Yep, that is an off air test pattern. After thinking quite a bit about this, I have decided to step back from blogland a while. There is so much going on at so many levels, it does seem a bit trite to act as though running is at the center of the world. Still, I am quite sure that I have enjoyed this blog as much as any one who has stopped by for a read. I do plan to get back on air again at some point.

I am ready for the race and am officially tapering. I did everything in October that I set out to do. Now the real question is, was it enough?

I will of course post a finish time on November 20th or shortly thereafter. As well, I will post my taper plan as soon as I hobble it together. Thanks for the support.

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	6.2	R	6	13	7	7	6.2	45.4	197.1	159.6
Rest	6.5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	??	??

Rounding Errors

At some point over the last six months, I stopped posting the times and the paces for my daily runs. This wasn't a conscious decision. I guess I just stopped feeling the need to track the day to day fluctuations. I have found this to be very freeing. Each run is not an "event" or a "race". They are just runs. I do continue to use my watch mainly because data is data and I still love doing math in my head as I run. I is somewhat of a meditation thing for me.

However, I have continued to track the miles pretty closely. Actually, too closely I am being told. But, you know what? I like to track miles and I am comfortable with the fact that I am religious about my tenths.

Also: Congratulations to G and C1 for their new PRs on the HVC loop!

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	6.2	R	-	-	-	-	-	6.2	158.4	159.6
Rest	6.5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	??	??

3:09:14

That time represents the duration of today's long run. A few comments from me on that:

First, I proved (or re-proved) to myself that I can run for 3+ hours. I knew I could, but still it felt good.

Second, my goal for this marathon is 3:10. I just ran 22 miles in 3:10. Do the math. Meaning, I need to get my head around running 4.2 more miles in basically the same amount of time. It is funny how the mind works.

Body: Yay, we just ran for three hours and ten minutes.
Mind: 3:09:14 to be exact.
Body: Whatever. 3:10 is our goal for the race and we did it!
Mind: That is bad logic. The race is not 22 miles, it is 26.2. That only leaves you with 46 seconds to cover the marathon's remaining 4.2 miles.
Body: Oh oh.
Mind: Exactly. What? Did you plan to have a space shuttle waiting for you at the 22 mile mark?

Second comment, why 22 miles? The books/websites/magazines say to get a couple 20 mile runs in if you are a beginner marathoner and a couple more if you are an intermediate. I have read them, trust me. But, I also know from experience that the end of these races is unusually hard for me. So, to make sure I am as ready as possible this time, I am doing a few more long runs (maybe 6 total though I need to go back and check) and doing them a bit longer. Having said all that in an attempt to rationalize the distance, I should just face it, running 22 feels naughty when the plan calls for 20. I highly recommend it.

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	S	5	6	6	R	9	22	48	152.2	159.6
Rest	6.5	7	6.5	7	5	8	7	-	??	??

Tag Post

If the next bolded line looks weird to you, just check back later. I will explain. Suffice it to say that something akin to a prayer chain or an Amway sales plan is going on.

Post 23, sentence 5 (actually that does sound like a prayer verse introduction)

"Now maybe these are common to the local folks, but this was my first (non cartoon) road runner experience."

Go here if you really REALLY want to know more about Arizona birds and a desert run!

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	0	5	6	6	-	-	-	17	121.2	159.6
Rest	6.5	7	6.5	-	-	-	-	-	??	??

Humble pie

If you read the post immediately prior to this, you can almost smell the cockiness in it. Obviously, I was feeling pretty damn good about where I was with the running. "Blah, blah, 60 miles a week, blah, blah, 80 miles a week, blah" But, as the title to this post implies, things didn't quite play out as neatly as I had hoped.

Two and a half miles into my twenty last week, my right calf twinged. At three miles, it just shut down. I ended up walking the three miles back to my car. It was a very odd injury to have come from running in that it never had a nagging stage or gave warning signs.

I was really surprised at how fragile a runner's psyche is, in particular this runner's. I guess I saw a lot of work going for naught so close to the taper and was pretty bummed. I crawled back into bed for a few hours. True grit in the face of adversity, huh?

But....that is all old news now.

Two really good things happened last night. One, I got in a 20+ mile run and felt strong and two, the Cardinals came back and won in the ninth. The world is right again unless you factor in the great umbrella shaft handshake, but we'll save that story for a rainy day.

(Also, for those of you who are my most detailed readers, I did smooth the data. Monday's run went into Sunday)

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	0	0	9	0	7.5	5	20.7	42.2	104.2	159.6
Rest	7	7	7	8	7	7	7	-	??	??

Weekly mileage > 50 (predicted)

It appears, if all goes as planned, that I may run something north of 50 miles this week. It seems to have been a long time coming. Of course, the slow build may be exactly why I have been able to get here without any real injuries. Whatever the case, I want to run two 60 mile weeks prior to the marathon taper. It sure seems that I have a good chance of being able to do just that.

It is interesting that:

1.) A couple years ago, 30 miles a week was a big deal.
2.) The jump from 60 to 80 is only 33% vs. 30 to 60 which is 100%. What kind of of benefits will I glean from taking mileage up to 80/week in 2006.
3.) Sleep matters. I can totally feel the positive impact of a few good nights of sleep. The six miles I ran this morning, despite being the eighth day in a row of running for me, felt like I was floating.

Just for the record....I made it to about 2 in the afternoon on Thursday before I put in my new contacts. I was hungry for lunch and needed good vision for the hunt, or something like that.

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	3	6	6	8	7	6	-	36	59	159.6
Rest	6.5	5	8	8	8	-	-	-	??	??

Today, I am doing an experiment. It involves eyes and is only loosely related to running. Actually, to say it is even "loosely related" is to exaggerate. Indeed, some of you may think this to be an extreme case of navel gazing. Be that as it may, here goes.

Yesterday (while running!), my right contact went exorcist on me and got stuck up on top. As I had some miles to go and pretty dry eyes to begin with, I needed to deal with it directly. So, I stopped. I fished it out. I positioned it on my favorite put-er in-er finger. And then, truth be told, I made a mistake. I paused.

I paused just for a second as I considered putting just a touch of spit on it. (You contact wearers know the thought process. For the rest, suffice it to say it is not as gross as it sounds) But, before I could effectively weigh the pro's and con's of using saliva based Renu, a lovely Fall gust blew out of the park. And then, as if in slow motion, I watched the little guy catch flight and flutter away. He landed on a cobblestone and just kind of stuck there and folded over on himself like a clam shell (this, by the way, confirmed that spit lubricant would have been appropriate). Now, I am certainly not squeamish about plucking a contact off of the bathroom floor or out of my keyboard now and again. But, in this case, I knew right away that this one was a lost cause. I snubbed him out unceremoniously with my toe like a cheap cigar.

I finished the run with the left eye doing the heavy viewing and the right one just kind of broadcasting some fuzzy city street scenes and occasionally clothed blobs.
Once showered, for reasons I am happy to share with the truly interested but will kindly spare the masses, I switched my left contact into my right eye. That didn't work for long, it tore. Murphy's Law.

That brings me, at long last, to my experiment. Can I go a full day without any corrective apparatus? If the answer is no, then I really wonder how a guy like me possibly cut the mustard a few hundred years ago. Clearly, I was no hunter with this astigmatism. What was I then, the Shaman? Yeah, I could see that.

(I do have an extra set of contacts, just in case.)

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	3	6	6	8	-	-	-	23	46	159.6
Rest	6.5	5	8	-	-	-	-	-	??	??

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	3	6	-	-	-	-	-	9	32	159.6
Rest	6.5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	??	??

I raced a half marathon today. The course was, I think, exactly the same as the course I ran a month ago. But, unlike the late August race, today's weather was beautiful for running. It is amazing how taking the temperature down a few degrees and backing off the humidity a bit can flatten the hills and shorten the miles.

I think this is my last race prior to the marathon. It seems like I am getting quite close to where I want to be. I am not there yet by any stretch but I have some new confidence. With another good month of work, and on the right day, and on the right course; I should be good to go. Philly is supposed to be flat.

Anyway, I have a new half PR. Outside of the race itself, I ran 7 more easy miles by doing a couple before and a handful after.

******************************

1- 7:34 8- 6:51

2- 7:08 9- 6:51

3- 7:03 10- 6:55

4- 7:00 11- 7:09

5- 7:07 12- 7:00

6- 6:57 13- 6:55

7- 6:54 13.1 - 1:32:09

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	R	6	8	7	R	3	20	44	23	159.6
Rest	6	7	6.5	6.5	9	7	7.5	49.5	??	??

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	R	6	8	7	R	3	--	24	3	159.6
Rest	6	7	6.5	6.5	9	--	--	35	??	??