Bronx Half-Marathon 2009

So I got pretty sick after the Manhattan Half due to the cold plus other factors, but I got even sicker after an evening running on the West Side Highway four days before the Bronx Half on Feb 8th. I had to stop training because of my lingering cough, and my running nose was very much out of control.

I forced myself to run a mile the night before the race, and realized that my lungs couldn't take it and had to stop after 0.8 miles. Though, I couldn’t bear not being able to complete a mile as I sucked it up and finished off it, before I headed to Whole Foods for "Mom's Chicken Soup."

It was a terrible night and I couldn't sleep at all. Moreover, I had to leave home early to get to Grand Central first to meet up with SC before we headed north to the Bronx. The shuttle was terrible and I wasn't a happy camper. To add insult to injuries, a drunk guy was laughing the whole time on the train and we were very annoyed. If I couldn't handle Beavis or Butthead on TV back in the days, I couldn’t handle this bozo.

We got to the Bronx early and had plenty of time to get ready. The weather was pretty good -- at least it wasn't 14 degrees like I had in the Manhattan Half two week ago. Knowing that I was sick, I didn't know if I should start from the first corral or not, but I convinced myself to give it a try.

I felt fine at the start but immediately knew that I wasn't 100%. Though, I was able to run at a 6:45 pace the first 3 miles before I hit Mosholu Parkway. By Mile 5 I was out of it and I felt like I missed a gear, and couldn't pick up and maintain my speed. Other runners started to pass me left and right and it was a terrible feeling. My lungs were suffering and I had to slow down a bit in order to maintain my form. With 8 miles to go, including the unforgiving miles on the Grand Concourse, I had to fight on.

By the time I hit the Grand Concourse, the only objective was to carry myself home in one piece. I also wanted to look for SC on the other side of the road and see how she was doing. As I headed back to Mosholu Parkway, my pace shot up to 8:10. It was very bad but I kept on pressing in order to stay away from the 8:00 threshold (overall pace.)

I crossed the finish line in 1:41:11 (7:43 pace), some 10 minutes slower than my PR last October in the Grete's Great Gallop. It was an eye opener because I had to prep for the SunTrust National Marathon, and a slow time like this was really not ideal with only a month to go.

Despite my sickness, it was still a good day for us to run up in the hood. I took it as a training run for D.C., and hopefully I could turn things around fast because there’s not much time to get ready for the March 21st marathon.

NYRR Thursday Night at the Races - Men's 1-Mile 1/8/2009

So I did it. I bought my new Asics spikes and took them to Washington Heights for my first NYRR race of the year - an indoor track event at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory. It was the first time in 18 years I ran in an indoor track event and I was really nervous before the race.

To be honest, I knew the field was really competitive as more than half of the field would run sub-5 minutes in an one-mile race, add to the fact that I hadn't ran a miler since the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile in 2006 (5:41), I decided to keep my real expectation relatively low... although I wanted to run a 5:30 in the race.


The Armory was really a first class facility and I was really impressed. I arrived early and ran 2 laps on the open track to warm up. My spikes were new and I pretty much had to adapt on the fly, like I said I hadn't ran with those in 18 years!

The atmosphere was pretty tense before the race, and this guy came to me and asked me about the race format since it was his first time to run in this venue. When I asked him what his Fifth Avenue time was, he said 4:52... I was like okay brother you'll be fine. Anyhow, it was a long wait before I got to do the draw because there were so many dudes racing in the miler, and I think I took the track in the seventh heat out of nine tonight.

I drew 11th before the race, that means I had to start on the outside lane and had to cut in before the first turn. The start was really smooth I didn't really push it and I was able to cut in second after the cone. I tucked in before the leader and ran closely behind him for the draft. In the first half of the race I had this determination like I had in the marathons, it was a great feeling and it brought back a lot of childhood memories especially when we made the turns.

Though, my lungs started to struggle after lap 4 and I began to fade slightly. It turned out the leader wasn't a rabbit as he started to increase his lead and my form started to collapse. After all, it was the first time in 2 years I ran like this so it wasn't a surprise to me. By lap 6, three more guys passed me and two more passed me on the final lap, so I finished 7th out of 14 in the race and my finish time was 5:32.8 -- a 9-second PR in a miler.

It was rough in the last 200 meters because I didn't have the kick I normally had in road races, and I couldn't stop coughing after the race. Originally I signed up the 800m as well but since my cough didn't subside, I didn't want to push it and withdrew from the race. After all, my priority is road racing, although it was a great experience back on the track.

Now I want more. For sure I'm not going to kill myself doing this but this is something I miss dearly. I'm going to do it again on Feb. 26th and hopefully I could do both 1500m and 800m next time.