Tag: running

Time Once Again to Fight Cancer!

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized
Epitome of style and grace
Epitome of style and grace

I’m doing the Team in Training thing again, raising money to kill cancer dead.

In fact, I’m sweating from a run as I type this message. But it was a good day for a run. In the 70s and little humidity — unlike Sunday when I ran in Louisiana and it almost killed me. I don’t know how people train in Louisiana.

This year the team and I are running the Brooklyn Rock n Roll Half. I’m hoping to PR (at the age of 40-something) and I’m also hoping to bust some fundraising records, too.

So I’ll need your help. Whether it’s five bucks or a hundred, every little bit helps.

It takes more than one person to make up a team and that’s why I’m asking you to donate to my TNT fundraising page for TNT!

In the six years that Ad Age and Crain Communications employees have been fielding a Team in Training team, we’ve raised over $135,000 to help The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society find cures and more effective treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s and myeloma.

Since it’s beginning in 1988, more than 600,000 participants have helped TNT and LLS raise more than $1.4 billion.

Your donation will help fund treatments that save lives every day; like immunotherapies that use a person’s own immune system to kill cancer.

Patients need these cures and they need your support.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help get us all closer to a world without blood cancers.

Did I Mention That I Ran the NYC Marathon?

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

At around Mile 7. Was not feeling like this at around mile 18.
At around Mile 7. Was not feeling like this at around mile 18.

Sunday was my third NYC Marathon. Did you know this? I don’t know if I told you guys.

My favorite tweet of the day (directed at me): “A guy already finished and Snaps is still taking selfies.” (I’m Snaps.)

Long story short, I wanted to beat my Philly Marathon PR of 3:59. That didn’t happen. Not even close. Especially in the last 10 miles.

But 4:21 was good enough for 22,588th place. So there!
Continue reading “Did I Mention That I Ran the NYC Marathon?” →

The #RNRPHILLY Half Marathon

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

Gonna have to burn them shoes.

Race: Philly Rock n Roll Half
Official Time: 1:55:23
Course: Flat and pretty.
Weather: A little known weather system called a Humidity Vortex moved in STRAIGHT FROM HELL.

Top line: I thought I was going to PR in this one. I did not. Not even close. 10 minutes slower than that. It wasn’t my worst, either, so there is that. We also raised a good bit of money for charity.

Excuses: Going into weekend, I’d been showing signs of a slight cold, scratchy throat, tired, achy. I think it was going away by Saturday night, Sunday morning. But one of the pleasures of being me is that race nerves don’t just make me go to the toilet like crazy — my apologies to the maid at the Hilton Garden Inn — they also make me snotty. So did I still have a cold, or was the steady stream of snot threatening to drip onto my pre-run banana just nerves? The world may never know.

The race: Started out just over the pace I needed, figuring I could pick it up once I figured out how I was feeling. You’ll see below how well that didn’t go. By mile five, I was fairly certain I wouldn’t be able to keep it up. And I was sweating. Sweating like crazy.

Continue reading “The #RNRPHILLY Half Marathon” →

I Saw Something but Didn’t Say Something at the Brooklyn Half

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

 

20140518-105738.jpg

Yesterday, while walking by the vast cattle pens that serve as security at New York Road Runners’ major races these days, I watched a guy simply hop through where two of the fences met. Anyone who knows me knows how I like to tweet and Facebook everything, especially if it involves an entitled, self-important twat — likely a cyclist from Manhattan, he just had the look — breaking the rules.

I didn’t. Because he wasn’t carrying anything other than his bad attitude. Also, I figured if I did, and someone at NYPD or NYRR saw the tweet, they’d shut the whole thing down — 25,000 people out of a race due to one douche.

But Runner McDouche hopping through the fence just goes to show how ludicrous these security measures are. It’s security theater — a lot of money and effort spent to make it appear people are safe, when in fact they’re no safer than before and in fact may be in more danger.

Continue reading “I Saw Something but Didn’t Say Something at the Brooklyn Half” →

Sleepy Hollow Half 2014

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

I apologize if  you’ve seen this on Daily Mile or Facebook already. Just spreading the love.

SleepyHollowHalfMedal

Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon. Official time 1:58:52.

No heads were lost during the running of this race. Though I did wish at times for a man on a black horse to come back and end the misery.

I’ll be honest. Was a little disappointed with this time. It’s over a minute slower than last year’s (1:57:07) and I figure I’m in much better shape this year. Definitely weigh less.

But I did stop to take a picture. And to use the bathroom in the first mile. And I ran a half marathon last weekend. And did a couple of decent workouts this week. And it was supposed to be a training run. So it’s all good.

And, hey, another 13 miles in the books.

It was a beautiful day for a run. Warm enough for shorts. And by warm enough I mean upper 30s, lower 40s. I did have gloves and hat. At those times, they felt like a little much, but never enough that I had to take them off.

Wish I would have had my heart-rate monitor on this one to see what the hills did to me.  And even though the course was changed, the hills were just as bad. There was a good 350 feet of elevation gain between start and mile 5. And that little bastard of a trail hill — which I thought wasn’t on the course — they sneaked in there. Brooklyn Half will be easy compared to this.

This is NOT the hill at the last mile. But this is what it felt like.
This is NOT the hill at the last mile. But this is what it felt like.

1    9:52.9     <–Hills + lolly-gagging at the toilet and taking a picture.
2    8:36.6     <– Hills
3    9:12.0     <–Hills
4    9:11.2     <–Hills
5    8:57.0     <–Downhill stretch starts here
6    8:26.4
7    8:33.2
8    8:44.8
9    9:06.3     <–70 feet of elevation gain in less than a quarter mile.
10    9:21.9
11    9:09.3
12    9:17.6     <—There is a giant fucking hill right before mile 13. 65 feet or so in a quarter mile. Fuck you, end-of-race hill.
13    9:08.1

Not Half Bad: New York City Half Marathon

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

NYCHalf1

Tomorrow I’m running the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon, but I figured I’d slap up some deets (I’m modeling my speech off of Geico’s spokespig, Maxwell) about the New York City Half that I ran last Sunday.

This was my first time doing this race. And it’s almost a pity I ran it as a training run instead of hauling ass. Felt really good for this one–certainly better than the Manhattan Half earlier in the year. It helped that it wasn’t 19 degrees. Amazing what rested legs and a stomach full of carbs will do. (Oh, and some training.) I was tempted to start speeding right out of Central Park, and likely would have if I didn’t have the Sleepy Hollow tomorrow. (The end goal in all of this is to PR at Brooklyn Half in May.)

I was scheduled to do a long-distance progression run. So I tried to do that. The course lends itself to that, what with the Central Park hills giving way to downhill and flats for the entire second half of the race. I stopped in Times Square to take a few pics. And the Garmin acted up in a few places — and obviously didn’t work in the underground portion toward the end. Pretty sure the last two miles were both under 8. (But that 8th mile was slower than Garmin showed).

Anyway, negative split and it felt pretty damn easy. Probably could have pushed harder, but like I said, scared of Sleepy Hollow.

Was also my first time wearing the South Central Brooklyn Runners shirt. Heard a couple of smart-ass remarks from other runner’s clubs cheering sections, to the effect of “Whatever that is.” It’s a group with me in it, so it’s automatically better than yours, you little turds.

My perts…

1 9:02.4
2 8:50.6
3 9:03.6
4 8:54.9
5 8:48.8
6 8:48.7
7 9:33.2 <—Stopped to take pictures
8 8:13.8 <—Likely not that fast
9 8:26.8
10 8:32.1
11 8:13.8
12 7:56.0
13 9:26.5 <—WRONG

Brooklyn Half Marathon 2013: How It Went

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized
Where's Ken? Do you see him yet?
Where’s Ken? Do you see him yet?

Brooklyn Half Marathon. Official Time: 1:49:43

After the race yesterday, a friend suggested a conspiracy theory that I’m inclined to believe: New York Road Runners subcontracted the Brooklyn Half to someone else.

Because just about everything about it was run smoothly. Huge expo/pre-party (with volunteers instructing Manhattanites how to get from the subway to the venue). Incredibly organized corrals (with port-a-johns inside the corral so no massive lines). Hell, I’d asked a question on the Facebook page and got a response within the hour. (Interestingly, Brooklyn Half had its own Facebook page.) Of course, some people will still complain. Hear a lot of people whining that there were not enough mylar blankets. I was also disappointed to see Red Delicious as the apple being handed out after the race. Red Delicious? Really?! (I’m kidding.) Oh, and there weren’t as many people cheering this year. Probably because everyone was IN the damn race.

The most striking difference between this year and last year was the wave start. I wasn’t convinced it was going to help things–especially after registration was reopened and I’d hear numbers as high as 30,000. But night and day compared to last year. I never felt crowded, not even at that miserable cattle chute at Grand Army Plaza. The Scotland 10K a few weekends ago was much harder to negotiate.

The run itself? No complaints. I would have liked to PR for this one, but didn’t. I didn’t train quite as hard as I did last year. I’m also carrying about 10 pounds more than I did last year, which makes a pretty big difference. I probably could have toughed it out — weather was cool, no sun beating down — but I couldn’t get out of my own head. Or, more accurately, I couldn’t be bothered to find the extra gear. I haven’t run with music in over a year and yesterday was the first time where I actually missed it. (And, no, nice hippie chicks playing an acoustic set outside the park, Hotel California is not suitable music to get runners amped up!)

At any rate, it was a good race. First mile was slowest, last mile was fastest and I always like that. (But it was far from a negative split.)

I’ll set my sights on getting a PR at Hamptons this year.

Philadelphia 2012: If Marathon’s Were Easy

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

Gonna make a fine belt buckle one day

“If marathon’s were easy, they’d be called ‘Your Mom.'”

So read my favorite fan sign of the day as I ran 26 miles and change through Philadelphia on Nov. 18. I was half tempted to stop and take pictures of some of the funnier signs: “Smile if you’ve pooped your pants already”; “Run like you stole something”; “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon”; “There IS a finish line. I checked”; “Hurry up, we’re getting cold.” And others I can’t now remember.

But I did not stop for pictures. Or even the bathroom. And that’s a good thing. This was my third marathon. Or, as I like to say just to annoy people who really don’t care about the marathon details of yet another marathoner they’ve had the misfortune of starting up on the subject, this was my second and a half.

Continue reading “Philadelphia 2012: If Marathon’s Were Easy” →

Post-Sandy Commuting: I Ran to Work This Morning

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

This morning’s commute? A 6.25 mile run from Park Slope to our office on Third Ave. between 44th and 45th. Took me exactly one hour. (Tips for runners below.)

Subway wasn’t an option unless I wanted to just ride back and forth within Brooklyn. Or I could have caught a ride in one of those car things. Judging from what I could see — and what I’ve found out from coworkers since arriving in the office — traffic this morning wasn’t quite as bad as yesterday. Apparently the city is being really serious about the three-person to a car rule. Don’t have at least three people in your car? You’re not getting anywhere near a bridge.

But why sit in a car when I have a pair of working legs AND the Vanderbilt YMCA was open so I had a place to shower? So I ran. The only drawback was that my little backpack wasn’t waterproof so my dry clothes got a little sweat on them — the clean underwear took the biggest hit, so yeah, totally going commando at the moment.

One of the coolest things was, after getting off the Brooklyn Bridge, having Lafayette Avenue all to myself. This is what it looked like.

Lafayette Ave. Manhattan. 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012

There were shuttle buses from Brooklyn to Manhattan. But you tell me which looks better, that wide open expanse of Lafayette or this.

If anyone does want to run, note that I have a pretty easy route: Bergen to Boerum, over the Bridge, up Lafayette to Astor, over to Third and up to 44th. I didn’t have to cross any Avenues downtown. There are more police down there than there were yesterday, but probably is still dicey trying to Frogger your way across Avenues with no working lights. If you’re heading to a west side location in Midtown or aboe, best bet would be to follow my route until you get above 40th street and into the land of working traffic lights before heading west. If a lower Manhattan location, might be best to get as far west as possible before getting to Canal street.

Also, do NOT wear headphones. What are you, stoopid or something? With not traffic lights, you need all your senses. Pay attention. Be patient. It’s not a race, just a cool way to get to work.

Hamptons Half 2012: Thanks Everyone

Posted on by kenwheaton in Uncategorized

Run, Kenny. Run
This past Saturday was the Hamptons Half Marathon that I’d been bugging yall about all summer. For the third year in a row, I ran this race with and for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. The first thing I want to do is thank all of those who donated to the cause. Thanks to you, my page alone contributed over $2,500 to Team in Training. Woohoo! The second thing I want to do is thank Team in Training coaches, mentors and cheering squads. (And Ross and Scott and Nick as well).
Continue reading “Hamptons Half 2012: Thanks Everyone” →