Year over year results

It struck me that I've had my Garmin Forerunner 305 for well over a year now and that I've been mapping my runs for that long as well. So I decided to compare my two runnings of the National Half Marathon. These are the splits. The Garmin actually recorded the distance as being greater than 13.1 miles in both years, 13.36 miles. I don't know if that's because of the times my GPS lost the satellite, mismeasurement by the people who designed the course, my inability to run the tightest course possible, or some combination of all three (most likely):


Running Moron National Half Marathon Mile Splits

Mile	2008	2009
1	9:03	9:07
2	8:04	8:39
3	8:20	8:35
4	8:20	9:05
5	8:58	9:08
6	8:40	8:14
7	9:26	8:46
8	9:17	8:54
9	9:46	8:40
10	9:44	8:20
11	10:20	8:47
12	13:17	9:26
13	13:41	9:31
.36	7:47	3:17
Garmin Time	2:14:43	1:58:29
Chip Time	2:09:55	1:58:44

I find this data really interesting. I don't remember my exact strategy in '08, although I do remember wanting to keep up with the 4:00 marathon pace group in order to finish at 2:00 or less. That worked for the first mile, but apparently I got to feeling pretty good and took off. Considering that was the first time I'd ever attempted to run more than 10 miles, that was a horrible decision, as I never saw a sub 9:00 mile past the half way point of the run and really lost it at the end when I started to cramp and needed walk breaks over the last three miles.

On the other hand, I went in with a much better strategy in '09. My goal was to maintain an 8:50-8:55/mile pace, and the reason for the fast miles 2 and 3 was to make up for the slowish start caused by crowding out of the gate. After that I was pretty happy with how I did, although I wonder if going a little faster in miles 9 and 10 hurt me during miles 12 and 13.

Also, I believe the split times for mile 6 are off by quite a bit because that's when we went through a tunnel and my Garmin lost the satellite for a while. I was already hurting by that point in '08 and I don't think there's any way I ran an 8:40 then. I also don't think I went anywhere nearly that fast in '09 considering how I was settling in to my 8:50-8:55/mile groove then.

I have no explanation for the gross difference between the '08 Garmin and chip times, other than the fact that I used the lap function of the device trying to get a more accurate time to compensate for satellite loss on the run, but I'd think that would give me a faster time than chip time rather than slower.

Oh well, it's still always fun to look back on things and view them with 20/20 vision.

Regarding Henry

With 10 miles on the schedule for today and rainy wetness surrounding me, I thought I'd be resigned to slogging out 10 miles on a treadmill at the gym. P'shaw, I said. It's spring and it was relatively not cold, so what would a little water and mud hurt? I headed up to my favorite crushed stone trail and thought I'd have the whole place to myself. Wrong. Runners are a resilient bunch and there was actually a pretty nice number of people there.

When I pulled into the parking lot at the trail head, there was a lady with a dog at her car. I thought it was her dog, a pretty black lab, until she got into her car and almost hit it while pulling out and driving away. I watched her drive off and thought WTF.

Then the dog came up to me. He had a collar and on that collar there was all kind of licenses, rabies registrations, and TWO things with contact info on it. The dog's name was Henry and he lived literally right next door to the parking lot, which I discovered when I called the phone number on his collar.

Henry's owner walked over and thanked me for holding on to Henry and not feeding him anything. Seems Henry knows when the people are on the parking lot (weekend mornings), so he meanders over to beg for food. Why anyone would fall for the ruse is beyond me, because he looks very well fed.

Anyway, it hit me that I didn't do anything the lady who saw Henry first couldn't have done. But she didn't do it. And I had a really hard time reconciling the fact that it was so easy to get Henry home with the fact that it was too much of a hassle for the first person I saw him with.

And then it struck me. She must be this, right down to the car:



And now she can't even be bothered with helping a dog straggling around a trail head parking lot because doing so would probably interfere with her meticulously planned Sunday morning and she probably had to get back home right then to not throw her entire day out of whack.

People, I swear.

By the way, my run was pretty good and I'm totally stoked for next Sunday's Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

It's not just me who does it

A TV show I enjoy called Eastbound & Down concluded its sadly meager six episode season on HBO last weekend. For those not familiar, it's a show about an amazingly self-absorbed former major league baseball pitcher who is down on his luck and completely unaware of how offensive he is to pretty much everyone. Imagine John Rocker, but without the charm. Ok, maybe Kenny Powers has some charm. But not Rocker-level charm. Heh.

One of the characters on the show, middle school principal Terrence Cutler, is a triathlete, and in the last episode there is a scene of his competing in the run portion of a triathlon. And in that scene, Cutler is getting motivation from staring at the backside of a female competitor in front of him! That race strategy (see: Butts) is not mine alone!

Although now I'm wondering if I'm normal or as much of a lecherous degenerate as the minds behind a TV show whose main character is about as politcally incorrect as possible.

Oh, well. I only hope that women don't catch on too much and start running with shirts and stuff wrapped around their waists.

Maybe I should shut up now.

[shamelessness]
P.S. In January, someone ordered an exercise bike and a couple DVDs on amazon.com through a link on this page. I've never made enough money through ads to ever be eligible to cash out any referral money until that order. Whoever you are, THANK YOU!! And I hope the bike is working out well for you.
[/shamelessness]

Looking back at FIRST

I have two impressions to share about the FIRST half marathon training program.

As a program I love it. I do not place fault for my fading over the last two miles of last weekend's half marathon on FIRST. The blame is all on me for pushing my pace oblivious to the mile-long incline waiting for me before hitting the finishing sprint. That being the case, I believe FIRST had me fully prepared for the hills I was expecting, and doubly so because I did relatively little hill training. After finishing the hill portion I was prepared for I was actually a little surprised that was it. I credit the speed workouts I did according to the program for increasing my VO2 Max and allowing me to breathe a little easier (NOTE: I've not had my VO2 Max measured either before, during, or after using the FIRST program, so this is anecdotal evidence). I never lost my breath going uphill, even as people around me dropped back left and right. The mid-pace 5-6 mile tempo runs probably didn't hurt either.

On the other hand, yesterday I did my first run post-half marathon. I backed up 6 weeks to give myself a training lead-up and to hopefully maintain my fitness for my next half marathon in Pittsburgh on May 3. I ran 3X1600M intervals, and while it was challenging and a good workout I kind of felt like I graduated high school but was still hanging around the building. No one wants to be that guy.

So I loved FIRST, but don't know if I should be holding on to it and picking it up at mid-points in the program. Maybe I should let it go for now and find another way to stay in half marathon condition.

At any rate, based on my experience with the half marathon training program, I will definitely use FIRST to train for this year's marathon in Las Vegas on December 6. That's a 16 week program, whose first long run is 13 miles and which includes FIVE (!) 20-mile training runs. People who train for and run marathons are out of their ever-loving minds, for sure. Luckily, there's a FIRST "first marathon" training program that starts at 8 miles and works its way up to one 20 mile run a few weeks before race day. The question is do I want to finish the Las Vegas marathon, or do I want to perform there?

I have until about mid-July to decide, but I guess either way I have to stay in shape to run 13 miles just in case I completely lose my mind and choose to perform.

One race goes and another one comes

With my first half marathon of the year out of the way, it's time to look forward. On April 5 I will be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. As strange as it might seem for being such an odd distance I am very excited for this race. Here's why:

1. It's going to cover ground in Washington, D.C. that wasn't covered by the National Half Marathon. The closest I'll get is by running on the opposite side of the Washington Monument.

2. According to some maps I've seen, the course is going to be flat as a pancake virtually the entire distance.

3. There are going to be about 12,000 runners, which is exciting to me until I struggle trying to weave my way through the slower pokes than me for the first 2 miles.

4. The cherry blossoms should be in full bloom, making it a beautiful run.

5. I'm not even sure how many national monuments the course passes, but it ranges from a couple to a bunch.

6. I'm spending the night before the race at the hotel nearest the start line, so I don't have to get up early and drive down to D.C.

7. I've run 10 or more miles 11 times in the last 18 weeks. Running 10 is second nature to me now.

8. My 10 mile PR is somewhere between 1:27 and 1:28. And that wasn't in a race, so I think I have a legitimate shot at beating it at the Cherry Blossom.

9. I might actually meet up with actual running friends there.

10. This space reserved. (I wanted to make it to 10 reasons but petered out at 9.)

Another nice thing is that I'm going in to the 10 miler after a pretty successful (for me) showing at my half marathon last weekend. So I'm not even stressed about making up for doing poorly there or anything. It's all relaxed all the time, baby!

I just need to see if my cool new shoes will be ready to run with me...

The longest race report possible

UPDATE: My time was 1:58:44, which is an 11:11 improvement on last year. So I met two goals of beating last year's time by 10:00 and finishing in under two hours. However, I was way off my pace goal of 8:50-8:55 per mile, and have the last two miles to blame. This race is now officially bittersweet to me. There's always next year, I guess.

I'm writing this without knowing my official time (I didn't stick around to find out), but I want to get my thoughts down about this morning's National half marathon before I forget them. Generally I can rely on my Garmin 305 to get me within 5 seconds or so of what my net time is, but it lost the satellite signal a couple times thanks to tunnels and underpasses we had to run under, so my Garmin time is a little off-kilter. I don't remember exactly, but I think I crossed the finish line at about 2:01:00, and my net time was about 4:00 behind the gun time, so I'm guessing I ran somewhere around 1:57:00 or 1:58:00, either of which will allow me to meet my goal of beating last year's time by 10 minutes, but quite honestly I was hoping for a time a little lower.

What got me were the hills. But not the ones I expected. The course basically goes uphill from 4.5 miles to 8.0 miles. There are a couple breaks in there, but overall you're going up. And last year that portion of the run killed me. This year it seemed surprisingly easy, and all of my split times for the affected miles were well under 9:00.

Last year, however, I started having to take walk breaks to overcome cramping in my calves somewhere between miles 10 and 11. I staved the cramps off this year and ran the entire distance, but what I forgot was that there was a pretty formidable hill that started at about 11.2 miles and went until about 12.4 miles. I must have walked most of that last year because the course at that section is the same as last year and I don't remember it at all.

So there I was, thinking I was free of hills and picking up my pace when blammo! that sucker comes right up on me. Because of that unexpected surprise that I wasn't prepared for I faded and ran both of the last 2 miles at about 9:28/mile.

That cost me over a minute, and if it weren't for that last hill I'd be expecting confirmation of a half marathon PR right now. That's the cause of my disappointment.

On the other hand, I ran the entire race this year and I am almost certain I met my goal for it, so I can only be so disappointed. Definitely a good start to spring, and I definitely believe in FIRST (more on that in another post).

The National Marathon and Half Marathon is surprisingly stodgy. Unlike the Baltimore Running Festival, where you see people running dressed as crabs, or guys running while juggling five balls, or people running backwards, or spectators dressed up as "hons," there are no such shenanigans in D.C. for some reason. Not that I saw, at least. Here, however, are the few memorable sights and moments I recall from this morning -

Kilts, kilts, kilts: Several people ran in kilts. Guess they didn't want to let St. Patrick's Day go. The best one was the camouflage kilt.

Sights: I hate seriously dislike most of the people who work there, but running toward the U.S. Capitol building is probably my favorite starting mile of any race. Running past the Washington Monument doesn't suck either.

Sounds: There are patches of people who line the course and cheer you on, and it's nice that bib numbers are personalized so people can call you out by name, but my favorite spectator spot is in front of what I think is a dorm building on the campus of Howard University. The college kids come out and set up crazy loud jams and act goofy and have a good time, high-fiving all the runners who go past. They're a lot of fun, and at a perfect spot after coming off a few miles of hills.

Butts: White isn't the only color running babes need to worry about. Even black tights with the sun shining on them at just the right angle can leave little to the imagination. I'm not going to say any more than that, but there's a reason getting up the hills wasn't as bad as I expected. And thank goodness for it.

Weather: This year it was perfect. It was probably mid-30s or so with no wind at all and clear skies. I ran in shorts, a short-sleeve t-shirt with a light fleece over it, my cheap knit gloves and a cap. It was great, although I forgot to take my glasses off and/or check them with my bag so I ran with them stuffed in my back pocket the entire time.

What I didn't like -

• Bag Check (what a fuster cluck that was)
• The same idiot P.A. announcer as last year
• The pretty-lame post-race "festival"
• Washington D.C. roads (good lord they're half treacherous)
• Having to spend almost three miles getting through crowds and to my pace

All in all, I had a much better experience this year than last and can see myself doing this run again. I should probably get ready because registration opens pretty soon, in July.

P.S. I kept writing this to see if results would be posted by the time I finished. They wouldn't be. And now I have the longest, boringest post ever. Hope you enjoyed. Sucker!

UPDATE: Here is a picture of me post-race. I got some guy to take it with my phone, but the lens was all wet and fogged up from sitting in my pocket. Something's better than nothing though:

The final run-up to the run

I've spent the last 18 weeks running hundreds of miles (270 just since the first of the year) getting ready for one thing: tomorrow. The 2008 National half marathon was my first ever half marathon. I suffered cramping in my calves for the last few miles and finished with a disappointing-to-me time of 2:09:55, nearly 10 minutes slower than my goal time. While I was happy to have finished and earn my finisher's medal I hated the time I did it in. I redeemed myself a month later by running the 2008 Frederick half marathon in under 1:57, but I still want redemption for that first half marathon.

I don't know why I even set a goal of 2:00 or under last year. I had no idea what my half marathon ability was, followed a "novice" half marathon training program, and had only run 10 miles once in the 12 weeks of training, and only maybe 2 or 3 times ever before I ran that half, and never further than 10 miles. In contrast, my current program (note: pdf file) had 11 training runs of 10 miles or more, 5 of those were 12 or more miles, and two of those were further than the 13 mile race I've been training for.

None of that takes into account the fact that after the two previously mentioned half marathons, in 2008 I ran a third half, a 10 miler, and a full-on 26.2 mile marathon. I didn't know what running a half felt like last year, but I sure do this year.

While I don't have anything close to the butterflies or angst I felt last year, I still have that feeling of dread I get running up to any race, from 5K races on up. I wonder what I'm doing running and how I can regally bow out.

For longer races that feeling lasts for the first few miles, then I start to feel great, speed it up too fast in the middle and flame out miles before the end.

This time I am trained up to run an 8:41 pace, but I'm not concerned about going that fast. There is a nice 3-mile long incline in the middle of the route that I have to get up. Once I do, and if everything's going well, I should be able to pick it up over the last 6 miles. So my goal isn't so much of a time goal as a pace goal of 8:50-8:55 per mile.

The only hope is that I don't feel so good going up the hill that I get up it too quickly and lose my strategery of (relatively) slow and steady until the crest, which could throw me off for the entire second half of the run. On the other hand, I don't want to go too slowly and have too much left in the tank at the end.

Whatever the case, I feel good, I feel ready, and I feel like I can run my race. The weather seems like it'll be a decent morning for a run (I like it a little cool), so knock on wood everything will be coming up Milhouse Moron.

I'm really looking forward to the giant reward cheeseburger and plate full o' french fries too. Yum.

See ya on the other side!

They're like running on little puffs of heaven

I was going to wait on this post, but quite frankly I can't. A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity by New Balance Harrisburg to receive a pair of New Balance running shoes in exchange for a link and a review. The link is on the sidebar under Running Moron Offers. Please see everything NB Harrisburg has to offer. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity and chose a pair of New Balance 768 shoes.

Today was my last training run before my half marathon on Saturday. It was scheduled to be an "easy and relaxed" three-miler. That being the case, I thought what better time to take a new pair of shoes out for a test drive.

I took off on a three-mile route around my neighborhood I've run dozens of times over the last couple of years. And -- this is the God's honest truth and not just me sucking up to prove what a shill I can be (although don't put something like that past me) -- I can affirm and attest that wearing these shoes made me feel like I could fly. I ran that three miles faster than I have at any time since July 2007.

Could my new found speed be a function of all the speed interval work I've been doing over the last four months? It could. Or it could be that the NB 768s were created for my feet and my feet alone and when the two met, the sparks flew and fast, easy running was inevitable. Which sounds more feasible? Yeah, I think the shoes and I were made for each other too.

Here are a couple pictures of the actual shoes on my actual feet after an actual 3.07 mile run that was supposed to be run at about a 9:45 pace but was completed at an 8:03 pace because the shoes just felt so right:


Feet and shoes in harmony.

Look at them from the front now, because if you run with me later
you'll probably only see them from behind.
My only regret is that I got these shoes too late to break in for this weekend's half marathon. On the other hand, I have a 10 mile race on April 5 and another half on May 3. I think I know of a pair of shoes that will be there with me every step of the way of those races.

Your knees look marvelous

I'm a computer guy for a living and sometimes people will ask me for help when the help desk guy is away, even though I keep my office door closed and have a big sign on it that says "I AM NOT HERE TO HELP YOU WITH PETTY COMPUTER ISSUES YOU CAUSED. SEE THE GUY ACROSS THE HALL." Yesterday was one of those days. So I went into this lady's office and went to check out her computer. She sat in her desk chair and I kneeled down like a baseball catcher to make myself a little more comfortable, with her being rude by not offering me the chair that was right at her desk and all that.

Anyway, she praised my young knees when I did that. When I told her my knees aren't as young as she might think she said something about how her knees were shot by the time she was 30. Whatever. Then she asked me if I play sports. I told her I'm a runner. She said something to the effect of, "Oh, so you know all about bad knees."

I was like, uh, not really. I don't know anything about bad knees. Then I said maybe I'm just fortunate to have a naturally correct running form and/or I've just been really lucky (more likely). I mean, I've had minor foot issues, but nothing with my knees or any other joints.

That got me wondering why everyone just assumes that running = chronic bad knees. I don't know; I'm just wondering. After seeing countless 50+ year-old runners at every long-distance race I enter it seems that sometimes "bad knees" is more of an excuse to not run than a reason.

Hopelessly devoted

Today I went to a funeral. It was a perfect day for one. Gray, rainy, cold.

It was also a perfect confluence of events that allowed me to talk running a little at said funeral. The rabbi who was driving to the cemetery to perform the service had his car break down about 25 minutes away. And then the car that went to pick him up broke down. And there was a huge backup on the highway from an accident (which had been cleared by then) that he'd have to work through. So we had about 45 minutes to kill.

I was talking to my aunt some after I had been talking about running plans for the year with some other folks. She said something about being impressed with my discipline in keeping up with training for half marathons and marathons and everything else. And then I told her a story from just this morning that, to me, epitomized how I'm more of a slave to my training than I am simply disciplined enough to keep it up on my own:

I had an 8 miler scheduled for my last long run before my half marathon this coming Saturday. The plan was to run it on the mean streets of my neighborhood and to wear my newest shoes to see if they're fit for the half. This would be the big test for them after ramping them up to about 30 miles of break-in.

The problem is that it was rainy and nasty and I'm still not sure I want to keep these shoes, so I was just going to wear my trusty old ones and just flip a coin to decide if the new ones were half marathon ready.

But I just couldn't do it. I felt that I had to see if the new ones would make the grade and the only way to do that would be to run in them in the rain and the muck. Unable to think of another option I strapped them on and headed on out.

They performed well, and I don't see why I can't use them for the half, but it sure would be nice to be able to improvise in my training rather than force myself to do what I "should" do once in a while.

But being a slave it never really crosses my mind to go against my master's wishes.

If I only knew if that's good or bad. I guess my performance on Saturday will determine if I was wise in my slavish devotion to both my gear and my training program. It better have been.

Winding down to race day

Yesterday was my last "real" tempo run of half training. It was supposed to be 2 miles easy (~9:30 pace), 3 miles at 8:07 min/mile, 1 mile easy. Nothing insurmountable, but once again I was lacking rest and as I was driving to the gym (this was going to be a treadmill run) I seriously considered flip-flopping rest days, heading home and putting off exertion until today. But with a week to go, is now a good time to start being a wuss? I mean, I'm not sick or anything so I didn't have any real excuse/reason to skip a workout.

I'm no wuss, so I went to the gym. And ran the run. And even mixed in some elevation. And lived to tell the tale. That'll show me!

Now I'm in something of a mini-taper. I have an 8 mile run this weekend, then a pretty easy speed workout and a very easy (and relaxed!) 3 miler before race day next Saturday.

After next Saturday I'll have my first chance to really evaluate how the FIRST program worked out for my half marathon training. How dorktacular is it that I'm almost as excited about being able to talk about the FIRST program after the fact as I am in actually putting it to the test in a race? Pretty darn, I'd say.

Getting up and then going down

Sunday I had what I considered to be a pretty great long run. 12 miles, easily completed at race pace when I was supposed to go race pace +20 seconds. I was walking with a little spring in my step, my chest puffed out a little, beboppin' and scattin' everywhere I went. Things felt good.

And then came Tuesday.

I knew I didn't get enough sleep Monday night considering the speed workout I had to complete, and while I ran 12 miles relatively easily I also made my hamstrings sore in both legs that I wasn't recovered from, so I expected my 5 X 1K intervals at 7:20 min/mile pace to be tough. But I didn't expect it to be too tough to finish.

Yet it was.

In my defense, I made it until past half way through the last interval, but it got to the point where I was spent and called out no mas. I was just going too fast too many times with too little rest and too much soreness in my legs. I think I might also have been a little dehydrated. Also, I forgot to pack my SportShield and suffered chafage of the nippleage. Stupid, useless things poking off of my chest.

As imperfect as it was that's what the day gave me, and it knocked me off my perch some. But I still feel good and I still feel ready for my half marathon next weekend.

And at least I think I have my new shoes broken in. They have 25 miles on them now and this weekend's 8 miler will determine if I go with them for the half or the comfortable oldies that are muddy, beat up and have like 500 miles on them.

Huh. Muddy, beat up and have like 500 miles on them. Sounds like me, except with a lot more miles...

Making up your mind thanks to the actions of others

I had been facing something of a conundrum between running a local 5K race and a favorite 5K race. In the end, I decided to go with the favorite because even though I want to support local races, the favorite was just too much of a favorite. It featured a finishing line on the outfield warning track at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Hard to say no to that.

Welp, it looks like that worked itself out. The Oriole Advocates 5K run, after being postponed a month and scheduling itself into a conflict with the Bloomin' 5K, has been canceled. First my favorite 5 miler from 2007, Zoo Zoom, bit the dust without warning in 2008 and now my favorite 5K from 2008 is toast in 2009.

Oh, well. So now I guess I'll run the Bloomin' 5K, and I am happy they're not using the same uncomfortable course from last year that started going down a steep hill, but now it's being run in an office park. It's put on by the Chamber of Commerce, see? And the course will showcase commerce, see? Sigh.

Elsewhere in the news there's an article in today's paper about the popularity of the half marathon distance and detailing the Baltimore area's first spring half marathon. As of now I'm not running the inaugural Maryland Half Marathon, mostly because I think it's going to be too hot on May 31 to run 13.1, but with my registering for the Baltimore 10 miler on June 20 I guess I don't have much reason to not run it.

Then again, I'll have already run two half marathons (National and Pittsburgh) and a 10 miler by the time the Maryland Half rolls around and I'm not sure if I want to run three halfs this year. Two halfs and two 10 milers (Cherry Blossom and Baltimore) seem pretty good to me for the spring.

Captain Decisiveness, signing off!

The last long run before the long run that matters

First things first, I ran without any pain in my left foot this morning. I have no idea why it hurt so badly the other day I could barely move and had to put off a run because of it and today it was well enough to run 12 miles, but there it is.

Anyway, today's 12 miler was my last run over 10 miles before my half marathon in less than two weeks. The training program called for me to run it at HMP+20, which is 9:01/mile, but since this was my last chance to see where I'm at I decided I wanted to push it a little, but not too much, and figured I'd shoot for a HMP+10 (8:51/mile) pace.

I logged the first mile in 8:31 and the first thought in my head was "uh oh." So I freaked out a little and slowed it down in the second mile, which was reflected in my 8:54 split for that mile.

But as the miles wore on I was feeling really fine, and the average pace I was running according to my Garmin 305 kept falling and falling.

At mile 7 a popped a gel, just in case, and some water. At mile 10 I drank some more water.

The last mile or two I was feeling peachy but just couldn't go fast enough to drop my average pace below where it was - 8:41/mile, or my Half Marathon Pace.

I was supposed to run a 9:01 pace, I committed to running an 8:51 pace, and wound up running an 8:41 pace.

In truth, I'll be extremely happy with my half marathon if I can run it in the 8:50-8:55/mile pace range. After today's run I think I'm going to be disappointed if I don't run that, at least.

So I feel great after my last "long" long training run, but at the same time I'm hoping I'm not setting myself up for failure.

I'd like an explanation again as to why running has to be on par with golf in its ability to mindf**k those who choose to take it up for fun and fitness.

Getting the pain on, and then thinking about getting the grub on

At 3:00am Thursday morning I woke up with a serious pain in my left foot, on its outer edge. I have no idea why it hurt but it hurt bad. All day. I hadn't even run for the previous two days. I'd only done a stationary bike workout.

I blew off the 5 miler I had scheduled -- and wanted to run outside because it was pretty by-god nice out there -- and rested my foot for the day. The plan was to see how it felt Friday and run then. Luckily, Friday is usually a rest day so flipping rest days wasn't a big deal.

Friday morning I woke up and there was some pain but it wasn't quite as egregious as it had been. I don't know if this makes sense, but I think I suffered something similar to a really bad charlie horse while I was sleeping. Only the pain's lasted a bit longer than charlie horse pain. Oh, who knows. Anyway, I wanted to give the 5 miler a shot, but I decided to do it on a treadmill rather than outdoors because I didn't want my foot to snap and fly off the ankle with me 2 miles from home.

There was some discomfort, and it was somewhat laborious, but I got the 5 miles in. It wasn't so bad in the end, and now I have two days to rest until my last 10+ mile run before half marathon day in two weeks. It's a 12 miler that I should be able to do outdoors and in a t-shirt and shorts and without gloves or a hat. It's supposed to be in the 70s all weekend. Now I have to worry about it being too hot to run. Bleh.

Also, with time to my half marathon winding down I'm taking the next two weeks to really zero in on the nutritional aspects of long distance run training. I know that nutrition (while always important) is as important as if you're running a full 26.2, but I do have this goal to beat my time from last year, and nutrition undoubtedly plays a role.

Now I just have to figure out what to eat for the next two weeks. Great.

Some people actually mean it when they say "contact us"

Back when I was first able to read, in the late 1970s, I read at least a book or two about a character from the moon named Matthew Looney. I don't remember which books I read or what they were about. Heck, I wouldn't even remember I read them if it weren't for one thing.

I apparently really liked the books, so I wrote the author of them, Jerome Beatty, Jr., a letter. I wouldn't remember that either, if it weren't for the fact that he wrote me back, on stationery that featured Matthew Looney on it. Obviously, that must have been a great thrill for me, and my mother laminated the letter, framed it and it hung on the wall for quite a while.

So I don't remember anything about the books aside from the fact that I had personal contact with the author of them.

In 2009, with the world a much smaller place, it's pretty easy to be in touch with just about anyone. I've e-mailed TV, radio and internet personalities. Sometimes they answer and sometimes they don't. When they do, it's usually just a word or a sentence to acknowledge your efforts to reach them. And that's ok, I guess, but nothing that's memorable.

[Segue to relating the preceding to running.]

Yesterday's speed workout called for 3200 meter intervals. The problem was that the pace chart that accompanies the FIRST training program's key workout #1 (Table 4.1) didn't have a pace for anything over 2000 meters. Maybe I was just dumb and missing something, but I couldn't tell how fast I was supposed to run my intervals.

So I went on to the FIRST program's web page, and after not finding my answer there (they give you just enough info to be dangerous for free... for the rest, like pace charts, you need to buy the book), I e-mailed the generic "contact us" address. I praised the program (flattery will get you everywhere), shared an experience using the program (set a 5 mile PR after 5 weeks on the program), and then got to my question. I summed it up with a "thanks for any response... looking forward to the results at my half marathon in a coupla weeks" and clicked send, making a mental note to just make up a pace for the workout when I didn't get an answer.

To my surprise, not only did I get a response, and not only did I get it within 30 minutes (!), but I got it from the creator of the program and author of the book himself, Bill Pierce.

(Yes, I know he has co-creators and co-authors. This is my story.)

He congratulated me on my 5 mile PR, answered my question, and wished me luck in my upcoming half marathon. It was extremely personable and more than just the bare minimum. In other words, it was memorable. Not laminate and hang on the wall memorable, but for small-world 2009 it was about all you can hope for.

By the way, the answer was double the 1600 meter pace and add 30 seconds.

P.S. The one thing that kind of got me was that Dr. Pierce copied his reply to me to his colleagues. Was that just for documentation, or is there some nefarious scheme to judge who is following the program to a "tee" by forcing runners to consult them over 3200 meter pace time confusion? Hmm... that's probably a little too conspiracy theorist-y of me.

Nipples aren't a man's best friend(s)

There's a terrible side effect to running in cold weather, for me at least. My nipples get hard (there, I said it) and then they rub on the inside of my shirt and get all scraped up, bloodied and painful.

I slather them up with SportsShield, and in warmer temps that's all I need, but when it's cold out and those suckers stand up, nothing can make even the slickest, silkiest interior of a t-shirt not eventually turn in to sandpaper.

So, in the absence of warmer weather I suffer, without even knowing why I have nipples. Males should have them surgically removed at birth since they're so useless to us.

Anyway, to further complain about the scourge of the male chafed nipple I wrote a few short poems in a few different formats:


Oh you, so unnecessary and without need
All slathered up with lube, to which you do not heed
I even try to wear clothes that do not ripple
And yet you still forsake me, blasted chafed nipple

---

Nipple chafed so raw
wicking shirt just so useless
why do I have these?

---

There once was a runner with issues
With efforts even made to diffuse
The bleeding of his nips
At the ends of their tips
He still could not stop it with tissues

Who's stupid brave enough to run 10 miles on a treadmill? This guy!

There are times I really appreciate having this blog so I can revisit things I've done or places I've run. Then there are times when I know refreshing my memory is probably the worst thing I could do to myself. Today was one of those days.

I had 10 miles scheduled, but I woke up to a thin blanket of snow outside. It wasn't bad out, but I couldn't go to my favorite long running spot because it would likely be a muddied mess, and it was too wet and clammy to run 10 around the 'hood. So off I went to the gym to do what I swore to myself I'd never do again: run 10 miles on a treadmill.

In truth, I've never run an uninterrupted 10 on a treadmill. I had an epic fail the last time I made the attempt. Luckily, I must have repressed that memory because I kept thinking in terms of "doing this again."

In the end, it wasn't that bad. I mean, I'm a little more sore in the hips than I would have been running in nature. Also, I had to lean on an old pair of Asics Gel Cumulus 10s because my current pair are still caked with cement-like dried mud from running on the trail in the "snain" last weekend and that wouldn't fly in the gym, but with the "new" pair worn down about the same amount as the old ones they replaced (which explains why I've been shoe shopping recently) I couldn't really tell they were a different pair. And I didn't want to tack on 10 to the 7 I just put on my newest pair of shoes the other day. I'd like to break them in a little more slowly.

So all in all, again, the treadmill 10 wasn't that bad. I maintained my pace the entire way, didn't gasp for air at any point, and was able to swallow a couple sips of water here and there. It's been a month since I last tried this and failed, so I'm convincing myself that I'm just in a month's better shape and I should have expected this success.

I'm now 20 days away from my half marathon. I think I'm just about ready.