August 31, 2006 Park Slope Brooklyn

A morning run through Prospect Park - 4 miles

Long run coming up on Saturday and it's supposed to rain.

-JP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM THE ESPN SPORTSZONE:

Purvis Achieves Personal Best for Timed Mile

New York City, Central Park August 29, 2006

7:32 Mile

Coming off Nike’s New York Half Marathon, Jim Purvis (pictured below) of Team in Training put in his personal best for a timed mile at 7:32, Tuesday evening in Central Park. When reached for comment, Purvis had this to say:

“Wow! I wasn’t even going to show up to practice. It was raining, work was a bear, I missed two subways, showed up late. Once I’m out there, everything else just goes away. Me and the road.”

Purvis put in two other timed mile repeats, with times of 8:30 and 8:50. The latter time was a leg of Central Park that included Cat Hill.

Ramon Bermo, Purvis’ coach, had this to say, “Jim ran the first mile a little too quickly; I think he should be aiming for a 8:00 or an 8:05 mile pace. But a job well done”

In a related story, Belt Hole Number Two on Purvis’ black leather belt has walked off the job.

There are rumors, that Khaki Pants Local 38 is considering going on strike in a show of solidarity. We'll keep you updated.

On November 5, 2006, Jim Purvis will run in the ING New York City Marathon, his first ever. Jim Purvis is running for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training. As a member of Team In Training, Purvis has agreed to raise $1,800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. To date Purvis has raised over $1000, but still needs your support. If you would like to donate, you can visit his web site: www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/runjimmyrun.

August 27th, 2006 The New York City Half Marathon presented by NIKE

Jim Finishes Strong!
2 hours, 28 minutes*
(ok I wasn't burning up the pavement, but I had the courage to start and the stamina to finish)

Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers
Date/Time: August 27, 2006, 7:00 am
Location: Central Park to Battery Park, NYC
Weather: 67 deg., 76% hum., wind E 8 mph.

*8/28/05 - I got an e-mail from race organizers saying my 'official time' was 2:35. Obviously one of is off, and I'm sure it's not me. ;^P

Yes, my arms are two different colors. I have to rember to wear this singlet on a sunny day and even out my tan.

The morning started at 3:45 am!!!! I was truly wondering if I had gone around the bend. What am I thinking, I know people who were still out partying at that time (and you know who you are)?

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and got on with getting ready. Coffee, a light bite and water. Lots of water. More than one trip to the rest room.

We made it to the Park at 6:00am and it was a mad house. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a runner. It was great! I was pumped and ready to go. Have you ever seen 10,000 people all in one place? I have. This morning when I lined up to run this Half marathon. That's a lot of feet.

Everyone was so excited it was electric. Just like this:
Ok, no one was busting any sweet dance moves like they did in Electric Boogaloo. Mostly, people were stretching and getting ready to run.

Team In Training received final instructions from our Coach, the one and only Ramon. The sum and total of his instructions:

1. Have fun!
2. Behave! (that means don't bolt out of the gate)
3. Now go line up!

I'M KING OF THE HILLS!

I've never run a complete loop of Central Park, but I've run every mile of the loop in part, so I knew what to expect and how to run. I knew the hills, up and down (remember I had whole series of hill trainings earlier) so they were no problem.


The course went down Seventh Avenue through Times Square then across 42nd Street. The streets belonged to the runners this morning. Tourists were agog at the mass of humanity jogging past. I'd wave and they'd wave back with a blank stare on their face.

You want to know the neat thing about these events? All the free stuff you get (it's not really all that free, there are entrance fees). But check out all this stuff I came home with:

Four towels

Towels? They handed these out at the end of the race. It did rain a little bit and I was just a little sweaty by the end. They were kind of scratchy and not very pleasant to put against your skin. But soaked with water they felt kind of good on the back of my neck.

Two Bottles of Poland Spring Water

There was enough bottled water to fill a Volkswagen. I drank a few of these and I ended up with these two extra bottles.
Mmm...Volkswagens.

Two bottles of Gatorade Extreme
Gatorade with extra salt....
Mmm ...SALT

Five Dark Chocolate Bars

This was random but there were a bunch of people handing out chocolate bars. I don't know if it's any good, but I'll let you know. (8/29/04 - The chocolate is not bad. It tastes kind of like Nestle Chocolate Chips)
Mmm....Chocolate.

BandAids and Surgi-lube!

BandAids and Surgi-lube for your blisters. I have a little on my little toe, so this came in handy.
Mmm....bandages & slicky-doo stuff.

Sunscreen
It came in a cute little bottle on a little carabiner clip. It was cloudy today, so I didn't need this stuff.

Mmm....Sunscreen on a Carabiner!

Balance Bar

Balance Bar with 100 Calories.
Mmm...Calories!

Newman's Own Microwave Popcorn
This was almost as random as the chocolate bars, but you know what, I ain't complaining. I love microwave popcorn. It's quick, easy and delicious.
Mmm...Corn kernels subjected to micro-waves until puffed.

The official clear plastic bag of the New York City Half Marathon presented by NIKE

I had to stuff all my semi-valuable stuff (cell phone, a few bucks, a metro card, a dry shirt, and safety pins) in this bag and hand it over to the volunteers who took good care of my stuff while I trotted around Manhattan.
Mmm.... Semi-Valuable Stuff.

An Official New York City Half Marathon shirt made of 100% polyester. It's baby blue with purple lettering, this picture is not so good.
Mmm....Soft Spun Polyester!

A Medal on a blue and yellow Ribbon

I wore this to lunch after the race. Mind you, I had come home and dropped off my gear and left the house, so I had plenty of opportunity to take this off. But I didn't cause I was pretty proud of myself and I wanted to let everyone know I ran 13.1 miles this morning. I got a lot of looks from the Hipsters of Park Slope and smiles from the Park Slope Young Parents' brigade.
Mmm...Ribbon with Medal

Tub full of Ice Water

What the heck? A tub of ice water? Ok, NIKE didn't give this to me, I had to furnish this on my own. And yes, I sat in this tub for a good 15 mins reading the New Yorker. Very refreshing. Brrr!

Hot rocking band at the end of the race

These folks were at the end of the race. The two women playing the drums were rocking out and knocking out some hot dance moves while banging the drums.

Interesting people

A pirate, a zaftig woman in a bathing suit holding a beach ball, a mermaid, a bug lady and a man wearing swim fins. These guys were just hanging out at the end of the race. You meet the nicest people while running. I don't think these folks ran in the race.

A last comment and a wish for you:

As I was heading towards the finish line there were at least 30 of my teammates and coaches yelling my name and cheering me on.

If I could wish everyone one of you reading this blog, one thing. I would wish that you would know what it is like to cross a finish line with dozens of people cheering you on. It's an amazing feeling.

JP

Saturday August 26, 2006

Day before the NYC 1/2 Marathon.

Easy 1 mile just to loosen up and then off to the YMCA to Stretch.

-JP

Thursday August 24th, 2006

Did I mention how hard the run on last Saturday was? Yes it was hard. So tonight I did a little different workout tonight.

I did a little workout on this machine. This thing isn't an elliptical machine, but it is a non-impact machine. So I did that for half an hour, then ran a quarter mile just to make sure the feet still work. No problems with the feet.

And then, I stretched.

-JP

Team Workout in Central Park

A run on the trails, but then some how I got separated from the group. Ended up doing around 4-5 miles when we should have done 3-4. I was talking to my teammate, Alexia and we just kept running till someone said it's time to go back.

Go figure.

-JP

August 20, 2006 - Apparently I lost a bet...

because what I thought was going to be a pleasant run over the George Washington Bridge turned in to one really hard run.

The morning started at 6:00 am, Aurora and I were meeting Pia (Pia if this is not how to spell your name I apologize) at 8:00 on the F-Train.

That gives us a good two hours to:
CAFFEINATE

Little did I know how much I'd need the caffeine for what I was about to undertake.

GET DRESSED

It never ceases to amaze how long it can take to get dressed. I mean really, all I have are maybe a half dozen articles of clothing to put on.


And naturally after drinking coffee and some water it's important to use the toilet. After all:









We meet Pia on the platform a little after 8:00 am. The subway ride turns out to be one hour exactly. We take the F-Train to the A Train all the way from Brooklyn to 178th Street in Manhattan. That's a long ride. I was worn out just from being on the train.

Our meeting spot is on the south side of the bridge, but lo and behold the south entrance is closed. Dodging traffic the team (that's about 100 people), make their way to the north entrance.

In order to get on the bridge we had to climb a series of stairs worthy of MC Escher. Once up on the bridge we run single file for a good fifty yards. We had to there was no other room.


As we run along I can see the tops of buildings and trees. I realize that my intense fear of open air heights has not eased as I've gotten older. In fact it's worse. I did manage to calm down a bit when I got to the center of the bridge, and just to my left I could lean over and smack a passing car.

On the other side of the bridge after navigating another labyrinth of steps , we were finally on terra firma. Terra firma being a narrow sidewalk along a busy street. A short jog along this busy street crossing once then crossing back over and we were in Palisades Interstate Park.

The park drive was asphalt under a beautiful canopy of trees. The little hills started to turn into great big monster hills with no end. At one point I had to absolutely to go. Ramon, our fearless leader, Iron Man extrodinaire was following us in his SUV. I asked him about the facilities and he pointed to a fork in the road, telling us to follow the trail along the water and we'll meet up with the team. I, along with Aurora and Susanna E. took the fork in the road down to a boat launch on the Hudson River.

Bladder relieved, we started our run along the water. The terrain was a little rocky, but it was flat. It was quite nice really, the wind blowing, the water lapping just a few feet from us, very enjoyable.

The trail ended at another boat launching area and sure enough it merged with the main drive of the park where our teammates were chugging away up a steep, steep hill.

We were met at the top of the hill by Ramon. His truck had the tail gate open with bottles of water and pretzels! I took a break with a few other people, had a bottle of water and a few pretzels.

From there we kept going, and going and going. We ran down a long slow hill. The kind of hill you don't think about till you're half way down and you realize, "Oh crap! I'm gonna have to run back up this sucker."

Today's run was more about running for time rather than distance. So I manage to remain up right and moving forward for about three hours straight. Like I said it was a hard run, and I'd say with stops for water and restroom usage, I managed 10-12 miles.

After the run, Aurora, Pia and I had brunch at Santa Fe in Park Slope. After these big long runs I really crave red meat, so to satisfy that craving, I had a mack daddy of a hamburger.
Ok, I didn't eat this one, but right after running I feel like I could.

Happy trails.

JP
NIKE NEW YORK HALF MARATHON NEXT SUNDAY!!!!

August 18, 2006 Jim hits the air waves!

This morning on the Brian Lehrer show, I called in on the Open Phones segment in response to the question: What are you doing this weekend?

So I told the host and NYC about Team in Training running across the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey.

If you follow this link:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2006/08/18

Scroll down to the segment titled: Open Phones

My call comes at about four minutes and fifty seconds into the segment.

-JP

August 15, 2005 - The History of the Hills in Central Park; a Tall Tale

What I'm about to tell you is 100% true, mostly.

If you ever run or walked through Central Park you know the place is filled with hills. Long slow hills, short steep ones, curved hills, you get the picture. Over the years they've accquired names, Heartbreak Hill, Navy Hill, Pilgrim Hill, Cat Hill, Great Hill and others. What you may not know is how the hills came to be.

I must start this with a disclaimer: I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fans, and my allegiance to any ball club now is limited to the home stadium I'm sitting in at any given time.

After hill training in the park this week, I was tired. Really tired. The practice finished at dusk and I spent most of my run back to the starting point (East 90th street) by myself. I actually had to take a few minutes to stop running and stretch my IT band (see the picture to the left for what an IT Band is) because the hills had done a number on them. So here I was doing this on the grass:





This older guy walked up to me. Remember now, it's getting dark in Central Park, I'm pretty much by myself off the main drive of the park. I was a little leery of the old dude, but something about him was familiar. I had seen him before. He looked an awful like, and I am not kidding you, Babe Ruth. But the Babe was wearing contemporary running clothes. This is what he told me:

Tough night on the hills, Jim? (he knew my name, so I figured he was part of Team in Training). Yeah, they can be a real tough son of gun. You know how they got that way? (of course I did not) A lot of people think it's because Olmstead and Vaux, the designers of the park had to incorporate the rolling landscape and swamp land. But that's not it. It's a problem of clams.(obviously he registered my disbelief) That's right. Clams. When the two were designing the

park, both of them were members of a club, similar to the Masons, made up of builders, landscapers who liked to play a new game called baseball. They called themselves the YANKEES. Olmstead and Vaux appealled to their club for help in making the park a success.

It just so happened that while researching this, a rival designer, Bennet T. Blockart (pictured here), from Boston was in attendance during the research. He too, was a member of a similar club in Boston which distinguished itself by wearing bright red socks. In fact the club was called the RED SOX, the 'x' in the sox was due in part to the poor spelling skills of the Boston club's secretary. Blockart said, he knew of a custom whereby if a builder buried a bushel of clam shells under the project in question, the project would be a smashing success. Bennet then offered to send Olmstead and Vaux a bushel of Boston's finest clams upon his return to Bean Town.

The clams arrived with these simple instructions were simple: Prepare a Clam Chowder at midnight, bury the shells in a pit after consuming the chowder. Best wishes, B.B.

The club set up a big pot in the middle of the soon to be Central Park. They had a clam chowder feast to beat the band.

What they didn't know was Blockart had put one bad clam in the bushel. One bad clam can do a world of hurt even on a good chowder. The scene was not pretty. The next morning all nine of the members were discovered with their heads in the hole, so sick they couldn't move. Each was carted away to their homes to convalesce.

They recovered after a while. In that time, Olmstead and Vaux learned of the dirty joke Blockart had played on the Yankees. Rather than respond by sending bags of tainted Bagels, Olmstead and Vaux struck back by inviting Blockart and his club, the Red Sox to a friendly match of baseball.

The Red Sox were trounced. At the end of the game, Olmstead stood on the pitcher's mound and declared: May all your sorrows and broken dreams be collected under the foundation of this park and make this park the GRANDEST PARK IN THE WORLD.

Thunder clapped over head. Lightining struck the bench where the Red Sox were sitting, scattering the Boston like buckshot. Then the howls of pain and fright from the Red Sox Club were sucked in to the hole made by the lightning. Everyone stood slack jawed as the ground beneath them began to swell and rise up. Everyone but Olmstead and Vaux. They stood strong and when all was said and done, they were standing on what is now know as the Great Hill.

Blockart, his face white, turned to Olmstead and Vaux and vowed that the Yankees had not heard the last of the Red Sox. A clap of thunder and Blockart cowered the tripped and rolled down the new hill his club's loss had created.

Since then, everytime the Red Sox lose the hills get a little larger. People talk about the Curse of the Bambino, but that has nothing to do with it. So much fuss over a bad clam. But look around, this really is a great park, hills and all. You know Heartbreak Hill? I got one word for you: Buckner. That poor SOB, that's his doing.

So the pain in your knees and the stress on your joints, you can thank the Boston Red Sox for those.

I bent down to check my laces, saying that was a nice story mister. and when I looked up he was gone. I continued back to meet up with my Team in Training compadres and I swear I heard, "Buckner what have you done?" followed by a visceral moan, "oooooohhhhhh nooooooo!"

So if you're in the park at dusk on the night of a full moon, put your ear to the wind, and you can hear the cries and broken dreams of the Red Sox fans escaping from under the hills.

Happy Trails,

JP

August 15, 2006 Last day of Hill Training

Did our last day of hill training on the North part of Central Park. Was it hard? Nah. But it wasn't easy.

Here's a picture of me and a team mate discussing proper facial hair care after our practice:

I'll tell you like I told her, a little mustache wax and you're good to go!

And for sore muscles, ice bath:Refreshing!

-JP

August 12, 2006 - Things To Do Today

• Laundry
• Pay Bills
• Run 13 miles
• Office Work
• Answer E-mails
• Return Chasing Amy to video store

Hmm, didn't get to the laundry, bills were opened, knocked off 13 miles this morning, office work was organized, answered a few e-mails, still have to take the video back.

That's right folks, 13 miles in Prospect Park. Finished nice and strong too. The weather was fantastic for running. Not too hot and almost no humidity. Luxury.

I'd take you on a tour of the route, but it's kind of boring. Basically I did two five mile loops of the park, a two mile loop and then an extra mile at then end. If you look at the map here, a
five mile loop in this park, is an one outer loop and to add the mileage an extra loop at the bottom of the park which takes you past Prospect Lake.

The Nike New York City Half Marathon in a couple of weeks is looking to be not so hard.

After the run we went to Kelly's (she's a mentor and team mate) apartment for a little barbecue. Hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, bagels, beer, soda, water, Gatorade, man O man, Kelly and her husband treated us right. It was a great little get together sitting in their back yard.

Looking forward to the Half Marathon the only thing that concerns me is the start time: 7:00am! The race starts in Central Park so I'm thinking we'll be taking a car into the city rather than rely on the subways at that early hour.

Next Saturday we'll be running across the George Washington Bridge and heading to the Garden State. I'll let you know how it goes.

-JP

August 10, 2006 This was no boating accident!

Plans were made earlier this week with my co-workers to have a little get together after work today. So I had every intention of getting up early to take a quick run around Prospect Park.

At 6:00am the alarm went off. I hit the snooze. 8 minutes later the alarm goes again. I hit the snooze. Another 8 minutes another smack on the snooze button. Another 8 minutes another smack on the snooze button.

You get the picture. Shortly after 7:00am I got out of bed, there would be no run around the park this morning. So, what could I do? I could jump on my clothes hanger also known as the Nordic Track, but that would require moving clothes, a door, a cat, some other stuff. That's far too much for me to think about upon waking, so I decided I'd do a little yoga.

I found this handy little diagram a long time ago and I keep it around so I remember the poses.

In my little living room, I go through these poses:

1. Mountain Begin by standing in Mountain pose, feet about hip width apart, hands either by your sides or in prayer position. Take several deep breaths.	2. Hands up On your next inhale, in one sweeping movement, raise your arms up overhead and gently arch back as far as feels comfortable and safe.	3. Head to knees As you exhale, bend forward, bending the knees if necessary, and bring your hands to rest beside your feet.
4. Lunge Inhale and step the right leg back	5. Plank Exhale and step the left leg back into plank position. Hold the position and inhale.	6. Stick Exhale and lower yourself as if coming down from a pushup. Only your hands and feet should touch the floor.
7. Upward Dog Inhale and stretch forward and up, bending at the waist. Use your arms to lift your torso, but only bend back as far as feels comfortable and safe. Lift your legs up so that only the tops of your feet and your ahnds touch the floor. It's okay to keep your arms bent at the elbow.	8. Downward dog Exhale, lift from the hips and push back and up.	9. Lunge Inhale and step the right foot forward.
10. Head to knees Exhale, bring the left foot forward and step into head-to-knee position.	11. Hands up Inhale and rise slowly while keeping arms extended .	12. Mountain Exhale, and in a slow, sweeping motion, lower your arms to the sides. End by bringing your hands up into prayer position. Repeat the sequence, stepping with the left leg.

It's not without a few drawbacks. My big cat (this one here)

thinks this is the perfect opportunity to try and climb on my back or lie on the yoga mat. When he lies on the mat that is particularly awful because the mat is kind of tacky and he leaves a bunch of hair on the mat. And all that hair some how ends up on me!

The nice thing about doing this series of poses is it gets the blood going, loosens up the muscles and there's a bit strength training in there (try to do a Plank and not activate some upper body and core muscles).

Well that's all for this day's workout.

JP