Eight Days And Counting....

...to The Brooklyn Half-Marathon!

This year will mark the 3rd consecutive year I run it. Last year, was a bit of a disappointment, time-wise, plus the temperatures were frigid as heck. It was in the teens! As before, the race starts in Coney Island-on the boardwalk, no less. It empties out, heads north on Ocean Parkway, and enters into Brooklyn's famous Prospect Park. We'll do 2 laps while there (see photo upper right) through some tough hills, before we finish. Then it will be off to the subway to head back south, to pick up Ileana and my car. Last year, she cheered me on as I passed the New York Aquarium. And when I came back, she was in the car, seat back, with a copy of The DaVinci code over her face to act as a sun shield. Best of all....I could hear her snoring through the passenger window before I tapped on the glass to wake her up...

My course record for a Half-Marathon is 1:48:03 (gross time above). I achieved my PR, at the Queens Half Marathon, on April 26, 2006, and at nearly the age of 41, with a pace time of 8:15, it was a remarkable finish for me. I never ran a Half-Marathon during my "speed demon" youth. Therefore, it's easily my favorite type of race. And that's because I always have a chance at a "PR" Personal Record.

I took a look back at my days when I could run a mile in under 6 minutes. I truly wasted a gift by not keeping it up. But at least I started again. I didn't break any records back then, but I did manage to win a few trophies, includinga first place finish for my age category for the JFK race (a race for which I willrun again on April 22, after a 22 year absence!!!).

In speaking of race records, I figured I'd check what the best in the world have done so far.

Oh. My. God.

My mouth has not only dropped to the floor, but it has literally rolled under the bed and is hidden from plain sight.12 minutes for a 5k? Are you freakin' kidding me? Perhaps I should hop on the back of one of these runners and point them east. I might get to work faster in the morning!!!

Here are some of the more interesting records:

(Enjoy or rather...suffer!)

The pizza record is highly contestable however, and credit should have been given to Michael Mancino.

He was a childhood friend of mine who attended my

grammar school,

Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs,

located in Forest Hills, NY.

I saw him inhale a slice over at A&Js on Austin Street.

Back then none of us had stopwatches. There was no accurate, Swiss-timing, available. so he very well may have been the champ...One'll never know.

(By the way, that's not Toshiko Seko. It's someone who's pic appeared on Google under his name. This dude's like 14 feet tall, with tattoos all over his arms. He looks like Zappa after a nice heroin fix.)

As for my progress today: I ran 10 miles today, and other than my right Achilles' talking a bit, I am doing great. I might meet my goal of 30 miles this week after all. Next week I taper. In fact, I only plan to do about 12 miles, to make a total of 25 with my race in Brooklyn next week.

For tomorrow and Sunday, I hope to run outside.