Once more...

For reasons I don't fully understand, writing about training and running makes training and running much more fun for me. AND, more importantly, I think it increases the probability that I will actually complete a training cycle. So, after a hiatus from writing and fun but unfocused running, I am back again. Blogging helped me stay focused and achieve a heck of a breakthrough last time, something like a 17 minute PR.

I can't really state a specific goal yet, but I will set the race. It will be the Louis and Clark Marathon in September.

Oh hell, who am I kidding, my goal is to break 3 hours. There, it is written in pixels.

I ran a 3:12 in the 2006 New York City Marathon. I had done a lot less training, or it seemed so, than I had for my 3:08 PR at 2005 Philadelphia. I also had a lot more fun during the race (the crowds in NYC are amazing). I have stayed in good all around shape with running and biking and lifting and such. So, that is good. I am also now a Master runner. That is good or bad, depending on your frame of mind.

It begins.

Do you like apples?

3:08 and change.

Showtime

I am headed to the train station, then to Philly, then to the hotel, then to pick up the race number, and so on until I eventually start the task at about 8 eastern tomorrow. Three and change and it will be all over but the blogging.

The weather should be absolutely perfect. I am absolutely pain free. I guess it really comes down to whether I have done enough training and whether I have the guts to really REALLY push it, or not.

The risk you run when you put a lot of yourself into something is that "if" you fail, it is so personal. We shall see.

Thanks to everyone for your support. I will post something Sunday evening.

Out.

On Corporate Decision Making

I work in the Manhattan headquarters of a pretty big company. I happen to work on the same floor as the company's top dog. The facility, because of the vip tenants, is nicer than your normal corporate space.

Yet, the actual facilities leave something to be desired in terms of privacy. We have a small three stall, two upright setup with a modest two sink foyer. It is a simple affair and clearly not built with luxury or privacy in mind.

Last week, a rather short man, mid 40's, bald and bowtied was midstream when I arrived. (Yep, the big dog) I greeted him, saddled up next door, and began MY thing. This froze him, or rather froze his flow. I guess I should explain this phenomenon to the ladies. Sometimes when 1. Under particular duress, or 2. In extreme proximity, or 3. Otherwise surprised, some men shut down operations. The technical term for this is the Fenway Freeze though I think it is known on the street as Paruresis. Regarding this particular episode of bladder shyness, he stayed until I left and I assume everything began again as intended.

I didn't make much of it except for recounting the story once or twice with friends (ok, maybe a half dozen times).

Anyway, this morning as I sent my morning coffee out to used coffee heaven, I noticed that we now have a pretty damn substantial divider installed between the urinals....first class executive privacy. Now that, my friends, has command decision written all over it.

This week, everything gets put on the back burner. EVERYTHING. It is all about me and it is all about this marathon.

It really is only fair to focus in exclusively on the essentials of the race at this point. To get distracted now would be to waste, at least in part, all of the work that led up to this point.

Running, distance running, is a pretty self focused (read: selfish) endeavor. But I think having a really great race will help balance all of that out. I am a much better runner than I was a year ago. I am certainly in the ballpark of being capable of the 3:10 I have focused on. And, I really REALLY enjoy the sport again.

1. I reread a Steve Prefontaine biography last night.
2. I will do a quick reread of Running with Buffaloes.
3. I will avoid John Bingham like the freaking plague.
4. I will start visualizing my inner runner.
5. Yesterday I ran 12 miles, my last run of any real substance. 1:32. It felt like floating. I am ready.
6. Philly forecast for Sunday....partly cloudy 41 low / 53 high. Perfect.
7. Does anyone know where I can find a kingsize back burner?)

November 11

Veterans Day 2005. I am kicking myself for missing the parade and for not wearing some old medals on my suit the way Russian politician/veterans used to.

"My younger brother calls me a killer and my Daddy calls me a vet..."

I think that was from a Charlie Daniel's song. Of course, I don't have a younger brother and both may Dad and I were/are vets though we never referred to each other as such.

This is totally an underated "holiday" in my opinion. What? The Post Office is closed? Big deal. With so little fanfare around this day, I always wonder why so many young men and women sacrifice so much when it so easy just to freeride in this wealthy and soft country of ours. It baffles me. Don't take it for granted folks.

I am going to run an easy six.

Ok. I am back, renewed for another season as it were. We rejoin the action 11 days out from the main event...

The last few days before the race come down to this:

Brains 1 --A smart taper
"I don't think it's really rocket science. You just run easier and run less for two weeks." So says my marathoning friend. Sounds good to me. I ran an 18 miler last week, fighting off the urge to do another 20. G and I had a solid speed workout over the weekend, 4 x 1.5 miles at 10 mile race pace down at Riverside Park. We followed it up a day later with an 8 miler, me on foot and him on a slightly too large mountain bike. Basically, I am trying to maintain intensity while dropping volume. Also, more sleep, sleep is good.

Brains 2 -- A smart race
I have thought a lot about this. I am an even splits guy. Meaning, I run best running the second half at the same speed as the first. In fact, regarding longer races, my best ones always start off with a slow first mile and then a fun race where I literally can pass people the whole time. I think it is totally a psychological thing. I will probably start way WAY back in the chute just to be sure I don't jump out too fast.

Courage
This is a tricky one. G and I cheered runners at the NYC Marathon on Sunday. Seeing thousands of them go by at around the 20 mile mark could have been inspiring. That was the goal. Instead, it was a real reminder that this is a tough distance. are ee ess pee eee sea tea! I will be doing a few things to get my mind right over the next few days. More on that later.

Luck
Oh, I covered the good luck thing this weekend by touching a big set of these!

Weather
I think tomorrow pokes into the 10 day forecast window. A commodity analyst tells me weather snaps back to seasonal averages (read: gets colder) on the 18th. After seeing the impact of heat on the masses of NYC Marathon runners on Sunday, all I can say is bring on the cold.

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	??	??

October, just around the corner

October is a very important month.

The month basically begins with a race this Sunday, a half marathon. This half should be a good test to determine where I am; just multiply by two and add ten minutes to get a marathon proxy. By month's end, and hopefully 200+ (hard/injury) free miles later, the training for my real goal race will be complete. With all that hay in the barn, I will taper and be quite confident.
Having said that, I think that if I am totally honest with myself (which I usually am), I would admit that two things are weighing on my mind regarding running. The first is that I am just not getting enough sleep to let good recovery and adaptation fully take place. The second is that I need to run more fast or at least "goal pace" miles.

Yesterday, I put in four miles at 7 and felt good. Today I am going to do some 800's at 6-ish pace. Then I think I will take it easy until the race. The sleep thing, well it sucks when there is a problem at work at 11 pm. What can you do?

	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Week	Month	Last Month
Miles	R	6	8	--	--	--	--	14	152.6	164.7
Rest	6	7	--	--	--	--	--	13	??	??

Poetic License

In the interest of full disclosure, you should all know that this run didn't actually happen on Sunday. Nor did this writing actually take place Sunday night. The run happened Monday evening and the writing on Tuesday afternoon. But, hey, if you can't move a few facts around once in awhile, then just what IS the use of technology?

What I am doing is called smoothing in the world of statistics. If I didn't smooth, it would look like I ran 24 miles last week and 62 this week. I am clearly not ready for the 62 yet and 24 makes me look like I have been skimping. So let's pretend it didn't happen.

By the way, all this makes Monday a "rest day". Ahhh.

===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
16	40	138.6	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
6	7	7	7.5	5	8	6	48

One run down for the day, almost caught up. I slept like a rock last night.

===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
5	20	118.6	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
6	7	7	7.5	F	S	S	29

Well. This pattern is starting to look familiar. It's Thursday and I need to run how many more miles to have a productive week? Yikes.

I have been traveling enough of late to make a regular morning or evening run more challenging. I flew into EWR yesterday and had a total "where am I again?" experience. My head was spinning a bit and for a minute I felt like the guy in the black trunks!

But I had a nice run this morning and am planning the same for this evening. I should be caught up by Friday evening and be just fine. (This just in, just In case it is important, 7 this morning and 8 after work with the last few miles being 400 and 800s on the tiny cinder track.)

===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
15	15	113.6	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
6	7	7	T	F	S	S	20

My odd food pyramid.

A running friend recently commented on my odd diet. So now I can't help but look at it more closely.

Have you seen Blazing Saddles? There is a scene that reminded me a bit of today. It's the one where the Waco kid downs a bottle of whisky in the town jail and then the Sheriff says "this".

Let me explain.

The good news: I ran 20.2 miles today and played an hour of tennis.
The bad news: I was no model of nutritional excellence.

Intake Today
____________________________________________
Coffee (2 cups)
Gatorade (2 qts)
"Espresso Love" GU (1 squirt, 2x caffeine)
Egg McMuffin (no meat)
OJ
Hash brown (extra greasy)

Subway BMT (six inches)
Cherry Coke (2)

Snow Caps (half box)
Milk Duds (handful)
Popcorn (movie kind, buttered)
(can you tell I went to the movies?)

Peanut Butter Creme Cookies, by far my favorite. (half package)

Spaghetti with meat sauce
Bread
Cake, yellow with chocolate icing (1 slice)

2 quarts Gatorade
____________________________________________

This is all about self improvement. So here's to better nutrition!


===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
20.2	44.4	98.6	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
x	x	x	7	8	7	x	x

My famous photos (well, sort of)

As some of you may recall, there was an excursion to the western desert this Spring (it is in the March archive for anyone interested). I think that trip was really my digital photo debut. I finally got the difference between the old click, wait, cross fingers, develop and the new click, look, delete, click, look, keep.

Two of the photos I posted were named "cactus bird1" and "cactus bird two". For some reason, those two guys continue to come up #1 and #2 on a Google Images search when "cactus" and "bird" are the query words. I have an embedded tracking tool that tells me that this query drives more traffic to this blog than anything else. I wonder why these two are at the top of the Google list. To be fair, "Stone House" also gets a crowd, but nothing like the birds. None of the other photos have ever been hit.

I have a friend who lives quite nicely by exporting beads from Asia and selling them from his website here in the USA. Regarding the "cactus bird" phenomenon he says "I would give my left bead to come up #1 in a Google search." To which I really have no response other than saying that I am vicariously enjoying my photos' 15 minutes of fame.

***********
This quote is completely non sequitur, but it struck a chord with me. As I have said in the past, it is my blog and other things may creep in.

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
- Voltaire

***********

Also, a couple friends have asked how to start their own blog. The link is now to the right, have fun.


===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
6.2	24.2	78.4	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
x	x	x	7	8	x	x	x

Catch up time

So it is Friday. There are only two days left in this training week. I had planned on having a big fat mileage number when the books close on Sunday. But, as I look at the little tracker box below, it appears that I have my work cut out for me. A twenty will help to be sure, but we'll need more than that to tip the scales.

Speaking of little tracker boxes, I am floating something new on this entry, a sleep tracker. I confess, I am an eight hour-a-night guy and have been for a long time. I can fake that I need less, but I think I may get a wee bit, shall we say, short. So though my approach is not really scientific, it is at least in the right direction for self-improvement. As they say, you only tend to get what you measure, so we will give this tracking a shot.

By the way, I can die now. I saw Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway last night.

===>Miles

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
8.0	18.0	72.2	164.7

===>Rest

M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
x	x	x	7	x	x	x	x

Six Degrees of Separation

You all know about that Kevin Bacon thing, right? Well, today I am going to do my small part and link to a new blogger initiative that is now live.

I think they intend to keep it pretty clean, so if you can handle this one you should be fine with that one! But one never knows.

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
6.0	10.0	64.2	164.7

Hello, I am back.

Lots of flying, a raucous birthday party, almost no runnning M-F, and two premier runs on the weekend. That is my basic summary of what my blog posts should have sounded like. Of course, what they actually sounded like was dead air. As always, there is a lot of context needed to understand the pauses. Suffice it to say that, once again, enough dust has settled for me to get back setting fingertips to keyboard. So all is good.

It was very nice to have received a few emails saying "Dude, where are you?"

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
4.0	4.0	58.2	164.7

end of week

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
0.00	21.6	54.2	164.7

Twenty +

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
20.9	42.6	32.6	164.7

Easy day

More or less, today was just a set up day for tomorrow's long run. We did some biking as well, including some twilight stunt riding. We tied our all-time record, three of us on one bike.

Today	Week	Month	Last Month
4.2	21.7	11.7	164.7