around 18 or so, when it really started to get warm. At the time I was was also starting to have a lot of knee pain. So I decided not to kill myself, and that I would settle for a time under 3:30, which didn’t happen. Hahahaha. I guess it has just been a mediocre year generally for me, when it comes to running. At least now the pressure is off for the New York Marathon.

Running Monks

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Apologies in advance if I get a little bit heavy on the running posts for the next several weeks. Both of my fall marathons are on my mind pretty much all of the time, right now. Anyway, I came across this video today. Although it is a promo for the 2011 Fall/Winter collection of UNDERCOVER’s collaboration with Nike and the GYAKUSOU range, I love the idea. I love the cinematography, and it really does make me feel happy to be a runner. Plus, monks and Japan are awesome. Check the vid, below.

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weekly running evaluation– week 17

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Well, next Sunday is the big race in Chi-town. I’m not sure how I will do. I wanted to score a 3:10 or better. But I can already tell you that isn’t going to happen. As usual, I totally crapped out on my training, right when I was starting to really speed up. I ran a half marathon yesterday in Central Park. I was hoping for a 1:30 or better. I ended up with a 1:35. So, I would have to double those efforts to get my time in Chicago. Seems like a pretty long shot. Part of me is excited to get Chicago out of the way. I have put a lot of pressure on myself to get a good time. Once it is over, I can just kind of coast and relax until the New York Marathon, which I am running purely for the fun factor. Here are some of the stats from yesterday’s half-mara.

Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers
Date/Time: October 1, 2011, 9:00 AM
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 60 degrees, 93% humidity, wind 3 mph, overcast.

Total Finishers: Men – 2551 Women – 2406 Total – 4957

Last Name First Name Sex/
Age		 Bib Team City State Country Overall
Place		 Gender
Place		 Age
Place		 Net
Time		 Pace/
Mile
Breinholt Jacob M34 140 NYRC NEW YORK NY USA 496 426 93 1:35:03 07:16

 

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weekly running evaluation– week 16

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running

Training has been going not so great. I did a single 10 mile jaunt last weekend, then an 18 miler today. The 18 miler was actually an NYRR sponsored event called “marathon tune-up.” Since I am still getting over a cold, I took it pretty easy. Ideally, I would have liked to have gone race pace today, but I’ll save it for Grete’s half marathon next weekend. Here are some stats from the run today:

Distance: 18.0 Miles, 29.0 Kilometers
Date/Time: September 25, 2011, 7:00 AM
Location: Central Park, NYC

Total Finishers: Men – 2009 Women – 1819 Total – 3828

Last Name First Name Sex/
Age		 Bib Team City State Country Overall
Place		 Gender
Place		 Age
Place		 Net
Time		 Pace/
Mile
Breinholt Jacob M34 176 NYRC NEW YORK NY USA 350 313 65 2:24:41 08:03

Since I’m now officially tapering (unofficially, I have been for like 2 weeks already, hehehe), I’m going to keep the mileage relatively low this week, and try to do better than a 1:30 on Saturday. Fingers crossed, I’ll bee feeling 100% and get a huge confidence boost from it, going into the Chicago Marathon, the following weekend.

The photo at the top is from last week. Thanks, Brightroom.