Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, weight loss

Update No. 3 – Back in training 2014: Preparing for a half-marathon & triathlon

Trenton Half Marathon
Atlantic City Triathlon logo

Just wanted to post a quick update on my training for the Atlantic City International Triathlon, which I’ll be competing in on Sept. 14, 2014. (See the January 18 update and original post below for background information.)

As I mentioned in my last update, I struggled during my first day in the pool at the local community college. The triathlon starts with a one-mile swim, which equates to roughly 70 1/2 laps in a 25-yard pool…but I barely made it through 26 laps that first time out. Granted, I knew I wasn’t going to swim a mile right out of the box, especially since my technique is terrible and my muscles aren’t conditioned for that kind of swimming.

However, I have been reading up and watching videos on proper swim technique (breathing, balance, stroke, etc.) and it’s already starting to pay off as I have quickly been able to increase the number of laps I am able to complete.

During my second time in the pool, on January 27, I completed 50 laps. Two days later, I successfully completed 72 laps–about 1.02 miles–in approximately 50 minutes (although I’m not too concerned about time right now). Granted, I was still taking frequent breaks and falling back into bad form, but I covered the distance. That was an important goal for me. It would be disastrous if I failed to complete the swim during the triathlon. At least I now know that I’m capable of swimming one mile, even if I have to take a short break or dial it down a bit at times.

Still, though, I need to continue getting stronger and more efficient in the pool. That will make my life a whole lot easier come September 14.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get back to cycling and running in the next couple of weeks. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m also training for the Trenton Half-Marathon in November.

Please see the Training Tracker below to follow my major training swims, rides and runs.

1/18/2014 UPDATE:
Earlier this month (see original post below), I wrote about training for my first half-marathon, the Trenton (N.J.) Half-Marathon taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, and my other goal of reaching a target weight of 168 pounds.

Well, when I wrote that, I was also eyeing another ridiculously ambitious goal…competing and finishing in the Atlantic City International Triathlon on Sept. 14, 2014. However, I was still waiting to hear back from the organizers regarding a question about my bike. Well, I was given the information I needed and have officially registered for the event, which includes a one-mile swim, a 20-mile bike ride and a 10K (6.2-mile) run.

I’ve never done an official half-marathon before, but at least I’ve run 13.1 miles in training  so I know I can do it. I have completed a swim of around a mile, have ridden 20 miles on a bike many times before and have 6.2 miles several times. However, I am in no way ready to do all of these in sequence at one time, but I’m learning as fast as I can how to get myself trained and conditioned for it.

So I must revise the 2014 fitness goals I listed in the original post. They are now: 1) get weight down to (and stay at/near) 168 pounds, 2) complete the Atlantic City International Triathlon, and 3) complete the Trenton Half-Marathon.

Wow…when you write it all out, it looks daunting. What was I thinking? Oh well, nothing to do now but to get in shape and ready to compete.

At the bottom of each of these posts, you will find a training tracker so you can follow my progress.

Original Post – January 9, 2014:
Last year, I tracked my training for the Trenton 10K, which took place Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. It was the first organized race I have run other than a 5K. I finished the Trenton 10K with a chip time of 59:46.399, and my goal was to finish in less than an hour…so mission accomplished.

But as I watched the half-marathon runners start their race that morning, I regretted not being more ambitious with my running goals. After finally shaking off a persistent head cold I came down with the day after the race, I mapped out a route and completed a test run of 13.1 miles in 2:27:27—and, admittedly, that included about a half-mile of walking.

Now that I know I can do it, I want to announce here that I have registered for the 2014 Trenton Half-Marathon, taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014.

I also want to use this opportunity to finally get into the proverbial “best shape of my life”— a sports cliché used by so many aging veterans heading into training camp. The holidays and two bouts with colds have basically put me back to square one as far as conditioning is concerned, but next week I’m going to start getting serious about working out everyday and tracking my caloric intake. And, of course, I’ll be tracking my training runs here on the blog.

In addition to training for the half marathon, it is my goal to finally get down to 168 pounds, which means losing about 23 pounds. I had lost 35 pounds back in 2006 after a false heart disease scare, but my weight-loss efforts stalled at 173—leaving me five pounds shy of my goal. Unfortunately, I gained nearly all of the weight I lost back again within the following year and have only been able to lose about 10-15 pounds a couple of times since then.

So…those are my two main goals for 2014: 1) complete the Trenton Half Marathon, 2) get down (and stay at/near) 168 pounds.

Training Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here every so often. The table below includes my swim/bike/run distances and times during this training period:
Date Swim/Bike/Run Distance Time
12/5/2013 13.12 miles (run) 2:27:27 – longest distance run
1/24/2014 0.37 miles (swim) – 26 laps (25-yd pool) approx. 30 minutes
1/27/2014 0.71 miles (swim) – 50 laps (25-yd pool) approx. 40 minutes
1/29/2014 1.02 miles (swim) – 72 laps (25-yd pool) approx. 50 minutes

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Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, weight loss

Update No. 2 – Back in training 2014: Preparing for a half-marathon & triathlon

Trenton Half Marathon
Atlantic City Triathlon logo

With snow and ice covering much of the cycling/running surfaces and temperatures below or near freezing for a significant period of time here in central New Jersey, I have started concentrating on preparing for the swim component of the Atlantic City International Triathlon, which I’ll be competing in on Sept. 14. (See the January 18 update and original post below for background information.)

All I can say is…I, like many first-time triathletes, completely underestimated how tough the one-mile swim is going to be. I used the 25-yard pool at the local community college for the first time last week and needed to break for a bit after just three laps. I need to get to 71 laps to cover a mile (actually 70 1/2 laps). I wound up struggling through 26 laps during my swim time that first day…and felt completely exhausted for the next hour or so.

The good news is a) it was only my first time training in the pool, and b) I was not employing any proper swimming technique. I just wanted to activate, so to speak, the upper body and core muscles necessary for competitive swimming.

I’ve read up and watched videos on proper swim technique (breathing, balance, stroke, etc.) so I’m going to work on that this coming week to make myself a stronger, more efficient swimmer. I have to be in order to get to the cycling (20 miles) and running (10K/6.2 miles) components of the event.

Please see the Training Tracker below to follow my major training swims, rides and runs.

1/18/2014 UPDATE:
Earlier this month (see original post below), I wrote about training for my first half-marathon, the Trenton (N.J.) Half-Marathon taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, and my other goal of reaching a target weight of 168 pounds.

Well, when I wrote that, I was also eyeing another ridiculously ambitious goal…competing and finishing in the Atlantic City International Triathlon on Sept. 14, 2014. However, I was still waiting to hear back from the organizers regarding a question about my bike. Well, I was given the information I needed and have officially registered for the event, which includes a one-mile swim, a 20-mile bike ride and a 10K (6.2-mile) run.

I’ve never done an official half-marathon before, but at least I’ve run 13.1 miles in training  so I know I can do it. I have completed a swim of around a mile, have ridden 20 miles on a bike many times before and have 6.2 miles several times. However, I am in no way ready to do all of these in sequence at one time, but I’m learning as fast as I can how to get myself trained and conditioned for it.

So I must revise the 2014 fitness goals I listed in the original post. They are now: 1) get weight down to (and stay at/near) 168 pounds, 2) complete the Atlantic City International Triathlon, and 3) complete the Trenton Half-Marathon.

Wow…when you write it all out, it looks daunting. What was I thinking? Oh well, nothing to do now but to get in shape and ready to compete.

At the bottom of each of these posts, you will find a training tracker so you can follow my progress.

Original Post – January 9, 2014:
Last year, I tracked my training for the Trenton 10K, which took place Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. It was the first organized race I have run other than a 5K. I finished the Trenton 10K with a chip time of 59:46.399, and my goal was to finish in less than an hour…so mission accomplished.

But as I watched the half-marathon runners start their race that morning, I regretted not being more ambitious with my running goals. After finally shaking off a persistent head cold I came down with the day after the race, I mapped out a route and completed a test run of 13.1 miles in 2:27:27—and, admittedly, that included about a half-mile of walking.

Now that I know I can do it, I want to announce here that I have registered for the 2014 Trenton Half-Marathon, taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014.

I also want to use this opportunity to finally get into the proverbial “best shape of my life”— a sports cliché used by so many aging veterans heading into training camp. The holidays and two bouts with colds have basically put me back to square one as far as conditioning is concerned, but next week I’m going to start getting serious about working out everyday and tracking my caloric intake. And, of course, I’ll be tracking my training runs here on the blog.

In addition to training for the half marathon, it is my goal to finally get down to 168 pounds, which means losing about 23 pounds. I had lost 35 pounds back in 2006 after a false heart disease scare, but my weight-loss efforts stalled at 173—leaving me five pounds shy of my goal. Unfortunately, I gained nearly all of the weight I lost back again within the following year and have only been able to lose about 10-15 pounds a couple of times since then.

So…those are my two main goals for 2014: 1) complete the Trenton Half Marathon, 2) get down (and stay at/near) 168 pounds.

Training Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here every so often. The table below includes my swim/bike/run distances and times during this training period:
Date Swim/Bike/Run Distance Time
12/5/2013 13.12 miles (run) 2:27:27 – longest distance run
1/24/2014 0.37 miles (swim) – 26 laps (25-yd pool) approx. 30 minutes

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Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, weight loss

Update No. 1 – Back in training 2014: Preparing for a half-marathon & triathlon

Trenton Half Marathon1/18/2014 UPDATE:
Earlier this month (see original post below), I wrote about training for my first half-marathon, the Trenton (N.J.) Half-Marathon taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, and my other goal of reaching a target weight of 168 pounds.

Well, when I wrote that, I was also eyeing another ridiculously ambitious goal…competing and finishing in the Atlantic City International Triathlon on Sept. 14, 2014. However, I was still waiting to hear back from the organizers regarding a question about my bike. Atlantic City Triathlon logoWell, I was given the information I needed and have officially registered for the event, which includes a one-mile swim, a 20-mile bike ride and a 10K (6.2-mile) run.

I’ve never done an official half-marathon before, but at least I’ve run 13.1 miles in training  so I know I can do it. I have completed a swim of around a mile, have ridden 20 miles on a bike many times before and have 6.2 miles several times. However, I am in no way ready to do all of these in sequence at one time, but I’m learning as fast as I can how to get myself trained and conditioned for it.

So I must revise the 2014 fitness goals I listed in the original post. They are now: 1) get weight down to (and stay at/near) 168 pounds, 2) complete the Atlantic City International Triathlon, and 3) complete the Trenton Half-Marathon.

Wow…when you write it all out, it looks daunting. What was I thinking? Oh well, nothing to do now but to get in shape and ready to compete.

At the bottom of each of these posts, you will find a training tracker so you can follow my progress.

Original Post – January 9, 2014:
Last year, I tracked my training for the Trenton 10K, which took place Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. It was the first organized race I have run other than a 5K. I finished the Trenton 10K with a chip time of 59:46.399, and my goal was to finish in less than an hour…so mission accomplished.

But as I watched the half-marathon runners start their race that morning, I regretted not being more ambitious with my running goals. After finally shaking off a persistent head cold I came down with the day after the race, I mapped out a route and completed a test run of 13.1 miles in 2:27:27—and, admittedly, that included about a half-mile of walking.

Now that I know I can do it, I want to announce here that I have registered for the 2014 Trenton Half-Marathon, taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014.

I also want to use this opportunity to finally get into the proverbial “best shape of my life”— a sports cliché used by so many aging veterans heading into training camp. The holidays and two bouts with colds have basically put me back to square one as far as conditioning is concerned, but next week I’m going to start getting serious about working out everyday and tracking my caloric intake. And, of course, I’ll be tracking my training runs here on the blog.

In addition to training for the half marathon, it is my goal to finally get down to 168 pounds, which means losing about 23 pounds. I had lost 35 pounds back in 2006 after a false heart disease scare, but my weight-loss efforts stalled at 173—leaving me five pounds shy of my goal. Unfortunately, I gained nearly all of the weight I lost back again within the following year and have only been able to lose about 10-15 pounds a couple of times since then.

So…those are my two main goals for 2014: 1) complete the Trenton Half Marathon, 2) get down (and stay at/near) 168 pounds.

Training Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here every so often. The table below includes my swim/bike/run distances and times during this training period:

Date Swim/Bike/Run Distance Time
12/5/2013 13.12 miles (run) 2:27:27 – longest distance run
Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training

Back in training 2014: Preparing for my first half marathon

Trenton Half MarathonLast year, I tracked my training for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which took place Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. It was the first organized race I have run other than a 5K. I finished the Trenton 10K with a chip time of 59:46.399, and my goal was to finish in less than an hour…so mission accomplished.

But as I watched the half-marathon runners start their race that morning, I regretted not being more ambitious with my running goals. After finally shaking off a persistent head cold I came down with the day after the race, I mapped out a route and completed a test run of 13.1 miles in 2:27:27—and, admittedly, that included about a half-mile of walking.

Now that I know I can do it, I want to announce here that I have registered for the 2014 Trenton Half-Marathon, taking place Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014.

I also want to use this opportunity to finally get into the proverbial “best shape of my life”— a sports cliché used by so many aging veterans heading into training camp. The holidays and two bouts with colds have basically put me back to square one as far as conditioning is concerned, but next week I’m going to start getting serious about working out everyday and tracking my caloric intake. And, of course, I’ll be tracking my training runs here on the blog.

In addition to training for the half marathon, it is my goal to finally get down to 168 pounds, which means losing about 23 pounds. I had lost 35 pounds back in 2006 after a false heart disease scare, but my weight-loss efforts stalled at 173—leaving me five pounds shy of my goal. Unfortunately, I gained nearly all of the weight I lost back again within the following year and have only been able to lose about 10-15 pounds a couple of times since then.

So…those are my two main goals for 2014: 1) complete the Trenton Half Marathon, 2) get down (and stay at/near) 168 pounds.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here every so often. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period:

Date Run Distance Time
12/5/2013 13.12 miles (run) 2:27:27 – longest distance run
Brian Brian Kelley, Christian Beach, holiday, links, Music, video, YouTube

Christmas 2013 YouTube Video Playlist

A compilation of some of my favorite songs celebrating Christmas and the holiday season, in general. The playlist starts with the latest “demo” version of a Christmas song I originally wrote in 2011, “It’s Christmas Time Again.” Enjoy…

Christmas 2013 YouTube Video Playlist

Includes:

  • “It’s Christmas Time Again” – Brian Kelley
  • “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love
  • “Christmas Time is Here” – Vince Guaraldi Trio
  • “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” – John Lennon
  • “Thanks for Christmas” – Three Wise Men (aka XTC)
  • “The Closing of the Year” – Wendy & Lisa
  • “Fairytale of New York” – The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl
  • “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” – Band Aid (1984)
  • “3 Ships” – Jon Anderson
  • “This is Christmas” – Curt Smith
  • “Never Gonna Be Alone on Christmas” – Work Drugs
  • “Holiday Face” – Dent May
  • “Christmas Must Be Tonight” – Christian Beach (The Band cover)
  • “Holiday” – Mike Doughty with Rosanne Cash
  • “Little Drummer Boy” – Nicole Atkins
  • “Skating” – Vince Guaraldi Trio
  • “Matches for Sale/Say What?” – GrooveLily

 

Brian Brian Kelley, links, news, technology, YouTube

That “Xmas Jammies” video everyone loves? It’s obnoxious, exploitative and probably illegal

The Internet has fallen in love with the Holderness family’s “Xmas Jammies”—set to Will Smith’s “Miami” (a lot more on that in a bit)—family Christmas video that has gone viral. I’ve seen media reports telling me that the video puts my family’s Christmas card to shame or makes ours look lame. People think it’s absolutely adorable.

Well, you know what? My family’s plain ol’ Christmas card features my family…and I can honestly say that none of us are as lame as that uninspired, unoriginal video. Here’s the other thing…my family’s Christmas card was made to simply wish our friends and families a Merry Christmas—that’s it. The “Xmas Jammies” video was designed to go viral as a promotional tool for the communications business run by the husband and wife, Penn and Kim Holderness, called Greenroom Communications. In fact, the video is posted to the company’s YouTube channel and you will clearly see these words under the video:

Want a video like this for your family or company? Holla at us: info@visitthegreenroom.com

Which begs these questions:

Do I want my family to look completely obnoxious and better than everybody else in a video that goes viral around the world?

No thanks…I’ll pass.

Do I want a video that exploits my children and is more of a commercial for my business than an actual heartfelt family Christmas video?

Um…again, no. That seems slimy.

Finally, do I want a video that’s going to potentially get me sued by record labels, music publishers, Will Smith and The Whispers, whose 1980 hit “And the Beat Goes On” is the primary sample at the heart of “Miami”?

WHAT?! HELL, NO!

Let’s talk about this last part. Many people believe that if you simply put different lyrics to a popular song, it is considered a parody, which is traditionally considered fair use of copyrighted material. But guess what? That is not how the U.S. Supreme Court has described parody.

In a guest post for Forbes.com published in 2012, intellectual property lawyer Kenneth Liu of McLean, Va.-based Gammon & Grange discussed the legality of all the so-called parodies going around of Psy’s viral hit “Gangnam Style.” While many could be considered parody, many of the videos made in response to “Gangnam Style” were not, in fact, parodies and could have easily faced legal challenges if Psy and other rights-holders chose to go that route.

Liu cited one of the most famous cases involving a parody challenged by a copyright holder, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. Back in the late 1980s, the rap group 2 Live Crew wanted to record a parody of the Roy Orbison classic, “Oh Pretty Woman.” 2 Live Crew had asked for permission to use elements of the original for the parody, but the rights-holder, Acuff-Rose Music, denied the request. However, feeling that it was protected from copyright infringement as a parody, 2 Live Crew recorded the song anyway and released it on their 1989 album, As Clean as They Wanna Be.

Acuff-Rose Music sued 2 Live Crew for copyright infringement and the legal battle went back and forth. After 2 Live Crew scored a victory in a district court decision, Acuff-Rose Music won a decision in the Court of Appeals. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993. In early 1994, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision and remanded the case. However, the Court determined that 2 Live Crew’s “Pretty Woman” was a parody of “Oh Pretty Woman” and constituted fair use of copyrighted material.

In addition to determining that the 2 Live Crew song was targeted at a completely different market and that it would not substantially undermine sales of Orbison’s original, the Supreme Court said that 2 Live Crew’s version met the definition of parody. According to Liu, the “key to the Court’s decision was that 2 Live Crew transformed Orbison’s song into something new that ridiculed the original.”

More importantly, the Court pointed out the difference between parody and satire, which is generally not accepted as fair use. As Liu wrote in his 2012 Forbes.com guest post:

A parody is a work that imitates the characteristic style of another artist or his work for comic effect or ridicule…Many artists believe they are making parodies when they borrow someone else’s work to make fun of something, but they are actually only making satirical use of the other work. And it is this act of “borrowing” another work that is infringing. The Supreme Court essentially stated that borrowing another work for the purpose of satire is lazy — it avoids “the drudgery in working up something fresh.”

So let’s examine “Xmas Jammies” and see if it meets the criteria for a parody based on the words above. Well, right off the bat, the lyrics are not parodying Will Smith’s “Miami.” The Holderness family—those self-professed media experts who want to make you your own copyright-infringing viral video—simply wrote new lyrics to a copyright-protected song. Really, it’s not even satire. They simply—and lazily—”borrowed” a copyright-protected song and made it their own. And the song they “borrowed” is built upon a sample of The Whispers’ 1980 hit “And the Beat Goes On.” Will Smith received permission to use that sample for “Miami,” but someone else wanting to use that sample would have to obtain their own permission to do so. In essence, the Holderness family really needed to get all the appropriate licenses to use two different songs for “Xmas Jammies.”

Unless the Holderness family obtained the rights from Will Smith, The Whispers and—I believe—the publishing rights holders of both “Miami” and “And the Beat Goes On”—which I seriously doubt (the lack of attribution on the video’s YouTube page is telling)—the video that everyone is raving about is actually an obnoxious, far-reaching violation of copyright law. The fact that “Xmas Jammies” was published on Greenroom Communications’ YouTube channel means that this was produced simply to attract visitors to a commercial entity. There is no way that using copyrighted material in a promotional tool for business will pass a “fair use” test.

Nobody seems to have noticed any of this…yet. But I’m pretty sure as the YouTube hits keep climbing and Greenroom Communications starts profiting from the exposure, you’re going to see the rights-holders of “Miami” and “And the Beat Goes On” start filing lawsuits.

Sorry to be a grinch and I don’t mean to rain on the Holderness family’s parade, but “Xmas Jammies” shouldn’t be celebrated. In fact, it represents all that is wrong in this current climate of “affluenza” and an overinflated sense of entitlement. You can’t just steal the copyright-protected, creative work of others for what is essentially a commercial for a business and innocently play it off as your family’s video Christmas card…and then gain fame (or infamy) and have your company profit from it. You should have to play by the rules like everybody else. Just because you are able to do something with modern technology doesn’t mean you legally can.

Also, if you want to see the video, you can find it on YouTube. I’m not contributing to the insanity by linking to it.

Brian Brian Kelley, holiday, links, Music

Enjoy the latest version of my Christmas song

32352_850957667094_1010370090_nI originally wrote this Christmas song in 2011 and recorded what is essentially a “demo” version with GarageBand on my MacBook. I updated it for 2012 and made some more changes this year. Here is the latest version.

It’s Christmas Time Again – Brian Kelley

© 2011 Brian J. Kelley. All rights reserved.

I had always wanted to write a Christmas song and I obviously plucked inspiration from “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (especially since I’m a huge Midge Ure fan), The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”, Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and others. Yes, it includes many of the clichés you are familiar with from other Christmas songs. And when you think about it, most Christmas songs do tend to ask for quite a lot (peace on Earth, snow on Christmas Day, happiness for every boy and girl, etc.), so I refer to that with the line “well, it may be a daunting task/and an awful lot to ask.” But the whole nature of the holiday is this belief in Christmas dreams or miracles coming true, so why not ask for a lot?

Enjoy.

Brian arts, links, podcasting, technology, Technology and the Arts, video

Support 99% Invisible on Kickstarter

99% Invisible
99% Invisible

If you listen to the Technology and the Arts podcast I do with John LeMasney, then you will know that I’ve mentioned 99% Invisible, a fantastic podcast and public radio program about design and architecture hosted by Roman Mars, a few times this past season.

While season 4 of the 99% Invisible podcast has been successfully funded through Kickstarter, the fundraising effort is currently into its “stretch goal” phase. One such stretch goal comes from one of the podcast’s sponsors, MailChimp, which has put up a challenge grant of $20,000 should the podcast reach 10,000 backers on Kickstarter. As I type this, they are at 7,383 with 13 days to go.

If you are interested in stories about design and architecture told in fascinatingly interesting ways and are unfamiliar with 99% Invisible, go the podcast’s web site right now and listen to a few episodes. I am sure you will find it as entertaining and informative as I do…and if that should encourage you to help 99% Invisible reach this stretch goal, just go to the podcast’s Kickstarter page and pledge as little as $1. Just a buck and you will be counted as a backer toward the stretch goal of 10,000.

Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training

Update No. 8 – Trenton 10K Result

Trenton Half Marathon logo

Well, it seems I’ve accomplished my goal of finishing today’s Trenton (N.J.) 10K run in less than an hour.

My chip time, which marks the elapsed time from when the chip attached to the runner’s bib  crosses the starting line to when it crosses the finish line, was recorded at 59:46.399. My gun-elapsed time—from when the starting gun is fired until I crossed the finished line—is listed as 1:00:37.

I was surprised by that time because there were a couple of inclines—one of which was much tougher than I expected—that I hadn’t really prepared for, which really took me out of my comfort level and messed up my pace. As a result, I struggled for most of the final two miles of the run and I was never really able to get it going again.

Of course, there always seems to be something curious about the timing of these races and today was no different. As I crossed the finish line at home plate of Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park—home of the 2013 Eastern League champion Trenton Thunder, the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees, the 10K clock clearly showed 1:01:30-something, so I initially thought I failed to hit my goal. The official results (you can look me up at bib #5432), though, appear to have shaved a minute off of that so I’m not sure what happened there.

But the chip time should be accurate. If it correctly registered when I crossed the starting line and finish line, then that is the true time I ran a 10K distance between those two points, and that’s what I go by. Based on that, I finished in less than an hour so I’m not going to complain too much about it.

Below is my run-tracker with links to data from my Nike+ Running app. Although I had my Nike+ app running during the Trenton 10K, I did not include that data here because—in my exhausted state and trying to get out of the runners’ chute at the finish line as quickly as possible—I neglected to stop the app until approximately two minutes after I crossed the finish line. So it included time I was meandering about trying to find an open spot on the Waterfront Park outfield grass to relax and stretch.

Original Post from May 4, 2013:
This week, I signed up for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which is held in conjunction with the Trenton Half Marathon. The race takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. It will be yet another in a series of runs I’ve done this year that take place near or in a ballpark, as the Trenton 10K finishes inside the Trenton Thunder’s (Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees) Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park. So far in 2013, I’ve taken part in the Phillies Charities 5K, which included a post-race walk around the warning track of Citizens Bank Park, and the Barnabas Health/Lakewood BlueClaws 5K, which finished inside FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J.—home of the Class A affiliate of the Phillies.

I don’t really claim to be a “runner,” but I’m trying to get in better shape and I’ve been enjoying running more and more over the years. Last night, I attempted my first-ever 10K-distance run and it went very well. The Nike+ app on my iPhone clocked me at 1:05:50 for a 6.24-mile run. There is definite room for improvement, but the thing I was really happy with was that—for my first time attempting that distance—I felt great throughout the run. I established a nice, comfortable pace early on that left me feeling good enough to turn in a rather solid final 1.24 miles. My average pace was 10:33 per mile, but I was running at a pace of under 10:00 per mile for the final 7/10th of a mile. In fact, I was cruising along at 9:31 per mile at the 6-mile mark.

It’s going to be rough to get in 10K-distance runs on a regular basis as I train for the Trenton 10K, so I’ll likely be doing mostly 5K runs with a few longer outings sprinkled in. But I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get in two or three 10K runs in a month—likely more closer to November—prior to the race.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period (10K-distance runs in bold):

Date Distance Time
11/9/2013 6.2 miles 59:46.399 – Trenton 10K chip time
11/7/2013 3.13 miles 28:34
11/6/2013 3.12 miles 27:53 – fastest-recorded personal 5K time
10/31/2013 3.11 miles 28:15
10/29/2013 6.22 miles 59:24 – personal record (10K)
10/25/2013 6.22 miles 1:02:10
10/16/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:36
10/9/2013 3.14 miles 30:27
9/25/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:50
9/23/2013 6.2 miles 1:05:12
9/20/2013 3.1 miles 30:10
9/4/2013 3.13 miles 32:10
8/14/2013 3.12 miles 29:52
7/26/2013 2.2 miles 23:13
5/19/2013 3.1 miles 29:52 – Spirt of Boston 5K at Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ
5/12/2013 3.1 miles 30:42
5/3/2013 6.24 miles 1:05:50
Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, Uncategorized

Update No. 7 – Back in training 2013: Preparing for my first 10K

Trenton Half Marathon logo

That’s a wrap! With the Trenton (N.J.) 10K this Saturday, Nov. 9, I have completed my training for the race.

Since recording my personal best 10K time of 59:24 during a 6.22-mile run on Oct. 29, I have completed three 5K-distance runs as tune-ups for the race. On Oct. 31, I ran 3.11 miles in 28:15. I wasn’t really concerned about time, as I was with pace. I pushed myself a little harder on my next run, on Nov. 6, and finished 3.12 miles in 27:53—the best 5K time ever recorded by Nike+ since I started using it to track my runs in 2010 and better than any time I’ve clocked in any official race. In fact, the best 5K time I have ever recorded in an official race was 27:54 in my first 5K in September 2006. However, I do recall recording slightly faster 5K times when I used to track my runs with a stopwatch and write them in a notebook back in 2006, but I currently don’t know where that notebook is so I am unable to look it up.

Anyway, I took it a little easier in my final tune-up run this morning (Nov. 7), completing a 3.13-mile run in 28:34. That was just to work on my pace and I feel confident about reaching my goal of finishing the Trenton 10K in less than one hour. Right now, I’m averaging just about 9 minutes, 20 seconds per mile with relative ease. If I hit that mark, I’m looking at finishing in around 58 minutes.

The one thing I’m concerned about is being taken out of my comfort level early in the race. When I’m surrounded by hundreds of people all taking off at the same time, I tend to get caught up in the moment and think I need to keep up the pace. I just need to do my own thing and not exhaust myself too early.

And that’s it for my Trenton 10K training…the eighth and final update of this series will be posted at some point following Saturday’s race.

I’ve updated my run tracker below with links to data from my Nike+ Running app.

Original Post from May 4, 2013:
This week, I signed up for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which is held in conjunction with the Trenton Half Marathon. The race takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. It will be yet another in a series of runs I’ve done this year that take place near or in a ballpark, as the Trenton 10K finishes inside the Trenton Thunder’s (Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees) Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park. So far in 2013, I’ve taken part in the Phillies Charities 5K, which included a post-race walk around the warning track of Citizens Bank Park, and the Barnabas Health/Lakewood BlueClaws 5K, which finished inside FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J.—home of the Class A affiliate of the Phillies.

I don’t really claim to be a “runner,” but I’m trying to get in better shape and I’ve been enjoying running more and more over the years. Last night, I attempted my first-ever 10K-distance run and it went very well. The Nike+ app on my iPhone clocked me at 1:05:50 for a 6.24-mile run. There is definite room for improvement, but the thing I was really happy with was that—for my first time attempting that distance—I felt great throughout the run. I established a nice, comfortable pace early on that left me feeling good enough to turn in a rather solid final 1.24 miles. My average pace was 10:33 per mile, but I was running at a pace of under 10:00 per mile for the final 7/10th of a mile. In fact, I was cruising along at 9:31 per mile at the 6-mile mark.

It’s going to be rough to get in 10K-distance runs on a regular basis as I train for the Trenton 10K, so I’ll likely be doing mostly 5K runs with a few longer outings sprinkled in. But I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get in two or three 10K runs in a month—likely more closer to November—prior to the race.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period (10K-distance runs in bold):

Date Distance Time
11/7/2013 3.13 miles 28:34
11/6/2013 3.12 miles 27:53 – fastest-recorded personal 5K time
10/31/2013 3.11 miles 28:15
10/29/2013 6.22 miles 59:24 – personal record (10K)
10/25/2013 6.22 miles 1:02:10
10/16/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:36
10/9/2013 3.14 miles 30:27
9/25/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:50
9/23/2013 6.2 miles 1:05:12
9/20/2013 3.1 miles 30:10
9/4/2013 3.13 miles 32:10
8/14/2013 3.12 miles 29:52
7/26/2013 2.2 miles 23:13
5/19/2013 3.1 miles 29:52 – Spirt of Boston 5K at Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ
5/12/2013 3.1 miles 30:42
5/3/2013 6.24 miles 1:05:50