Long Distance Archive - 1999

12/30/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• On this surprisingly warm night (almost fifty degrees), the workout took place around the reservoir.  Basically, the workout consisted of seven repeats of (20 lamp posts fast, 10 lamp posts recovery).  The distance covered is 3 times around the reservoir (1.577 x 3 = 4.7 miles), plus 2 x 0.8 = 1.6 miles from and back to the Daniel Webster statue, yielding a total of 6.3 miles.

FIELD NOTES

• This workout took place just one night before New Year's Eve.  How many people do you think showed up tonight?  When David Diviney got there, he saw eight people including the coach.  He mused, "Small turnout tonight?"  Based upon experience, that should not be the case.  It is just that people are variously "habitually late," "intentionally late," "intelligently late" or "fashionably late."  The final count when we took off was twenty-nine people.
• Santa Claus dropped by in the form of Blair Boyer on a bicycle with gifts.  Audrey Kingsley got a horn and Tony Ruiz got a pair of sunglasses with large letters of '2000'.  As Tony went on to describe the workout, the crowd was rather restless and inattentive.  Why?  Stacy Creamer finally had to speak up for us, "Tony, it is rather difficult to listen to what you are saying because you look so funny in those sunglasses."
• Tony Ruiz said that he received a telephone call from George Wisniewski today, wanting to give his best wishes to the team for the new year.  For those who don't know, George was our coach for sixteen years up until 1997.
• A little bird on the wire at this workout informed us that Scott Willett and Julie Denney were the respective overall male and female winners at the Ironman Triathlon in Israel on December 18th, 1999.  The standard channels of information were blacked out this time, so it came from a thoroughly unexpected (and therefore completely unimpeachable) source.
• Among those present today was Richie Borrero.  Remember?  This is the man who was designated by the coach to take some time off from running.  Last Thursday, he had promised to take time off effective the next day.  How long did he manage to stay off the road, if at all?  According to Richie, he was able to hold off for eighty-three-and-a-half hours.
• So how far are twenty lamp posts?  Well, it turns out that, within one reservoir loop, after you do 3 times (20 lamp posts fast, 10 lamp posts recovery), you would have be just three lampposts short of one full loop.  Therefore, one reservoir loop consisted of 93 lampposts.  Since the reservoir loop is 1.577 miles, this means that the average distance between lampposts is approximately (1.577 x 1609 / 94)  = 27 meters.  But, as we are apt to tell everyone we know, being right on the average means that you are wrong all of the time.  Indeed, the distance is much shorter near Engineer's Gate and much longer at the northwest corner.  On the average, twenty lampposts goes about 20 x 27 = 540 meters.
• 83.5 hours.  540 meters.  How about another number: 2080?  This is the total mileage goal that John Gleason set for himself for this year.  This works out to be 40 miles a week for 52 weeks (question: what does he do on the 365th day?).  As of tonight, he is seven miles short.  That would be the assignment for tomorrow. 
• This workout is supposed to be run as a fartlek and not a sprint workout.  That is, the pickups should not be too fast and the recoveries should not be too slow.  As the coach suggested, this is the kind of workout that you need to do if you want to be like Fritz Mueller when you grow up.  The coach even did six sets himself for two loops with the "A" team, adding "It was possible only because Alan Ruben was not here, because he would have pushed the recoveries too hard for me to keep up."
• For the last few months, getting onto the reservoir was like running an obstacle course in the dark because of the construction work at the West 86th entrance.  The construction work has now been completed, and there are now fences and benches.  Those benches were very convenient for Charles Allard, who sat down on one as soon as he reached that point.
• Eve Kaplan offered this review: "Another AWESOME workout!"  Fine, but in the future we would like Eve to help build up our workout vocabulary beyond one word ...
• After the reservoir workout was finished, people headed back to the Daniel Webster statue along West Drive.  Audrey Kingsley stated, "Ah, this is where the real workout starts" and promptly led a mad charge by a group of six.  Along the way, the group came across someone standing near West 81st Street.  After our group went by, Audrey said, "You know, for a while, I thought his name was Warren."  This caused Craig Chilton to issue this warning to her, "Audrey, before you say something like that, you really should check to see who is among us ..."  Yes, and to think that we have been accusing her of looking around during races ...  (in case you don't get the point, here is a hint: in the Top 10 Favorite Photos of 1999, there is a photo of Sid Howard playing picaboo)
• In the past, we have been accused of publishing many obscure references.  We plead nolo contendere.  However, we must say that we were really pleased with the multilevel interplay within the preceding item.  That has to be our crowning moment ... that is, until the next one.

12/28/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

for road runners:

3 x (200m, short jog recovery)
3 x (1000m, 500m recovery)
3 x (600m, 300m recovery)

FIELD NOTES:

• There were about 25 people at the workout, on this slow day between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

• The substitute coach today was Stuart Calderwood, drafted into service via the modern miracle of voice mail.  What was the theoretical basis of this improvised workout?  Well, in the first few workouts this year, we have covered 400m's, 800m's, 1200m's and 1600m's.  So that leaves 1000m's and 600m's to round out the cycle, right?  This was Stuart's prediction of Tony Ruiz's program for today and once he was pressed into service, it was the logical workout to give.  To get his own running in, Stuart sped around the track by himself after everyone else had finished.  We thank him for his services tonight.
• The first group consisted initially of Craig Chilton, Isaya Okwiya, Brian Marchese and others.  After the official workout was over, those three named individuals were observed to be doing 'strides' because Isaya says it is a good thing that track guys do.  Yeah, those strides look like mighty long and fast ones to us.
• In the third group, Ira Gold was leading the group in the first two 1000m's.  For his efforts, he got a promotion to the second group.  The coach said, "Yeah, you can keep Ross (Galitsky) company", as if Ross wasn't fast.  It is a fundamentally different experience to go from first in one group to last in another group even though the absolute pace is quicker.  Of course, Ross was the guy who played the role of The Destroyer at last week's road workout.  He said, "Oh, but that was on the road."
• In the third group, Stacy Creamer ran the 600m's in something like 2:03, 2:01, 1:58.  Why was the final one so fast?  She explained, "There was someone very close behind me for two laps.  I was afraid that if I slowed down even a bit, we would have the biggest pile up on the track."  Not to worry, because her shadow was left on the side of the track screaming in agony with leg cramps.  Audrey Kingsley got extremely concerned and wanted to know, not "Are you alright?", but "Where is the web camera?"  There would be no photos taken for this episode, but for obvious reasons that are completely different from those at Audrey's own dramatic collapses at the Women's Half Marathon and the Manhattan Half Marathon this year.
• As the coach went about assigning people to different pace groups, someone yelled out, "But where is Dan Sack?"  AWOL tonight, as well as AWOL at the track meet on Sunday.  Definitely not in character.
• Jim Olson said before the workout, "Someone should point out to me just who David Pullman is, because I want to apologize to him for taking his stuff home by mistake."  Alas, David was absent today (or else he was really really late even by this own lofty standards), with someone offering the explanation, "Oh, he's probably on a safari somewhere in Africa."
• David Diviney was trying to explain what "cyclocross" was, when Ross Galitsky jumped in to say, "Yeah, I want to find out what that is."  There was a loud chorus saying, "Ross, you are involved in enough sports already!  You don't need another one!"  Ross said, "But I want to get another bike ..."  Ah, we get it --- so it is the need to accumulate more equipment that motivates multi-sport athletes ...  
• Most people have no doubt seen the Top 10 Favorite Photos of 1999 already.  Tonight, Eve Kaplan asked, "What did I do to deserve to make the top 10?"  Answer: "All you had to do was to hold good form and smile.  What more do you need?"  She also said, "I wasn't even aware of it, until a friend in California called to tell me that they saw my picture."  Did anyone say World Wide Web?
• Carol Tyler logged on to the computer today and found herself on the home page in a photo titled "Me and My Shadow."  She had no idea who that guy was.
• After the workout, someone accidentally bumped into the fire hydrant box and triggered off the alarm.  This led someone else to say, "What is a workout if the fire alarm did not go off?"  This was in reference to last week when that fire alarm bell was going on for an eternity while everybody tried to ignore it.  Who was the guilty party tonight?  Someone exclaimed, "XXXXX did it ... and we don't know him."

• Most of us make the long trek to the Armory from Manhattan.  It is a long trip going up and coming back, so it helps to have company.  Here is a photo of Aubin Sullivan and Brian Barry tonight, seated in front of Kim Mannen's masterpiece on the "A" train.  This would have been another chance to rack up more Gross Rating Points for Kim's ad copy, except that she has moved on to another company and another account ...  Does anyone know where Sara Lee advertises?  (technical note: Sara Lee is a huge conglomerate with many brands, such as Ballpark Frank (no, we don't mean that baseball player Frank Schneiger ...)).

12/23/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• This is an out-and-back workout, starting from the Daniel Webster statue up north, cutting across the 102nd Street transverse, heading south to Cleopatra's Needle and retracing the route back home.  The point is to run the second half at about 20 seconds per mile faster.  For example, if your 10K race pace is 6 minutes/mile, then you should go out at 7 minutes/mile pace and come back at 6:40 minute/mile.  The total distance for the workout is 6.5 miles.

FIELD NOTES

• Two days before Christmas day, this work drew thirty-four people.  Last year, the famous Christmas Eve workout ("Why aren't you home!?") drew only fourteen people.  Shall we say that we are now more mature and committed?
• The question left hanging from last week's workout was: will Stuart Calderwood continue to lead the "B"/"C" people in more workouts, or will he go back to hammering it out with Alan Ruben?  This was answered unequivocally today as Stuart and Alan did the 'horizon' thing on the 'young' folks on the team.
• While we were waiting around for the workout to start, two NYPD officers came around on horses.  They employed a pincer movement, one going left and the other going right to converge at the back of the Daniel Webster statue where they found Tyronne Culpepper.  "Is everything alright?" they asked him.  Yes, everything was alright at that moment as Tyronne was not engaged in an act that affects the quality of life in New York City in a negative manner.  Phew!  Another close call!
• Remember that we inserted a note from the coach to Richie Borrero to remind him to take a week or so off.  Well, he was here again tonight, but he promised to take time off as of tomorrow.  Richie was here tonight with his brother Dan.  Question: "Are they twins?"  Answer: Yes, Richie was the one in the blue hat and Dan was the one in the red hat.  Question: "I have seen them before at the races.  They are fast, aren't they?"  Answer: Yes, they are.
• Now that the NYU final exams are over, Audrey Kingsley can show up again.  She said, "I've been away so long.  At one time, the workout description used to ask, 'Where is Audrey?'  Recently, I am not even mentioned anymore.  Soon it will be 'Who was Audrey?'"  She reached the first mile in a time of 7:35 ( slower than her projected time for a 60K race).  Was she out of conditioning?  Or was it because she was talking non-stop with Yves-Marc Courtines?
• As is often the case, the coach will set up a variation of the workout for those who are racing on the weekend.  When he asked, "Who's racing this weekend?"  Up shot the hand of Dan Sack, making it nine races in eight weeks (including two marathons and a 60K).  We suppose that he has every right to round it off with a track race.
• Since this was effectively a tempo run, there was no place for any recovery runs anywhere.  This was just sheer brute strength.  It is important to go out at that slower pace, which will feel very easy, and then come back strong.  If you go out too fast, then there is no hope in coming back 20 seconds per mile faster.  Taking this point to heart, some of the people may have carried it to the other extreme by going out way too easy and coming back way too fast (special thanks to that pace-pushing triathlete ...).
• For those of you who intend to do the Midnight Run, Alan Ruben has suggested that the Central Park Track Club people and friends gather around the Daniel Webster statue around 1130pm for their own little get-together.
• Here is a random collection of reviews about this workout:
  Eve Kaplan: "It was an AWESOME workout!"
  Yves-Marc Courtines: "It guess that is why they call this a WORKout."
  Tyronne Culpepper: "This reminds me not to skip too many Thursday workouts."
  Bola Awofeso: "I am going to have to take the subway home, because I don't think I will be able to run the 2.5 miles to get home."

12/21/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

for road runners:

3 x (200m, short jog recovery)
1 mile, 800m recovery
4 x (400m, 200m recovery)
1 mile

for track runners:

3 x (200m, short jog recovery)
1200m, 800m recovery
4 x (400m, 200m recovery)
1200m

FIELD NOTES:

• There were twenty-three people at the start of the 800pm session (and someone is always late on account of the trains).  There were about ten people at the 630pm sprinters' session.
• The sprinting Spaniard Raphael Devalle came over and said, "You know the item about the Stuyvesant track website that you posted a few days ago?  (see our On The Web page).  I was from the class of '74 and Noah Perlis was from the class of '64.  I just want to tell you that no offense was taken."  Oh, really?  Like we care!  More interestingly, he revealed the following fact, "I was a State fencing champion at Stuyvesant."  En garde!
• When Dan Sack arrived at the workout, he was handed a medal for the 15K race on Sunday.  He asked, "What is this for?"  One possible answer: "For running eight races in the last seven weeks, including two marathons and a 60 kilometer race."  Well, it was actually for a first-place open men's team finish.  He said, "But I finished in thirty-something-th place."  That was in fact good enough to be the fifth scorer.  Later on, we found out that he thought that it was an individual medal, and hence his comment.  He said, "I've got twenty-five years of education, and I still can't read a simple inscription."
• When Craig Chilton arrived at the workout, he was also handed a medal for the same 15K race.  He said, "I didn't think that we even had five people in the race."  For the record, the other three people were John Scherrer, Noel Comess (in incognito white) and Rich Piccirillo.  The beauty of this team is that you don't even have to organize anything --- there are enough quality runners showing up by themselves that you can get a team medal any day.
• The "A" team was in fact splintered into two sections:  Stuart Calderwood and Craig Chilton ran the miles, while John Scherrer and Isaya Okwiya ran the 1200m's.  Again, it looked like as if the whole place stopped to watch Isaya run the last 200m of the final 1200m with his long stride.  Said John Scherrer, "I ran the last 1200m in 3:34, but I must look like I was running 6 minute/mile compared to him."
• The "B" team had about eight people, including Tyronne Culpepper, Victor Osayi, David Diviney, Jesus Montero and Dan Sack (please pardon us for not being able to name everyone).  At one point, Dan was heard saying out loud, "Oh, I think I finally get it.  We are running like a team ..."
• The "C" team was led by Ira Gold and Stacy Creamer.  Behind them, the half a dozen of other people in the group set their own agenda.  Thus, Bola Awofeso was heard to say, "I'm not going to follow (name deleted), because he isn't going to be able to finish."  Question: "Why was a name deleted?"  Answer #1: "I don't know.  It's a mystery."  Answer #2: "It's no mystery."
• The "D" team also had about eight people, including Frank Schneiger who was asking, "Why are I doing this?  What am I going to get out of this?"  His questions were met with stony silence.
• The latest (and probably last) team member to enter the winner's circle this year is David Diviney, who won at the New York State Cyclocross Championships on Saturday.  Say what?  'Cyclocross' stands for cross-country steeplechase cycling.  That is to say, you ride your bike until you come up to an obstacle, you dismount, you put the bike on your shoulder, you climb over the obstacle, you remount your bicycle and you continue.  Sounds like a lot of fun?
• Kim Mannen came back from Mexico without being sunburnt, and handed out home-baked cookies to celebrate the holidays.  Did she get any running done?  She replied, "It was not easy to run when it is eighty plus degrees outside."  When asked why she was not with the sprinters, she said, "Coach Tony says that I am not ready just yet, but I will be running track races later in the season."
• David Pullman wants us to emphasize that he came in on time this week.  Maybe that will help him not to lose his belongings like he did last week.  As far as he was concerned, he said that he made a lot of friends with Warren Street and Millrose people who were trying to help him find his stuff.
• As one group was leaving, someone wondered why everyone else was still hanging around.  Answer: "They are all waiting for Sid Howard to give them a ride, except that Sid has already left."  Yes, it is nice to know that one is popular.
• For those of you who intend to do the Midnight Run, Alan Ruben has suggested that the Central Park Track Club people and friends gather around the Daniel Webster statue around 1130pm for their own little get-together.  How about that?

12/16/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• This time, we do our warm up eastwards through the 72nd Street transverse and then head up to regroup at the Alexander Hamilton statue (right across the Metropolitan Museum near East 82nd Street).  Our first long pick up is two miles through the northern hills and stopping at the top of Harlem Hill.  We recover southwards and then turning east on the 102nd Street transverse.  We turn north again and at the first traffic light three lampposts down from East 102nd Street, we run one mile strong to finish at West 102nd Street.  We head back home from there.  The total distance is 6.3 miles. (=4.9mile upper loop plus 1.4 mile northern hill loop)

FIELD NOTES

• It was a cool and windy night.  We had 36 persons in attendance tonight, obviously without the two who are doing the Ironman triathlon  in Israel.
• Coach Tony Ruiz was unable to provide a detailed report on the weekend's race results as he was out of color ink cartridge for his computer printer.  As he spoke from memory, he probably missed one of the major team stories of the Joe Kleinerman 10K --- the masters women team was indeed led by the amazing PR-smashing Stacy Creamer and also Sarah Gross, but it was the third scorer Mary Rosado running at a 'marathon-like' distance who helped the team finished second in this race, just enough to move the team up to third place for the year.
• For this workout, you are advised to run the first mile of the two mile pickup at 10 mile race pace and the second mile at 10K race pace.  Then the next single mile should be at the same 10K race pace.  This is a lot harder than you think if you choose to ignore the instructions, because that second mile and the solo mile both involve that big Harlem hill.
• The first people to finish the final mile were Alan Ruben (as the spectators mumbled, "Of course") and Erik Goetze, followed at a short distance behind by Ramon Bermo.  Our trailer's explanation was, "It's not that I did not want to stay with them.  It just happened.  I knew I could have stayed with them, but it would have taken a lot."  Hey, Ramon, aren't you the guy who wants to race yourself into shape at the workouts?
• Right behind the first three was Richie Borrero.  This guy is the MAC $$$-winner in his age group this year, and he had to run quite a few races in order to accomplish that.  As Richie went by, the coach Tony Ruiz yelled out, "Richie, try to take a week off now.  It will do you a lot of good."  If Richie did not hear that, then he can read about it right here.
• On the way back, the talk of the town was about how Stuart Calderwood drove the second group to a tremendous final mile today.  First, he reassembled the fractured group from the first two-mile pickup.  Then they started out together until the bottom of the hill.  As Tivon Jacobson noted, "Then all of a sudden the people in my group just took off up the big hill leaving a sonic boom behind."  Well, Tivon will have the next month to think about this episode as he takes his intersession break in Arizona/California.  But everybody thought that they were pushed to run better and harder.  We don't know if we want to take a poll to see if these people want Stuart to recover from his cough so that he can hammer it out with Alan Ruben or to keep him around with them.
• It has come to our attention that these workouts have been invaded by French-speaking people.  This week, we were listening to Roger and Olivier chatting in French on the way up, and with Yves-Marc Courtines on the way back.  Of course, we are not francophobic here.  After all, the past president of this club is Sylvie Kimché, who tries to assure us that she is deep at heart still a plain girl from the French countryside and that is why Columbus (Ohio) is just like home to her.  Yves-Marc made the following recommendation today: "I think  we'll need a frog icon to route all the French people to their special corner."  Yes, everybody (and especially our Brits) is welcome to click on this icon.

• Pam Bohl is not a French citizen, but she happens to be a resident of Paris (France).  Pam drops by our workouts whenever she is in town (e.g. see 9/7/99 workout description when she was between Alaska and Paris), like today.  As an international member, she probably logs more airplane mileage for club events than anyone except Colin Frew.  In fact, she is even on the list of people for the Armory Track this season!
• Speaking of French speakers, we must relate a story about Tyronne Culpepper.  Once upon a time, at a certain social function for Central Park Track Club people, we came into a room and saw this very strange sight of four people speaking on wireless/cellular phones in different corners of the room.  It was a scene that could be the subject for the Theater of the Absurd.  Anyway, one of these people was Tyronne, who was called by someone on his phone.  He seemed very happy to hear from the person and said, "Comment ça va?"  Then he said, "Okay, I'll have to switch to another language, because that is all I know in French."  Of course, he may not be the only mono-phrased French speaker on our club.  Speaking for himself, Roland Soong claims that he can say "Ce qui me rend fou c'est quand tu est comme ça" in flawless French due to countless practices.  Do you know where that phrase comes from?  Knowing that you don't have a prayer to come up the answer, he tells you that it is from Nabokov's Lolita.  Postscript: John Scherrer wrote: "I would have known the Lolita reference."  Good for him!  In the next quiz, he'll get a 10-item handicap!
• Speaking of francophiles, where in the world is Kevin Arlyck?  Things don't seem to be the same without his critiques of our workout descriptions ...

12/14/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, short jog recovery)
3 x (1200m, 600m recovery)
3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

Field Notes:

• It was rainy and cold outside tonight.  On the whole, we would rather be in Cancún like Kim Mannen.  Instead, twenty-six of us showed up at the 8pm session at the Armory.
• The starting time was 830pm last week and 810pm this week.  We would like to get started with the coach's speech around 745pm in the future as we are sure that everyone would like to get home early.
• To save some time, the coach did not cover the race results over the weekend.  He will save that for the Thursday workout, when we can stand in the cold and listen to him recite the results while we shiver.  Here is the sneak preview.  Of course, the Joe Kleinerman 10K was the final scoring race of the year.  Unofficially, our final placings are Open Men in 4th place, Masters Men in 1st place, Open Women in 3rd place and Masters Women in 3rd place.
• The coach recommends that the opening 1200m be done at 10K race pace.  But if your 10K race pace is slower than your 10 mile race pace, you should try the latter.  We hope that you are thoroughly confused by the preceding statement, but we will have mercy on you by giving you the answer --- Stuart Calderwood's times at the Hot Chocolate 10 Miler (5:38 min/mile; cough) and Joe Kleinerman 10K (5:40 min/mile; cough, cough, cough).
• One of the most difficult things to adapt to is the air (or lack thereof) inside the Armory.  As the workout progressed, people were getting into trouble with breathing (typical symptom: burning throat).  We note for posterity that the third (that is, the least fast) group was reduced to just two people (the flying Jim Olson and Aubin Sullivan) on the last 1200m as everybody else dropped out.  When told that he was running as fast as the preceding group, Jim said, "But I am not going to have anything left for the rest of the season."
• John Scherrer wanted to know how we found about his photo at "Recalling a Summer of Politics."  He got the standard answer, "It is easy for someone as famous as you are."  The very humble John did protest, "But I am not famous.  However, there is another John Scherrer who is a faster runner and who has done something like a 13 minute 5K in NCAA competition."  Well, we don't know about that, but we may have a case that this John Scherrer (class of '98) is not as famous as his fellow alumnus Devon Martin (aka Devon Sargent) (class of '90) --- while both of them appear in the Columbia University Track & Field Alumni page, Devon gets an annotated photo and John doesn't.
• David Pullman arrived fashionably late and was running his own workout afterwards, chasing after John Scherrer.  Someone should have told John to let David pass, or else John may find himself named in the 2.5 billion lawsuit as well (if not already).  This is not as far-fetched as you might think ... (there goes yet another unexplained insider reference coming from this website ...)
• The Armory house rules requires that people should run in groups of eight or fewer people.  Obviously, we are much bigger than that and we will have to split up.  This makes it impossible for the coach to manage all the groups all at once.  Therefore, we are looking for volunteers to act as timers.  We are not asking for you to do that at every session, but just once per season.  If you can do it, please send an e-mail to rolandsoong@centralparktc.org to get listed.  Or you can just show up --- there is no such thing as having too many timers.  Tonight, our timer was Bola Awofeso, who said, "I don't know why I am coming up here."  Answer: "To time?"  Afterwards, Brian Barry said, "Bola is a good timer.  He makes us move on immediately after each set."
• There were a couple of people who wondered if they could move from the 800pm session to train with the sprinters at 630pm.  The short answer is, "No."  If you have a 800pm session pass, you will not be admitted before 745pm.  That's final.  If you really want to transfer, you will need to clear with our president John Kenney, who will tell you about the cost differential between the two sessions.
• Final comment: This workout description is extraordinarily long, even by our very wordy standards.  The reason is that there was another team up at the Armory and we want to impress them as to how verbose we can get in our workout descriptions.  So maybe we can't beat them in running, but we can sure outlip them ... tsk, tsk, tsk ... and we are pretty sure that they will all be reading this ...

12/9/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• We go from the Daniel Webster statue up to the reservoir.   For one loop, we run a series of 3 lampposts fast, 3 lampposts recovery.  The pace should not be any faster than 10K race pace for those fast lampposts.  We come off the reservoir at the West 86th Street entry point and we turn north.  At 102nd Street, we run to the top of the Harlem Hill fast, recover down to the 110th Street into the park, and then we end with a one mile pickup to complete the northern hill loop.  We just jog home from there on.  If you are racing on Sunday, then your workout consists of 3 sets of (3 lampposts fast, 2 lampposts recovery) from West 90th Street and then reversing to go home.   The purpose of this workout is to mentally divide the run into small, manageable segments (thus invoking the name of Fritz Mueller in vain).

FIELD NOTES

• This was just three days before the last scoring race of the year, the Joe Kleinerman 10K.  There were forty-three people present at the workout, including quite a few newcomers.  This count includes non-running Scott Willett on his bicycle.  Who are the newcomers?  Quite a heterogeneous mix --- there are people who found us on the web and there are people who have never see our website.  And Margaret Angell brought a friend named Margaret ...  For those who want a better idea of what these workouts are about, there is a massive file (over 300,000 characters) containing the historical archive of workout descriptions (in fact, you are reading it right now) --- you will not believe how much can be said about so little ...
• The headcount was not that easy to make, because the group was packed in tight around the coach.  So for once, the coach did not have to yell out loud to be heard.
• The Joe Kleinerman 10K is a men's double points race, which means that it is possible to for some teams to make quantum leaps in their standings.  In the Open Women's division, we are in third place, 15 points ahead of the next team (GNY).  If we can field three people who complete the race, we are guaranteed 1 point, whereas the maximum points that GNY can get is 15 for winning.  We expect to be able to field many more than 3 women out there on Sunday.  In the Masters Men's division, we are the current leaders by about 10 points.  Since the maximum points is 30 for winning, we still need to put in a good effort in order not to be overtaken.  So we need our big guns out there on Sunday.  In the Open Men's division, we just moved from fifth place to fourth last week.  Again, we will need a good effort from the team to hold on.  We should be able to do that, provided that we don't have people staying in bed like Erik Goetze did last week ( ... okay, so he had a cold ... ).
• Joining us tonight all the way from Italy is Marco Tagliati, brother of Michele Tagliati.  He is an international member of the our club, having just completed the Florence marathon in 2:52:30.  He will be running the Joe Kleinerman 10K on Sunday.
• As a reminder, you are all invited to Mindy Solkin / Raphael DeValle's Marathon Millennium New Year's Party.  You have the choice between the sprint and the endurance option, or both.  Details can be found on our home page.

12/7/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, short jog recovery)
4 x (800m, 400m recovery)
3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

Field Notes:

• This is the first indoor track workout for us this year.  So there are some adjustments and adaptations to be made.  The first thing that we need to be aware is the time.  As we are signed up for the 800pm session, we are not permitted to enter into the track area until 745pm.  So our proposed schedule in the future is as follows:  if you think that you need to have an extensive warmup, you can come around 730pm and warm up outside on the street (you can leave your belongings inside); we will then proceed to the track at 745pm and dispense with the announcements immediately; we will start running promptly at 800pm.  The coach has promised no mercy to anyone who says, "Tony, I got here late.  What is the workout tonight?"
• There were thirty-two people present today for the 800pm session.  
• There were some first-time visitors to the Armory track.  What do they think?  Upon seeing the cavernous track area for the first time, David Diviney was in awe.  Afterwards, he said, "I can keep doing those 300m's forever here."
• Craig Chilton looked around today and said, "Good, the pacesetters Alan Ruben and Stuart Calderwood are not here today."  Before he got too happy, Stuart showed up.
• We will be running in Lane 2 most of the time, and we should use Lane 3 only for passing purposes.  That means you should not hog Lane 3 indefinitely.  And always be aware of who else is using the track.
• On the last 300m of the night, it seemed that everybody stopped and rooted for Margaret Angell to either pass the lead male runner (Ira Gold) or to hold off the trailing male runner (Tivon Jacobson).  She did not do it tonight, but given her track credentials, those guys are in big trouble once she gets a few more workouts in.  P.S.  Enough inquiries about this event has prompted us to publish the commemorative photo.
• The Armory house rules requires that people should run in groups of eight or fewer people.  Obviously, we are much bigger than that and we will have to split up.  This makes it impossible for the coach to manage all the groups all at once.  Therefore, we are looking for volunteers to act as timers.  We are not asking for you to do that at every session, but just once per season.  If you are interested, please send an e-mail to rolandsoong@centralparktc.org to get listed.  Currently, the sign-up list is blank!

12/2/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• The route today is the six mile loop in the clockwise direction.  The first long pickup is the mile beginning at West 102nd Street.  The second pickup is 1000m from West 96th Street to West 86th Street.  The third long pickup is the 800m from Cleopatra's Needle to East 72nd Street.  Around the southern end of the park, we recover 10 lampposts, run 4 lampposts hard, 2 easy, 4 hard, 2 easy, 4 hard and jog to the statue.

FIELD NOTES

• Being just two days before the 10 mile scoring race, we had just thirty-two people at the workout.  The winds earlier in the week have died down, so this was just a pleasantly cool night.  The only drawback was that the cars were allowed in the park tonight, which drew a lot of complaints from passerbys.
• One of our female runners got to the statue and was going to head into the bush.  Instead, she found a police car parked right behind the statue with the spotlight turned on.  As she pondered her options, someone suggested the bushes on the south side.  "No," she said, "It's so dark over there and you never know if there are some weird people over there."  When someone said that only Sid Howard comes from that direction, she said, "Oh, you mean to say that Sid is weird!  I've got to report what you just said to the webmaster."
• Just to show that this is no laughing matter, one of our teammates was once arrested, placed in handcuffs and led away in a squad car for the said offense.  Since he had no family in the city, one of his teammates had to go down and bail him out.  This has been a public service announcement from your favorite website.
• Yves-Marc Courtines will be running the 10 mile race on Saturday.  So he looked around and asked someone, "Are you going to run just the four mile loop."  The honoree was perplexed, "Of all the people here, why would you think that I would be the one?"  Bad reputations apparently travel fast and wide.
• Somewhere around the swimming pool at the northern end of the park, a bicyclist came around and yelled in evident surprise, "Hey, Richie Stewart!"  When a teammate asked Richie who that was, he smirked and said, "Oh, someone who knew who I WAS!"
• In the absence of the big cannons, the alpha males today were Jesus Montero, John Scherrer, Guillermo Rojas and Gordon Streeter.  Let's make sure that their names are entered into the record, so to speak.
• There is an art and a science in designing workout routes.  In particular, the route today has the drawback that the end of the last long pickup is at East 72nd Street, which is temptingly close to West 72nd Street.  Is it not surprising to see all these people conveniently taking a right turn?
• After the workout, one of the older people on the team told Rick Shaver as a point of information, "It does not get easier."  A very grateful Rick said, "Gee, thanks for letting me know."
• For the record, we note that Dan Sack was not at the workout today.  We will state carefully that this does not preclude him from running by himself, because we can imagine him sending in a complaint to that effect.

11/30/99

Workout Description:

As in the previous Tuesday workouts this month, the course is three loops around the reservoir.  The pickups are 600m's at specific points (namely, you get on the reservoir, jog for 10 lampposts, run hard until the E90th Street steps, recover for 7 lampposts, run hard until the northern pumphouse, recover for 7 lampposts, run hard until the West 86th entrance, for each loop).  If you are racing this weekend, it is sufficient to do just two loops.  If you are Dan Sack, you are advised to just go home.

Field Notes:

• At 625pm, the weather report says 34 degrees, with wind chill at 13 degrees due to the 20 mph north winds.  Still, we have 29 people showing up on this last Tuesday road workout.  
• Next Tuesday, we will be at the Armory Track & Field Center.  If you have signed up already, here are the key points to note:
  (1) Please read the house rules for the Armory Track & Field Center.  These rules are designed with courtesy and safety in mind.  Please note that if you break the rules, you may get yourself and the team banned from the facility!
  (2) The Central Park Track Club is signed up for the 8pm session.  This means that we will not be allowed to enter the track area until after 745pm.  Do not attempt to sneak in before the designated time, for you may get yourself and the team banned from the facility!!!
  (3) If this is your first time up at the place this year, then your picture ID should be available for pickup at the front desk.  If you have not turned in a picture previously, you should bring one with you so that your ID can be prepared on site.  If you have not signed up yet, you should not even bother going up there because you will be refused entry --- you should talk to John Kenney first about late sign-up. 
  (4) Travel instructions are also linked through our  workout page.  It is very easy (but long) to get there by subway, and the neighborhood is bustling and safe.
• Whereas last Tuesday was exceedingly warm, this one was a preview of winter.  The Coach said, "This is especially hard on Puerto Ricans (that would include the coach himself), and especially for someone who has just come back from Puerto Rico."  That would be Sarah Gross.
• When the Coach got to the statue, he started to look around.  "I'm looking over my shoulder for George Wisniewski," he said.  Apparently, George showed up for the first time in years last week.
• Although everyone was anxious to take off, Stuart Calderwood felt compelled to make one announcement: "There is someone among us who ran the New York City Marathon one week, then ran the NYRRC Cross Country Championships the next week, followed by the Philadelphia Marathon the week after.  On this past weekend, he ran the Knickerbocker 60K on Saturday and came back to run the Peter McArdle 15K on Sunday.  His name is Dan Sack, and he's here tonight."  In the light of this long list of accomplishments, the fact that he has two broken bones in his back becomes a minor historical footnote.
• Your Open Women's team rep Audrey Kingsley would like to remind you about the last women's scoring race of the year, the Joe Kleinerman 10K on December 12th.  The current standings are such that we need to field a team in order to guarantee a third-place finish for the year.  We do not have to place, we just need a team to finish to get the minimum number of points (specifically, we are 15 points ahead of the next team and we are guaranteed 1 point if we field a team while the other team can get at most 15 points).  So come out there even if you don't feel like racing hard, because this will be more of a celebration of the hard work over the whole year.
• On the Men's side, the situation with the Masters team will depend on how we do in the last two races (the 10 miler this Saturday and the 10K on the Sunday after) as the top teams are separated by just a few points.  This means that the old geezers will have to go out and work hard.
• The first group of people to finish were Stuart Calderwood, Jonathan Pillow and Toby Tanser.  Stuart would like the record to reflect that he was in such lofty company on this occasion.  By the way, an unreported race result (note: XC results are always scored by hand and published in the middle of the week) was that Toby Tanser won the Peter McArdle XC 15K this Sunday; in the same race, Stacy Creamer was 2nd overall female and 1st female master.  An even more astonishing race result was that self-proclaimed-non-runner-type Ross Galitsky finished 13th in the Knickerbocker 60K.

11/18/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• This workout was a strength-oriented workout designed to help the 10k/10 mile racers in early December.  The course is very simple: 4 times the lower loop for 6.8 miles in total.  On the first three loops, you run this at one minute per mile slower than your 10K race pace.  On the last loop, you increase your pace to 10K race pace.

FIELD NOTES

• There were twenty-eight people at the workout tonight.  The temperature was in the mid-40's, but there was no wind chill on this still night.  People were reminded that the Annual Club Party was scheduled for Saturday (December 4th), not the date printed in the invitation that was mailed out.  Given that the location was misprinted last year, someone said, "If there are no mistakes, then it wouldn't be an CPTC invitation."
• This workout is obviously a test of your patience.  The first three loops may feel comfortably easy after you are warmed up.  The important thing is to avoid the temptation to get progressively faster from loop to loop, or else you will have a hard time on the last one.
• Charging hard and fast to finish first today was Stuart Calderwood, the alpha male of the day.  Why this hard effort just three days before the National Masters Cross Country Championships?  Because Stuart was mentally re-playing a previous workout (see 4/8/99 in our historical archive ) in which he ran with Ramon Bermo and Alan Ruben.  That workout preceded one of his best races ever.  Today, he said, "All I had to do is to imagine Alan Ruben (not here today) running right next to me."
• Coming up behind Stuart was Victor Osayi, who asked, "Stuart, I need to know exactly how fast your mile pickup was!"  Yes, the high jumper want to know exactly how high (down to the last centimeter) the bar rests.
• Then came a third group which had at least half a dozen people at the start of that last loop.  When they came around, Ramon Bermo was in front of the pack.  That figures, because this man professes "I am racing my workouts to get back into shape."  A surprise showing a few steps later was Randy Ehrlich, just back from an 11 hour ironman triathlon.  Randy said, "That triathlon was a PR by one hour and thirty something minutes."  Yes, it is such a depressing thought to think that PR's can be broken by hours, and not just seconds.
• So maybe Alan Ruben was not here today, but Gordon Bakoulis was here as alpha female and getting serious about that Olympics Marathon trial.
• After the race, there was some general discussion about the Homdel (NJ) course on which the National Masters Cross Country Championships will be held this Sunday.  Sid Howard said that he ran there over ten years ago, and all he could say was, "The first mile was all uphill.  Then there was the Bowl, in which you are running around in circles.  There are no big hills, but the course is deceptively hard."  Later on, Bill Dunlop came around on a bicycle and he had just raced there last year.  Bill said, "The first mile is completely uphill from the flats to the treeline.  Then there is the Bowl, in which you are running around a long big bend.  After that there are many rolling hills, up and down.  The final straightaway is about two hundred meters long, so you better start your kick with about a quartermile left."
• Fritz Mueller came out today to try to do two loops.  He ran the first one too hard, and just jogged the next one.  When Coach Tony Ruiz saw him, he said, "I gave them a Fritz Mueller workout today."  Fritz vehemently denied it, saying "I never did four times the lower loop.  Only the four mile loop."  So, back in the days when men were real Übermenschen, they ran four times the four mile loop routinely in workouts.  Needless to say, Fritz gave an obnoxious smirk about the wimps of today.
• We would like to warn you about not trying to start any conversation with Tivon Jacobson about whether or not a mouse dropped from the top of the Empire State Building would die from the impact.  Believe us when we say that this won't help you run any faster, except away from him.  This has been a public announcement service from your favorite website. 
• Our Global Surveillance System (tm) spy camera picked up a certain Central Park Track Club member climbing the rock wall at NYU instead of coming to our workout.  Previously,  this individual phoned in to plead a prior business engagement.  What kind of funny business is this?
• Speaking of spy cameras, we received this note from a member of another team the next day, "By the way, you should wear better glasses because last night we came across each other in the south of the park.  I said hello but you didn't  recognize me. I think you were looking at girls !"  We plead oxygen-depleted attention-deficient syndrome instead.
• The next workout is Tuesday 7pm (11/23) in Central Park.  There will be no workout on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday).  On the week after Thanksgiving, the two workouts are still Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm in Central Park.  Then, on Tuesday December 7th, we will move to the Armory at 8pm every Tuesday thereafter until April.  On Thursdays, we will always be in Central Park at 7pm.

11/16/99

Workout Description

• We start from the Daniel Webster statue to the reservoir and do three counterclockwise laps.  On the first loop, we get on the reservoir and jog for ten lampposts.  Then we run a warm-up of 3 lamppost fast, 2 easy, 4 fast, 2 easy and 5 fast.  The first pickup is the half mile from East 90th Street to the northern pump house.  We recover 400m and then run another 400m from West 91st Street to West 86th Street.  On the second loop, the long pickup is 1200m from the southern pump house to the northern pump house.  We recover 400m and then run another 400m from West 91st Street to West 86th Street.  On the third loop, what we do is 3 times (10 lampposts fast, 5 easy).  Then we stop when we see the coach, chat and shiver in the cold.  The total distance of the workout is ((3 x 1.59) + (2 x 0.8)) = 6.4 miles.

Field notes:

• There were 26 people at the workout, including Sarah Gross on bike patrol.  She said, "I'm doing what I hated other people doing."  In spite of this relatively low turnout, we had the entire proceedings recorded by a videocameraman (J.R. Mojica).   Somewhere, this workout will be showing up in one of his video movies.
• Richie Borrero brought copies of tapes of the Chicago Marathon for Eve Kaplan and Bola Awofeso.  When asked if any CPTC people was on tape, Richie said, "No, but my brother Dan was on for one second.  He took the tape and replayed that one moment about fifty times."
• At the workout, there were several non-running-related announcements.  This is a reminder that runners are not always self-absorbed and self-indulgent --- we do many things other than running, and we care about other people and things too.  So maybe it's all about 'me', but 'me' can be tender, loving and caring too.  Right?
  
  • From Eve Kaplan, we have this note that appears now on our home page: "As some of you may know, I work for Do Something, a national non-profit organization dedicated to developing and recognizing youth as leaders in their communities via curriculum and projects that foster community development.  Brittanica.com (yes, the online version of those famous encyclopedias!) has announced that Do Something will be the recipient of $1.00 (one dollar) for everyone who logs onto their site ( www.britannica.com  ), selects Do Something as their charity of choice, and registers.   Registration is easy - just your name and e-mail - and you can even select "Do not send me info" if you don't want to be bothered.  Do Something is in need of financial support so we can continue to foster the development of the next generation of leaders.  So, PLEASE GO TO www.britannica.com  and REGISTER FOR DO SOMETHING AS YOUR CHARITY!!  Thanks.  P.S. you can also check us out at www.dosomething.org "
    
  • Meanwhile Frank Handelman wants your assistance in preparing free turkey dinners that they give out at the Goddard-Riverside Community Center on Thanksgiving and Christmas days.  More than 1,000 people get a good meal this way.  The details will appear shortly in the News Items section of our home page.
    
  • Finally, Stuart Calderwood said that even if you don't know how to cook a turkey for Frank, you can still earn a turkey dinner for someone by running Turkey Classic race this weekend.  The corporate sponsors will donate turkeys for men and women who finish below certain cutoff times.  For many runners on our club, those times should be virtually like training runs.  So please get out there.
    
• This was a brisk, cold night, and everyone was awestruck at the sight of Tivon Jacobson in shorts.  And he is from Arizona, no less.  Tivon had a simple explanation, "I just didn't have time to buy long tights yet, because this cold wave came so suddenly."
• Yes, once again Toby Tanser couldn't get a plane out of town and once again he ended up running our workout.  Are we unsurprised, or what?  Are we going to be stuck with him all the time?  Will Aero Peru come through at the last moment?  Will they have water up at Huancayo?  Stay tuned for further episodes of your favorite drama show, Toby's World ...  By the way, in case you haven't notice, the New York City Marathon wrap-up story was penned by none other than Toby Tanser.  
• You are no doubt aware that this Toby Tanser guy has posted a new quiz, for high stakes (namely a Fila t-shirt signed by Paul Tergat).  We didn't notice many people approaching him today for hints; in fact, we didn't see John Scherrer at all, as he must be researching the answers.  On the side, we heard Stacy Creamer groaning, "Oh, there is absolutely nothing on the World Wide Web about that other race that Grete Waitz won more than nine times."  Since John Scherrer used a Norwegian source last time, it may be that he already knows this one --- now you see why John should be handicapped ...
• For the NYRRC Cross Country Championships last Sunday, we wrote: "Hard to believe, but Dan Sack just ran the New York City Marathon last week.  But at least he has promised not to run the Philadelphia Marathon next week."  Today, Dan came up to tell  us, "But I am running the Philadelphia Marathon!"  Sorry about the misinformation.  We should have known better.  Coach Tony Ruiz had this to say, "You have my blessing.  But I will keep that in the back of my head, and I won't forget."
• The workout terminated at West 91st Street, but people still had to go home.  Since it was cold, people obviously wanted to keep moving to stay warm.  Our Global Surveillance System (tm) found three people running down to Central Park South and recorded these words:
  Male # 1: "Hey, I am running this faster than the workout on the reservoir.  Are you trying to break me?"
  Female: "No, no, no, not at all." (steps on the accelerator pedal even harder)
  Male # 2: "Why are you running so fast?  Are you thinking about food?  Are you thinking about dinner?"
  Female: "I am always thinking about food."  (puts both feet on the accelerator pedal)
  There was even a mass sprint finish to 59th Street.
• Next week, there will be a Tuesday workout at the Daniel Webster statue at 7pm.  On Thursday, being Thanksgiving Day, the coach has declared an off-day.  He said, "It's Thanksgiving Day and I am going to be with my family.  If you want to come here, you will have to talk it over with your family.  Of course, you can just come here and talk to yourself.  That's okay with me."

11/11/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• The entire workout takes place around the bottom loop.  Without getting into the intricate timing and landmarks, the core of the workout is three repeats of 800m's with 3 minute jogs in between, and a full mile run.

FIELD NOTES

• There were 29 people present at the workout, including some marathoners just out there to loosen up as well as some cross-country racers just out there to loosen up.  This workout was designed to help people prepare for the 10 miler and the 10K in December.
• Tony Ruiz was off today to cram for an exam, so Stuart Calderwood was our coach.  Someone groaned, "Oh no, the workout is going to start on time today."
• When Stuart went around pointing at the marathoners and enumerating their accomplishments (e.g. Sandra Olivo's twenty minute PR), someone pointed to Ramon Bermo and said, "What about him?  He had a time of 3:08!"
• Charles Allard was one of the marathoners who showed up at the workout.  When asked what he was doing here, he said, "I was wondering about that too!"  When Stuart pointed out that Charles crossed the finish line with the clock reading 3:00:01 but his chip time was 2:59:56, someone yelled, "Thank God for the chip!"
• As a reminder to people about the club standings, our Masters team of Alan Ruben-Noel Comess-Victor Osayi finished 2nd in the New York City Marathon, and thereby catapulted the team into first place, just a few points ahead of the next two teams.  So the final two scoring races of the year will determine the final standings.
• One of the people to arrive late at the scene was the legendary Fritz Mueller, who drew a spontaneous round of applause.  What did Fritz have to say?  He said, "Oh, shit!"  As prepossessing as ever ...
• During lunchtime today, there was a dual cycling-running meet between NYU cycling coach G'mo Rojas and NYU running coach Ramon Bermo.  Incredibly, the matched race was declared by the two principals to be a draw.  Excuse us?  A draw?  After thirty minutes, it was a draw?  We guess the fix must have been on, so that neither one of them will lose their jobs to the other.  The two of them have not buried their hatchets, as they have declared war on all those people who have heaped abuse upon them during the build-up phase of this non-event.
• Bob Howard was seen walking up West Drive in civilian clothes.  In case you have not noticed, he ran the New York City Marathon in 4:59:09.  
• Jackie Cortes showed up at a road workout for the first time in a long while.  Good to see her!

11/9/99

Workout Description

• We start from the Daniel Webster statue to the reservoir and do three counterclockwise laps.  The first pickup is a 1200m from the southern pumphouse to the northern pumphouse.  We recover to West 86th Street, and the second pickup goes from there to East 90th Street for a 0.577 mile (= 0.577 x 1609 = 928 meters) pickup.  Thereafter, there were some repeats of (10 lampposts fast, 5 lampposts jog) that we can't remember the details of (and neither did Toby Tanser).  The total distance of the workout is ((3 x 1.59) + (2 x 0.8)) = 6.4 miles.

Field notes:

• On this first workout after the New York City Marathon, there were 26 people present.  Obviously, that big race was a big factor in lowering attendance.  But Stuart Calderwood offered this alternate explanation: "Everybody is tapering off for the big cross country race this weekend."  Yeah, right on, we'll see y'all there ...

• Mark Gombiner wondered if it was safe to leave his clothes in the bushes.  ("Is it safe?"  re: the movie Marathon Man)  Generally, it is not safe since our habits are known to the locals, who are not particularly discriminating.  We remember Max Schindler being really upset because someone swiped an old t-shirt full of holes that he left in the bushes, as it was his sentimental favorite shirt.  Last year, someone left a marathon goodies bag in the bushes and came back to find it stripped clean of the energy bars but the mailers were still there.  So you should come dressed in absolute discardables if you want to leave anything in the bushes.

• Ramon Bermo came late and kept asking everybody what the workout is on the way up.  "I was late.  What do you want me to do?"  The retort: "We want you to show up on time."  His explanation: "This is the workout right after the New York City Marathon.  I know that the coach is going to talk on forever."

• Audrey Kingsley showed up at the workout, but obviously did not run much after that tough marathon race.  She said, "I showed up because I don't want you to write that you were disappointed that I didn't show up."  So instead, we'll write that we were disappointed that she showed up because she should be resting and/or doing her homework!  Yes, we are determined not to let her win one ...

• Toby Tanser and Julia Casals are still trying to leave town and not succeeding.  So they showed up at the workout instead.  They were scheduled to go to a high-altitude training camp in Huancayo, Peru, but there were problems with the airplane arrangements.  This training camp culminates with a marathon (gasp! gasp! gasp!).  When told about this marathon, Harry Morales pondered, "Do they even have water up there?"

• For the distance runners (coached by Tony Ruiz), the Tuesday workouts will continue to be in Central Park at the Daniel Webster statue at 7pm.  On the first Tuesday in December, we will begin our first indoor track workout at the Armory at 8pm.

11/4/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• From the Daniel Webster statue, we jog up to West 86th Street.  The first pickup is 1000m to West 97th Street.  Recovery is to West 102nd Street.  The second pickup is 1000m up over the hill down to the Martin Luther King Boulevard entrance into the park.  Recovery is east, then south, to the New York City Marathon entrance into Central Park at Eest 102nd Street.  The third pickup is a 1000m to East 90th Street.  Recovery is northbound to East 97th Street.  The fourth pickup is 1000m through the cutoff to West 102nd Street.  Recovery is southbound to West 90th Street.  Supposedly, there are some lamppost pickups back to the finish but the reporter has chosen to not to listen anymore by this point ...  The total distance was billed by the coach as 5.7 miles, but should be 6.7 miles in reality.  

FIELD NOTES

• Just three days before the New York City marathon, there were 36 people in attendance.  It was nice and cool, but very dark for the first Daylight Savings Time road workout.  We'll just have to get used to it.
• Although this workout was called the 1K workout, those 1000m's are 'estimates', so you should not be overly concerned about the times that you recorded on your $149 Nike digital sports watches.
• The first people to arrive (namely, Eric Aldrich) witnessed the presentation ceremony by Toby Tanser's delegate to the winner of the translation prize (see Famous Saying # 654), Kiet Vo.  The winner's enthusiasm was tempered somewhat when it was explained that Toby just trying to get rid of the coolmax singlet.
• The next to arrive for the workout was Ramon Bermo.  He said, "Listen up, everybody, we shouldn't run longer than those guys on Sunday, so this workout will just have to be 26 miles 384 yards ..."  When the real coach Tony Ruiz arrived, he said, "Ramon, I could hear you talking loud from all the way down at Columbus Circle.  You know, you were a normal guy until you got into this triathlon thing ..." 
• We posted this message on our home page about this workout: "Michele Tagliati says that he will bring a contingent of NYC marathoners from Italy to the Thursday workout, so that they can see how the other side lives (runs).  So we advise everybody to be on their best behavior (no spitting, no puking, no urinating, no flying elbows, etc).  We don't want them to get the right impression ..."  This turned out to a false alarm, as Michele found himself "on call" for daughter Isabella and the Italians were still jet-lagged to deal with new cultural shocks.
• Just as well that the Italians didn't show, because this is what they would have observed:  At one point during the coach's speech, a female member went into the bushes right by the statue to do her business.  After 15 seconds, we heard a very loud shriek: "Aaaaaaah!"  After another 30 seconds, she finally emerged and said, "There is a man in there!"  After another 30 seconds, a male member then emerged from those bushes.  Both were seriously teased by all those present.
• When the coach talked about the Club Awards Party coming up, he mentioned that some people on the club can really party.  At which point, our Disco Queen # 1 directed everybody's attention to our Disco Queen # 2 by pointing.  Well, if the truth be told, there has to be a lot of finger pointing all around.
• The person who came in last (and we won't name names) had this to say, "I used to have to worry about being left behind.  Now all I have to do is maintain my slow pace, and there is a steady stream of teammates dashing out of the bushes to rejoin the workout with me."
• After walking back to the statue with a muscle strain, Sid Howard said, "This is the best I've felt in a long time."  Say what ...?

11/2/99

Workout Description

• What workout?

Field notes:

• Heavy rains and howling winds (25mph to 35mph from the southeast, gusting to 40mph).

• Notwithstanding these conditions, we still saw almost twenty people showing up.  Of course, the coach Tony Ruiz had to be there, since this is his job to be there.  Here is an incomplete list of the others: David Diviney, Eve Kaplan, Thomas Pennell, Jonathan Pillow, Toby Tanser, Kiet Vo, Laurel Touby, Jim Aneshansley, Brian Marchese, Eric Aldrich, Tivon Jacobson and, of course, Stacy Creamer and Stuart Calderwood.  What is wrong with these people?  Why do they show up on an absolutely dismal night?  The most innocent explanation is that it is a sense of team spirit that made so many people come.  A more cynical explanation is that these people have no other meaningful lives outside of running around a track like gerbils.  Finally, maybe these people were still jealous of the extensive coverage that Stuart Calderwood and Bola Awofeso got for being the only two people to show up for a workout during hurricane Floyd and thought they can get exclusive space this time.

• The sprinters were absent en masse from the track on this nasty night because they thought they would be warm and dry indoors at the Armory track.  Instead, a miscommunication caused them to be turned away at the door.

• How bad were the conditions?  We asked Stacy Creamer, who has been to workouts under all sorts of conditions.  She said, "It's really not all that bad.  I remember us standing underneath the slats and peering out to watch what was happening out there."  Not to mention the great lightning storm when people were huddled against the doorway as the thunderbolts came down ...

• When people started asking the coach to give the workout, he said, "I don't think it is a good idea to run on the track tonight.  It is pitch dark and the track surface is slippery.  In other words, I am effectively cancelling the workout tonight."

• So what did people do after the workout was pronounced to be officially cancelled?  They stood around in the rain to chat!  The funniest sight is Kiet Vo standing with an umbrella, which was quite useless in the wind ...

• This is just five days before the New York City marathon, and we were hoping that we would not see any racers out there tonight.  In fact, only two showed up: Jonathan Pillow and Thomas Pennell.  Thomas is a triathlete, so what does he care about a little water?  Jonathan will be making his marathon debut, so he has to cram in a few useful tips (e.g. how to get into the local elite starting section, hanging out with Craig Chilton for the first few miles, double-knotting the shoelaces on his racing flats, etc).

• We were most gratified NOT to see Audrey Kingsley, who must be in the middle of her carboloading program.

• On his way out, Eric Aldrich did not give the accumulated water on the roads any respect: "This is just cross-country running."  Well, usually cross-country races take place during the day when you can see ...

• We want you to take note that the next Tuesday workout will be in Central Park.  It will be a speed workout done on the roads.  We meet at 7pm at the Daniel Webster statue.  The Armory track schedule for distance runners will be announced shortly.

Here is recap of the situation with the Armory track facility (as of 11/4/99):

WINTER INDOOR WORKOUTS AT THE ARMORY TRACK: This year, CPTC has been forced to raise the price of indoor workouts due to a combination of an Armory price increase and our own budget constraints, which make it impossible for us to subsidize these workouts at the same proportional level that we did in years past.

The Armory's new fee schedule for teams is as follows: $150 per person prior to 11/1/99 for teams with less than 30 people registered; $175 per person on or after 11/1/99 for teams with less than 30 people registered; $125 per person prior to 11/1/99 for teams with more than 30 people; registered $150 per person on or after 11/1/99 for teams with more than 30 people registered

Please note that The Armory is also attempting to address the congestion problems that surfaced last year. This year, there will be two separate workout sessions: 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM, and 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM. The above pricing reflects the 8:00 Pm to 9:30 PM session. The first session is more expensive, costing $175 and $200, respectively.

Based on last year's attendance, we should easily qualify for the 30 person discount. In addition, CPTC has also decided to help defray the cost of these workouts and charge members $100 each for Armory workouts.  For this to work, we need your help in QUICKLY providing the following by 11/4/99 (this is the date granted as a final extension) at the VERY LATEST:

1. A passport- size photo of yourself for your Armory ID card
2. A check for $100 made payable to the Central Park Track Club

Mail or hand-deliver this to John Kenney, 252 W. 85th St. #8C, NY NY
10024 (Home ) or hand-deliver to John Kenney, MCI WorldCom, 200 Park Ave., 6th Floor, (Met-Life Building, Grand Central Station)

Our Club has made every effort to make this facility as affordable as possible to our members. That being said, we also believe strongly in supporting what I hope many of you will agree is one of the best things about New York. The Armory has led to a resurgence of Track in the New York area, building on it's wonderful legacy. It has also filled a void left by budget-cuts in the NYC public schools sports budgets. If any of you are interested in making an extra tax-deductible donation to the Armory High School Sport Foundation, please contact me at 212-519-4380.  Please call me if you have any questions about this.  John Kenney, President, CPTC, 212-519-4380 (office), 212-874-3224 (home) 

As we reach the end of our outdoor track workout season for the year, we want to thank the following volunteer timers.  As the cliché goes, we couldn't do it without them ...

How did these people get to be timers?  Here are the essential rules:

Rule # 1 --- You must know how to count laps (but not more than 10) and read a stopwatch, as shown here by Eve Kaplan
Rule # 2 --- You must know who is in your group (as opposed to someone else's group), as shown here by Eve Kaplan and Bola Awofeso
Rule # 3 --- If you are a runner obsessed with the hundredth of a second (like Audrey Kingsley), you may just want to preserve your own splits

Quotations from some timers:
--- "The workout goes so fast when you are the timer"... Audrey Kingsley
--- "I got them out of here in under 45 minutes"... Frank Handelman

--- "Keep the jog alive! This is not the Central Park Walking Club!" ... Sid Howard
--- "Piece of cake.  It's all downhill." ... unknown person

10/28/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• From the Daniel Webster statue up to the reservoir, four loops with each being 15 second faster per mile (or 23 seconds faster per loop, if you insist), and then back to the statue.  Total distance is 7.8 miles.

FIELD NOTES

• There were forty-five people at the start of the workout, including those two Kenney kids and the cycling Bola Awofeso.
• Nathan Klejman showed up and said, "I know you haven't seen me all year.  But I'm still here.  All I have to do is just show up once a year."  And this is that one time.
• Scott Willett showed up and said, "I'm here just to see what you people do."  He has been allegedly injured.  When told about the Global Surveillance System (tm)'s report that he was seen running for two hours at Van Cortlandt Park recently, he said, "No, that's not remotely true.  It was under one hour."  This is the art of making people confess --- charge them with high crimes and they will admit to misdemeaours.  (Corollary: Ignore them, and they will admit to high crimes).
• When Tyronne Culpepper showed up, he was congratulated by multiple persons for his photo in the NY Running News, page 104.  He hadn't even seen it himself, or so he says.  Also present in that picture are Eve Kaplan and Kim Mannen.
• Audrey Kingsley jumped into the first group today, because she said that she could only see fast people like Thomas Pennell waiting in the next group.  So whom was she running with on the reservoir?  Can you say Thomas Pennell?
• Traditionally, the workout 10 days before the New York City marathon (and the Boston Marathon, for that matter) has been a 9 miler, divided into 3-3-3 involving a visualization of the first 10 mile, the next 10 mile and the final 10K of the marathon.  (Yes, how do you visualize dying at the end?).  This workout was a significant departure from tradition.  Why?  Because the recent race times for our marathoners have been mostly right up to par and confidence is high, so that an additionally tough workout may not matter much at this point.
• After the workout, some 'old-timers' were reminiscing about the bad old days.  This conversation was recorded:
  Tony Ruiz: "Do you remember that we had the 15 mile workout ten days before the marathon?  That was something."
  Stacy Creamer, Roland Soong, looking around: "We aren't that old!  That was before our time!"
  Stuart Calderwood: "Those were the high mileage years.  So how many of those people are still around today?"
  Sid Howard: "I did them.  I'm still here."

10/26/99

Workout Description

• 8 to 10 repeats of (400m, 200m recovery).

Field notes:

• At the beginning of the workout, we counted 48 people present.
• If the workout description says 'eight to ten repeats', how many are supposed to do?  Eight?  Or ten?  Or nine?  The idea is that if you feel that you are stressed and/or winded by the eighth, you should stop.  If you want a really hard workout, you can come back on Thursday to Central Park, where there will be that traditional long, strong run 10 days before the New York City Marathon.  You can thrash out then and taper off afterwards.
• At the tenth 400m, Coach Tony Ruiz was heard to instruct, "I wanna see good form!  Not ugly speed!"  We are not sure that we agree entirely, as we would have sold our first-born child gladly for speed, ugly or otherwise ...
• Oh, about the winter indoor track season at the Armory, you must get your act together by sending in the check and photo to John Kenney, one way or the other (see instructions on our home page).  We need to reach the magic number of 30 participants in order to qualify for the group discount rate.
• There were a couple of interesting situations in the Group "D" today.  In the front, the leaders probably need to learn some discipline as they vacillate between slow and fast (75 seconds one lap, 92 seconds the next).  In the back, there was a tight group consisting of Sarah Gross, Kim Mannen, Sandra Olivo and Connie Kim.  That was very nice because they made a pact to run at a set pace.
• Bola Awofeso issued this warning: "I don't care what the Chicago Marathon website says, but I ran 3:15 and not 3:17!  I give you two days to correct that error on our website!"  Or else what?
• We will be switching to Daylight Savings Time this Sunday.  Contrary to past practice, the next Tuesday workout will still be at the East River Park Track at 630pm.  This permits the New York City marathon racers to stay on the same familiar surface (like that 'hill' at the beginning of the backstraight), instead of switching to something else.  We will have new arrangements after that.

10/21/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• We warm up all the way to West 90th Street.  From there, we run a quick 2000m from West 90th to West 102nd to East 102nd, turning north and finishing three lampposts past the hanging traffic light near the swimming pool.  At the 110th Street entrance to the north side of the park, we assemble for a series of pickups: the first one went from 110th Street to West 102nd Street, we recover to East 102nd Street, we turn around and run the second pickup to the top of Harlem Hill on the West Side.  We recover down to 110th Street and we run the third pickup eastwards to 102nd Street and ending through the transverse to West 102nd Street.  We roll back to finish at 72nd Street.  The total distance is 6.7 miles.

FIELD NOTES

• There were forty-two people at the start of this workout.  Tim Evans and Alayne Adams were seen running in the opposite direction towards us and  Fasil Yilma was seen flying on rollerblades.
• Aubin Sullivan was the first one to charge out and the first one to reach the assembly point.  What was the hurry?  She said, "I am cold!"
• The coach missed this scene, and we don't know if he would have laughed, cried or became angry at the sprint match between Ross Galitsky and Margaret Angell at the finish.  It goes without say that those present were not rooting for the triathlete non-runner guy.  In the end, someone let someone else win (and it was not what you think ...).
• When we saw Michael Trunkes today, we had to say, "Mike, you are not an easy guy to track down."  At any rate, he patiently went through his list of biathlon/triathlon wins this year: the Carl Hart Biathlon, the Port Washington Gold Coast Triathlon, the Mighty North Fork Triathlon, the Mighty Hampton Triathlon and the Jones Beach Triathlon.  So we have not missed any; that is, until we come across the next one that he hasn't told us about ...
• Apparently, G'mo Rojas is a faithful reader of these notes.  He reads them carefully and, whenever he sees himself not mentioned, he breathes a deep sigh of relief.  Thus it was for Tuesday's workout notes, or so it seemed.  Alas, that was not the case, as he made it to Famous Saying #645 instead.
• This same G'mo Rojas utilized a diversionary tactic today --- he brought his sister Marty down to the workout and hope she would get all the attention.  She was a short putter in high school and a crew member in college.  What a perfect fit for this club!  G'mo gave her the ultimate compliment, "She won more trophies in four years than I did in eight years!"  But she was more modest, and said, "There were not a lot of high school shot putters in New York City."
• We asked Kiet Vo how his cross-country races have been so far.  He said, "If you look at my times, I am getting slower every race.  You guys are not good for me!"  Well, watch what you say, because you are now marked and the triathletes are going to get you to bike and swim with them ...
• Afterwards, we had the opportunity to speak with Raphael Devalle who was not at the workout today.  When he heard about the hill runs, he said, "Oh, I wish I could be there.  I love those hills!"  Well, well, well.  If we go back to the hill workout of June 17th, 1999 (and yes, why else would we keep that historical archive around forever?), this same Raphael Devalle was scheduled to run at a track meet, could not resist the hill workout and pulled a muscle to miss the race.  Yes, it is a cruel dilemma in life that what you like may not be good for you.
• The most important announcement of the day pertains to the winter indoor track arrangements.  Please read the item in the Quick News section of our home page.  Do it now!  Timing is everything  ...  Please note that one of the benefits for signing up is that you will receive free entries at the series of seven NYRRC-organized indoor track meets early next year at the Armory.

10/19/99

Workout Description

• 3 x (200m, short recovery across soccer field)
• 800m, 200m recovery
• 400m, 400m recovery
• 600m, 200m recovery
• 600m, 400m recovery
• 400m, 200m recovery
• 800m, 400m recovery
• 600m, 200m recovery
• 600m, cooldown run

Field notes:

• We counted forty-five people at the start of the workout.  It was a strange sort of evening --- it felt cool and it was dark.  Right before the start, there were even a couple of raindrops (which caused Bola Awofeso to get up and prepare to leave because he was not about to catch a cold right before the Chicago Marathon).  Yet after a couple of sets, the runners were drenched in sweat.
• We want to let you know that Ed Gonera (ranked # 1 M40-44 400m runner in the world) and Frank Schiro (ranked # 2 M45-49 400m runner in the world) were present at this workout to provide support and to dispense their invaluable advice.  Furthermore, Frank even called the splits for the slowest group, using his excellent sprint speed to race to the other side of the soccer field.  The preceding unpaid advertisement was published at the insistence of these two characters ...  we would have done it anyway because we like them.
• Ed Gonera had one word of advice: "Glide!"  Some of our runners tend to chop down their steps around the curve, and he wanted them to maintain their stride.  Frank Schiro had one advice for Alan Ruben every time he went by: "2:28!"
• In recent months, we have observed a number of new faces appearing at these workouts.  Many of them said that they had read about the club and these workouts from this website.  We welcome visitors.  Elsewhere, we have stated that "People join running clubs based upon a multiplicity of reasons (geographical location, frequency and scheduling of workouts, competitiveness, coaching, facilities, club dues, membership size, demographic characteristics, history, tradition, fiscal stability, financial aid, multisport activities, institutional affiliation, cultural, spiritual and  linguistic reasons, and even their websites)."  We don't claim that our club will be ideal for everyone; but if you are intrigued by what you read on this website, just come on down and see what it is all about.  Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't.  Either way, you will have transformed the virtual experience into a bite of reality.
• But wait a moment here!  Not all visitors are welcome!  An unexpected and unwelcome visitor at this workout was a very big, fat rat scavenging for food under the stands.  It was enough to make Sandra Olivo jump and shriek.  Well, this is New York City after all ... and did we wish that we had our camera with us!!!
• At last, the club newsletter is about to be mailed out.  At the Executive Board meeting last night, our illustrious team representatives and board members were put to work in collating and stapling the newsletter.  

10/12/99

Workout Description

• 3 x (200m, short recovery across soccer field)
• 4 x (1000m, 400m recovery)
• 3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

Field notes:

• We counted fifty-five people by the time that we started the 1000m's.  After that, we would needed have infrared vision to check that count.
• If you are racing the Staten Island Half Marathon on Sunday, then you should settle on a good pace in the 1000m's and keep it steady across all four repeats.  If you are not racing, then the 1000m's should be progressively faster --- say, ten mile race pace, 5 mile race pace, 4 mile race pace, 5K race pace.
• When asked why she had to keep talking while running, Audrey Kingsley said: "I need to run at a steady 6:30 per mile pace, and talking keeps me on pace."  So all she has to do is keep talking for 26.2 miles at 6:30 per mile and she'll be at the Olympics marathon trial ...
• Gerry McCarthy showed up at the track with his parrot Hector perched on his shoulder.  He has not been down to the workouts for a while.  But as he is nearing the next age group (50+), he must have been motivated to get serious again.  So he asked a teammate, "How does being 50 compare to 49?"  Answer: "Just as slow."  He did not look very pleased to hear that ...
• Timekeeper Bola Awofeso is heading for the Chicago Marathon.  On the this past Saturday, he went out for an easy run, met Tesfaye Bekele and ended up with an 'easy' 5 miles in about 31 minutes.  The next day, Bola went out for a run in the park and lasted just two miles before the fatigue set in.  Meanwhile, Tesfaye won the Grete's Great Gallop half marathon in 1:08 by a margin of 4 minutes.  All of this is fine until Bola read in the Daily News that Tesfaye said that he prepared for the race by running 10 easy miles at 7 minutes per mile pace the day before.  Bola said, "Those were not 7 minute miles.  Maybe that was what they seemed like to him, but I was racing!"
• We asked Susan Krogstad-Hill if she has seen her photo from the Fifth Avenue.  She said just about everybody and their mothers have seen it.  In our professional experience, anyone who has a large trophy in his/her hands always seems to smile well.
• Your team rep Sarah Gross would like to remind all Staten Island Half Marathoners to check the ferry schedule and try to take the ferry earlier than the one that would seem to bring you there right on time).  For the last two years in a row, that 'right-on-time' ferry was late and they will not hold up the race.  It is extremely frustrating (ask Alan Ruben!) to see the runners starting off while your ferryboat approaches the pier ever so slowly.  So get out there early! 
• Tyronne Culpepper had this recommendation to the web photographer: "You've gotta position yourself on top of the last (and only) hill."  Hmmm.  That is only too obvious.  Unfortunately, the web photographer will not be there so you can all breathe a collective sigh of relief  (tsk, tsk ...).

10/7/99

• Workout description: First, we jog south to the 59th Street entrance into the park for the NYC Marathon.  We warm up with 2x(2 lamppost fast, 2 lampposts jog), 2x(3 lampposts fast, 2 lampposts jog).  At East 72nd Street, we run two miles to the west side of the 102nd Street transverse at marathon pace.  We recover to West 88th Street, from which we run one mile hard back to the Daniel Webster Statue.  From there we jog south to the 59th Street entrance again.  We finish up with 2x(3 lampposts fast, 2 lampposts jog).  The total distance is 6.75 miles (=one lower 5.05 mile loop and one lower 1.7 mile loop). 

FIELD NOTES

• There were 44 people at the start of the workout.  It was a cool, dry and beautiful night for running.
• The coach of the evening was Stuart Calderwood.  He began the proceedings by asking people to come closer so that he "won't have to project like Tony."  At which point, someone told Audrey Kingsley, "Could you bring your bozos in?" (see Famous Saying # 621).
• Stuart pointed out the importance of not going crazy at these workouts.  The best example of a correctly executed workout was the Tuesday workout, when the "A" group followed the plan.  They ran together tightly through the first three sets.  In the final mile run, some people ran their fastest mile ever (to wit, Brian Marchese in 4:53).
• One of the first people to arrive at the workout was Chicago Marathon-bound Eve Kaplan.  She said, "What a great night for running!  And I've already done my own workout and I'm going home!"  So why did she have to show up at all?  As John Gleason said, "Let's start the workout at 7:05pm.  Five minutes should be enough time to bullshit."  Yes, it is not all about running, as some people would have you believe.
• The first group to reach the finish conisted of Alan Ruben, Rich Borrero and Stuart Calderwood.  No surprise there.  Next came a large and tight group, led by Ramon Bermo.  Mr. Bermo told us that he ran his mile in 4:56 and his heart rate was up to 180.  He said, "I was racing."  Just what the coach told him not to do.
• John Sargent arrived at the workout late.  His plane got in from Houston at 530pm, but he was stuck on the turnpike for a couple of hours.  At any rate, he managed to blow his group away for the mile run.  When complimented afterwards, he demurred that he was really out of shape.  When met with incredulity, he said, "Look, I got here late and all I had to do was 8 minutes of running."
• For the second week in a row, G'mo Rojas showed up to run.  Let us correct the false impression that he is another violet-draped trigeek who can't run (and we have many of those).  G'mo was a cross country, indoor and outdoor track runner at Regis High School and New York University.  Unfortunately, while at NYU, he broke his foot and had surgery.  Although he hardly raced at all during those four years, he did manage to run a 4:05 1500m and a 1:54 800m.  Because the foot injury prevented him from running, he ended up cross-training and the rest is history.  So what happened to him tonight?  In his words, "I have no turnover!"  Well, just give it some time, and we are sure that it will come back!!!
• This was Sid Howard's first road workout in a long while.  He said, "I need to do the road workouts.  Cycling is no substitute.  When I went out tonight, I felt great in the first mile and then I folded."
• Raphael Devalle showed up just a little too late to hear the workout description.  He said, "I'll just follow Sid Howard."  Somewhere later in the workout, he was seen to be flying down the road with Stacy Creamer and nowhere near El Sid.  When asked about what happened, he said: "So I lied."  You can go back and read about his pattern of deception dating back to the 7/8/99 workout.
• We don't know what it was, but a number of people had similar gastrointestinal problems tonight --- Aubin Sullivan, Ross Galitsky, Thomas Pennell, Roland Soong.  As Ross Galitsky said, "I had to stop a couple of times to talk to the trees."  He also made this clarification: "Aubin is not married to Thomas, and does not cook for him."  So what is going on there?  Could it the stuff that they've been spraying in the park?  Let's dial 1-888-DR RANDY and get an opinion ...

10/5/99

Workout Description

• 3 x (200m, short recovery across soccer field)
• 1200m (600m recovery)
• 800m (400m recovery)
• 1200m (600m recovery)
• 1 mile

Field notes:

• It is now getting dark earlier and earlier.  For this reason, the track workouts now start at 630pm.  Even so, by the end of the workout, the sun has completely gone down.  Still, there is no problem at all with visibility as the track is brightly lit.  Here is a photo of the conditions tonight.  There are four sets of lights situated at corners of the track, so seeing where you are going is not a problem (except you have to brace yourself for that invisible little bump at the top of the backstraight).
• On the way down, the Global Surveillance System (tm) caught a man in an orange jacket zooming down 14th Street and breaking the speed limit.  It was coach Tony Ruiz getting his speed workout done on the way to the workout.  Now did anyone hear about the New York City agencies' race this weekend at Van Cortlandt Park?  Would you believe the same Tony Ruiz is the defending champion as well as course record holder?
• Charlie Stark is a resident of Stuyvesant Town, just north of East River Track.  Today, he was seen to be jogging to the track from the south.  He said, "Oh, I was just warming up."  We proclaim him fit and ready to challenge for the crown of the Supreme Leader in Gratuitous Miles.
• We counted 44 people at the start of the workout.  There were more late arrivals as the workout progressed, since we started half an hour earlier than the week before, a fact that was loudly (in neon green) advertised on this web site.  Due to the darkness, we were unable to compile an accurate list of these latecomers.  But we heard Yves-Marc Courtines say, "The workout starts at 630pm?  Who is supposed to know that?"  YOU are supposed to know that, Yves-Marc!!!
  Afterwards, Stacy Creamer sent in this very nice note: "Kudos go to Yves-Marc Courtines for latent determination.  Although it's true that he neglected to note our time change to 6:30 and therefore missed all but the mile in last night's workout, this observer spotted him running a three-quarter mile interval after everyone else was done.  I offered to time the rest of the workout for him, but he declined, saying that he was only planning on that one three-quarter mile.  With modest prodding from me, he agreed to do the half mile--but not the remaining three-quarter.  I clocked him at a speedy 2:46--faster than anyone in our group had run.  With that impressive finale, Yves-Marc put on a long-sleeved T-shirt and settled into his backpack.  We were just heading out the gate when he turned to me and said, "I really should do that last three-quarter mile."  I offered to time him; he declined, saying that everyone was leaving.  But I was in no hurry, so he accepted the offer.  He stripped down to tank top and shorts again, and ran the three-quarter mile in 4:17--earning my perpetual respect."  We would like to know how long it takes for him to find this note --- so please don't drop any hints to him! (final note: Yves-Marc sent in an acknowledgement on 10/14/99 at 625pm that he finally saw the note).
• Tony Ruiz began the workout by saying, "I am not going to say anything about race results over the weekend.  I will give the assignment to Stuart Calderwood to deliver a summary at the Thursday workout."
• Alayne Adams found herself as the cover person of the week on the website.  She said, "When I came down today, I thought about wearing the same purple shirt so that people will look at me and say, 'Ah!  Haven't I seen you somewhere before ...?'  But I thought the better of it."  For the record, she was wearing a dark blue long-sleeve shirt tonight.
• When people saw Stacy Creamer today, they were saying, "Oh!  We didn't know it was your birthday on Saturday until we read it on the website!"  She said, "What did you expect me to do?  To make a public announcement that I was turning forty right before the race?" As an aside, we note that runners are a strange lot --- whereas other people may hit a midlife crisis upon reaching 40, runners relish the idea of moving into another age group.
• This was Mindy Solkin's first time down on the track since 1992.  At that time, she was with the Millrose team that shared the track with us.  They trained at 6pm, while we ran at 7pm.  So they got to listen to coach George Wisniewski's opening speeches.  What nostalgia!
• The entertainment today was provided by our Chinese-speaking friend Phil from Urban Athletics.  Tony Ruiz said to him, "In a workout like this, there is going to be someone who is leading every set of sprints.  But the true test will occur in the mile.  The way you died in the end was exactly what I expected to see.  You made my day."
• J.P. Cheurvront said, "I died horribly out there tonight.  I have been away from the track too long."  But we note that it wasn't as if he was just sitting in his sofa at home, watching television and munching popcorn.  Let's see --- while he was away, he did the Ironman USA triathlon and the Survival of the Shawangunks, among other things ...
• There were some photos taken during this workout.  Afterwards, someone said, "Oh, you can't publish any photos of me because I am not a member of the team."  Yeah?  Really?  We have never heard of that rule before ...
• ... and where was Audrey Kingsley?  Somewhere, we can imagine her saying, "I am really bummed out about missing the workout ..."

9/30/99

(REPORT ON 9/30/99 WORKOUT)

• Compared to the last few workouts, this one is relatively easy.  The total distance is 10K, broken into two times 5K.  The first 5K goes from the Daniel Webster statue to West 102nd Street followed by one clockwise northern hill loop, for (1.7 + 1.4) = 3.1 miles.  The second 5K is one clockwise northern hill loop, and then back to the statue. 

FIELD NOTES:

• As for the pacing of this workout, the first 5K is supposed to be 10 to 15 seconds slower than marathon pace, and the last 5K at marathon pace.  (Never mind people without marathon pace).  Physically, this is not very demanding.  Mentally, this is not the easiest thing to do.  As Tony Ruiz said, "Your task tonight is to set a pace goal and keep at it.  You should not be tempted to run with Alan Ruben until your tongue is lying on the ground."  (What an extraordinary image!)  One person said, "But that never happens ..." and another person (Brian Marchese) was heard to mutter some unprintable phrase.  Sure enough, after the second hill loop, there was Richie ("I'm racing on Sunday") Borrero pounding it out with the aforementioned Alan Ruben.
• There were forty-three people at the start of the workout.  Although this was not necessarily a big crowd, it felt a lot more crowded because the NYC Parks Department has just erected fences in the assembly area.  Our elder statesman Fritz Mueller suggested that we make space in the middle for pedestrians to come through.  At one point, there were several women coming through with their dogs on leashes.  One of them took a look at us and exclaimed, "Ah!  There's Doctor Randy (Ehrlich)!" whereupon her dog almost bit one of us.  Yes, the doctor has that kind of effect on people (and animals).
• The long-heralded arrival of Guillermo (G'mo) Rojas took place.  He is another one of a long string of NYU multisport athlete (read: trigeek), who is in denial mode as far as his own running ability goes.  You can make an objective evaluation by going to the Survival of the Shawangunks results and compare his perfomance on the run legs against the has-been runner Ramon Bermo and the real runner Ross Galitsky.  G'mo had also made a promise previously that he would show up on September 30th.  Therefore, he probably realized that he would catch hell from this website if he did not show today.  There were also some other rarely seen multisport athletes today, which cause even the coach to wonder who these people were.
• Although we know that Audrey Kingsley has just began her new career path, that does not excuse her from missing workouts.  Her absence from the Tuesday workout was duly noted, and several people spoke to her today about it.  You can imagine her saying, while wearing a full smile, "Stop pressuring me!  Or else I am going to join (insert name of other club) instead!"
• A couple of people asked questions about the e-mail directory on this website.  You should be aware that our directory is not necessarily synchronized with the current membership roster.  That is, some people in the directory may no longer be members and some members are not listed here.  This is an issue of communication.  If you want to be listed or de-listed, you should notify rolandsoong@centralparktc.org.

9/28/99

Workout Description

• 3 x (200m, short recovery across soccer field)
• 6 x (800m, 400m recovery)

Field notes:

• The first two 800m's are done at 5 mile race pace, the next two at 4 mile race pace and the last two at 5K race pace.  But, as everybody knows, these are just empty words that mean nothing, because we will bet that none of these people (except maybe Jonathan Pillow) can really run those distances at the pace that they were running.  But that's okay, because that's the way it's always been and will be ...
• By coincidence, the sprinters were also running 800m's.  The difference was that they did only three.  Plus they take naps in between.  This is known as preferential treatment ...
• We counted forty-five people at the start of the workout.  This count does not include Adam Newman, who showed up fashionably late at 7:45pm.
• One of the timers today was Bola Awofeso, who came down early and ran his own workout.  Guess what it was?  Six times 800m!  Great minds think alike!  Eve Kaplan was also seen running her own workout, which was enough to make people speculate whether she has fallen under the influence of Eden Weiss ...
• DISTANCE RUNNERS TUESDAY TRACK WORKOUT: Please note that the start time will be moved up to 630pm from now on.  (Thursday workouts in the park will continue to be at 700pm now and forever.)  WARNING: We will be printing the list of people who show up late ...  If you don't want to see your name in neon green, then don't show up late; conversely, if you want to see your name in neon green, show up late by all means.

9/23/99

• The course tonight was the hook --- ahead north from the Daniel Webster Statue, go through the 102nd Street transverse and run south to East 72nd Street; then retrace your steps exactly.  The first three miles (from the Statue to the Metropolitan Museum )should be done at about one minute per mile slower than 5 mile race pace.  The last three miles should be done a little bit faster than that.  How much faster?  Well, Brian Marchese said, "None of the talk about pace means anything with the A group."

FIELD NOTES:

• Weekend racers (especially that Fifth Avenue Milers) were given a separate workout designed not to stress themselves out.  Among these was Kim Mannen, who will be making her Fifth Avenue Mile debut.  Throughout this year, she has been continually told that her natural distance is 800m-mile and not those marathons.  For this race, she even skipped the Philadelphia Distance Run.  She said, "If you see me out on the course, please make sure to yell at me to relax my shoulders because I have a tendency to tighten up and run with arms up." 
• Yves-Marc Courtines asked, "Are there a lot of people on the team in the Fifth Avenue Mile?"  Yes, usually quite a large number, especially in the 'under 5:30' open men's category.  You are all advised to wear team uniform for identification purposes, because this is a large and fast race.
• As usual, our team rep Audrey Kingsley delivered her little motivational speech to get people to do the Cross Country scoring race on this Sunday.  This also happens to be Audrey's cross country debut.  So these little speeches of hers are peppered with visions of physical doom for herself.  Be careful now!  You may just get what you wish for ...
• It is now getting darker earlier in the evening.  The question arose as to whether the Tuesday outdoor track workout should be moved to an earlier time.  Some heckler at the back shouted, "If you start right on time at 7pm, there would be enough light."  (note 1: this joke is shared only among regular attendees; note 2: this joke will bring retaliation by the coach at the next convenient moment).  The upshot is that next week's workout will begin at 7pm, but the one after that will be moved to 630pm.  But these days, the track is lit by flood lights, so the problem is minimal.  Some years ago, that track was completely unlit and we ask team members to bring in flashlights ... yes, we are almost nostalgic about those bad old days ... NAH!!!
• As you may be aware, this web site was not updated for the first three days of the week.  Today, there were almost 200 visitors to our web site, showing that we have not been forgotten.  For all those people who were nosy enough to want to know where the web site guy went, here is a test of geographical informaton --- where is this famous landmark (=phallic symbol), che?
• POSTSCRIPT: To satisfy that numerologist's need to know, we counted forty-one persons present at the start.  Okay?

9/21/99

Workout Description (per Tyronne Culpepper)

• 1000m (warm up, easy)
• 800m (100m recovery)
• 400m (400m recovery)
• 600m (100m recovery) 
• 400m (400m recovery)
• 300m (100m recovery)
• 200m (200m recovery)
• 200m (100m recovery)
• 100m

Field notes:

• Sid Howard gave us this "easy" workout, since there was a lot of racing (Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday and Cross Country 5K on Sunday) this past weekend. The short recoveries were to get your body used to maintaining your pace with short rest, & the shorter intervals for form.
• Sid just had each team rep (Sarah Gross & Alan Ruben) respectively) give the results from the Philadelphia Distance Run.
• According to my watch, this workout was done around 7:45pm, which is the earliest I can remember.

9/16/99

• Hurricane Floyd was in town today.  The Mayor got on television and told everybody to go home by noon.  Two-thirds of the traders at the NYSE were AWOL.  On that day, the following message was posted on our home page during the day:

OKAY, YOU MUST BE WONDERING IF THERE IS A THURSDAY WORKOUT WITH HURRICANE FLOYD COMING IN.  THERE IS NO OFFICIAL WORD YET.  I WOULD ONLY ASK YOU TO EXERCISE COMMONSENSE.  (BUT AS ONE OF THE 12 DISCIPLES IN FAMOUS SAYING # 608, I OBVIOUSLY HAVE A CREDIBILITY PROBLEM ...)

To which Yves-Marc Courtines replied, "The heck with it!  Let's do the workout!"  But our question has to be, "Will he actually show up?  Or is it just trash talking?"

• At the designated time coordinate of 7:00pm, there were just three people present.  Coach Tony Ruiz was there, solely because he had the responsibility of telling those present to go home.  So he had a good excuse, but what excuses did the other two have?  What was going through their minds?  Well, you'll have to ask them yourself.  But whatever else, their names --- Bola Awofeso and Stuart Calderwood --- will go down in club history as the two people who showed up during hurricane Floyd and kept the string of attended workouts going for as long as anyone can remember.
  
  Frankly, we are a little bit disappointed at the low turnout and consider this to be a continual softening (with some notable individual exceptions) of this club in recent times.  We remember more atrocious conditions drawing more people in the past, including more than a dozen people showing up on a winter night with one foot of ice on the road (note: it was packed ice, not dusty snow --- people couldn't even stay on their feet standing still, much less run ...).
  
  Postscript: Of course, a card-carrying member of the triathlete union felt compelled to write in: "On a day when hurricane Floyd set the rainfall record (over 6 inches for the the day, erasing the sub-2-inch previous record), it is not surprising that the only two attendees are runners-cyclists aspiring to become triathletes.  It was a perfect day to work on their swimming ..."
  
• As you read the preceding paragraph, you may wonder where was Yves-Marc Courtines?  Stuart Calderwood tells us, "Yes, indeed, Yves-Mark Courtines WAS at the much-ballyhooed Thursday Night swimming workout at the Daniel Webster Statue.  After having run several miles to get there, he stood -- shirtless -- for maybe five minutes (until about 7:10) talking to me until just before Tony arrived.  He ran off at a good pace, and it must be said that he was very obviously enjoying the rain, which was bouncing off the pavement at that point."
  
• Stuart Calderwood continued on to report: "Bola and I ran a 5-mile loop, sometimes through one of the several six-inch-deep creeks that we found to be crossing the Park Loop. When he exited the loop at 110th Street, I ran up the southbound 'Big Hill' in bizarrely unfamiliar circumstances: a true flood was coming down at me, and each of my feet produced, with each landing, a little two-foot-high geyser that immersed that foot's leg briefly.  The rushing water covered the street's whole width, and that, plus the complete darkness, made the ground invisible and therefore no longer a reference-point; I seemed to be running very fast over the "ground" -- -actually the flood-water--which was full of leaves and twigs.  There was a very high wind that kept blowing twigs and sometimes even thin branches OFF the trees; several of them hit me.  The odd thing--and the reason, no doubt, that despite the ridicule heaped on people who run in weather like this, they continue to do it -- was that the experience was ecstatic: rather than unpleasantness, there was only a good kind of wet and cold, a weird atmosphere of flying leaves and diagonal gusts of rain, a constant roar of trees whipping in wind, and a near-hydroplaning effect which made the running seem shockless, as on a pleasantly soft grass field."
  
• Of course, there was tremendous social pressure not to show up at the workout, as there is no doubt that we will be naming names here.  So what do you do if you can't rein yourself in?  You sneak out for a run by yourself at a different time in a different place and hope no one sees you.  Thus it was that a gaggle of drenched CPTC'ers happened to come across each other near the Harlem Meer --- Frank Schneiger, Stacy Creamer, Carol Tyler, Lynn and Dave Blackstone.  Although Frank tried to elicit a promise from all those present not to rat, our all-seeing Global Surveillance System (TM) found out all the same.  What will happen now to their reputations as solid citizens (teachers, editors, directors, administrators, lawyers ...)!?
  
• Comment from an observer: "I can't believe so many words can be written about a cancelled workout with only three people showing up ..."

9/14/99

Workout Description (per Tyronne Culpepper)

• 3 x (200m, 100m recovery)
• 3 x (1 mile, 800m recovery)

Field notes:

• Yet another workout geared towards strength-building for the cross-country season.
• The regular reporter was missing on this day.  Tyronne wrote him: "I know you were sorely missed at the workout as everyone spoke very freely:-)."  So where was he?  Is the Reign of Terror over?  The fact was that he was working in the coal mine all night and did not get home until 845am the next morning.  Better yet, it looks like that he will miss next Tuesday's workout too as he will be travelling.  To Lawrence Olivier's pressing question "Is it safe?" in that great Central Park-based running movie, Marathon Man, the answer is , "Yes, it is safe to come down to the track ..."  Now let us start the dental drill ...

9/9/99

Workout description:

• We headed east en masse and re-grouped near Hamilton's statue (Quiz: Where is it? Answer: It is marked as a hot spot on our Central Park map).  The workout had only two long pickups.  The first two-mile pickup headed north through the hills to the very top of Harlem hill.  We recovered all the way down to the Daniel Webster statue (West 72nd Street and West Drive).  The last two-mile pickup was one clockwise lower loop plus the extra distance to end at the marathon finish line by Tavern On The Green.  The total distance was just under 6.9 miles.

Field notes:

• As was the case with this past Tuesday, it was raining hard around 6pm.  But those who followed the rains on the weather radar knew that the workout would be rain-free.  Forty people attended this workout (but we included post-Ironman Richard Kixmiller in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts).
• For those who thought that they ran a good final two-miler, we'll have to dash their hopes.  In truth, the second 'two-mile' pickup was a bit short.  Coach Tony Ruiz could have thrown in a couple of lampposts past the marathon finish line, but we cannot be sure that everybody on this team can count to two ... 
• When our group went past the Bethesda Fountain, we saw Coach Mindy (Solkin) and Raphael Devalle getting their running group to stretch.  Well, we never had to do that ...
• Of all people, Frank Handelman did not know where Hamilton's statue was.  How long has he been running in this park?  Thirty years.  He pointed out that it was twenty-five years before he learned about the meaning of Cat Hill, because he had never noticed that cat before.  Yes, we are talking about mental focus and intensity ...
• Jumping out fast in the first pickup was the allegedly injured Bola Awofeso.  This led someone to speculate, "Hey, Bola, are you just going to run as fast as you can to the West 100th Street exit and go home?"
• We are very happy to see Anna Coatsworth back at a workout after being absent for years (and that is a fact, not just a figure of speech).  Our multiple SOS winner said that she has given up swimming, bikes once a week and just runs a few times a week.  She promises to attend our Thursday workouts regularly from now on.  More importantly, she said, "I heard that you are still up to no good on the web site." It's a tough world out there, and we're all just trying to do our best ...
• Lest we forget, Thomas Pennell is the organizer of a two-mile race in Brooklyn Heights.  This is a small, but intimate, local race with a nice community atmosphere.  The race poses something of a dilemma for Thomas.  On one hand, as the organizer, he would like to have as many participants as possible.  On the other hand, as a runner, he would like to win this race and his chances improves when few people enter.  Thomas has won the race before, and he has also been beaten by other Central Park Track Club runners.  This year's race will take place on October 2nd.  Thomas promises to provide more information (unless he intends to keep the trophy for himself this year ...).

9/7/99

Workout Description:

• 3 x (200m, 100m recovery)
• 3000m, 1200m recovery
• 1500m, 800m recovery
• 800m

Field notes:

• The remnants of hurricane Dennis rolled by the metropolitan area around 6pm.  Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, some of us were able to track the line of rain showers by the weather radar pictures on television.  If you did, you knew that the workout would not be rained out.  In the end, there were 26 people present at the workout.  Of course, that included a number of people who would have been there, hurricane or not.
• This reporter can say that he has never seen a 3000m in a track workout in his 12 years with the club.  Those who came early had the pleasure of scrutinizing the faces of the latecomers reading the workout sheet.  Why now?  Coach Tony Ruiz said, "I've been away for a couple of weeks, but I've been reading the workout descriptions on the web site.  I just want everyone to know that all that stuff they did by themselves counted for nothing when compared to what I give them."
• The Labor Day weekend was an odd one because there were no race results reported on the web site (note: the Henry Isola XC 4 Miler and Great Bonac Footrace results were not yet available at the time of the workout).  So the coach talked a bit about the Club Championship.  He pointed out some of the people who did not score for the team, but had good personal races.  Specifically, he said, "Tyronne (Culpepper) had a good race, which was unexpected."  Let's hope that Tyronne can step down from the clouds soon.
• The pacing is set as follows: the first set of 200m's to warm up; the first half of the 3000m should be run at 10K race pace, the second half at 5 mile race pace; the 1500m should be run at 4 mile race pace; and the 800m at 5K race pace.  This is a strength workout that should help people who are preparing for the Fifth Avenue Mile.  Of course, since that race is about two weeks away, this may be a little bit too late to start training now.
• There were originally three groups of runners.  The fastest group started with five people.  After the first 200m, this was quickly reduced down to two people, Alan Ruben and Carmine Petracca, as the others (including Thomas Pennell) fled for their lives.  Thomas' reason was that he was in between triathlons (Ironman USA two weeks ago and SOS coming up in two weeks), but his 2:28 in the last 800m was no slouch.
• The sprinters are in between indoor and outdoor seasons, and are taking most of this month off.  The coach left instructions for them to do two mile runs for endurance.  There were only two sprinters there today, Richard Hamner and Alan Bautista.  Both of them were former distance runners.  Halfway into the first 200m, Alan was seen waving his hand and yelling, "I'm a roadie! I'm a roadie!"  For the record, we note that if Alan had finished that 3000m, it would still be 200m short of the two miles that he was supposed to do.
• Our friend Pam Bohl from Paris dropped in on the workout.  She last ran with us for one week in April, but she has been following us (and herself; see historical archive for 4/29/99) on the web site.  As she talked to Sid Howard, she said, "I just got into New York at 530 and I have a 11 o'clock plane out.  In between, I came down here to do the workout."  When Sid got concerned that she might miss her plane, she said, "I was just teasing!"  Of all the people on the club, Sid Howard deserves to be teased!!!  Just a few weeks ago, the same Sid Howard was heard to tell David Pullman, "There is a story on the web site with the headline: David Pullman has new love interest, which has not yet produced the dividends!"  No such story ever appeared, but David was sufficiently concerned to read the web site from end to end (which obviously took a long time to do).  Sid's explanation to David was, "Oh, you are so gullible!"  So now what comes around comes around ...

9/2/99

• Yes, we know ... this was officially designated as a vacation day, but still there were 20 people who showed up anyway, including: Craig Chilton, Gordon Streeter, Dave Newcomb, Richie Stewart, Rick Shaver, Mindy Solkin, Randy Ehrlich, John Taylor, Fritz Mueller, Richie Borrero, among others ...
• As for the workout itself, it consists of a warmup jog from the Daniel Webster statue up to the reservoir.  We run our first pickup of 0.6 miles to East 90th Street.  We jump back down to East Drive and head north until we hit the 110th Street entrance into the park.  Our next pick up was 0.5 miles up to the top of Harlem Hill.  We jog back to the reservoir and run another pickup of 0.6 miles to East 90th Street.  We then jog the rest of the reservoir loop and head back to the statue.  The total distance was about 6.8 miles.  By the way, this workout is named the Craig Chilton workout, after its designer.
• Sarah Gross showed up at the workout on her bicycle.  She said that she was not there to do the workout.  She was circling the path around the statue and carrying a 'running' conversation with everybody.  So every time she came around, she had just enough time to say a couple of sentences and people had to yell after her because she went around the bushes again.  When she found out that the workout was on the reservoir, she was somewhat disappointed because she could not watch from her bicycle.  But Mindy Solkin said, "Of course you can station yourself at the top of Harlem Hill!"  Yes, that would be the best seat in the house.
• We saw someone today that we haven't seen in a while --- David Newcomb.  Dave had just gotten married and took four weeks off.  When Gordon Streeter saw him, he said, "Welcome back to the lower 48 states!" which caused to Dave to roll his eyes and sighed about the incredible number of people who have said that to him.  Then Dave asked, "Are Alan (Ruben) and Stuart (Calderwood) going to be here today?"  When told that Stuart is in Hawaii, he look relieved, but he quickly asked, "What about Alan?"  When told that Alan might be there today, he looked very depressed.  Apparently Alan had sent a message that he was going to make Dave work really hard when he gets back.  After all, Dave's four weekly mileage totals were 0 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles and 0 miles.  Fortunately, Alan did not appear tonight.
• John Taylor showed up tonight, just a couple of weeks after that very tough Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid.  When asked if he had fully recovered, he said, "No, but I have another race in a couple of weeks.  I want to get some work in."
• There were a couple of new faces today.  To these newbies, we have to apologise for the apparent disorganization.  We are usually more coherent.  Really.  Our full workouts will resume next week, and we promise you that there will be mass attendance and attentive coaching.

8/31/99

Workout Description:

• The following message appeared on the home page on this day:
  
  ATTENTION: PER TONY RUIZ, THERE ARE NO DISTANCE RUNNERS' WORKOUTS THIS WEEK (8/31/99 TUESDAY) AND (9/2/99 THURSDAY).  WE WILL RESUME NEXT WEEK.
  
  (... BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T GO THERE ANYWAY, AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE THERE ...)
• If you stayed home today, you'll be sorry because there were two ... not just one ... organized workouts, in addition to the sprinters' workout.
• One of the first people to get there was Victor Osayi, who was well aware that there was no officially directed workout.  He said, "I can see a message posted on the website about the idiots who showed up."  This is really not as idiotic as it seems (see the workout log for August 1997).
• For the record, the list of 'idiots' included: Jonathan Pillow, Michael Trunkes, John Kenney, Brian Marchese, Victor Osayi, Frank Handelman, Thomas Pennell (and his friend Steve), Paul Sommerstein, Rick Shaver, Charlie Stark, Mark Gumbiner, Alayne Adams, Kurtis Edwards, Carol Tyler, Sandra Olivo, Michele Tagliati, J.R. Mojica, Roland Soong ... and Tony Ruiz will really be shocked ... Manuel Caneva.  Yes, we are talking about star quality here.  
• The people spontaneously organized themselves into two groups:  the faster people (Jonathan Pillow, Michael Trunkes, Brian Marchese, John Kenney and Victor Osayi) ran a mixtures of 800m's and 1600m's.  We are talking about POUNDING AWAY!
• The fast-but-not-as-fast people ran 10 repeats of 400m's with 200m's slow recovery.  The aim was to go progressively faster, dropping from 88 seconds at first down to 75 seconds on the last one.  The lead was assumed most of the time by either Frank Handelman or Thomas Pennell.
• Frank Handelman was down at the USATF National Masters Championship, and pointed out the website mysteriously dropped Sid Howard's second place finish in the 800m with a time of 2:17.  Frank also ran 2:17 to finish second too, a race which he described as his best in ... he counted ... eighteen years.
• Michele Tagliati was there to pick up club singlets for his brothers in Italy (yes, they are international members on the club).  Michele was on the NYC Marathon waiting list, and was perhaps counting on not having to train and run this one.  Someone told him that he may have been accepted, which probably caused him to panic.  Yes, there are fewer than 70 training days left ...
• This leaves us with the big question: So who is going to show up on Thursday's non-workout?  To find out, you gotta be there ...
• Blair Boyer wrote us: "Alan Ruben worked out with the Moving Comfort Team at the Riverbank Track last night. This was my speed work out debut for the 1999 NYC Marathon and having Alan and the Moving Comfort Team on the track with me was highly motivating."
• But the question on everybody's mind was, "Where was Audrey Kingsley?"  She is the one person who has never been known to turn down an opportunity to run.  Our Global Surveillance System (TM) located her running around the reservoir with Kim Mannen, enjoying the most beautiful sunset view.  This must have been one of the very few moments that they ever wished that our photographer was around ...

8/26/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

Two four- mile loops with the identical setup: first two miles easy (from the Daniel Webster statue to East 102nd Street), next two miles between half marathon and marathon race pace.  The total distance was 2 x 4 = 8 miles.

NOTES:

• Coach Tony Ruiz is on vacation this week, and Stuart Calderwood substituted for him.  Stuart presented himself as "I am Tony today", not "I am the coach today."  Evidently, the words 'Tony' and 'coach' are now interchangeable ...
• When Stuart Calderwood runs the workout, people usually expect the unexpected.  You can go back to the historical archive and read about The Water Fountain workout (7/8/99) and The Secret Kicker workout (5/27/99).  But for this workout, the only twist is that the direction for this workout was counterclockwise instead of the traditional clockwise.  Usually, that would throw off some latecomers.  But in this case, we note that the habitual latecomer Harry Morales did arrive in time.
• In reviewing the race results of the past week, Stuart Calderwood did not use a paper listing.  Rather, he just scanned the faces of the people present and rattled off their statistics, "Here is Victor Osayi with a PR of 28:04, and scoring for the first-place masters team ... here is Craig Chilton with a PR of 27:02 by a whopping thirty something seconds ... and here comes Jonathan Pillow who averaged 5:01 per mile in his second race ever in the park ..." while not forgetting those not present, "And Max Schindler and Guenter Erich finished 1-2 among Men 65-69."  And he added, "Richie Stewart also ran the race, and that's all I'm gonna say" which caused Richie to give a big smile.  (Note: Richie is an awesome runner (see Famous Saying # 233) who has been concentrating on 200m and 400m in recent years).
• After months of near drought, the floodgates opened this morning in New York City.  It rained so hard and fast that the rain gauge in Central Park broke, so that we only know that the rainfall was more than 3 inches.  The FDR Drive was flooded, Metro North stopped, nothing was moving around town.  Sarah Gross said, "I remember walking to work during hurricane Gloria and it was not as bad as this morning.  This rain simply hurt."  By this evening, the air was still saturated with humidity. 
• Overheard (accidentally) at the workout:
  Bola Awofeso: "When I run, the pain in my leg is killing me."
  Eve Kaplan: "Hey, Bola, so are you going to run the workout today?"
  Bola Awofeso: "Yes, I am."
• Tyronne Culpepper asked a teammate, "So ... (pause) ... do you have a subway token handy so that you can bail out after four miles?  I heard it is going to rain soon."  Yes, people on this team are known to care about each other ...
• Kurtis Edwards was asked, "So is this going to be a hard or easy run?"  Answer: "Definitely easy.  I can take the heat, I can take the sun, I can't take the humidity."  Our sentiments, precisely.
• Somewhere along the way, we spotted Stacy Creamer standing near the reservoir on the west side and Audrey Kingsley running up north by herself on West Drive.  We speculate that one will run the Marathon Tune-up 30K and the other won't ...  We also spotted Laura Miller running the 20 meter loop around the Daniel Webster statue, and we can't even guess what that was for ...
• As for the statistics, there were 39 people at the start, not including Fritz Mueller, Frank Schneiger and the aforementioned Stacy Creamer, Audrey Kingsley and Laura Miller.

8/24/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, 100m jog) to warmup
3 x (1000m, 400m jog)
3 x (600m, 400m jog)

• Coach Tony Ruiz was not at the workout today.  Some perfectly nasty person said, "Tony is getting old.  He ran that 5 miler on Saturday, and he needs this much time to recover."  That is totally false.  Tony is taking vacation and, yes, he is entitled to that.  There were 43 people present at the start of the workout.
• Just because Coach couldn't be there does not mean that the club grinds to a halt, because there is a set of contingency plans in place.  The replacement coach was supposed to be Sid Howard.  When Sid could not make it, Stuart Calderwood stepped in.  As a reminder to all web visitors, unless you see an explicit message (in large print to help the reading-impaired and/or attention-deficited) cancelling the workout, you may assume that it will be on (remember that, Thomas Pennell).  You are in good hands here ...  (Postscript: that personal reference to Thomas Pennell may seem to be obnoxious, but the reality was that Thomas came to this page while bypassing the home page, read it and went back to the home page to read the notice.  So it was unreasonably effective.)
• In this workout, the point is to try to kick.  In the 1000's, the first 600 are run comfortably and the last 400 hard.  In the 600's, the first 400 are run comfortably and the last 200 hard.
• To make things a little bit more equitable and interesting, Jonathan Pillow was assessed a penalty of 10 seconds.  He did the right thing by not attempting to close the gap immediately.
• John Kenney brought some singlets down to the track for distribution and sales.  There is some limit is to how many of each size he can bring down.  So your best bet is to make prior arrangements with him.  We make the observation that there appears to be a significant demand for extra-large sizes.  Are we really being overrun by triathletes?
• Since Sid Howard was not there, the attendance at Two Boots was down to five people.  Margaret Nolan makes this observation, "When Sid is here, he can rouse a large crowd to come down.  When Sid is not here, a smaller group comes, but all they want to do is to talk about Sid.  What gives?"

8/19/99

What workout?  Day of rest before the club team championship.

8/17/99

Workout Description:

8 x (400m, 200m recovery)

• Hot, humid and hazy.  Ozone alert for bad air quality.  Typical August day.
• We counted 43 people at the start of the workout.  The most exciting visitor of the day was Karel Matousek, coming in from the cold (namely, Prague).
• The 400m's were meant to be run at the projected 5 miler race pace.  If you can do eight 400m's (= 2 miles) easily, you should do okay.  If you do them faster than that, then you are totally missing the point (and we can name one person ...)
• The lone volunteer timer of the day was Bola Awofeso, who insists that he is really injured.  According to our Global Surveillance System (tm), the same Bola Awofeso was found to have ran for 2 hours and 50 minutes this Ironman USA weekend up at Lake Placid.  We want to alert people that Bola has forwarded his huge collection of photos taken over a period of 14+ hours on the Ironman USA race day.  Those photos will be appearing soon on this website.  Yes, we are talking about tears and devastation here ...
• Another rare visitor was Peter Allen, who usually cannot make it in from New Jersey.  On today, he had to be in the city for another matter, and thought he could squeeze in a workout too.  Peter also told us that he won a race in upstate New York a couple of weeks ago.  He said that he will tell us his time when he receives the official notification --- he thinks that it is important to document his time for history, although he does not necessarily insist that we publish the fact that the race was primarily downhill.
• Sid Howard came to the track for the first time since returning from Gateshead.  He pointed out that our original WAVA results missed our teammate Lloyd Jeremiah, who finished third in the 110m high hurdles.  For this same Sid Howard, we had previously indicated that he finished third behind two people (non-Americans)  who broke the world record.  Well, in this same race, Sid's time was good enough that he now holds the American record.
• After the workout, eight people were present at Two Boots for dinner.  If you were not there, you missed the sight of Alan Ruben wearing a longsleeve white dress shirt and his patterned shorts --- the man looked like he was in his underwear!

8/12/99

The workout consisted of three reservoir loops.  On the first loop, there should be a light pickup from West 86th Street to East 90th Street.  The recovery should be at a brisk pace.  In the second loop, the pickup is a 1000m from the southern pump house to the northern pump house, without pumping your arms too much.  In the third loop, the pick up is the one mile from East 90th Street to West 86th Street.

NOTES:

• This was a hot and humid day, with an ozone alert out for bad air quality.
• We can't wait to solicit Fritz's opinion of a team workout that involves ONLY three reservoir loops.
• There were 38 people at the start of the workout, to be joined later by Randy Ehrlich and Tim Evans.  In view of Ironman USA at Lake Placid this weekend, there were no trigeeks present (note: Aubin Sullivan is presently limited to be a pure runner).  At one point, Stuart Calderwood asked, "When do you start counting the people?"  Answer: "About now (note: 7:18pm on the watch).  Oh, by the way, Harry Morales always arrives late."  As if on cue, Harry pulls into view right at that moment ...
• Casey Yamazaki was quizzed about the 1:30:15 that he ran at the Manhattan Half.  The question was whether or not he was shooting for 1:29:59 but missed.  "No," he said.  "I was hoping for 1:35, which would have been my personal worst by a long shot.  I guess I am really not in as bad shape as I thought."
• It was previously announced that John Kenney would be at the workout to allow people to pick up the new club singlets.  As some of you are aware from the press, John has been coping with some technical problems on his job, so he dashed in a quick qualification --- "I'll be there if my plane arrives on time from North Carolina."  He got to the workout right before the group started out.
• For the historical record, we note that Alan Ruben and Jonathan Pillow ran that last mile together in 5:15 (5:16 according to another version, but who cares?).  But history will have just as great respect for those who opted not to go with them: Stuart Calderwood, Michael Trunks, Craig Chilton, Brian Marchese, ...
• We believe that this is the first time that Michael Trunkes and Jonathan Pillow have met each other.  One is from Arizona State University and the other is from the University of Arizona.  In case you don't know, these are different universities and it would annoy those two guys greatly if you mix their schools up.
• After the workout, Alan Ruben was waving a wet piece of paper and saying, "Here is the last Philadelphia Distance application form that I brought with me.  Anyone wants it?"  Don't forget that Alan has to get the completed form and the check by next Thursday ...
• During the bug-feeding session after the workout, a topless Michael Trunkes developed the technique of holding himself perfectly still while asking a teammate to swat at specific spots ("It's on my back!").  Where did he learn that from?  Is this another lifeguard trick?
• Kim Mannen is presently shopping for a Canadian marathon.  Our out-of-town marathon specialist Harry Morales was stumped becuase he did not know if there is one in Quebec City, since the closest he ever got was in Detroit (yes, that race started on the Canadian side).  If anyone has any suggestions, please let her know.  She is presently hanging out at Kim.Mannen@aplnet.com .

8/10/99

Workout Description:

3 x (1200m, 600m jog)
3 x (300m, 100m jog)

• This was a cloudy day with a threat of rain to come.  There were 44 people at the start.  The speeches began promptly at 7:03pm, but unfortunately went for over 15 minutes (yes, someone other than Audrey Kingsley (who is in London now) was counting).  There were quite a few things to talk about, especially about the world championship results (Sid Howard won a bronze medal in the 800m, losing to two people who broke the world record).
• We have reserved field # 6 for our Annual Club Softball Game on the Great Lawn between 10am and 2pm, right after the Club Championship race on 8/21.  Please bring gloves, bats and balls.  (Yes, it was difficult last year, because there were not enough gloves to go around and first baseman Michael Garland had a glove for the wrong hand ...)  This game is suitable for professionals like Tony Ruiz and son as well as for complete neophytes (like Carsten and Mette Strandlod).
• The 1200m's are supposed to be done progressively faster, like at 4 mile/5 mile race pace for the first one and at 5K race pace for the second one.
• The workout was originally 4 x 1200m, but the coach Tony Ruiz reduced the sentence on account of good behavior.  When someone remarked that the guys from 15 years ago would have sneered at this easy workout, he said, "But it is appropriate for this current crop."  What was unsaid this time was the fact not very of those people from 15 years ago are running anymore ...
• Bola Awofeso attempted to show Eve Kaplan a very important photo.  She peeked at it and said, "Why do you want to look at this?  I've seen that photo already.  Besides, I was there and I saw it live."
• Taking advantage of her visit from San Diego, Nicole Begin has done last Thursday's road workout, the Manhattan Half Marathon on Saturday and today's track workout.  This is called maximizing the return on the non-refundable club dues.
• Jonathan Pillow came late and, when Stuart Calderwood saw him arrive, did we discern a look of resignation on Stuart, like "Oh, damn, I guess I'll have to put in an effort for this workout"?  Of course, we are just kidding ... the whole point of a workout is for people to push each other, isn't it?

8/5/99

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

This workout is a straight tempo run, without any pickups.  The course starts from the Daniel Webster statue north through the Harlem hills and back through the 102nd Street transverse down to West 102nd Street.  This makes the total distance 5K (=1.7 miles between West 72nd and West 102nd + 1.4 miles for one northern hill loop) so far.  From there, we head back south until we reach West 86th Street, when we jumped on the reservoir for one full loop and then head back south to the finish.  The second part of the workout is 3.27 miles (=1.7 miles from West 102nd Street to West 72nd + 1.57 miles on the reservoir).   The first part of the workout should be done at half marathon/marathon pace, and the second part should be about 10 seconds per mile faster.  The total distance is 6.37 miles.

NOTES:

• It was hot and humid in the morning.  At three o'clock in the afternoon, there was a quick thunderstorm.  It was cooler and more humid thereafter.  Yes, we love it.  We wouldn't trade this for any January evening.
• There were 38 people at the start of the workout.  This count includes both Casey Yamazaki and Yumi Ogita, but not their daughter in the stroller; only Yumi ran the workout.  The count is lower than average due to the Manhattan Half Marathon on Saturday; even Audrey Kingsley was not there.  Good luck to everyone in that race!
• Tony Ruiz provided a brief summary of the Death March # 2 on July 31st at the Shawangunks.  There were about 10 people present, and the name Death March was a misnomer because nobody died.  Tony said that he did not want to drop anyone off the pace, so the first 15 miles were done at a very civilized pace.  For the last two miles, he pushed the pace because he was not going to have a workout without any work.  It was also reported that two authority figures were seen smoking cigarettes, thus shocking some of their disciples ...
• Tony Ruiz seemed intent on raising a 4 x 400m relay team to challenge the sprinters at the MAC Mini Meet on August 13th.  Already, he has nominated himself and Tyronne Culpepper for that team.  He has even planned to have the annual softball game on August 21st to be a chance for the distance runners to whip the sprinters again.
• You might have noticed that the cheering squad at the northern pump house included the family of Jon Weilbaker, Pat Tuz and their daughter Sasha.  The first runner that they saw coming through was a very tanned Michael Trunkes, minutes ahead of the next person.  They were standing there and competing with coach Tony Ruiz to cheer.  After a while, Pat said, "I'm sorry.  I am interfering with your coaching instructions."  Tony said, "I doubt that they ever listen to me anyway."
• Seen twice in the park loop was that Jeff English character!  When will he be ready for the big comeback?
• After the workout, people stood around to feed the mosquitos from the garbage bins at the corner of 72nd Street and West Drive.  It was a weird sight to see this group of people shaking their legs while they talk.
• On the way back south, our hearts skipped a beat when Aubin Sullivan had a near collision with a Chinese food delivery person on a bike going through a red light.  

8/3/99

Workout description:

3 x (200m, 100m jog) to warmup
1200m, 600m jog
800m, 400m jog
1200m, 600m jog
800m

• Today was a break from the pattern of the record-setting July heat wave.  The high temperature of the day was in the 80's, with low humidity under clear blue skies.
• The prescription for the workout calls for a fairly precise drop of one second per lap in the longer items.  Well, it really did not work out that way for most people and we won't name names.
• The July heat wave has caused drought conditions in the area.  There was a breeze today, which meant that that there was a perpetual dust storm blowing from the soccer infield.  Cough, cough, cough, ...
• There were 44 people at the beginning of the workout, including San Diegan Nicole Begin.  Also noteworthy was the fact that Carol Tyler returned from the injured list.
• In reviewing this past weekend's results, coach Tony Ruiz said that there was only one racer (Adam Newman at the Silks & Stars 5K, but you should read Adam's own comment) and he was in fact quite pleased with the fact that people are not doing crazy things.  Well, just wait till this weekend's Manhattan Half Marathon, the site of many legendary blow-ups (yes, we can think of Tyronne Culpepper, Teri Sonnenclar, ... over the years).
• As a reminder, the coaches want you to think about doing the MAC track meet at City College of New York on August 13th.  Last year, Tyronne Culpepper showed up and ran a 56 second quarter.  You can become an idol like him too.  Tony Ruiz even suggested that we can have a 4x400m runoff between the distance runners and the sprinters, a proposition that caused Brian Denman to burst out laughing.
• Meanwhile Eden Weiss continues on his own special workout, upping his workout to a 5 mile tempo run this week.  Yes, we seemed to remember him doing a 5 x 1200m, then a 2 x 2 mile, then a 4 mile run ...  Could a track 10K be next?
• After the workout, Audrey Kingsley commented that there has not been a lot of new things on the website.  Are you kidding?  We just had one of the biggest scoops in the history of the web site!  HELLOOOOOO!

7/29/99

The workout begins from the Daniel Webster statue to the reservoir, and then going in the counterclockwise direction to Engineer's Gate (East 90th Street).  Then we run the next mile at 10K race pace to finish at the West 86th entrance to the reservoir.  We hop back onto West Drive and head north to West 102nd Street and then to the east end of the transverse.  We run 3/4 mile at 10K race pace by going down, up and down the 102nd Street cutoff.  We head south back until we reach the West 88th Street grid and we run the next half mile to West 79th Street at 5K race pace.  The total distance is 5.8 miles.

NOTES:

• This was yet another hot day in this heat-record-setting month of July for New York City.  The weather report at 630pm indicated 93 degrees in Central Park.   Still, there were 42 people at the workout, ready to go in spite of the fact that this may be the dreaded northern hill sprint workout.
• Ramon Bermo suggested that the workout should not include any hillwork.   The coach suggested, "How about a 10 mile tempo run?  Would that make you happier?"
• Back for her first road workout after her biking accident is Aubin Sullivan.  The road to recovery was not easy, including narrow escapes from a rollerblader and a breaststroke swimmer.
• The fast group went through the mile run in about 5:15.  At the three-quarter mile, Stuart Calderwood was observed to be surging ahead of the pack while yelling, "Tired of being slow!"  Ramon Bermo observed, "I never run that hard except at these workouts (and races)."
• Someone posed the following question, "I've been running with you guys for a few workouts, but I am not racing.  Do I have to join the club and pay dues?"   Well, it is probably true that the club won't sue you for theft of services at small claims court.  Still, the workouts are organized by the club, which arranges for the coaches and organizes the timers, leaders and trailers.  This is the only club in this town with organized workouts at these sizes and levels (and also detailed reports thereof on the worldwide web).  It would seem unfair that some people should pay for these services while others get a free ride.  We appeal to your sense of fairness and ask you to apply for club membership (see How to Apply).

7/27/99

Workout Description:

4 x (100m fast, 100m jog, 100m fast, 100m jog, 200m fast, 200m jog)

• In line with recent practices, this workout started at 7:06.58 (see photo of Audrey Kingsley's ultra-accurate timing watch).  At the start, there were 49 people present (including Margaret Nolan's two kids)
• In view of the extreme heat wave (near record of 99 degrees today), this was really a non-workout, in the sense that the prescribed sets should be done at less than full speed.  This was also an opportunity to rest a bit instead of banging heads. 
• Ramon Bermo said, "I came down here to time, but there was no workout!"
• Sitting in the grandstand reading a book ("The Alienist") was Bola Awofeso.  He can exchange book reports with Jose LaSalle, who was reading the same book this past winter to and fro the Armory.  Yes, we do have many literary types on our club ...
• After the workout, people hung around the track catching flies (not the 'pop' kind).  As with anything else, some people are better at it than others and, in this case, you don't want to be good at it ... Yes, we can hear the complaints that we make all these obscurantist references, but we always say, "You gotta be there."
• We hold separate workouts for the sprinters and the distance runners.  This section covers the distance runners' workouts.  Have you ever wondered what the other guys do?  Well, here is a photo of a drill known as "running in place fast", as directed by coach Brian Denman.   This drill is described as being exceedingly difficult.  Hmm ... By the way, the group started yelling "Go away!" in unison as soon as they saw the photographer approaching ... yes, teamwork is everything ... 

7/22/99 (credit: Stuart Calderwood)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

The workout begins with a warmup jog from the Webster statue to the 90th Street entrance on the West Drive.  Run the first pickup (approx. 1 mile) at a moderate-to-hard effort from that point north to the 102nd Street transverse, across it, and south on the East Drive to the marathon entrance.  Recover for about a quarter-mile south to the 97th Street overpass, and start the second pickup (1 1/2 miles): run at about 10K pace to where 86th Street would be if it extended into Central Park, reverse direction, accelerate to 5K pace and return to the pickup's starting point.   Recover through the cutoff and south on the West Drive to 97th Street, then begin a series of four 4-lamppost pickups (with 2-lamppost recoveries) for relaxed-but-fast "finishing speed practice"; continue south to the Webster Statue.

NOTES:

• This workout was invented on the spot by Tony Ruiz after he was told by Fasil Yilma and Victor Osayi (dependable sources?) that the Northern Hills section of the park was fenced off as a police crime-scene.  The original plan had been for yet another rehashing of the 3+3 Hills Session; be forewarned next Thursday -- or take some yellow tape up to 110th Street and prolong our relief for another week.

7/20/99

Workout Description (see original writeup below):

• Our continuous tracking system showed that, unlike the last 3 workouts in a row, this one began late, which was defined to be 7:04pm.  Yves-Marc Courtines arrived just in time to see the workout end and  David Pullman never even made it.  So you should all be aware that there is a new regime around here!
• When the workout started, there were 44 people present.
• Audrey Kingsley would like to remind you that the next scoring road race is the Club Team Championship Race, a double points race scored by the top 10 open men, the top 5 open women, the top 5 masters men and the top 3 masters women.
• In running, as in any other sport, you are advised to check your equipment beforehand (see photo) to make sure that you have everything that you need.
• The coach usually patrols the track, offering tactical tips.  In the last 300m, he yelled at Jarl Berntzen to sprint through the straightway on the inside.  Audrey Kingsley said, "He nearly took my ear off when he went by!"
• After the workout, a group of 14 people were at Two Boots for dinner, including a non-runner from New Orleans who already had dinner and a national champion volleyball player from Portland (Oregon).  This was probably Tom Hartshorne first time down at Two Boots, because he had permission to go out tonight.  As with any group situation, some people have to leave early and drop off their estimate share of the bill.  This infrared surveillance photo shows the pile of bills in the kitty.  Based upon historical patterns, this will obviously not be enough.  Ordinarily, the elder statesmen like Sid Howard and Frank Handelman get stiffed with the shortfall.  But this time it worked out perfectly.

7/15/99

Workout description:

The workout begins by heading east from the Daniel Webster statue to East 72nd and heading north to East 90th Street.  This first 1.25 mile is a warmup run.   The core of the workout is the 5.1 mile lower loop, in simulation of the Club Championship race.  The first mile from East 90th to West 102nd Street, being a downhill mile, should be done comfortably.  The hard section is the 1.7 mile from West 102nd to West 72nd.  Then, we rolled through the bottom of the park and then run the mile from East 72nd to East 90th hard as the final kick.  The total distance at this point is 6.4 miles.  For those who want to accumulate more miles, they can jump on the reservoir and recover for the one mile on the reservoir, and then run the 0.8 mile from West 86th Street to West 72nd Street hard.  The total distance is 8.2 miles.

Sideshow:

• We counted a total of thirty-nine people at the beginning of the workout.   Following the recent pattern of unpredictability (such as starting the workout on time), this workout headed east instead of north, and may have caused some people (including Mel Washington) to miss the group.
• Tony Ruiz announced that there will be another 'death march' up in the mountains of New Paltz on July 31st.  Depending on the turnout, the run will be between 11 and 20 miles.  He added, "But if Alan Ruben is there ... and I have every reason to think that he will be ... then all bets are off."  This website reports exclusively that the same Tony Ruiz is still hurting from the last matched death march with the same Alan Ruben a few weeks ago and will probably have to visit Dr. Dan Hamner for a repair job ... yes, it will be worth the price of admission just to be able to watch this rematch in person.  If you are interested, please let Tony know so that he can make transportation arrangements (if necessary).
• Somewhere in the middle of the 1.7 mile pickup, Stuart Calderwood was running right behind Jonathan Pillow and gasping, "Make him slow down!"  People on the sideline suggested, "Tickle him!" and "Tell some jokes!"
• Ellen Wallop showed up for her first workout in six years.   She said, "I now have a midtown job, and I realized that I can even make it to a workout."  Her objective was to run longer and faster than she has been doing, and she did just that today.
• The Global Surveillance System (TM) reports that Raphael Devalle was running sprints up the West 74th Street Hill behind Strawberry Hills.  Meanwhile, Mindy Solkin was coaching a large group of women near the Bethesda Fountain.   Where do these women come from?  Why aren't they running with us? ...

7/13/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, 50m recovery) for warmup
800m, 400m recovery
6 x (400m, 200m recovery)
800m

• This was a nice mild day with very low humidity.  Except for the fact that it was a bit windy out there, it would have been perfect.  The presence of the wind meant that the dust kicked up by the soccer players occasionally turned the field into a dust bowl.  Yes, we are all just dust in the wind ...
• The head count was 55 people present.  More or less?  More ...
• Coach Tony Ruiz began by saying, "Yes, we all have wives (husbands) and dinners waiting for us.  So let us get started immediately."   Well, well, well, well, well ... someone at home must have read the riot act ...
• In reviewing last week's race results, Tony pointed out that Ramon Bermo finished 11th overall at the Hudson Valley Triathlon, being 38th in the swim, 27th on the bike and 4th in the run.  He commented, "See, I told you that he should be running."
• The first 800m should be done at five mile race pace.  Thereafter, each 400m should be 1 second per lap faster than that pace.  The last 800m is done at the pace of the sixth 400m.  Example: 3:00 (for a 30 minute 5 mile runner), 1:29, 1:28, 1:27, 1:26, 1:25, 1:24, 2:48.  Of course, if you start off in 2:40, then you are going to be 'meat.'
• Someone asked, "I'm with the New York Flyers.  Can I join your workout?"  Answer: "Yes, indeed.  East River Park is owned and operated by the New York City Department of Parks.  There shall not be any discrimination in usage with respect to age, sex, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, mental capacity and/or club affiliation.  Notwithstanding the preceding statement, you are warned about those sharp elbows which are also administered without regard to age, sex, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, mental capacity and/or club affiliation."
• On several occasions over the last few months, we mentioned that we saw Bob Howard in the park and he promised to come back soon.  Well, he even made it down to the track today.  Bob said, "This is the first time in four years that I was down here."  Good for him!

7/08/99

Workout description:

(The Water Fountain Workout) The workout begins with a jog to the reservoir.   At the 86th Street entrance, we warm up with a series of  (2 fast lampposts, 3 jogging lampposts) until we reach East 90th Street.  There, we cross the street to hydrate at the water fountains.  The first tough piece is a near-full loop around the bridle path in the counterclockwise direction at half-marathon pace.  There, we cross the street to hydrate at the water fountains.  The second tough piece is a 'mile' (actually 1.05 mile) along the bridle path in the counterclockwise direction to the West 86th Street entrance to the reservoir.  We complete the loop with a recovery jog to East 90th Street.  There, we cross the street to hydrate at the water fountains.   The third and last piece is a half mile (actually 0.55 miles) along the bridle path in the counterclockwise direction to the northern pump house.  Then we head on home.   Total distance is 6.8 miles.  Weekend racers should only do the first tough piece.

Sideshow:

• Substitute coach Stuart Calderwood introduced his role today by saying, "I am Tony today" and then proceeded to describe the workout in a normal voice.  Yes, it is not necessary to yell at the top of your lungs to get attention.
• Devon Sargent remembered that the last workout that she came to was also a Stuart Calderwood special, namely the workout with the secret kickers in the intervals.  Unfortunately, there were no gimmicks in this workout except for a lot of sore ankles on the bridle path.
• Let it noted that this workout started on time, just like the Tuesday one.   This meant that several people were caught arriving late, including Audrey Kingsley.  The punishment for being late is having to start the workout with Alan Ruben and trying to keep up with his 'jog.'  We make the point that it is not necessary to always start on time in order to force people to arrive promptly; it is sufficient in fact to be unpredictable.  Personally speaking, we prefer to see people arrive early and the workout to start late, because we can pick up all sorts of (un)savory gossip ...
• We counted a total of 33 people before the workout started.  There may have been more latecomers on the way up.  So is this relatively low turnout at the workout a good sign that we will have many entrants in the Bronx Half Marathon this weekend?
• Another latecomer was Charles Allard, who had to go in search of the missing runners.  Fortunately, someone actually wore an orange t-shirt in this hot weather for Charles to home in on the bridle path.
• Raphael Devalle revealed his secret tactic for passing people in races by saying these words:
  - PRELUDE: "I'm going to be right behind you, but I'm not going to pass you."
  - MAIN ACT: "I know I said I wasn't going to pass you, but I lied."
  - POSTLUDE: "Never trust a Spaniard."
  But will it work the next time?  If a Spaniard says, "Never trust a Spaniard", can you trust what he just said?
• Stuart Calderwood said, "There are some among you who think that you will fall flat on your face or twist an ankle by running on the bridle path.   But if you can run the Van Cortlandt Park course, you should be able to do this."  The fact was that somebody (not one of our runners) did in fact fell flat on his face on the bridle path.  But it was reassuring to know that we have Dr. Randy Ehrlich on patrol.

7/06/99

Workout Description:

6 x (400m, 200m recovery, 200m, 200m recovery)

• This was a record-setting day with the temperature at 101 degrees in Central Park.  Combined with the high humidity, this is equivalent to 115+ degrees.   NASTY!  Here is coach Brian Denman's personal method of coping with the heat (see photo).  (Technical note: When Audrey Kingsley saw the camera, she said automatically, "What are you doing with that camera again?"  But when she saw the result, she changed her mind and said, "That was worth it."  However, she did get upset later when she found David Pullman changing behind the grandstand but the cameraman was catatonic.  Is the cameraman slipping in his vigilance?  That is hard to say, but our Global Surveillance System (TM) reports that the cameraman had just received a check signed by the same David Pullman ... yes, we all know that it is not in good taste to offend the person who puts the bread on the table, don't we?)
• There were between 30 to 40 people present, but we don't have an exact count.   Why don't we know for sure?  Because this workout started on time (yes, coach Tony Ruiz started to describe the workout at exactly 7:01pm and even skipped the race results), and there was a continuous stream of latecomers (Kurtis Edwards, Julian Allen, etc) arriving that we could not track.
• When Coach Tony Ruiz asked for volunteer timers, Sid Howard said, "There will be more timers than runners on a day like today.   In fact, I think we'll all going to be timers."
• As people moved their gear into the infield, Irene Jackson-Schon noted, "Hmmm ... somebody's got a box of Twinkies and that's just what I want!"  So if the owner is missing any, he/she should contact Irene for compensation.
• One of the key points in this workout is, "Don't worry about your time, because it will be dreadful."  The exception was Tom Hartshorne, who was blasting the 400m's as he prepared for the World Veterans' Championships coming up.

• Concerning his photo on the home page with the caption about running being a serious business, Craig Chilton said, "I'll tell my mother to check it out.  She'll like it, because she thinks I'm too serious."  Then he asked, "Where was this photo taken?  At a race?"  Answer: "No, it was taken at a track workout, when Tony Ruiz was going through the usually long speech.  You were obviously trying to absorb every word."
• After the workout, Sid Howard made his standard offer of rides for people --- "Anywhere you wanna go."  Noah Perlis asked, "Fort Lee?"  Sid replied, "No, that is too far.  But you will be able to sit on the couch that I am going to be delivering later this evening."   Some trade-off!

7/01/99

Workout description:

The workout began with a four mile loop done at marathon pace.  The next mile from W72nd to W88th is 10 seconds faster.  The next mile from W88th to East 102nd is another 10 seconds faster.  The final mile from East 102nd to East 85th is yet another 10 seconds faster.

Sideshow:

• This was a really nasty day.  Not only was it hot, but it rained hard around five o'clock, which meant that the humidity was saturated at 100%.  If you can handle this strength workout without blowing up, then you will probably do well at the Bronx Half Marathon.
• Coach Tony Ruiz characterized this workout as follows, "This workout is a test of patience.  It was just what Fritz Mueller liked to do.  He would just wait and wait and wait, and then pounce."
• There was in fact a short shower around 7:05pm too.  Perhaps because of the rain, we only had 39 people turning out, including many triathletes (Randy Ehrlich, Ramon Bermo, Julie Denney, etc) who are obviously oblivious to a bit of rain.
• The entire Yamazaki family was there: Casey, Yumi and Erika.  Some perfectly nasty person said, "Hey, Yumi, it is your turn to start running now.  There is a greater payout for the team than Casey running!"
• Before the groups started out, Ramon Bermo asked someone about the pacing instructions.  Instead, he was offered this piece of advice: "Forget about the pace.  Your job is to stick to that Alan Ruben character, no matter what."   That turned out to be exactly what he did.  Way to go, Raqui!
• Generally, our workouts are loops that begin and end at the Daniel Webster statue.  This workout ended at East 85th Street, near the southern pump house at the Central Park reservoir.  Afterwards, Tony Ruiz observed that someone who usually runs south with him after workouts was heading east instead.  Tony yelled, "Hey, you are going the wrong way!"  The response: "No, Tony, this is the right way for me because the 86th Street stop on the Lexington line is closer.   I'll be damned if I run all the way down to Columbus Circle with you on a night like this." It is sometimes said that the ability to turn down gratuitous miles is a sign of the development of a track runner.  So will this person take up Stuart Calderwood's advice to run 800m's?  Naaaah ...

6/29/99

Workout Description:

600m, 200m recovery
600m, 200m recovery
600m, 400m recovery
300m, 100m recovery
300m, 100m recovery
300m, 200m recovery
300m, 100m recovery
300m, 100m recovery
300m, 200m recovery
3 x (200m, 100m recovery)
6 x (100m, 50m recovery)

• We counted 53 people present at the workout, not including the coach's son Anthony.   It was a dreadfully hot and humid day, with hints of a thunderstorm that never came.  People were exhausted just getting down to the track.  It was just as well that the longest items were 600m's and not more.
• The purpose of this workout is to test your sense of pace.  If your normal pace for a 600m is 2 minutes, then you should go for 2:04, 2:02 and 2:00 in the three repeats.  The important thing is to see how close you come within those target times.   This means that Brian Barry's 15 second improvement from the first to the second 600m was NOT cool!
• Stuart Calderwood wore sunglasses to the workout and said, "Why do people wear sunglasses on hot and sunny days? (pause) In order to be COOL, of course!"  He also offered another explanation, "I want to be like Craig Chilton, the guy with the perfect running form."  The above note caused Tyronne Culpepper to write in and ask: "One might want to wear  them for the reason they are meant:  To protect one's eyes from the sunlight???:-)"  Naaaaah, that would be too simple.
• It is duly noted that there was a wild elbow swing (correction: make that two elbow swings) during the workout.   Listen, in case you don't get it, this is only a workout!  Please keep the wildman act to the scoring races!  (note: No, in spite what you may choose to believe, it was not Mary V. Rosado who swung that elbow)

6/24/99

Workout description:

The group started out en masse to the reservoir.  There, we run one full loop at 3 lampposts on and 3 lampposts off.  We get off the reservoir and head north until we hit the storm drain at West 88th Street.  We turn around and run one full mile to the Daniel Webster statue.  We turn around and jog back to the reservoir and run a pickup from the southern pumphouse to the northern pumphouse.  Then we jog back to the statue.  The total distance is 6.8 miles.

Sideshow:

• This was a nice dry and hot day.  Due to the fact that there was a scoring race on Saturday morning, the turnout was light at only 38 people.  The truth-in-advertising act requires us to disclose that this count included two cyclists (Bola Awofeso and John Megaw) and one triathlete with hands in plaster (Aubin Sullivan).  Seen for the first time in a while was that Paul Stuart-Smith character.
• Coach Tony Ruiz wants you to remember two things as the weather gets hotter.  First and foremost, HYDRATE!  Second, you can cut down on your mileage (if you can) and do some shorter races instead.
• At the end of our previous episode, we left Eve Kaplan wondering if she will ever get to do a reservoir workout on Thursday.  Today, her wish came true.  Unfortunately, she wanted to race on Saturday and therefore could not put in a hard workout.  So will she get another full chance next week, when she will be able to attend the workout again?  Stay tune to the next episode ...
• As part of her all-out campaign to set the complete workout agenda, Eve Kaplan also said, "My first track workout ever was the 26 times 200m.   I loved it!"  Michele Tagliati heard her words and groaned (see Famous Saying # 263).  One of the veterans on the team pointed out that the number 26 corresponds to the age of the club, and the year before we did 25 times 200m.  Yes, it doesn't get easier.
• Audrey Kingsley was asked to provide a prediction for her race time at the 5 Miler on Saturday.  She said, "I will run somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes."  Yes, we like the precision ...

6/22/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, 100m recovery)
1000m, 400m recovery
4 x (600m, 300m recovery)
3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

• We counted a total of 48 persons present at the workout.  The turnout is slightly below average, due to the Corporate Challenge race tomorrow and the scoring race on the weekend.  Okay, we'll confess --- that count included 10-year-old Giuseppe Petracca, but then this 2:40 800m runner wasn't just jogging either.
• Coach Tony Ruiz dispensed the following advice: "For those who are running the five miler on Saturday, the workout will be different, but it is the same."  Excuse us, can you please try again?
• Sid Howard's exclamation after seeing the workout description: "Oh, I love this workout.  It's about time that you give something like this."
• There was a surplus of timers for this workout.  We have sorted the applicants into four groups: the Corporate Challenge runners (Craig Chilton, Tyronne Culpepper, Charlie Stark) tomorrow night, the chronicially disabled (Bola Awofeso, J.R. Mojica, Carol Tyler), the survivors of the Alan Ruben death march in New Paltz on the weekend (Audrey Kingsley) and the masochists (J.P. Cheuvront, Thomas Pennell) back from the week-long Tortoise-to-Hare Triathlete Training Boot Camp operated by that sadist Scott Willett.  (We would have loved to see Ramon Bermo there too, but he is probably too beaten up from that camp)
• We had four people working as timers: Tyronne Culpepper, Charlie Stark, Craig Chilton, and Eve Kaplan.  And Eve even had Carol Tyler sharing duties with split calling at opposite ends of the field.  The rest of the timekeeper candidates sat in the grandstand and watched the proceedings.  In response to Charlie Stark's inquiry about why they got the cushy job, they said, "This is the seating section for the elite timekeepers.  Only rookies work.   We all have several sessions under our belt already.  You can join us after you pay your dues."
• After the workout, there was a group of 17 people going down to Two Boots for dinner.  It has gotten to the point where it is so loud that you have to scream to be heard ...

6/17/99

Workout description:

The workout began with a warm-up jog to West 88th Street.  From there, we did a two mile pickup through the northern hills coming back through the 102nd Street cutoff to about 150 meters before the western end.  The recovery was 800m of one time back and forth the cutoff path.  The next pickup is 1.5 mile consisting of one clockwise loop of the northern hill, plus the extra 150 meters to finish at West 102nd Street.  Then we put in a steady run back to the Daniel Webster statue.  The total distance of the workout was 6.75 miles.

Sideshow:

• The workout began with ominous signs of bad weather coming.  Julie Denney said, "I was looking at the weather map on the Weather Channel, and there was a heavy green band heading right towards New York City."  During the workout, there was in fact a very light drizzle.  If anything, it cooled the runners down a bit.  Yes, it was almost nice.  Even the coach Tony Ruiz said, "I feel edgy tonight.  I wish I could have done this workout myself."
• Perhaps because of the weather forecast, there were only 38 people present, slightly less than the recent average.  Yes, in case you are wondering, the count includes Bola Awofeso on his bike.  No, John Megaw is running now and no longer biking.
• Making his road workout debut was Jose LaSalle.  In the past, he has not been able to make it to Central Park due to his work schedule.  But this summer he has a different schedule which allows him to run on Thursday evenings.   Although we did not get him to do a post-workout interview about his first impressions yet, we will certainly do so as soon as possible ...
• Eve Kaplan mentioned to the coach on Tuesday that she loves those reservoir workouts.  Unfortunately, she works every other Thursday evening and she always seems to miss precisely those reservoir workouts.  When the coach told her that the workout this Thursday would include the reservoir, Eve sighed because she had to work again.  But the predicted rain caused the coach to change his workout.  So does this mean that Eve will finally get her reservoir workout next week?   Stay tuned and find out in our next episode ...
• This workout was described as being relatively short.  But when there are only two pickups, that just means that they will be quite long and arduous.  The long and short of it is that distance is a relative concept, for Marge DeMarrais said, "This workout is longer than what I ran in total for the last 3 weeks."
• The first two mile pickup was recommended at half marathon race pace, and the 1.5 mile pickup at 10 mile race pace.  Knowing full well that nobody ever listens to those instructions, coach Tony Ruiz readily conceded that the A group will 'want to do well.'
• After the first two-mile pickup, Raphael Devalle stopped and asked the coach whether or not he should continue, given that he will be running at the track meet this weekend.  The coach looked at him and said, "What are you doing here at all?  You should know better than that!"  Postscript: In fact, Raphael never made it to the track meet because he pulled a muscle during that two mile pickup.
• Audrey Kingsley mentioned that when she was running in the park this weekend, a group of New York Flyers proceeded to cheer her.  Mind you, that was just for her being there, because there was no race going on at that time.  So we want to thank those wonderful New York Flyers on her behalf!
• On the way back to the statue, Yves-Marc Courtines was heard to be yelling to a teammate standing by the roadside, "Hey, that's bull----!  You led Audrey out fast, and now you cut out."
• Chris Taylor has just finished his current assignment with Deloitte & Touche and will be returning to the United Kingdom.  He says that he loved his US experience, and will try to come back the next chance that he gets.   Meanwhile, if you happen to be visiting the U.K., you can reach him at chris.taylor@deloitte.co.uk.  He promises to give you shelter and show you a few races to run in too.  We do have to warn you that races in the U.K. are likely to be somewhat more competitive than those in Malawi.

The Europeans: Chris Taylor and Carsten Strandlod
"Where would the Red Devils be without Peter Schmeichel?"

• For the exit interview, coach Tony Ruiz asked Chris Taylor only this question, "So, Chris, what do you think of those Puerto Ricans, huh?"  (note: the Puerto Rican Day Parade took place this past weekend)

6/15/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, 100m recovery)
4 x (800m, 400m recovery)
3 x (300m, 100m recovery)
The core of the workout are the 800m's.  The first two should be done at 5K race pace, the next one at 5 seconds faster and the last one at another 2 seconds faster.

• We counted a total of 57 persons present at this workout.  Although this could have been a messily crowded workout, the fact that we had four timekeepers and six different groups made everything run as smooth and easy as a washing machine.  Most of the runners were divided into four groups based upon pace, the fifth group was a separate matched workout featuring Sid Howard and Frank Handelman and the sixth group is Eden Weiss alone running 2 x 1.5 mile as prescribed in his newly purchased running book.
• When we found out that Charlie Stark volunteered to keep time today, we wondered if he was injured.  He said, "I have a poison ivy rash on my forearm."  Yes, some people will use any excuse to dodge a workout ...
• Bola Awofeso showed up at the track in dress clothes.  When asked if he was going to get changed and run today, he said, "I haven't run in the last fifteen days."  Yes, anyone who has a 2:40 marathon finish can retire with dignity.  Now if only the official photos can arrive soon enough to complete the proof.
• After the workout, sixteen people went down to Two Boots for dinner.   Chief party organizer Sid Howard said, "There were quite a few people who promised me today that they will be here next week.  They think that I won't remember, but I will make them keep their promises!  And they are Audrey Kingsley, Margarita Cabrera, Tyronne Culpepper, ... "
• At the dinner, coach Tony Ruiz polled those present about their splits for the 800m's in the workout.  So Eve Kaplan read off from her watch, "3:02, 3:02, 3:11, 3:13" and then looked up to see Tony clutching his heart in great pain.  Eve said, "But, Tony, this watch reads backwards, so I started with 3:13 and finished in 3:02 --- not the other way around."  This certainly made Tony a lot happier.
• After the dinner, Sid Howard offered the westside-bound people a lift in his famous delivery van.  As usual, this was what he shouted --- "All aboard the night train ..."

6/10/99

Workout description:

This was a straight out-and-back tempo run.  From the Daniel Webster statue, we headed north through the hills and came down to East 90th, where we retraced our steps.   The second half should be about 10 seconds per mile faster.  The total distance was 7 miles.

Sideshow:

• We counted a total of 39 people present at the start.  Honestly speaking, though, this count has been inflated because we included Peter ("I was just passing by") Gambaccini.  Even worse, we counted the four guys on bikes who congregated on the west end (Bola Awofeso, Kurtis Edwards, Stuart Calderwood and John Megaw).   John provided the best quote, "Just get the workout started so I can bike home."  If you must go cycling on Thursday evenings, we would still urge you to drop by the Daniel Webster statue so that we can include you in the attendance count.
• Question: "I have observed that the recent road workout reports have paid an inordinate amount of attention to people on bikes.  What is going on here?  I thought this was a running club ..."  Answer: "This is a temporary dislocation until as such time as Kevin Arlyck comes back ..."   (Postscript: We expect that this response is far too subtle for its own good.   The fact of the matter is that we believe people ride bicycles only when they cannot run due to injuries, and we are therefore showering kindness on their misfortune.   We hope that this explanation muddles things even more for you ...)  The above note caused Kevin to write: "Hey, I didn't even get the reference to my return in the 6/10 workout description.  Does that mean that you are including bike riders so that poor injured souls like myself will still get a mention, despite the fact that we haven't run anything other than a washing machine for the last three months?  If so, I appreciate it ... I think ..."
• With an amazing sense of timing, just when coach Tony Ruiz explained that the first miles should be done at marathon pace, little Isabella Tagliati dashed across right in front of him.  If cuteness can kill, then we are all dead ...
• When coach Tony Ruiz arrived at the workout, he asked Erik Goetze, "How do you pronounce your last name?  It is important for me to get the name right for somone who led the team in his first race."
• Our gathering place is right in the middle of the east-west pedestrian path, so that there were many people (and dogs) coming through.  We kept checking out the dogs because one of them just might be the mysterious canine which showed up in our Vermont Marathon Relay films (see Photo).  Audrey Kingsley said, "I think this must be killing you --- the idea that there is something out there that you don't know about!"  Of course, she prefaced her remark with a blanket denial that this was her dog, and Ana Echeverri filed a supporting affidavit to the effect.  So will the real owner ever stand up?

6/8/99

Workout Description:

For the "A" team, the workout was 12 times 400m (200m jog)
For the other two groups, the workout was 8 times 400m (200m jog)
In all cases, each 400m should be one second faster than the previous one.   Thus the "A" team began with a 80 second quarter.  This supposedly teaches pace.

• This is a record-setting hot day with the temperature topping at 94 degrees.   It was so hot that John Sargent (of the Central Park Track Club (Texas branch)) commented, "It's hotter in New York City than in Houston, where it is like a hot sauna."  Mercifully, no long items were in this workout.
• Tony Ruiz could not make it today, so Sid Howard stepped up to the plate.  Look at this photo and see how people pay as much attention to Sid as they do to Tony.
• After calling out the road and track race results, Sid asked, "Any triathletes here today?"  Nobody would own up to being a triathlete ...  Special mention was given to the absent triathlete Ramon Bermo who did the sprint triathlon on Saturday in Pawling (NY) and then went to Maryland to do the half ironman triathlon on Sunday.  Thomas Pennell said, "I only did the Saturday one.   I had business on Sunday, or else I would have done the other one too."   Good for them!
• When Brian Marchese found out that Erik Goetze led the team at the North County News 5K, he asked, "Who is this Erik?"  He was told, "This is the guy with the beard (see photo) ... and I don't mean you."  And when Erik showed up, Brian said, "You must not have been putting in a full effort at the workouts!"  Here is a photo of Brian leading today's workout, with Erik hanging on the outside lane (and running the extra distance!).  Please note too the pained face of David Pullman, who arrived fashionably late for the workout as usual.
• After watching Kim Mannen go through her sets of 400m, the consensus is that she is a sprinter!  What is this 3:30 marathon nonsense that she runs?   Sid Howard asked, "Kim, are you over 25 yet?  If so, you can be running sub-master track."  You have no idea how happy Kim was to hear that (about her age, not about the invitation to run track).  By the way, Kim once ran a 2:15 800m in high school.
• So, was this a tough workout?  Check out this photo of Raphael Devalle in the middle of the workout.  We think coach Brian Denman may be working him too hard.  When he woke up from this nap, he asked, "What? The workout is over already?  Good!"

6/3/99

Workout description:

The workout began with a jog up to the reservoir.  To loosen up, we began with a 1200m pickup from the West 86th Street corner to East 90th Street.  We cruise from there to the northern pump house.  We did another 1200m to the southern pump house.  Recovery continues to East 90th Street.  We get back on the road and run (3 times 1 minute fast, 3 times 1 minute recovery).  We continue north and began a 1100m pickup from the Martin Luther King Boulevard entrance to the park up and down Harlem Hill, ending at West 102nd Street.  We recover through 90th Street, and pick up slightly to finish at the statue again. 

Sideshow:

• Before the workout started, we saw Efrain Gonzalez running fast by himself down south.  A few seconds thereafter, we saw the trailing Herbie Medina.  When we told Herbie to catch Efrain, he said, "No!  I ran cross country yesterday ..."
• We counted a total of 36 persons present at the workout, although we need to subtract Bola Awofeso on his bike.  What has happened to him?   He said, "After I got my photo of the 2:40 marathon, I don't ever have to run again."  Unfortunately, nobody has seen that photo yet  (and probably never will?).
• When Fritz Mueller was told that the second pickup goes from the northern pump house to the southern pump house, he said, "Ach!  I know that very well.  It is three-quarters of a mile.  I used to run six reservoir loops every day, each loop faster than the one before."
• Jack Brennan is a resident of Irvington (Westchester).  He is inviting Central Park Track Club members to come by his house after the North County News 5K this weekend.  If you are interested, just see him after the race to see about getting there.  We point out that Jack has a real house with a real swimming pool, and not the fifth floor walkup hole-in-the-wall studio apartments like the rest of us have.  This is your chance to see how the other half lives.  Please make sure to bring your sunscreen, swimming costumes and rubber duckies ...
• There was a Nike representative at the workout, scouting for prospective stars for a new commercial (print and television).  Screen tests were given to Craig Chilton and Stuart Calderwood.  Other people with prior commercial credentials included Jack Brennan, who ran a 2:57 marathon while wearing Rockports.  Jack said, "I thought it was going to be easy.  I have done a 2:22 marathon, and I was only asked to run under 3 hours.  I thought I could do that no matter what I wore.  However, I had forgotten that I had not run a marathon in about 8 years.  So it was definitely harder than I thought."

6/1/99

Workout Description:

2 x (200m, 100m recovery)
600m (200m recovery), 300m (200m recovery)
300m (200m recovery), 600m (200m recovery)
800m (400m recovery), 400m (200m recovery)
400m (200m recovery), 800m

• Hot and humid.  We thought that this was just the kind of weather that we had been pining for.  Unfortunately, we forgot about the third element: "Bad air quality!" (There was an ozone alert today).  Eek!
• We counted a total of 56 people in attendance.  Unfortunately, the only person that counted was absent and his name is Sid Howard.  Without his organizing, the group completely collapsed afterwards as nobody wanted to go to Two Boots.  Didn't Sid promise to be with us for the rest of the season?  We are totally lost without him ...
• Fresh from his stirring anchor leg on the Vermont Marathon Relay, Bola Awofeso said, "I don't mind if the coach spends an hour today talking.   He can talk about the relay as long as he wants to."
• The Case of the Vanishing Runners: The 39-to-42 minutes 10K group started with only four people, but by the time the final 800m came up, only Sarah Gross was still on her feet.  Sarah had to draft the coach as her pacer in order to complete the workout.
• Your team rep Ramon Bermo wants to remind you about the North County News 5K this weekend.  He said, "I won't be there, so that means you guys better get out there."  Where will Ramon be?  At the Blackwater-Eagleman Half-Ironman Marathon in Cambridge, Maryland.
• It would appear that this is the time of year to bring a friend to the track and show us that you know some really fast people.  On this day, everybody stopped in their tracks (sorry for the cliché) to watch Carmine Petracca's friend run a 52:5 quartermile AT THE END OF THE WORKOUT BY HIMSELF ON TRAINING SHOES just to get some extra work.  Ramon Bermo's friend from Arizona was no slouch either (yes, please contemplate someone with a PR of 8:48 in the 3000m steeplechase --- better yet, contemplate a 8:48 3000m and then add the hurdles.)  Do you know someone fast?  If yes, bring them down to the track.

5/27/99

Workout description ("The Secret Kicker" workout):

This workout begins with a warmup jog from the Daniel Webster statue south to the big S (for Start) mark on the roadway opposite the Tavern on the Green and back.   The first pickup is a two mile run from the statue to West 88th Street and back.   Then we run two lower loops with three half mile pickups within.  The first half mile pickup begins at the S mark and ends at the 800m mark just before the carousel.   The second half mile pickup begins at East 72nd Street and ends on the west side where three tree branches were placed by the roadside.  The third half mile pickup begins at the 2 mile mark near the Seventh Avenue exit and ends at near East 68th Street.   The workout has a fun element because in each of the half mile pickups, one member of the group was secretly assigned to be the 'kicker' whose job is to surge at the 400m mark, and forcing everyone else to follow suit.  The total distance of the workout was 6.4 miles.

Sideshow:

• Ramon Bermo attempted to organize the "Great Birthday Party Conspiracy --- Part II" for coach Tony Ruiz.  He was going to step in to make an announcement, at which point everybody was supposed to start singing Happy Birthday.  Unfortunately, Tony's mom pre-empted the effort by taking Tony to dinner instead.
• Stuart Calderwood stepped in as the replacement coach of the day.  This workout was allegedly sketched out by Tony Ruiz, but we suspect that the idea of the 'secret kicker' was a Calderwood creation.  Stuart said, "The high school kids that I coach love this."  Then he looked at the smiling Ramon Bermo, "Ramon, you would definitely make my high school team."
• For those who are scheduled to run one of the many races this weekend (Vermont Relay Marathon, Potatohampton 10K, Ridgewood 10K, etc), the recommendation was to run the two miler and then ease off in this workout.  Vermont-bound Ramon Bermo looked visibly upset because he may never find out who the 'secret kickers' are.
• Obviously, the 'secret kickers' could not be designated until the groups were formed from those present.  There were about 40 people present, divided into three groups.  The designation process must take into consideration the ability and temperament.  In the first (and least fast, to be politically correct) group, the first 'secret kicker' was Roland Soong, a choice based on his proclivity to start too fast and then DNF in workouts.  Yup, he would have been in deep trouble in the third pickup, which was assigned to the very reliable and responsible family man Michele Tagliati, M.D.
• For the obsessive-compulsive types, it should be noted that the second 800m pickup was a bit short for everyone and the third 800m pickup was a bit long for the fastest group but correct for the other two groups.
• When asked how he did in terms of keeping up with the 'secret kickers', Randy Ehrlich said, "I didn't care who they were.  I just ran as hard as I could to win each one of the 800m's."
• By coincidence, Stacy Creamer and Gordon Streeter showed up with identical 1994 Hispanic Half Marathon singlets.  When Audrey Kingsley saw the shirts, she said with undisguised jealousy, "I hadn't even started running in 1994."

5/25/99

Workout Description:

2 x (200m, 100m recovery)
3 x (400m, 200m recovery)
1 mile, 800m recovery
4 x (400m, 200m recovery)

• After the miserable rain yesterday, this was a gorgeous sunny spring day with temperature in the mid 70's.  For once, we could not come up with an accurate count, but we would put a lower bound of at least 60 people at the workout.  We also couldn't remember who the timers were (except for John Kenney).   However, we were not the only ones with lapses (see item below about Tony Ruiz).
• Audrey Kingsley gave her little motivational speech, reminding people about the scoring race (Lesbian and Gay Pride 5 Miler in Central Park) in late June.  So make sure your very busy social calendar has a slot for that morning!
• The first two 200m's are strictly for the purpose of loosening up, so you should not even worry about your time.  The next three 400m's are done at 5K race pace, which should be fairly easy.  The 1 mile is also done at the 5K race pace, simulating the middle of a race, which now gets a bit more difficult.  The last set of 400m's is the finishing kick (and not the all-out sprint).
• Sitting in the grandstand was Jackie Cortes and son Matthew.  Although Jackie did not run today, she was doing plenty of weightlifting exercises.
• Here is an example of what NOT to do in a workout: Eve Kaplan is smiling and waving at the camera too.  Focus, Eve!
• After the workout, Jonathan Federman asked us, "So ... what are you going to post on the website?  The actual workout, or the one that you were able to do?"   Sorry, we had a memory lapse and could not remember what we actually did.  So you will have to settle for the workout as prescribed.
• This is first-time track runner Kyra with her dad Eden Weiss.
• After the workout, a group set out for Two Boots (at Avenue A and Second Street).   This time, we had a historical high of 42 people present.
• For the sake of newcomers, Jack Brennan was introduced as the fastest marathoner in the history of the Central Park Track Club.  As his pal Fritz Mueller would insist, the 2:20 marathon time has to be asterisked as being wind-aided (oh well, "severely wind-aided by a Lousiana hurricane on his back the whole way").   Jack has just reached the ripe old age of 50.
• Of the people in attendance (plus the staff at Two Boots), all but one of them were in on the great birthday party conspiracy.  The birthday boy today was coach Tony Ruiz.  Towards the end of the dinner, the staff brought out the birthday cake (secretly brought in yesterday by Sarah Gross).  After blowing out the candles, Tony was asked to give a speech.  He got up ... and maybe for the first time that we can remember ... was at a loss in finding words to say.  If he keeps this up, we'll get our workouts started much sooner!  We have a separate photo album for this joyous occasion.

5/20/99

Workout description:

This is a strength-type workout on an out-and-back course --- from the Daniel Webster statue north through the 102nd Street transverse and south to E86th Street, and return.  There are four 1000m pickups.  Number one: West 90th to West 102nd, number two: East 102nd to East 90th, number three: East 86th to East 97th and number four: West 102nd to West 90th.  For kicks, from West 86th Street, run three lampposts fast, two easy, two fast, two easy and two fast.  The total distance is 6 miles if you turn back at end of the straightway at East 86th Street like you were told, but it is a bit more if you were led into running further down..

Sideshow:

• The temperature was a gorgeous 70 degrees, with low humidity and not a cloud to be seen in the clear blue sky.  There were 36 people in attendance, although we should exclude the injured John Megaw on his bike.  Due to the Avon 10K on Saturday, there were very few women (we saw Monica Bonamego and Devon Sargent)  in attendance today.  Of course, Audrey Kingsley showed up, but she actually did not run.
• In reviewing the past weekend's race results, coach Tony Ruiz had to ask Alan Ruben whether it was really true that Peter Allen finished ahead of him at the Midland 15K.  Alan just smiled and said, "Yeah, yeah."
• Coach Tony Ruiz also reported that Steve Eick ran a 50 Miler, finishing in third place.  He added, "He is obviously not here today.  But if anyone sees him, please tell him that the coach wants to talk to him about this insanity!"
• Randy Ehrlich showed up in a tanktop, thus giving everybody a chance to look at those massive shoulders that powered him on the rowing portion to a second consecutive title at the Spring Couples Relay.
• The great shootout in the fourth 1,000m pickup was a virtual tie among Michael Trunkes, Stuart Calderwood, Roane Carey and Alan Ruben.  Yes, that was a great sight to see the competitive spirit in action!
• When Tony Ruiz saw Devon Sargent finishing the last 1,000m pickup, he said, "I don't understand how she could be smiling and suffering at the same time."
• As we stood around to chat after the workout, a police car with sirens screaming and lights flashing came down West Drive and made a sharp left turn on 72nd Street, losing a hubcap in the process.  The said hubcap was retrieved by Stuart Calderwood and turned over to another police officer later.  You will have to ask Stuart what we had to say about this Good Samaritan act ...
• Today was Carsten Strandlod's last official club road workout.   Carsten and Mette are setting off into the sunset for Malawi.  We will be checking the Malawi website for race results ...
• There was an astonishing sight that we have not come across in years: Jeff English running around the park.  He was in the company of Margaret Nolan.

5/18/99

Workout Description:

2 x (200m, 100m recovery)
400m, 200m recovery
600m, 300m recovery
800m, 400m recovery
1200m, 600m recovery
800m, 400m recovery
400m, jog to cool down

• There was a mild drizzle throughout the day.  So you think that would deter attendance at an outdoor workout (except for that guy from Liverpool, Chris Taylor), huh?  Well, we counted fifty-three people in attendance.  We hate to imagine the mob scene when the weather gets any better.
• We were graced by the simultaneous presence of our two world-record holders Sid Howard and Rae Baymiller.  Sid pulled in extra duty by holding up the workout placard next to the coach for everyone to see.  What would we do without him!?
• The workout is an up-and-down ladder.  The focus should be on the 1200m (at 5K race pace) and the last 800m (at 3 seconds faster than 5K race pace).
• There was only one assistant timekeeper today.  For the record, he is Jose La Salle and not J.R. Mojica.  For his efforts, the coach said, "Gracias, papi!"
• Blasts from the past with us today included Larry King and Marge Demarrais.  What is going on here!?
• For those of us who have time to look around, we cannot help but notice our sprinter brethen doing their baton exchange drills.  Guys, you need to work a whole lot more on that!
• After the workout, John Gleason told a teammate, "I hope you didn't mind my elbowing you during the workout.  I thought I had enough room to squeeze through on the inside, but I bumped into you."  Well, as George Wisniewski said, "Don't get mad, get even!"  This other guy is neither strong nor fast enough to do anything to FDNY Captain John Gleason, but he does control the flow of information on this web site ... so, watch out, John!
• At the workout, a group of 16 people retreated to Two Boots (Avenue A and Second Street) for dinner.  The crowd was a bit smaller than last week, probably because of that quick shower that scattered everybody after the workout.
• Luca Trovato traveled to and back from the workout on his motorcycle, complete with his orange-colored helmet.  Yes, we know, the true mark of a sprinter is the ability to decline gratuitous mileage.

5/13/99

Workout description:

This is a hill sprinting workout that is given once every seven or eight weeks as a change of pace.  The group headed south en masse around the lower loop and they got organized at the 72nd Street Boathouse to the sound of cool jazz.  From that point on, there were four repeats of sprints up to Cleopatra's Needle and back.  After the fourth sprint, they jogged on up to the Reservoir.  From the southern pumphouse, they did one full loop with three lampposts on, three lampposts off, at about 75% effort.  Then they jogged back south down East Drive and then west to the Daniel Webster Statue.  The total distance was 6.5 miles.

Sideshow:

• On the basis of the dryness and temperature, this gorgeous weather would have been the perfect evening for running.  Unfortunately, this was also spring time and there was a lot of pollen around.  Cough, cough, sniff, sniff.
• We counted a total of forty-two people at the workout.  Included in this count was Peter Gambaccini who scooted in and out very quickly, but not before he was identified as the guy with many sub-25 minute five milers.
• Conspicuously absent tonight was Randy Ehrlich, who is presumably flexing his muscles to defend his title at this weekend's Spring Couples Relay.   Yeah, those muscles are made for rowing!  (Postscript: These prophetic words became reality, as Randy stormed back in the rowing portion to retain his title)
• The coach Tony Ruiz showed up with checkered shorts, high-top black socks and eyeglasses.  He said, "When I was young, I used to go to races in ugly shorts, beaten-up shoes and retro-John Lennon glasses.  I was hoping that people would take me lightly, but they knew who I was after a while.  It is only now that I am getting into this fashion thing."  The crowd around him gasped in mock horror.  Fashion!?  This is supposed to be fashion?
• The next women's scoring race is the Avon 10K on Saturday, May 22nd.  Once again, the men are reminded to come out and cheer.  The elite field has stunning depth (including Tegla Laroupe, Gete Wami and Fatuma Roba) this time.  So Fasil Yilma will be out there cheering for sure?
• Generally, we do these types of sprints in the northern hills.  At one point today, the group looked in horror as a horse carriage turned into the path directly at them.  There were also some buses coming and going during the workout.  That is one reason why the northern hills are better for group sprinting.
• These sprints from the boathouse to the Needle are not 100% uphill.  The crest occurs on top of the 79th Street transverse, about 400 meters from the boathouse and 200 meters from the Needle.  Generally, when people run uphill, they take quick small steps, and then they need to change their cadence and stride on the downhill.  So a helpful tip is to take a few hops after reaching the top (but make sure you don't fall flat on your face).
• As Audrey Kingsley ran around the reservoir according to the coach's instructions, she came across a teammate who cautioned her: "Never mind me!  I am not running three on and three off.  I am running one hundred off."

5/11/99

Workout Description:

1200m at 5 mile race pace, 400m recovery
1200m at 4 mile race pace, 600m recovery
1200m at 5K mile race pace, 400m recovery
3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

• This was a mild day with gorgeous sunshine.  Best day for track workout so far this year, but we still pine for those hot, humid days of summer.  Perhaps it was this nice weather, but the turnout was a year high of over 50 people (there were too many people running around to come up with the exact number!).
• The workout went on smoothly, because we had a surplus of timekeepers.  We ran four different groups from the four corners of the track, with timekeepers John Kenney, Ramon Bermo (assisted by Audrey Kingsley), Kevin Arlyck (assisted by Roland Soong) and Jose La Salle.
• Those two hyperactive Boston marathoners-plus-past-weekend racers Audrey Kingsley and Kim Mannen were wise to DNF this workout.  And those two Long Island Marathoners Ramon Bermo and Jose La Salle did not even start.  Finally, some rational people on the club!
• Coach Tony Ruiz split the groups up according to 10K race pace.   The very perceptive J.P. Cheuvront pointed out the classification (42 minute and over, 40 to 42 minutes, 37 to 39 minutes and under 37 minutes) seems to be prejudiced against people who run between 39 and 40 minutes.  Well, it doesn't matter, because if the times for their 1200m's were really their race paces, then we don't have anyone that slow and we have many world record beaters on this team.
• Ramon Bermo showed up at the track for the first time since his double marathons.  He came on his new bike and also declared that he received his official papers as a triathlete.  Good for him!
• We are happy to see Roane Carey back.  Kevin Arlyck asked, "Who is that man?  I see him in Prospect Park three days a week!"  Next time you see that man again, say hello because he is your teammate!   The last team race that Roane ran was the 1998 Frostbite 10 Miler, in which he beat Alan Ruben!  (see photo)
• After the workout, some people went for dinner at Two Boots (corner of Second Avenue and Avenue A).  We piled into the back of the restaurant.  We are not sure if we violated any fire department rules by having 30 people back there, and we made so much noise that they may never let us in again.  Nobody on the club can remember ever having such a big turnout and such a good time.
• On the way over to Two Boots, those three Europeans Chris Taylor, Carsten and Mette Strandlod were exchanging quick notes on European soccer teams.  Carsten said, "Now that is a REAL sport."
• Postscript: Our original description listed J.R. Mojica instead of Jose La Salle as a timekeeper.  This triggered a note titled "Do All Puerto Ricans Look Alike?" from Jose: "J.R Mojica ran a fine workout with his legs.   I on the other hand got in a good workout with my trigger finger because I was timing some finely tuned athletes yesterday.  There is some resemblance between figured Mr.Mojica and myself.  I haven't figured out if its Taino or conquistador. I'll be at next week workout with stopwatch in hand. I'm getting trigger happy. Regards, Jose A La Salle."

5/6/99

Workout description:

This workout is a straight tempo run without any marked pickups.  The course is an out-and-back 7 mile run: from the Daniel Webster statue up West Drive through the northern hills down East Drive to E90th Street, and back.  The first five miles (up to the top of Harlem Hill) are done at half marathon pace, and the last two miles are done at 10K pace.

Sideshow:

• This is one of those spring evenings that is impossible to dress appropriately for.  When you stepped out from your apartment into the street, it was somewhat nippy.  Once you started running, you were sweating.  When you finished running, you were wet and shivering.
• We counted forty-three people at the workout, excluding Aubin Sullivan who was bicycling with G'mo Rojas.  There is a scoring half-marathon race for the women this weekend, contributing to the low turnout.  While the men cannot run in this all-women's race, Audrey Kingsley would encourage the men to come out to cheer.  She said, "You do enjoy watching the women, don't you?"
• Kurtis Edwards came by after the workout on his bicycle.   He said, "Usually, I bike on Wednesday.  But it was obviously impossible to do that with the corporate challenge races going on.  So I did some running yesterday and I biked today.  So ... what is the workout anyway?  I'll do it by myself tomorrow."  Obsession is apparently not just a Calvin Klein brand name.
• Fasil Yilma showed up in a Boston Marathon long-sleeve shirt with the personal signatures of Kenyan runners in front.  He was asked, "So ... are you ever going to wash this shirt?"
• Back for the first time in about three years was Angel Marrero with a brand new look.
• One of the many anxieties for the coach is the dreaded lost runner.   Tonight, Tony Ruiz stayed back to wait for someone who had meanwhile opted to take a short cut.  Later, Tony said, "I know this guy.  I wasn't going to wait around for too long ..."  The irony was that while the guy wanted to cut his run short, he was forced to run back to fetch Tony and ended up running some additional distance.  Sad, but true ...

5/4/99

Workout Description:

1000m (400m recovery)
2000m (400m recovery)
1000m (400m recovery)
3 x 300m (100m recovery)

• The temperature was around sixty degrees.  But without any breeze and some dampness from the morning rain, this was actually viable.
• The timekeepers today were Audrey Kingsley, Stacy Creamer and Stuart Calderwood.  On the 1000m's, Audrey said, "I had to set a PR in the across-the-field sprint in order to call out the time when they finish."
• At this workout, a sample for the new club shorts (as shown in this photo) was available for inspection.  This photo bears some special commentary, as the person in the photo was going down to the New York City Marathon entry line-up, broke her hand and still went on to get her application form before getting a cast.  Now ask yourself, "Could you do that ...?"
• The fact that there was a camera present at the workout meant that there was significant collateral damage inflicted on many others.
• Adam Newman is back from 'up country' after a long period.
• Max Schindler is a computer user, but has never gotten online.  "I already spend all day with the computer, so I don't want to go home and spend all night with the computer too."  He will be getting online to check this website out for the first time next week.  We warned him that this can be totally addictive.
• Doug Kabbash wants to know where Alan Ruben is today.  He says that he has finally figured out a way to beat Alan --- with his Ducati motorcycle!  But Doug has forgotten the sign at the entrance to the track: "No dogs, bikes, skates, alcohol, ..."
• After the workout, a crew of about 20 people went down to Two Boots (corner of Second Avenue and Avenue A) for dinner.  In this photo,   we have (l. to r.) Bola Awofeso, Carsten Strandlod, Mette Strandlod, Sid Howard and Audrey Kingsley.   In a few weeks' time, Carsten and Mette will be running in Malawi.
• We note that at one end of the long table was a group of people (Sid Howard, Stuart Calderwood, Eden Weiss, Brian Denman, ...) who can reel off Runner's World trivia all night.  Stay away from those guys if you can't rattle off Rod Dixon's marathon splits in New York ...
• Can you recognize Raphael Devalle?   In his own words, 'SCARY'!!!  In the words of Jim Aneshansley, "If I had that much hair, I would wear it long too."
• Raphael had the misfortune of sitting right across the photographer.   Therefore, the fact that he was the first to clean up his plate was duly recorded for posterity.  "I was just hungry," he said.
• And then Raphael moved on to Bola Awofeso's pizza.  "But I'm just picking," he said.  (Someone pointed out these observations may be clouded by the fact that there was an empty beer bottle in front of the photographer ... well, you very much underestimate his holding capacity ...).  The moral lesson is this, "Never sit across the guy with the camera, because he is going have you for dinner."

4/29/99

Workout description:

The group proceeded en masse up to the reservoir.  The first pickup is a 2 mile run around the reservoir, starting at the West 86th Street and ending just before East 90th Street.  From there, we jump onto East Drive and recover to East 104th Street and run a one-mile pickup up and over that big hill.  We then recover to West 90th Street, where we end the workout with 3 quick lampposts, 2 recovery, 3 quick, 2 recovery and 3 quick.  The total distance is 10K (=6.2 miles).

Sideshow:

• This is still one of those spring evenings which could not make up its mind whether it wanted to be summer or winter.  During the day, it was bright, sunny and warm.  After the sun went down, it was breezy and cold.  We wish that the weather could make up its mind!
• There were 36 people present at the start.  We would have to subtract Boston marathon runner Aubin Sullivan, who said, "Why can't we get started quickly?  I am going home as soon as you guys take off."  Oh, we are sure that she would be saying once again, "I can't believe you would print that".
• The fact that Doug Kabbash, also known as DK(NY), showed up at both workouts this week after missing for months did not go unnoticed.  Perhaps he has figured out that his alternate training program was not helping his running the way he wished it would ...
• As usual, there were special instructions for this weekend's racers.  Coach Tony Ruiz specifically named Victor Osayi as someone who should be taking it easy.  Guess what?  The guy went and did the whole workout!  Yes, great runners need to be free of the burden of guilt ...  I mean, even Audrey Kingsley was observed to be taking the 102nd Street transverse shortcut tonight ...
• We saw Alan Ruben back at a workout the first time after the Boston Marathon.  When he arrived at the corner of West 72nd Street and West Drive, he was observed to be checking his watch to get his split for the run from his house.   Yes, it is back to business as usual.  The first words out of Alan's mouth was, "I finished 55th in Boston."  Our web site had listed him in 62nd place.  We went home and did a recount and, of course, he was right.  Our apologies.
• This week, we had a visitor from France by the name of Pam.  She did not know her way around this park, and she make the mistake of following Max Schindler for three loops around the reservoir.  We hope that she enjoyed the New York City skyline at least.

4/27/99

Workout Description:

200m (100m recovery)
300m (100m recovery)
400m (200m recovery)
600m (200m recovery)
800m (400m recovery)
1600m (500m recovery)
3 x 300m (100m recovery)

• The temperature reached the mid 60's during the day.  In fact, it was still quite warm on the way over to the track.  But once the sun started to go down, it became quite chilly down by the river.  Therefore, during this workout, there was the odd phenomenon in which people got progressively faster as the distance got longer because they were getting warmed up.
• We had an abundance of time-keepers today, as three Boston marathoners --- Audrey Kingsley, Tyronne Culpepper and Thomas Pennell --- showed up to work their watches.  Unfortunately, the groups all started at the same point, so there was some confusion in the beginning.
• Someone said, "Audrey, it is astonishing that you would skip a workout."  Ms. Kingsley replied, "But I did run down here to the track."
• Rick Shaver showed up at 645pm and asked, "What is the time?  Is something wrong?"  When our workout started at 630pm earlier in the year, he showed up at 700pm.  Now when our workout started at 700pm, he showed up at 645pm.  He said that he checked the web site quickly before setting his plan.   Listen up, everybody, please be mindful that the website has a 630pm time for the SPRINTERS and 700pm for the DISTANCE RUNNERS.
• Present for the first time at a track this year (and much longer even before that) was Doug Kabbash.  He said, "See, I said I would make it down here one of these days."
• After the workout, about 20 people went down to Two Boots (corner of Avenue A and East 2nd Street) for food and beer.  Although we wanted to do this every Tuesday evening, we broke the string last week because our chief instigator Sid Howard was AWOL.
• One of the sights at the table counter at Two Boots was Craig Chilton reading off his mile splits at the London Marathon for the coach Tony Ruiz.   Nearby, Audrey Kingsley was also checking off her own top-secret splits while trying to shield them from prying eyes.
• We had the (mis)fortune of sitting at the same table as a bunch of oldtime marathoners who could tell us that the 1976 NYC Marathon was hot whereas the 1977 NYC Marathon was humid ... like we care ...
• John Sargent missed today's workout because he was in Houston on business.  After our workout, Raphael Devalle telephoned from the public phone to give John the specs, so that he could hop down to the Rice University track by his hotel to do his own thing.  Did someone say La Vida Loca?

4/22/99

Workout description:

This is the standard 10K workout:  from the Daniel Webster statue go north to West 102nd Street, run two northern hill loops (2 x 1.4 miles) and head back.  The key pickups all occur with those two hilly loops: pick up from W102nd Street to West 110th Street park entrance, recover to East 102nd Street, pick up to the top of the Harlem Hill, recover downhill to West 110th Street park entrance, and pick up all the way to the end at West 102nd Street.

An alternate workout was composed by Stuart Calderwood for those people who are still recovering from the weekend races.  Here is Stuart's description: "We are going up to the reservoir to do one loop.  We will start off as slowly as is humanly possible, and we will slow down from then on."

Sideshow:

• In the aftermath of the Boston/London/Queens weekend, about 35 people showed up, including the PR-setting London marathoners Craig Chilton and Colin Frew.  Not all of these people ran today, because we saw Aubin Sullivan on a bike and Fasil Yilma on roller blades.  Shame on them!
• A good deal of time was spent on praising the weekend runners.  When one name was mentioned, the question was, "Where is she?  I just saw her a moment ago."  The answer: "She's behind the bushes right now.  Shall I go fetch her?"
• We did not know the team placings at the Queens races, but someone quipped that the men were guaranteed two points for showing up.  Coach Tony Ruiz said, "Two points is quite okay.  If at the end of the year, we finished one point ahead of the next team in the final standings, I will personally go and shake the hands of the five scoring men at the Queens half marathon.  Thank you very much."
• When Chip Olsen heard the description of the workout, he said, "This is going to be easy."  After doing the two northern hills, he said, "I ate every word that I said.  Every one of them!"
• Raphael Devalle was sideswiped by a rollerblader, and ended up with a painful thumb.  The perp fled the scene of the crime rather quickly, but we didn't think it was Fasil Yilma.
• The Santa Claus of the day was Bola Awofeso, who was distributing copies of the photos that he took at the Boston Marathon, many of which have been published in our photo gallery.  Somebody praised his photos: "Yes, they're great because you can take them with you," unlike the look-only-but-no-touching-allowed policy for the photo gallery on this web site.

4/20/99

Workout Description:

3 x (200m, jog across muddy soccer field)
1500m (at 5 mile race pace), 600m
2 x (800m, 400m recovery)
3 x (400m, 200m recovery)

• It was raining throughout the day, but the sky cleared up in the evening.   Still, the temperature was in the 50's and it is never easy to stay warm right next to the East River, especially, when the speech went on quite a while due to the many major weekend races.  The first three 200m's were untimed and were used to loosen up, to the extent possible.  Someone was heard to complain, "I just ran 200m and now I have to run across this muddy cross-country course back to the start again?"
• There were about 35 people in attendance, not bad after the London Marathon, the scoring races in Queens and the Boston Marathon.
• The official timekeepers were the dynamic duo of Kevin Arlyck and Bola Awofeso.  Those two were able to run the workouts efficiently between them, so that the coach Tony Ruiz could run along with the runners to offer advice.  (note: timekeepers do not have to be the walking wounded, in spite of the superficial coincidences)
• In the last 400m set, Chris Taylor blew his group away.   Chris said afterwards, "I was a 400m guy.  Whatever else, I knew I could give my all for one quarter."

4/15/99

Workout description:

This workout was a straightforward fartlek which allows people to relax in between seasons, so to speak.  From the Daniel Webster statue, we go up the west side onto the reservoir.  There, we do 1 minute fast, 1 minute recovery, 3 minutes fast, 3 minutes recovery, 5 minutes fast, 5 minutes recovery, 3 minutes fast, 3 minutes recovery, 1 minute fast, 1 minute recovery, 7 minutes fast.  A workout like this around the reservoir will "penalize" the faster runners, since they may end up running four loops while the slower runners may only run three loops.  The total distance for those who did three loops is 6.4 miles, while those who did four loops (and we didn't notice anyone doing that!) ran 8 miles.

Sideshow:

• In view of the Queens scoring races on Sunday and the Boston Marathon on Monday, the attendance was light and the atmosphere was desultory.  We counted a total of 31 runners.  This is a fair and accurate count because we did not pad the number up by counting the three cyclists Sarah Gross, Aubin Sullivan and Bola Awofeso.   (Note: it has been observed that these workout reports seem to place greater emphasis to people on bicycles than to those run the workout.)
• Making his first appearance of the year at the workout was Max Schindler, looking rested and tanned from Florida.
• Bob Howard walked past the statue and said to us, "I'll be back running with you guys in a couple of months."  We will put his name on our watch list.
• On the warmup mile, Dr. Randy Ehrlich filed a grievance complaint: "I recruited all these fast women for the club, like Audrey Kingsley and Alayne Adams.  I think that I deserve some kind of reward.   So ... do I get a free website?"  Yes, doc, you can name your own URL, but you gotta keep them coming.
• A certain unnamed (as Carsten Strandlod predicted, "I bet this won't be published") person reported that this was the first time this year that he finished a whole workout.  Coach Tony Ruiz did not offer any congratulations for this non-accomplishment, but only said, "Go home, take a few aspirins and hope it doesn't hurt too much tomorrow morning."
• Tony Ruiz pointed out that our workout would be considered 'extremely wimpy' in the 1970's and 1980's since real men run 10 to 12 hard miles in the workouts back then.  Incidentally, not many of those people are still running anymore.  There is supposed to be a moral lesson somewhere ...

4/13/99

1000m (400m recovery)
600m (300m recovery)
300m (200m recovery)
600m (300m recovery)
1000m (400m recovery)
600m (300m recovery)
300m (warmdown)

• This was a sunny day, but the temperature was only in the fiftties and there was a strong breeze.  Not ideal for sprinting.  As Raphael Devalle noted, the wind seemed to be always in your face, no matter which direction you are running in.
• We counted a total of fifty-two CPTC runners present when the workout started, and this is still early season.  We can also include Rick Shaver, who came late and said, "When does this workout start?"  Answer: 630pm.   "Oh!?" said Rick.  And Rick, please note that the workouts will start at 7pm in the future.
• Coach Tony Ruiz opened the proceedings with congratulations to Jackie Cortez, just back after giving birth to her son Matthew a couple of months ago.  As the group clapped their hands, latecomer Ramon Bermo dashed into the park and, ever ready to accept any tributes, yelled, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"  His elation was obviously dimmed somewhat when he was told what the commotion was really about.  Oops!
• For this workout, the details were in fact different for the Boston marathoners, the Queens half marathoners, the Queens 5K racers and people who aren't ready to do anything just yet.  Those instructions are too complicated to be listed here.  We will only report that Boston-bound Audrey Kingsley and Julie Denney seemed to be spending a lot of time gabbing on their matched pair workout.
• This was Mette Strandlod's first track workout.   Her review was that it was much better than her expectations, given the information she had.  Okay, can we guess who has been telling her what ...?
• Our Global Surveillance System (TM) camera identified two DNF'ers in this workout: Bola Awofeso and Ramon Bermo.  Each will give you his sob story if you ask him.  Our suggestion: Don't ask, because it will be The Same Old Song.
• There was only one assistant timekeeper for the day, and this unnamed individual was really not very good in going across the field to provide the splits (e.g. 400m, 800m and finish in the 1000m; and 400m and finish in the 1000m).  When he eventually got across the field, he was so out of breath that his splits were probably inaudible.  Yes, we need some more professionalism here.  (The official timekeepers union representative suggests instead that the coach not give half laps in the workouts).
  After the above comment was published, a bleeding-heart liberal wrote to say that we were being too harsh on our unpaid voluntary timekeeper, thus discouraging other people.  Well, this particular timekeeper is someone that I feel I can be especially critical of, without regard for his personal feelings, since we happen to be one and the same person.   We would never do that to anyone else.  I hope this clarifies this matter.

4/8/99

Workout description:

This was eleven days before the Boston Marathon and ten days before the Queens Half Marathon, and this should therefore be the last intensive effort before the big race.   The workout was divided into three phases.  Phase 1 is done at 10 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace, from the Daniel Webster statue to West 102nd Street, through the transverse and south to East 90th Street.  Phase 2 is done at marathon pace for two loops on the reservoir in the counter clockwise direction.  Phase 3 is the backtracking of Phase 1 at the same pace ("unless you are Alan Ruben, then you can run even faster").  The total distance is (2.7 + 3.2 + 2.7) = 8.6 miles.

Sideshow:

• This was absolutely the nicest day of the year, with daytime temperature in the sunny 80's.  We counted 52 people present at the workout, excluding a cyclist named Scott Willett. 
• Coach Tony Ruiz's opening remarks were, "I want to get started early today."  Actual takeoff time, 7:22.  On this day, though, we didn't think anybody minded.
• The legend of Alan Ruben rolls on.  For the first phase of the workout, he led his group to a reasonable first mile and then brought the pace down to 5:25 mile for the second mile, which caused the trailers to exchange meaningful looks.  After they pass the first mile on the reservoir, Alan looked at his watch and said in an as-a-matter-of-fact, stone-cold manner, "5:43.  That's exactly my marathon pace, to the second."  The final mile of the workout was covered in 5:22.  Yup!
• Ramon Bermo's stated objective was not to keep up with Alan Ruben, but only to keep him in sight.  Unfortunately, Alan did the 'horizon thing' on him tonight.  In fact, Alan was several horizons ahead.
• Michael Trunkes said, "I don't know if Alan Ruben is going to run 2:27 or faster in Boston.  But whatever it is, I want it!"
• Current track runner John Sargent did the whole workout and said, "This is many, many times longer than a 800m!"
• Julie Denney asked a teammate, "At what pace are you going to run the workout?"  Answer: "I am running this at DNF pace."
• The latest Alayne Adams watch has Carsten Strandlod bidding for the prestigious "male pace-pusher" position.  Best wishes!   Just don't trip over all the fallen bodies in the way.

4/6/99

• The regular workout reporter was MIA from the workout but filed this alternate remote version: "The weather here in Miami (airport abbreviation MIA) was really nice.  It was sunny and cloudless, with temperature in the mid-eighties.   Wish you were here.  By contrast, the Weather Channel reported that it was in the mid fifties in New York City, with a southerly wind of 15 to 25 miles."

• Official timer Kevin Arlyck wrote: "The specs were 8x600m, with a 300m recovery.  About 35 people showed up on a surprisingly chilly and raw evening.  I timed the B group, which ran really well together; there was usually not more than 10-15 seconds between the first and last finishers.  The other two groups also had the pack thing going on.
  
  A few notes:
  - A couple of roadies-turned-trackies participated in the workout, often leading the B group.  Tony pointed one of them out, saying "R....'s been running track and wants to show off his speed."
  - Tony told me that if I saw anyone bending over to catch his/her breath after 4 or 5 intervals, I was to yank the person out of the workout because s/he was running too hard.  As the group passed us he noted a few exceptions (those not running Queens or Boston) who were allowed to exhaust themselves, and specifically mentioned a certain promising young runner who had been AWOL the last few months: "I want to see him bending over." A large segment of attendees repaired to Two Boots on Avenue A after the workout for, presumably, pizza and other delectables."

• Tyronne Culpepper wrote: "The weather was cloudy and breezy with a few sprinkles of rain added.  There was a fairly large turnout in spite of the weather ... 30-40 people.  Tony decided to give us a break since it was the 1st outdoor workout:  8x600m (at 10k pace) w/ 300m recovery.  Later, a group of runners went out for pizza at a restaurant in the village.  That's it. Oh, Kevin Arlyck filled in admirably as our B group timer, barking out instructions like a drill sergeant."

• Jud Santos wrote: "OK, here: The Tuesday workout was 6x800m at slightly faster than 2M pace, with 200m recoveries. Recovery after the 3rd one was 400m, then we went back down to 200's. Tough workout! But no rain! HA!
  
  The thing is, this workout was held at the Armory! Alayne Adams ran it with me. (What a great training partner!) David Pullman didn't show up until after 8pm, and ran 1x1M plus 3x400."

4/1/99

Workout description:

Start from the Daniel Webster statue for one mile to West 88th Street.   Run the next 3 miles at marathon race pace through the northern hills and south down to the William Hamilton statue at West 84th Street.  Recover down to East 72nd Street.  Run the next 2 miles through the lower loop at 10 mile race pace.   Total distance was 6.6 miles.

Sideshow:

• It was a typical drizzly spring evening.  It was not cold at all and in fact it was deceptively difficult due to the high humidity as some people were drenched in sweat.  There were 37 people at the workout, including the long-absent, much-missed Eric Aldridge and Phil Vazquez!
• The first order of business was to remind people that the next track workout will be at the East 6th Street track on Tuesday at 630pm.  The coach said, "There is always going to be someone who shows up at 7pm."  Let us guess: could it be the David Pullman? (Postscript: David Pullman would actually show up at the Armory at 8pm).
• Alan Ruben made the early breakaway from his usual shadows Stuart Calderwood and Ramon Bermo.  This time, there would be no more complaints about irrecoverable recoveries.
• This week, Alayne Adams came in to the finishing point escorted by a phalanx of four gentlemen (including Charlie Stark and Noel Comess).  The last applicant Kevin Arlyck for the position of "male pace-pusher" vacated by Colin Frew has apparently flunked his probationary term by getting injured.
• Tyronne Culpepper was just jogging in the back of the pack because he wanted to race 10K this Saturday.  The coach Tony Ruiz told him to use the softer trails instead of the harder road, and then said as an aside, "When people don't know how to do things like that, that is why they need a coach."  For the record, Tyronne was running with Stacy Creamer (still suffering from running the Backward Mile earlier today), who did use the softer trail!
• After the workout, a group of mostly triathletes headed towards the southern exits of the park.  They compared notes about how many club members are now biking and/or swimming and even discussed the possibility of becoming the Central Park Tri-Club.  A lone voice in the wilderness was heard to say, "There will be at least one holdout!  I'll guarantee that!"  Yes, somebody has to fight to preserve civilization.

3/30/99

Workout Description:

1 mile (at marathon race pace), 800m recovery
1 mile (at 10K race pace), 600m recovery
1 mile (at 10K race pace), 400m recovery
800m (at 5 seconds faster than 10K race pace)

Sideshow:

• On the Tuesday after the National Masters Indoor Championships, the Armory was much less crowded than usual.  It felt very strange.  Could winter be over finally?  Could spring be here already?
• Volunteer timers of the day were Bola Awofeso and Eve Kaplan.
• David Pullman showed up fashionably late at 7:50 pm to run the third mile.  He said, "I don't have time to do warmup jogs."
• The group "A" guys (Stuart Calderwood, Alan Ruben and Craig Chilton) asked the coach at what pace should they attempt to run the first mile.  The recommendation was 5:25.  Alan Ruben had this to say, "I can't run that slow."  Indeed, he can't.   Actual time was 5:19.
• Similarly, the "marathon" pace for the first group "B" women (Aubin Sullivan, Audrey Kingsley, Stephanie Gould, Stacy Creamer) turned out to 6:10.  Yes, we'll have a really terrific marathon team if that is their marathon pace ...
• When Alayne Adams found out that the last half mile was supposed to be 5 seconds faster, she said, "I can't do it! I can't do it!"
• Words of encouragement to Audrey Kingsley during the workout: "Speed it up, Audrey!  Tyronne is right behind you!" This was no idle threat because, in reality, Tyronne was right behind her!

Stacy Creamer began that workout with a mile in 6:15, and it felt easy. True to Coach Ruiz's design, she picked up the pace for the second "item"--and ran a mile in 5:52.  And she still felt good.  In her 15-year running career, Stacy has raced approximately 1,563 miles and trained for about 30,000 more.  And of all those miles, only two have been faster than the third mile of this workout, which she ran in 5:40.  But she still wasn't satified.  The workout called for a final 800-meter run, and she blazed that in 2:41.5 --- an all-time personal best. Her comment afterward?  Typically boastful and egomaniacal: "I really don't think I'll do very well on Thursday."  The WNBC live camera truck will be out there!  (Addendum: The Thursday reference was not about the workout --- Stacy went out to do the Backwards Mile instead!  She finished fifth female in that race.)

3/25/99

Workout descriptions:
--- The Audrey Kingsley version: Two times the four mile loop; first two miles at marathon pace, the next two miles at 10-15 seconds per mile faster; repeat for another loop.
--- The Alan Ruben version: One six mile loop with 3 minutes fast and 3 minutes even faster; total workout in 35 minutes.
--- The Stuart Calderwood version: Five miles in 28 minutes
--- The Bola Awofeso version: Run away from the workout as quickly as possible and pretend he is deaf
--- The Scott Willett version: Yet another assault on the course record for 10 times the northern hill loop
--- The Roland Soong version: Run three miles as best as he can and check for swelling in the feet next morning.  If both feet are swollen, then everything is okay.  If only one foot is swollen (like the last time he ran), then he needs to consult Carsten Strandlod about the symptoms for stress fracture.
--- The Tyronne Culpepper version: Play rollerhockey/tennis and/or drink a few at the pub.

Sideshow:

• This week was officially proclaimed as Spring Break for the distance runners.   The coach was not there to prescribe a workout.  That explains why there were so many versions of workouts, all unofficial.   Most people ran the Audrey Kingsley version.  The alternatives were clearly too idiosyncratic for most tastes.
• For this non-workout, there were twenty-four people present (not counting Bola Awofeso, Maureen Dooley-Elmaleh and Stephanie Gould who were seen doing their own thing).  Who were these people?  Well, we will say that it was definitely the tri-geeks' night out --- Scott Willett, Aubin Sullivan, Julie Denney, Ross Galitsky, Josh Friedman, John Taylor, Mike Trunkes, ...
• Unnamed person: "Yes, finally, we can start a workout on time ..."
• Words of encouragement to Audrey Kingsley during the workout: "Speed it up, Audrey!  Tyronne is right behind you!"  In reality, though, Tyronne was nowhere in sight because he was doing his own workout (see above).

• Last week, Kevin Arlyck described how he crashed in the workout with these words: "I blame that coed pair of top "B" runners that I was following  -- you know, the ones who *always* run the road workouts faster than recommended?"  After the first four mile loop today, the leaders were indeed a coed pair, but the guy was the same Kevin Arlyck!  Does he write in the third person?
  
  Kevin's explanation follows: "Ah, you are too sharp for your own good (or mine, anyway!). Yes,  indeed, once upon a time I did complain bitterly about that pernicious pair of pace-pushers, but I have since decided that it is much better to keep up and feel good about it than to lag behind and feel useless.  Plus, one of the two has recently fled the country, and on those long tempo runs it's nice to have some company."  
  
  Department of Redundant Note --- Let it be duly noted that the unnamed (but indicted) co-conspirator did NOT flee the country solely on account of being publicly named for running faster than told.
  
  Alayne Adams joins in the fray: "The unnamed coed partner of opposite gender prefers to think that Kevin’s change of heart (and pace) is a gentlemanly gesture.  While she laments the departure of her Scottish bodyguard, judging by the mile splits logged last Thursday, his swarthy replacement promises to carry on the gallant tradition of pace pushing."
  
  Anonymous inquiry: "Is the ability to write in the third person a requirement for club membership?"

3/18/99

Note: The regular reporter was injured, and the two causes of his injury were both named Stacy Creamer --- (1) Stacy ran too fast for him to catch (and he did try, but in vain) at the Tuesday workout; and (2) Stacy asked him again about running the Vermont Marathon Relay and being injured is a good excuse to bail out ...

Workout Description (courtesy of Tyronne Culpepper): It was a very mild evening with a decent breeze blowing. The turnout was 30 - 40 CPTCers (I'm sure someone (paging Kevin Arlyck ...) will give you with the exact count:-) The workout was a long one, geared towards our runners preparing for Boston & other long stuff.  Starting at 72nd, north on West Side (thru 102 transverse), right & south to the Needle, turn around & follow same route back to 72nd. Continue south to the lower loop decreasing speed (not recovery) til 59th st, then start 3 lamppost pickups (3x) w/ 2 slower ones in between & then recover to finish at 72nd (8.2miles).

Kevin Arlyck adds: "Tyronne's description was accurate, though he neglected to mention that the return from the Needle back to the statue was to have been run 10-15 seconds  per mile faster than the "out" portion.   Tony specifically told us not to speed up too much on the return, so we'd have something left for those lower loop lampposts.  I suspect that many runners ignored this advice; I know I did, though I blame that coed pair of top "B" runners that I was following  -- you know, the ones who *always* run the road workouts faster than recommended?"

At the front of the pack, the troika of Alan Ruben, Stuart Calderwood and Ramon Bermo went out at a comfortable 6:11 min/mile pace.  Then they turned around and came back at 5:39 min/mile pace, about 30 seconds a mile faster, not the prescribed 10-15 seconds.  What happened here?   All three people said, "Don't blame me.  I was just following Alan Ruben."  But, wait, the best is yet to come!  After they reached West 72nd Street, they 'recovered' at the same pace that got them there, then they picked up the pace again and again and again, wherein each recovery was a continuation at the same pace and the pickup was faster than before.  The final mile was estimated to have been done in 5:10.   What happened here? Again,  Stuart and Ramon both said, "I was just following Alan Ruben" so you will have to ask Alan for the explanation, which was supposed to be something like "But I was going slow!" (Losers!).

2/25/99

Workout Description: We headed east through the 72nd Street transverse and turn north.  At Cleopatra's Needle, we picked up the pace slightly to East 90th for a half-mile warm-up.  The so-called recovery is a brisk charge to East 97th Street (you know, where the cars come underneath?).  The second pickup is about 1000m from there to the west side of the 102nd Street transverse.  From there, we recover northward over the top of Harlem Hill until we hit the 110th Street entrance from Martin Luther King Boulevard.  The third pickup is from there eastwards to the west side of the 102nd Street transverse, for about 0.8 miles.  The recovery is from there to West 88th Street.  The fourth and last pickup is from there back to the Daniel Webster Statue for exactly one mile.  The total distance is 5.7 miles, but it was obviously harder than it seemed to imply.

The four pickups were progressively longer: 800m, 1000m, 1300m, 1600m.  The timings on the last mile were 4:59 for Ramon ("I thought it was a 5:15") Bermo, 5:05 for Brian ("I felt like I was running 5:25") Marchese and 5:20 for Tony ("I was dying") Ruiz.

Sideshow:

• On this night, the weathercasters were predicting light snow.  Already, there were piles of snow out in Suffolk County.  Still we had a total of 42 people at the workout, without counting Scott Willett who left early.  He said, "I'm going to try to break the course record for 10 x Northern Hill loop."
• Scott Willett also said that he gave some unnamed person his first swimming lesson.  Scott nodded his head and said that he saw some noticeable improvement.  Although the subject forbade photo-taking at that workout, our Global Surveillance System (TM) will be out there next time.  We promise!  The subject himself had this to say, "I thought I knew how to swim.  Evidently not."
• When Audrey Kingsley got to the workout, she saw some woman handing out paper slips and thought that it was a bag lady looking for contributions.   But it was actually Mary Rosado in civilian clothes handing out details of the 'surprise' party for Sid Howard the next evening.
• By the time we got to Cat Hill, small icy particles began to come down.   Later, this turned into a light snow dusting.  In fact, it was a wonderful feeling to be running in the park devoid of people except for us, listening to the heavy breathing around you and the pounding of shoes that were slipping and sliding ever so little.  It was not so wonderful afterwards when people prefer to stand and chat instead of going home ...
• Stacy Creamer got off work late, and headed into the park going north up East Drive, with full expectations to intercept the group.  She saw absolutely nobody, because the route was reversed.  When she got back to the statue, she found nobody except for ... Karel Matousek!  That guy had gone up to the Armory, saw no one and came back down to the park and found ... Stacy Creamer!
• After the race, the group stood around the corner of West Drive and West 72nd Street.  There, someone pointed to a white marking on the road with an arrow and the number 50 and asked, "So is this the turn for the 50K or the 50 Mile race this weekend?"  Alan Ruben, who is running the 50K, said, "It doesn't matter.  They both turn here."  That observation would have an important bearing on the outcome of the 50K race.  Alan Ruben won the race by 3 minutes ahead of Tesfaye Bekele, who ran an extra mile because he failed to take the turn at that exact spot.  This is a strange and true story.

2/04/99

Workout Description: The workout is a simple 2 x 4 mile loop (in the counterclockwise direction).  The specifics are two easy miles from the Daniel Webster statue to the east side of the 102nd Street transverse, two fast miles (say, 10 second per mile faster) back to the statue.  Then repeat the same thing for the next loop.  The point of this workout is to prepare the runners for the Snow Flake Four Miler.  For that race, the tendency is to start out very fast on the first downhill mile (excusing Alan Ruben) and then become worn down coming down West Drive.  This workout permits one to familiarize oneself with the West Drive layout, two times no less, at a quick pace.

Sideshow:

• Another not-so-pleasant night --- damp roads, temperature around 40 degrees, foggy, cold wind, emergency vehicles screaming around the park.  So what motivated 42 people to show up?  One perspective is that the turnout was disappointing when compared to the 50 people who showed up last week in equally lousy weather --- we are down eight and going downhill quickly!  The opposite perspective came from John Taylor: "I have been only away for a few months.  Who are these people?  Where do they come from?  I don't know half of them.  What is going on?"
• Stuart Calderwood protested: "What do you mean by not-so-pleasant?  I thought it was a great night for running."
• For the record, the troika of Stuart Calderwood, Alan Ruben and Ramon Bermo finished first together with a 11:01 final two miles.   It was hard to tell whether they were proud or sheepish when they reckoned that they brought the pace down from 6:45 min/mile down to 5:30 min/mile in the first loop.  That happened to be a drop of 75 second a mile, not 10 seconds or so as prescribed.  The chase pack consisting of Steve Eick, Paul Stuart-Smith, Craig Chilton, Colin Frew, Jud Santos and pals rationalized that they were really trying to stick to the script, but their 5:45 min/mile is still a drop of 60 seconds a mile.   Can anyone read a watch on this club?
• Bola Awofeso was on bike patrol duty, making sure that nobody is cheating.  Bola said, "Scott (Willett) is offering to teach me how to swim.   I think I'll take him up on it."  We are sure that Ross Galitsky would be very pleased to read this.

2/10/98

Query: Dear Website Guy - I was wondering if you had a record of the Tuesday and Thursday workouts for the past 4 weeks? You see, I got my splits.  However, seeing as you had a workouts archive, I figured that if I just wrote down the times, I could match them up with the distances later. Little did I know that these Archives were the beginings of the Kevin Arlyck homepage and not a complete listing.  So now I have all these times and nothing to do with them.  I'm sure that you see my dilemma.   Please help.

Response: You are out of luck.  At this point, the archive retains only memorable occasions (and the correlation with the mention of Kevin Arlyck may or may not be spurious).

1/14/98

Workout Description: What workout?

Sideshow:

• Kevin Arlyck wrote: "I don't know if there was an official workout last night, but I showed up at the statue at 7:15 (trying to coincide my arrival with the exact start) and no one was there.  So after a few minutes of stretching and hoping someone would come along, I set off up the west side on my first ever solo run around central park. After a couple miles I came across stacy, who filled me in on the impromptu workout she was doing: 3, 2, 1 lamposts with equal recoveries in between, until 72nd on the east side.  So I did that more or less faithfully, and then finished the loop with a strong mile around the bottom, where I ran into Stuart, Alayne, and Tim, who were jogging back to meet Stacy.   We also crossed paths with Blair, there was a reported sighting of Audrey, Sarah, and someone else, and we think that the bundled-up guy who said hi to Stacy and me was Colin.  Neither rain, nor snow, nor dead of night..."
• Stuart Calderwood wrote: "Will those of us who recently came in from the Thursday-night post-blizzard workout be labelled heroic, or yet again "losers" for having "nothing better to do" than show up?  In my uncertainty about the categorization of our efforts, I'm hesitating to reveal the identities of my fellow snow-shoers.  But, having now passed some time in thought, I have decided that there could hardly have been a better way to spend that hour than on my run through the white, silent park with Alayne Adams, Tim Evans, Stacy Creamer, Blair Boyer, Audrey Kingsley, Sarah Gross, Kevin Arlyck, Colin Frew, and Craig Chilton.
  The park was smoothly blanketed, with no cars or bicycles (and very few runners--which fact swelled our communal sense of indomitability), and our steps crunched gently as we circled the park, the footing secure on the fresh snow.  We ran in various groups: Audrey, Sarah, Colin, and Craig put in a four-mile loop at a solid pace; Alayne, Tim, Stacy, and I ran the full loop with four miles of short pickups at moderate, pre-race effort; Blair, going easy on a speedwork-induced muscle-strain, put in a steady five, and Kevin seemed to appear around every fifth curve, cruising in and out of groups like a wraithlike Flying Dutchman of the snow.  All of us stopped for various brief times at the Webster statue, looking for signs of the larger entity, and then continued on to encounter more teammates emerging out of the sparkling mist beneath the streetlights.
  Our groups met on this white stretch or that, combined briefly as a larger amoebic mass, then elongated and divided again as we continued at our different speeds.  We reversed direction to accompany teammates.   We gave word that others we'd passed were soon to appear, and wondered what unseen teammates were across the park--was Tony in the Northern Hills supervising repeat ascents?  Was our chronicler photographing the pristine landscape behind packs of runners sprinting toward him across the Upper Transverse? 
  We talked about the upcoming race, about the varying successes of our attempts to dress warmly but lightly, and about the frost that was gradually obscuring our identities still more completely than the hoods, balaclavas, and bulky layers had already done.    Nobody ran very hard.  Everyone marvelled at how huge a change one day's weather could  make in such familiar surroundings.
  Alayne said that these were her favorite running conditions.  Audrey said "I don't know about this snow stuff."  Tim said he'd skied in Canada in similar weather.  My feeling was that the year, the race schedule, the week, and the training plan had all been suspended in this emptied and otherworldly Central Park, but that running through it was the most natural of responses to the strange new scene.    It was as different from Tuesday's indoor-track intensity of split-times and lane-lines as I can imagine.  I loved both days.  In both the huge hot room of whirling colors and the still, cold  expanse of calm white trees, I was with the best of friends and doing what we loved, for its own sake and for ours."
• For the complete record, it was reported that Chip Olsen was also present.  No good deed goes unpublished, as the saying goes ...

12/24/98

Workout Description:

In Tony Ruiz's own words, "I am out here to hurt you tonight."  The workout starts from the Daniel Webster and heads north.   From the W84th Street park entrance, do a one mile pick-up at half marathon/10 mile race pace to the West 102nd Street cutoff.  Go through the transverse and then turn north on the East Side.  At the first traffic light, do another one-mile pick-up at 10K race pace to the West 102nd Street cutoff.  Recover to West 88th Street.  Do another one mile pick-up at 5K race pace to the Daniel Webster statue.  Recover southwards until two lampposts past the NYC Marathon finish.  Begin a series of three-lamppost-on-three-off for the rest of the whole lower loop; no heroics are permitted at this point.  The total distance is 6.5 miles.   This workout is more difficult than the distance usually implies.

Sideshow:

• Although it snowed the night before, the roads were cleared (except for the 102nd Street transverse).  There was no car traffic in the park, there were no bikes and there were in fact very few people around.  None of the usual annoyances (except for those quick pitty-patty feet of Audrey Kingsley bearing down on you ...)   The weather was a nice, dry and windless cold.  So this makes for some great tranquil running in the heart of this great city.
• On this Christmas Eve, there were fourteen people at the workout.  This is 'stand up and be counted' time.  The final roll call is: Bola Awofeso, Blair Boyer, Stuart Calderwood, Stacy Creamer, Tyronne Culpepper, Rafael Devalle, Jonathan Federman, Josh Friedman, Audrey Kingsley, Richard Kixmiller, Brian Marchese, Tony Ruiz, Roland Soong and a new guy named Sam (friend of Richard).
• When Audrey Kingsley appeared on the horizon, the group already assembled looked at each other and said, "What did you expect?"  Even Audrey herself said, "What did you expect me to do?  Go to a movie?  Eat Chinese food?"
• During the previous polling of likely attendees for this workout, Eve Kaplan and Randy Ehrlich raised their hands to express their intent to run.  Both were DNS (Did Not Start) when the moment of truth came.  Shame on them!  And they better not use that "I just got married" excuse.

12/17/98

Workout specs: In view of the scoring race this weekend, the workout was very simple.  (So simple that Kevin Arlyck won't be able to find errors in our description, and therefore spoiling his greatest pastime).  We moved from the Daniel Webster statue up north at a decent pace to West 102nd Street.  We ran two northern loops in the clockwise direction.  The recommended pace is 10 mile race pace for the first one and 10K race pace for the second.  We then gathered around the West 102nd Street until Sid Howard told us to keep the jog alive.  Then we ran back to the statue at a decent pace.  The total distance was 10K (= 6.2 miles).  This workout has to be taken in the context of last week's tough 7.5 mile tempo run, which was pure brute strength all the way.  Since this workout is shorter, people should feel a lot stronger and bouncier.

We were not disappointed in finding Kevin Arlyck writing us again: "It's been said that there are sins of commission, and then there are sins of 'omission'. One could argue that your description of the 12/10 road workout is guilty of the latter.  Specifically, Tony recommended that, on the way up to the hills, we increase our pace a bit from the 88th street grate to W102, in preparation for the hill pickups.  Conversely, he recommended that, after finishing the pickups and recovering from W102 to the grate, we "get into a little group" and finish the workout with a strong mile to the statue. Oh, and he said that Sunday racers should only do one northern loop, advice that was apparently heeded by very few.  Regards, Kevin.
P.S. I would not have written this had you not baited me. Perhaps this was simply a ploy to generate more fodder for the website, some sort of reverse psychology (or psychopathy)?  Your deviousness knows no bounds..."

For historical note, two people did one loop and then stood at the W102nd corner.  Their names are Tony Ruiz and (sin of omission committed here).

Postscript: Of course, Kevin had to challenge even the last statement too: "Oh, not so!  Michele Tagliati and I headed straight back 'home' after the first loop, recovering to the grate and then clocking a comfortable 6:01 mile to Mr. Webster.  We didn't hang around at 72nd street, (correctly) assuming that everyone else had ignored Tony's instructions.  In fact, Alayne had tried to convince us to run a second, easy loop, but we are too obedient/lazy (choose one) for that sort of nonsense!"