Steve and I have been hard at work trying to deliver a synopsis of the Sub-15 experience thus far before our next major attempt at breaking fifteen on Sunday. Having edited old footage for many, many hours at this point, it seems that the best way to go about this is to post the video in two parts. Check back in about ten minutes, and you'll be able to view Part 1. Part 2 will hopefully be done tomorrow, so we can all have a day to reflect on how horrible this experience has been before we put our pride on the line at Icahn. And how!
[Editor's note: Being that it's after midnight on the night before the night before, and based on the fact that YouTube is predicting another 30 minutes for uploading, I'll post Part 1 in the morning. Sorry y'all!]
Friday, June 8, 2012
Charlie McMullen Mile
The video (courtesy of Team Boyce) pretty much says it all. My legs felt very heavy, and I therefore wasn't hell-bent on pushing the pace. It would have been nice to have an extra step at the end, but it just didn't happen. Tim ran a great race and had a seven second PR to boot.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Episode 51: The Quiet Storm
Editor's Note: The title "Quiet Storm" refers to Jeff's own running blog. Check it out at: p3rr3lla.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Paige's Butterfly Run
This weekend I ran the Paige's Butterfly Run in downtown Syracuse. This event is now in its 15th year and the proceeds benefit the children's cancer center at the hospital where I will be starting residency this month. I managed to win the race in 16:00. The time, although not that impressive, was a good effort given the two difficult workouts I ran this week. Blog follower Mike Melfi finished 2nd in 16:21. Here's some footage from the event that my wife Christine managed to catch:
Monday, June 4, 2012
Episode 50: Trailer
Interviews and a longer recap of the journey thus far is on its way. Attempt #3 coming this weekend.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Ithaca Festival Mile
Last night, Natalie and I went to our favorite large town/small city in the world to run the Ithaca Festival Mile. The event has been going on for about five years, and I think I've only missed one race ever. In years past, I've run somewhere between 4:22 and 4:26 usually, which has either won the event or put me in the mix. Last year, though, disaster struck, and I dropped a shame-ridden 4:41 to finish something like fifth, and a good 20 seconds behind the Cornell kids, one of whom ran 4:21 for the course record. I credit the Pittsburgh Marathon, which I had run two weeks before the mile, for the result.
This year, I was hoping for a time similar to--if not a bit faster than--Wilber-Duck's 4:26 from last week. I tried to do my homework on the competition end, too. Earlier in the day, I told Rojo, Cornell's distance coach, not to tell anyone about the race, so I would have a chance in hell of winning. To my dismay, I quickly found out that there was plenty of competition from a bunch of 23-year-olds in the area and a few kids still in college looking to break 4:20. Oy vay.
The men's and women's races went off at the same time. My race was pretty quick from the start, with a group of about six guys running together for the first quarter. That thinned out a bit as we moved onto the half, which felt like it was three-quarters, but wasn't. The organizers had marked the course with cones at every 400 meters, but for whatever reason, that second cone seemed so far away from the first. Not a good sign.
I was on a few guys' shoulders, sort of in a second-third position for most of the first half. By the time we approached the quarter, I was somehow in the lead. I hadn't felt the pace slacken that much, but I could see based on the shadows behind me that I had a few steps on second place at that point.
My lead was short-lived, however. With about 300 meters to go, Quinn Thomas, who graduated from Dartmouth the same year I graduated from Cornell and has very similar PR's to me, passed me and put a few strides between us. I hit that inevitable crossroads at that point, where I had to decide if I was going to pack it in for a comfortable second (second place gets a bag of Gimme Coffee beans; not bad!) or try to muster some sort of second effort, even if it meant driving home nauseous. You know what I'm talking about.
With 150 to go, I pulled even with Quinn, then, very slowly, went by. Like that second cone, the finish line seemed so far away, and I was about 50% sure that I would be re-passed before the line. With 20 meters to go, my legs started to wobble, which as many of you know is the most horrifying, terrible feeling in the world, taking step by step in a world of pain. The best way I can describe it is that it's like trying to sprint after taking over someone else's body and being underwater for four and a half minutes.
Thankfully, for the sake of blog glory, I did manage to win in the end. After I came to my senses, I could hear the announcer announcing the first female finisher, though I couldn't see who it was. Someone told me that I had run 4:19, which is the fastest I've run in a long time (four or five years?), also setting a new course record for Ithaca Festival Mile in the process. Natalie had won as well, with a time that was a full ten seconds faster than her Wilber-Duck race (5:29 down to 5:19). She is invariably awesome at these sorts of things.
I credit the deep competition with the faster time. There was no opportunity for a sluggish pace in the middle, as much as I do love me some sluggish pace now and then.
As Natalie and I picked up our first-place coffee mugs (the promise that there would be pottery for the winners somehow didn't sway Steve to join us for this one), I thought about how validating this race was. It's a small-time community race without prize money, but it's in Ithaca, and there's a parade after it for goodness sakes. On a personal level, I've run the event every year but one, and to register this level of improvement is really, really nice--regardless of what happens with the 5k.
The rest of the night involved watching the Section IV State Qualifier Meet at IHS, dinner at Viva Tac, dessert at Purity, and catching up with about fifteen people along the way. As for the sub-15, 5k? We're working on it.
This year, I was hoping for a time similar to--if not a bit faster than--Wilber-Duck's 4:26 from last week. I tried to do my homework on the competition end, too. Earlier in the day, I told Rojo, Cornell's distance coach, not to tell anyone about the race, so I would have a chance in hell of winning. To my dismay, I quickly found out that there was plenty of competition from a bunch of 23-year-olds in the area and a few kids still in college looking to break 4:20. Oy vay.
The men's and women's races went off at the same time. My race was pretty quick from the start, with a group of about six guys running together for the first quarter. That thinned out a bit as we moved onto the half, which felt like it was three-quarters, but wasn't. The organizers had marked the course with cones at every 400 meters, but for whatever reason, that second cone seemed so far away from the first. Not a good sign.
I was on a few guys' shoulders, sort of in a second-third position for most of the first half. By the time we approached the quarter, I was somehow in the lead. I hadn't felt the pace slacken that much, but I could see based on the shadows behind me that I had a few steps on second place at that point.
My lead was short-lived, however. With about 300 meters to go, Quinn Thomas, who graduated from Dartmouth the same year I graduated from Cornell and has very similar PR's to me, passed me and put a few strides between us. I hit that inevitable crossroads at that point, where I had to decide if I was going to pack it in for a comfortable second (second place gets a bag of Gimme Coffee beans; not bad!) or try to muster some sort of second effort, even if it meant driving home nauseous. You know what I'm talking about.
With 150 to go, I pulled even with Quinn, then, very slowly, went by. Like that second cone, the finish line seemed so far away, and I was about 50% sure that I would be re-passed before the line. With 20 meters to go, my legs started to wobble, which as many of you know is the most horrifying, terrible feeling in the world, taking step by step in a world of pain. The best way I can describe it is that it's like trying to sprint after taking over someone else's body and being underwater for four and a half minutes.
Thankfully, for the sake of blog glory, I did manage to win in the end. After I came to my senses, I could hear the announcer announcing the first female finisher, though I couldn't see who it was. Someone told me that I had run 4:19, which is the fastest I've run in a long time (four or five years?), also setting a new course record for Ithaca Festival Mile in the process. Natalie had won as well, with a time that was a full ten seconds faster than her Wilber-Duck race (5:29 down to 5:19). She is invariably awesome at these sorts of things.
I credit the deep competition with the faster time. There was no opportunity for a sluggish pace in the middle, as much as I do love me some sluggish pace now and then.
As Natalie and I picked up our first-place coffee mugs (the promise that there would be pottery for the winners somehow didn't sway Steve to join us for this one), I thought about how validating this race was. It's a small-time community race without prize money, but it's in Ithaca, and there's a parade after it for goodness sakes. On a personal level, I've run the event every year but one, and to register this level of improvement is really, really nice--regardless of what happens with the 5k.
The rest of the night involved watching the Section IV State Qualifier Meet at IHS, dinner at Viva Tac, dessert at Purity, and catching up with about fifteen people along the way. As for the sub-15, 5k? We're working on it.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday's Workout...
...will be up soon. I'm waiting for Carl's video intro before I post it.
CARL, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! SO MUCH IS AT STAKE!!!
Steve and I are doing hills tomorrow. We've made a few tweaks to our racing schedule, and now it looks like we'll be running USATF East Regionals instead of the NBB meet. A week after the East meet is the New England meet, so there are at least two solid shots left before Steve starts residency.
CARL, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! SO MUCH IS AT STAKE!!!
Steve and I are doing hills tomorrow. We've made a few tweaks to our racing schedule, and now it looks like we'll be running USATF East Regionals instead of the NBB meet. A week after the East meet is the New England meet, so there are at least two solid shots left before Steve starts residency.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Episode 46: Wilber-Duck Mile
Here's the official Sub-15 version of the Wilber-Duck mile from last Friday. We posted previously on the race here and here.
Today (Sunday), Steve graduated med school, earning his Ph.D. in the process. He'll be at Upstate next year for his residency in pediatrics, so there's at least a 2% chance that the blog will still be going next year at this time.
Also, Sam gave the Lilac 10k a whirl despite racing Friday, 90 degree temperatures, and the fact that the race was 10k. It predictably did not go that well (34-something), but it's OK because the STC won some cold cash and Sam got some much needed aerobic work in the process.
Today (Sunday), Steve graduated med school, earning his Ph.D. in the process. He'll be at Upstate next year for his residency in pediatrics, so there's at least a 2% chance that the blog will still be going next year at this time.
Also, Sam gave the Lilac 10k a whirl despite racing Friday, 90 degree temperatures, and the fact that the race was 10k. It predictably did not go that well (34-something), but it's OK because the STC won some cold cash and Sam got some much needed aerobic work in the process.
Cherishing the journey
Sam and I usually stick to a common theme with our blog posts: the quest for a sub-15:00 5k. But today, as I graduate from medical school, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on a different sort of quest: the quest for an MD/PhD.
Like the journey toward the sub-15:00 barrier, the journey through medical school has been filled with trials and tribulations. Luckily most of them have not been chronicled on video (thanks HIPAA).
Attaining an MD/PhD has been a quest of incremental gains. It has been a path traveled page-by-page through an endless volume of knowledge. Similarly, the path towards the elusive 15:00 barrier is traveled lap by lap through 400 meter repeats. Both goals require tremendous time and effort as collateral for dreams deferred. It would not be a stretch to say that training for one dream has prepared Sam and I for the other.
Today as I stood in the Crouse Hinds Theater preparing for commencement a classmate asked me whether I was more proud of my forthcoming MD, or PhD. It was a difficult question. Both degrees are a humbling mark of accomplishment and expertise, but ultimately what makes me proud about them is the enormous amount of sacrifice and hard work that they required. And because the path to attaining them has not been separate, but rather an intertwined saga of study-eat-sleep-repeat, I cannot choose which I am most proud of. Instead I will simply say that I value them both because I have cherished the journey.
Goals are a funny thing. They can often consume our time, energy, and attention. In return they reward us with a fleeting moment of satisfaction and accomplishment. But I believe we can reap just as much as we sow from life's great endeavors. The secret is to cherish the journey.
Like the journey toward the sub-15:00 barrier, the journey through medical school has been filled with trials and tribulations. Luckily most of them have not been chronicled on video (thanks HIPAA).
Attaining an MD/PhD has been a quest of incremental gains. It has been a path traveled page-by-page through an endless volume of knowledge. Similarly, the path towards the elusive 15:00 barrier is traveled lap by lap through 400 meter repeats. Both goals require tremendous time and effort as collateral for dreams deferred. It would not be a stretch to say that training for one dream has prepared Sam and I for the other.
Today as I stood in the Crouse Hinds Theater preparing for commencement a classmate asked me whether I was more proud of my forthcoming MD, or PhD. It was a difficult question. Both degrees are a humbling mark of accomplishment and expertise, but ultimately what makes me proud about them is the enormous amount of sacrifice and hard work that they required. And because the path to attaining them has not been separate, but rather an intertwined saga of study-eat-sleep-repeat, I cannot choose which I am most proud of. Instead I will simply say that I value them both because I have cherished the journey.
Goals are a funny thing. They can often consume our time, energy, and attention. In return they reward us with a fleeting moment of satisfaction and accomplishment. But I believe we can reap just as much as we sow from life's great endeavors. The secret is to cherish the journey.
My family, without whom no journey would be possible.
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