Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Central Park Marathon Official Results and Photos

When I finished the Central Park Marathon on Sunday, I had no idea how I placed.  It was hard to tell what my standing was because some people I passed and who passed me were a lap behind or ahead of me and some were in the half-marathon.

Imagine my surprise then, when I saw that I came in 10th place out of 318 marathon runners!

Official results are at www.NYCRuns.com and official photos are at: www.kenshelton.com

I have only bought a race photo once before, but I think I might buy my finishing photo from this race. It is a great shot and it will help preserve the proud memory of an excellent race.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Central Park Marathon

Want to know what I did on Saturday?

Nothing.

Well, almost nothing. After a quick three-mile last-minute tuneup run in the chilly rain (at a 6:53 pace, thank you), I did my usual crunches and dumbell exercises, then I took a hot bubble bath, soaking in it for almost 45 minutes. I sat on the couch and watched movies.  I ate my own home-cooked pasta dinner. 

This was probably the only time that I could do my pre-marathon rituals in my own home, sleeping in my own bed, eating my usual pre-long-run cereal in the morning after a so-so night's sleep (better than most marathons, but not the deep sleep for which I was hoping). Because my marathons are destination races (even the NJ Marathon required a hotel the night before), yesterday's Central Park Marathon in New York City was essentially my hometown marathon.

So after my cereal and a few trips to the bathroom, I was in the car and heading to Manhattan. Within a half-hour, I was parking my car on W. 68th Street, practically across the street from the entrance at Central Park West where the finish line would be. I picked up my race shirt, checked my bag, hit the bathroom one more time (a triple-poop morning usually makes for a great race), and headed to the starting line.  No hassles, no worries, just focusing on the 26.2 miles at hand.  This is why I like small marathons.

Placing myself at the front of the pack at the starting line near the E. 72nd Street transverse, I felt a great deal of confidence come over me. As I embarked on the first of five counter-clockwise loops through Central Park, with a long, steady hill leading up toward the 102nd Street transverse where we turned inward toward the west side, I thought about how confident I was at the beginning of the previous two races. And those did not turn out well.

I convinced myself that it was no matter because I did everything right this time - I did not overeat on Saturday, I had my breakast a full two hours before the race, and I did not take the Advil that I now believe was the culprit in December.

The goal, then, was to run the race for which I trained - a 7:01 pace with as 3:03:00 finish. 

At first, I was running too fast.  I checked my stopwatch every mile, and with each mile I saw more and more of a cushion. By the fifth mile I was up by about 30 seconds.  That doesn't seem like a lot, I know, but it translates to six seconds per mile faster than my goal pace.  You do not sustain that kind of increase for 26 miles, so I pulled back.

On the second of the roughly five-mile loops, I bounded up the east-side uphills at a swift and effortless pace, but took a relaxed approach to the west side downhills.  By the time I hit the finish area for a second time, I was exactly on target.

Up the big hill again, I passed several people.  Hill training paying off.  I was feeling great, but not quite invincible.  The stomach problems in Delaware began in the 13th mile; in Narragansett, the seventeenth.  If I was to persevere, I still needed to keep myself in check. Yet despite taking the downhill at an extremely relaxed pace, I was still right on pace for my goal.

Though I had to work at it the fourth time, I still surprised myself on the hill. As much as I hate doing hill training, I know it kept working its magic yesterday. But I had pulled back too much on the flats and gentle inclines and declines, losing a few seconds through the 14th, 15th, and 16th miles, so by the time I got to the 102nd Street transverse again, around Mile 17, I was behind by closer to a minute.

Still, I felt fantastic. Rather than push it, I reset my goal.  Instead of trying to make up time, I decided to try not to lose any more time.  So I kept shooting for 7:01 miles. 

At first, it worked, but once I hit Mile 20 and heading uphill again, there was no way for that to happen.  I am still proud of myself for pushing up that hill for the last time and ending up with a 7:15 for that mile, but I was set back by more than a minute by then.  No PR would be had, I was sure of it.  But a second-best was in the cards.  Just had to stanch the flow of the seconds that kept bleeding away, mile after mile.

At the fifth cross of the finish area, in Mile 24, before a short loop that cut through the 72nd Street transverse, I saw my parents, and that gave me the boost I needed to defy the fatigue that was now setting into my leg muscles.

Pushing into overdrive, heedless of the pain consuming my legs, I surged.  Mile 26 was partially uphill.  No matter.  Push.  Push.  Push.

I hit the finish line, to the cheering of my parents, at 3:06:28.  My third best marathon ever - just behind Missoula by 13 seconds, and behind Kansas by a minute and 47 seconds.

My confidence is restored.  I feel like a real marathon runner again.  Who knew that I could have such an amazing marathon experience so close to home.  This is my return to form.  I am back.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Central Park Marathon in three days

I really have no desire to run the New York City Marathon.  People keep asking me when I am going to do it, but I tell them that if I ever do, it will be the last one and a long time from now; my victory lap after many years of marathon running.

Besides, New York is a big state and there are plenty of choices to check it off my list as I strive to run a marathon in every state.  There is one in the Wappingers Falls area that piqued my interest as well as the Hamptons Marathon that is sure to be nice.

It's funny, then, that my next marathon, only three days from now, is going to be in New York City after all.

A few months ago, a co-worker and fellow runner told me about this new marathon that was being planned in Central Park - a back-to-basics alternative to the big, crazy tourist spectacle of the annual November race that attracts more than 40,000 runners and winds through every borough in the city.

This new February race would be five laps through the interior of Central Park.  That is it.  Simple, kind of boring, and no frills.

After the debacle of the December marathon in Delaware, in which I got sick and posted my worst time ever, I jumped right back into marathon training, not something I usually do.  Typically, I will rest for a few days then concentrate on short races for a few months.  This time, I was right back to doing long runs with my eye tentatively on this NYC race, but figuring that I would eventually burn out and back out of a marathon that was only two months after the previous one.

But I never burned out.  In fact, I got stronger.  Those runs on the D&R Canal inspired me.  And even the brutal 20 milers through the mountainous hills in the Caldwells, Cedar Grove, and Montclair left me confident. 

So, after once again putting in the work - hill sprints, speed intervals, tempo runs, three 20-milers - of the "Advanced I" program at HalHigdon.com, I find myself ready to run my eighth marathon. It will be cold and windy on Sunday, but that is OK.  I decided that this is my "reset" race.  No preconceived ideals, no gunning for a personal record, just getting out there and running 26.2 miles to the best of my ability without getting sick or hitting the wall. 

For that, I am ready.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

At the Roxy, 20 years later

I would be remiss, as an avid Phish fan, not to mention in this space that today is the 20th anniversary of what is arguably one of the best Phish shows of all time at The Roxy in Atlanta.

It is possibly the best show Phish ever performed up to that point, and they had been around almost a decade by then. And while it certainly ranks up among most Phish fans' top ten lists, I would say it could be the greatest non-holiday show in Phishtory.

It is that good. If you are even a casual Phish listener, but you have never heard it, take my advice and listen to Feb. 20, 1993 - it is part of the boxed set called 'At the Roxy'.

For the rest of the Phish fans, you already know what I am talking about.

I know I will never forget hearing the tape of the show (before it was officially released).  It was sometime in the mid-90s and friend Ali mailed me the tape of Set II.  I promised to give it a live review - emailing her my reaction to it as I listened for the first time.  When the insanity ensued, my email started filling up with exclamation points and "BEST SHOW EVER" proclamations. I wish I still had that email.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

New hope from the D&R Canal

The last time I was in New Hope, PA, I ran along the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath. It is an awesome trail for running - flat, away from traffic, and surrounded by the serenity of the water and the trees. It is a new reason to make my annual weekend or day trip to the town.

What I noticed while running there was that it seemed to go on for miles and miles on both the PA side and the NJ side.  I had not realized, despite the obviousness of the name (duh), that it stretches all the way from the Delaware River into central New Jersey to the Raritan River.

Karen knew that, though, because she lives near the beginning of it, close to the Rutgers New Brunswick campus. And so during a December visit to her place, I hit the trail for my long run. I figured it would be a great way to ease back into distance running after the horrible marathon and being sick the week after.

The miles just flew by - my intended 13-miler became a 15-miler as I passed runners, walkers, dogs and horses, with the canal on one side of me and the Raritan River on the other. Being removed from the streets and the cars and the hills rejuvenated me.  I could not wait to go back to Central Jersey and do more.

Two weeks later, I picked up where I left off, cranking out a 18-miles on an intended 16-mile day. I was startled by how easy it was. It felt like I had transported myself to 2007, when distance running was new and each run was like a new discovery.

Two more weeks later, I was back on the trail. Determined to keep starting where I left off previously, I parked my car in Griggstown and ran the 10 miles along the path to Princeton University, and back again, for an amazing 20-miler.

I have not yet made it all the way to New Hope but I did, indeed, find new hope in my distance running abilities.  So I made a bold decision:

It was time to register for another marathon, even though (or perhaps, especially because) the sour experience I had in December is so fresh in my mind.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Phish at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 30

From high up above the stage, slightly behind on Page's side (what we used to call bald-spot view before it became more than spot), I took in my sixth Dec. 30 Phish show.

When this "obstructed view" ticket showed up on Ticketmaster from out of the blue in early December, I jumped on it. This is why I check the Ticketmaster site every single day after a show sells out.

But Phish operates without a big backdrop (the audience often is the backdrop), so the view was not actually "obstructed". And because Phish knows there are lots of people behind the stage, the sound was perfect. Better, in fact, than lower level seats across the arena. I would rather be close, high and behind, than far, low and in front. I had that in 1998 and it sucked.

I arrived at the arena when the "Runaway Jim" opener began and you better believe I was dancing through the halls. I even enjoyed "Cities" while getting myself a brewski. At my seat for "Divided Sky" and "Back on the Train" I was enjoying the good vibes and tight playing.

The Blues Image gods smiled upon me, as they had in Philly in 1999 and Amherst in 2010, and I got to hear Phish play the excellent old tune "Ride Captain Ride". Understand that, according to Phish.net, they have only EVER played the song 16 times - that is, at one percent of all their shows - and only nine of those times were after 1993 when I started seeing Phish. Yet I somehow managed to see them do it three times. It was one of those times when the fact that they play the song tends to be way more huge the song itself. Like "Skin It Back" during the summer.

Speaking of summer, I became a bona fide fan of "Ocelot" in Atlantic City. I never disliked the tune, but I never expected that I would find it to be a set highlight. It was so at Bader Field and it was at MSG, no question.

"Ya Mar" needed nothing more than a cool groove and a hearty "Plaaaaaayyyy it, Leeeoooooo" to get me all hopped up; Trey's solo in "Horn" was played to perfection (I had heard him blow it too many times in the past); the insane "My Friend My Friend" buildup was loud and harsh and disturbing and completely awesome; and the set-closing "Run Like an Antelope" was relatively short but, coupled with Kuroda's big light show, it was a monster.

The first major show highlight was the second set-opening "Down with Disease". Bringing it down about seven minutes in, the band stayed loose but locked. With Page on the Rhodes, it was extra pretty. Suddenly at around 13 minutes, it changed keys and went somewhere else competely. I was very much reminded of 2.0-style jamming. Every minute thereafter for the next six, it kept morphing and morphing. It was like a new song per minute. Wild. And even though it had gone on for 19 minutes, they hit upon something in the last minute that I really wanted them to keep exploring;  but just like the "Wolfman's Brother" two days before, they gave us just enough before pulling back.

I have never been much of a fan of "Twenty Years Later", but that closing section gets to be pretty cool. With "Carini" following, I was not too thrilled - it is another song that never did much for me. But what I had forgotten was that the "Carini" jams of late have been out of this world. This one was the best jams of the night. They broke it down after a few heavy minutes, and then Fish started this thumping beat with kick drum with toms. Before long, it was easy forget that it was ever "Carini" in the first place.

It would be hard to beat that. "Backwards Down the Number Line" was good and "Julius" torched the place with funky fire, but "Slave to the Traffic Light" may well have ripped the roof right off the joint with the enormous climax that set my hairs on end and tears to my eyes.

To bring out "Harry Hood" for the encore was daring because, really, how do you top that "Slave"? But I will be damned if it was not a quality version.

The encore ended with "Show of Life" and I will say this loud and proud: I LOVE THIS SONG. There is so much hate directed toward this excellent tune (I am looking at YOU, Phish.net!) and I can not figure out why? Because it is a ballad? Because it is a Dude of Life lyric? As the song says, "Don't ask me, 'cause I don't know." But I will tell you that I can not get enough of it. I think it is pretty and poignant and has a reliable I-IV coda. For my last Phish show of the year, I could not ask for anything more.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Phish at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 28


There is something special about Phish's New Year's Run, and though 2011's was a bit lackluster, I was especially excited for 2012 for two reasons. First, the band had an incredible summer run with some of their best performances of 3.0, if not of all time. Take a listen to Atlantic City, Jones Beach and Dick's if you doubt me. Second, I had floor tickets for Dec. 28 - my first time on the floor for a Phish arena show since Dec. 11, 1999, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and my first time on the floor of MSG since New Years Eve 1997.

My god, could it really have been so long? And could they deliver the goods based on THOSE memories?

By golly, did they ever deliver!

If Set One looks ho-hum on paper, then you need to start at the end and work backward - the set-closing "Wolfman's Brother" was everything you could want in a Phish jam. Funked out and rocking, it peaked and peaked like nobody's business. The rest of the songs were played perfectly - not a bad not, composed or improvised, to be found. This worked out especially well for the solid "Kill Devil Falls", the groover "Tube", and the set-opening "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" (which I have grown accustomed to as a set-closer, so it was quite the surprise). Throw in the relatively rare Page nugget "Army of One" and who is not to be satisfied?

But it was Set Two that took the show into "best of the year" territory. Start off with a "Tweezer" that does all the right things, laying down a groove that does not quit until suddenly you find yourself somewhere else entirely. This "Tweezer" is a journey that keeps going forward, into strange, murky territory and never looks back. When it finally lands on the rim-clicking introduction to "Maze" you just know things are going to get crazy.

And you are right. Trey's off-beat clangings during Page's solo are wild and unpredictable in every possible good way and when it is time for him to blast off, he picks you up and hurls you around like a beast that has you in his jaws, making you flail about helplessly. I am not kidding - it is that intense.

A moment of levity ensues with Trey playing "Little Drummer Boy" as Fish starts the "Twist" beat. We all scream "Wooo" with the song and more "Little Drummer Boy" teases crop up. "Theme from the Bottom" was never one of my favorites until 2011's Bethel shows. As its softness gives way to its big ending (a double climax, really), it sticks with you.

Who would have expected "Fluffhead" at that moment? Not me. And I am not complaining. As the defining song of the 3.0 era, they have truly learned to nail it. Its complexities forced it off the map in 2.0 and its return in 2009 was shaky at best. But lordy how Trey has perfected (again) the mind-boggling note-fest contained therein. How he came up with that finger workout in the first place is a mystery to me. How he manages to pull it off flawlessly all these years later is most impressive.

But, you know, at some point everyone really just wants to get their rocks off to the four-chord finale bellowing "Fluffheeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" Perfect way to end the set.

Only it was not the end. "David Bowie"???  My first thought was, "What the hell are they saving for the next few nights?" Again, the journey through the jam was killer but what was memorable was the interesting stops and starts shortly before the climax. Huge.

So you can imagine the groans around me when "Bouncing Around the Room" starts the encore, but I was more than happy to hear it. What I was unhappy about was the insane, smelly guy that somehow wound up next to me, hugging everyone, and being way too friendly for someone with that amount of body odor. And vocal. "YEEEAAAAAAAHHHH" over and over. Calm down, dude!

But who could be calm as the band launched into "Good Times Bad Times"? I was reminded of the first time I saw Phish play it - at Waterloo Village in 1995 while my friend Gavin sat on my shoulders.

Who knows if I will ever get floor tickets again. Will it be another 13 years? If it never happens again, I can at least hold this show in the same regard as those other four special nights of being on the floor at a Phish arena show in December.