NYC Running Coach
Central Park Coaching - NYC Running Coach is a best in class one-on-one coaching service by professional running coach, Sean Fortune. Coach Sean is a former NCAA track and cross country coach and Nike sponsored athlete for his previous club team. He is a USATF Level II certified coach and former multiple time winner of New York Road Runners' races. He conducts personalized, science-based one-on-one coached running sessions for marathoners, youth runners, and kids.
Taking time between shooting '30 Rock' and leaving ghastly voicemails to his daughter, Alex Baldwin narrates this very cool and inspiring homage to New York City and its marathon.
NYC Marathon Alex Baldwin prorez from Marc Beroza on Vimeo.
3 days before the New York City Marathon, the Youth and Community Services division of the NYRR holds one of the biggest youth events of the year. Approximately 1200 runners from New York City public schools came out to run 1/4 mile or a full 1 mile. Sara Hall, along with a few other professional athletes supported the race and then held a Q&A session afterwards. To have your school participate in one of their free programs, contact youthprograms@nyrr.org
The Armory on 168th St. easily accessible by the C train, is hosting a free Sports Nutrition workshop tonight at 5:30pm. The program is being headed by the Department of Applied Physiology and Nutrition at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Athletes are encouraged to come learn the truth about how nutrition can help endurance, strength, speed and recovery. More info go to www.armorytrack.com
This is a great spectacle, worthy of a marathon finish, but give Wilson Kipsang a break after nearly breaking the WR by 3 seconds. There's no room right after the finish line with photogs crowding the space. I guess at some point they diverge the non-elite runners to a different finishing line.
This is the best season of the year - fast race times at the Armory, great workouts in beautiful Central Park all winter long! Practices held at Engineers Gate and occasionally at the Armory indoor track:
Email coach Sean Fortune for details manhattanac@gmail.com
Icahn Stadium played host for the first race in the series of four, culminating with a championship meet at Van Cortlandt Park in November. This is a free series of events available to all New York City public schools grades 3-8. To learn more about the events and how to sign up, go to the New York Road Runners Youth Programs website: http://www.nyrrf.org/programs/cross_country/index.asp
At 38, I can’t be as reckless with my body as I once was even though right now I’m feeling more confident in my training than ever before. Despite being injured four times this past year, I’ve learned from my mistakes and some fairly common pitfalls that can derail most competitive runners. The silver lining is that I've now put my number one emphasis on staying healthy, not achievement. In the past, I didn't really have to think about staying healthy because I was always fairly durable. With this shift, I've taken a lot a pressure off without losing any motivation. Here’s what happened to me; what I’ve learned; and the simple adjustments that I’ve made to stay healthy.
Injury #1 Severe Ankle Sprain (Torn Ligaments) Fall 2010
What happened: 3 days after dropping out the NYC marathon at mile 17 with knee and hamstring issues, I severely rolled my ankle on a half buried wood chip on the bridle path in Central Park during an easy run. This abruptly put to an end to any ideas of taking advantage of my marathon fitness for a fast indoor track season.
What I learned: My knee and hamstring issues became problematic while trying to fit in too much training the last month going into the marathon. Reason for this was that I started my marathon built up with little foundation and had to play catch up. I believe my ankle rolled as severely as it did because my body was in a weakened physical state recovering for the 17 miles at marathon race pace 3 days earlier.
What I do now: Don’t start marathon training without significant foundational work already in place. Be extra careful when running on ruddy, uneven terrain, after hard workouts and during long runs when the body is in a state of physical distress. Watch foot strikes. Most of all, allow significant recovery time from physically demanding events.
Injury #2 Right Hamstring Strain Winter 2011
What happened: After struggling back into workout shape after the ankle sprain and subsequent rehab, I came up lame doing 150’s working on finishing speed after a 3x 1mile workout. This abruptly put to an end any ideas of getting some speed fitness together to run fast right from the beginning of the outdoor track season.
What I learned: My body doesn’t like mixing speed in after a strength-based workout.
What I do now: Only work one system at a time on a given day’s workout. If it’s a strength workout, I just do strength. If it’s a pure speed day, I just do speed.
Injury #3 Left Quad Strain Spring 2011
What happened: Doing strides after a regular run on cold, rainy April night, I felt a twinge in my left quad. I ignored it and continued. On the ninth stride out of ten, my quad locked up rendering me immobile. This left my hobbled and unable to run very fast for a few days. Gradually it subsided, but it lurks under the skin ready to crop up at any time.
What I learned: If you feel a twinge, that’s the body’s signal to stop what you’re doing or you’ll cause further damage. Your body speaks the language of pain signals, not English.
What I do now: If I start to feel a twinge or hear a bodily signal telling me that my body is in jeopardy, I stop the workout and call it the day.
Injury #4 Left Hamstring Strain Summer 2011
What happened: Away from home, I was doing a 100 meter repetition track workout. On my tenth and last repeat I pulled my left hamstring. On the previous repeat I had felt a twinge. This put an end to my outdoor track season and racing at the USATF Club Nationals Track and Field Championships. To add insult to injury, I had to walk the mile and half back to my girlfriend's parents' house.
What I learned: Listen to your body, stupid.
What I do now: If I start to feel a twinge or hear a bodily signal telling me that my body is in jeopardy, I stop the workout and call it the day
I've been sitting in on the new Facebook group created by Olympian and 4-time US Champ in the 800meters, Nick Symmonds, 'I'm tired of the USATF and IAAF crippling our sport' for the past few days like a fly on the wall. It's been fascinating watching the flood of support pour in as word of the group and it's message spread virally. As some top US runners joined the cause, notably Anthony Famiglietti and Amy Yoder Begley, there's been a conspicuous absence of some of the biggest US names in the sport supporting the cause (at least publically on the page). As commentator extraordinaire Toni Reeves brilliantly pointed out in his letter 'Dear Nick Symmonds' posted on his blog and on the group page: "Shoe company contracts for the very top athletes helps restrict the possibility of overturning the current system. With that money in hand, they don't have to compete often, and it makes no sense to opt out of a system which rewards them personally. This, in turn, removes star-power from any revolt, thereby neutering it. It would require a large defection of top name athletes to a viable alternative to convince the powers to change. And there is no viable alternative."
Nick Symmonds' primary concern is allowing all athletes to profit from sponsorships that want to promote their brand on the athlete's uniform or body, which the USATF and IAAF forbid at all meets that fall under the governance of IAAF's rule. Basically, all meets that a sponsor would want televised exposure for are off-limits. Since the group page went public a few days ago, the page has currently grown to over 5000 members and has become a home for many more grievances that are aimed squarely at the USATF and IAAF. Notably, the ridiculous rule of removing Paula Radcliffe's 2:15 WR in the marathon due to having 2 male pacers. It was this absurity that seemed to have pushed Nick over the edge and put his own neck out to make a change. I'd like to see all of his fellow professional athletes show the same courage and verbally back his cause. That means you, Ryan Hall. That means you, Kara Goucher. That means you, Galen Rupp.
For too long it seems there has been a bunch of injustices done to the athletes who make up this great sport. Let's not lose sight of who is truly responsible for being the torch-bearers and trail blazers for the next generation of US runners. This is Nick Symmonds, Anthoney Famigilieltti, Amy Yoder Begley, not the Board of Directors at the USATF and IAAF.
My first win in Manhattan AC green feels great! This is a fun race because the distance (1.7 miles) happens to coincede with the distance of the regular bridle path loop in Central Park that we run everyday. Fun to compare times. I tied my personal best at the distance with an 8:33 which previously was done on the 2nd loop of 2 lap tempo of the bridle 2 1/2 years ago. Still have some work to do but I'm healhy and motivated so I'm going after it.
Today's weather has been nothing but awesome. But know what's cooler than perfect running weather? Rainy, stormy weather, that's what. Gabe and Vaughn ran strong and fearless in yesterday's downpour. Way to get after it!
Margot places 9th overall in the girls 12-14 with a 6:17, Raphael places 6th overall (and 1st 12yo) in the boys 12-14 with a 5:36, and Sean places 3rd overall in the men's 35-39 with a time 4:37. Congrat's to everyone!
In March I teamed up with the doctors at Duke Chiropractic, one of New York City's best sports rehab centers, to help create an awesome new iPhone app for runners called 'W.E. Run'. The app provides a series of dynamic pre-run exercises, post-run stretches, and core strengthening, that are designed for injury-prevention, enhanced biomechanics and coordination. This short clip highlights some of these effective exercises but the actually iPhone app is way cooler with lots of features. It's available now at Apple app store - W.E. Run - Check it out
Seems like a basic, easy to understand concept: an action leads to a result. Unfortunately, too often in training something is lost in translation particularly when it comes to newbie or youth runners. Training at its most basic level is the repeated cycle of cause and effect. If I train my body to run fast, eventually I'll race fast. The magic within cause and effect, which is often underutilized or underappreciated, is that the more committed and smarter you currently train, the greater rewards you reap down the road. Training is all about delayed gratification. Patience. Trust. Commitment. Consistency. Lacking in any one of these is what normally derails newbie runners from crossing that threshold from "non-runner" to "runner." Very often, it's that unwillingness to accept the process of training that would ultimately take them to where they want to be but rather has them spinning their wheels. Successful marathoners understand this process. The best middle-distance runners in the world utilize this process in the structured form of periodization to extract the most out of their talent during a macro-training cycle. And so if they do, why shouldn't all of us commit or recommit to maximizing the power of cause and effect and let it empower us to new heights. As for me, I know what I'm doing right now during this fall training cycle is going to have a direct effect on how I race come winter during Indoors. I'm training for strength and speed endurance now, all to set up the speed that will come with fast Armory track workouts. I'll be looking to run personal bests in every distance from the 400 meters to 3000m, but if I don't put in the work now, I certainly can't expect to succeed come January.
(Chemlany pacer 82)