Question:I am training for my first marathon. It will be the NYC Marathon.
On October 4th there is an official training's run for the NYC Marathon in Central Park.
Does anybody know if it is worth going there and do this
training run verses running your 20 miles on your own?
Answer:
(In my opinion) the training runs are infinitely better than running on
your own. It is very organized (other than some stubborn runners who
insist on running outside the recreation lanes) and has water every three
miles (maybe more); a place to leave your bags. You can run as long as you
want.
There are different groups depending on how fast you want to run, and each
group has a leader (sometimes more) who helps maintain the pace for the group.
Most people come alone, some come with friends. Just listening to the
idle runner chatter helps the +/- three hours go much much faster.
Here are few things I find annoying about the organized training runs:
1. The pace - I run 8:00/mile pace for my long runs and there
are ALWAYS some dorks who go in front of the pacers and mess
up the pace for the whole group! It always ends up being
7:45-7:55/mile.
2. The break - After each loop (~6 miles) there is a break that
goes on for a few minutes. It wasn't too bad the last time.
3. The hills - Many many hills, but I guess you have to get used to
it, if you want to do well in NYCM (except of course you will be
running it the other way in the real thing).
Still, I participate in them because it has real water-stations,
other "racers", free bananas and power-gels.
addressed especially to NYRRC lurkers or posters, that as
a nonrunner in these monster group runs, I find them a pain in the ass. They
hog the roads, people coming up behind you (thosse "dorks"?) yell at you to
get out of the way or whatever, and I was once swallowed up in such a pack
during a biathlon which was taking place at the same time.
I think they have grown out of control.
that as a nonrunner in these monster group runs, I find >them a pain in the
ass. They hog the roads, people coming up >behind you (those "dorks"?)
yell at you to get out of the way or >whatever, and I was once swallowed up
in such a pack
I run in the group runs and am embarassed by the behavior of some
of the runners. They refuse to stay to the left.
Part of the problem of having too many people in one large area and
basically only limited recreational areas combined with some lack of
consideration by some. (Ever try biking on a weekend afternoon? It's even
worse than being swallowed by a group run.)
My only suggestion is to check out what's going on in the park, and plan
accordingly. For example, yesterday was the Race for the Cure - 18,000
runners. Since I didn't participate (women only), I made sure I ran early
and then watched the race. If there's a bike race (usually they are at
some ungodly hour, so it's not so much a problem) I make sure not to run or
bike then. (I've been swallowed by a bike race when I was on a bike ride
and nearly fell off out of fear.)
As for the biathalon and group run on the same day, I couldn't believe
they would do that. Poor planning. Like I already said, there's too many
people wanting the park, so when someone else has "dibs" on the park, I let
them have it.
After all, the biggest hog of the park has to be the Marathon, which
closes the park in parts for around the week, and I'd hate the hear what
they must say in alt.rec.bike (or whatever their group) when they can't
bike for a week.
