Flashing a little leg for the masses

This Sunday, November 9, is World Run Day. (It's not too late to participate, and you only have to run anywhere and any distance in an organized event or not.) I personally did not want to run just to run, but I couldn't find anything organized on that date and the race I ran last year to mark WRD isn't being held this year.

I was getting a little concerned about doing something that'll enable me to wear my WRD t-shirt (I know it's weird, but I can't wear a t-shirt I didn't earn from an event), but somehow I stumbled upon a race: the Men in Kilts 5K.

While it's not mandatory, kilt wearing is encouraged for the race. I live in a metro area of over 1 million people and this is the only race I can find to run this weekend? It's not really at all publicized (they don't even have a web site for this year's race -- here's one from past years -- and no online registration) and when I went to pick up my kilt yesterday a guy there said he didn't know why it isn't. He said there were only 80-some participants last year.

I told the guy who helped me with my kilt that I wanted one that was a little snug so it wouldn't ride up and get on my nerves while I ran and stuff, and boy did he hook me up on that. Good lord, I can hardly breathe in that thing.

Anyway, running a 5K race in a kilt is what I'll be doing for World Run Day this weekend. I told some friends on a running message board that I may post a picture of me in my kilt there. If I do I'll cross-post it here.

No promises though; that will be an incriminating photo of me, after all.

Running down the training home stretch

In these last days before my first marathon I have a relatively surprising amount of running to do. Nothing major, a couple easy 3 milers and a 5 mile tempo run, but I figured this week would be all about rest. I guess not. To compensate, I am taking my cross-training days off, which is ok by my training program. Today is a day off. I haven't had a non-running Tuesday since before June. I don't know what to do with myself. I have today off because I had to switch up the week some because my program assumes the marathon is on Sunday when it's actually on Saturday. I switched yesterday's off day with today's 3-miler and then I'll run tomorrow and Thursday and then look at the clock until Saturday morning.

I guess now it's important to finalize what I'm going to wear. Aside from shoes and socks I haven't really put much thought into it. I just figured I'd wear the Nike shirt I wore for my 20 miler (which I also have in blue), and my trusty Under Armour shorts over Nike compression shorts.

But I just got a new shirt that I love. The problem is that I've only worn it running once, for Sunday's 8 miles. While it was great, am I sure it will hold up well for more than three times that distance? I know the Nike shirt is good for 20 miles, at least.

Decisions, decisions...

It's also a couple days before friends start coming to town for the run. We've been talking about this for the better part of six months now, and for it to finally happen is really exciting. I'm just worried that I'm going to be thisclose to jumping out of my skin by the time the starting gun fires.

Last long run, first long post

This morning was my last "long" run of marathon training. 8 miles. It felt good, especially compared to last week when I wanted to crawl when I got to 8 miles of a 12 miler. This time I actually felt myself sprinting at the end and went a little further than I needed to. I peeked down at my Garmin and it said 8.04 miles and I couldn't figure out why I was sprinting so I stopped. Even while running I manage to be a dork.

I used this run to help me break in a new pair of shoes. I ran 5 treadmill miles on them the other day and then 8 road miles on them today. I'll get another 10 or so miles on them and hope they don't tear me up on race day. I sure wish I wouldn't have waited so long to buy a new pair of shoes. Oh, well. They felt pretty good and I guess 20 or so miles is a decent enough break-in period.

And now for the really exciting news: I was selected to participate in Runners' Lounge's 21-Day Stick Challenge. When I go to the expo at the Baltimore marathon this week I'll get fitted for a free Stick and I'll write about how it's helping out on the Runners' Lounge site over the next few weeks. I've always wanted to try out The Stick, and now I'll get to, in exchange for words, of which I have many.

In fact, here is the link to my "before" story. Notice how it's much longer than everyone else who has written one. Heh.

I also drove the marathon course this morning. It's going to be challenging, no question. But if I can make to 20 miles I think I'll be ok. I'm also going very slowly and running with a pace group, so hopefully I'll maximize my chances for success.

Close enough to start seeing weather reports now...

Scouring for the source of the stink

I've been having a problem in my basement. If you open the door to go down into it a moldy, mildewy smell smacks you right in the nose. It's been really terrible, as well as confusing. There's been no water coming in from the doors or windows. There are no water pipes that go through the walls in that part of the basement, aside from one that goes through the ceiling. There was no evidence of any water leakage in the drywall, and the smell didn't seem to be coming from within the area the one pipe runs through.

I took some time to try to figure out where the smell was coming from. As I said, there wasn't any water leaking in around the sliding glass door, but the smell was coming from around that area.

So I kept sniffing around, pretty literally. And I found my culprit:

The smelly culprit, pictured when new.

These are the "speed" shoes I currently have in circulation, and which I keep near the basement door on my running shoe "podium." They only have about 130 miles on them. And, to me, they're now worthless. I sprayed them with Lysol and loaded them down with baking soda and have neutralized the odor, but after I tried to run in them again the smell came right back and even infected the socks I was wearing.

While it's relieving to find out there's no major issue going on with moisture in my basement I don't really want to retire these shoes yet and I hate not being able to get my money's worth out of them.

But then, I've decided to run my marathon in my Asics Gel Cumulus 10s, and I've been wanting to buy another pair since I still have about 100 miles left of training runs, which will put my current pair close to 300 miles if I train in them exclusively (too many to run a marathon in), so I guess I have reason to buy another pair to break them in for about 50 miles before running a marathon in them.

Who said running was an inexpensive endeavor again?

Running with issues

I had a tempo run yesterday similar to the one from a couple weeks ago where I ran the fast part about 30 seconds/mile faster than I was supposed to. I ran it just slightly faster than I was supposed to yesterday and had to run an extra half mile on the front and back ends of the run for a total of 8 miles. 5 of the miles were at about 7:50/mile and the other 3 went at about 9:13. It all went fine. Except for the fact that I had the wrong shoes with me. And that I've been fighting annoying aches and pains in the ankle and groinal area of my right leg. And that I've been trying to deal with personal problems lately that have taken my focus off of just about everything else.

The shoe thing worried me most yesterday since my leg was feeling good enough. They were a pair of Nike Air Zoom Vomero+ 2s that I was using only for crosstraining and such because they were lousy running shoes for me. But I took Wednesday off of the gym to give my leg a rest and forgot to switch out the shoes in my gym bag with the ones I meant to do yesterday's run in, my Mizuno Wave Rider 11s. Aside from the fact that it felt like the front half of one of my feet felt numb for about half the run I didn't have any problems, thankfully. So the Nikes can go on the treadmill in a pinch, I guess.

I'm getting extremely anxious about the marathon. It's getting close and I am endlessly worrying about my ability to complete it. I've never been a DNF in a race and I don't plan to start now, but I also need the confidence to believe I can run 26.2 and right now I'm not so sure I have it.

When I started I had no idea how much of a mindf**k just training to run a marathon could be. I thought as long as my body was in shape everything else would fall in place. That's not true at all, and I have even more respect now for marathon runners than I had before I decided to attempt one. Especially those who do it more than once a year.

Recovering from a fall and getting back on the horse to ride again

After having a miserable attempt at a 20 mile run Sunday I took it pretty easy on Monday. I went to the gym and hit the weights. No real cardio at all as I wanted to rest my ankle and I was looking at 9 more miles for today (Tuesday). I also spent the day doing stuff around the house to take my mind off running. Because of my not wanting to obsess over how crappy of a long distance runner I am, I have a nicely mowed lawn, a sparkling clean car, clean siding on my house, the overgrowth of weeds just behind my property treated with weed killer and a gigantic watermelon chopped down to bits and slices.

But the 9 miler was lurking over me all day. And since I don't have time to run that far in the afternoon I set the alarm for good ol' 4:00 am this morning.

When I woke up before the alarm at 3:45 I started to go through the motions to prep for my run and thought about why I was doing this. I couldn't really come up with an answer. It crossed my mind to just say forget it and crawl back into bed, but I know the times you least want to work out are the times you most need to, so off I went.

Truth is, I had a great run. 9 miles in 1:16:53 for an 8:33 pace, and I think I was that slow because it was a pretty hilly route. My achilles was a little achy but not quite enough to be continuously noticeable and I don't believe it hindered me except for when I was going up the steepest parts of a couple hills.

So here I am primed to run a fast (for me) half marathon yet lined up to run the whole enchilada. D'oh. I can only hope to still be alive on the evening of October 11, I guess.

You can tell it's fall endurance sports season around here because even at the pre-rooster time I was out running there were others out there too. I ran past 4 or 5 other runners and 2 or 3 cyclists. All of us prepping for some ridiculous thing or another in the coming months, I'm sure.

And let me say this now: I have lowered myself to wearing a reflective vest when I run in the dark, but I promise here and now that no one will ever see me running with a flashlight on my head like THREE of the people I saw with them on this morning. I'm running. I'm not mining for coal.

Today was the second time I started and ended a run in complete darkness. But the weather was fantastic. Mid 50s and low humidity. Also, darkness hides the hills until you get to them. I kind of like that.

Still, I really am a moron for doing this whole thing.

Race day strategy intro

I can't remember where I read it -- probably several places, but I know it's important to go into a marathon with a strategy. It makes sense to have an idea about how fast (or slow) you're going to pace yourself, how you're going to handle nutrition and hydration on the run, what kind of clothing, socks, shoes you're going to wear, how you're going to handle something that pops up such as cramps, etc. Being about 9 weeks out from my first marathon I'm starting to bounce a race-day strategy around in my head.

The problem with coming up with one, however, is that only you can really tailor it for you, and it needs to be a solid plan because running a marathon is serious business, especially for a pushing 40 first-time slowpoke like me. You can read books, surf the web, take suggestions and learn how others have handled their marathon race days, but no one knows what it's going to take to make it across the finish line but you.

This is the place where I'm going to start devising my plan to survive succeed. October 11, 2008 is a lot closer than it seems. I'm in my seventh week of training already.

First, what I'm going to wear:

Clothing

I have two Nike Sphere Dri-Fit running shirts, in light blue and red. They're made to not stick to your body when you sweat and to wick moisture away. They're on clearance pretty much everywhere now so they're probably going away soon, but that'll be my race day shirt. I love it.

My Nike Dri-Fit shorts are ultra comfortable, but when I get into distances longer than 5 miles or so they get weighed down with sweat a little and start slipping off (my compression shorts under them get a little slickery too, I guess). Therefore, I have a pair of Under Armour shorts that'll probably make the cut for the day, even if they don't match the shirt perfectly. Good thing I'm a man who doesn't really care about sort of thing.

Shoes

I have about 75 miles on each pair of shoes I run in and I have another 250+ miles of training runs to go, so by the time I get to race day they'll each have about 200 miles on them. I don't think I'll have to buy new shoes for the race, but I will have to decide which pair to wear, the Mizuno Wave Riders or the Asics Gel Cumulus. The Mizunos seem to handle longer runs better but they're also showing signs of real wear already. Not sure about this yet.

Socks

I've been wearing Balega X-Athlete Hidden Comfort socks since I started running, and while they're great for runs under 10 miles for me the jury is still out on them for longer distances. With enough SportShield on my feet they may be ok. I don't really have any other options at this point.

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Ha, 250+ words about my clothes alone. I'm sure this post is totally exciting for anyone fortunate enough to read it. It gets better next time when I bring up my hydration and nutrition plan. Woo hoo!

Trying again with the fuel belts

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about moving up from one hydration belt to another that holds more fluid. Well, that new belt, the Ultimate Direction Access Plus, didn't work out so well. I had to make it so tight to keep from bouncing that I nearly cut the circulation off to my legs. Also, the 4 oz. supplementary flask fell out of its holster twice during a 16 mile run. That, to me, is unacceptable. The belt might be good for walking, but not so much for running.

So this weekend I went out to find something that would work out a little better for yesterday's 18 miler. I narrowed my choices down to the Fuel Belt Endurance 4-Bottle belt, which was for sale at a specialty running store and the Amphipod RunLite 4, which a local REI store was selling almost right across the street from the running store.

The two belts look pretty similar. To wit:

Fuel Belt Endurance 4-Bottle


Amphipod RunLite 4

Different angles, but you get the idea.

I have to say that they were both very comfortable. Both featured a velcro closure (rather than a buckle) that stretched to conform to the perfect size. So it came down to the bottles and ease of use.

All apologies go to the running store I was at. Most local running specialty shops are pretty small and it's hard to hide from the staff when you're shopping. This place was no exception. After declining help and saying I was just looking, I must have looked like a lunatic wearing their fuel belt and pacing back and forth in the store taking the bottles out and putting them back in. At least the REI store is bigger and it was quite busy, so the staff didn't notice me wandering around taking their amphipod belt for a test drive around the sales floor.

Both belts come with four 8 oz. bottles, but the amphipod allows you to customize each bottle. That is, you can mount them straight (as in the picture) or sideways. And removing them from their holsters is simple. You press along the edge of the bottle and it pops out. To put it back you just snap it back in place. The Fuel Belt removed really easily, but I didn't find it as easy to replace as the Amphipod belt, especially the bottles on the back of the belt. I also didn't really like the rubber band that stretched over top to keep it in place.

So I went with the Amphipod, and I wasn't sorry. Not only was it way more comfortable than the Access Plus belt, but it was more comfortable than my old Nathan Speed 2 belt, even with it carrying 12 oz. more than the Speed 2.

Ultimately, I guess I wasted money on the Access Plus belt. But it was by far the cheapest belt I've purchased, so there's that.

In sum, if you see me running the Baltimore marathon in October, the Amphipod RunLite 4 belt is what you'll be peeping around my waist. Holla!

16 miles to nowhere

There was a time where I'd beat myself up pretty badly over how I perceived I ran poorly on any given day. I finally figured that I was being really unfair to myself when I did that because those self beatdowns more often than not took place after not performing as expected over distances I'd never run before. How can I expect anything of myself when I have no idea what to expect? It didn't make sense so I stopped doing it and I just started to appreciate whatever the day gave me.

And so it is that the first time I've ever run 16 miles it didn't go quite as planned. I will say this: I rocked the first 10.4 miles. I was feeling good and running strong and my mile splits reflected it.

WARNING! TMI Alert! WARNING!

Whenever I go to do a long run I try to evacuate the facilities (if you know what I mean) before I head out. Unfortunately, the last couple really long runs, a 14 miler and this 16 miler, forced me to get up too early in the morning and threw me off a bit. While I knew the facilities needed to be cleared out I just couldn't get everything lined up at the door in time.

The place I ran these two runs (the NCR trail) has bathrooms situated about every three miles or so. I went almost 10 miles of my 14 miler a couple weeks ago tricking myself and promising to stop at the next one, which is "just a few more miles down the trail." It worked and I had a successful run without having to stop, although it was a mad dash to the can when I was finished with the training run.

This time psyching myself out didn't have the same effect. When I got to the head at about 10.4 miles I knew I couldn't make it another three without something really embarrassing happening. So I stopped and took care of business, but that 5-7 minute rest really messed me up.

TMI ALERT All Clear

While I was able to pick up my run again after I stopped, my legs felt like lead and a little stiff and I just couldn't get comfortable. To make matters worse, the 4 oz. secondary flask on my hydration belt squirted out of its holster twice, which caused me to come to dead stops to turn around and pick it up. That kind of hurt. I think I'm going to have to fire that particular belt. I'm not sure it's working for me.

Anyway, I made it running to 13 miles but by then my legs just didn't want to move anymore. So I ran a half mile and took a one minute walk break. Then I started to feel tweaks in my hamstrings and walked most of the 15th mile. I was able to run the last mile, and actually felt pretty good doing it, but my timing was all off by then and my overall average pace showed it.

Still, all things considered I don't feel too badly about this run. And the first 10+ miles really were great. These long deals are bascially part of the training schedule in order to allow you get to used to these ridiculous distances anyway. So now I know what it's like to go 16 miles, and it didn't kill me so I guess it made me stronger.

Today is also the day where I promised to evaluate where I'm at and decide whether to press on with marathon training or cut it back to the half marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival. Well, I can't quit training for a marathon based on how this run went, so I'm going to stick with it another week and see where I'm at next week after I run 18 miles. But I'll definitely make a definite decision next Sunday. For now it's all systems go for 26.2.

(See how I keep tricking myself to get just a little further down the road? You'd think I'd be wise to my tactics by now...)

Strapping on a new belt

Up until this past weekend I used the Nathan Speed 2 hydration belt for my long weekend runs. It looks like this:

It's pretty nice, but it only holds 20oz. of fluids, and with the heat and humidity we have around here I can only make that amount last up to about 12 miles. If it's particularly unfriendly running weather I'm lucky to make it 10 miles with 20oz.

So I got a new belt. It's the Ultimate Direction Access Plus belt. It looks like this:



It has one big 26oz. water bottle and another 4oz. flask for gels and such. That extra 10oz. is a lot and theoretically allows me to go much further.

As far as fit goes, the Speed 2 belt was really nice, although a little snug. I guess that's what you want from a belt dangling water bottles from it while you're trying to run, but while I generally wear pants with 32" or 34" waists (admittedly 34" more often than not), I had to wear a size Large Speed 2 belt that's supposed to be for waist sizes 36"-42". I have no idea how they figured that because if I had a 36" waist I don't think there's any way I'd be able to wear the size L belt comfortably, let alone a 38" or 40" waist.

Anyway, the Access Plus belt doesn't have that problem. It's fully adjustable from 26" to 42" inches and I was able to get it just right before I started running.

The problem was that when I started to run it didn't fit quite so well because the bottle, which felt a little heavy but well distributed at the small of my back, bounced pretty badly. I was able to adjust it on the fly and when I got the belt tight enough it worked out really well and was much more comfortable than the Speed 2 belt. I liked the light nylon belt much better than the Speed 2's thick elastic fabric thing and the big bottle's weight was distributed perfectly. Don't get me wrong. I knew every ounce of the bottle was there, but it wasn't a hindrance in any way.

I did keep worrying that my running would jar the belt loose and I'd have to keep readjusting the belt as I ran though. It didn't work out that way, but it was in the back of my mind the whole run which I didn't like. I think if I can figure out a way to thread the webbing through the buckle and lock it in place the Access Plus belt is a winner in that regard.

I didn't wind up using the 4oz. flask during my 14 miler so I'm not sure how it works on the run, but the water bottle itself was ok. You pull the valve up, bite it and squeeze fluid into your mouth. To close the valve you only need to push the valve to the side and it would pop back down and seal the bottle.

I wound up drinking maybe 14-16oz. of nuun water during the run, and it was nice to have quite a few nice swallows left while I walked to cool down. That's not something I had the luxury of with the Speed 2 belt.

So, with one run under my, er, belt, I give a conditional thumbs up to the Access 2 belt. It holds plenty of fluid and is easy to use, but while it was ultimately very comfortable it took some finagling to get it to feel just right around my waist. Provided I can get the adjustments down to a science at the start of a run I think the Access 2 belt is a keeper. For now, I'll take my fitting concerns in stride and chalk it up to the belt being unfamiliar to me.

Now I just have to see how it handles 16-20 miles.

A slow run and fast shorts

Boring run yesterday. Five treadmill miles at a 9:22 pace to kick off week 3 of marathon training. As usual, I ramped up the incline to compensate for the slowish pace. I'm a late believer of the principle of slowing down to go further, but man it's hard to do. You just feel like a snail and I worry that I'll lose whatever speed I have, which I know was never much to begin with. But then I remind myself it's a marathon and not a sprint and trod on. Har.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was me running any appreciable distance without wearing compression shorts for the first time. I was wearing a pair of shorts with a built-in liner in them, which I've never tried before. It might be hard to believe, but I was really worried about running in them. I'm a dork about dumb things like that. I was just concerned about binding or chafing or riding up or something. As it was, the shorts were great. My mp3 player didn't even bounce around in the pocket. So I know they're good for at least runs up to 5 miles. I'm still not sure if I want to run 14 miles in them this weekend though.

You know it's a slow day and when a runner stretches the bounds of interest by discussing his shorts on his blog. Yeesh.

Nation's capital calling

Quick addendum regarding my 12 mile run yesterday: About 7 miles in it struck me that I didn't dork up further than with my hydration belt and reflective vest by heading out with a Breathe Right strip on my nose (background on that here). It's a shame too because I think it really could have helped. Oh, well. I'm sure there will be more long runs in the dark for me to try it out on.

I can't speak for anyone else, but when I run races it's very important that I get a race premium. That is, a t-shirt. If a race doesn't offer one, I don't register. We all have our standards, I guess. Of course, if I don't finish a race I don't allow myself to wear its shirt. Luckily, I've finished every race I've entered so I can wear all the shirts I've received, good, bad and white.

Last week I got an e-mail saying that registration for the National marathon and half marathon in Washington D.C. was beginning on July 4, even though the race isn't until next March (I got the notice because I ran the half marathon this past March).

To get people interested in committing to and paying for a race that's like a million days away they offered a special early bird discount for a week and the kicker: a free "in training" t-shirt for the first 1,000 registrants in addition to the finisher's shirt that comes with registration (and which was one of the better t-shirts I've gotten from a race in the past year).

So guess who's running the National half marathon on March 21, 2009.

I didn't have the best experience running this race this past spring. I overdressed except for my hands, which were ice cold the whole time; there were hills in the middle of the race I was completely unprepared for; my race hydration strategy was terrible and completely ineffective; and my calves cramped up so badly I had to walk most of the last 5K. I was hoping for a finish somewhere around 1:50 but only managed a 2:09:55. Kinda crushing to the ol' male ego.

But it was my first half marathon, as well as the first time I ever ran more than 10 miles, so now I'll be able to tackle it again with three half marathons, a marathon (presumably) and the experience of running the same race in the past to get me through.

And now I know I'll at least have stuff to blog about for the next eight months.

Weekends are made for long running

While most people spend their holiday weekends vacationing or partying or hanging out with friends or otherwise goofing off like normal people should, I've spent mine trying to figure out where I was going to run 12 miles.

I ended up on a road I had no business on as a pedestrian, but I made it through alive. Maybe my hitting the road at 4:30 am had something to do with that. See, normal people - party and sleep in. Running moron - early to bed and too early to rise. But it was nice to only have to deal with humidity and not heat (it was 66 when I left and 68 when I got back), and it was nice to not have to dodge the sun's rays.

Anyway, I was supposed to run a 9:28 pace over 12 miles. I managed 9:30. Close enough, I guess, but I am a little disappointed at missing my target. Looking at the data from my Garmin Forerunner, it appears I ran the first 6 miles about 10 seconds under my target pace and the last 6 about 10 seconds over. I need to set my Garmin to beep when I go above or too far below my pace because it was really hard trying to fiddle with it every two minutes in the dark to figure out how I was doing at the start.

Also, I kind of thought the route I chose would go downhill and then flatten out for most of the rest of the way. Wrong. This is what I faced this morning:

SIX of the last seven miles were uphill. Sure, there were downward dips throughout, but trust me when I say they didn't help all that much.

When I got home and stretched I realized that my knees were kind of balky. I iced them down for 25 minutes or so and they feel pretty good. I could sure use a massage though.

Next weeks is 14 miles. I think I'm going to chicken out and do that on the NCR trail. It'll be boring but it'll be pretty flat, and I've never run that far before so I want it to be as easy as running 14 miles can be.

And I least I'll have my tunes. I need some decent earphones though. It's always something.

But what am I going to listen to?

When it comes to training I need my music. I just do. I also prefer to have music while I race, but can live without it if I have to I guess. But training = music. Period.

Not being a macolyte (even if there is an iMac, iPhone and iPod in my house) or succumbing to the iPod/iTunes siren song myself, I've been using an iRiver Clix for the last year or two. I love it.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and my Clix gave up the ghost last night. Time of death: 8:49pm.

This turn of events caused an immediate freak-out. With a relatively tough speed workout in front of me today, all I could think of was how in the world would I get through it without my music. I couldn't think of a way. It seems I'm a exercise music junkie or something and I was already worried about my next fix.

I dashed out of the house and sped down to my local Best Buy, the closest electronics store. It was closed. Argh!

Then I hauled down to the local Wal-Mart. Not exactly my first choice for electronics purchases, but I knew it was open.

Knowing only that I didn't want an iPod and that I didn't want to spend a mint, and having done no research on what non-Apple mp3 player is worth its salt, I looked closely at Wal-Mart's available players.

Which, of course, didn't include anything from iRiver and were mostly out of stock.

Nothing is worse than having to settle for something, but that's what I did in buying the Sony Walkman video mp3 player. It's not really even a step up from my Clix in that it has the same pretty meager 2GB drive, but it is a lot smaller and at first blush is easy to work with and sounds pretty good. And it's sure nothing like the Walkmans I remember. Remember those things about the size of a brick that you'd play cassette tapes in? If so, you're old. Ha.

Anyway, crisis averted, but I sure wish I wouldn't have had to make such a panicked rush decision about something so important as my exercise music.

Now to see how well the Walkman mp3 player deals with having sweat flung all over it. My Clix took it like a hero. Sigh. Rest in peace, old friend.

Breathing is a right

10 or so years ago I went to see an ear, nose and throat doctor regarding a problem I was having with an ear. While I was there he noticed my slightly deviated septum and said he could do something about that to help me breathe better. I told him I was fine with the way it was and didn't think it necessary. He said ok, but he guessed that by the time I turned 40 I'd want to do something about it.

I still don't really have much desire to do much about my septum, but I do sometimes wonder how much better I'd be able to run if I could breathe through my nose a little better and if I could ever stop looking like a knuckle dragging mouth breather when I run.

Yesterday I was in the store and noticed a box of Breathe Right nasal strips, those band-aid type things that open your nasal passages. A light bulb popped on in my head, I said what the heck and bought a box.

This morning I had a 10 miler on tap, so I got my stuff in order, slapped on a nasal strip and headed out the door.

It was really humid, and after 6 miles, when the sun finally burned through the cloud cover, really hot, so breathing while running was hard to begin with. Did the nasal strips help with my running? I don't know, but I noticed a marked difference in my ability to breathe through my nose and I think that when it finally cools down in the fall I may get some benefit from them.

Anyway, I was supposed to run the 10 miles at a 9:28 pace, which is kind of slow, but I started a little later than I planned, took a new route, hit a couple unexpected hills, and with the heat and humidity finished even slower with an average 9:31 pace. I took 30 seconds longer for this run than I should have. I'm not going to beat myself up too badly over that. This was the conclusion of the first week of marathon training anyway, so I have time to step it up and get it together.

Still wondering what I got myself into with all this marathon training stuff.

The batteries that power my motivation are dead

Today's running workout dilemma: I forgot to charge my mp3 player last night and the battery is dead. Ugh. I hate having an audio device that requires a charging cable with a proprietary plug for the equipment and that doesn't just use a nice standard USB cable.

And since it's supposed to be in the 90s today I'll be running on the treadmill indoors. For a five mile tempo run; three of those miles at a pretty by-god fast pace that could use some aural encouragement in the guise of angry upper-middle-class suburban white boy music. Yeesh.

Oh, well. This will be my first time in my new Mizuno Wave Rider 11s, so I have that.

It's still going to be a long five miles. I predict it'll feel like at least 6 or 6 1/2.

Too many words about a man buying shoes

I got to do one of my favorite running things yesterday: buy new shoes!

This is the third time I've gone shoe shopping since I started running. The first time I came out of the store with a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10s and Brooks Axiom 2s. I kept meticulous track of the mileage on them and when they got to about 350 miles on each pair they were spent and I got more. I decided that I liked the Wave Riders but I wouldn't buy the Axioms again.

The second time I came away with a pair of Saucony Pro-Grid Triumph 4s and Nike Air Zoom Vomero+ 2s. The Nikes were probably the most comfortable pair of running shoes I ever wore, but running in them made my knees hurt. So I fired them as running shoes and wear them for weight and cross training days. I bought a second pair of Triumph 4s, and ran with two pairs of the same shoe (but in different colors). This time, however, I was less than adequate in tracking mileage so I'm trading them in after six months. They're about as worn down as the ones I kept track of are, which is a good enough indicator for me to spend money.

I went to Road Runner Sports this time for my shoe needs. It's a new brick and mortar store in the area and I wanted to get analyzed there. I'm pleased to report that I have normal arches and that my gait is straight. Additionally, my calves looked really well developed in the video of me running barefoot on a treadmill. I don't get to see that often.

After the analysis and trying on 8 different pairs of shoes, I came out of the store back in Mizunos:

Mizuno Wave Rider 11

I'm not sure why I didn't even try the Wave Rider 11s after my 10s kicked it. Guess I wanted to try something different. But I'm back, baby!

My other pair I'm really excited about -- by the way, I always get two pairs to rotate them so my shoes have chance to dry out and decompress and not get overused to the point of causing injury. And if there's one thing you want to ensure is perfect when you're running it's your shoes.

Anyway, I have several running friends who rave over their shoes and hoard extra pairs when they get word their model is being discontinued. While the shoe model may be different, the brand is always Asics. Now I'm in the Asics club:


Asics Gel Cumulus 10

These shoes are probably the most comfortable running shoes I've ever tried on. Granted, I said that about my Nikes too and it turned out that I couldn't run in them, but I have high hopes for my new Asics.

Unfortunately, today isn't even a running day for me. But I guess it's a good thing that I'm so looking forward to my next one tomorrow.

Let the breaking in begin!

Training, marathoning, equipmenting

Today was a beautiful day. So much so that running a quick and easy 3 miles at 4:00pm wasn't much of a problem. The temp at my house was in the low 70s, which is a little warm to run in, but it was the first time since the early spring that I could get away with something like this. Here's hoping the weather we have now sticks around until my 10 mile race on Saturday morning. Especially the lows, which were in the glorious 50s around my way this morning.

I only did 3 miles (well, 3.17 if you want to be technical) today to take it easy in preparation for my race this weekend. I don't believe you need to have a full-blown taper type of period for a 10-miler, but I don't believe you want to kill yourself the week before either. But that's just me. I make no claim to really know of what I speak.

Anyway, I figure the 3 miles I did today, the 4 or so that'll comprise speed work tomorrow, and the 3 or so I'll do Thursday will provide me enough to get through to Saturday. And with that run I'll still be looking at a little over 20 miles for the week so that's not too bad.

After this weekend I'm going to start training as if I'm going to run the Baltimore marathon. That'll give me 4 weeks or so to see if I'm really up to/ into it before maybe switching over to a half marathon training program. Time is flying. I have a group of running buddies coming in for the Baltimore Running Festival. They're coming from places such as Las Vegas, Oregon, and even Alaska. It'll be a lot of fun, but I have to get ready.

In other news, my Garmin Forerunner 305 keeps messing up. It's been combining runs and such. It used to do that when the memory was full and it couldn't add any more days, but I had less than a month's worth of workouts in there when it screwed up this time (it holds three months worth of data). It's a little frustrating. I have to say that while I really like certain aspects of the 305 -- namely everything derived from its GPS capabilities -- it's not perfect. I'm not in love with it as much as I thought I'd be and I'm not all that keen to trade up to the newest Forerunner, no matter how pretty it bats its eyes at me.

Running away from running shoes

This past weekend I decided I needed new running socks, and since you can't just pick them up at Target I went down to my local running store.

The store is the one I bought my first running shoes from a year ago. I bought two pairs that day and joined the store's loyalty program to get something like a $25 gift card after every $250 in purchases I accumulated.

I wore those shoes out over the next 5-6 months, but rather than go back for shoes from the same store I went to a store in New York when I was visiting family over the holidays. I bought one pair of shoes there and bought a 2nd pair online for something like $30 less than the store price because they were "endangered" (that style was being discontinued).

The socks I buy seemed a little different in the store than what I'm used to, so the lady who owns the store looked up exactly the kind of socks I bought and mentioned that it had been a while since I bought shoes and that I'm due for new ones. I didn't fess up that I bought shoes from another store, but I did confess that I bought new shoes online.

The lady gave me a "tsk" and asked why I'd do that when buying them in the store is the same price as buying them online. Rather than get into it with her, I just acted sheepishly, cracked a joke about how she busted me and cursed myself for being suckered into having my shopping history/habits in that store tracked for the promise of a lousy $25.

But she was only telling half the truth anyway. It's true that buying running shoes is essentially the same price online or in a store, provided it's a new, unendangered shoe version/model. The minute a shoe becomes endangered you can find it online for 30-50% less than MSRP, where as the brick and mortar stores will continue to sell them at full retail price until they're down to their most unpopular sizes and just want to get rid of what's left in inventory.

I like running stores, and I don't mind buying shoes from them at full retail because they do offer a service in analyzing and fitting you for the best shoes for you, your feet and your style of running. But after then, do I owe them something into the future for something they did in the past? I think not, and believe that I'm entitled to find the best deal for myself when I already know what I need. And truthfully, I don't really appreciate a store thinking I owe it something because I purchased from them in the past. It's not like they give me a discount just because I purchased from them in the past.

The socks I bought is another item that is essentially the same price in store and online. I thought it was nice of me to buy them from the store to give them some of my business (they're $10/pair and I bought several pair, so it wasn't an insignificant purchase... additionally, I made an impulse buy of a running hat while I was there), but I think from now on I'll buy online and bypass being chastised for the way I choose to spend my running budget.

To belt or not to belt

The biggest mistake I made in running my first half marathon several weeks ago was running the race differently from how I trained. In all my runs longer than 8 miles I wore a belt with two liquid flasks on it and a pocket to carry gels. I drank nuun-water from the flasks and took Powerade strawberry-banana gels when I needed them. It worked for me during training, but during the race I stuffed a couple gels I'd never taken before (Gu chocolate flavored, which were way too thick) in my shorts pockets and relied solely on the fluid stations on the course, which featured water and Gatorade.

The problem is that I can't drink from cups when I run (even pinching the cup) and I don't like to stop and walk while I drink because it slows my momentum and I never seem to get it back. Plus, running with walk breaks isn't how I train. So I was taking gels that I didn't like and wasn't accustomed to and couldn't get the hydration I needed from the fluid stations on the course. I believe dehydration is what killed me the last couple miles and resulted in severe cramping.

So I pretty much accepted that my belt will come with me this weekend at my half marathon, no matter how dorky I may look, but after going through a few posts on a message board about running marathons without or without a fuel belt, I'm starting to second guess myself again. Do I want the extra weight since I do have a time goal for this race? I'm looking at hauling around at least an extra pound and a half to two pounds due to the belt and water weight. How comfortable will the belt be if I'm trying to kick it into a higher gear to finish the race? How will I look in pictures?

I think it's normal to question, second-guess, and slightly alter race day strategy during the run up to the big day, especially when you don't have a lot of endurance race experience. But it's not fun, and it is nerve wracking. And, in the end, I'm sure I'll go with my plan to wear the belt and be glad that I did.

And it's much more better for me to worry about wearing a dumb belt for the race than worrying about everything race related like I did the first time. In a few more half marathons I might even go into them completely confident and ready.