New Haven's Labor Day Road Race

I just had to do a blog entry about one of my favorite New Haven events--the annual Labor Day 20K road race. As many of you know, I'm a dedicated runner. I run lots of races all year long, but the 20K is a polestar in my running year.

First of all, my running buddy Ray Fair has a model (available on his website, http://www.aginginsports.com/), that computes an equivalent time at every age to your absolute fastest time. That gives those of us older runners a chance to improve; not in actual time, which is very difficult after a certain age and a number of running years, but in relative time. It calculates a regression line for each runner, and allows you to have a goal that incorporates aging, by giving you a factor by which you "should" slow down. Then you try to beat that time.

Yesterday was a near perfect day. It was cool at the start, breezy on Long Wharf, and sunny, but never too hot or humid. Real runners would prefer cooler weather, but, for early September, it doesn't get much better than yesterday. In addition, great weather brings out more spectators, and they always help a lot.

Therefore, many of us had good races. I didn't feel great for the first 3 or 4 miles, but, once I got into a groove, I calmed down and even picked up the pace. Although my time was not my fastest, it was my fastest in age-adjusted terms. That's always something to celebrate! I'm below my regression line for the first time ever, I think. Ray says it's because I train well, but I think it's because I had a lot of improvement and slow times in the earlier years, which brings my average time up. Whatever the reason, I'm happy.

Everyone else who came out to run or to cheer seemed happy as well. That's why it's such a great day for runners, and a great day for New Haven. And the best part? We don't need to do it again for 364 days!

Holiday Parties, Road Races & Real Estate

I've spent the weekend at a round of holiday parties, plus one of my favorite road races of the year--Christopher Martin's Run for Children. Chris opens his restaurant and collects toys from 1800 runners who then run, drink beer, and watch tattoo and T-shirt contests (I've never been around for that part; I'd have to be taller, to see over all the men who crowd into the bar!). I ran as part of Sharon Oster's Dean Team. She's the new Dean of the School of Management at Yale, and she challenged her students to beat us. She paid to charity for each kid who passed us.

Everywhere I went, I got asked about the real estate market. I'm surprised that more people aren't giving up the zero per cent yield on T bills to buy real estate instead, particularly first-time homebuyers. They will be getting a $7500 tax credit, which acts as an interest-free 15-year loan from the government, if they buy a primary residence before July. Individuals making up to $75K and couples making up to $150K are eligible for the whole credit. I'm also surprised that people aren't using their (depleted) IRA accounts to buy real estate. The rules are somewhat complicated, and different for each kind of IRA, but it's a great alternative to the nail-biting check of the Dow every day around 4 PM.