Ben's Running Blog

Groundhog Day

2012-02-01T19:54:00.000-05:00

It rarely lasts long – if it does, the texture of it changesover time. You have to work hard tokeep it. Get too obsessed over it andyou’re likely to get hurt.

Of course I’m talking about fitness.

Today was a beginning of sorts – it was the first time I’verun in over a month. On September 9^th,I’m signed up to run six times as long as I did today, after I bike 112 miles,after I swim 2.4 miles along with 2,000 other people in a choppy lake. In other words, I’ve got a long way to go tobe successful.

On Sunday I made another first step by attending a swimclinic. They recorded our swim strokeboth above and below the water. From belowit was obvious that I was straight arming it too much – which makes myshoulders do all the work. Bringing myarms in feels like I’m doggy paddling – but apparently it’s moreefficient. From above water they couldsee that my left pinky was entering the water first instead of my thumb – whichraises the possibility of going off course in the open water.

Today isn’t the first time that I’ve taken the initial steptowards a distant goal, but it’s the first time with a full Ironman. I don’t know much, but I know that’s adifferent beast than anything I’ve done before.

Last Week
Monday: Day off
Tuesday: 1 hour swim
Wednesday: 1 hour bike
Thursday: 1 hour bike
Friday: 1 hour bike
Saturday: 1.5 hours bike
Sunday: 1 hour swim
Total: 6.5 hours

This Week
Monday: 1 hour bike
Tuesday: 1 hour swim
Wednesday: 30 min run
Thursday: 1 hour bike
Friday: 1 hour bike
Saturday: 1 hour swim & 30 min run
Sunday: 2 hour bike
Total: 8 hours

What does it mean to "be in shape"?

2012-01-21T20:38:00.000-05:00

Whenever I write a post on this blog I'm aware that I might be the only one interested in the topic. That's no more true than what I'm about to write.

Taking all these hard science classes recently has made me think about how so much of what makes a great endurance athlete happens at the microscopic level. Yes, when we get "in shape" we might lose a few pounds - gain some muscle etc - but what really matters is happening within our cells. All of our cells are dependent on the following chemical reaction C6H12O6 + 6O2 > 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy. Simple aerobic respiration - and we literally couldn't do anything without it.

As you probably know the 6CO2 + 6H2O are just byproducts - which is helpful since the process that started made aerobic respiration possible, photosynthesis, only needs 6H2O and 6CO2 + light in order to make 6O2 + C6H12O6. Photosynthesis and aerobic respiration - the real yin and yang of life.

Anyways, aerobic respiration occurs in a specific place in our cells. It starts out in the cytoplasm (space inbetween organelles) but the rubber really hits the road in the organelles called mitochondria. You probably remember mitochondria as being called the "power houses" of our cells.

Mitochondria chillin

But, let's back up a second. We know that aerobic respiration results in energy, but how does the cell actually store and release that energy? ATP - basically a nitrogen base, a 5 carbon sugar, and 3 phosphate groups. The phosphate groups are key - when one breaks off you get a little energy and ADP. Aerobic respiration turns 36 ADP into 36 ATP - so that they are ready to go around the cell and lend energy to whatever reaction/process needs it (e.g. contracting a muscle fiber so that we can move forward as quickly as possible).

2 ATP are generated in the cytoplasm during aerobic respiration - but 34 are generated within the mitochondria. There's an interesting theory that mitochondria weren't originally organelles, but were actually bacteria. These bacteria entered into a mutualistic relationship with cells - where each organism got something it needed from the other. They were having such a groovy time together that the cell said - "hey mitochondria! why don't you just move into my house?" The mitochondria said "hey, why not?" What followed is the most sucessful shackup of all time. And if our cells ever throw mitochondria's stuff out onto the street - we're pretty much screwed.

When we're out of shape our cells have a small number of mitochondria - and they're lazy. They don't produce as much ATP as they do when we're in shape. So, the most important thing that happens when we exercise regularly is that our cells get more mitochondria and those mitochondria are more efficient.

The other important process that happens when we're getting in shape is that our body produces more red blood cells. That's why some endurance athletes cheat by blood doping (injecting saved red blood cells before an important race) or take EPO (a hormone that controls the process of producing red blood cells). The reason why this is important goes back to aerobic respiration - we need to get those 6O2's from somewhere.

Depending on the distance, the third important part of getting in shape is training your body to store a lot of glycogen, which is broken into glucose (C6H12O6) for aerobic respiration. Yes, your body can use lipids to get the glucose, but it's much less efficient.

What's the main take away? The most important thing to be in shape is to have cells that can do a large amount of aerobic respiration - by having a lot of the ingredients necessary readily available (glucose and oxygen) and by having cells that include a large number of highly efficient mitochondria.

How to do it? That's for another post. Although I will say that looking at getting into shape at the cellular level shows why there aren't any shortcuts to good performances. Training consistency and volume might seem boring - but our cells need enough regular stress so that they know to produce those high-performing mitochondria.

Reversal

2012-01-02T14:03:00.000-05:00

The most important ingredient in any success I've had with running has had to do with executing a good plan. There are times in any training cycle when you start to doubt your plan - but experience tells you to keep pushing through - that the full benefits won't show themselves fully until the target race. There is one major exception to the "stick-to-the-plan-at-all-costs" mentality - injuries.

I've had an on and off battle with my glute/hamstring issue since August of 2010. Part of my reasoning in focusing on running this winter was to see how much it could handle. Well - it appears not that much. I got up near 50 miles the last few weeks and the pain creeped up with each run. At first it was only on hard workouts or runs more than 90 minutes - but by the middle of last week I was feeling it even just laying in bed.

Given that it is only January and my goal race is in September it seemed like the perfect time to give my leg complete rest for a month - at least from running. Swimming and biking don't seem to have any real impact on the injury - so, I'll continue to do those along with weights and yoga.

I'm also going to go see a medical professional to figure out if there's anything else I can do than just rest.

A plan for the winter

2011-12-12T23:08:00.000-05:00

After I realized that Celtic Solstice wasn't in the cards I decided I needed a new goal for the winter. Obviously my #1 goal for next year is the Wisconsin Ironman - but I've found that it's very easy to focus on one goal for too long. I need something different to keep my attention until at least March. After a long search of several online sources I found the Sombrero Beach Run on Marathon Key in Florida the first weekend in March. The Sombrero Beach Run has a 10k and 5k - most people run both.

Over the next 12 weeks I'll be using a Jack Daniels 5k-15k training plan. I have two main goals - 1) to get my mileage up and see how my leg holds up. I haven't run over 50 miles per week in over a year. 2) to increase the intensity. I'm going to run at least two hard runs per week - either 5k pace repeats, mile pace repeats, or tempo (10 mile - half marathon) pace.

Here is my plan for this week.

Monday: 6 miles easy
Tuesday: 9 miles 4X200 R pace - 2X400 - 1X800 - 2X400 - 4X200 rest the same as interval + weights
Wednesday: 4 miles easy
Thursday morning: 30 min swim
Thursday afternon: 10 miles 3X2 miles tempo 2 min rest
Friday: 4 miles easy
Saturday: 9 miles 6X1200m @ 5k pace with 400m rest
Sunday: 14 miles easy
Total: 56 miles

Across the wide Missouri

2011-11-30T10:35:00.001-05:00

Twenty miles south of where I'm typing this lies the grave of Adam Ingram - my great-great-great grandfather. He immigrated from Scotland in the 1850's - settling in Cass County, Nebraska in 1857 - only three years after the US signed a treaty with the local natives which helped to make Nebraska an official territory and opened the area up for european settlement.

So, you could say that moving to Nebraska is kind of a homecoming for me. I've never lived here before, but we used to come out almost every summer to visit relatives. I'm guessing that most of you picture Omaha as being on flat land in the middle of corn fields. You're only partially correct. Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa are actually hilly. Driving along I-80 you feel like you're on some kind of slow motion roller coaster - you are always going up or down. Most importantly for me, it's almost exactly the same terrain as just outside Madison, WI.

There are no major bodies of water nearby to moderate the temperature - so, it gets very cold in the winter and relatively hot in the summer. The rest of the time the wind blows relentlessly. Sounds like a pretty crummy place to train - doesn't it?

If you go on Letsrun - you can find several posts that claim Omaha is the worst metropolitan area in the country for runners. It's true that there's not a big competitive running scene here - but, being only an 8 hour drive from Boulder, CO - the running mecca of America - that's not totally unexpected. And yes, the weather is difficult - but most of my formative running years were spent in Michigan and Chicago - I can deal with bad weather.

This last weekend I was arranging some stuff in our garage when a little girl walked up our driveway. She introduced herself - followed by her mom. It turns out that this couple, who live basically across the street, both ran in college and help to organize local track workouts. Here's the kicker - the husband, Gerald, has completed two ironman's and is part of a local group that swims every Saturday morning starting in May in the open water at a lake seven miles away in Iowa.

Gerald even volunteered to head out with me on a bike ride to show me the lake where they train. On our way back he asked, "Do you like to drink beer?" - I felt like I was in the episode of The Simpsons when Gerald Ford moves across the street and asks Homer if he likes drinking beer and watching football - except watching football was replaced with open water swims and brick workouts.

I haven't even mentioned yet that I have a run/bike trail literally out my back yard. It's only about 1.5 miles - but it has markers every tenth of a mile - no need to drive for tempo or track workouts. There are several other trails (mostly concrete unfortunately) in town - some that go for over 20 miles.

So for those of you worrying about me - I think things are going to be fine. Yes, it might be a rough winter - and I'll have to put a little more effort into finding challenging races - but it will be almost perfect for my training for next September. As I ride over the wind swept hills on a contraption that would have boggled Adam's mind - I'll think about how hard he must have worked to scratch out an existence here. Physical endurance wasn't recreation for him - it was how he survived.

The struggle itself

2011-10-29T22:56:00.000-04:00

Sisyphus was the King in Greek mythology who was forced to roll a large rock up a hill for perpituity. Many interpretations have been made about the meaning of this myth. The interpretation that rings most true to me comes from Albert Camus, who believed that the myth of Sisyphus signified the absurdity of life. We struggle to find meaning in a world without eternal truths. Some people might decide that life it not worth living without meaning, but Camus says that it "requires revolt." He concludes that "the struggle itself is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

As runners we put a lot of effort into something that may seem meaningless to many. Most of us don't gain fortune or fame - we just gain the knowledge that we have given our best effort - that we have prepared as best we can and executed our plans as perfectly as possible.

For me this explains why I enjoy running more than anything - the struggle itself fills my heart.

Inspired by Anonymous

2011-10-09T15:57:00.001-04:00

As a society there seems to be a lot of hand wringing about what the age of facebook, twitter, and blogs have wrought. Are we falling into some kind of vain and self-conscious age where we are suffocated by self-centered posts and updates? Arianna Huffington recently said that "self-expression has become the new entertainment." On the face of it - that sounds messed up. It's not just self-expression, but the hope of positive feedback through the constant "publishing" of the usually mundane accomplishments of life.

Given that I posted a picture of my ironman age group award last week on facebook - I'm probably not in a place to be too critical. And although facebook, twitter, and blogs are simply cringe inducing at times - I think that there is some value in these new technologies. For me, the most valuable thing is that what used to be an expensive endeavor, publishing, is now basically free. The marketplace of ideas and concepts may be more crowded - but sometimes a person or idea that has a great impact is able to find a voice when they would have been silent in previous era's.

One such person was known as "Hadd" on Letsrun. He died last week and so I thought it would be appropriate for me to write a post of appreciation. Hadd's real name was John Walsh - although I didn't know that until I read the recent thread on his death. For whatever reason he wanted to stay completely anonymous.

Hadd's posts were inspirational to me for a few reasons. First, he liked to write about and coach guys who weren't pro's, but just wanted to see what they could do. He saw value in people attempting to find what was possible - even if it didn't mean they were going to run in the olympics. One of his bests posts (scroll to part IV) was about a 30+ old athlete attempting to run a sub 2:25 marathon. It was interesting to me that he didn't write about someone trying to run an olympic qualifier - but simply a guy who had gained 20 pounds and wanted to run "one more serious marathon."

Another thing I enjoyed about his writing was that he included a LOT of science written in a way that I could understand. He made a great argument for why training should be a long process - starting with a sustained period of easy running before including intensity. He wrote about capillary beds, muscle fiber recruitment, lactate threshold, and energy expenditure in ways in which you could actually see these processes happening - and understand why taking a deliberate long term view towards training is so important.

The truth is that a guy like Hadd would have been lost to the world (other than the 20-30 athletes who he coached) if it weren't for the modern technology. He helped me to understand that yearning for athletic accomplishment, even after you've become an adult and have other responsibilities, isn't something that's shameful. He also showed me that as out of shape as I was at the time (I was about 30 lbs over my ideal racing weight in my mid-20's) there was a path to success.

For all of the possible negative effects of our connected world - you can tease out a lot of great content - and I don't just mean ducks chasing dogs. RIP Hadd - I owe a lot of fun racing and training over the last 10 years to your writing.

Poconos 70.3

2011-10-04T00:19:00.000-04:00

Watching Monday night football/playoff baseball it's interesting to think about the differences between endurance sports and our more popular sports. There was a commercial a few years ago that included the buzzword "boom!". The point was that most sporting events come down to a moment where an athlete makes a play that goes off like a bomb and changes everything.

Endurance sporting events aren't usually like that. It's more like a bag of liquid that drains at a particular rate - and if you misjudge how quickly it's draining you're in big trouble. Once the bag is drained you can tough it out - but you aren't going to stay on pace.

On Sunday I was dealing with a brand new bag. I was competing in a half ironman triathlon minus the swim - so really a duathlon. Regardless of how much better I was feeling because I wasn't going to have to face my nemesis of an open water swim it was still a new event for me.

The bike start and the run start were in two different locations - so I made my way in the pre-dawn hours with all of the other participants in school buses. Without the swim the plan was to allow the pro's to head out every 30 seconds, followed by a 2 minute gap, and then the age groupers to march out one by one.

My number was 548 - out of 2000 which wasn't so bad. Still it took about an hour before I felt I was free of traffic. The first 3 miles was an out and back in the English style system - which was used because we were taking a left out of the start. Which makes sense because otherwise you would have to wait for a gap to turn left. What people didn't seem to understand was that in the English left system you are supposed to ride on the far left unless you are passing - in which case you should pass on the right (close the middle).

Those first 3-4 miles were a cluster@#%. There are several rules while cycling - one of the most important are that you have to stay 4 bike lengths behind the person in front of you unless you're passing them otherwise you are "drafting". Since there was no swim we were all much closer than normal. The judges are on motorcycles - I saw one of them in the first few miles - and they were giving out penalties a plenty. If you're given a penalty you have to sit out in a penalty tent for a specified amount of time before you start going again. I felt lucky not to get a penalty - not that I wasn't passing people - but with how congested it was it was very difficult to be following the rules.

I felt really strong through the first 25-30 miles - but by 35 miles the hills started. Even on the long steady downhills it felt like the headwind was strong enough that you couldn't get much momentum. There was one guy who I was going back and forth with on the bike - I was in front when the judge passed me. We were on another part of the course where we were doing an English left and people were still riding on the right side of the left lane. I saw her sidle up along one guy who was off to the right - then there was a cluster of bikes. Apparently she was giving a penalty to someone in that cluster who was arguing with her - so she staying along side this person who was soft pedaling. The effect was that two of us came up on them with no way of getting around without passing the motorcycle on the left which we were sure would get us a penalty. So we slowed down until she finally moved on - which was of course exactly the same time that the guy whom I had been trading places blew by me.

Eventually I passed him again - but around 40 miles three strong cyclists passed me. I decided not to try to keep up - which I think was the right decision because they obviously were stronger than I was and I would have had little left for the run if I tried to stay on them.

I had only one mechanical when I dropped my chain on a hill. Luckily it wasn't too hard to get it back on - although it's odd to have grease on your hand during a run.

The run started out a little oddly - I wasn't quite sure where the run started (which I always seem to have problems with in triathlons) so I didn't get my watch on a mile mark until after I had run a mile. The first mile I had a watch on was 5:57 - which was pretty good since I wanted to average 6 minute miles and the first half of the 13.1 miles was mostly uphill.

I actually surprised myself for the first 6 miles - I thought I would have a harder time staying at 6 minute pace. But, by the 8 mile mark I wasn't feeling so good. At 8.5 there was one of the few uphills coming back down towards town - it hurt bad. From then on I never really felt the same. I managed to stay under 6:40 pace for the last 4 miles - but even that was a struggle.

I ended up placing much better than I anticipated. At first they said I was 3rd in my age group - and then at the awards ceremony they said I was 2nd. I'm not sure if there was an error in the initial results or if someone was disqualified - but I'll take it either way.

I did qualify for the 70.3 world championships as an age grouper, but I had already registered for Ironman Wisconsin which is in the same month as the 70.3 WC Las Vegas in September 2012. Plus, I knew that the only reason I placed so high was that the swim had been canceled. Realistically if I had participated in the 70.3 championship I would have been smoked - I might have even finished last in my age group. Either way - I feel good about my choice.

I enjoyed the experienced. It made me more excited that I had signed up for a full Ironman next September in Wisconsin. However - I had been a little excited that I wasn't going to turn 35 next year and thus going to be in an older age category. But then I looked at the results and realized that I would have finished worse in the 35-39 age category than the 30-34 age category. What sport gets more competitive after you turn 35?! I don't get it.

Weather

2011-10-01T19:32:00.002-04:00

Almost exactly a year ago I was having dinner with my wife outside in shirtsleeves at a nice Italian restaurant in Chicago's goldcoast. Normally that would be a very pleasant evening - but in the back of mind all I could think about was that I'd much rather need a sweater. It wasn't the kind of weather I had hoped for when I started by training for the Chicago marathon 24 weeks previously. When it's beach weather on marathon day - you're in trouble.

I won't be sitting outside tonight because it's raining and chilly. Does that make me happy? Not really. All the rain has made the Delaware River dangerously high and they have canceled the swim for what was to be my first 70.3 half-Ironman here in the beautiful Poconos of Pennsylvania. Most of you probably know how much I hate swimming. But, I actually do find myself a little conflicted - after all, I did work pretty hard on my swim and I can't really say I've finished a half-iron after tomorrow. Plus, riding a bike for almost 3 hours in 45-50 degress and rain will be miserable. But, the other part of me is thankful that I don't have to pull on that anti-breathing straghtjacket (aka a wetsuit) tomorrow morning.

I'm certainly not the first to make this point - but training for one or two goal endurance events per year is a gamble. So many things can go wrong. I guess that's why it's so sweet when things go right.

It could still be fun tomorrow. Usually being in a competitive situation makes the cold not so bad - plus it will give me an opportunity for a decent run. And as some friends have already pointed out it will certainly give me a higher finish than I would have had with the swim. The whole bike thing is tricky though. I was pumping up my front tire this afternoon before leaving my bike at the transition (now start) zone this afternoon when I started sounding air rushing out of the tire. I was able to get a new inner tube and the bike is fine - but it is a reminder that I have to rely on equipment tomorrow as much as myself.

Nutrition

2011-09-27T21:50:00.002-04:00

"It's not your legs - it's your stomach". For high school and college runners who haven't experienced a race over 30-35 minutes it takes awhile for that to sink in. I'm a "distance runner" you say to yourself - "I don't listen to music on headphones and I don't carry water or gu's". In fact you make sure that you don't eat or drink too much close to race time to make sure that your stomach never comes into the equation. Then you run your first marathon - and your world changes. Your body breaks down in ways you didn't know were possible. You realize that your body - any body cannot run more than 60-90 minutes without taking in calories, nutrients, and water.

My first experience where I felt like a good nutrition plan was as important as training or pacing was the JFK 50 miler in 2009. Luckily I got some great advice from Alyssa Godesky (she also told me about the "band method" that I wrote about in my last post). First is hydration - she told me that I should make sure that I was drinking at least one bottle of water/sports drink per hour, eat an energy gel every 30 minutes, take a salt/potassium pill once an hour, and have some comfort food available (thanks to my wife). The 50 miler went fairly well - thanks partly to one of my best years of training since college - but just as much on keeping to my nutrition plan.

Only being my 3rd triathlon I'll have a lot on my mind this Sunday. But, I think the most important thing will still be nutrition. With a triathlon it's a little different. For the first 40 minutes I'll be swimming - unable to eat or drink. So, I'll need to eat a little more before I hit the water and drink/eat a little more once I get on my bike. I'm planning on drinking two bottles in the first 90 minutes - one water and one gatorade. The nutrition stops are supposed to be every 15 miles - and I should be hitting the second stop right around 90 minutes. I'll keep the same energy gel plan of one every 30 minutes and one salt/potassium pill once an hour.

Update

2011-09-25T18:56:00.000-04:00

Even though I've been neglectful of this blog I have actually been training this summer. A week from today is my first half-ironman at the Poconos Ironman. 70.3 miles of swimming, biking, and running near the Delaware River water gap on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I plan on making up for my summer blog malase by writing a few posts this week.

First (in this post) - letting you know the kind of training I've been doing this summer. Second - my nutrition plan for next Sunday. And finally my overall impression of my first season as competing in triathlons and my planned training for next year.

One difference in running vs triathlon training is that you plan it in hours rather than miles. The highest number of hours that I trained this summer was 13.5. Which for a half-marathon isn't too bad - I could have done 14-16 hours, but I was still somewhat limited by my hamstring/glute issue.

Basically I took the number of hours planned for each week and then divided it by how long I would be doing each event. So, let's say I was planning on a 5 hour half-iron (which I am) - I would hope to spend ~40 minutes swimming and 1st transition - 3 hours bike and transition - and an hour 20 minutes for the run. For a 10 hour week I would swim ~1.5 hours (I need a little more time in the pool), bike 5-6 hours, and run 2.5-3.5 hours. If I focused on the run one week I would focus on the bike the next.

The most difficult part was making sure that I had a hard workout in each discipline each week. After the Luray triathlon in August I started using the "band" method for my hard swim workouts. This consists of tying an old bike inner-tube to my ankles so that I couldn't use my legs. I would do ~12X 25 meters on 40 seconds. Usually this would mean 26-28 seconds with 12-14 seconds rest. Then I would swim 400 meters "hard" without the band in around 6 min 20 sec. I usually would do about 3-4 sets.

For biking I usually meet the Winchester Wheelmen for either their Tuesday or Thursday paceline. Both of these were difficult for me to stay on - 34 and 27 miles respectively. There were constant attacks - times where I would have to accelerate to ~3o mph on my own just to bridge a gap. Then I usually would ride a long ride on my own (55-65 miles) on the weekend.

For running I would focus on one hard workout early in the week and a long run on the weekend. My hard workouts were usually either mile intervals at 5k pace with 2-3 min rest or half- marathon pace with 1 minute per mile rest. My longer runs were 1.5 - 2 hours.

Overall I feel like this plan has worked well. I feel like I'm in decent shape. Obviously next week will tell for sure - but I think I have a decent shot at my goal of sub-5 hours.

Competition and Cooperation

2011-07-14T21:02:00.002-04:00

Would the world really be better if the lion laid down with the sheep? Only if the sheep was a decoy to distract the antelope.

You only need to participate in one group ride to understand how much easier it is to ride behind someone than out front. You save ~30% of your energy by staying on the wheel in front of you.

On a hard ride it's one of the scariest and most exciting things about cycling. Trying to stay a foot or less behind the rider in front of you while you're trying not to get dropped and controlling the bike at 30 mph. It's a little insane - but you put everything into it for as long as you can - because you know that once you get dropped it's a long-slow ride by yourself back to the finish.

You also soon understand that everybody has to do some work at the front. There are no free rides - unless you want to be "that guy".

I watch more stage race cycling right now than probably any other sport - mostly I think because this interplay between competition and cooperation is so interesting in cycling. Every day there is a break away - that group of usually 5-9 riders must cooperate in order for one of them to win. But only one of them can win - so there is always that moment when one of the riders decides they need to attack the others in order to have a better chance of winning. Sometimes this happens too soon - maybe multiple attacks happen - which tire the riders out and slow down their average speed and they get caught by the larger pelaton.

Cycling is all about those moments when riders make split second decisions of whether they are going to cooperate or not. When one rider flicks his wrist to motion the other guy to come to the front and the other guy shakes his head no or a rider drops back to help a fallen teammate make it back into the pelaton. It's endlessly intriguing. And these cyclists have a long memory - you might be better off not cooperating to win the stage today - but know that you're less likely to get help the next time you need it. Sometimes it's a battle of morals as much as it is a battle of athletic ability.

Competition and cooperation are two very strong forces in this world. We need them both to survive. In fact those two urges along with the intellect to use them and a healthy body to carry them out might be the only things we need in this world to survive. Now that I think of it - cycling might be a great example of how morality is an organic phenomenon. Cyclists want nothing more than to win - but to win they have to play nice.

Resign Yourself to the Awkwardness of Life

2011-06-10T21:30:00.004-04:00

I had an "I wish I was going to Europe this summer" moment earlier this week - probably brought on from all the European cycling events I've been watching lately. It's odd - I think that I've watched more cycling than I have baseball or even the basketball playoffs lately. As a result I found myself watching "Before Sunrise" with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Yes, I know it's relatively chick flicky - but it has some decent dialouge and makes you feel as if you are in Europe.

Anyways - there is a scene where Delpy's character is having her hand read by a gypsy. The gypsy says, "You need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life. Only if you find peace within yourself will you find true connection with others."

I don't know about you - but there is something that rings true to me about the awkwardness of life. All of us want to be strong, confident, and at-ease with the world. But we usually don't have time to feel comfortable. We're like Mario in original Donkey Kong - trying to make our way to the top while simeons are throwing barrels at us.

If we are to be successful as endurance athletes - we must put ourselves in awkward situations constantly. We strengthen our systems by presenting them with stress. We must accept that undergoing discomfort is something that should be sought rather than avoided. We become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Many people say that endurance athletes have control issues - our training regimens are just a way for us to exhibit a small amount of control in a world which blows us about like Forrest Gump's feather. There might be something to that - but I think the greatest pleasure for me is to transform myself - day-by-day in a training cycle from the ugly duckling into a swan. But the real success during a race happens when we are the swan and the ugly duckling at the same time. The triumph of the human spirit is in those times when we push ourselves to the limits of our own abilities - when we are both awkward and beautiful all at once.

Gasping for air

2011-05-22T16:23:00.003-04:00

Today I did something I've never done before - I competed in a triathlon. It was an "Olympic" distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) in Columbia, MD. The second oldest triathlon east of the Mississippi.

I was a pretty nervous in the days before - mostly because my swimming training had been limited to the pool. I was also nervous about my transitions and that I would forget something. There's so much more equipment in a tri than a running race and it's a little confusing getting it all straight. Luckily I had some help from friends that have done many triathlons - especially Ryan McGrath who I have been relentlessly asking questions over the last few months.

I could write about all the rigmarole involved in getting things set up for a triathlon - but I'll get the racing. My swim wave went off 55 minutes after the pro's - my wave included 20-24 and 30-34 year old males. As I made my way into the water I instantly wished I had tinted goggles. The rising sun was directly in our eyes as the first 500-600 meters were towards the east. I tried a few practice strokes, but we only had a few minutes till the start.

At the start I felt all of my anxiety come crashing down on me at once. The start of a race is always an anxious time, but usually for a running race it's not such a bad thing to have your heart rate up and your breathing rate increased before you take off from the start line. Running on adrenaline makes things easier - as I found out swimming on adrenaline is a little scary.

As we started off my first few strokes were ok - but then it hit me - I couldn't breathe. The tight wetsuit seemed to be restricting my breathing - the random feet and hands flying at me didn't help - neither did the chocolate colored water that I could see all of about 2 inches. I tried to put my head down but my breathing was so fast that I could hardly complete a stroke before needing to come up for air. I remembered something that Ryan said - "just keep moving forward - do a butterfly stroke if you have to - anything to keep you moving". So, I kept my head up, my arms doing something inbetween a freestyle stroke and a doggie paddle.

After about 200 meters I wasn't sure I was going to make it. The shore looked inviting and I was sure that they were going to pluck me out of the water once one of the spotters saw how much trouble I was in. But, nobody came over to me and after about 15 minutes I started to calm down a bit. Partially it was having more room around me and partially it was seeing that there were other guys in my wave who were struggling too. At least I wasn't going to be last in my wave.

The last 10 minutes I actually was able to do something close to a regular stroke, but even then it was only for about 15-20 meters before I'd put my head up for a few strokes - I was going faster, but I was also all over the place - getting a little off course. I was so glad to finally see the balloon arch at the end of the swim. I ended up swimming about 7 minutes slower than I had planned - with well over 1,000 competitors swimming faster than me on the day.

I staggered out of the water grabbing a cup of water and trying to take off the top half of my wetsuit while jogging/walking to my bike. My first transition time wasn't great - I was probably enjoying having dry land under my legs a little too much. It felt so good to be on my bike. I was about 100 times better prepared for the bike leg than the swimming leg - going on some pretty tough rides with Ryan and others in Frederick.

I knew I had a lot of time to make up on the bike and run to get anything close to respectable place/time, so I went out pretty aggressively. Passing folks on the bike certainly made me feel better. Although there were some bunches that were difficult to pass (crossing the yellow line is strictly forbidden) but for the most part people were single file on the right side of the road. Things went very well for the first 18 miles, but then my chain started jumping gears when I was in the highest gear - a problem that happened for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought I had it fixed, but apparently the first 3/4ths of the race took it's toll. My main goal was to get over 20 mph on the bike leg, so it felt good to see that after 20 miles my average was near 22 mph - by the far the fastest I've gone on any ride in my life.

As I came into the finish I felt good about my ride, but knew that I probably went a little too hard and would pay for it on the run. I was right. After about 200m the run course heads up a crazy hill - my legs burned and it would only get worse. Again - it was nice to have some slower folks in front of me to pass - but I knew that my pace was slow compared to what I wanted to do. The hills seemed endless - in fact it seemed cruel. I took water and powerade at pretty much every chance as it was now getting pretty warm. The second half of the course was mercifully down hill for the most part - but by then my legs could hardly stretch long enough to take advantage. As I tried to lift my pace a little for the finish (it certainly couldn't be called a kick) a wave of relief passed over me. The pain was over.

After I crossed the finish line I got something to drink and headed right for the place that caused me so much anguish - the lake. Overall the experience wasn't too different than what I expected. Yes, the swim was a little more terrifying than I predicted, but I was coming from a place of having no idea how it would feel.

I learned a lot today. Next time my goal will be to come into the water feeling relaxed. Start easy - away from others as much as possible and gradually increase my pace as I feel more comfortable. For the bike leg - I'll probably back off a bit and leave a little something for the run.

You can see all the results at http://chiptimes.com/?TabId=65&EventID=544

I was 134th overall out of 1600+ and 19th in my age group out of 131. My final time was 2:25:40.

Listen to Your Heart

2011-02-06T19:34:00.004-05:00

Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping that this post was an analysis of the song by the British band Roxette (and no Ryan, they didn't play that at my prom). It's about a new tool that I'm using in my training - a heart rate monitor.

I've thought about using a heart rate monitor for awhile now - it's a great tool to help make sure that easy days are easy and measuring your fitness. In one of my all time favorite training posts from LetsRun by "Hadd" - he suggests measuring your fitness by running 5X2400m with 90 seconds rest. For the first 2400m you keep your heart rate to 140 beats per minute - each 2400m you increase your heart rate by 10 bpm until you are at 180 bpm for the last 2400m - timing how long it takes to run at each bpm level. You repeat this every three weeks to show how much faster you can run a given distance at a specific heart rate AND to get a feel for your lactate threshold.

What finally pushed me to buy a heart rate monitor was taking up cycling. I don't have the same feel for pace and effort level on a bike as I do running. The heart rate monitor keeps me honest especially when I'm on a spin bike indoors.

As for my training in general - I'm finally starting to feel like I have some momentum. I'm becoming more comfortable in the pool - I swam for a full hour on Saturday and I'm even getting the hang of breathing bilaterally. And today I got a bike - so, maybe I can use some of the spring-like weather this week to get on a bike that actually goes somewhere.

2010 in Review

2010-12-18T15:09:00.002-05:00

I ended my 2010 where I started it - Baltimore. Although it wasn't really a race (until halfway through when Mike "Zero" and I realized that there were two Santa's in front of us) - I did "participate" in the Celtic Solstice 5 miler in Baltimore today. Going to Baltimore feels sort of like seeing an ex-girlfriend these days - you feel a little awkward, you remember the good times more than the bad, and you are a little disappointed that they seem to be doing so well without you. As an extra treat - Ryan announced his award for me this year - which was the "Lebron James, Taking his talents to South Beach Award". Ryan obviously hasn't spent much time in Winchester.

My first race of 2010 wasn't really a race either - it was a modified tempo run. I got 3rd at the Al Lewis 10 miler in a snow filled Rock Creek Park - running a 58:10. In February I was posting poetically about the great Snowpocalypse of 2010. February also included a huge victory for Falls Road at the Club Challenge 10 miler in Columbia, MD. I was 4th place in an unexpected 54:08.

In March I ran a couple 5k's - the Kelly Shamrock 5k (15:42 - 4th place) and I had a lot of fun running against some college kids at the Maryland Invitational (15:36 - 5th place). In April I said hello to Winchester and ran probably my most surprising race in many years. Going into Cherry Blossom I wasn't sure what I was going to do - I had put in some good training that winter and spring - but, I was feeling a little out of things since our move two weeks earlier to Winchester. Like most of my most successful races - I went out conservatively. I felt stronger and stronger as I went - eventually running a post 30-year-old PR for me 52:47 and 29th place.

May brought my first race in Winchester - Apple Blossom 10k. Apple Blossom is an event like nothing I've ever seen before. The events are spread out over a week - Kendra and I decided to go all in - we went to the Queen's coronation (daughter of the governor), fire truck parade, Jimmy Buffet cover band concert (with brief appearance by grand marshal Val Kilmer), and the big parade. Yes - there are two parades with lots of queens and princesses. In the middle of all this madness they put on a decent 10k race. It was the end of my spring season and I was a little burnt out - I managed a 33:10 and 9th place. At the end of the month I ran a finger tingling awful 4:40 in the Runners Retreat sponsored Loudon Street Mile - my first race that I ran in a Runners Retreat singlet (which is what led to my Lebron James award).

I took off June from racing as I started to put in some serious miles in preparation for Chicago. At the beginning of July I ran another race in Winchester - the Liberty 5k - getting blown away in the first 100 meters by about 20 teenagers - but, using my wily veteran tactics to come away with 3rd place in 16:15. I also made my way to the Northern lower peninsula of Michigan for the Great Lakes Relay - my second time running this 10 person 3 day relay across the state. It was a lot of fun - kind of like camp for adults.

In August I ran the Leesburg 20k - wanting to run marathon pace - I ran the time I had hoped, but it wasn't comfortable (4th place - 1:09:12). August was crazy hot (actually June and July weren't much better). I have few regrets in running - but running the Drake Well Marathon at the end of a hot summer and high mileage was probably not smart. But on the other hand - it was a lot of fun. I ended up winning this race in Titusville, PA. Winning is always fun - but this was even more fun because the last half was out and back - so, I got to hear encouragement and give encouragement to all the other runners (less than 100 people finished). I ran about 10 minutes faster than what would have been prudent (2:45:33) and jumped in the car for the long drive home. One week later I reported in my blog that "it's a week later and I haven't been able to shake some soreness in my gluts and hamstrings." The title of my next post was "The Lost Week". I went from running 100 mile weeks to hardly being able to make it a few blocks.

By the middle of September I discovered the miracle drug of ibuprofen. It seemed to help clear things up and I ran a near pain free Philly Distance R&R half marathon. I ran it in marathon pace (1:14:46) - but, I felt pretty decent. The date I'd been eyeing for close to a year (10/10/10) was not a good one for me - but the pain was inspirational in at least one way. I ran pretty well through 15k, but as my group slowly started to leave me, my hamstring got worse, the sun started to beat down, and I felt some intestinal distress - I decided it was time to shut it down. I still finished - but over 20 minutes slower than planned (2:52). I wasn't the only one who had a tough day - many guys who trained hard throughout the summer didn't even make it to the line - it could have been worse (I guess).

November was a month of recovery - I started seeing a chiropractor which helped somewhat - but, four months after the initial injury I still feel some pain in my right glute/hamstring. In December I provided a warm body for Runners Retreat at the USATF Club Championship - running out of shape against some of the best post-collegiate runners in the country isn't a good thing to do if you're looking for an ego boost.

January starts something new - training for a triathalon. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing - but, I guess that's part of the adventure.

Period of Adjustment

2010-11-14T16:46:00.003-05:00

My hamstring/glute has been improving - in that it hasn't stopped me from running, but it certainly hasn't completely gone away either. A few weeks ago I talked with Runner Retreat's owner Mark Stickley about my issue. He said that he had something similar several years ago and the only thing that worked was getting worked on by a chiropractor. I've never gone to a chiropractor - and it kind of made me nervous, but I trust Mark - he was a sub-29 minute 10k and 62 minute half-marathon guy. So, I took the card of the chiropractor he uses and made an appointment.
Although I wasn't sure what to think - Dr. Voll seemed to know what he was talking about. He is a runner and has a lot of experience working with runners. So - he knows that telling a runner to completely go cold turkey is pretty much not going to happen unless the runner has a broken leg or something. After doing a thorough examination he gave me a plan - which included an adjustment plan, some foot drills, and although he didn't ask me to stop running he did ask me to back off the total volume and intense workouts for a few weeks.
The day after my first adjustment on Friday I felt incredible. My hamstring/glute felt better than it had in over two months - and maybe I was imagining things, but I felt like I had more energy and even a more positive mood. Of course I ended up pushing my run a little too hard and started feeling it again after ~4 miles. This week I'll go back for a few more adjustments - they actually aren't too expensive and if they continue to show this much improvement they will be worth it.
Anybody else have experiences either positive or negative with Chiropractors?

There are no miracles in the marathon

2010-10-11T18:08:00.002-04:00

The marathon doesn't care if your dog died or if it's your birthday. It doesn't care if you think you should be a X:XX marathoner. It doesn't care if you trained for five months only to find yourself injured or sick. It doesn't care if the weather is 20 degrees above normal. It doesn't care about your hopes or aspirations. It doesn't care if you've sacrificed beer and burgers and fries for a few less pounds.

The marathon doesn't care about the dark days - days of changing into your running clothes after work only to decide after a few painful strides that running today would make things worse rather than better; days when you give up because the heat of the summer makes your planned workout impossible; days when you know after only a few miles of a race that today will not be your day.

The marathon doesn't care except for the hundreds of thousands of people supporting you along the way; except for the well wishes from friends and family; except for the deep bonds made with the few members of your tribe who truly understand. The people who understand dodging cars, listening to unoriginal comments from adolescents, waking up way too early to beat the heat for a two hour run witnessed by nobody except for the trail and your watch.

There are no miracles in marathons unless you count the blind and lame running free. There are no miracles in marathons except for a society increasingly marked by obesity, sloth, and selfishness celebrating tens of thousands of people committing to pushing themselves to their physical limits and helping others along the way.

The marathon might not hand out miracles like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny but marathons provide an opportunity for the everyday miracles that we take for granted to be observed and recognized.

That's why even though I had a rough day yesterday, I know I'll eventually be back for more. Eventually I'll look at a calendar and plan six months of training. But for now I drink a few strong ales and rest. For now, it's over.

Runner tracking for Chicago

2010-10-05T20:08:00.002-04:00

There are a few ways you can track runners' progress this Sunday. If you want to have the marathon send you text messages you can sign up here. I'm sure they will also have a web based tracker on the site as well. Just remember that these trackers aren't 100% timely or accurate. With 40,000 people running the system can sometimes be slow.

Week of Chicago

2010-10-03T18:14:00.003-04:00

Although my hamstring/glute issue went the wrong direction - which led me to more time on the elliptical and stationary bike - I still should be good to go next Sunday. I'm going to start up a ibuprofen regimine again tomorrow. I expect it will work as well as it did before Philly.

Obviously this is not what I envisioned 6 months ago - I don't want to come limping into Chicago after six weeks of dealing with an injury. But Philly went pretty well - and I've kept up my cardio on the elliptical and bike, but I won't know how things are going to go until I get out there.

On the positive side - the weather should be nice and cool. I'm planning on writing a few more posts this week about Chicago and the marathon. Being injured is no excuse for being boring.

Touch & Go

2010-09-26T20:44:00.003-04:00

Although I was able to run more this week than I have in a month, I still can feel a little tweak between my glute and hamstring. With two weeks to go I am certain that I'll be on the starting line - but it's more than a small mystery what will happen after the gun sounds.

I probably made a mistake by running a 17 miles with Kevin Shirk - the best runner in Winchester. He dropped me about 12 miles into the run - after 14 I jogged it in. Not exactly a confidence builder.

I have to rely on the fact that the miles I put in this summer and the training I've been doing the last few years will be there when I need it - say, around the 20 mile mark. The mystery of the marathon is part of the allure - I'll have a little more than I bargained for on 10/10/10.

Last Week
Monday: 45 minutes bike
Tuesday: 6.5 miles
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday: 7 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 6.5 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 54 miles

This week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 12 miles 2X2mi Tempo 2 min rest
Thursday: 10.5 miles
Friday: 6.5 miles
Saturday: 14 miles 2X(3mi easy 3 mi tempo)
Sunday: 8 miles
Total: 66 miles

Thank you Andrew Dunlop, Stewart Adams, John Nicholson, Jeff Wilson, & Colin Burrows

2010-09-20T09:46:00.004-04:00

These men created one of the great wonder drugs of the 20th century - Ibuprofen. I'm not a pill popper - but as I tested out my glute and hamstring on a run last Friday I thought I'd try taking ibuprofen afterwards. I woke up the next morning actually feeling better (why didn't I do this 2 weeks ago!). I ran again on Saturday even further - while taking ibuprofen three times during the day. I felt good enough Saturday evening to decide I should try to run my planned half-marathon on Sunday. I had run a total of 45 miles over the last 18 days - hardly anything - but I felt that my elliptical and stationary bike workouts had maintained most of my fitness.

On Sunday morning I still felt a little tight - but the sharp pain in my right glute had dulled. I figure that the inflammation must have been pushing up against a nerve. In both the massages I had since the problem first started they said that my left hamstring/glute was actually tighter than my right - most likely this means that the inflammation was entirely the problem - there wasn't any real muscle damage as I had feared.

As I was warming up, feeling the excitement of such a large race, there was a little part of me that thought - "hey, let's just see what happens out there - maybe you could still break 70 minutes!" I quickly nipped that in the bud. Today was about finding out what 2:30 marathon pace (~5:40 per mile) felt like for 13.1 miles. As the race started I stayed relaxed - I really had no idea what I was running pace wise - but I knew that I needed for it to feel pretty easy. The first mile was 5:36 - not bad. For the next several miles I yo-yoed between high 5:40's and high 5:30's. I'm not sure if this was due to my lack of running recently - or if the markers were off a bit.

I felt pretty comfortable up until around 10 miles - after that point I was able to keep the pace fine - but it was more of an effort than I should have been feeling if I were running a full marathon. I ended up finishing in 1:14:36 - probably just about what I would want to go through the half-way point at Chicago.

The plan for this week will be to get my legs back under me without doing anything too crazy. I'm planning on running 63 miles this week which is more than I've run in the last three weeks combined - but it's half of what I ran five weeks ago (how quickly things can change) - so it should be fine. I'm going to keep up the ibuprofen regimen for a few more days - although this morning I don't seem to have any problems with my right glute/hamstring. I'm pretty sore otherwise - but that should be expected since I haven't had anything close to the effort I ran yesterday in quite awhile.

Last Week
Monday - Wednesday All bike and elliptical (45 minutes - 1 hour 20 minutes)
Thursday: 3 miles mixed in with elliptical
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 17 miles - Philadelphia Rock & Roll half-marathon 1:14:36
Total: 31 miles

This Week
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 6.5 miles
Wednesday: 10.5 miles
Thursday: 7 miles
Friday: 6.5 miles
Saturday: 18 miles 2X(5 miles easy 3 miles tempo)
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 63 miles

Battered but not beaten

2010-09-12T14:33:00.005-04:00

My right glute/hamstring continues to be an issue. I can't seem to run more than 30 minutes without significant soreness/tightness the next day. So - I'm going to focus on the elliptical and stationary bike for the next 4-5 days + yoga + deep tissue massage + epson salt soak. I have done this before - which gives me some confidence. Fifteen minutes after taking the photo above of Positano, Italy - I lost control of my rented scooter and banged up my knee in 2002. It was a month before I was going to run the Frankfurt marathon. I couldn't do really any running for that month - but I was on the bike almost everyday. I wasn't even sure that I'd make it 26.2 miles the day of the marathon - but after starting conservatively I started feeling stronger and stronger as each mile went by. The result was a 2:36 - my PR at the time which I didn't beat until Boston in 2009

Even though I was younger - my volume has been higher this summer than it was in 2002 and I feel like I'm a better marathon runner now. Marathons are strange beasts - even though I'd rather not be injured right now - the rest might even do me some good. Regardless I need to just do the best with the cards I've been dealt and show up on 10/10/10 ready to go.

The lost week

2010-09-06T22:51:00.003-04:00

This is not the post I wanted to write five weeks out from Chicago. The glute/hamstring issue I mentioned last week got worse. On Monday I ran for a couple of blocks before deciding that it wasn't going to happen. Tuesday I made it five minutes. Wednesday I ran 10 miles - 7 of them completely agonizing. Thursday I finally got a massage and decided that I needed to take it easy for a few more days. Saturday I made it 20 minutes on a stationary bike before the glute started to tighten up. Yesterday I felt better and ran 4 miles. Today I woke up early to do Yoga - which I think helped a little and ran 10 miles without much pain.

I modified my mileage downward this week - but if it actually goes as planned I'll be more than a little surprised. The 10 miler was decent today - but I still have some tightness. Right now I'm going through the awful calculations of figuring out how much fitness I would lose by not running vs. the chances that it will go away while I'm running. For now I'm going with the strategy of running and stretching/yoga. But that could change.

I knew that my training plan for Chicago was risky given that I've never run this many miles before. But I figure that's the only way to improve, so I'm not sorry that my volume was so high. Now I just have to play it day-by-day and figure out what plan gives me the best chance of being on that line on 10/10/10 in the best shape possible. I'm going to put off posting my plan for this week until I get a good feel for whether I'm going to get out of this hole. Wish me luck.

Recovery

2010-08-29T16:05:00.003-04:00

This last week was tough. I felt pretty strong coming off of Drake Well - but it's a week later and I haven't been able to shake some muscle soreness in my hamstrings and gluts. When I was training for Boston I had some plantar issues earlier in my training that forced me to focus on recovery - this time around my training has been going pretty smoothly. Unfortunately that's allowed me to not engage in activities that I should have - such as ice baths, massage, yoga, and leg elevation.

The lack of massage and yoga are mostly because I haven't found a good place for either of these near Winchester yet. Most likely I'll make a trip out to my trusted massage professional in Baltimore to get the kinks worked out before my half marathon in Philly.

I ended up cutting some mileage this week due to my soreness - I even ditched the marathon pace effort I had scheduled for Saturday. This next week will be interesting to see if I can actually get back to 115 miles for the week. In the last 18 weeks I've run a total of 1,578 miles - exactly 200 more than what I ran in the first 18 weeks of training for Boston in 2009. So a lot of the work is behind me - the next two weeks I still need to push things when my body allows - but at this point I'd rather be overly cautious than injured.

Last Week
Monday: 6.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 13.5 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest 1 mi T pace
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 7.5 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 76 miles

Next Week
Monday morning: 4 miles
Monday evening:10.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 6.5 miles
Tuesday: 16 miles 2X(3 mi easy 4 mi tempo)
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday: 11.5 miles
Friday: 22 miles
Saturday: 13 miles
Sunday morning: 6 miles
Sunday evening: 11.5 miles
Total: 115 miles

"The Valley that Changed the World"

2010-08-22T19:59:00.006-04:00

It might seem like a rather presumptuous tagline for a lightly populated woodlands between Pittsburgh and Erie, Pa - but in a way - it's correct (at least more than Baltimore's - "The City that Reads"). In 1859 Edwin Drake was the first person to use a salt drilling technique to get to oil just outside the town of Titusville, PA. The result was the first oil rush ever.

147 years later Dane Rauschenberg decided to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks. He wasn't able to find a marathon Christmas weekend - so he convinced 21 other people to run 105.5 laps of a track in his hometown of Titusville, PA. The Drake Well Marathon was born.

Three and a half years after Dane's run - I was looking for a marathon in late August as part of my preparation for the Chicago marathon. To be honest Drake Well probably wouldn't have been high on my list except that it was the only marathon around this time within driving distance of Winchester.

Kendra and I made the best of it - turning it into one of our weekend "boondoggles". We sampled the food of Indiana, PA - tried to find the perfect groundhog related schmaltz in Pauxatauney, PA - and went into the woods to explore the ultimately disappointing ghost town of Pithole.

As for the marathon - it was the smallest I've participated in - less than 100 people finished. But the last 16 miles were out and back on a bike trail. Pretty much everybody cheered each other on - there was a real feeling of camaraderie which made it fun. I ended up running a little faster than planned - but I don't feel like I pushed myself too hard and next week is a down week. Even more than the marathon I feel good about running 120 miles last week. It's the most I've ever run and it might be the most I ever run again. Running only 85 miles next week will feel like a walk in the park - now I just need to be more consistent on my tempo runs and I might have a decent shot at sub-2:30 at Chicago.

Last Week
Monday morning: 9 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 16.5 miles 16.5 miles 4 mi (21:53) 2 mi easy 2 mi (11:04) 2 min rest ~1 mi T pace
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday morning: 7 miles
Friday evening: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 26.2 miles
Total: 120.2 miles

Next Week
Monday: 6.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 14 miles 4X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest
Thursday: 13.5 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 19 miles 15 mi marathon pace
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 85 miles

A brief repreive

2010-08-15T14:16:00.009-04:00

After having some GI issues this week (I think I need to cut back on the Kashi) - I was feeling pretty depleted. After looking at my log I realized that I haven't had a day off since May 10th. With a 22 miler planned for today and my longest week ever planned for next week - I decided that Saturday would be a good time to take the day off.

It felt kind of weird not running for a day - kind of like skipping a meal or pulling an all nighter. Running for an hour or more each day has just become another bodily function. In a way that's what all this training is about - I need to trick my body into thinking that 26.2 miles on October 10th run in 2.5 hours is a natural thing to do. Marathons are never "easy" - but the more I've completed the less painful they've become.

Next week I do something that is somewhat controversial among runners - I'm going to run a marathon to train for a marathon. Some people claim that running over 22 miles isn't a good idea because you won't recover sufficiently. For me it won't be the distance that's the challenge it's the pace. If I can't recover from running 26.2 miles in a little under 3 hours - then it's going to be almost impossible to run under 2 hours and 30 minutes in an "all out" marathon. I did the same thing before Boston in 2009 and ended up with a 3 and a half minute PR. All I want is another 2 min 33 sec - is that so much to ask?

Last Week
Monday morning: 7 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 14 miles 3X5.5 min T pace 30 sec rest 1 mi easy 4X5.5 min T pace 30 sec rest
Wednesday evening: 6.5 miles
Thursday: 13.5 miles
Friday: 12 miles
Saturday: 0 miles
Sunday: 22 miles 4X1 mi 1 min rest 11.5 miles easy 2 mi @ T pace
Total: 96 miles

Next Week
Monday morning: 7 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 16 miles 4mi T pace 2 mi easy 4 mi T pace
Wednesday evening: 5.5 miles
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday morning: 10.5 miles
Friday evening: 8 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 26.2 miles
Total: 120.2 miles

Road Kill

2010-08-08T15:54:00.003-04:00

A long wedding weekend + business trip to Minneapolis meant no post last week. All is well though - I'm pretty much on track for my training.

The countless miles of bike trails in Minneapolis made me think of how unfriendly my current home is to runners. There are certainly beautiful areas to run, but there are almost no trails. Most of my running is on paved country roads with no shoulders and drivers used to having the roads to themselves. The result is that I've becomed very sensitive to the sound of oncoming cars around corners or on the other side of hills.

Certainly living in Chicago and Baltimore I've learned to be a defensive runner, but nothing like jumping into tall grass on the side of the road because you're not sure the car barreling towards you at 60 miles an hour sees you. I haven't had any real close calls - but there is plenty of evidence of less lucky animal compatriots who have met their end from the front end of a Ford F-150.

Today I felt like road kill of a different type. I ran the Leesburg 20k as a marathon pace workout. It wasn't quite as steamy as some years but the constant uphill of the first half took a toll. I ended up running a little faster than I had planned - but the goal was to feel comfortable - and if I feel like I did today through 20k in Chicago I'll be in big trouble. The course seemed to be a little short (I think they messed up the turn around - the mile from 6 to 7 took 3:05) - a few people with Garmins had it as 12.28 miles - which if I convert is still below my goal of 5:45 pace.

The next two weeks will be challenging to say the least. I'll run 228 miles in 14 days - just over 16 miles per day - including 23 miles at tempo pace and a full marathon. Temps are supposed to go back up to the high 90's again the next few days. This is when I give my future October 10th self the gift of knowing I put in the work.

Week of 7/26-8/1

Monday: 11.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 6.5 miles
Tuesday evening: 14 miles 4X 5.5 min @ T pace with 1 min rest 1 mi easy 3X 5.5 min @ T pace with 1 min rest
Wednesday: 13.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12.5 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 22 miles 3 mi easy 4X1 mi with 1 min rest 9 mi easy 3 mi @ tempo (16:32) 3 mi easy
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 104 miles

Last Week

Monday morning: 6.5 miles
Monday evening: 10.5
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 14 miles 2X 16 min 30 sec @ T pace 3 min rest 11 min @ T pace
Thursday: 15 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 18.5 miles 20k 1:09:12 (might have been a little short)
Total: 92.5 miles

Next week
Monday morning: 7 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 14 miles 8X1 mi T pace 30 sec rest
Wednesday evening: 6 miles
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday: 12 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 22 miles 2X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest 10 miles easy 3 mi @ T pace
Total: 108 miles

Biggest Week Ever

2010-07-25T18:38:00.003-04:00

Only by two miles - but in the long slog of marathon training you have to celebrate the little victories. The topper today was running 21 miles on another brutally hot morning. I ran near DC for a change of scenery. After I ran 8 miles on the C&O canal path Georgetown Running Company runner Jake Klim took me on a 13 mile run that included a brutal 2 mile section on a mostly unshaded road. Thanks for the hospitality Jake! I now have a better idea of what hell is like.

If I recover psychologically and physically from that ordeal I'll hopefully be running similar mileage this week with more quality. In my opinion the most important feature of successful marathon training after total volume are Lactate Threshold (LT) workouts. As I've said in previous posts - it's a bit of misnomer as lactate doesn't appear to actually fatigue muscles directly. Greater lactate production does correlate with muscle fatigue but doesn't appear to be the cause. The real culprit is most likely the build up of hydrogen ions that can lower pH and block the uptake of calcium.

Regardless of the cause there does appear to be a level of effort that cannot be sustained much longer than an hour. Increasing the pace at which that process occurs is important for any race longer than 5k - but for a race like the marathon that lasts well over two hours it's imperative if you are looking to run "fast." Sure, you can run the marathon distance by training your body to store a lot of glycogen and use it efficiently as possible - but that's not enough to run at your best.

If you are surprised to hear that "lactic acid" isn't why the wheels came off in your last marathon - you might really be shocked to hear how to actually increase the pace at which "LT" occurs. The research by Jack Daniels and others seems to show that you should run slightly slower than LT pace in order to reap the benefits. Once you cross that LT line you start to stress other systems that might improve your V02 max but don't seem to help much with LT pace.

On Saturday I'll be running one of my most important workouts. It's a 22 miler that includes some tempo near the beginning - but also a 3 mile section that occurs after I've already run 16 miles. That's the only way in my mind to create anything close to what you feel in the late miles of a marathon.

Last Week
Monday morning: 8.5 miles
Monday evening: 8.5 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday morning: 10.5 miles
Wednesday evening: 7 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 11 miles 1X 2 mi 10:56 2 min rest 1 mile 5:23 1 min rest 1 mile 5:25
Friday morning: 11.5 miles
Friday evening: 6 miles
Saturday: 14 miles
Sunday: 21 miles
Total: 112 miles

Next Week
Monday: 10.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 6 miles
Tuesday evening: 14 miles 4X1 mi @ T pace with 1 min rest 1 mi easy 3X1 mi @ T pace with 1 min rest
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday morning: 12 miles
Thursday evening: 6 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 22 miles 3 mi easy 4X1 mi with 1 min rest 9 mi easy 3 mi @ tempo 3 mi easy
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 108 miles

Halfway there

2010-07-20T13:20:00.005-04:00

Believe it or not I'm now halfway through my 24 week training plan for Chicago. The Great Lakes Relay I ran this last weekend was a nice mental break. Physically it was one of the hardest three-day stretches that I'll have in all of my training. Of the 46 miles I ran in those three days over 26 were at faster than tempo pace. I actually feel pretty good - which is nice because I'm supposed to run 114 miles this week.

The relay has become my favorite race of the year. The mix of competition, old friends, and beautiful scenery is the perfect cure to the feeling of staleness that I might feel at this point in my training for a marathon. As I said last week, the next eight weeks will be the hardest training of my life - time to push things to the next gear.

Last Week
Monday: 11.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday: 7 miles
Friday: GLR 16 miles
Saturday: GLR 17 miles
Sunday: GLR 12.5 miles
Total: 88.5 miles

Next Week
Monday morning: 8.5 miles
Monday evening: 8.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 10 miles
Tuesday evening: 6 miles
Wednesday: 12 miles
Thursday morning: 14 miles 4X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest
Thursday evening: 6 miles
Friday: 14 miles
Saturday: 13 miles
Sunday: 22 miles
Total: 114 miles

The Great 8

2010-07-11T14:13:00.005-04:00

Next week I head back to Michigan for some good times at the Great Lakes Relay. It will be a down week for mileage but the intensity will be high for three straight days. Although I'm anticipating some good fun in the great lake state there is part of my mind that is nervously anticipating the eight weeks from 7/19-9/12. They will undoubtedly be the most challenging eight weeks of training in my life.

My planned weekly average for that period will be just over 105 miles per week - with a high of 120. I'll run 83 miles at tempo pace, 28 miles (in just two runs) at marathon pace, and six runs over 20 miles. I'm not going to lie - it seems a little daunting at this point.

This week provided me some practical lessons of what I need to do (and not do) to make it through those two months. Last weekend my parents were in town and I ate and drank a lot of junk and then I scorched myself in the sun for 3-4 hours going tubing on Monday. The result was that I was in no shape to run my workout on Wednesday morning. It was the worst workout I've had in a long time. I cleaned up my act the rest of the week and the result was a strong 20 miler including 4 miles of good tempo running on Saturday with Brennan.

Right after I'm done writing this I'm going to e-mail Melissa Majumdar to set up a nutrition counseling session. She really helped me in my preparation for Boston and if I have any chance of making it through my big 8 weeks I'll have to make a plan and stick to it. Other important parts of recovery that I've so far neglected are ice baths, massage, and yoga. It will be time to get back to those after I return from Michigan.

Part of me does ask why - why would I plan an unrelenting, unforgiving two months for myself in the dog days of summer? The answer is in part found in all of those things I outlined above. There is no cushion - there is no going through the motions. Many people think of goals as burdens, but in reality they are opportunities to experience life in the extreme - to push past assumed limitations and make the extraordinary seem mundane.

Last Week
Monday morning: 10.5 miles
Monday evening: 4 miles
Tuesday morning: 7.5 miles
Tuesday evening: 6 miles
Wednesday morning: 9 miles 2X1 mi 800 rest 2X1200m 400 rest (5:08.1, 5:07.2, 3:49.5, 3:53.3)
Wednesday evening: 10 miles
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday: 13 miles
Saturday: 20 mi 2X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest (10:40, 10:55)
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 104.5 miles

Next Week
Monday: 12 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday: 6.5 miles
Friday: GLR 12 miles
Saturday: GLR 13 miles
Sunday: GLR 17 miles
Total: 84 miles

Know Thyself

2010-07-06T18:56:00.003-04:00

On Sunday I ran the Liberty 5k here in Winchester. As the gun sounded I was immediately reminded how hard high school kids go out at the start. At first it was a little worrying - finding myself in ~20th place in the first 100 meters - but the nice thing about being a older is that I know the race isn't won in the first quarter mile. Realizing that most of them wouldn't be able to keep the pace - I smiled - thinking how much fun it was going to be to catch them.

It was fun (I got 3rd) - but I also felt a certain amount of envy in these kids who ran from the gun with such excitement. It might have led to a painful day for them on a course that included two decent hills in the last 2k, but high school kids improve so quickly - the best high school runners have to be fearless. Their limits are constantly being pushed back and if they're too conservative they won't be able to take advantage of their new found fitness.

I've often said that my favorite thing about running is the sense of discovery. I love running in new places or during the changing of the seasons. Races though offer the most important kind of discovery - discovery of what is inside. This summer is about doing what I can to make sure I like what I find on October 10th.

Last Week
Monday morning: 7 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 7 miles
Tuesday evening: 11.5 miles
Wednesday: 22 miles
Thursday: 13.5 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 9 miles 5k 16:15
Total: 99 miles

This Week
Monday morning: 10.5 miles
Monday evening: 4 miles
Tuesday morning: 7.5 miles
Tuesday evening: 6.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 14 miles 6X1 mi @ I pace 800 rest
Wednesday evening: 6 miles
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 20 miles 2X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest
Sunday: 12 miles
Total: 105 miles

The early bird doesn't get heat exhaustion

2010-06-27T12:57:00.003-04:00

This is turning out to be one of the hottest summers in recent memory. So far I've been able to not let it affect my marathon plan - but it makes things like hydration and nutrition absolutely essential. Next week I plan on running over 100 miles for the first time since February of 2009. It's not just about getting through the week, but it has to feel comfortable - I have another six weeks of 100+ mile weeks planned before Chicago - including my highest week ever, 120 miles planned for mid-August.
Each week is going to be a little different in July - next week I'm swapping a 5k for my interval workout and running a 22 miler in the middle of the week, the week 7/5-7/11 will also be over 100 miles with my last V02 max workout and a tempo workout, 7/12-7/18 is the Great Lakes Relay week - a 280 mile relay over 3 days in Northern Michigan with 10 guys per team. After that I'll be focusing on getting quality tempo workouts in and by early August I'll have my first marathon pace run. So lots of varied challenges coming up - at least I can't claim to be bored!

Last Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12 miles 5X1 mi I pace 800 rest (5:06.2, 5:04.8, 5:03.8, 5:03.1, 4:59.9)
Wednesday: 11 miles
Thursday: 13.5 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 20 miles 4X1 mi @ T pace with 1 min rest
Sunday: 10 miles
Total: 84.5 miles

Next Week
Monday morning: 7 miles
Monday evening: 10.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 9 miles
Tuesday evening: 7 miles
Wednesday: 22 miles
Thursday: 14 miles
Friday morning: 5 miles
Friday evening: 8 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 12 miles 5k
Total: 105 miles

Natural and Extraordinary

2010-06-20T17:23:00.008-04:00

I finally started reading "Born to Run" this week. Chris McDougall does a superb job of playing with seeming conflict - whether it's between crazy characters, business interests, and scientists/doctors or the natural act of running vs the extraordinary accomplishments of the greatest runners.

One of the more interesting ideas explored in the book is that distance running is something that seperates us from other animals as much as language or the knowledge of our eventual death. If you compare us with our nearest genetic cousins all the physical differences can be explained through running. Why do we have less hair than a Chimpanzee? Stand upright? Even have bigger butts? It's all related our ancestors who were biomechanically advantaged to running longer distances surviving in greater numbers. Most likely it was related to our ability to chase prey for long periods of time. A gazelle might be able to out run us over 400 meters or even a mile - but, give us a day to track an animal over 10 or 20 miles and the animal will collapse - becoming easy pickings for the human willing and able to push long enough.

Remember - many generations of your ancestors survived only because they were able to do something extraordinary every day of their lives. The experience of those long lost generations lives in our bones, our veins, our lungs, our muscles, our tendons, our feet. Don't kid yourself that you will ever test your body the way that some long lost family member did in pre-history. We aren't besting them when we run, we are merely channeling them.

As I enter into my hardest summer of training ever it's a great reminder. Instead of focusing on grinding through the hard miles and heat - hoping for everything to come together on a Sunday in early October - I should enjoy every mile listening for my body to show me the way. Or as Caballo Blanco says - Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 6 miles
Tuesday evening: 10.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 13 miles 8X1200m 3 min rest (3:50, 3:48.7, 3:47.5, 3:46.1, 3:47.1, 3:45.7, 3:45.8, 3:43.9)
Thursday: 13.5 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 18 miles 7 miles tempo (38:07) probably a little short
Sunday: 12 miles
Total: 94.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12 miles 5X1 mi I pace 800 rest
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday: 10.5 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 20 miles 5X1 mi @ T pace with 1 min rest
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 84 miles

V02 Max and marathon training

2010-06-13T16:55:00.004-04:00

Last week included my first track workout since the end of April. Most of my hard workouts in preperation for Chicago will be tempo pace (aka lactate threshold) or marathon pace - however the Jack Daniels schedule includes five weeks of interval or V02 max workouts in the second phase of his 24 week training cycle. VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that can be processed by the body in a certain time period - it is expressed as litres of oxygen per minute. In other words it is the capacity of the cardiovascular system and peripheral systems (muscle groups) to take in oxygen, deliver to muscle systems, process oxygen, and deal with the by-products.

VO2 max can be tested by increasing pace every minute until the runner is going all out. Expired air is collected in a bag during the test - heart rate is taken at the end and lactate levels are measured two minutes after the end of the test when lactate is highest. Along with lactate threshold and running economy it is an important determinant to distance running. It is most important for distances up to 10k.

So, how do you improve VO2 max? Interval training is the most efficient way to improve VO2 max. Usually this is done by running at 3k-5k pace (usually95-100% VO2 max) for 3-5 minute intervals with recovery times that are equal to, or a little less, than the time of the interval. The amount of total weekly interval-paced training should be up to 8 percent of total mileage according to Jack Daniels.

V02 max work might be most important for 10k and 5k racing, but it cannot be ignored when training for a marathon. You hope to never reach 95% of your V02 max during a marathon, but the stress that is put on your basic oxygen processing systems during a V02 max workout will help you to run a better marathon. Also it would be pretty boring to have 18 weeks of nothing but tempo and marathon pace hard workouts. The five weeks of interval workouts help to break up the long 24 week training cycle a bit. I ran a lot of interval workouts this winter and spring, as a result I didn't feel too uncomfortable on Thursday. This week marks my first tempo workout, along with another interval workout - all during a planned 96 mile week. I'm guessing my topic next week will be about "recovery" : )

Last Week
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday: 14 miles
Wednesday: 10.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 7X1200 @ I pace 3 min rest (3:47.8, 3:48.2, 3:46.2, 3:46.9, 3:44.6, 3:46.3, 3:46.6)
Friday morning: 4 miles
Friday evening: 11 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 19 miles
Total: 95 miles

This Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday: 13 miles 7 mi tempo
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday morning: 6 miles
Thursday evening: 10.5 miles
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 8X1200 @ I pace
Sunday: 18 miles
Total: 96 miles

Getting on the right path

2010-06-06T14:51:00.004-04:00

It may seem cliche, but the marathon really is about the journey rather than the destination. I remember talking to a fellow marathoner from the Netherlands just after the NYC marathon in 2007. It seemed incredible at that moment that I had voluntarily done something that made me feel that awful. Frustrated and exhausted I asked the obvious question - "why do we do this to ourselves?" It was more of a rhetorical question - but, he answered anyways - "we run marathons for the training and so we have stories to tell at the bar."
The more marathons I've done the more I think that he's right. You have to enjoy the training - you have to enjoy making the plan and trying your best to execute it. You have to enjoy observing how your body is reacting - trying to figure out how to help your body recover through nutrition, cold whirlpools, massages and a hundred other details that contribute to your fitness.
Our culture's focus on results sometimes leads us, ironically, to look for shortcuts and derive value entirely from our experience on the day of the marathon. By focusing alternatively on the long training cycle you can find more enjoyment and ultimately greater success. As with much of life, success is about walking the path everyday - not so much any particular workout or race.
Chicago is 18 weeks from today. The first six weeks have gone as smoothly as I could have hoped - and now I move on to the next phase with my first track workout planned for Wednesday. Hopefully I stay on the path and not deviate as I did today - taking a wrong turn that made my 20 miler into a 24 miler. I'm in good enough shape to hopefully absorb that kind of mistake - but I certainly can't do that every week.

Last Week
Monday morning: 8 miles Loudon Street Mile
Monday evening: 4 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 12 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 13 miles 8X150m
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 24 miles
Total: 92.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 8.5 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 12 miles 6X1200 @ I pace
Thursday: 13 miles
Friday morning: 4 miles
Friday evening: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 13 miles
Sunday: 19 miles
Total: 96 miles

Getting rolled

2010-05-31T14:43:00.005-04:00

If the best way to stay focused on training is to get humbled every now and again I'm on my way to a great summer of running. Today I ran the Loudon Street Mile here in Winchester. I didn't really know what to expect - which is another way of saying I was hoping for a miracle. I haven't run a mile race in ~11 years. I haven't run any track workouts for a month - but, I did want to support the main race that the local running store, Runners Retreat, puts on each year.
At the start line I felt ok even though it was pretty warm. The gun went off and I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I felt like I was sprinting - but, I thought that was how I was supposed to feel - until the quarter mile mark which I went through in 63 seconds. Probably a little quick - within the next 200 meters I felt the always bad sign of my fingers tingling. Even though the last half mile was mostly downhill I had nothing - I started slowing dangerously close to my 5k pace from this spring. Even more disturbing everybody and their mother passed me in the last quarter mile. I ended up running 4:40 way back in 13th place - which is not too far off what I wanted time wise - but, it was a painful and dumb way to run it.
The only redeeming part of the day was that my wife surprised herself by going under 8 minutes and getting 3rd place in her age group. Time to put that debacle out of my head and focus on a distance where I can actually PR - the marathon. This week I hit 90 miles for the first time since March of 2009. June is the month where I'll start to run hard workouts and set the tone for the entire summer. It's go time.

Last Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday: 12 miles 7X150m
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 7X150m
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 6.5 miles
Total: 82 miles

This Week
Monday morning: 8 miles Loudon Street Mile
Monday evening: 4 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 8X150m
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 90 miles

Creepin'

2010-05-23T15:45:00.003-04:00

This week is my last week under 80 miles until two weeks before the marathon. Not much to report - except that I've found some good guys to run with here in Winchester. Last week I had a touch of the flu or something and was completely humbled on the long run. This week I felt better and I made sure I was fresh. It was probably not a very smart thing to do - but, we averaged 6:11 for just under 17 miles over rolling terrain. Once my mileage gets higher and I start adding quality I will make sure to back off the pace on long runs - otherwise my legs are going to be toast. But for now, it was kind of fun to bust off the rust a little.

Last Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 4X150m
Wednesday: 9.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 6X150m
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 73 miles

This Week
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday: 12 miles 7X150m
Wednesday: 10.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 7X150m
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 82 miles

The Plan

2010-05-16T17:39:00.004-04:00

In my attempt to finally get under 2:30 this fall in Chicago I'm going to go with what seemed to work for Boston in '09. A 24 week plan based very closely on the Jack Daniels "Running Formula". The plan uses four phases where different types of workouts are emphasized in each phase. Right now I'm in phase one, which is almost all easy running - just some 150m striders to keep the legs fresh.
My mileage this summer, represented graphically above, is going to be higher than Boston '09. For Boston in the four months (December-March) before the marathon I averaged 10, 12.1, 12.4, and 12.9 miles per day - this summer (June-September) those four months wil be 13.4, 14.7, 14.5, and 13.1.
As you can see my mileage will cycle - generally the lower weeks (after week 8) will have more intense workouts. Some weeks I'll have two hard workouts and some weeks just one with a long run.
For now I just need to keep myself healthy and get a little better with nutrition.

Last Week
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday: 11.5 miles
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 65 miles

Next Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 6X150m
Wednesday: 10.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 12 miles 6X150m
Friday: 10.5 miles
Saturday: 0 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 72 miles

In Praise of LSD

2010-05-09T19:40:00.003-04:00

This refers of course, not to the manifesto of Dr. Timothy Leary, but rather Dr. Timothy Noakes or even more strongly in the writings of Dr. Jack Daniels (resident of Flagstaff, AZ not Lynchburg, TN).

Long Slow Distance (LSD) is the foundation upon which the house of fitness is built. The non-believers dare to call it "junk mileage" - like it's a waste of time at best, or at worst the refuge of scoundrels who care more of weekly mileage totals than running fast.

The folks who actually have done research argue that easy mileage assists with the following -

Stroke volume: The heart is really just a pump sending oxygen & other nutrients carried by the blood to organs and systems that need those nutrients to function. Stroke volume is the amount of blood that is pumped with every beat of the heart. Higher stroke volume means that the heart doesn't need to beat as quickly - and studies have shown that stroke volume is improved due to time spent running/exercising rather than intensity of training (Daniels, 2005). So, even if you were to train harder - you wouldn't necessarily increase your stroke volume.

Muscle development: Easy runs increase the "number, size and distribution of the mitochondria" (Daniels, 2005). Mitochondria are the "only part of your muscle fibers in which energy can be produced aerobically" (Pfitzinger & Douglas, 2001) - they are basically little energy plants that use oxygen to produce energy for the cells they inhabit. Since 99% of energy is produced aerobically in a marathon it's important to have a lot of these little buggers. Exercise also increases the rate at which oxygen can be processed. And third there is an increase in blood vessels in the muscle - basically improving the distribution of oxygen to all parts of the muscle. Finally muscles get better at conserving glycogen, using fat for energy, and dealing with lactic acid through easy runs (Daniels, 2005).

Running economy: Although there are many ways to increase running economy - some researchers believe that the most important factor for improved running economy (both biomechanics and cellular economy) is by the amount of accumulated miles rather than the types of workouts that you do (Pfitzinger & Douglas, 2001).

Daniels defines easy distance as 65-79% of maximum heart rate. Many runners fall into the trap of running too fast on easy runs and therefore end up fatigued for more challenging workouts or races. They run with a group that's too fast for them or a group that's too competitive and races every easy run. That's why I would suggest that you should do most easy runs on your own, unless you have a running friend that you know won't try to push the pace.

In the 24 weeks I've planned for Chicago the first six weeks are entirely composed of easy runs. Even after week six over 70% of my mileage will be "easy". So, if you're coming back from a lay off or are new to running - don't feel like you have to hurry back to the track or racing. You can do a lot just by building your base of easy mileage.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 53 miles

Next Week
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 9 miles
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 10.5 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 65 miles

Races as reminders of what it means to be human

2010-05-02T13:34:00.003-04:00

I was watching the biography of Mark Twain by Ken Burns last night (yes, my Netflix suggestions are probably for the "dork" user setting) and one of the talking heads had an interesting insight. Humans are the only animals that need to be reminded of what it means to be human from time to time. Modern life doesn't leave much room for our instinctual side to take over - a lot of what we do is learned. The best writers are able to remind us what it means to be human.
I think this is also true of anything that we do for enjoyment - music, art, sports, relationships etc. We are drawn to things that strip away the trappings of modern life and give us an experience that we enjoy purely because it strikes a chord with us that is so deep we can't necessarily even explain it.
Running is such a pure activity. Nobody has to tell a child how to run - as the book "Born to Run" points out - our bodies are designed to run as much as any other function. You don't have to explain the point of a race - even a two year old understands - who can get to that tree and back first - or around the block.
The Apple Blossom 10k here in Winchester was my last race of the spring. It was relatively warm yesterday morning - the sun was brightly shining on the undulating course. I was well off the front runners by the quarter mile mark and right around the second mile the runner right in front of me dropped out. I wasn't in a good place mentally - but, suddenly some young punk with a mullet (I kid you not) passed me. Speaking of things that no one needs to tell you - you can't let a kid with a mullet beat you.
We went back and forth for a few miles and finally I was able to pull ahead. As I made my way to the finish line the fear of him coming up on my shoulder and overtaking me pushed me to my limits. I ended up about 40 seconds slower than I had hoped - but, I was able to win my competition for the day.
I now have 5 weeks of relatively low mileage with nothing more strenuous than some 150m strides. June, July, August, and September won't be so easy. More on my summer plans next week.

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 2X1mi tempo
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 6.5 miles 8X100m
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 10 miles Winchester Apple Blossom Festival 10k 33:09
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 45 miles

Next Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 56 miles

Alpha and Omega

2010-04-25T16:08:00.004-04:00

Next week is my last race of Spring 2010. It also happens to be 24 weeks to Chicago - which is technically the beginning of my training cycle. I have quite a Summer planned. If everything goes well I'll be running more miles than I have any summer in my life. The basic plan will be similar to what I used for Boston of 2009 - but BIGGER.
Many more details to come - but, I'll just say I'm excited for two main reasons - 1) I have a good shot at finally running under 2:30. 2) I went to college in Chicago and love the city and this race.
Before I get to that I have one more race to go. Just as with Cherry Blossom I'm not sure what to expect this weekend. The history of this race shows that I have no chance of winning - and the course has some undulating hills - so, I'm not necessarily expecting a really fast time. There's nothing else to do but just go out there - run smart at the beginning and strong at the end. I guess that's as good of a training plan as anything.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 9 miles 4X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 3X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs) + 2X(400m R pace with 400m jogs) (35, 34.9, 35.3, 34.6, 3:04.6, 3:05.2, 3:03.8, 70.7, 68.1)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 5 mi @ T pace
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 11.5 miles
Total: 64 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 5 X 1 mi @ T pace 400m recovery + 4X200m R pace with 200m jogs
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 6.5 miles 8X100m
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 10 miles Winchester Apple Blossom Festival 10k
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 51.5 miles

Winding Down

2010-04-18T21:30:00.003-04:00

This spring season is coming to a close for me. But - it doesn't quite feel like the end of a training cycle. The gravity of this year is pulling me toward October before we reach May. My last race of the year is the Apple Blossom Festival 10k - but, to be honest I'm looking forward to the festival more than the race in some ways.
Right now running is mostly about exploring for me. Today I decided to use my long run to check out the Candy Land sounding Apple Pie Ridge Road. The land around Winchester is full of Apple Orchards (thus the Apple Blossom Festival) - at one time it supposedly was the largest Apple growing region on the world (no kidding). This area above Winchester to the northwest had apple orchards since before the Civil War. Just outside the city limits the road starts to climb - there are big houses on 5-10 acre lots. Eventually I came to the top of the ridge where I could see the Blue Ridge to the east and the Allegenies to the west. On my way back into town I ran beside fenced in fields where horses and cows were munching on grass. At one point two calves jumped up when they saw me and started running along the fence - as if they were playing with me. A little different then Baltimore.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 8 miles 3X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest) (1:53.7, 73.3, 37.6, 1:49.5, 74.6, 35.6, 1:50.5, 72.1, 36.3)
Wednesday: 9.5 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 2X2 mi + 1 mi @ T pace
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 71.5 miles

Next week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 9 miles 4X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 3X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs) + 2X(400m R pace with 400m jogs)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 5 mi @ T pace
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 4X(1 mile @ T pace with 3-min jogs) + 6X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 2 mi acceleration run increases 5 xec per 300m with last 400m interval pace
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 67 miles

When you least expect it

2010-04-11T20:53:00.003-04:00

"There are no miracles in running." I think I said this as recently as a few weeks ago. And for the most part I feel like it's true - but, this morning came pretty close.
A week ago Kendra and I moved from Baltimore to Winchester, VA. As moves go - this one wasn't bad. We had movers doing all the heavy lifting and it was only less than two hours away. But, moving to a new town is as much psychological as it is anything. Other than a hopeful hunch that our lives will improve dramatically with Kendra's job change - there isn't anything bringing us here. And Winchester is dramatically different than anywhere I've lived. Not that we can't make a good life here - but, one thing that all humans dread is the unknown.
Last Sunday I decided to explore a state park (Sky Meadows) ~20 minutes from Winchester. It was beautiful - but, the running wasn't exactly smooth. The first mile or so was completely uphill. Not only that - they have cows in certain fenced in areas of the park and I had to run off the trail to avoid a few of these massive creatures. I was supposed to run 20 miles - but, I ended up at only a little over 2 hours. Given my lack of skill on the Appalachian Trail - calling it 17 was more than generous. Not only did I not get in the run I wanted - on my way down the "mountain" - I had the worse case of tendonitis in my knees that I've had in a long time. I even had to stop.
Tuesday was hot. On the positive side I found an awesome mondo surface track at the high school, which is less than a mile from my house. But the heat caused me to run slower and less than I wanted.
Thursday I had a 3X2 mi planned. I decided to plan out 3 two mile routes on the USATF route tool. Well - I must have not been very precise because my splits were all pretty slow. Easy explainable, but not a confidence booster.
Then, that night it got much cooler. We left the window open and in the morning my neck was so stiff I could hardly turn my head. By Friday I was dreading Sunday. I had no idea what was going to happen. My confidence was as low as it's been for a race in a long time.
But this morning I got out of bed - had a bit to eat - and jogged over the start. On my way I encountered the swarms of people - instead of getting nervous - I felt a smile cross my face. I realized - I am ready. I've put a lot of work in this miserable winter and now I get put it all out there in a big race with fast competition in perfect conditions. Life is good.

Last Week
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 8.5 miles 4X(200m R pace with 200m jogs: 34.2, 35.7, 34.5, 34.2) + 2X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs: 3:05.4, 3:07.6) + 1X800 2:30.6 + 2X(400m R pace with 400m jogs: 69.6, 66.9)
Wednesday: 9 miles
Thursday Morning: 4 miles
Thursday Evening: 10 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace
Friday: 11 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 14 miles Cherry Blossom 10 miler 52:47
Total: 73 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 10.5 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11.5 miles 4X(1 mile @ T pace with 3-min jogs) + 6X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 2 mi acceleration run increases 5 xec per 300m with last 400m interval pace
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 72 miles

Goodbye Baltimore, Hello Winchester

2010-04-04T16:56:00.005-04:00

I'm writing this from my new hangout in Winchester - Union Jack. Free Wi-fi and a good beer selection is an easy way to get my business. I've moved several times in my adult life - I grew up in Ann Arbor, MI - went to college in Chicago - grad school in San Diego - exchange program in Mannheim, Germany - back to San Diego - back to Chicago - back to Ann Arbor - and then Baltimore. Something feels different about this move. Maybe it's that I've never lived in a town as small as Winchester - maybe that although my wife's job is changing - mine is the same. Ok, it's probably the small town thing.
Not that there isn't "stuff" to do in Winchester. There's an interesting old town area with some decent restaurants and a great beer store. There is beer in grocery stores - on Sundays! They call Maryland the "free state", but they weren't talking about alcohol.
I ran on the Appalachian trail this morning in Sky Meadow State Park - it's as pretty as it sounds and only 25 minutes away. There is tons of history here - Winchester changed hands in the Civil War several dozen times - and George Washington landed his first gig here at the age of 16 years old (no, I wasn't here for that).
There are some cool events - like the upcoming Apple Blossom Festival with one of the fastest 10k's in VA, DC or MD. They have tons of wineries and Wine/Beer festivals (maybe I should stop talking about alcohol - my mother does read these). And it's only a 90 minutes to DC, less than 2 hours to Baltimore, 3.5 hours to Philly and 5 hours to NYC. The confederate flag is on the city seal, but I think it's more a history thing then any real sentiments on the part of most of the inhabitants.
I'm still searching for running routes that don't include me running on the shoulder of busy roads - but, they have a good running store here (Runner's Retreat) - so, I'm sure I'll learn all the good places to run soon enough. My running did suffer a little bit from the move this week, but it could have been worse. Cherry Blossom is next week - it will be interesting to see what I can do. I've got a lot of hay in the barn - I just need to be confident. I'll be looking to run something in the low 53's.
More than anything I think this move feels different because I'm leaving the most supportive running group that I've known - and more importantly some real good friendships. So, please everybody, stay in touch! And if you want to get out of the city this summer - we've got plenty of room for visitors!

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest) (1:53.3, 74.2, 37.3; 1:51.5, 73.8, 36.6; 1:51.3, 73.1, 36.5; 1:51.2, 71.1, 35.3; 1:47.9, 72.1, 35.7; 1:46.9, 70.1, 35.5)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 11 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 11 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 68.5 miles

Next Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday Morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 9 miles 4X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 3X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs) + 2X(400m R pace with 400m jogs)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday Morning: 4 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 15 miles Cherry Blossom 10 miler
Total: 75.5 miles

Track Meet!

2010-03-28T16:13:00.004-04:00

I haven't run a college hosted track meet possibly since I was in college (a long time ago I know). There are some major differences in strategy from a road race. You don't want to be in lane 2 the whole time, but you don't want to get boxed in or lose your momentum. Getting quarter splits gives you a much better chance of staying on the right pace, but you don't want to freak out everytime the pace isn't exactly on.
Yesterday I ran the 5,000m at the University of Maryland meet in College Park. The temperature was a little cold when we showed up at 8am - on the warmup I wished I brought some gloves. But, the sun warmed things up so with the calm air it was pretty much perfect conditions.
There were ~20 guys in the race and I was seeded 13th - so, I was a over half way to the outside of the track when the gun went off. I tried to get decent position without using too much energy. After one lap we were ~77 - about 2 seconds slower than my expected pace. After hearing the split some guys on the front took off. I gradually increased my pace to ~74 for the next lap.
I had some company, but I also had room to pass if needed. At the mile I heard 5:00 - right on pace. As some of the folks in front of me started to slow I made my way around them - my splits staying around 75. A little before the 2 mile (~10:00) I was leading the chase group with a lot of real estate in front of me - but, soon the 5th place runner came back to us. He had been running by himself for awhile and when I first came up on him he surged. Rather than push hard to get around him I let him lead figuring that if he was willing to go my pace I'd rather have him in front of me. Of course after 200 meters he started to fade and I made my way around him. The next runners were at least 100 meters in front of me, but I only had ~3 laps to go so I tried my best to "lift". Although I felt like I was going faster, my last mile split (5:01) would show otherwise (not that I looked at it). Even though I had nobody to chase I felt pretty good about my last 200m.
It was the best $20 I've spent on a race in a long time. I ran faster for 5k than I have in a LONG time - and I got to flex some track tactical strategies that have been dormant for a long time (have I said "long time" enough in this post?). Unfortunately things probably won't work out for me to run another track race this year - but I do have some fun races coming up - the two blossoms - Cherry Blossom 10 miler and the Apple Blossom 10k in my new hometown of Winchester, VA. But I think that I'll be sure to schedule a track race each spring - it was a good for the running soul.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 3X1200 (3:48, 3:46.7, 3:45.5) 3X1000(3:07.8, 3:08.3, 3:03.8) 2X400 (70.3, 69.6)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 9 miles 4 mi @ T pace 22:20
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 7 miles 5k UMD Track 15:36
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 77 miles

Next Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday: 11 miles 7 mi @ T pace
Friday: 12 miles
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 80.5 miles

Getting out the door when you'd rather jump head first into a meat grinder

2010-03-21T22:27:00.003-04:00

My high school coach used to say that the secret to running is simply to get out the door. Some days that door feels like it weighs a couple of tons. Today was such a day. Last night my friends at TTWSS threw a going away party. Arjun thought it would be a good idea to have everybody bring me a beer as a present. While I thought this was a great idea - some people expected me to drink their beer last night. So, as not to offend anybody I had a few too many.
Originally I had planned to wake up around 10am. When noon came and I was still glued to the bed I wasn't too sure that I was able to get out for my planned 20 mile long run. I got a little food in me as I hadn't eaten for over 12 hours and as I still lay in bed I decided that maybe 17 miles would be enough. So, I finally did get out the door at 1:30pm. I've loved the onset of spring, but the warmth was not my friend this afternoon. Luckily my route took me through some parks with water fountains or else I'm not sure I would have made it. And believe it or not - I actually felt better when I got home.

Last Week
Monday: 8.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10.5 miles 4X(1mi @ T pace 1 min rest) (5:35; 5:26.8; 5:27.4; 5:16.6) + 2X(1k @ I pace 3 min jog) (3:04.8; 3:01.7) + 4X(200m @ R pace 200m jog) (31.8; 34; 33.3; 34.1)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10.5 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest) (1:51.4; 74.2; 37.4; 1:50.9; 73.6; 34.7; 1:51.5; 72.5; 36.1; 1:50.1; 72.2; 35.3; 1:47.2; 71.2; 35.3; 1:45.5; 70.3; 35.0)
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 81 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12 miles 4X(1 mile @ T pace with 3-min jogs) + 6X(200m R pace with 200m jogs) + 2 mi acceleration run increases 5 xec per 300m with last 400m interval pace
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles 4 mi @ T pace + 4X(200m @ R pace with 200m jogs)
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 5k race
Sunday: 18 miles
Total: 82.5 miles

Taking the bad with the good

2010-03-15T07:44:00.004-04:00

Last week didn't go as planned. I had hoped to run a little over 80 miles with two quality workouts and the Kelly Shamrock 5k. Early last week I came down with a nasty cold - by Tuesday it was in my chest and it felt earily similar to how I felt a few days before I landed in the hospital on Thanksgiving. Luckily this was less serious - but, it did cause me to cut my workout short on Tuesday. Thursday went pretty well - but, I was exhausted on Friday.
I decided that it would probably be best to take a full day off. I was also going to do an extended cool down yesterday - but, I just packed it in after 4 miles. The result is that I ran almost 20 miles less last week than planned. Actually this might not be such a bad thing. I'm in the middle of a seven week stretch of 80+ mile weeks - so, a little break isn't that bad of an idea. The proof will be in how things go this week with my training. It's a tough week - but, I think I'm up for it.
The race went about as well as I could have hoped. I thought I was in about 15:40 shape and I ran a 15:42. I ended up in 5th - I could see 4th place for what seemed like over half the race - but, I just couldn't close the gap. In two weeks I'm hoping to run the University of Maryland 5k on the track and shave a few seconds off that time.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10 miles 3X1mi I pace 800 rest (5:03; 5:02; 5:04) 1X800 (2:37) Sick - didn't feel too bad until the 3rd mile repeat
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 14 miles 4 mi @ T pace (21:58) 4 min rest 2 mi @ T pace (11:06) 2 min rest 2 mi @ T pace (10:55) 2 min rest 1 mi @ T pace (5:16)
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 10 miles 5k Baltimore Shamrock 15:42
Total: 63 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10 miles 4X(1mi @ T pace 1 min rest) + 2X(1k @ I pace 3 min jog) + 4X(200m @ R pace 200m jog)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles 3X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rests
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest)
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 85 miles

Thanks for the memories

2010-03-07T17:41:00.004-05:00

For those of you who don't know, my wife and I are going to be moving from Baltimore to Winchester, VA early next month. She is starting a new job at Shenandoah University - and of course it doesn't matter much for me since I work from home. It's a little bitter-sweet. It's certainly a change that my wife needs to make for a lot of reasons, but I will certainly miss my friends/training group here in Baltimore.
Since we moved here three years ago I've gotten into the best shape since college. I'm about to turn 33 this month, so it's kind of fun to still have the opportunity to run PR's at some distances. Ryan McGrath will probably deny it and say something like - "I can't do the training for you" - but, he has created a running group that's unlike any other I've ever seen. The focus is on fun - but, we all have a strong motivation to run well too. This combination of fun and yet having so many other club members doing truly inspiring things was exactly what I needed to make running fresh for me again.
It looks like there are some decent runners in Winchester - so, hopefully I'll have some company as I look to push myself this summer. I should have more than enough soft surfaces which will be a nice change from the pavement of Baltimore. And it's not so far from Baltimore that I can't meet up for a long run every once in awhile.
My training went pretty well this week. I was all kinds of sore on Tuesday - so, it felt good to run right around 5 min pace for my intervals on Tuesday. Today I ran my longest run since November. I feel like I'm in a strong place right now - but, we'll see how the Baltimore Kelly Shamrock 5k goes next week. I've never run this race even though it starts 3 blocks from our apartment and is one of the larger races in Baltimore. I was hoping to run a 5k at the University of Maryland outdoor meet on 3/27 - but, it sounds like they are no longer running the 5k - so, I'll have to find something else.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12 miles 5X1mi I pace 800 rest (5:03.8, 5:00.7, 5:00.8, 4:59.7, 4:58.7)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 4X200 2X400 1X800 2X400 4X200 (34.3; 34.8; 33.7; 34.2; 68.5; 69; 2:22.3; 70.6; 68.7; 35; 35.9; 34; 34.2)
Sunday: 21.5 miles
Total: 87.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12.5 miles 6X1mi I pace 800 rest
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 14 miles 4 mi @ T pace 4 min rest 3 mi @ T pace 3 min rest 2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest 1 mi @ T pace
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 14 miles 5k Baltimore Shamrock
Total: 83.5 miles

Surprise Ice

2010-02-28T21:46:00.004-05:00

I've now been racing competitively for 20 years. I'm sure a lot of people might say - "maybe it's time to take up another pursuit. Most of your PR's are behind you. All you have is the long slide to being slow."

There are times where I can understand this point - but, the great thing about racing is that you can always surprise yourself. Admittedly there are many days that I run surprisingly slow. But every once in awhile I pop a good one, where even with all my years of running, I can't even quite explain or understand how it happened.

Today was such a day.

The Maryland Club Challenge 10 miler is run in Columbia, MD. The course is challenging and the field is very competitive for a race run in late February. This is my third time running this race. The first time I was fat, the second time I was sick - I decided it was my time to finally do something. The importance of this race cannot be over stated. The host, Howard Country Striders, has a lot of strong runners - and they seem to always be in shape. It's one of those things where you just start hating another group of people only because they seem to always get the better of you.

On the warm up one of my teammates said how he had heard a territorial dispute outside his window between two owls and a hawk. I asked him "so, who won?"
"Well" he said " the next day the hawk was on his perch."
He said that he takes those kinds of happenings has a sign - I agreed saying "I think it means we need to go out conservative and hawk our opponents."

I tell this story not to brag that I had any kind of fore site - but, rather because this story helped to remind me of the tactical nature of this race. It's early in the season - for most runners this is the first race they've run since the fall and it's not a PR course. So, they just go out and compete. But I knew that the runner who was most likely to win the race was in amazing shape - and he was most likely going to push the pace early - which would cause folks to run faster than they were capable of handling for 10 miles.

The first few miles I tried to pay no attention to how many people were in front of me. I simply relaxed and tried to feel what pace I should run. After about 3-4 miles I could feel the field coming back to me - and that's when I got aggressive. I focused on slowly moving up. By the 8 mile mark I was in 4th place. There was one more Howard County Strider in reach. I pushed as hard as I could, but I couldn't make up any distance. Still - focusing on him probably helped me to not get caught from behind. As I came into the finish line I was surprised to see a time approximately 50 seconds faster than I had dared hope I would run.

It shows that even for those of us on the downward slide - we can still surprise ourselves - and that's what keeps me coming back for more.

On the team front we sweeped the male, female and overall challenges. For at least one day, we were the strongest running club in Maryland.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 12 miles 3X 1mile (5:10;5:08;5:03) + 2X1k (3:08;3:06)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles 4X200m (36, 37.7, 37.2, 36.2) 2X400m (72.3, 74.8) 1X800m (2:27) 2X400m (73.7, 77.4) WINDY all at R pace all with jog same as last interval
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles Club Challenge 10 miler 54:09
Total: 81 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 12.5 miles 6X1mi I pace 800 rest
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 14 miles 10 X 1 mi @ T pace 1-min rest
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 5 X 1 mi @ I pace 800m rest
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 90 miles

When yer head gets twisted and yer mind grows numb

2010-02-21T16:27:00.003-05:00

Feeling unable to face the still clogged streets of Baltimore and with no options for trail running - I did something I don't usually need to do while running in Baltimore - I tried to find a new running route on the USATF website. I settled on an area that I haven't explored too much - Loch Raven Reservoir. The Reservoir is the main source of Baltimore's drinking water. Nestled in the hills just north of York - the area offers woods and farms less than 10 miles from downtown.
I started in the parking lot of the Hampton National Historic Park just off I-695. The park preserves a huge Georgian mansion built in the late 18th century and an estate that at one time included 25,000 acres. After leaving the park I was quickly surrounded by suburbia. The homes around here are actually pretty modest considering the beauty of the wooded hills and the close proximity to "civilization".
Whatever your feelings about the effect of damns on an ecosystem - they can create incredibly beautiful spaces. Especially on a day like today where the sun was shining on the snow covered hills and icy inlets of the irregularly shaped reservoir. I passed the huge damn - which was originally built in 1881 and made my way to busy Manor Road. The only negative part of this run was the lack of a shoulder on the roads and the aggresiveness of the locals. They didn't seem to be used to a runner suddenly appearing as they came around corners at 50 mph. A couple of times I jumped into the snow rather than risking being clipped by a car.
After climbing a hill for a mile I reached a slightly undulating plateau populated by expansive farms of every kind. Most of my life I've lived in cities, but I've always enjoyed escaping them when I can. I find it almost impossible to be in a bad mood when I'm surrounded by the beauty of the natural world.
This week marks the first time since September that I've run at least 80 miles in a week. I actually feel pretty good. Next week is the always competitive Club Challenge 10 miler in Columbia. I feel pretty good about our chances. Two years ago I was out of shape - last year I was sick - here's hoping that third time's a charm.

Last Week
Monday morning: 4 miles
Monday evening: 6 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 11 miles I pace = 9.1 mph on treadmill w/ 6.0% incline 1 min I pace 1 min easy 2 min I 1 min easy 3 min I 2 min easy 4 min I 3 min easy 3 min I 2 min easy 3 min I 2 min easy 2 min I 1 min easy 2 min I
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 14 miles 5X ~2mi @ T pace
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 80 miles

Next Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday Evening: 11 miles 3X(1mile I pace with 4-min jogs) + 3X(1k I pace with 2-min jogs)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles 4X200m 2X400m 1X800m 2X400m 4X200m all at R pace all with jog same as last interval
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles Club Challenge 10 miler
Total: 80 miles

An oval workout on a square track

2010-02-13T11:22:00.004-05:00

We live one block away from the Downtown Athletic Club in Baltimore. It's a large cavernous place - I learned yesterday that it was a train depot connected to the old Calvert Street Station where an angry mob of secessionists waited for Abraham Lincoln on his way to DC for his first inauguration. Lincoln never showed up - as his handlers were so confident that he would be killed in mobtown that they slipped him through the night before.
Although I've belonged to the club since we came to Baltimore I had never brought myself to run on the track. The surface is pretty decent - but the turns are square and tight. At ~9 laps per mile (from the outside lane) I figured that it was ~2 1/4 laps for 400m. The plan was to do 12X400 with 400 rest. Bad weather is usually so fleeting in Baltimore that I would have just postponed this workout - but, with the amount of snow on the ground I don't think an outdoor track will be clear till about mid-march.
I'm no stranger to oddly configured tracks. In college, at Loyola Chicago, our winter training facility was a 150m banked wooden track suspended over the basketball court in Alumni Gym. Alumni Gym, built in 1923, was used for basketball as recently as 1996. Though only large enough for a few thousand fans it was home to the 1963 national championship basketball team. In 1978 the Ramblers beat Larry Bird and Indiana State there - as well as Georgetown.
When I first saw the track during my recruiting visit I thought they couldn't be serious that we actually ran workouts up there. Not only were the turns banked pretty high - but, there was only a flimsy looking guardrail keeping you from falling to the court below.
Built by some guys on the team in the late 80's because they were tired of working out on the concrete floor of an old Armory - the track was built the exact specifications of the track used for the Millrose Games in New York. Among these runners was Eddie Slowikowski, a sub 4 min miler and Marc Burns, the anchor leg of a 4X800 team that would get 3rd place at the NCAA indoor meet and current track coach at Wichita State.
I decided - if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. So, I ended up embracing it. My coach, Gordon Thomson used to love telling open eyed recruits - "this thing is built for speed". And in a way - it was. The banked turns were at a high enough degree that you could go sub-60 400m pace and hardly feel it. A 400 m interval had us starting at the top of the bank down to the straight away. It was almost cheating because you had that little downhill at the beginning of each interval.
As I started my first 400m yesterday I thought about those countless workouts. It's good to be reminded from time to time that running is about overcoming obstacles. Conditions are almost never perfect and if you learn to stop making excuses and just do the best with what you've got you can end up being even better than if everything is given to you on a silver platter.

Last Week

Monday: 9 miles

Tuesday morning: 3 miles

Tuesday evening: 11 miles 5X5 min treadmill speed 9.2 incline 6.0

Wednesday: 8 miles

Thursday : 0 miles

Friday morning: 4 miles

Friday evening: 8 miles

Saturday: 12 miles 12X400 R pace

Sunday: 18 miles

Total: 73 miles

This Week
Monday morning: 4 miles
Monday evening: 9 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday evening: 11 miles 6X (600m I pace 1 min rest 400m I pace 30 sec rest 200m I pace 30 sec rest)
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 17 miles 5X2mi @ T pace
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 80 miles

Be careful what you wish for

2010-02-07T15:05:00.002-05:00

This was kind of a glass half full - glass half empty week. On the empty end I only ran one hard workout and didn't run my 5X1 mi - which is a very important workout for 5k/10k fitness. On the full end - my mileage didn't suffer too much even though the last three days the weather has been pretty awful.
This week is more of the same - with a 5k scheduled for Sunday. I'm guessing that since the highs are supposed to be within a few degrees of freezing this entire week that I'll probably be forced to use the treadmill for my hard runs. The 5k will be the biggest test I've had in awhile. I'm guessing that I'll be somewhere in the low to mid 16's - but, I'm not really sure.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday: 10 miles 3X2 mi tempo (11:01;11:10;11:07)
Thursday : 8 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 69 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10 miles 5X1 mi I pace
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday : 11 miles 7 miles T pace
Friday: 12 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 17 miles 5k in NOVA
Total: 75.5 miles

A Poem for the Powdery Apocalypse

2010-02-05T09:29:00.002-05:00

Beware! O! Baltimore! Beware!

For the first flakes of the apocalypse will soon fall upon us!
Be not distracted by their blinding whiteness, nor their charming uniqueness;
For in each singular geometric shape lays the seed of thy destruction!

Stock up at thy Safeway, thy Super Fresh, even they Shoppers Club
For the first dead will be carried away due to malnurishment;
An affliction hitherto unknown in the Land of Pleasant Living

Do not tread on thy sidewalks or streets the skid demon will have doman over all;
For in all of Mary Land there exists not enough salt to combat the Great White Death!

Beware! O! Baltimore! Beware!

The Secret of Surviving Winter in the Upper Midwest

2010-01-31T12:32:00.005-05:00

It was on full display today in the mid-atlantic. A cloudless sky; the sun, still low in the southern sky, reflecting off the pure white snow. For those of us who grew up in colder climates days like these are some of the most memorable of our childhood. Even if the school administrators were unwise enough to not call off school - there was a plastered grin on an eight year old putting on countless layers for school - you knew that recess was going to be epic.

Partly I think it's the light - it's almost blinding to a child who has hardly seen the sun for months. For me, the beauty of a snow covered landscape makes the "come hither" preening of a cherry tree in April seem pathetic and insignificant. The substance covering the earth has properties that seem to have been created just for our entertainment. It can turn a usually boring hill into an amusement park; everyone with a little creativity and some energy becomes an artist or an architect. How can a pile of leaves in October compete with that?

Some of the more cynical among you might say that I'm just "rationalizing" and remind me, "wasn't it this same 'substance' you're now romanticizing that caused you to take 3 hours to go 40 miles yesterday on I-95?"

Well, maybe. But, you know what? "Rationalizing" is a word used by people who don't understand that the secret to life is knowing how to look for and appreciating beauty in the middle of difficult circumstances. Sometimes the best way to get yourself through to Spring is embracing the cold and trying to find the light in a dark season.

On my run today I tried to channel that eight year old. I didn't have a sled or skis - but, I did have a grin as I trudged through the snow and felt the light warm my face.

As for running - I'm feeling pretty good right now. I'm not blowing the doors off of any of my workouts, but I'm getting stronger.

Last Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 4 X (200m R pace 200m jog + 200m R pace 400m jog + 800m R pace 400m jog) (35, 36.6, 2:24.4; 35.5, 35.4, 2:22.3; 36.9, 35.5, 2:25.4; 36.7, 35.2, 2:25.2)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday : 12 miles hills
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 17 miles 10 mile tempo 58:30
Sunday: 10 miles
Total: 75 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 5X1 mi I pace (~5:10)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday : 10 miles 3X2 mi tempo (~5:35)
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11 miles Hills
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 74 miles

Metamorphosis

2010-01-24T16:53:00.003-05:00

In some ways this is my favorite part of the training cycle. I can start to feel the subtle changes associated with getting back into shape. The extra pounds around my waist are starting to disappear - I feel a little more confident on my hard workouts and most importantly, I'm sore. Some people might see soreness as a sign that you're getting pushing your body beyond what it can handle - but, really it's all a part of the process. The metamorphosis to top running shape is less like Teen Wolf, where he is just is weirded out as he notices hair starting to grow on his hands, and more like The Hulk where the change seems to be painful - as if something has exploded from within him.
Next week will be my first week over 70 miles since the week of JFK. I've found that 70 miles a week is the low end of what I need in order to be in "race shape." There is a predictable rhythm to a 70 mile week - one two-a-day, hour long easy runs, a 4 mile recovery day, and two-hour long run at the end of the week.
It will be interesting to see how my track workout goes on Tuesday - I ran the same workout a few weeks ago in not so great conditions. This weekend I will most likely run a 10 mile race in DC as either a tempo or an escalation run.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 3mi (17:24) 3 min rest 2mi (11:10) 2min rest 1 mi (5:30)
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday : 8 miles
Friday: 13.5 miles 5X(2min hard 1min jog 1min hard 30sec jog 30sec hard 30sec jog)
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 68.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 9 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 4 X (200m R pace 200m jog + 200m R pace 400m jog + 800m R pace 400m jog)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday : 12 miles hills
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 17 miles 8 mi T pace DC race
Sunday: 9 miles
Total: 74.5 miles

Gettin' it in

2010-01-17T14:09:00.003-05:00

Today was miserable. I've run in all kinds of weather and I think high-30's and rain is one of the more difficult to deal with. It might be cold enough for gloves - but, they're completely useless. Not to mention the fact that I'm about 10 lbs over my ideal racing weight. Thursday wasn't much better. I hit the track for some "fast" 200's and 800's only to find several patches of ice on the backstretch. So, each 800 I was squinting in the dark trying to find the glistening "death patches". I only came close to falling once - but, it probably didn't help my times.
I'm in an odd place right now. I certainly hoped to be in better shape right now - but, I have a long eight months until my real goal race of 2010. I find myself with the following decision - do I push up my miles now (80-90 miles a week) or play it more conservatively by building up my mileage more slowly to make sure I stay healthy for the heavy training I'm planning on for this summer? I decided on the latter - I won't hit 80 miles until the 3rd week of February. The easiest way to get injured is trying to do too much when you're not ready. Hopefully my patience will pay off - it might mean slower times this spring, but I should be healthy enough push myself this summer to be under 2:30 this fall.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 2X3mi (5:45+5:37+5:41=17:03; 5:38+5:41+5:46=17:05)
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles 4 X (200m R pace 200m jog 200m R pace 400m jog 800m R pace 400m jog) (34.9, 35.7, 2:28.5; 37.1, 35.2, 2:26.2; 36.8, 36.9, 2:29.1; 35.7, 35.6, 2:27.6)
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 64 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 3mi T pace 3 min rest 2mi T pace 2min rest 1 mi T pace
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday : 12 miles 4X(2min hard 1min jog 1min hard 30sec jog 30sec hard 30sec jog)
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 6X hills
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 69 miles

Party like it's 2011

2010-01-10T22:52:00.003-05:00

That's right - my wife and I spent the last week in the Mayan riviera just south of Cancun. We spent the week at an all inclusive resort - which is pretty awesome if you just want to veg out for a week. We did nothing of cultural significance beyond watching the director's cut of The Lord of the Ring's Trilogy. I got in some reading in as well - I read Russel Brand's My Bookie Wook and To Hellholes and Back by Chuck Thompson. The former is a surprisingly funny memoir by someone who is really famous in the UK, but I'd never heard of him until two weeks ago. He was on NPR's "Fresh Air" where he uttered the funniest thing I've ever heard on that show - "Terry, I don't know if you've ever smoked crack, but it can really mess you up." Thompson's book is about traveling to "hellholes" - which include The Congo, India, and finally Disney World.
The third book I read this week (which I just realized I left on the plane!!!) was Running on Third Wind by Mike Tymn. It's a collection of columns that Tymn has written over the years. Tymn wrote mainly for National Masters News - as well as the main paper in Honolulu. He also wrote for both Runner's World and Running Times. Mike peaked as a runner in his early 40's and focused much of his writing on master's runners. Most of the columns are interviews with great runners - but, he also writes about many of the same debates that are never ending: are big races that emphasize "joggers" good for the sport? are runners weird? what is the definition of an athlete? It's a great read and I'd highly recommend it.
As for the running - it was flat and sandy. Not the greatest, but hey, I got to run with my shirt off for a few days in early January - can't complain about that.

Last Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 9 miles fartlek 4X 35 sec 2X 75 sec 1X 2:30 2X 75 sec 4X 35 sec all at R pace
Wednesday: 9 miles
Thursday: 9 miles 20 min tempo 5 min easy 10 min tempo
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 15 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 56 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 11 miles 4 X (200m R pace 200m jog + 200m R pace 400m jog + 800m R pace 400m jog)
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday: 11 miles 7 miles tempo
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 65 miles

Something new

2010-01-02T18:25:00.003-05:00

I hate treadmills. The exploration, adventure, and scenery that make running fun for me are basically absent while struggling on that ever revolving belt. Even the simple physics of the treadmill seem beyond comprehension for me (ever heard the riddle about the giant treadmill that goes at the same speed as an airplane's wheels and yet the plane is able to get off the ground?). I used to think that treadmills were physically easier than running outside because the belt seemed to "pull" my leg backwards. That isn't true of course - except for the lack of air friction, which can be accounted for by raising the front end a few degrees, running on a treadmill is just as hard as running outside on a flat surface.

My inherent distrust of treadmills has meant that I've only used them for easy runs when a run outside wasn't an option or if I became tired of running in sub-freezing weather. One chapter in my Jack Daniels book that I've left pretty much untouched is about his treadmill workouts. Daniels views treadmill workouts as not just a winter weather escape - but, rather as a controlled environment for his experimentation (Daniels loves hooking runners up to contractions to detect when their bodies start to give out and figure out why) and a way to run workouts that end up not beating up on the body quite as much. On Thursday I was supposed to run a tempo workout outside. When I woke up I noticed at least 3 inches of snow on the ground. Brennan and I decided not to slip and slide through the snow. I was leaving for a NYE celebration on the eastern shore and knew that realistically I wouldn't get another chance to run a decent tempo workout for few days.

So, I cracked open my Daniels book and found the treadmill section. Daniels did a lot of testing where he discovered what different treadmill speeds and angles were associated with the same effort level as mile paces. For instance, if I wanted to run 5:43 pace I could have the treadmill go at 8.5 mph at a 5.0% grade. I don't completely trust this - since treadmills can be inaccurate. But, it allowed me to completely focus on my technique and how I felt. The most important thing about tempo workouts is staying a little bit slower than the place where you start to feel "uncomfortable". So, the workout actually went really well. I didn't get any idea of what kind of shape I'm in - but, I felt like the workout helped move me a few steps down the road. I also decided to start running a long run each week. I'm starting to feel a little heavy - the long run is the quickest way to get back to feeling lean & mean.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 12 miles Hills
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday: 9 miles 3X10 min @ T pace 2 min rest
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 4 miles
Total: 57.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 4X200m 2X400m 1X800m 2X400m 4X200m all at R pace all with jog same as last interval
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 11 miles 7 mi tempo
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 60 miles

2010

2009-12-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

Before I get to next year - let me just say that if you thought my 2009 review post was a little lame - you're probably right. I kind of rushed through it because I had other things to do. To make up for this I have put my daily mileage into a google spreadsheet with everything you'd want to know (really, more than you'd want to know) about my 2009 year of running. It even has a graph - I know pretty awesome. I have to credit where it's due - it's based on a spreadsheet I saw on Jake Klim's blog. Obviously the last week is only what I have planned rather than completed - I'm going to have to bump it up a bit to hit 3,400 miles for the year.

As for 2010 - my main goal is running sub 2:30 at Chicago next October. My spring goal is to run a "fast" (~sub 32:45) 10k on the track. It might be on the short side of the races I've been running lately - but, there it's a whole other kind of mental trick to run 25 laps on the track - paying attention enough to the splits to make sure you're on pace but, not enough that you get overwhelmed with how far you have to go.

Other than that I don't have any specific goals for 2010. But, I'm looking forward to an intense summer including my first ever 120 mile week and some training that will make my Boston training blush with embarrasment. It sounds like every decent runner in a 100 mile radius is running Chicago next year (except Arjun of course) - as Ryan would say - "Hoo Hoooooo!!!"

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10 miles 4X1 mi @ T pace (5:38;5:34;5:35;5:39) 1 min rest - first sub-six min miles since 10/10 over 10 weeks ago - felt heavy; need to lose some lbs!
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 6 miles 3X100m striders
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 10 miles
Total: 51 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 12 miles 12X400m with 400m rest
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday: 10 miles 3X2 mi @T pace
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 4
Total: 54 miles

Snowpocolypse

2009-12-20T13:57:00.003-05:00

As I was running this morning through the snow filled wonderland of Baltimore - I noticed one thing that was missing. People, especially kids, actually having fun in the snow. Growing up in Michigan I have tons of memories of sledding, building igloos, getting in snow ball fights etc. In Baltimore, heavy snows happen so infrequently that people don't even seem to know how to have fun in the snow - much less have the equipment to do it.
My favorite snowbound story is when I returned to Ann Arbor after going to Times Square for new years eve. First of all - don't ever do NYE in Times Square unless you have electrically warmed socks and a bladder the size of a party balloon. You're basically stuck in a fenced in paddock for over 5 hours. The only thing that saved me is that we were right next to the MTV studios, it was 1998 (turning to 1999), and Jennifer Love Hewitt was hosting in a dress made by someone who took very good measurements.
On the day we drove back it snowed over 20 inches throughout most of the midwest. It didn't get too bad until we hit Cleveland. Toledo to Ann Arbor was the worst - as it took over 2 hours to drive 45 miles. As we got to my friend Steffan's neighborhood - we realized that my parent's Dodge Caravan didn't wasn't going to make it to his parents' place. So, he got out and walked the final few blocks. I drove to my parents' neighborhood and found the same problem. It was after midnight and I don't think I even had a cell phone. So, I drove to where I hoped there would be some activity - the Michigan track house on State street.
Two friends from high school, Don McLaughlin (member of at least two Penn Relay distance medley relay champion teams) and Todd Snyder (he had been 10th at NCAA XC championships that year) lived there. I found Don and a few other guys from the team there having a "good time." Even though I had just driven 14 hours I was kind of energized. One of the guys had a great idea - we should go to another house where several UM track guys lived and cover all the doors with snow so they couldn't get out in the morning.
We then went on to do a few other things that I won't mention in order to protect the innocent and not so innocent. Let's just say that a certain female NCAA national champion threatened us with bodily harm based on some of our activities.
I'm not sure there was a point to that other than I'm an old man (in my running group at least) and old men like to tell stories.

Here is my first "this week and last week" since September.

Last Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 0 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles Striders
Thursday: 9 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 0 miles
Sunday: 13 miles
Total: 43 miles

This week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 9 miles 5X1 mi @ T pace (somewhere around 5:30 pace) 1 min rest
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday morning: 0 miles
Friday: 6 miles 8X100m striders
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 10 miles 4Xhills
Total: 50 miles

The Year in Review

2009-12-14T08:16:00.002-05:00

2009 was my best running year since college. Everything seemed to come together - a lot of that is due to having some great people to train with and this blog probably helped as well - nothing is as motivating as the white hot spotlight of the blog ; )

The place to start are the goals I wrote last January.

1) Run 3,650 miles for the year. I'll end up with ~3,400 miles for the year - so, I missed this by over 250 miles. Of course that's less than a mile a day, so I can't be too upset.

2) Run sub 2:30 at Boston. Again - came up a little short on this one with my 2:32:35. But, given the head wind and tackling the Boston course for the first time - I was again pretty happy.

3) Run 52:30 for 10 miles. I was probably most disappointed with falling so far from this goal. I ran 54:05 at the Army 10 miler. I got a pretty nasty cramp - which probably cost me about 30-40 seconds.

Funnest race: You can't beat Miami in January. A bunch of us went down for the Miami half-marathon last January. The results were somewhat secondary - although my goal was to run marathon pace - and oddly enough I ended up running 1:16:19.

Most disappointing race: Although the Army 10 miler wasn't what I wanted - I was probably most disappointed about the Club Challenge 10 miler. I was sick and just couldn't get moving.

Best new adventure: This would obviously be the JFK 50 miler. I ended up running right around my predicted pace (6:21) - but, I was slower on the Appalachian trail section and faster on the C&O canal path. 50 milers are not going to become a regular part of my running (I don't think I'll do one in 2010) - but, it was a good experience.

Second place Best new adventure: I ran the Great Lakes Relay for the first time - a 10 person three-day relay in northern Michigan. Our team had a great time and ran hard. I'll be doing this race again in 2010.

Wins - Celiacs 10k & Navy 5 miler.

Thanks everybody for your support!

The Rhythm of Running

2009-12-04T11:14:00.001-05:00

Kendra and I were watching one of our geeky science/history shows the other day. This particular show was about a new theory regarding Stonehenge. The theory was that the stones were fashioned to enhance acoustics of the space rather than for the widely accepted theory that it was related to astrology or the seasons. The show explained that many traditional religions, which they believe to be similar to those found in England 4,500 years ago, use drumming as a way to break into a trancelike state. From this trance it is believed that one can communicate with the dead – or even with the gods.
The program continued by showing an experiment on brain waves under two conditions. In the first condition the participant listened to random traffic noise – in the second condition they listened to the beats of tribal drums. The brain waves were all over the place while listening to the traffic but, they seemed to calm and sync-up when listening to the simple rhythms.
Although on the surface we all give various reasons for running – I think that for most of us it’s something that we can’t necessarily explain – we just know the good feeling we get from it. Like meditation, running can cause us to be more aware of the most essential parts of being alive – our heartbeat, our breathing, our feet hitting the ground. Our brains seem to be designed to react in powerful ways to these simple rhythms.
Having just completed my first 50 miler – I would say that the most unique part of that experience was the ups and downs. As with life – it’s impossible to have a continuous experience over 50 miles. What bothered you at 6 miles is a far off memory at 20 miles. Redemption is possible – you just have to have the patience and faith that you can get back into a rhythm (having people cheer you one doesn’t hurt either).
It’s almost impossible to talk about running and not talk about rhythm. For our hard workouts and races we talk about being on “pace”. When we’re running well our legs feel like metronomes – clicking away almost automatically. The connection between running and rhythm can be extended to the rhythm of training cycles. The Tuesday night track workout – the Sunday long run – it becomes a rhythm that we don’t just feel in our bodies but rather a rhythm that shapes our lives.
The most interesting thing to me about this new theory about Stonehenge is that we need to have others around us drumming along to really feel the beat. Over the last year, which has been my best running year since college, I’ve had a lot of help and some great acoustics. I may not have spoken with any gods, but I did get to connect with life in a deeper way. Thanks to all of you who were a part of helping me find my rhythm!

A Thanksgiving to Remember

2009-11-28T17:19:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday I started to feel sick. I never get sick - but, I wasn't too surprised that my immune system might have been a little compromised from JFK. It started out as head congestion and a sore throat - so, I did all those things you're supposed to do at the first sign of a cold - gargle with warm salt water - take vitamin C etc.
The congestion started to make it into my chest on Wednesday, but I didn't feel too bad. Early Thursday though was a different story. I woke up around 4am with a bad cough and some significant wheezing. I took a theraflu - but, it didn't help too much. I finally took a few puffs from my wife's inhaler. It helped a little bit - I was at least able to go to sleep, but I knew I'd need to see the doctor.
Around 9:30am we got out the door to the urgent care to figure out what was going on - I was having even more difficulty breathing. It was not good. Having difficulty breathing is a really horrible feeling - and the emotional aspect of it makes it worse. As you feel more anxious things seem to close up even more. I had some episodes like this in the past, but much less serious. Because they seemed to happen just as I was going to bed I was diagnosed with acid reflux - basically as I lay flat the acid would get into my airway and cause me to cough and wheeze. I had taken some medication for it on and off for the last few years and I had actually just started back on it a week ago.
At the urgent care they gave me a chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. They also gave me a nebulizer treatment - it's basically a liquid which vaporizes into a plastic pipe thing that you breath in to your lungs. It's basically a more powerful version of an inhaler. Little did I know that I would need 4 more of these treatments over the next 24 hours.
They didn't see any proof of pneumonia in the chest x-rays - the doctor thought it might be some kind of asthmatic reaction caused by an infection. So, I got a prescription for antibiotics, an abuterol inhaler, and prednisone - an oral steroid to reduce inflammation in my lungs.
A few hours after we got home things got worse. I had a nasty coughing attack - I just couldn't stop. Kendra went out to get me something for my cough, but on the way she called the urgent care - they said I should go to the ER right away. So, she came back and we made the thankfully short drive two blocks to Mercy hospital.
I felt a little better just being at the hospital. What most worried me were a few stories I had heard lately about people who had respiratory issues (usually related to pneumonia) and ended up in serious trouble. Apparently once a problem gets advanced enough in your lungs you're pretty much screwed.
The first few hours were pretty much a repeat of the urgent care. A nebulizer treatment, chest x-ray - tons of questions. All this time my parents were on their way from Michigan for a planned trip to Baltimore. Of course we updated them as things got worse. By the time they got there I was hooked up to an IV and had oxygen tubes coming out of my nose. Seeing their 32 year old son in such a state was probably not what they had planned on for their Thanksgiving trip - but, we all tried to stay positive.
The doctor came in and told us that it was most likely something asthma related, which seemed odd to me since I had just run a 50 miler race less than a week ago. But, I guess there are a lot of different kinds of asthma - and mine might not be related to exercise, but rather could be triggered by allergies - or acid reflux - or something else. They were still worried because my oxygen levels in my blood were lower than normal (normal is 95% and above - I was 90-93% without oxygen). So, not only would they keep me until that was normalized, but they were also going to give me a CAT scan to make sure I didn't have a blood clot in my lungs.
The CAT scan was interesting. First - the two girls who wheeled me to the scanning room were entertaining - they felt the need to complain about how they weren't too happy about pushing people around and couldn't wait until they got their nursing degree. The scan itself was odd - to find blood clots they have to pump in iodine intravenously. They give you a lot of warnings of what can happen. Luckily I only had the regular reaction -which is an odd warming sensation that flows through your body. The worst is when it hits your nether region, it feels like you might have peed yourself.
So, after a few hours they said I didn't have a blood clot -but, I do have some kind of "node", which could be nothing - but, I need another CAT scan in six months to make sure it hasn't grown. Great. The oxygen levels still weren't doing too well - so, they decided I had to stay the night. This is the first time I have ever stayed overnight at a hospital since I was born - so, it was a little weird.
After a new doc scared Kendra and me with a few other rare but potentially serious diseases I might have, I got up to a more comfortable hospital bed on the seventh floor around midnight. In order to rule out all these rare issues I might have they had to draw a bunch of blood. Throughout the night they drew blood three separate times - along with two more nebulizer treatments and checking my vitals every once in awhile I didn't get much sleep.
Three more doctors checked in with me the next morning (the final total was six doctors and seven nurses). They seemed to agree that there was some chronic asthma issue going on along with the acid reflux. Finally around 11am they tested my oxygen levels while I was walking around the hall. I passed. Around 2pm they finally let me out - of course along with a few more prescriptions.
The plan is for me to get a pulmonary test in a few weeks to confirm that I have asthma - and then figure some kind of long term plan from there. I'm definitely feeling better -but, I still have a cough and my breathing isn't great. The good thing is that they didn't limit my activity at all - so, I'll probably be back to running by Monday. Obviously I'll be taking it easy for awhile - but, things could be worse.

JFK 50 miler

2009-11-21T20:07:00.008-05:00

I ran 50 miles today. Believe me - I know how crazy that sounds.
The day didn't start out very promising. We only made the 6:20am cut-off for picking up my racing number because my sweet wife insisted that we get a wake-up call in case my watch alarm didn't work - or didn't wake us up (it didn't). Then after some dithering on my part as to what to do with my bag with my shirt - and waiting too long for a bathroom - I found myself 50 meters back from the start line when the gun sounded.

Luckily, a 50 miler is a different kind of beast than the races I normally run. First - I didn't have to do too much weaving to get the pace I wanted. Second - I could see the leaders not too far in front of me the entire time we climbed up the big hill to reach the Appalachian trail. As we first entered the AT - I found myself around 20th place. The course stays on the AT for only a few miles - it then deviates onto a hilly road that appears to be used by hunters (at least when I did a run there several weeks ago). This was good news for me. I was able to pass a few more people by the time we got back to the trail - and I could actually see the second place guy enter the woods for the second time (around 5.5 miles) - I was in about 12th place at this point.
While I was out on the AT today - I came up with a new term for my ankles - "wankles". They are weak. I've never been a good trail runner because I turn my ankles pretty easily. My senior year in college I even had to tape my ankles before every indoor race because my ankles couldn't take even the relatively sharp turns of a 200 meter indoor track. Because of this - I am very timid on rocky trails - maybe I'm weird, but there's something about the feeling of my ankle being bent at a 90 degree angle that isn't very appealing.
So, to make a long story short - I lost a LOT of time on the AT. People were BLOWING past me. I knew this was going to happen - so, I was somewhat prepared psychologically. But, when the dude with tights that looked like Bozo the clowns hairdo passed me I started to get worried. Then the first woman passed me. I say first, because by the time I got to the 15 mile mark when we mercifully joined the even and flat C&O canal path there were four women in front of me. I ran somewhere around 2 hours and 20 minutes for 15.5 miles, which is the time that I would run 20 miles on a easy long run. It was rocky. Picture a field of boulders bordered by trees that produce slippery leaves. This hellish scenario sometime when on for miles.
So, by the time I got to the C&O I was frustrated and a little mad. I was somewhere between 30-40th place - running even slower than I had anticipated. The only thing to do to feel better is start passing people. So, for the next 10 miles I put the hammer down - I had a few splits (if the canal mile markers are to be trusted) that were under 6 minute pace. As I reached handmade sign that said "If you were running a marathon you'd be done by now" I realized that there was no way I could keep this up - and I had passed enough people that I was back into the top 20. So, my pace slowed but I was still under 7 minute pace for most miles.

Even though I slowed a little I kept on passing people who had gone out too fast. Psychologically this was very important. I didn't dare start counting down the miles until I was at least past mile 30. At mile 30 I realized that I could break 6:20 - which was fine in my book because it meant I would cover the last 34.5 miles in 4 hours. Every 5 miles I would check my time - and I kept on pace. That is until the course left the canal path for the hilly roads just northwest of the Antietam battlefield. My sub seven minute pace went to over eight. To try and put some energy into my legs I started downing energy gels every 15 minutes instead of every half hour. The road was lonely. I passed only two people in the last 8.5 miles.

But, as I got to 6 miles to go I started to feel better. And although when I looked at a video my wife took, I seem to be only shuffling along - I felt "dynamic". The last five miles were actually somewhat fun. With four miles to go I saw Melissa, Arjun, Brennan, and Kendra (my wife, who did a great job supporting me by the way). They gave me that last burst of energy I needed. I was able to pass one more guy in with 2 miles to go to get 8th place. The field was pretty incredible (below is a picture of me with Scott Jurek, the 7-time champion of the Western States 100 miler) - and I felt pretty good to be in the top ten with some well known runners.

Will I do another 50 miler? I'm not sure - it's certainly difficult to think about sitting at my computer - dreading getting up because I can hardly walk. But, you never know. If I do I'm going to make sure it's not on a course where my "wankles" come into play.

"It's not your legs it's your stomach"

2009-11-16T09:21:00.006-05:00

Next Saturday I will do something that on the face of it sounds foolish. I will run almost twice as far as I've ever run in one day - 50 miles. And who knows? It very well might be foolish. But, I have some reasons to be confident. I've gotten some good advice from Baltimore ultra/triathalon "cover girl" Alyssa. I'm pretty much going to follow her nutrition plan - which is 1) drink one bottle of fluid (water, gatorade, or combo) per hour 2) Eat an energy gel every half-hour 3) Take a sodium/potassium pill once an hour 4) Have my wife ready with some "comfort food" if I start feeling bad.
The other thing that makes me feel confident is the training I've done the last several weeks. The first weekend in November I ran 20 miles on Saturday and 20 miles on Sunday. I actually felt pretty good on my Sunday run until Arjun reminded me that I would be running all 40 plus another 10 in one day. I have to admit I was so sore the next day that I couldn't run - but, I didn't drink or eat much during that second 20 miler.
The very next week I ran a full marathon at Harrisburg. The plan was to run just under 3 hours - but, I was feeling strong and I kept seeing people who I didn't want to beat me (guy wearing headphones, guy with no shirt etc) - so, I ended up running a 2:47. This time I stuck with my nutrition plan as described above. The best thing is that I felt almost no soreness the next day - which showed how proper nutrition can be critically important for runs over two hours.
Also, I heard a man and woman near me at the start line before the marathon talking about the JFK 50 miler - so, I chimed in that was running my first one this year. The woman said that she concentrated so much on the trail section in the first 15 miles (it's rocky) that she didn't eat or drink enough - and felt awful later. The guy said that a lot of first timers make that mistake - they have the legs to go 50 miles - but, they don't have the stomach. They get tied up - can't eat - and then they completely bonk.
So, I feel pretty good since nutrition is going to be my focus. I probably won't even measure my progress in miles, but rather how much longer is it to my next energy gel? or have I sucked down enough water in the last 15 minutes?
I've also run or at least seen most of the course. I ran a 20 mile out and back run on the appalachian trail section - which showed me that I will get frustrated in certain areas where the rocks seem to go on for miles, but at least I know what to expect. Yesterday I drove the last 8.5 miles that's on roads and ran 12 miles on the C&O canal path. The canal path has pretty good footing - and I think I can get going pretty well if I'm not too beat up.
When I first signed up for JFK I had no thoughts about competing - just surviving. But, I'm not sure I can run a race and not "compete". I don't know what that exactly means over a 50 mile race. I know I can't go too nuts over the trail section - because if I fall or twist an ankle it could be all over before it's started. I've even resigned myself that I'll probably get passed by some folks on the trail section. But, there's a LOT of running to go after we descend to the C&O canal path - and I figure that's where I can get in a rhythm and pick some people off. While running on the canal path yesterday I visualized hawking someone down or pushing the pace around the turns to hold someone off.
Whatever happens I'm sure it will be an adventure!

"Have an Adventure!"

2009-11-08T16:34:00.002-05:00

Our fearless leader Ryan often yells this commandment. He is just as likely to say this before a normal Monday night run as before an epic event like "Hubs of Fury". Although not true of all runners - I would say that this need for adventure is what drives many of us. I started running competitively in seventh grade - already by my eighth grade year I wanted to run a half-marathon. It wasn't just any half-marathon - it was the Dexter-Ann Arbor half-marathon. It started in the smaller town of Dexter, MI and ran along the Huron River finishing in downtown Ann Arbor. I felt pretty awful afterwards, but I could say one thing - I had an adventure.
I've thought a few times through the years about running an ultra-marathon, but I didn't sign up for one until last spring. It is the JFK 50 miler - starting in Boonsboro, MD climbing to the Appalachian trail - descending to the C & O canal path near Harpers Ferry, WV - and finishing on roads just west of the Antietem battlefield.
My goal race this fall was the Army 10 miler - so, I haven't done much 50 miler specific training other than the last two weekends. Last weekend I ran ~20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. For some reason I thought I would be able to run on Monday - but, I was so sore I decided against it. Today I ran a full marathon in Harrisburg. I feel much more comfortable with the distance then even a year ago. It is just a distance - there's nothing too magical about it - just be prepared for it.
It's hard to believe that I haven't written anything on here for over a month. That's by far the longest I've gone since I started this blog a year ago. I'll be posting the next few weeks about JFK - but, I'll probably give it a break again until the New Year. I've done more running in 2009 since college probably - and I have to say that this blog has been a big part of that. It's forced me to make commitments and hold to them. It's also made me think about my training a little more because I know people will be reading - so, thanks for reading!

At least he didn't have a disease

2009-09-20T22:04:00.004-04:00

Up until today my only win in 2009 had been at the Celiacs 10k in Baltimore. The second place was a high school kid with Celiacs who had won Celiacs races all over the country. It was a little embarrassing - that's until I saw I might have a chance to win the African American 5k. I thought, maybe I could dedicate myself to winning small races named for groups of people unrelated to myself. Unfortunately I got second at the AA race - but, the seed had been planted.
That brings me to today - the Navy 5 miler. The race was held near the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. The weather was perfect. I had decided to take it out conservatively, focusing on dialing into approximately the pace that I'll run for the Army 10 miler - if I was close to the front after 3 miles than I'd compete. Luckily it worked out as I had hoped. At the mile I was in third place and I slowly closed the gap with first until I passed him at the 3 mile mark. I knew that there was a decent sized hill during the fourth mile - so, I pushed it hard during that section. At the final turn around I had some distance on the guy in second, who I would later learn is the assistant coach for Navy - but the last mile was a steady downhill. I knew I needed to keep pushing on the gas - I didn't want to let him back within shooting distance.
My high school coach made sure that we knew early on that looking back in a race was not acceptable. The reason is that it makes you look weak to the guy in second. You can give him confidence to think he might be able to catch you. In long distance racing appearing strong is important - you want the other guy to think it's not worth trying to catch you. That's why you should always put on a little surge when you're passing someone. You don't want it to be easy for them to react.
As I was turning the corner to 150 meters to go a kid stuck out his hand - I decided that probably meant that I far enough ahead - so, I slapped his hand. Of course - right away - I was a little worried that he'd come back on me and I'd look stupid. So, I kicked it in. I ended up about 20 seconds ahead - finishing in 26:37. It wasn't a great time - but, I have to say it's a lot of fun winning a race. I even had a guy from the washington post interview me afterwards. DC & Baltimore has a lot of strong runners - so, winning a race is as much about being lucky that nobody shows up as it is running well.
So I've got two weeks before Army 10 miler. A realistic goal for me would be ~54 minutes. At the beginning of the summer I was hoping for a 52:30 - so, I somewhat disappointed with my progress. I'm not quite sure of the problem. It could be that I'm not running enough miles - although after Boston I needed to pull back a little. The other possibility is that my quality days have not been hard enough. I've been running up to three tough workouts per week - which means that they have been less intense so that I can recover. In the spring I might go back to one track workout and one tempo workout per week.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10.5 miles 5X2k 1min10sec rest (6:47.7; 6:42; 6:37.2; 6:33.8, 6:22)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 9.5 miles 4X200 (35.6, 36, 34.1, 35.1) 3X1k (3:07.9, 3:05.2, 3:02.2) 2X400 (70.3, 70)
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 15 miles Navy 5 miler 26:37 (5:24; 5:26.1; 5:19.3; 5:25.3; 5:07.2)
Total: 72.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles Hills
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 9.5 miles Airport 4 miler
Total: 63 miles

Reality Bites

2009-09-14T08:41:00.003-04:00

Apparently it was a little premature to say I don't have anything else to write about running. This last weekend I ran the Ryan McGrath Memorial Maryland Championship 5k (Don't worry Ryan is alive - his ACL is not). It was going to be my best chance to see what I could do for 5k this year. The competition was very good - the only question was whether I could stick with somebody - or if I would be in no-mans land.
My recent workouts have been going pretty well - and I thought that maybe I could dip under 5 min pace per mile. My first quarter was 75 - right on pace. From there the four guys in front of me started to stiffen the pace. I did probably the worst possible thing - I didn't completely go with them, but I quickened my pace to a sub 74. The next two quarters were about the same pace - I came through the mile at 4:56. Faster than I had planned, but I felt ok. However I must have relaxed a little because my next two quarters were a 75 and 76.
At about the 1.5 mile mark it started to get a little harder. Arjun said I looked a little less strong at that point - well, I certainly felt it. I was able to keep my 75-76 pace for another two laps and then the wheels came off.
I came through at 9:59 at 2 miles. I knew at that point that it would be almost impossible to get back to under 5 min pace for the last minute. I also got passed and I wanted to go with him, but it wasn't happening. The last mile was ugly on every level. The look on my face, my form, and worst of all my splits. I ran a 5:14 last mile for a 15:52.
I was pretty disappointed. But, it was helpful as I try to figure out my proper pace for the Army 10 miler. It looks like something in the mid 5:20's will probably work. My original goal was 5:15 per mile. I don't see that happening.
Also, it was helpful as a reminder of what I need to do in that situation. Bring it back to the basics - breathing and form. I was thinking too much about splits and how bad I felt.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 9 miles
Wednesday morning: 11 miles 4 mi T pace 4X200m @ R pace
Thursday: 10 miles
Thursday evening: 4 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 9 miles 5k race 15:52
Sunday: 16 miles
Total: 72 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 10.5 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles Track workout
Friday: 9.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 16 miles 5 miles tempo
Total: 75 miles

Week of 9/7/09

2009-09-07T20:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I think I'm going to keep posting my training - even though I might not have a long winded commentary accompanying it every week. Below is my training for the last few weeks.

Week of 8/17
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 11 miles 5X1 mi (5:02.4; 5:00.5; 4:57.2; 4:54.0; 4:55.4)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 10 miles - sore & dehydrated only did one two mile repeat (11:17) and about 800 meters of the second - live to fight another day
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 12X400m 400m rest (73.5; 70.4; 69.1; 69.3; 67.5; 67.9; 67.9; 67.8; 67.9; 67.0; 67.0; 67.7)
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 82 miles

Week of 8/24
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 9 miles
Wednesday morning: 5 miles
Wednesday evening: 11 miles 4X1 mile (5:25.9; 5:22.2; 5:18.7; 5:12.2) 1 min rest + 2X1k (3:06.9; 3:07) with 3 min jogs 4X200m (36.8; 34.3; 35.0; 33.3) with 200m jogs
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles
Friday: 20 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 76 miles

Week of 8/31
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday evening: 12 miles 10X1k (3:14.9; 3:13.5; 3:13.4; 3:12.5; 3:11.7; 3:08.5; 3:06.7; 3:05.0; 3:04.5; 2:58.8)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 9 miles hills
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 84 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 11 miles 4 mi T pace 4X200m @ R pace
Wednesday evening: 4 miles
Thursday: 12 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 5k race
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 75 miles

Now for something completely different

2009-09-04T22:19:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for awhile. Kendra and I have been out of town a lot lately - so, I decided to give myself a little break. But, I also just haven't had much interesting to say in regards to running. I've really enjoyed the blogging process, but I've decided it's time to move on to another topic. I came up with an idea - I'm not sure it will be great - but, it's something.

Awhile ago I decided that I'm not going to drink alcohol during the month of September (four days down!) so that I could be in the best possible shape for the Army 10 miler. In the last two days I 1) read a few chapters in the book Roads to Quoz by one of my favorite authors, William Least Heat Moon. These chapters were dedicated to a woman who lives incredibly simply. She's basically like a nun. Taking as little from the world and giving as much as she can. I was inspired. 2) watched a "Mega Disastors" show about peak oil. I've been reading about this idea for probably five years, but it reminded me how rough life could become.

So, I decided to abstain from something that I have dependence on, but know in my heart probably isn't good for me or the world. It's kind of a year of Lents. Yes, Morgan Spurlock did something similar - this is going to be better - but, I can't promise it won't be less preachy ; )

So, here's the list - for more info visit my new blog. I welcome any suggestions on new ideas. This list is very open to modification.

September 2009: Alcohol
October 2009: Clutter
November 2009: TV/Movies (does not include sports)
December 2009: The internet
January 2010: All animal related products
February 2010: Food prepared by others
March 2010: Purchases other than food/housing/clothing
April 2010: Trash
May 2010: Transportation that uses oil
June 2010: Time (volunteer once a day)
July 2010: Processed food
August 2010: Food made more than 100 mi away
September 2010: All of the above (except possibly animal products)

"Don't wish the time away"

2009-08-16T21:44:00.004-04:00

As I was sweating through my first yoga session since June, the instructor said the title of this post. Ok - I know - meditation and yoga groups are full of platitudes and maybe this qualifies. But, maybe the platitude is in the eye of the beholder - or maybe we just all need to be reminded of very simple, yet important truths from time-to-time.
There isn't anything that marks a good race from a bad race more clearly than whether you are engaged in what you're doing versus going through the motions. Once your brain clicks into "waiting for the finish" mode nothing good is going to happen. The instructor's point was - if you're already here why not make the best of it?
A lot of life is like that. Very rarely are we in situations where our mind is completely in the present. Too often we think of ourselves as chess players - always three moves ahead. Not that life shouldn't involve planning and preperation, but first and foremost life is meant to be experienced. If we're always thinking of the next job, the next race, or even just the next day - we can miss out on everything the present can offer.
As for the recent past - I ended up making the executive decision Saturday morning at 6am that I'd rather sleep than drive 45 minutes to a 10k. When I woke up I felt slightly guilty - so, I decided to do my 20 miler. I didn't finally get out the door until almost 9am - which meant I didn't finish until almost 11:30am. I ran a point-to-point course, starting in Dagsboro, DE and attempting to finish at Rehoboth Beach, DE. Well, my calculations were a little off - because at almost 2 hrs 30 mins of running I was still a few miles south of Rehoboth. Thankfully I had brought my cell phone - so, I called my support vehicle (my wife) and impatiently waited it out in the shade of the scrubby trees along highway 1. It was a great beach day - not so much for a 20 miler.
Even though I brought water I was still pretty dehydrated the next day (when it was even hotter). So, I did something I haven't done since June 21st - I took the day off from running.

Last Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 16X400 (first 4 76-77 second 4 74-75 third 4 72-74 last 4 66-71)
Wednesday: 9.5 miles
Thursday: 11 miles
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 20 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 73 miles

This Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 14 miles 4 mi @ T pace 4 min rest 3 mi @ T pace 3 min rest 2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest 1 mi @ T pace
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 12X400m @ R pace
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 85 miles

Dancing with Pain (and his little brother Fatigue)

2009-08-09T20:45:00.004-04:00

Pain is necessary to sustain life. Without it we wouldn't learn a lesson from touching a hot stove - we'd just think it was weird that our skin was smoking and turning black. Without pain we might try to run on a torn ACL (who would do such a thing?). Lots of athletes are "tough guys" when it comes to pain - they say things like "pain purifies" (direct quote from my high school coach). I don't go quite that far - but, I do think that most endurance athletes have a slightly different relationship with pain than the average person.

Actually using the word "pain" is probably a slight overstatement for most workouts or races. I would say I feel "discomfort" from running, but it's not like a burning poker is being shoved in my ocular cavity. As runners we have to respect "pain", and yet at the same time ignore it to a certain degree. Even if we try to push out pain it surfaces in our running form - which leads to over compensation injuries. So, we try to be both sensitive to pain and above pain. It's an odd dance.

Sometimes even more daunting is understanding how to deal with fatigue. On Thursday I was feeling like taking a nap instead of running a tempo workout. On my warmup I was thinking way too much about how tired I felt - the result? I ended up running too hard - in fact I ended up running most of my mile splits faster than what I ran for a 10k today. I should be running tempo splits at about 10 mile to half-marathon pace.

So what do I do about it? I've still got 8 weeks before the Army 10 miler - so, how do I give my self the best chance to perform on October 4th? Right now - I think I'm probably pushing myself a little hard. Not that I don't expect to feel some aches and pains at this point in my training - but, I want to trust my "coach" (Jack Daniels' book). And according to him - I need to dial back the intensity on most of my workouts.

Last Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 1200 3:54 1100 3:33 1000 3:12 900 2:52 800 2:33 700 2:10 600 1:52 500 1:30 400 1:10.3 300 50.4 200 32.5 3X100
Wednesday: 11 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 10.5 miles 2mi easy 3mi (5:22.2+5:27.3+5:29.1 = 16:18.6) 3 min rest 2mi (5:19.9+5:19.9=10:39.8) 2 min rest 1mi (5:07.8) 2.5 mi easy
Friday: 9.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 11 miles Harris Teeter 10k 33:17 (5:29.8; 5:22.8; 5:33.1; 5:20.6; 5:11.0; 5:09.4; 1:10.2)
Total: 74 miles

This Week
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 16X400
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 12 miles 8X1 mi @ T pace 1 min rest
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 12 miles 10k dewey beach
Sunday: 20 miles
Total: 90 miles

Fun weather fact

2009-08-02T16:21:00.004-04:00

Today the mean temperature did something that it hasn't done since January 16th - it went down a degree (82 to 81 degrees - mean temp on 1/16 = 36 degrees). It won't really matter on Tuesday night at the track when it's supposed to be ~90 degrees - but, it does mean that the long dog's mouth of a Baltimore summer is slowly moving out.

Not that I'm complaining - I'd rather carry some water on a run than be forced to the treadmill because of ice on the roads, but it isn't exactly ideal for racing. However, I will be racing next Sunday for the first time in over a month. I'm running the Harris Teeter 10k next week in Leesburg, VA. I don't know exactly what to expect - but, I think I am ready for ~32:30. My JD inspired training has been going pretty well, so far. I've had some aches & pains, but nothing major. A cold water bath seems to take care of any soreness.

Today I ran one of my hardest long runs in awhile. I sprinkled in some 2 mile tempo sections into an 18 mile run. Overall I was pretty pleased - but, my second miles were consistently slower - which is not ideal. The big question will be how well I recover - this was my first week of seven planned weeks in a row at over 80 miles. The planned high week is 90 - so, nothing close to as "big" as my Boston training - but, it's more intense.

It's easy to let things get a little out of control with all the guys on the track each Tuesday - so, I think a key will be to just make sure I'm hitting my goal times and not worry about how many guys are finishing in front of me. Summer might be cooling off, but my training for the Army 10 miler is just starting to heat up! (yes, that might be the corniest sentence i've written on this blog - but, give me a break, I ran a hard 18 miler today! ; )

Last Week:
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 3X(1200, 2 min rest, 800, 90 sec rest, 400, 2 min rest) (3:48.5, 2:30.0, 71.8; 3:44.4, 2:26.0, 72.6; 3:40.5, 2:21.4, 65.5)
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 10.5 miles hills 6X84-88 seconds
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 11.5 miles
Sunday: 18 miles 2 mi easy 2X2 mi tempo (5:30.0+5:38.4=11:08.4; 5:23.5+5:32.2=10:55.7) 6 mi easy 2X2 mi tempo (5:27.4+5:38.6=11:06.0; 5:17.6+5:33.2=10:50.8) 2 mi easy
Total: 84 miles

This Week:
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track Workout
Wednesday: 11 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 10 miles Tempo workout
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 15 miles Harris Teeter 10k
Total: 80 miles

People who need people . . . to compete, but not too many people

2009-07-27T08:11:00.007-04:00

I can't remember where I found this blog post - but, I've been meaning to write something about it for awhile. It's a discussion of a psychology study regarding how the number of competitors affects how hard individuals compete. Simply, we are less motivated when the group size is larger - even if the odds of winning were the same.

That last point is the most important part - because, when it comes to racing, most of us are used to more people in a race means that there are more good runners - and therefore we have a worse chance of winning. But, in this study the same percentage of students would win a prize. It's as if you went to two different races, one with 100 people and one with 10,000 people. And the prize structure was that the top 10% received a prize - meaning that 10 people got a prize in the first race and 1,000 people got a prize in the second race. This study seems to show that most people will be more motivated in the first race than the second.

Since I did write my thesis on performance in groups based on the status of the individual - I have a few comments on this study. First, I am constantly intrigued by how people behave around each other - I many times surprise myself with my own behavior - much less other people. What's so incredible to me is that for the most part our behavior is mostly driven by a very simple concept - we pursue pleasure and avoid pain. But, we quickly understand as children that it's not always that simple. We might want to grab a hotdog off the grill - but, then we feel pain when we touch the grill. Although we quickly understand not to touch the grill - other lessons are much harder to learn - especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships. We constantly make bad decisions or wrong assumptions when it comes to others - even when it comes to people we've known our entire lives.

Given this complexity - some people just give up. They claim they don't care what other people think - because they've "learned" that it's impossible to figure out how others will react to them - so, it's "better" to just give up. Of course people who really take that to heart are usually very lonely and unhappy - most of the rest of us who say that are just kidding ourselves. We DO care what other people think - especially on a sub-conscious level. Studies like this one show how we are constantly monitoring our situation in regards to the others - in this case, we will try our hardest only if the group is small enough that we can't be "anonymous".

Like with social loafing, groupthink, and the bystander effect - we don't care as much about our behavior if we think that both pleasure or pain will be spread out to the group - instead of being focused on ourselves.

Last week
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 8X800m 90 sec rest (2:34.7, 2:33.6, 2:34.0, 2:34.8, 2:32.1, 2:29.7, 2:28.2, 2:20.7)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 11 miles 12X400m 400m rest (71.8, 72.0, 70.2, 71.3, 69.7, 69.5, 69.3, 68.7, 68.3, 67.5, 66.8, 66.3)
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 17 miles
Sunday: 8.5 miles
Total: 75.5 miles

This week:
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday afternoon: 12 miles 4X2 mi tempo
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles possible track workout
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 83 miles

GLR 09: M10 The Music Video

2009-07-22T09:18:00.000-04:00

Enjoy

Great Lakes Relay

2009-07-21T10:01:00.003-04:00

If I had to choose my favorite “moment” of the great lakes relay it was sitting on the beach – enjoying the best weather of the weekend and a few beverages - socializing with the other teams we had competed against as the remaining 84 teams came through the finish line. The lake was glistening – reflecting a cloudless sky – framed by the huge sand dune bluffs on the shore – and then a dude with a green lycra body suit that covered his entire body including his face ran out on to the beach and started dancing with random people.

It had been a long three days to get to this point. From ~4:30am, when we woke up each morning, until 3-4pm (1pm on the last day) when we finished each day – it was a continuous cycle of navigating/driving, estimating arrival times so that you had the proper amount of warm-up, finding some “privacy” in the woods, making sure you understood the directions, running your leg, warming down, getting something to eat/drink, and helping your teammates to do the same. It was no wonder that we were ready to pass out around 7pm every night.

I ran for “M-10”, the defending champions. Other than myself, M-10 had five Michigan grads, two Calvin grads and two current Michigan State guys. I think at least three of my teammates had run sub 14:30 5k’s this last spring – including a 37 year old. But, there were some other stacked teams as well. The “younger” Michigan team (named “Very Nice” – a Ron Warhurst phrase) had some studs on the current Michigan team – including Lex Williams – who apparently ran the last 5k of the Big 10 outdoor 10k in 14:10 this year. The other main competition was a team of Eastern Michigan current and alumni - including two guys who ran just over 50 minutes at the George Washington Parkway 10 miler in April.

The first day was eye opening for me. Approaching Oscoda High School – I felt like we were in the car convoy at the end of “Field of Dreams”. Before the race my best guess was that maybe 20-30 teams were in the relay – since it was mostly Michigan people and it was about 4-5 hours from civilization (aka Ann Arbor). But, to my surprise, there were 84 teams toeing the line on Friday morning at 6am – meaning that there were 240 cars (3 cars per team) carrying over 800 runners. Organized chaos is a pretty accurate way of describing what I saw on that first morning as people rushed back to their cars after the start to make their way to the correct leg.

Of these 84 teams, only two would receive trophies. One trophy is for the “open” division, which can include up to three females. The females receive a handicap – so, that a team with 7 guys and 3 girls can compete with a team with 10 guys (M-10 had 10 guys). The other division was for “mixed” which was for teams with four or more females.

Most of the legs were on the Shore-to-Shore trail which traverses the state from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The trail was originally designed as a horse trail. If you haven’t been to northern Michigan – there is one important feature when it comes to running – the top 6-12 inches of earth is made up of primarily sand. This meant that the constant horse traffic dug a trench about 12-18 inches wide and 2-6 inches deep. Where the sand was really bad and the brush to the sides was relatively light – it was best to hop out of the rut and run along the less sandy sides. The first two days were almost entirely on this trail – and three out of my six legs were on the trail – so I had to get rid of my Patapsco induced phobia of trails pretty quickly.

My first leg was a simple four mile loop on roads – but, even then I wasn’t quite sure I was going the right way at one point. My first turn was onto a “road” that was just two tracks with grass growing in the middle. My first leg was also a little odd in that I couldn’t see any other runners. My goal was to run “tempo” pace – but, not seeing anyone else meant I didn’t run with any real urgency.

My second leg of the first day started very differently with my teammate leading two other runners sprinting out of the woods – I instinctively attempted to put some distance on the other two by pushing hard the first few hundred meters into the woods – but, one guy was right on me. He eventually passed me and ended up gapping me by 15-20 seconds over three miles even though I was going at pretty much race effort. That’s when I realized that instead of 26 miles of tempo effort over three days – quite a bit of it would be race pace because you don’t want to be the guy who puts your team back a few minutes – as you most likely would be greeted with a comment like “what happened, did you get lost?” Sometimes guys who were about to go head-to-head against someone they knew was better they would preemptively state that they weren’t going to get lost – so, nobody should ask them when they were done.

As a team we were pretty happy – there weren’t any huge screw-ups – just a few hiccups. But, in the end the two younger teams were too strong for us after accounting for the handicap – although we ended up with the fastest overall time by ~40 seconds – which is incredibly close since the race was 270 miles long. Overall it was one of the most fun running events that I’ve participated in. It was less like a race and more like a “festival” of running. Of course the other guys were key to the whole experience – not only was everybody good – they were also a lot of fun to hang out with around the campfire.

Last Week

Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 4X(1000m 500m) (3:12, 1:31; 3:07, 1:29 ;3:06,1:25 ;3:01,1:27) 2X200 (33.8,30.9)
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 15 miles GLR ~7 miles
Saturday: 16 miles GLR ~11 miles
Sunday: 13 miles GLR ~ 8 miles
Total: 75 miles

This Week:

Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 11 miles possible track workout
Friday: 8.5 miles
Saturday: 18 miles

Sunday: 9 miles
Total: 75 miles

GLR week

2009-07-12T19:02:00.003-04:00

My TWSS equivalent training group in Ann Arbor, before I moved to Baltimore, included some guys who organize a team for the Great Lakes Relay every year. I always wanted to run - but I always had a conflict. The GLR starts on the east side of the state (about the same latitude as Green Bay, WI) and finishes in Empire, MI on the Lake Michigan side. In between are 264.75 miles broken into 54 legs run by 10 guys.

The nice thing about the GLR is that it is run over three days and each day has a manageble number of miles so that you're done each day by mid-afternoon (knock on wood). Much more civilized than the "run through the night" option that lots of these long distance relays seem to use.

As you can see from the voluminous nature of my training summary for last week - I've started to kick up the intensity. The Jack Daniels training book that I'm following for my goal Army 10 miler race suggests running three hard workouts or two hard workouts and a race per week.

Looking back on my marathon training - I had only one week with three hard days in a week. For my 10 miler training I'll have about 7-8 weeks with three hard days. So, although I won't be running as many miles as I did for Boston - it will be an adjustment. Of course no other week will have three "hard" days in a row like I've got this week.

Last Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 2X(800,1600,800) (2:34, 5:07, 2:30;2:30, 4:56, 2:21) 90 sec rest after 800 & 2 min after 1600
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 12.5 miles 3X2mi @ tempo (5:32+5:32=11:04; 5:24+5:29=10:53; 5:17+5:23=10:40)
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 4X(200m R pace 200m jog 200m R pace 400m jog 800m R pace 400m jog)(33.3, 35.9, 2:20.7; 33.1, 34.1, 2:20.5; 32.9, 34.1, 2:20.8; 35.0, 35.7, 2:19.5)
Sunday: 16 miles
Total: 75.5 miles

This Week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles track workout
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 15 miles GLR ~7 miles
Saturday: 16 miles GLR ~11 miles
Sunday: 16 miles GLR ~ 8 miles
Total: 79 miles

1st loser on the 4th

2009-07-05T17:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday proved why one should never tie one's ego to winning. Sometimes it's all about who shows up.

Yes, I know, that does sound like something only a loser would say.

Yesterday I ran the African-American 5k in Baltimore. The prize for first place was two round trip tickets on Southwest to any place in the country. After looking at the results from last year I thought that I had a decent chance. I thought I could run about a minute faster than the winning time from last year. So, I registered after making sure that most of the guys I knew could beat me were out of town for the holiday or not interested.

Yes, I was running this race pretty much entirely to get some free plane tickets. Usually, I'm not the kind of runner who see how much money I can win at local road races - primarily because it isn't terribly motivating for me. I like big, historic races - where being in the top 100 is an achievement. Not to say that I don't enjoy winning - I do - I just don't want to be "one of those guys" who searches for the "easy money" or "easy victories."

So, in my own world view, I got what I deserved when I showed up to find out that two of the local Ethiopians were running the race. The race was pretty much over after 50 meters - he ended up beating me by a minute. So, very quickly I had to reconsider my goals. I decided that since I hadn't run a 5k for awhile I needed to test my fitness. So, I just ran as hard as I could and ended up with a 15:54 (although the course may have been about 10-15 seconds short). This was about what shape I thought that I was in - so, that was good. And the awards ceremony was awesome. They had a radio personality from Baltimore as the emcee. Judging from his girth he hadn't attended too many races in the past - although he ran the race - coming in last place. He did a great job on the awards - he had a little funny comment for everybody who came up.

One thing I've learned in my old age is that the world is a much better place if you let go of your pre-conceptions of what life should be about. Sometimes people, experiences, jobs etc end up being valuable in very different ways than you first expected. The key is remaining open - and not let disappointment get in the way of having a good time.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10.5 miles Tempo workout 2X15 min at the magic garden
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 16 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 11 miles 5k race
Sunday: 10.5 miles
Total: 71 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 10 miles possible track workout
Friday: 9 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles 8 mi of tempo
Total: 76 miles

Western States

2009-07-02T09:13:00.002-04:00

One of our Baltimore running group members did something that is still a completely unfathomable to me - Alyssa ran 100 miles up and down mountains. Her race report is pretty inspiring.

However, I have to say that leading up to the race and during the race I had some mixed feelings about her doing this. Part of me was thinking, "what is she trying to prove?" and "why would you put yourself in a situation like that?" While I was following her progress on the shaky web service of the Western States website, I couldn't help but have the same feelings of having a friend go through a major surgery. It's different than a normal race - you just hope they survive the thing without any lasting ill effects.

But, after reading her report and finding a quote from George Sheehan, M.D. (I'll post a little bio on him later) I feel differently. Yes, some of my change in perspective might come from the fact that she actually survived (and won her age group) - but, I also realize that Western States is in some ways the ultimate test. And I have to applaud anyone who values pushing themselves to the limits (within some bounderies of safety). Although, I don't run ultra's - it's the same feeling of self discovery and challenge that motivates me - and I can certainly respect that. The late Dr. Sheehan's quote sums it up much better than I can.

"We run long to learn our inner most self. In the long run we get down to bedrock. We find courage and strength we never knew we possessed. We give witness to a person we have never been before.

The run is like religion and play. It resembles art and music, it fills an area of life that is of tremendous importance but has no practical value. And like those other similar activities, running is among our most important functions. It helps us discover and form the self, we find where we are and where we are going. We learn who we are and who we might be. The long run is a place of self discovery."

George Sheehan, M.D.

MIA

2009-06-28T11:51:00.004-04:00

So, what's my excuse? Well, there was this.
And of course the difficulty of adjusting to life without fresh pain au chocolats every morning.

Well, I'm back now. This last week was the first time I ran two track workouts in one week for a very long time. I'm going to focus on quality over the next 14 weeks before the Army 10 miler - my weekly mileage will vary between 70-90 per week. A little less than what I ran in prep for Boston - but, most weeks I'll be running three quality sessions per week. So, keeping up with my nutrition and recovery regimine (elevation, cold baths, roller) will be key.

Here's what I've been running the last three weeks:

Week of 6/8
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles somehow didn't write down my times 1600m @ tempo 2X900;2X700;2X500;2X300
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 17 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 12 miles Survivor Harbor 7 mile 37:55
Total: 63 miles

Week of 6/15
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday afternoon: 7.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 6 miles
Friday: 18 miles
Saturday: 9 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 56.5 miles

Week of 6/22
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 3X2000 6:19;6:23;6:28 4X400 75;72;67;64
Wednesday: 9 miles
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 4X200(35;35.6;35.8;35.2) 2X400 (68.7;69.6) 1X800 (2:19.9) 2X400 (70;70.2) 4X200 (34.1;34.8;33.9;32.9) rest same as previous interval
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 71 miles

This week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Tempo workout
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 11 miles hills
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 12X400m R pace 400m rest OR 5k race
Sunday: 15 miles
Total: 71 miles

A New Season

2009-06-07T14:48:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure why I didn't write about this last week - but, I've now entered my 18 week training cycle focused on the Army 10 miler. Last week was my first hard workout since Boston - and a mixture of fresh legs along with some cash incentives ($7,500 purse Race for Our Kids) prodded me into my first "real" race since Boston.

I knew that my place was going to be completely determined by who showed up. I'm just not in a place yet where I can mix it up with the big dogs. Well - pretty much every runner I was afraid of from Baltimore showed up today - along with a contingent from DC and No. VA (They somehow evaded our police barracade on both 95 & 295). The only thing I could hope for is that several of them would go out too fast and I could catch them on the brutal half-mile hill at the end.

It was not meant to be - other than Kyle allowing me to come within sniffing distance for the first and probably last time it was a pretty uneventful race. And except for a DNF - I was in the same place at a half-mile that I was at the finish. I got second in my age group - in a time that was six minutes faster than that place was last year. Proving once again that races cycle through fast & slow times - and if last year's results were slow you should probably count on them being fast this year.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9.5 miles - hills - 7X400-600 meters
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 8.5 miles
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 10.5 miles 10k 33:52 (5:11;5:31;5:36;5:28;5:23;5:36;1:06)
Total: 63.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 17 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 12 miles Survivor Harbor 7 mile
Total: 63 miles

Two great stories of love gone wrong from my home state

2009-06-01T16:58:00.002-04:00

One is somewhat related to athletic endeavors. A kid tried to ride a bike 250 miles to his girlfriend's place - when he got tired he stole a car.

The other has nothing to do with running or biking - but, it shows what happens when slick hollywood types come into my hometown and try to steal our women.

The only dude in the room

2009-06-01T08:57:00.003-04:00

Last night Kendra and I went to our "regular" Sunday night yoga at Midtown Charm City Yoga. The room was packed as it normally is - but, I noticed something just before the class started. I had the only Y chromosome in the hot/sweaty room full of girls in spandex. Since, as a married man, I no longer notice attractive females - my only thought was that it's too bad more dudes don't do yoga.

I've discussed yoga in a post a long time ago - I really do think it helped me in my training for Boston. Everyone knows that yoga helps your muscles to become more flexible - but, it also strengthens muscles. It's not just 90 minutes of stretching. There are plenty of "poses" where I find myself shaking uncontrollably, sweat poring onto the mat, as I pray that we'll soon move into "child's pose." There are also poses designed to help your body get rid of toxins - which is important if you're training hard. Finally, it is a great stress reliever - I can't really explain it - but, I always feel less stressed and more ready to face the merde de vie after a session.

This is my first week with a "hard" workout. I have 18 weeks to go until my Fall goal race - the Army 10 miler.

Last Week
Monday: 7.5 miles
Tuesday: 11 miles 8X100m
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 9.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 63 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles - hills
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 8.5 miles
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 12 miles 6 miles tempo
Total: 64.5 miles

The Mad Scientist

2009-05-25T23:16:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I was reading about Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein." It was both the first modern horror story and the first science fiction story. Written in 1818 - it touched on many concepts that would not really be fully explored by literature or science for another century.

Probably the most obvious lesson of "Frankenstein" is the importance of airing out our wonderful ideas with others. This is as important when building a training plan as building a humanoid made from cadaver's body parts.

I'm not saying that you should always bend to what others say - you know your own body better than anybody else - but, by this point pretty much every possible training strategy has been tried. If you don't use what others have learned, you are basically wasting your time - but at least you won't find yourself holed up in a dank castle waiting for the townsfolk with torches & pitchforks. It is, after all, just running.

Last Week
Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles - a few intervals
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 6.5 miles
Sunday: 14.5 miles
Total: 53 miles

Next Week
Monday: 7.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles 8X100m
Wednesday: 9 miles
Thursday: 8.5 miles
Friday: 7 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 16 miles
Total: 65.5 miles

Old Man Summertime Challenge

2009-05-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

As an old guy you have to find ways to motivate yourself beyond PR's. All of my PR's at 10k and below are now over 10 years old. I could start running ultras - or I could find some kind of simple mathematical formula to find new goals for these distances.

Since running from sunrise to sunset isn't my idea of a good time (for the joys of ultra marathoning see Alyssa's blog) I found a way to challenge myself with some realistic goals at distances that I haven't raced for a long time.

I came up with an idea after running an all-out 400m tonight for the first time in almost 15 years. Somehow I managed to break 60 - which is ~5 sec off my PR (sadly enough). So I thought, what if I gave myself a 5 sec grace period per 400m for all my PR's under 10k? I did the math - and while challenging, I think I can do it.

I might save the 5k and 10k for next spring - but, I'd like to do this for at least the 800m, mile and 2 mile this summer. My goals would be 2:08, 4:35, and 9:36 (based off of 3k PR) respectively.

Next Tuesday - the 800.

Mine that Bird

2009-05-18T15:36:00.003-04:00

Yes - the filly did win this last weekend, and pretty much from beginning to end. But, even more exciting to me was how Mine that Bird ended up second after being at the back of the pack again. I was ready to give all credit to the jockey for the Derby win - but, the fact that Mine that Bird ran a pretty similar race with a different jockey shows that the instincts of the horse play a role as well.

There are times that horse racing seems somewhat cruel - but, after watching those two races it's hard to think that Mine that Bird doesn't enjoy mixing it up down the stretch as much as we enjoy watching him. I was actually watching the race from a reception that proceeded a lecture by the author Michael Pollan. Pollan wrote "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food". One of his more interesting arguments is that our food system works best when we let a cow be a cow and a carrot be a carrot. Basically, there are natural systems that have developed over millions of years - and we need to respect those systems or else we end up with weaker and less sustainable planet. The problem, Pollan argues, is our hubris in thinking that we can improve upon natural systems. We can't and whenever we try nature eventually punches us in the gut to remind us who's boss.

I'm probably the millionth person to say this, but running is a great sport because it is so completely natural. We are all runners on some level - the design of our bodies is related to this one activity more than anything else. The same is true of horses - which is (along with my wife's favorite activity of low stakes gambling) why horse races can be so compelling. You are seeing another animal doing something very natural and at the highest level possible.

When you run, especially against another person, you are recreating an event that has happened since our ancestors first ran on two feet. We all have that instinctual part of our brains that knew what it was to run with animals now long extinct. When you are able to access that place running stops being a chore and becomes thrilling.

Last Week
Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 16 miles
Total: 48 miles

This week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles something on the track
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 6.5 miles
Saturday: 14 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 52 miles

The Season of Laziness

2009-05-10T21:58:00.003-04:00

Today I was supposed to run - but, I didn't. No, I wasn't injured or sick. I took 10 paces out the door this morning and said, "forget it." Kendra and I then went on an unplanned trip to Philly (note: the Eastern State Penitentary is more interesting than Alcatraz) - we came home I put on my running clothes and again took 10 steps out the door and just didn't feel it. I went to the fridge, grabbed a beer and chilled. I actually felt a slight twinge of guilt - but, then I thought - to everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season - and the season right now is laziness.

I remember that my college coach used to say that the best runners are lazy. Not lazy in relation to a lot of people - but, they are able to just chill. Runners who are always on the go rarely perform well. The body needs rest. Jim Adams likes to tell a story about an area runner who ran his best race the week after coming down with the flu. The forced bed rest had actually been good for him - of course when he felt better he started over training again and he never ran quite as fast.

Three weeks ago I ran the Boston Marathon - but, more importantly I ended a 24 week training cycle that was unlike anything I've put myself through in my life. By June I'll be running track workouts and from the end of June until the end of September I'll be running 70-90 miles a week, with three hard days (or two hard days & a race) per week. Now is the season of laziness.

Last Week

Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 33 miles

This Week

Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 13 miles
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 45 miles

Supreme Victory (over a nice kid with Celiac disease)

2009-05-03T14:35:00.006-04:00

It's been just under two weeks since Boston. I've run 43 miles in those last 13 days - a far cry from the end of Feb-March when I was running at least four times that amount in the same number of days. It is a good thing - my body needs to rest - the first day that I felt really "normal" was yesterday.

That being said - my mind isn't so ready to give way to this period of "rest". I have a bit of a competitive side - it's hard for me to sit on the sidelines when there are so many races in the area. So, I registered for the "Making Tracks for Celiac 10k" here in Baltimore. In a compromise between my rational self and my competitive self, I planned on running more of an escalation workout than a true race. The plan was to start out over six minute pace and drop down each mile so that I was only really running all out only the last two miles - when I would let my competitive self take over and have its fun.

The race developed pretty much as I had hoped - except for the cold rain. My first mile was 6:08 - roughly the same pace as the heartbreak hill at Boston - except a lot more comfortable : ) The course was mostly within Patterson Park - a series of turnbacks and loops that made me want to keep the leaders in site so I wouldn't get lost. Over the next few miles my pace dropped to 5:53 and then the 5:40's. By now the 5k runners were long gone - and I saw one runner in front of me.

At mile four I really started to push the pace - and I passed the leader soon after. Taking the lead can put you slightly off balance - because you no longer have someone in front of you to focus on. I was taught to always pass the leader with a surge - then they are much more likely to just let you go. The second place guy stayed close enough to hear his footsteps for about a half-mile and then I started to pull away. My last 2.2 were in 11:24 (about 5:10 pace).

It was nice to stretch out the legs a little, win a race, and get a little money. At least that's how I felt until the awards ceremony. As the MC announced the top 3 names he asked the second place finisher (a high school kid who was very nice after the race) to come over. Apparently the kid is a 17 year old from Chevy Chase, MD and has run many of the Celiac races around the country - mostly because he has Celiac. Even more impressive he has won most of the races he has entered. So, basically they could have had a great story (the winner being a kid with Celiac) and I had to spoil the fun.

I never want to turn into one of those guys who are so addicted to victory that they find every opportunity for a "W". The most notorious guy like this lives in Northern VA. His most reprehensible victory was in a mile track race. Allegedly, he outkicked a 12 year old girl and then pumped his fist Tiger Woods style after he crossed the finish line. Not that I'm anywhere close to being that bad - but, today made me ponder how dark that part of me might be. I don't feel "awesome" about the race - but, I feel kinda good. Is that a bad thing?

Well, now that I got my competitive itch scratched - I'm going to try to keep to easy miles for most of the month of May. But, who am I kidding - I'm not making any promises.

Last week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 0 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 6.5 miles
Total: 31.5 miles

Next week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 4 miles
Total: 37 miles

What's next?

2009-05-01T08:48:00.002-04:00

Well, the name of my blog means I either need to stop posting, change the name, or start training for Boston 2010. I've decided on the middle path.

Although training will still be the focus of the blog - I want to explore a topic that interests me - group training. I have a masters degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and my thesis was on how status of people within groups affect performance within that group. Also, I work for OptumHealth (sister company of UnitedHealthcare) - a company that delivers disease management, wellness programing, online wellness content etc. - basically we are trying to improve the health of our clients and consumers. And finally, I've been lucky to be a part of several groups/teams as a runner - these affiliations have always helped me as a runner.

All of these experiences have led me to believe that group training is a very powerful tool in maximizing performance and fitness. In fact, I think it's the key to improving the low levels of fitness that we see in the US. We need to help people to form groups that meet regularly and support each other as they find out how to live healthier lives. I first started working in the health management field at the University of Michigan, at a research center directed by Dee Edington - who is one of the most respected people in the field. One concept that he discussed often was that improving health isn't just about lowering healthcare costs - it's about improving the "vitality" of our country.

I just found out about an interesting program that Baltimore is starting a program to reduce cardiovascular disease in Baltimore - part of the program is reaching people in the community through churches and barbershops - which seems like an interesting idea. If anybody knows more about this program please let me know.

Marathon Photos

2009-04-23T11:07:00.003-04:00

I'm sure that it will be a few weeks before the official photos come out - but, I found a site with a huge number of pics from the marathon. They are by a group headed by a runner named Jim Rhoades - who I guess just takes these for fun. I found myself on page 16 of the 30k and pages 3 & 18 at the 20 mile. I couldn't find myself in any of the 1 mile marker pics - but, I was on the other side of the road and running in a big group - so, I probably got blocked from view.

The Recovery

2009-04-22T16:35:00.002-04:00

Since I work from home, and apparently have no life outside of running, the last two days have felt like I've been sick. There have been no long runs or two-a-days or hard workouts - just working, eating, drinking, and sleeping. Of course this is a good thing - but, it's an odd adjustment. I can't even seem to get off my good nutritional habits as much as I hoped - yes, I've had a few ice cream & brownie sundaes and some good beer - but, most of my meals are still straight out of my plan that Melissa helped me with - what's the fun in that?!!

I've elevated my legs a few times and had a cold water bath last night. Next week, after my muscles have healed a little, I'm planning on a massage.

Tomorrow is my first run since the marathon. Given the amount of soreness that I have right now - I'm not sure that I'll be able to make it the planned four miles. We'll see.

In the longer term I'll be running only easy miles until June. My mileage will be increasing from 30 miles next week to 65 miles the last week of May. I'm trying to give my self plenty of time to recover - because from June - October I'm planning a lot of intense training - not as many miles as I've been running for Boston, but a larger percentage of hard mileage.

This doesn't have anything to do with my recovery - but, I realized today that my time at the Miami half-marathon, which was planned to be at marathon pace, was only three seconds off the pace I ran at Boston (Miami - 1:16:19; Boston - 2:32:35) - weird.

The Race

2009-04-21T17:06:00.002-04:00

My first conscious moments of April 20th, 2009 were sometime around 1-2am. I woke up in the middle of the night as I normally do before a big race. My sub-conscious seemed to be pleading with me to be cautious - as my first thoughts were regarding the Miami half-marathon I ran in January. I ended up running with a marathoner for a few miles - and as I turned off to the finish I had pangs of guilt and sympathy as I realized he had many painful miles ahead.

Today, I would be switching places with that runner. The only thing that could at least buffer the pain I had in front of me was to be smart at the beginning. The start of a major marathon is like the beginning of youthful love. You want to throw yourself into it fully - not thinking about the consequences or the possible pain that your thoughtlessness might cause in the future. As those of a certain age know, the wisdom of maturity is born from pain that follows such foolishness.

My second awakening was at 5:20am. I drove to a T stop and rode it to the Boston Commons where I would catch a bus to the start at Hopkinton. The bus ride was another reminder to be cautious. The ride takes close to an hour - and has all the riders asking "I have to run all the way back?"

I found a relatively empty set of porta-johns. Not to be too graphic, but along with eating right - making sure that you are as "empty" as possible is a big key to having a good race. I quickly found my friends and we joked and laughed as we lay on the wet grass. The area eventually became so crowded that I decided to head for the buses where I would drop off my gear bag. In it was warm clothing, my training shoes, a little money and my cell phone.

I walked down with others to the start at the town square of Hopkinton (pop. <15,000). The area had the feel of a small town festival. I watched the women start at 9:30am - after some stretching and resting I walked over to my corral. Fortunately, my bib number allowed me to get into the first corral behind the elites.

As I sat, stretched, and sipped on some water a volunteer asked me if it was my first Boston. We chatted a little bit and she told me that the elites were going to pass right on the other side of the french barricades beside me. Apparently they used to bring the elites through the cemetery - but, some of them complained that it was bad luck. So, they changed the route so that they passed next to the first few corrals of runners.

10-15 minutes before the start I saw Hall, Cheriyot, Sell, and others comes towards me. Both Hall and Sell were very pumped - they high-fived us as they passed. Then my friend since childhood, Todd Snyder, came by - he was in the zone - and I had to shout his name a few times before he looked up and noticed me.

Several minutes later the gun fired and we were off. The first few miles were a blur - but, I stayed pretty relaxed. The road was crowded - but, I was able to run my pace without being blocked or pushed.

As the miles went by runners started to coalesce into groups like a stream of water forming droplets - these groups were formed, in part, because of the wind. People were less willing to run by themselves. I had promised myself that I wouldn't freak out if I found myself by my lonesome. I was able to do some drafting - but, I didn't surge to the next group when I found myself alone - I just tried to keep the same level of effort.

My first 10 miles were very close to my goal of 57 minutes. That first hour of running was spent running through small towns and longer stretches of woodlands, over creeks, and alongside small lakes. In more open areas near the lakes it was evident that the #1 opponent for the day would be the wind. It wasn't a blow you over wind - but, it did provide some drag.

Around the 12-mile mark was the infamous "scream tunnel" as Welleselley College. It was pretty crazy - they take their unofficial responsibility as the cheerleading squad of the Boston marathon pretty seriously.

The next major milestone was the halfway mark - 1:14:48. Although, I knew that I was about 30-40 seconds slower than I planned - I felt strongly that I could run a faster second half. Usually in a marathon, I'm questioning what I got myself into at the halfway point - so this was a good sign.

Since the 10 mile mark I had been 20-30 seconds back of a big group. My plan was to pass them by mile 15 - but, I hadn't made much of a dent. In the second half of the 15th mile there was a long downhill to the Charles River - a downhill that belies what's to come. The bridge over the Charles River was a bridge to pain - within a few steps after the bridge I was on my way up the first of the four Newton hills.

The group that I had stalked for the last five miles melted around me as I powered my way up the hill. I felt stronger after 16 miles than any other marathon I've run. At 17 miles was a slight downhill - I saw Melissa cheering off to the side of the road. She was one familiar face out of a sea of strangers - I went over to the side of the road and gave her a high five. In my distraction I missed the 17 mile mark - the only one I missed in the entire marathon.

I hit 20 miles in ~1:54:30 - just 30 seconds slower than I had planned. I felt strong enough at that point that I still thought I could edge under 2:30. Soon after came the infamous heartbreak hill - I've heard a lot of people say it's not that bad - but, I certainly wasn't disappointed by the challenge.

Yes - most of the last five miles is downhill - but, there are some rolling hills I didn't expect. I still thought I had a shot of running under 2:30 until I got to the hill at mile 23. At that point I knew it just wasn't in the cards. The wind worsened after heartbreak hill and my legs started to stiffen. I didn't completely throw in the towel - I tried to key off some other runners and finish strong - but, I slowed pretty substantially in the last few miles. Given that I didn't have a shot of sub 2:30 I decided it was better to enjoy the crowds and the experience instead of killing myself.

After crossing the line I slowly made my way to the buses for my gear bag. Every 15-20 feet a medical volunteer asked me if I needed any assistance. The Boston volunteers are the best in any race I've participated in - they love this day and give it their all to make a good experience for the runners.

Eventually I got a massage and a woman who thought her job was a good excuse to torture helpless runners drained and cleaned out my blisters.

Overall the day was a great success. Yea - it would have been nice to not have such a strong headwind - but, looking back on my first post outlining my goals - much more has gone right than has gone wrong since November.

Some people mistakenly believe that the marathon is an individual event. But, I've been lucky to run with a very supportive group of people without whom I could never have PR'd today. And of course everybody who has offered their support in the comments on this blog and in person. It's been a great adventure. Thank you.

Ready for a burger and a beer

2009-04-20T16:33:00.002-04:00

It's odd writing this thinking that my journey that started in November is now over. It's not a bad thing necessarily - I'm happy to have a little more free time and eat some very bad food for a few weeks : )

I'm fairly happy with my overall time - given that we had a 10-15 mile an hour head wind for 26.2 miles. I'll write something a little more detailed tomorrow - just thought I'd post something for anyone interested in my total time and/or splits.

5:48 5:43
5:36 5:48
5:36 5:32
5:33 11:45 (two miles - got distracted high fiving Melissa)
5:47 5:43
5:41 5:54 1:54:34 for 20
5:45 6:10 heartbreak hill
5:48 5:46
5:46 6:07
5:45 57:05 for 10 5:55
5:41 6:16
5:40 7:47 last 1.2 miles
5:43 2:32:35

The Flow

2009-04-17T16:27:00.001-04:00

One part of the preparation that I haven't really talked about is mental imagery. I can remember in college looking at a course map every friday night during XC season and imagining myself running strongly from start to finish.

It might sound like an odd thing to do - but, I don't know of a good coach who doesn't have his athletes use this technique. It works because when you toe the line you feel like you've already been here - you've already run this course strongly. And that extra bit of confidence allows you to react to the difficult parts of the race in a more positive manner. You're less likely to give up - you're more able to relax and push through the difficult times.

One powerful image for me is a flowing river - it may be calm, but there is a lot of force and it is continually moving. Of course there is a lot of flowing going on when you're running - all the thousands of miniature "rivers" delivering oxygen to your muscles and removing toxins. The air moving in and out of your lungs. The wind flowing around your body.

To etch that imagery into my head - I ran down to a portion of Jones Falls, which runs along the southern end of Falls Road here in Baltimore. Even though it's only 1/2 mile from Penn Station and next to I-83 - it's very peaceful there. I ran my last six striders in a quiet section between two mini "rapids". I thought about how the rocks and boulders were like the Newton hills - and how the water just flowed over or around the rocks easily. The rocks only gave the water a voice and texture.

Boston is of course a fun race for mental imagery - the crowds, the landmarks, the hills. This route is better known than the actual road that Phidippides traveled from Marathon to Athens all those years ago. The Boston course is full of heroes and villains - comedy and tragedy - joy and sorrow. The course itself is a celebration of life lived intensely and deliberately.

On Monday I might be in too much pain to think of running or the course in any poetic sense - but, I hope that I can at least draw some inspiration from the place - so that I can perform my best.

I've probably spent enough time analyzing the race : ) so, this will probably be my last post before Monday. Thanks to everyone for their support and good luck to everyone running on Monday!

Tracking

2009-04-17T12:16:00.002-04:00

I've had a few people ask me about how to track runners during the marathon. There are a couple of ways to do it - one is through the AT&T athlete alert program. You can have them send you text messages and/or e-mail updates. It's probably best to sign up for this as soon as you can - I think the cutoff is 6am on race day. You should received messages when the runner you are tracking crosses the 10k, half marathon, 30k and finish. Although I think there is some delay - so, don't expect to get the messages in real time.

The other way is through the Hewlett-Packard Athlete Search. You can see every 5k split - and from my experience this set-up is not as delayed as the text messages/e-mails. I think you can just search by name for both of these services - but, it's always helpful to have the race number as well (mine is 1143). There isn't any sign-up need for the HP search - it should be displayed on the Boston marathon homepage on Monday.

The Plan

2009-04-16T17:58:00.002-04:00

My college coach used to say "plan the race and race the plan." Yes, you can't freak out if circumstances force you to change plans - but, you need to go into a race understanding your goal with a realistic plan of how you will get there. In some ways I've been doing this on a macro level with my training plan - and as with my training plan I've learned a few things in my four marathons that will help me on Monday.

Probably the most important part of the plan is pacing. Because of the unique elevation profile of the course, the history, and the strong fan support in places (Wellesley College, Cleveland Circle) - there is probably no other course on earth with as much thought that has gone into mileage splits than Boston. I thought about taping the splits onto my arm from one of the pacing calculators that I wrote about in a previous post - but, I'm worried that I might rely on it too much. But, I do think the calculators were helpful because they told me that even on the biggest downhill mile I shouldn't go any faster than 5:30 and that I shouldn't go any slower on the uphills than slightly over 6 minutes.

For me the biggest trick will be the first few miles. At New York in 2007 my second mile (coming down the bridge) was under 5:20 pace. I was having way too much fun - feeling the excitement of the race and I paid for it later. This time I'm planning to have the disposition of a monk. I almost want to feel groggy in the first few miles - like I'm slowly waking up as the race unfolds. The first four miles are like running down a sledding hill - in my training I sought out hills like those and concentrated on flowing down them - focusing on keeping my stride short to keep the pounding to a mininum.

Although I will be keeping mile splits - the first split that I'll really concentrate on is the 10th mile. I'm hoping to be somewhere around 57 minutes. I've heard it said that the marathon is best broken into thirds - the first ten miles, the second ten miles, and the last 10k. These are the splits where I'll really take stock of how I'm doing. I'm hoping that my second 10 miles will also be close to 57 minutes - leaving me a 36 minute 10k to break 2:30.

Another big part of "the plan" is nutrition. I discovered Roctane - which is the best gel that I've ever used. It really provides a kick - we'll probably learn that it has some illegal chemical in it and it will take 10 years off my life - but, heh, I'm trying to break 2:30! I'm going to take one Roctane 15 minutes before the race starts and three more during the race (miles 8, 16, & 22). Boston is the only race I know of that has water/gatorade stops every mile. So, there shouldn't be a problem with hydration. I'll probably take water and gatorade every 2-3 miles.

The other parts of the plan are related to pre-race. I arrive in Boston on Saturday. I plan on sleeping in on Sunday, and except for a 30 min shakeout run, the expo, and dinner - I'm going to be laying around watching TV or reading a book.

I'll have to leave for the bus at ~6am on Monday morning. I'll bring a bunch of clothing and maybe a cheap poncho. They force you to check your bag at least an hour before the start. So, I'll also bring some warm clothes that I'll just throw away at the start (they give the clothing to charity). The forcast is for low to mid 40's and a 30% chance of rain - ok for racing, but not for waiting around. In terms of the actual race the worst part of the forcast so far is a 15 mile-an-hour wind coming out of the east, which just happens to be the direction we'll be running for 26.2 miles. But, hey - it's better than 80 degrees and sunny like it has been some years.

Hansons-Brooks Boston Preview

2009-04-15T22:13:00.003-04:00

Hansons-Brooks Distance Project is one of the more interesting American distance running groups to surface in the last ten years. They specialize in taking post-collegiate runners and making them pretty darn good marathoners. Of course, they helped Brian Sell to be an Olympian and took 7 of the top 22 places at Boston in 2006. That they are from my home state and that one of my oldest friends runs for them is just icing on the cake.

On their site they are posting interviews with each of the 6 runners participating at Boston - as well as the two coaches and founders of the group - Kevin and Keith Hanson. The interview with Kevin and Keith Hanson helps to shed some light on why Boston is so special and why group training is so important. The topic of how groups can bring out the best in individuals is so interesting to me that I think it will be the focus of my blog after Boston.

The other interview that interests me is with one of my oldest friends - Todd Snyder. Todd and I were in the same cub scout troop growing up. We eventually got into running at different middle schools in Ann Arbor, MI (my family moved when I was in 4th grade or else we would have been in the same middle school too). In high school we both ran for Pioneer High School. Todd was an okay runner our freshman year - but, as our sophomore year went by he started getting better and better.

We convinced him to train during the next summer (he hadn't done that before). After that, I was lucky to see him at any point after the first 800 meters of a race. He won six individual state titles (XC, indoor, outdoor) - basically unbeaten in races for our high school his last two years. Michigan is a pretty deep running state - Todd had to beat some pretty impressive dudes, including Abdul Alzidani (a year younger than us, but eventual Foot Locker national champ) to win his individual titles.

Todd went on to the University of Michigan - where by his senior year he placed 10th at XC D1 Nationals - an All-American stud. Although his talent is pretty amazing - he is even a better person. We became pretty good friends by our junior year - and except for the period where he dated my sister (don't ask) - we've been good friends ever since. He's just a good all around guy - someone who gives more than he takes - a kind spirit.

Anyways - enough gushing - it sounds like he's in shape to pull a great performance next week. Although he didn't tell me - I heard from other sources that he was in 2:14 shape last fall until he had a stress fracture in his foot that kept him out of Chicago. So, I'm guessing that he got back into similar shape. In their interview - Kevin and Keith seem to be a little secretive about what they think he can do - which sounds promising to me. I talked to him last week and he seems to feel confident in his fitness.

Good luck Todd - and the rest of the Hansons crew!

UPDATE: I just read a Q&A with Brian Sell on the Runners World site - he is pretty high on Todd:

"A guy on our team to watch is Todd Snyder. He's run like 2:20. We just did our simulator run the other day, our 16-miler, and he ran the equivalent of a 2:12. He's definitely fit."

I also liked this quote about Dathan Ritzenhein - "Just looking at him five years ago, I just thought he was this Nike-sponsored punk who did a couple of yoga exercises and ran 30 miles a week and just was so talented that he was able to pull stuff out like that. "

Another post on the taper

2009-04-15T14:57:00.004-04:00

He's faster and he said it better than I did - Adrian Marriott, a 2:18 marathoner, with a post on the taper.

I found Adrian's post on the LetsRun message board. Somebody was complaining how bad they felt during their taper. I have to say I feel the same way. Rojo, one of the founders of Letsrun, commented on the post saying that the problem is that runners expect to feel incredible during the taper - but, that's not always the case. Echoing Jake Klim's comment earlier this week on my blog - his final advice was:

"You're either in shape or not.

You don't lose it in one week of training or in one race.

Be confident and stop thinking.

Just run."

Other Boston Blogs

2009-04-14T21:26:00.003-04:00

I feel very humbled that more people than just my mother and Ryan are reading the blog. It's definitely helped me to stick to my plan - and if it's helped anybody else then that's awesome.

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of running related blogs in the Baltimore/DC area. Just on the Georgetown Running site and Baltimore's TWSS there are links for almost 30 running related blogs - most of them from runners in the area. And those blogs link up with other blogs - forming a vast network of running geeks from all over.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite Boston marathon blogs. Probably the number one blog for Boston centric content is aptly named "The Ultimate Guide to the Boston Marathon". Although the blog is from 2007 - it has a lot of Boston info that is still relevant. I was hoping to have as much Boston related content as John H. - but, it didn't quite happen.

Another blog that caught my attention is from Tom from Anchorage - yes Anchorage, Alaska. Not only has he logged some decent training - but, he's done it in the winter - in Alaska. "Wow" - is all I can say.

There are two decent "main stream media" blogs/sites - Boston.com and Runners World. Plenty to keep us busy as our tapers suddenly give us more time in our lives.