Denby 8 Mile
Conditions: Mild, Wet
Date: 2nd July 2007
Run Type: Easy
Notes: Due to constant niggling injuries throughout my short running career, I decided to adapt my runs to incorporate a proper and sufficient warm up. I have always lacked the motivation to do a correct and thorough warm up and I believe this has been my down fall. For this reason, from here on in I will start all my runs with a one mile warm up at a very steady pace, followed by stretching, before proceeding with that days run.
Having done the one mile warm up to Wood Lane and the subsequent stretching, I proceeded towards the doctors before turning down towards Kilburn and the mile two marker. I took my time going down Ryknield Road, and tried to use my core muscles for support and stability.
As I turned onto Chapel Street for the third mile I felt a slight aching in my ankles, which I will have to keep an eye on and if it persists then I will have to replace my running shoes sooner than planned. Apart from the slight pain, the third mile flew by, as did the fourth. I remember seeing that my times were steady and it was around mile five that I remember feeling very good and strong, but I kept the pacing even, to ensure that I kept this an easy run.
The fifth mile led up past the ‘Shit Farm’ which had to be the low point of the run as the smell was almost unbearable. To top it off after the Shit Farm was nearly a mile of constant climbing back up towards Woodhouse. I remember half way up that I nearly stopped but I pushed through it and made it to the summit. Once I did, as always I soon recovered for the final two miles of the course.
The final two miles were a formality, and again I kept a steady pacing throughout and when I crossed the finish line I felt good and only a little tired. The overall time was pretty slow but I told myself from the start that it would be and that the main aim was to get around the course with minimal effort and strain on my hamstring.
Run time: 1.10.42 *Course PB
Pace: 8.51 / mile
Days to New York Marathon: 124
“Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.”
New York City
"Running 26 miles around this place.....I can think of nothing better"
The Five Boroughs
"There's more to this place than Manhattan"
Staten Island
"Only the first half mile is spent on Staten Island as you immediately leave across the Varrazano-Narrows bridge into Brooklyn"
Brooklyn
"Almost half the race is spent in Brooklyn, where many different neighbourhoods and cultural changes are passed through"
Queens
"The race enters Queens at exactly the half way point by crossing the Pulalski Bridge, over Newton creek, where you get your first amazing view of the City. The next 3 miles are spent here until crossing the challenging Queensboro Bridge over the East river."
Manhattan
"The first of two visits into Manhattan comes at mile 16 as you leave the Queensboro Bridge. Greeted by thousands of screaming spectators makes this one of the most memorable moments of the race, before the 4 mile stretch up First Avenue towards the Bronx"
Bronx
"At mile 20 you cross the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx where little over a mile is run before returning to Manhattan across the Madison Avenue Bridge, where you see the Yankee Stadium, which has to be the highlight of the short trip across the Harlem river"
Manhattan 2
"As you arrive back in Manhattan the course proceeds down Fifth Avenue for 3 miles before entering Central Park for the final push and that moment that will last forever."
Varrazano-Narrows (Staten Island-Brooklyn)
Pulalski Bridge (Brooklyn-Queens)
Queensboro Bridge (Queens-Manhattan)
Willis Avenue Bridge (Manhattan-Bronx)
Madison Avenue Bridge (Bronx-Manhattan)
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