A Q&A with Co-Blog Manager Melissa
The Flyers has a new, talented teammate!
Just last weekend, while The Blog Team was editing and formatting Francesco’s race report for the Brooklyn Half Marathon, the first-place 🏆 finisher for the men (and the team) caught our eye for a couple of reasons. First, his finish time was an astounding 1:18:26, a 5:59 minute mile; also, none of us (Dave, Francesco, nor myself) had ever heard of this fellow NY Flyer, Albert Pedemonte. So, after a little investigation, I found our mystery fast Flyer, and he graciously answered some questions for a brief interview.
Melissa: Hi, Albert! Nice to “meet” you. Congratulations on your incredible Brooklyn Half performance! Have you been running your entire life?
Albert: Hi! My background is in cycling, so running was always part of my off-season winter training.
Melissa: Oh, are you a professional cyclist?
Albert: I wish I was a pro-cyclist! No, cycling is my hobby and my passion. I wasn’t a “pro” but I used to race in some serious competitions at the regional and national levels, both road racing and mountain biking.
Melissa: Where are you from?
Albert: I am from a small town north of Barcelona. In Spain, cycling is very competitive, so you had to train hard if you didn’t want to get dropped.
Melissa: Wow! Ok, back to running. You just run on the off-season of cycling and yet you are so speedy?
Albert: I guess I was kind of fast from day one because I was in good shape from cycling. In 2006, when I knew that I was moving to New York City, I thought that it would be cool to run the NYC Marathon. I did a couple of half marathons in Barcelona to get the qualifying time for guaranteed entry.
Melissa: How did it go with the NYC Marathon?
Albert: I had two goals: Do it under three hours and beat Lance Armstrong. I achieved both!
After the marathon, I stopped running and went back to cycling for a couple of years. Then I had my children: my son, Pol, and soon after, my daughter, Mia.
Then, for the next 10 years, I did some running and some cycling but no races and nothing regular.
Melissa: When did you start running more consistently?
Albert: At the end of 2018 is when I started running more regularly, and I registered for a NYRR10K race. I didn’t do as well as I was expecting and that motivated me to train more. Since then, I have been pretty consistent with my running.
Melissa: When you say consistent, how often do you run and what’s your mileage per week?
Albert: I average four or five days a week. I would like to do six, but there is always something that comes up, either working late or family obligations. I run the most when I’m training for a marathon, and I get up to 50 or 55 miles a week. When I’m not marathon training, I run 30 to 40 miles a week.
Melissa: Do you do any cross-training?
Albert: I don’t do any specific cross-training, but I do still cycle quite a bit in the summer. I also have a physical job. I am a cabinet maker, so I am pretty active all day. I guess that can count as cross-training.
Melissa: Do you have a favorite race distance? Any marathons coming up soon?
Albert: If I have to choose a distance, I will say half marathon. I can almost keep the same pace for a half as I run for a 10K. When I run a full marathon, my pace gets a lot slower.
I only did three marathons: NYC twice, 2006 and 2022; and last April, I ran the Jersey City Marathon where I had my PR 2:54:27. I will run NYC again this year (I need a NY Flyers singlet!), and I plan on running Boston in 2024. 🦄
Melissa: How did you find the NY Flyers?
Albert: I am a good friend of Adolfo Ferrando. We run together pretty often on weekends. He and his wife, Teresa, are very proud Flyers, so I am now too!
Melissa: It was so nice chatting with you, Albert! Do you attend the Flyers group runs or events?
Albert: The Three Bridges is the only run that I did so far with the group when I was training for the NYC marathon. Hopefully, I can do some more soon and meet more Flyers, too.
Brooklyn Half Marathon Mystery solved! Be on the lookout for "Fast Albert!" Just don’t blink … you might miss him! 👀
