Monday, November 30, 2009

NOV 2009 Wrap Up

Well ended the month with 110 miles.

I ended up running 2 marathons and one 5k in the month. Personal Record on the second marathon.

Next on tap is a new 5k this Saturday and a revamped Brian's run Sunday (5 miler not a 10k)

I have begun to read a new book called Iron Heart I will let you know what i think of it when I finish it.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Not race related

So welcome to the world of Comcast. For all those who have comcast cable you can relate to my story. We have comcast everything (phone, Internet, TV) as a result you get caller id on the TV. Comcast states that it is only available on hd boxes ( not correct) Anyway we have a newer digital set on our TVs and this box gets caller id even know comcast says it does not. So what is my point?

Here is my rant. Couple weeks ago I got comcast to ship me a new digital box for free but it never came I then contacted them and after them admitting they were wrong I got the correct box shipped. So finally the box comes I hook it up and i call to activate it. Well when you call you are usually calling an out sourced location since a trained ape could do this job. Anyway the person answered and said there name was like lisa but they sounded like they were India. So they activated the box said wait 45 minutes and i should be all set well 45 minutes go by and guess what no luck. I call comcast I think it may have been somewhere in the U.S. and they say wait 24 hours. Fast forward to the next day I call and the guy who answers (American) says that it should have been 45 minutes not 24 hours so the one person was wrong. So the saga continues he orders a service call and states the box needs to be replaced. The tech comes and says that he does not have the correct box to replace the one I need so no luck. Finally I take the box myself and exchange it and hook the new one up and guess what. The box does not work. So I call comcast again and I get a normal person who was based in the U.S. and he finally figures out that the first person messed my account up and that is why the first box and now the second box did not work. He gets it to work and I think all is fine. Not to be so lucky a channel was still not working so I call comcast again (Jamaica this time) and then reset the box and still does not so I switch them and call them again and finally it works. So to sum this story up I had to contact comcast over 7 times ( 3 countries) just to get my cable box to work and you wonder why people want to switch to Fios. If you call and tell them you wanna switch you can get a better deal. Enjoy your turkey day.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Next

Well time to take recovery and get some rest. I am doing a 5k this weekend nice and easy. Its a small 5k which is nice. Enjoy the holidays and don't each too much.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Philadelphia Marathon Wrap-Up

Michael Danko #241

West Chester, PA
Age: 30 Gender: M

02:59:23

Well another marathon in in the books. Three weeks after NYC I decided to run Philly well it proved out to be a success.

The one thing I like about Philly being able to sleep in your own bed the night before.

4am wake-up get ready and out the door by 4:45am. I met my buddy and we drove down and parked the car and then headed to the start. We did a little warm up and then waited for the race to begin. The gun when off and we are off. I started out a bit quick and knew I needed to settle in at a slower pace. (I was running with my one buddy at this point.) As the first few miles went by I was able to settle may pace in around 6:48/6:49. Around mile 9 the 3 hour pace group caught up with me so I decided to run with them. This helped some of the boring miles go by on west river drive. Around mile 12 I had to stop and water the plants but I did not lose much time at all. Went through half way at 1:29:46. So I knew I was on a good pace. As we ran up lemon hill and Kelly drive this is where the training really comes into play since it is very quiet here and not much crowd support so it can be lonely and mentally challenging. As we neared the 20 mile mark in Manyaunk (My buddy had faded) the crowds picked up and make the race go by quick. Once we turned around we started heading back towards Kelly drive and towards the finish line. I was still with the pace group and was still on pace to break 3 hours. As the miles started passing 21, 22, 23 I knew I had to begin to push the pace in order to break 3 hours. Once I passed 24.5 I began to pick up the pace and make my move. As I passed in front of the art museum (the old finish line) the crowds were great. I made one last turn passed the 26 mile mark and I began to sprint and I cruise over the finish line in 2:59:23 a new PR. It was nice to run this race again. My first time running Philly since 2006.

Keys to successful race.
1. Proper diet the days leading up to the race
2. Proper Hydration leading up to the race
3. Good Night Sleep
4. Took Cliff Shots every 6 miles and Hammer E caps and Anti Fatigue
5. Strong will and determination.
6. Scene from Rocky 5 [after Rocky has been seemingly defeated] Yo, Tommy! I didn't hear no bell..(meaning one more round or 3 more miles)


Overall, I thought i was a nice race. There were some issues that I think they need to fix. Running the half and full at the same time and be hard since you have no idea who is running which race it also makes the first part of the course very much more crowded. The aid stations were nice but I did see some where they were not fully staffed and people were grabbing their own fluids. Also I did not see any aid stations for medical if someone had an issue. Another big issue was the finish. Since the finish was on the other side of Eakins Oval you have to run around it on your way back from Kelly Drive and as a result you have to weave you way though the slower runners coming through their first half and this can be dangerous. I think they need to address this issue next year I heard people talking about this before and after the race. One other thing was the finish. There were family members and all kinds of spectators in the area right after the finish this made it very crowded. Security is a big issue at most major marathons but it seemed to me that they were short staffed. I must say it was a nice race but if Philly wants to move up in the major marathon scene they need to address these issues.

Congrats to all those who ran today I got my BQ fro 2011. Now time to relax.

GO NOVA.






















MCM RaceDay Alert

Michael Danko @ 30K in 02:07:26 (NET). Pace: 6:50. Predicted: 2:59:14. Powered by the Philadelphia Marathon.

MCM RaceDay Alert

Michael Danko @ 25K in 01:29:46 (NET). Pace: 5:46. Predicted: 2:31:30. Powered by the Philadelphia Marathon.

MCM RaceDay Alert

Michael Danko @ 10K in 00:42:08 (NET). Pace: 6:46. Predicted: 2:57:46. Powered by the Philadelphia Marathon.

Friday, November 20, 2009

FREE 5K Race

http://www.brandywine.psu.edu/Information/News/30852.htm


It is really free. The race director emailed me. They only give tee shirts out to the first 100 people but still a free 5k race. I will take that.

I am all set for Philly.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Anything For A T-Shirt

Well I finally finished this book. This book which I started awhile back was about Fred Lebow and how he created the NYC Marathon. I had all intentions of finishing this book way before the NYC Marathon but I got distracted from it. I must say this was a good book. I enjoyed how it told the story of how the Marathon came to be from Fred's perspective. The NYC Marathon as we know it today came from them moving the event out of central park to the 5 boroughs to celebrate the Bicentennial. If you have a chance read this book I am not going to spoil its enjoyment.

Philly on Sunday.

Friday, November 13, 2009

ITS ON.


Well I have decided that I am going to run the Philadelphia Marathon next Sunday. I got my bib Number 241. I did a race earlier this year and I was 242 found that kinda funny. Anyway the weather is looking good compared to this week. I have been out running but nothing to crazy. I am still a bit sore from NYC (knee and ankle) but that's to be expected. Hopefully next week I can taper a bit and be ready for Sunday. I know one thing that is important is hydration the forecast is calling for warm weather so that means it will require more fluid intake before and during the race.

I am feeling better health wise so that makes a huge difference because running a marathon sick is no fun. As for a goal. I am not setting one. I am just gonna run and see what happens. Enjoy the weekend and GO NOVA.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Whats next?

Well I have taken a week off from running and it feels nice not to have to be training for anything. I am signed up for the Philly Marathon on Nov 22nd and I think I am going to run. I will keep everyone posted on my decision. As for my training log and race results I will update them this week. Enjoy the weekend.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

NYC Marathon Wrap up

Well another Marathon in the books. I ended up with a finishing time of 3:16:58 This was my slowest Marathon time ever but I finished and I had fun doing it. I ended up getting a stomach bug last Tues/Wed and that took most of my energy away from me. I was not eating right, Hydration was messed up and I was not feeling good the night before the race but I ran anyway. It was a battle and I wanted to run no matter what. For those who read this if you are sick the week before a race do not run. I have been in pain before when racing but this one hurt. Here is a wrap up of the weekend.

Got up to NJ Sat morning and went to my buddies place. We then headed over to the expo. I have been to many race expos but I was not that impressed by this one plus it was crazy crowded, hot and everything was picked over. We did not stay long and headed back to NJ.

Sunday morning (race day) got up and prepared to run this race. I was able to get dropped off at the start rather then take the bus. Once I got dropped off I had to wait online for almost 30 minutes to get into the starting area because they were checking all bags. This was a pain and needed to be done better since most of the people in line were foreigners and did not speak English. Once inside the race start area I got my stuff together and waited for the race. Once it was time they lined us up in corrals and then took us out on to the bridge but this was still messed up because they allowed a slower corral to go out first which cause chaos and people were running to try and get to the front. Eventually everything smoothed out and we got on the bridge and waited. Finally at 9:40 the race began and we were off. The first mile is all up hill over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge then you run through Brooklyn. The one I did notice was the first 2 mile markers were off by about .1 of a mile then eventually it evened out but not sure what mile it did because I did not run the tangent I ended up running 26.47 miles.

Well back to the race. The first half was great i was on pace to run 2:55/2:56 but then things started to go south. Around mile 13 there is a bridge and this is were I saw my times begin to slow. Then around mile 15 when you cross the 59th bridge this was were I lost all my steam. After mile 15 things went down hill. I have run races where I have hit the wall and usually you can't even think straight but this was nothing like that. I was flat out of energy. I heard NYC is a tough race because the course can beat you up. Well know I know the course and know what to expect. I guess being sick the week before does not help. Overall i thought this was a good race and I would definitely run it again. The only thing I found hard was that there is no real space to warm up. The crowds were great but walking almost a mile at the end to get your stuff is not fun. Congrats to all those who ran. Maybe you see me at Philly in 3 weeks.

Time for some recovery and rest. GO PHILS

Sunday, November 01, 2009

New York Road Runners Alert Notification

Event: ING New York City Marathon 2009
Last Name: Danko
First Name: Michael

Below are the latest runner's results:
--------------------------------------
Location: 5 Kilometers
Time: 00:20:25.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.79
--------------------------------------
Location: 10 Kilometers
Time: 00:40:47.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.99
--------------------------------------
Location: 15 Kilometers
Time: 01:01:59.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:39.00
--------------------------------------
Location: 20 Kilometers
Time: 01:23:47.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:44.40
--------------------------------------
Location: Half-Marathon
Time: 01:28:50.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:46.84
--------------------------------------
Location: 25 Kilometers
Time: 01:46:23.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:50.99
--------------------------------------
Location: 30 Kilometers
Time: 02:08:51.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:54.73
--------------------------------------
Location: 35 Kilometers
Time: 02:33:39.00
Pace/mile: 00:07:03.84
--------------------------------------
Location: 40 Kilometers
Time: 03:02:11.00
Pace/mile: 00:07:19.86
--------------------------------------
Location: Finish
Time: 03:16:58.00
Pace/mile: 00:07:31.05
--------------------------------------
All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from the NYRR Automated E-mail
Notification System. Please do not reply.


If you no longer wish to receive notification alerts from New York Road
Runners, you can unsubscribe by visiting
http://athletealert.ingnycmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx?unsubscribe.

New York Road Runners Alert Notification

Event: ING New York City Marathon 2009
Last Name: Danko
First Name: Michael

Below are the latest runner's results:
--------------------------------------
Location: 5 Kilometers
Time: 00:20:25.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.79
--------------------------------------
Location: 10 Kilometers
Time: 00:40:47.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.99
--------------------------------------
Location: 15 Kilometers
Time: 01:01:59.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:39.00
--------------------------------------
All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from the NYRR Automated E-mail
Notification System. Please do not reply.


If you no longer wish to receive notification alerts from New York Road
Runners, you can unsubscribe by visiting
http://athletealert.ingnycmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx?unsubscribe.

New York Road Runners Alert Notification

Event: ING New York City Marathon 2009
Last Name: Danko
First Name: Michael

Below are the latest runner's results:
--------------------------------------
Location: 5 Kilometers
Time: 00:20:25.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.79
--------------------------------------
Location: 10 Kilometers
Time: 00:40:47.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.99
--------------------------------------
All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from the NYRR Automated E-mail
Notification System. Please do not reply.


If you no longer wish to receive notification alerts from New York Road
Runners, you can unsubscribe by visiting
http://athletealert.ingnycmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx?unsubscribe.

New York Road Runners Alert Notification

Event: ING New York City Marathon 2009
Last Name: Danko
First Name: Michael

Below are the latest runner's results:
--------------------------------------
Location: 5 Kilometers
Time: 00:20:25.00
Pace/mile: 00:06:33.79
--------------------------------------
All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from the NYRR Automated E-mail
Notification System. Please do not reply.


If you no longer wish to receive notification alerts from New York Road
Runners, you can unsubscribe by visiting
http://athletealert.ingnycmarathon.org/Alerts.aspx?unsubscribe.