A Day Off at the US Open

“I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep. And find I’m king of the hill; top of the heap.”

Come marathon day, I will be waking up in a city that doesn’t sleep. 

As far as the “king of the hill, top of the heap” lyric is concerned.. Well, that will probably be someone from Kenya or Ethiopia wrecking me by well over an hour. I’ll be happy to just be a respectable part of the hill or heap on November 3.

You’re probably wondering what the point is to this well known lyric from “New York, New York,” which Frank Sinatra (and my good buddy James DeFrances) crooned with passion and fervor all over the world.

These words are on display at the players entrance of Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York, greeting each incoming player with a big, bold homage to New York City while simultaneously serving as inspirational message; emblazoned in their minds throughout the 2 week tournament.

I spent my day off of training here at the USTA National Tennis Center with my dad and brother to enjoy some world class tennis action at the US Open. 

We got grounds passes, which enabled us to enjoy matches at 2 of the showcase courts, as well as all of the side courts. The only thing we missed out on were tickets to the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium, which quite frankly, I’m not too fond of during the day in the early rounds.

As an avid tennis fan, I’d much rather watch 2 hungry qualifiers gut it out in a knock down, drag out 5 set grunt fest on court 17 than watch a far-away pin sized Novak Djokovic put the beat down of some poor dirt-balling qualifier from Argentina from the upper deck of the cavernous, windy confines of Arthur Ashe stadium: A stadium where they showcase the cream of the crop each day and night.

Upon arrival (and thanks to me being on the marathon team), we received an all access tour of the facility. We got to check out the media room, the player lounge, the player cafeteria, and more. When the tour started, our guide said “don’t take pictures of the players, don’t touch the players, don’t talk to the players.” I felt prematurely star struck at the mere notion of spotting Federer or Nadal or anyone else I recognized for that matter.

I didn’t see Nole, Fed or Rafa, but I spotted Chris Evert walking through our tour exclaiming “well, I won 6 majors,” while our tour guide was talking about past champions,  Paul Annacone (Federer’s coach), Alexandr Dolgopolov, Xavier Malisse, Chanda Rubin, Andrea Hlavackova (Czech doubles superstar), Richard Gasquet immersed in a French conversation on his cell phone, Gael Monfils returning from a hitting session, and the seemingly fratty Jack Sock shaking hands and paling around with his chauffeur.

Here’s a picture of my brother and I at the front of the VIP area.

The rest of the day was filled with fantastic tennis action, overpriced food, entertaining people watching, and beautiful weather. We got to watch 10^th ranked Milos Raonic crank out his trademark 150 MPH serves. We watched the beautiful, talented Serb Ana Ivanovic put the beat down on Georgian Ana Tatashvili. We watched Jerzy Janowicz’s powerful yet overly erroneous display in an upset loss to the Argentinian qualifier, Maximo Gonzalez. We watched a squirrel frantically sprint around the court and cause a slight delay in the match between Lukasz Kubot and Jarko Nieminen.

Later in the day, we met with Elaine from the USTA Serves Charity who bought us all ice cream to say thank you for being a part of the charity marathon team. A brownie sundae sure was a great thing to eat while training! 

As the afternoon kicked into full gear, we settled into the grandstand and watched American John Isner crack ace after ace after winner after winner in his one sided victory over the Italian, Filipo Volandri, who has lost 20 straight hard court matches. After that, we checked out the charismatic, freakishly athletic Frenchman, Gael Monfils, only to notice that he barely had to try in his quick dismissal of Adrian Ungur, who looked like the nightlife of New York City got the best of him the night before.

The side courts are host to some of the most incredible tennis in the world during these first 2 rounds. Here, I watched Jeremy Chardy of France gut out a 5 set victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine. After the match, my brother felt a sweaty arm rub up against him. Just an exhausted Jeremy Chardy navigating through the crowd and making his way back to the locker room.

The side court, gut-checking battle of the day would have to go to Rogerio Dutra Silva who saved 7 match points in a 5 set, heavily attended victory over the up and coming Canadian, Vasek Pospisil. Both men were covered in sweat, pumping themselves up in their respective languages, and playing with the kind of tenacity that really draws the crowds in. “One more point!....Uno!!!” yelled an American fan cheering for Dutra Silva of Brazil.

After a controversial line call which infuriated Pospisil, Dutra Silva toughed it out in a fifth set tiebreak to a sea of cheers towards the players and boos toward the chair umpire. Security guards raced towards the court. I joked that they’ll probably have to escort the umpire out so he doesn’t get hurt. The security guard scoffed, laughed, and shook his head.

We watched Federer and Azarenka practice while simultaneously watching a racquet-smashing Nicolas Almagro bow out to the unseeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. We watched an up and coming young girl from Pennsylvania take out a decent Bulgarian player. We watched on the screen as the 17 year old Victoria Duval went stroke for stroke with former champion Samantha Stosur of Australia, later earning the win.

I was exhausted, sunburnt, and rocking my brand new Roger Federer shirt! But it was time to go home after nearly 9 straight hours of outdoor tennis action.

When I talk about tennis, I tend to ramble a lot, but the bottom line is, this was a great day off of training and a great time at one of my favorite places in the world. Taking days off are important while training, and if you’re able to coordinate them around doing things that you enjoy, then more power to you.

As I train, I’ll remember the wise words of old blue eyes: “If I can make it here, I’ll make it anywhere; its up to you, New York, New Yoooooooork" (hold that note out Frankie)

Literary Inspiration

I decided to seek literary inspiration for the upcoming race, and I've found some books that seem pretty intriguing. I've started one, and I plan to read the other soon.

The first book, which I'm reading now, is called "Running with the Kenyans" by Adharanand Finn. It's about a decent runner from England uprooting his family of 5, moving to a small chaotic town in Kenya, and training in high altitudes with some of the best runners in the world.

I'm only 40 or so pages in so far and it's already providing me with some valuable insight into barefoot running techniques (which I find interesting since I run in Vibrams) and of course, it's rekindling my desires to embark on a similar adventure. I'd love to venture to Africa for a few months, rent out a small hut in a Kenyan village, and train with some of the most freakish distance runners the world has to offer. Or maybe stay with a running-obsessed host family in Ethiopia and wake up at 4AM every morning and run with them. For now, the trails and gyms of Southeastern Pennsylvania will suffice.

I also plan to read the apparent must-read book for any runner: "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" after having it recommended by my Dad, my friend in the tennis industry, the internet, and the author of the aforementioned "Running
with the Kenyans" book. In this narrative, the author (who coincidentally hails from Central Pennsylvania and often runs amidst the Lancaster County farmland), studies the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico, and how they honed their one of a kind running skills while remaining basically isolated from the rest of the world. I've heard nothing but good things about this book and can't wait to read it!

"It's All in Your Head"

"It's all in your head." It's the typical, cliche mantra of many coaches, athletes and analysts.

It can be used as part of a pep talk after poor practices, lousy games, and halfhearted workouts, or it can be used as a basic reason to rationalize an individual or teams seemingly inexplicable success.

It seems pretty obvious, but there's really no better way to say it. Well, maybe a few creative ways, such as when Bobby Jones once said (in reference to golf)  "it's played on a 5 inch course - the distance between your ears." 

After almost 2 weeks of straightforward training, the psychological aspect of  running is becoming apparent. Not just in a "clear your head, block out distractions and run from within" sort of way, but something slightly more subtle.

It's a shifting of gears that seems to naturally allow my motivation to spike, dip and even out like clockwork in accordance to the distance of my upcoming run.  It's a carefully calculated amount of anticipation and motivation that varies, as opposed to a vague, overarching "running motivation" that comes over me each time I strap on my vibrams and hit the trail.

Struble Trail

For the shorter runs, it feels more like a simple task I need to complete. A quick, 20-30 minute item to check off my list. But before the longer runs, I tap into some sort of motivation reserve that only comes with having an 8+ mile run on the agenda for the day. The rest of the day doesn't seem to matter. All that matters is that run.

My first relatively long run was this week at the scenic Struble Trail on a beautiful Tuesday morning. As with all runs, it started off a bit slow, but after mile 5 and some intuitive timing from my mp3 player, I hit my stride. As I cruised through Downingtown with "Pompeii" by "Bastille" blasting from my headphones, knew I'd be able to cruise through the final 3 miles. It's runs like this that I need.

Runs that give my mental fortitude a slight nudge, wake it up a bit, and test it. I know much longer runs are in store, but I'm ready for it. Especially the increased amount of naps that will inevitably follow these long runs :)

Done with Week 1!

So week 1 of training is over, and I have to admit, a few of my early training runs started a bit like this clip you’re about to see. Well, minus the raspy AM radio, the ungodly hour, the raw egg consumption, and a battle with the World Heavyweight Champion looming a mere 11 weeks from now:

But while watching this, I did think that I should honor “The Italian Stallion” and ascend the Art Museum stairs for at least one of my interval days. When I do this, I'll certainly post about it, most likely in a position similar to this (from atop Vitkov Hill in Prague): 

So back to the training. During week 1, I was  eased into it with the custom training program from the New York Roadrunners Club. Since I’m part of the USTA Serves Charity, I was given access to this customized training program, specifically designed for me, my speed, my goals, my BMI and the New York course. 

It’s fantastic and very specific. Everything is custom tailored, from the pace, to the distance, to the types of runs.  We’re talking long runs,  flex days, tempo runs, fartlek runs, runs as you feel, intervals, and everything in between.

Temptations: A few early training temptations presented themselves this week, and I must say, I did pretty well. I refrained from several late night outings, opting to make an appearance, hang out, and leave at a reasonable hour instead (there were a few birthdays this week), I stuck to my training, and I ate pretty well (lots of turkey burgers, spinach, egg whites, and my weakness, coffee).

The only setback was my favorite locally brewed spiced tripel ale: Golden Monkey. It was my Dad’s birthday and we went to Victory Brewing Company for dinner. Of course, my brother suggested that we splurge on a 24 pack of Golden Monkey for my Dad’s birthday. Being a GM aficionado, I obliged, and have indulged a few times. But my training runs have certainly not suffered.

Also, the power that cold, leftover pizza has over a hungry guy is insurmountable. 

I was spending some time at my mom’s house, and a whole pie was just sitting there; untouched, uneaten. Looking extra greasy and ready for immediate consumption There’s indulgence #2 for the week.

One key mistake I made was improper hydration. I'd run in the morning, throw back a glass of water, then go about my day. Or if I ran at Planet Fitness, I'd make a few quick pitstops at the water fountain and call that hydration. Fail. I learned this week that I need to be drinking much more water while simultaneously increasing my electrolyte intake. You live and you learn. Next week, next week. 

All in all, I handled the 18 miles in week 1 quite well, and even got 3 days of lifting in as well. I was actually quite tempted to up the pace a little bit, push myself, and leave it all out there on the trails at Rhondda or the Planet Fitness treadmills (both of which I ran on quite frequently). But I’m sticking to my training and my times. Sure, every now and then I’ll get the testosterone and endorphin infused desire to push myself well beyond the recommended pace, but I'm trying to fight the urge.

Week 2 is similar to week 1, but with just a few more miles to log in. I'm sure my desire to nap will increase a bit this week, as will my desire to hit the snooze button, but I'm really energized by this.

I'm really looking forward to the remaining 11 weeks.

Representing Middle States, USTA Serves, and the "Sport of A Lifetime" in New York City

In late July, I opened an email entitled "USTA Serves - Application for NYC Marathon Spot" while delving into my P90X Ab Ripper X workout at Planet Fitness. A month or so earlier, I applied to be a part of the USTA Serves New York Marathon Team. 

The email succinctly and politely stated "Thank you so much for your interest and application to join our Marathon team. We just picked our runners and unfortunately, your name was not selected. We only had a limited number of sports and received quite a few entries." 

My reaction to this reminded me of one of my attempts earlier that week to be hip and relevant with my students. In a mixed high school drill, I told my teenage students that "tennis is a lot like Snapchat. After you hit your shot, it needs to disappear from your thought process and subconscious. Don't linger and dwell on it. Recover and prepare for the next shot." 

In other words, I wasn't too bummed. It was a shot in the dark. It seemed almost too good to be true. I mean, fundraising, tennis, New York City, and running my first marathon? No way this could happen a mere 2 months after moving back to the States. After receiving the news, I knew I needed to focus my efforts elsewhere.  

Maybe I should plan a mini vacation, maybe a concert, a sports conference or a new car...

 A mere week later while, ironically, at Planet Fitness again, I received an email with the subject line "Good News - marathon spot has become available." 

Of course, I jumped on it. This couldn't have come at a better time. 

Just 3 months ago, I returned back to the US after a 20 month stint in Prague, Czech Republic,  where I earned my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certification, worked as a Copywriter/Digital Marketing Specialist, a Job Guidance/Admissions Coordinator and part-time tour guide. 

Leaving behind a life of excited TEFL trainees, guided tours, pub crawls, weekend trips, beer gardens, and breathtaking castle views was something I felt a need to justify. What better way than by doing something meaningful?

This marathon is exactly what I needed. Something to train for, a trigger for good habits, and a fundraising endeavor that will not only bring personal fulfillment (my first ever marathon), but will also bring professional fulfillment since the money I raise will go towards funding youth tennis and educational opportunities for handicapped and underprivileged youth in my district (Middle States). The New York City Marathon will be sure to keep me inspired, engaged and fulfilled over the course of the next few months while I train, raise awareness, and raise funds.  

On this site, I'll share personal advice, insight, and most likely funny stories stemming from my training and fundraising for this epic event. I'll recap the training stories in the "Training: Musings, Mishaps and Milestones" page, and the fundraising endeavors and thank-you's will be recapped in the "Making it Happen" section. 

Thanks for checking this out, and don't forget to donate!