Seebo's Run

New Digs

2010-01-01T16:21:00.005-05:00

I'm writing again, though I'm taking it to a new location.

They are not letting me link to it, perhaps because its the competition, so I'll spell it out:

seebo.typepad.com (seebo-dot-typepad-dot-com).

Come visit me. See you there.

Lay Off

2009-11-10T10:01:00.002-05:00

Haven't written in a bit, and telling you that I'll be taking some time off.

Foot's getting worse and the rest of life is closing in as well, so I'm going to take some time off. A week or two. Part of me hates to do it, but it feels right. Tired of half measures.

So check back once in awhile, and I'll see you then.

Weeds and Cinders

2009-11-05T08:58:00.004-05:00

Second time on the track in two days. This time it was Bartram track and back to weeds and cinders. Plan was to do some easy interval work to check out the foot.

Sunny and in the forties this morning, running on borrowed daylight from last weekend's time change. Felt in a good frame of mind running down to 58th St. as this would be, effortwise, an easy workout. Reba gave me her iPod to replace mine, which finally died last week, and I had Fred Eaglesmith on the rotation.

Plan was to do 3x1600 with 400m recovery. The reps would be under 7 minutes. Actual times were 6:51; 6:56; and 6:54. More importantly, my foot seems to be holding up, although we'll see how it feels over the course of the day.

One thing I like about the Bartram track, more than any other I've run on, is that I rarely have a workout there without making some kind of human contact. Words of encouragement, a "how many miles you going?" shout, a nod of recognition upon sharing the track with someone for a second time. This morning a 50-something year old guy who was dutifully jogging around the track synchronized his workout so that he would do 100m bursts down the straightaway with me whenever I came around. On lap 3 of my third rep he hung with me for 200m and then when I finished the rep I stopped a bit and we chatted.

7.5 miles in 60:41.

Tale of 2 Tracks

2009-11-04T10:48:00.003-05:00

In DC at a conference, staying with my sister. Beautiful morning, was unmotivated to run.

Had a blister on my heel from wearing shiny shoes yesterday. Tried to turn that into an excuse not to run, but I just couldn't make it fly.

So, decidedly uninspired, I headed out to the track down the street from Annette's house. Having gotten used to running on a cinder track with encroaching weeds made me appreciate the springy polyurethane all the more, and I marveled at the restrooms (i.e., not porta-potties) that were open just by the bleachers. A different world out here.

But that didn't make running around in ovals any more interesting. I did an easy five miles, speeding up a bit towards the end just to get it over with. I'm getting optimistic again that my foot is on the mend, and may head out to my (58th St) track tomorrow for some very mellow reps. We'll see.

And I have a physical therapy appointment next week Wednesday.

Coffee Break

2009-11-02T12:13:00.002-05:00

Just like when you don't run for a few days, when you don't write for a few days then it gets harder to get back into things. There just seems to be too much to catch up on, and the inactivity has a momentum all its own.

Fortunately that has not been the case for my running. Today marks the fifth straight day that I have gotten a run in. A little victory, but one that I'll definitely hang on to. It started last Wednesday and Thursday (already blogged), then progressed with a 10.5 miler - out & back to Outley and five miles along Cobbs Creek with the guys on Friday. Saturday it was a rainy 5-miler on a SSB loop variation, and yesterday a 5.5 mile Art Museum loop.

Today I cycled out to Outley and ran 5 miles through Darby and Yeadon with Troy and Derrick. For most of the run we kept in proximity to each other, with the two of them doing their own pace and me staying with them. Our paces were not that different, and it would not have been much of an adjustment for us to run as a tighter group. That's what I'm used to, that doesn't seem to be how things go here. These become taciturn runs, and sticking to someone else's pace anchors me so that the pace remains suitable for my foot. Today's five passed in 40:40, a good pace for me.

Watched the NYC marathon before I went out yesterday. The coverage was awful, as usual, but at least it was on tv. The focus is very much on the men's and women's front packs, which is fine when they are relatively large but then when each of the races whittled down to two, and then one, the camera stayed focused exclusively on them, with little idea what the other 39,998 runners were doing. It's the Ricky Bobby approach to marathon coverage - if you ain't first, you're last. In doing so they missed at least one big story of how US runners not only won the men's race, but scored six out of the top 10 male finishers. So if this were a cross country meet USA would have won.

Speaking of XC, Tony's season is now done. He seemed to like it, and was solidly in the middle of the pack. The team had a good amount of success, unfortunately because of my teaching schedule I was only able to make it to one of his meets, the second to last one last week.

There, caught up again. Now time to get back to work.

Hard Rain

2009-10-29T14:19:00.002-04:00

Pitter patter of rain made it hard to get out of bed and even harder to get out the door the last two days. Add a semi-bum foot to the mix and it looks like I won't be atop any championship podiums anytime soon.

I did see a doctor today and got a scrip for Physical Therapy.

And I did run. Easy 4 on my newfound loop under the South St. Bridge. Nice morning to run, wish it could have been more.

I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways,
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,

And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Two Trick Pony

2009-10-26T10:03:00.006-04:00

My blogging lately has revolved around two topics - my bum foot and my running with BOMF. Don't have much else to talk about today. If I dwell on my foot, I'll whine some more about my half-fast running. Circumstance here haven't changed much.

That leaves BOMF. This is now my second week of getting up earlier to meet in SW Philly at Outley House at 5:45 to run with a group of folks. I don't know much about Outley other than it is a shelter on the magnitude of 200-300 beds with a therapeutic component to it. Somewhere I heard referred to as a "rehab shelter". A group of mostly guys, about 10-15, staying at the shelter and a few "non-residential" runners meet and we go run. I had initially thought of this as a good way to get mileage on my easy days, but recently these "easy" days have become my hard days and I've cut back on my mileage by biking to Outley.

A week in, I've already figured how to time my arrival to avoid most of the stretching that they do before the run (I'm already warmed up when I get down there) but have gotten there in time for a huddle to recite the Serenity Prayer, 12 step style, before heading out to run. I've been running with whoever is in front of the pack, which has worked well in that its been different people on each run. Runs have been anywhere from 3-6 miles.

The running is different than other group running I've done. Some of it is obviously the socioeconomics, but it is also due to most of the people there not having been involved in running that long. Both those factors create an absence of little nuanced running-related things that I only notice in their absence, and make me realize how homogeneous the typical running groups are, and how even the most friendly running groups can be intimidating to the uninitiated. It's hard to pin down, and I'll write more about it in some future post when I can offer more specifics.

But in writing this I realize that is the difference of this group, that it is a running group less socialized to the running "norms" of the masses and leaves me feeling the outsider. The run today was down the Cobbs Creek bikeway to Baltimore Ave, about 2.5 miles, and back. Reese and I started at a steady pace that from his breathing I didn't think he'd maintain. We were joined about a mile and a half by "Cheeks", who caught up to us for a bit and promptly started walking. Following this the pace undulated somewhat between faster and slower, with Cheeks either falling back and catching up or running ahead and walking until we caught up. We'd run as a threesome at times and at other times there would be a good spread between us. The running paralleled the way I was feeling - alternately connected and disjointed. Reese thanked me for slowing down to run with them, something I hate when people do because, I think, I feel their discomfort where I feel there shouldn't be any. If I wanted to run faster I'd have run faster. I started to explain this but couldn't find the words to do so. So I let it drop.

New situations bring out the sociologist in me. I'm very aware that I'm still new to this scene so I largely take it in and try to figure it out and where I belong in things. And I heed some other 12-step advice, to keep coming back.

As a postscript, I ran 5.5 miles around the Art Museum loop yesterday, took Saturday off and ran 6 miles up and down Woodland Ave on Friday. Yesterday's run felt fine but subsequent frisbee tossing and apple picking got my foot worked up again. It didn't feel bad after this morning's five, however. Go figure.

Serenity Prayer

2009-10-21T10:56:00.003-04:00

Went out to run with BOMF group again this morning. This time I ran down there and back and did the group run in the middle. For the group run, I ran with the same guy I did the mile with on Monday. He's a good runner and about my age. Conversation was guy-style: sporadic with stretches of silence in between. That suited my mood and somehow seemed appropriate for running down Lindbergh Blvd. with the sun rising to our right. Gonna be another nice day I'll spend in the office.

This made for 10+ miles, which was more than my foot could handle. Things felt okay but the heel pain came on slowly and more diffuse around the ankle. Different style than before. And its been with me since. I iced it while eating breakfast but that seems to make the pain worse. Pain is nagging, not debilitating.

Obviously I'm still trying to figure this one out. For now I'll stick with my every-other-day schedule and perhaps, gasp, schedule an appointment with some healthcare type. Nothing else seems to be working.

Every Little Twinge

2009-10-19T08:23:00.002-04:00

Cycled to SW Philly to run with a Back on My Feet group. We met outside of a transitional housing program where 11 out of the group were living, and another 2 volunteers set up the workout. Everyone was very welcoming and, after a mile warmup, the group did a timed mile on Paschall and Woodland Aves. and I got in about another mile cooldown.

I figure I'd run the timed mile as fast as my foot would permit but no faster than whoever was in front. My foot, in contrast to last Mondays workout, went fine as I applied some speed and I stayed abreast of another guy and we both finished the mile in 7:04.

I'll write more about this BOMF group as I go to more of the runs. I felt very much on the outside of something, which is as it should be, and I am content to continue running with this group and see what unfolds. I don't feel like I got much of a workout in today but I am glad I felt this good on the few miles we did.

And now I'm back to obsessing over how my foot is doing, analyzing every little twinge. Dunno what else to do.

Redux

2009-10-18T22:45:00.001-04:00

Same route, same time of day, same almost-wet weather. Same almost PF on the right foot.

Actually the route was a few blocks longer to make it 5 miles.

I'll keep doing this half-speed, half-mileage running until things get better or worse. They can't stay like this forever.

Go Phils.

Piggybacking

2009-10-17T17:30:00.003-04:00

Combined Reba and I almost ran a marathon today. Okay, so she ran 21 miles and I did 4.8.

Rainy, miserable day. I ducked out during a mid-afternoon lull and ran a slightly more extended version of the route I've been running lately out to under what will someday again be the South Street Bridge and along 76. This time I returned over the Gray's Ferry and back on 47th St. Route is here.

Rain was intermittent while I ran. I spent much of the run obsessing about my foot. I slipped some barely used orthotics that I had into my (new) shoes hoping that will make a difference. The pain was still lurking yesterday (a DNR) but, as is the pattern, it felt fine to run on today. I may be overanalyzing, but it seems like the pain is moving from the bottom of my heel up about an inch to under my arch. Still trying to figure out how to beat it.

New Shoes

2009-10-15T10:47:00.003-04:00

A little redbird was chirping this morning about how cold it was. This got to me, to the point where I was considering gloves. But I wore my favorite long-sleeved t-shirt instead, with oversized sleeves that my hands could just curl into. And, though chilly, it was not cold and I was fine. Still, it is the first long sleeve run of the season.

I've been skittish with my heel. It again has gotten to the point where I have no pain. While I have not been great with stretching and icing it (which actually seems to aggravate the pain), I have gotten new shoes. I laced these up for the first time this morning and headed out on the 4 mile loop I did Thursday.

I felt very mild discomfort in my heel this morning. I was careful to keep the pace slow, minding the fact that I really aggravated it with that little fartlek I did on Monday. The run felt really good, though I felt there was a governor switch planted in my head that kept me from going too fast. This eased a bit at the end of the run, as I felt a good strong rhythm and my foot felt fine.

If blogs are exercises in self-absorption, then this post localizes this absorption even further to my foot. I'm thinking the plan right now is to run through it for awhile, albeit at easy paces. Pick up mileage before cautiously reintroducing speed. Also holding off with any medical intervention. And I'll keep going with the golf ball. There is an odd relaxation involved with doing that.

One thing I've been this time around is patient.

Tomorrow I'm set to run at 5:45 a.m. with a Back on My Feet group. See how that goes.

Steelers Country

2009-10-12T10:36:00.002-04:00

Greetings from the Hampton Inn in Belle Vernon, PA, deep in the heart of Steelers country.

On the last leg of a fantabulous road trip out to Ohio and Indiana. I haven't run all weekend until this morning. Reba mapped out a route into the hills, and we went out together. It didn't take long to get out of the interstate sprawl and into farmland, where cows were checking us out and pheasants were flying across the road.

All was not agrarian bliss, however. I slowed down to read a historical marker about some local luminary named Cook and sped up to catch up with Reba. That little burst was all it took to get my ankle bottom hurting again. It seemed completely cleared up after the weekend off and its back. Not extremely painful but there. That is disappointing. I suppose I'll have to seek out PT now.

So plan is to continue running low grade. 5.5 miles this morning, untimed.

Jackimo feen-i ay!

2009-10-08T09:46:00.005-04:00

If You Don't Like What the Big Chief Say...
Just Jackimo feen-i ay!

Was listening to the Neville Bros. on my run this morning.

For the first time since I got the heel pain a week ago, I went on a run rather on a jog that merely served to feed the monkey.

I was going to run out to Franklin Field and back through Penn Campus and made it out behind FF when I spied me a pedestrian footbridge out over the railroad tracks which likely would take me down to the edge of I-76. With this link I could run out to the Penn ballfield and back around.

And so I called an audible and swung around. In doing so I ran under what will one day again become the South Street Bridge and got to see the progress being made. They are in the midst of laying the steel girders that will underpin the road bed. Suffice to say there is much work remaining to be done.

This then led to a service road going right next to I-76. Doesn't sound great but amidst all the whooshing of cars there is some green and, more importantly, a feeling of solitude. Its a nice run, and, as important, it is a rarely traveled run. Loop comes to 4 miles, untimed.

I felt my heel a bit at first, and then it was fine. I stretched and iced afterwards, and the heel actually felt worse after I did this. I've been running a golf ball under my heel while I work, and that seems to help, and I ordered new shoes. The only thing left is arranging the physical therapy, but I'm going to wait on that and see how it goes over the weekend.

Didn't run yesterday but did bike down to Center City in the morning to attend an orientation for Back on My Feet. For those of you who don't know them, they basically set up runs at transitional housing facilities where "non-residential" volunteers and "residential" program participants meet up and run. I decided to join when I saw that they have a 6 a.m. run out of Outley House, which is on 69th and Woodland... right on my Cobbs Creek loop when I run it out to Woodland Ave., and only a little bit earlier than when I go by there. This means I have run past the facility dozens of times, but I have absolutely no mental image of it.

The plan was to fit this in with my easier runs. Now with my heel problems I may have to adjust this, probably by biking out there to run for the first few weeks. Stay tuned.

Day before yesterday was an easy 2.5 miles.

Heading out of town for the long weekend, probably won't post again until Monday or Tuesday.

Shoes and Balls

2009-10-04T19:34:00.003-04:00

Quiet weekend, runningwise.

Went to visit my mom in NY on Friday and Saturday, and didn't even pack my running shoes. Took those days completely off due to the right heal pain from Thursday's run. I was limping visibly on Thursday, not so badly on Friday, and not at all yesterday. Today was okay until I put my running shoes on, and, like a conditioned response, the heel pain made its presence known again. I nonetheless jogged an easy two miles and the pain, while there, wasn't bad. It got to be where I didn't feel comfortable with the footstrike, a disconcerting feeling I last had when I was coming back from an ankle injury in 08. Did some thorough stretching and icing following the run, which is unusual for me.

Plan is to continue to do easy mileage for the near future and see if this gets better, worse or whatever.

Got suggestions for new shoes and golf balls. My shoes aren't old yet, but I may get a replacement pair (it's the running equivalent of rebooting your computer), and I actually have some Mayes College golf balls lying around my office that I'll put to good use tomorrow.

A Bridge Too Far

2009-10-01T10:54:00.002-04:00

I write often about my resistance to running workouts - of difficulty getting out the door or, once out the door, getting the momentum up to initiate the effort. This resistance is not irrational, and today's workout is proof of that.

Today was a return to the Bloody Nipple. This is the most odious workout in my repertoire. Done right, it consists of a 3 mile warmup to MLK, four MLK tempo miles, and then a recovery up and over the Bloody Nipple hill and around to Belmont Plateau, another almost 3 miles, done as quickly as possible (a recovery on the run).

Wanted to get those four miles in under 24, total time was 24:06 (6:06; 5:58; 5:58; 6:04). Unfortunately that was all I had. I got this sinking feeling, right after I finished, that I was about six miles from home with nothing in the tank. I also got a bruise-like pain in my heel starting in the last half-mile of my tempo.

I went through some old posts to see my BN workout times in the glory days of 2006. My best times for the tempo miles was in the mid-22 minute range and for the BN part was in the low 16 minute range. I couldn't imagine doing that this morning.

I also saw that, in September 2005, I had a blog entry with the same title as today's about doing this loop. An excerpt reads:

After that the run devolved into a death march, where you are spent and just trudge miserably on home. It is one of the ugly facets of training, where you just have to suck it up and ponder the fact that today was overdone.

This pretty much describes the last six miles of my run. The only difference is this heel pain, which continued and is still with me as I write this. Looking on the web, it seems alot like Plantar Fascitis, the only common overuse injury I've never had. Based on this, looks like I'll be taking a few days off. I feel okay about that, but that may be because I'm still in denial. It nevertheless keeps up this up and down pattern I've been having lately. But the ups continue to get uppier, so I'm willing to be patient.

I've now got almost five years of blogging under my belt. Two things amaze me: how I can read about workouts that I can only vaguely remember and how I can have the same ideas about workouts (and even the same blog titles) and think they are original.

13+ miles in 107:30.

Urban Steeplechase...

2009-09-29T14:22:00.004-04:00

... can be defined as running an old cinder track after a rainstorm, with big puddles straddling both of the straightaways.

I was excited for my track workout this morning. Given last Sunday's 5k time, I wanted to do an encore performance of 5x1000 meter reps and see if I could squeeze some seconds out of last week's time.

This excitement deflated upon seeing the condition of the Bartram track. In addition to dodging the usual walkers and joggers, today I would need to go wide around the puddles (I nixed the idea of just plowing through them). I couldn't say exactly, but it would be sure to add a few seconds on to each interval.

Its times like these that I see the true importance of running strides before running the actual track workout. The ostensible purpose of strides are to warm the legs up for running fast. But they also warm the mind up. 3 laps around and it was assessing, reconfiguring, and finally accepting the notion that the workout would go on as planned, with time expectations (initially at 3:36 per 1000m rep) suspended.

Interval 1 came in in 3:49. Even given the extra time allotted for the obstacles, this was disappointing. But time was suspended today, and it now sank in that I had a free pass to run these damn things as slow or fast as I wanted.

Interval 2 came in at 3:40. About where I figured the puddles would leave me. About halfway into this interval I realized that with no time expectations, all I had to do was run fast. Fast and with abandon.

And then intervals 3, 4 and 5 came in at 3:36; 3:34 and 3:33, respectively. Damned if I didn't nail 'em. Just ran 'em hard.

This left me happy on many levels. Happy about the times, but also happy on following through the process it took to get there.

Adding up the 5k on the installment plan gave me a time of 18:09. To think I ran a whole 5k a few seconds faster than that leaves me knowing I can still push these old legs harder. That'll be for next week. Today's totals were 9.5 miles, I forgot the total time.

And I came home with the ultimate runner's reward - muddy calves.

Going the Extra Half Mile

2009-09-28T09:20:00.004-04:00

Deirdre's in town, so we met on the Schuylkill bike path and I finished up my 8.5 miler while accompanying her on some miles in her long run. The morning was gorgeous and the legs didn't feel too beat up after yesterday's long run and subsequent washing machine escapade.

I had to haul our broken down washing machine down from the third floor and then haul our spare from the basement (doesn't everybody have a spare washer in basement) up to the third floor. I had help, of course, but I didn't realize how much that trashed my legs.

But the legs settled down as the run progressed up over Lemon Hill, over the Girard Bridge, and then back around West Philly. Deirdre seems to be doing well following her move, and today's run was like what I guess is now old times. So much so that I went the extra half mile to 49th St.

8.5 miles, untimed.

Rain

2009-09-27T22:34:00.002-04:00

Planned to get up early and incorporate the Jack St. Clair classic XC race at Belmont Plateau into my long run, but the pitter patter of rain changed my mind and I slept in. Rain stopped later and I put my shoes on, but it started up again before I got out the door. Figured I'd go anyway.

Got in 14 miles, the minimum distance I'll consider a "long" run. Nothing imaginative, just ran down to the Art Museum and did the Drives. 27:48 for the 4 miles up MLK; 27:35 for the 4 miles back down Kelly Dr. That's about marathon pace these days. Ran the total 14 in 1:46:43.

Main Line 5k

2009-09-26T13:35:00.003-04:00

Reading the title of this race, it sounds like some way to get a more intense dose of running - you take your 5k and, like heroin, you mainline it. But its not like that.

Instead, running this race requires a trip up to Wayne, Pa., up on the Main Line which is, for you non-locals, the upper class suburbs that line Lancaster Ave. once you get out northwest of Philadelphia. Wayne is the epicenter of what David Brooks calls the "bo-bo" phenomenon - the new cultural elite with their "bourgeois bohemian" aesthetic:

And so suddenly the streets of Wayne are dominated by the PBS-NPR cohort: vinyard-touring doctors, novel-writing lawyers, tenured gardening buffs, unusually literary realtors, and the rest of us information age burghers. These people have different aspirations than the old country club and martini suburban crowd, and naturally enough want their ideals reflected in the sort of things they buy and images they project...

It was into this mix that a marathon training-psychologist and a weekend warrior-sociologist entered to race. The event was thoroughly organized, and judging from how well the volunteers directed the parking it was clear that no-one would take a wrong turn on the course that day. There were sponsors galore and folks that Reba knew through work (her employer was one of the sponsors) and I knew through my Bryn Mawr involvement. And for me, it was good to get back into the racing scene. I forgot that, apart from an athletic event, it is also a social outlet.

And there was a race. The course was praised by all and the first mile ran down Lancaster Ave into downtown Wayne, past the Anthropologie and the kiddie boutique and the pottery painting store, and into the leafy back streets. I felt comfortable and settled into about tenth place as the field shook out and was pleasantly surprised as the first mile split read 5:30. After this, however, the course got challenging with hills - more up than down - before a loop around the Valley Forge Military Academy's track. Mile two was in about 6:15. I knew it would come in slower but 45 seconds slower leads me to believe that the markers were miscalibrated. Now I was where I figured I'd be - on track to finish on either side of 18 minutes. More hills on the last mile and I reel in one guy, then another who kicks back and we duel down the home stretch. Its double despair as I don't have the gas and he passes me at the chute while the clock ticks past 18 minutes to 18:04.

So, like I said, pretty much where I thought I'd be. On a flatter course, probably a bit faster. I had fun. I realize that I miss racing, and am eager to do it again. Stay tuned.

All in all, about 7 miles.

Sick Role

2009-09-24T08:06:00.002-04:00

Calling in sick today.

Nothing major - my head feels very congested, my throat is sore, and I just don't have a good grip on things. I've got a ton of sick time and this way I can excuse myself from a bunch of obligations I have, including a 2-hour long faculty meeting.

Its interesting in that, in the Sociology of Medicine class that I teach, we spent the last class on sociologist Talcott Parsons and his formulation of the "sick role." Among other things, being sick gives us a "free pass" to stay home and otherwise shirk our normal duties, although with it we also have the responsibility to get better. Sounds pretty obvious? Well, there is more to it than that. We as a society, myself included, are not very good at using this free pass and I'm sure I'll be working some at home. But it will be stuff I want to do with limited interruptions.

But I will use my free pass to take a day off from running. Save myself a bit for the weekend and consolidate my recent gains. Probably a good thing to do, regardless of any illness I may have.

Yesterday I ran 10 miles, went out to the Lansdowne Sycamore and back around. Another once-regular route that I haven't run in awhile. Nice to see the tree again. Run went strong, albeit untimed.

While we're on medical issues, I'll document for the record that I'm dealing with a nagging case of poison ivy. It started over the weekend on the base of my thumb, started another encampment on my right calf, and is still franchising out to various other locations. I get PI every couple of years and this is pretty much the pattern. Gives me discomfort that I need to bear with for about a week before the tide turns and all the rashes dry up. Doubt my staying home will help that any.

Return of the Installment Plan

2009-09-22T08:43:00.002-04:00

Tuesday morning at the Bartram track has now become part of my weekly routine. I'm getting to recognize regulars that walk or run, I'm getting used to the cinders, and I've pretty much stopped wondering a) if the track is really 1600 meters; and b) how much more distance is added on due to the grass taking up most of what once was the first lane.

Reba signed us up for the Main Line 5k on Saturday up in Wayne. To "prep" (more on that in a minute) for that I did a 5k on the installment plan. That's 5x1000 (400m rec). The combined times of the five intervals give you a 5k time. That's the installment plan. A nice gimmick.

To get a sub 18 minute time I'd need to do the 1000m reps in under 3:36. Actual intervals went in 3:41; 3:34; 3:35; 3:37; 3:37 for a total time of 18:04. Just couldn't close those last few intervals this morning. Close enough to leave me with that feeling that had I only dug deeper I could have shaved off five seconds and been alot happier. That's one second per interval. But it didn't happen.

So, back to the prep. I don't know how much this morning's workout prepped me to run any faster on Saturday. Where the prep comes in is that I can now be more realistic about what I can run on Saturday and precludes whining and complaining about my time in Saturday's race report.

I still remember the race when I went under 18 minutes for the first time, a little race that snaked its way through Penn campus in what must have been 2000 or so, and it was huge for me. Then for the longest time I took sub 17-minute 5k times for granted and even came close (sooo close) to going under 16 minutes. And now I'm back to working my way down to under 18.

The parabola of life? I'm not ready to concede that yet, and cling to the possibility that with some more sustained training my speed will come back. I doubt that it will return to what it was, but I'm confident there is still plenty of room for improvement. Just need to sweat, to breathe heavy, and to hurt. It's the American way.

As I like to say, each time I walk off the track I learn something about myself.

9.5 miles totalling the warm up, cool down, recovery, and the actual running fast in 77:53.

Racing Ryan Hall

2009-09-20T13:01:00.004-04:00

Philadelphia Distance Run was today. No, I didn't run it but did incorporate it into my run this morning. Headed out to MLK and Sweetbriar Ave - Mile 6 on the PDR course - with the goal of being there in time to catch the front runners. I figured this meant leaving the house at 7:30, and actually left the house at 7:35. This created a bit of pressure to make it to my and Ryan's rendez-vous on time - he running the course and me running through Mantua on a beautiful fall morning. I miscalculated a bit in my favor - I beat Ryan by a good five minutes, and then got to see him in the lead pack of four. Other runners trickled by, including Catherine Ndereba and the lead women's pack.

After sticking around a bit more I took the short-cut across the Girard Bridge that landed me at the mile 12 marker. When the lead pack came around Ryan and his three buddies were still in a tight pack, presumably having run like that for the whole race up to that. I talked with a guy later who said that Hall made his move about a quarter mile from where I was standing and won the race.

Likewise, Ndereba was still tangling it up with another competitor when she passed. I like watching at a particular point, with the lead packs passing and then the occasional groups giving way to an ever intensifying trickle of runners as time goes on. I saw a good number of folks I know, to whom I gave out shouts, and I'm sure missed a few. I'm not very good at recognizing faces and have missed Reba running past me in races before. One person of note to pass by was Stan Cooper, who kept his streak of running every single PDR alive for one more year. John Dubs also ran, hopefully he'll have an lbrr up soon.

After the pace got to 8 minutes or so I jumped in and ran to the Art Museum and back home. Total for this was 7.5 more or less junk miles that were alot of fun. When I got home I ran another 2+ with Tony over the usual route in 18:17, miles that are whatever the opposite is of junk. Tony made it through his first week of XC practice.

Yesterday I went long. Met up with Dan, Bridget, Devon, and Cassi at the Art Museum. Cassi and I took off ahead of the others pretty early and did a meandering 19.5 miler up through Manayunk and back down on Forbidden Drive. Second straight week I was really happy with my long run, doing it at a brisker pace that must force me to be more efficient, as I felt myself gliding along most of the time. Having a new partner gives me the opportunity to repeat stories I've told on and about other runs and related topics, and lets me listen to new stuff as well. Between the pace, the conversation, and the beautiful morning, the 19.5 miler went quickly. Total time 2:17:39.

Yesterday was a memorable running day for Reba and Barb, who finished their first 20-milers, and also to Chuck, who won his first Chestnut Hill Classic XC race. I had considered going out there but had to scratch it due to logistics. Looks like I saved myself from a good ass-whuppin'.

Fall is here and the running is easy. Haven't felt this good about things in a long time.

TGIF

2009-09-18T08:04:00.002-04:00

6 miles easy, around the Art Museum and up to 49th St. Untimed. Everything feels good, happy the weekend is almost here.

Easy running calls for easy blogging. See you tomorrow.

Why I Don't Run in the Afternoon

2009-09-17T20:49:00.003-04:00

I got all ready to run this morning. Out the door by 6:20 just as it was starting to rain. Just then all the reasons why I didn't want to run came cascading down. A torrential downpour of images of being soaking wet and fruitlessly and miserably undertaking a stunted tempo run down on the Drives. I looked at my schedule and figured out Plan B: I could go into work early, then leave early, and get my run in that afternoon. So I set about.

Running in the afternoon means having this run hanging over my head all day.

Running in the afternoon means that there would inevitably be some late afternoon fires that I'd need to stick around to put out. So my planned 4:30 escape from work became 5:30.

Out the door around 6:00. This meant dinner would be late and Reba would be none too happy for it. Can't say I blame her.

I always run faster in the afternoons. Common sense would say I'm already woken up and more engaged when I start my run. I think its because in the afternoon I want to finish my run because I have stuff I want to do after I'm done. In the mornings I hang onto my run, as it is all that stands between me and going to work. The world around me seems the same way. Cars are more aggressive, creeping into the pedestrian walks at red lights, less accommodating and raising my flashpoint.

Then I got to the Drives and let her rip. 3-mile tempo run (a.k.a., the usual) down MLK. First mile in 6 flat - nice even 1:30 quarter mile splits (this will be important in a minute). Mile 2 in 12 minutes. I'm starting to visualize a sub-18 time. Then there's a metallic dinging on the asphalt. My housekey has escaped my little shorts pocket. My heart dropped right along with it. I turn around, locate it, pick it up and try to resume tempo. At the 2 and 1/4 mile hash the time reads 13:36. I lost six seconds to the key. I keep pushing, but I am disappointed. However the 2 1/2 mile split reads 15:03. I'm making up time. I thought I pushed the volume to 10 over the first two miles, now I dig and push it to 11 for the last 800 and finish the 3 miles in 17:59.

I won't deny that I'm still totally pumped over this. The time itself is great, the fact that I found an extra gear to get there is even better. Jogged the rest of the way home, eager to get home as it got progressively darker. When I finally got home I realized that it would still be dark when I lace up my shoes in the morning to do it again. Unless of course its raining.

There is a symmetry of atonement to today's run. I dodge the discomfort of a run in the rain only to meet the discomfort of a late afternoon run head on. The toughest thing about the latter discomfort is knowing that had I sucked it up this morning it would already have been over. Maybe that will get me out on a future morning despite myself.

But a good workout puts a silver lining on all that. Greenland Drive loop. 11 miles in 89:08.

Solitude Running

2009-09-16T17:37:00.003-04:00

This screen has been open for the whole work day. I guess I've been actually doing work.

I reconnected with an old route - the ten-mile Acme loop - this morning. I have run this with many people in the past, just about all of whom are either gone or not running right now. To make that even sadder I put on a Patti Griffin album I just downloaded, Impossible Dream, which is from 2004 but is new to me. Griffin's music is what I play when I feel in a solitary mood, and the music framed the run. Not only in terms of running through layers of past go-rounds of this loop with different people and connotations, but also in terms of people I saw on the way. People who appeared in monads and dyads - a man seeing that his young daughter get on the schoolbus; an older man throwing food crumbs on the sidewalk for pigeons, people walking along the side of the roads carrying bags, and others that seemed to fit with the music getting injected into my head. The run went strong, if not overly fast, and the music contributed to that.

I got three comments on yesterday's post. More than I usually get or expect, as I am not as good in interacting in the blogosphere as I should be. Which makes me all the more appreciative of them. While two were on my running, the one on my recent little trials into writing more "personal notes" stuck with me this morning. On one hand what I write here is personal, but it is mainly what is on my mind, and DelDean's comment got me thinking that I still keep many things at arm's length here. Not that its good or bad to do that, but just that I do that. Gets me seeing my writing here differently. I encourage folks in the classes I teach to look at the familiar - for example how doctors interact with patients - from different contexts and am appreciative when someone does that for me. I've written before how I just read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami's memoir, and though I had some problems with the book I have been thinking about what it would take to write more in a memoir style. A bit like inching up to the starting line, wondering if I want to run this race.

And in a non-running item, I lost a great aunt this afternoon. She passed in Switzerland, peacefully after a difficult couple of weeks, after a good, long life. I would see her often as a child when I spent summers in Europe, and occasionally as an adult when she'd come to the US. She impressed me with a wonderful, childlike take on life that I trust facilitated her transition to death. A joyful presence amidst a family who tended to take life way too seriously. When I was 14 and she was in her 60's she introduced me to Bob Marley's music. When Tony was four and she was in her 80's she'd do crazy jiglike dances with him. Good-bye, Vevette.

10 miles in 85:20.

All Revved Up

2009-09-15T09:20:00.003-04:00

To the track this morning, same old story. Slow to warm up and then hit the first rep running.

4 x 1600 again, as fast I can muster, which hopefully means under 6 minute pace.

Almost there - 6:04; 5:57; 5:58; 5:58. I won't bore you all with 400m splits, but except for the initial 400 meters, which was slow, the rest of the workout was at sub 6 pace.

I would have liked this morning's workout to have been a little quicker than last week's, but running is not a linear process. Today was more like consolidating last week's gains. I'm getting back in that sub 6 mindset, and ideally I'd like to get these times back in the 5:45-5:30 range. But that is a long-term goal. Right now I'm happy to be under6 again. Now the question is whether I can maintain a decent training schedule for the rest of the week. Go long and slow tomorrow and tempo on Thursday, and then I'll be making progress.

Which leaves me all revved up with nowhere to go. Especially after Saturday's long run I am ready to jump into a marathon. I was thinking Harrisburg or Marine Corps, but both fell through. This leaves no other marathon that fits in terms of calendar, distance and logistics for the rest of the year. I'm still thinking of plan C. On a more minor note, after a schedule fail last weekend I'm still looking to race anything this fall. Now I'm thinking Parkway Run on the weekend after next.

9.5 miles total in about 76 minutes, with a post-track interruption by a loooong freight train that made it soooo hard to get going again.

Easy Monday Run

2009-09-14T10:56:00.002-04:00

Was out of the house by 5:45 this morning. Had to do this so I can get a decent run in before having to take Tony to school this morning. Yes, fall is back.

Doing this I realized how much my morning start time has crept up. Used to be in the day Erin and I started at 6. Nowadays, its gotten to be more like 6:30 and later on days I run by myself.

Its amazing how much going to bed earlier makes it easier to get up earlier. The run started in the dark, and when I got to the Chestnut St. bridge there was enough light in the false dawn to paint the Schuylkill in a dark indigo and reflect the Center City skyscrapers and the lit up bridges. Very arty in an urban European fashion.

The mornings are only going to get darker. And colder. But not yet. By the time I got out of Fairmount Park I realized that I'd have to cut the route short. All in all, an easy 7 miler, at least according to gmap-pedometer. I don't know, however. The run clocked in at just over 63 minutes and I know I wasn't setting any records, but the run wasn't that slow either.

But it don't matter, it was just an easy Monday run.

Perpetual PR

2009-09-13T21:24:00.002-04:00

Easy run today, 5.5 mile Warrington loop. Not much going on. Patti Loveless and Jeffery Foucault keeping me company on the iPod.

Got home and did an additional 2.1 miles with Tony. The usual loop. Following a usual pattern, we opt to go easy and end up getting a new course record. This time around we made it in 17:51, beating the mark by 59 seconds. Its a fun place to be, running when you don't yet know your limits. For all Tony knows, we can run every day and always beat yesterday's mark. I was there once, but no longer.

7.5 miles total. 55 miles for the week.

Good Bye Deirdre

2009-09-12T15:58:00.005-04:00

Haven't posted for a few days as I haven't had much to write about. I blew off my planned tempo run on Thursday after it became clear after starting out that I didn't have any mojo that morning. I write often about heading out while feeling bad and then easing into where I subsequently nail a challenging workout. On Thursday the initial funk never lifted, so I just headed back home and got in three miles.

Yesterday rained all day long. Others may spin running in the rain into great feats of intestinal fortitude. In contrast, I saw more benefit in taking a rest day than in flogging myself through a miserable slog. I remind myself of Deirdre's prescience a few days ago when she wondered how "rest day" ever became a dirty word.

The rest did me good as today's long run went strong. Devon & Jamie organized a 20 miler that attracted a group of 9. I hung with them to about Falls River Bridge, when Deirdre, myself and Cassi, whom I had run with once last winter, took off on our own. This led us through East Falls and around to the Wissahickon Trail, over SMB and through Fairmount Park. A merry chase at a good pace, and the fresh legs and good company made the time go fast.

Not sure when I'll run with Deirdre next, as she is moving on to NYC next week. We parted ways at mile 15 and kept things open about when "next time" would be. Its easier than saying good bye, which among other things would have required stopping and engaging in a sweaty hug. I don't know if you read this blog, Deirdre, but I'll say good bye and good luck a bit more formally here. I'll miss your early morning company and your pulling me along to ever faster training paces.

Today being a good case in point. 17.5 miles in 2:15:20.

Nine Nine Oh Nine

2009-09-09T14:10:00.003-04:00

I have often had mornings when I didn't run and wondered if I should have. Today was a morning that I ran and wondered if I shouldn't have just taken the day off. Deirdre commented that on the days we don't run we "take a DNR" which makes this sound like something negative. Similarly, I shoot to run 7 days a week and figure life will more likely than not knock out one of those workouts. But just like days off from work are productive, so are days off from running. I, like many, just tend not to see it that way.

My legs just felt dead. I left the house on time but couldn't get warmed up, and so Deirdre was waiting for me by the time I got to the Chestnut St. bridge. I was apologetic both in the slower than usual pace and the attenuated mileage, but at the Art Museum I went back across the Spring Garden Bridge and headed back. Deirdre was gracious about it (we've all been there) and I hope she got some good miles in afterwards. For me, 5.5+ in 53:33.

After all that complaining, I ran another 39th Street loop with Tony when I went home for lunch. Tony is now set for cross country practice. He didn't want to try to break our course record from yesterday (18:51) so we just ran it, but broke the mark anyway when we finished in 18:50.

7.5 miles total.

Good Running Continues

2009-09-08T14:43:00.003-04:00

Running with Tony is getting to be a regular thing. Yesterday he and I did a 39th Street loop, a loop I used to run once or twice a week back in the late 90’s as a recovery day run. Occasionally I’ll tack this on to a longer run to add some mileage. However, as Tony is running 15-20 minutes at a pop, this run fulfills that obligation. So that’s the one we have started on. Yesterday I felt him out a bit and took things slow. The run is somewhat hilly (its hard to completely avoid hills around here) and a little longer than he’s been doing. Going up the hill on Baltimore Ave from 43rd Street he started to breathe a bit heavier and I kept the pace mellow. But he was game the rest of the way. We finished in 19:35.

This morning we ran the loop again, and both decided to shave some seconds off of yesterday’s time. Same loop. Tony was breathing harder and lagged a bit behind me at times, but he put in a good finishing kick down 46th Street to finish in 18:51. Worth a fist bump.

As for me, yesterday, when Tony and I finished I kept going west and tacked on another six miles on the Cobbs Creek-Springfield-43rd St circuit. Ran through a lot of peoples parties – with various blocks roped off from traffic and barbecues smoking and kids running around. Saying goodbye to Labor Day and summer of 2009. Total was 8 miles in 48:54 (including miles with Tony).

This morning, before me and Tony ran, I went out to the track. I’ve decided it now takes me at least two miles to get into the right state of mind to run fast. Even the strides felt half-hearted. Then it was workout time – 3 x 1600 (400 recovery) – and I left myself an option for a fourth rep. Time goal was simple, I wanted to get as many under 6 minutes as I could. This would build nicely on last weeks track workout, where I was just around this mark. Anyway, reps went by in 5:57; 5:54; and 5:56. Felt strong enough to take a fourth rep and it went by in 5:59. I had to hustle a bit on the first rep, the second and third just flowed, and I had to push on the last 400 to get rep #4 in the zone. But this was by no means a give 120% workout. I didn’t want that today. Just to get those 1600’s under 6. That opens up a whole new horizon.

Best track workout of the year. I’ll carry that feeling with me and continue to ponder what I want to do this season. For the short term, Reba, Tony and I have tentatively resolved to run the Paper Mill 5k on Sunday. But for today, total was 9.5 miles in 75:36 plus the 2 miles with Tony.

And Maricela text me last night from college. She is running too! Its part of her strategy to avoid the dreaded "freshman fifteen." I told her to keep me posted.

Finally, check out this less than photo finish to a 400m race. Ouch.

Weekend

2009-09-06T19:19:00.002-04:00

Long run yesterday. Met up with Deirdre at the Art Museum and the two of us ran this route good for just under 18.5 miles. Ran through Fairmount, Wynnefield and Overbrook, and ran down some new streets around St. Joe's University. Really wanted to get two and a half hours in running, had to do some looping around University City to do it. Made for a long final 15 minutes, but glad I stuck it out. Final finish time is 2:30:21.

I'm running stronger each week, and with it comes an awareness that the fall racing season is here. I'm feeling the urge, and more important the readiness to run again. Now I want to see where my times are at. I'm thinking just jump in a 5k, maybe next weekend. Looking at local race calendars and 5k's seem to be all there are. The obvious exception to that is the Philly Distance Run, but at $75 it is more than I want to spend on a race.

I also ran today with Tony. We are in NY spending the weekend at my mom's. Tony and I went to run at the North Rockland High School track. We can each run our own pace and distance there. We ignored the signs saying the track was under reconstruction and ran around the oval anyway. The track was but an asphalt slab laid down, I suppose, as a foundation for the spongy stuff that is yet to come. Figured we weren't damaging anything but our knees running on it. Nobody bothered us on it.

I started running on that track when it was still cinders. I must have been about Tony's age, in middle school. My mom would run there on a regular basis, meeting several friends. It must have been summer vacation when I'd started going along as well. They would run three miles. That distance seemed forever, I remember humidity, counting the laps, doing fractions with denominators of 12 (laps) as to how much I had done and had left to do, and running a bit faster than my mom and her friends, seeing if I could lap them as we all went around the oval. This was the 70's, the first running boom. I think one thing I remember from running with my mom was the camraderie she had with the group she'd run with. And I compare it to the good fortune I've had in most of my running tenure with good people I've run with. If you ask runners whether or not one of their parents ran, a large amount will respond affirmatively. Like alcoholism and pattern baldness, there seems to be a family component to running.

Which brings me back to Tony. He started while I was still getting ready and had about a half lap headstart. I didn't close any of this lead on the first few go-rounds, but then I started picking up the pace and he slowed down a bit. As I caught up to him I noted with satisfaction that he's got a smooth stride and good leg turnover, landing on his fore-foot and coming down on his entire foot before lifting off again. At 12 he's as tall as I am and much thinner. He'll be a good runner if he sticks with it. He ran six laps and walked a few more. I thought how I'd do more at his age but had to hush myself. I'm just warming him up to run with the school team in a week or so. That experience will have much to do with whether all this sticks or not. My middle school didn't have a cross country team. It was cut, budget cuts I believe, a year or two before I was old enough to run. Then the small private high school I attended didn't have a team either. I ran briefly in freshman year of college, middle of the pack in the few meets I ran, but after really bad shin splints never picked it up again. He's got an opportunity for a different trajectory here. I'll keep this blog posted on that.

Three miles today gives me 64 for the week. I'm very happy with that number but it is now so last week.

Easy Running

2009-09-04T11:16:00.002-04:00

Met Deirdre today for a relatively easy ten miler. Day was a bit more humid than recent days but still very comfortable to run. The route, much of it through Fairmount Park, was verdant and about as quiet as Philadelphia gets on a Friday morning during drive time.

Today's ten put me in a good position to surpass 60 miles for this week. Its also the first strong Friday run in several weeks. Makes me glad that I took it easy on Wednesday.

All is still good. Runningwise, anyway. 10 miles in 83:47.

Making $10 the Hard Way

2009-09-03T15:28:00.003-04:00

So, I thought I was doing everything right. I got to bed at 9:30 last night, and as a result I had no problem getting up a little earlier than I usually do. Was on pace to get out of the house before my usual 6:30 start when a last minute bout of GI issues waylaid me for a bit.

No, this won't be a TMI post. My point is at this point it was very hard to keep up the momentum and enthusiasm for this run, as I was behind schedule and needed to be into work on time. Instead of things being as planned (i.e., in my control) I suddenly found myself in salvage mode. I considered not running, I considered cutting my planned tempo run short, and ultimately had to push myself to get on the road.

I was rewarded for this, as upon turning onto Baltimore Ave I spotted a Hamilton rolled up and sticking out of a little crack baggie sitting on the sidewalk. I scooped it up and thereby renounced my amateur status, and kept moving on. As the run progressed my frustrations melted and I ended up doing the now-usual Thursday route - the 11 mile Strawberry Mansion Bridge loop with the three-mile tempo stretch followed by recovery on the Belmont fire road. Its tough but I really like it. Mile splits for the tempo were 6:19; 12:22 and 18:26 - one second faster than my 4800 meter time from yesterday and about 45 seconds faster than my time on these tempo miles last Thursday. Progress, provided my heels cooperate. Sofar they have.

This is another rushed post from work, so I wrap things up here. Just want to say I forewent breakfast and lifting to get to work on time, and used my newfound riches for coffee and a muffin later on that morning.

I'm in a happy place with my running right now. Its hard writing that, makes me look around for some wood to knock on.

11 miles in 92:47.

Random Notes

2009-09-02T10:17:00.002-04:00

Had to be in at work on time and presentable at 9 this morning. Given that, it seemed like a good morning to go easy. So I slept a little later, ran a little less, and paced a little slower.

Ran down to Franklin Field, snuck onto the track for three laps, and came home. Figuring 4+ miles. No watch. Weather again is beautiful.

Legs and heels felt amazingly good yesterday, felt good but not great this morning. Hope they can recover a bit today. Also hope by taking it easy today I can get a good run in on Friday.

Had Todd Snider on the iPod. Last time I was listening to this my head was in the fog and my legs were humping it up the Sonoma hills.

2 Seconds Lost

2009-09-01T10:43:00.004-04:00

All set to do some writing, memoir style, in this blog this morning but can't justify doing this at work. So its back to a usual (if there is such a thing) entry. Lame excuse or admirable adherence to the work ethic? You decide.

The important thing is that I did run. Headed out to the Bartram track. Same workout as last week. The legs were sore, achilles tendons were achy, and I didn't see much happening right up to getting on the track. Some strides got me ready mentally to speed things up, though I was still non committal to how fast I would take it. And then when I got started I was ready to bolt (apologies to Usain). Its amazing how that process works - from giving myself a pass all the way to jumping right in, all within a 15 minute span.

The workout, like last week, was one 5000 meter rep. Anything more, that required repeated efforts with recoveries in between, I associated with feelings of tendons doing bad things. So it was just one prolonged rep at however fast I could.

Last week's splits, at 1600m intervals, were: 6:14; 12:20; and 18:28, with the whole 5000 finishing in 19:12.

This week's splits, at 1600m intervals, were: 6:21; 12:27; and 18:27, with the whole 5000 finishing in 19:10.

So the start was somewhat slower, and I recovered nicely to slice two seconds off last weeks time. This is probably attributable to that it was probably 15 degrees cooler this morning than last Tuesday. But it also included circumnavigating a tractor parked on the track for two laps. You just don't get that on the Lower Merion track. Particularly encouraging is that I got the last 1600 down to 6 flat. I would love to start recording sub 6 splits again. This tells me it will happen.

Took the long way home to give me 9 miles. Don't remember the end time. But I will take that two seconds I lost around with me for the rest of the day.

Writing, Talking, Running

2009-08-31T11:33:00.004-04:00

Ran the Cobbs Creek-Woodland loop again today. Its become my bread and butter route of late. When I'm running solo I usually pick out routes by feel: how many miles I feel I could/should do and what kind of scenery I feel like. Recently this 8.5 mile loop seems just about right.

I tried to channel my inner Deirdre this morning and pick up the pace a bit. At odds with that was some lingering crud in my legs and achilles tendons that feel on the edge. I've had this feeling before and have had it go away, of course I've also had my share of sore achilles. So I'm playing it by feel. Anyway, my goal was to do the loop in under 70 minutes, achieved this with 30 seconds to spare.

This morning feels like fall, with temps in the 60s.

I started reading Hiruki Murakami's book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running over the weekend. I hoped this book would be a kind of road map for my taking my writing a bit deeper than just blogging about it. After the first two chapters, I'm somewhat disappointed as the chapters read a bit like long blog entries with some incredibly banal writing considering that the author is an established novelist. Maybe this has to do with the translation. I'll keep reading, and thinking about what I'd want to write if I write a book on running. That is the question that intrigues me right now, how would I do better? Stay tuned.

The Wiser Course

2009-08-30T20:18:00.005-04:00

One for three these last three days.

Friday I planned that day off after five days of running hard.

Yesterday was a big day. I ran a double. For the morning run I met Philly Runners at the Art Museum and went out with them. Don't know a whole lot of folks there anymore, and after a slow start caught up with one guy who was ahead of the rest of the group. We barely acknowledged each other and just ran alongside each other for most of the loop around the Drives at a pace that got as low as 6:30. After about six miles of this he started pulling ahead of me and I figured it wasn't smart to be going this fast in the first place, so I let him go. Clocked seven miles of this pissing contest at 46:30. At the Art Museum steps (i.e., one loop around) he was about 100 meters out front, and we both started a second lap around whereupon I slowed down to 7:30 for the next mile. From there I said I'd run for another hour and end up home. I did just that, getting exactly 7 miles in just about exactly an hour. It wasn't the smartest run. Where long workouts often have you go out for awhile and then downshift to faster paces, here I immediately downshifted and then hung on for the last hour. There is some value to that, I guess. And I didn't have much trouble with it, but the trouble I fear, if it comes, will come in the upcoming workouts. 16.5 miles, 2:13.

And then I had a second run yesterday. It was by far the better one. My 12 year old, Tony, announced last week that he plans to run cross country on the school team this fall. Needless to say this thrills me, but I try to temper this and not get overbearing. But I did feel like I should take him shoe shopping. So we went to Haddonfield Running Company where he got properly fitted and hooked up. And then I took him to West Deptford Park, near where his mother lives, and we ran two laps around the perimeter (2 miles total) to break the shoes in. He seemed enthusiastic and if he minded that we ran in the mid-afternoon heat he didn't complain of this. And then we worked off what fitness we may have gained with some WaWa hoagies.

I hope he sticks with it, but I try not to get my hopes up. I know that summer running is crucial for fall XC, but at his age its more about enjoying it. Its a bit late in the summer to start but any fitness now will reduce the hardships of the first practices, so I encouraged him to get about 15-20 minutes of running in each day this week. So much I want to tell him, so much would I love for him to run XC, something I never really got to do as a kid. But its not about me, and its not something I control. But I do have a run logged with my boy, and I'll hang on to that.

This morning my legs felt more beat up than they have after some races I've run. So I took the wiser course of action, which was to run no course at all.

And lastly, congratulations to John Dubs and Heather, who gave birth to Zachary John yesterday and appear to be doing well.

Weight of the World

2009-08-27T09:47:00.002-04:00

The weight of the world was a bit heavier than usual this morning, and my legs a bit weary for the task of holding it up. Another morning where bargaining got me out the door; opening bid of a six mile Art Museum loop got me out the door, and the betting increased until I was looking at an 11 mile SMB loop with the 3 MLK miles done at a pace to be determined.

Even going down the Schuylkill bike path I could not envision myself taking the MLK miles fast. But once there speeding up came naturally, and the mile splits came in at 6:37; 12:55; and 19:11. I'll take that today.

The highlight of this run is finishing up those tempo miles and then ducking on to the Belmont fire road. Verdant, soft-surfaced, and serene... all the prerequisites for recharging mentally and physically. Then its through the horticultural center and back home.

11 miles in 93:12.

Cheese Stands Alone

2009-08-26T12:15:00.002-04:00

Ever get hung over and swear off drinking. It's perfectly rational, there is just no reason to drink, especially when you wake up the next morning feeling that bad.

You can see where this is heading. I didn't feel awful this morning, just saw no reason to run. But I was meeting Deirdre at 6:30, so I'll just do a couple of miles. And with that the bargaining begun. By the time we got to Cobbs Creek and Cedar Avenue was coming up, I suggested we keep going south/west. Deirdre had a tight calf but agreed and we kept heading out until we ended up on Woodland. By then we are at the point of no return at an 8.5 mile loop. And we are on another bender.

And nothing changes.

Well, what's changing is that Deirdre plans to move out of the city in September. A good opportunity for her but one less running partner for me. And running with Erin and John Dubs both have become precarious propositions due to impending additions to their families. And the cheese suddenly stands alone.

To show what a difference running with Deirdre makes, Monday I ran a slightly shorter version of this loop in 71 minutes, today 8.5 miles clocked in at 63:45. No tempo or pissing contests or anything, she just runs her regular runs at a faster clip and I just adjust. For another month.

Here We Go Again

2009-08-25T08:56:00.002-04:00

Beautiful morning, the kind where you sweat but you don't drip.

Headed out to the 58th St. track. My training has been going well enough lately so that I may as well bring it out to the track again. Its starting to feel like a cycle. On the upswing, and then either some travel or some little injury will shut it down again. But I'm doing the same thing, again, and hoping for something different to happen.

First time back on the track is always a reconnaissance. See what kind of pace I got. So I figured 1x5000, just going by feel. After the obligatory warm up strides it went, by 1600 split, 6:14; 12:20; and 18:28, with the whole 5000 finishing in 19:12. Good enough to pace John Dubs for a few miles at PDR, better than I thought I had in me.

I then took the long way home. For once I was in no hurry to get home, my legs didn't feel particularly beat up either. Just enjoyed running through Southwest Philly as it got along its way on another Tuesday morning.

9 miles, 74:10.

Fox Hunt

2009-08-24T12:16:00.003-04:00

I have internet problems at home so have been unable to post over the weekend. Sneaking away a few moments at work to do this.

By way of catching up:

Thursday - 5.5 miles, untimed on Warrington loop.
Friday - 9 miles in exactly 70 minutes on an improvised loop through Fairmount Park.
Saturday - dnr, couldn't plan a run around the rain.
Sunday - 16.8 miles in 2:16 on this route with John Dubs. Click here for his summary, run felt good and strong. I'm getting in a racing frame of mind again.

Legs felt great this morning despite yesterday's effort and yesterday's night out. Reba and I went to a house concert at the "Beach House" in Lansdowne featuring two acts: banjoist/singer/songwriter Chelsea McBee and the string band Fox Hunt. $15 cover, bring your own, and then sit in Bob's living room with about 20 other folks and listen to one of the best shows I've been to in awhile. Both bands were very good and the vibe between them and the audience was great. Liked it so much that Reba and I cds from both acts, and I took Fox Hunt with me on this morning's run. Compare them, roughly, to Old Crow Medicine show, not only for the type of music they play but also for the enthusiasm with which they play. Even on the iPod this energy came through and that was part of the reason I could really push some on the latter part of this run. That and the heat and humidity finally calmed down a bit. Total mileage was a bit shy of 8.5, run in 71:01.

Bit of groin pain, of the type I had a few months back, after the run which I'll monitor.

Change

2009-08-19T12:24:00.002-04:00

My daughter went off to college yesterday. Drove with her mother out to Ohio where she will be starting classes as a freshman.

Back home, I find I'm already noticing how empty her room now looks. While I'm not incredibly in touch with my emotions, if I'm feeling sad alot of times its while I'm running that the sadness bubbling up. On yesterday's run out to the Drives I dwelt on the changes this move to college entailed - she's moving on to an exciting next step in her life but of course this will also entail change. I liked what we had and will miss that. Not deep or complex but it takes me awhile sometimes to come up with those realizations and then even longer to feel them. Yesterday's run let me do that.

Then I put all that on the street. I'm not in good enough shape yet to really burn off all of that emotional energy, but I got two MLK miles in under 14 minutes. It's a start. Total was 9 miles in 76 minutes and change. With an emphasis on change.

I met Deirdre this morning to run and we did what was probably 9 miles out through Lemon Hill, Fairmount Park, and the Horticultural Center. She asked me about how it feels to have M. go off to college and I got to talk a bit about it. Talk about it in a way you can when you have a captive audience to just process thoughts to for awhile. Deirdre is good running partner in that I can be winded and long-winded at the same time.

Ran for 77 minutes today, call it 9 again. Three days in a row of 70+ minute running.

Staying Cool

2009-08-17T17:16:00.002-04:00

Got out before the heat. 8.5 out to Cobbs Creek and back on Woodland on the same route Deirdre and I did last Friday. Only this time it was just me. And Uncle Tupelo.

And all felt good. Like I was getting back into one of those upswings in my training. Starting to think about tempo runs and track workouts again. Might even do one tomorrow.

In the meantime I'm trying to stay cool. It's hot out there.

71 minutes.

Leg Stretcher

2009-08-16T18:11:00.001-04:00

Slept in a bit. Then lay in bed some more and finished This Republic of Suffering, a history of death in the Civil War that I can highly recommend. Then my sister called and we chatted a bit. From there it was about 11 o'clock and the sun was already beating down. So I just grabbed a quick run, hair of the dog style, around Franklin Field and back. Didn't feel near as sore as I expected.

So I got enough of a run in to feed the monkey and kept it easy, considering yesterday's workout and today's heat. That'll work. 3.5 miles, untimed.

Saturday in the Park

2009-08-15T21:03:00.003-04:00

Met up with John Dubs at the Art Museum this morning for 15 or 2 hours worth or whatever felt right. It wasn't until we were on our way that he told me his training schedule called for 3 miles at half-marathon pace (6:20) in the middle of this run. That, plus the "three bears" of Belmont Ave. that were on our route promised to make the run, uh, challenging.

The first hour or so were easy, relaxed and full of catching up. I had, after all, just gotten married and John and Heather are expecting their first child next week. Then we crossed the Green St. bridge into Montgomery County and the fun began. Due to some unfortunate miscommunication between us we took the hills harder than we would have, recovered a bit, and ran hard for 18 minutes worth, which we cut short at 14 minutes due to the heat and our rubbery legs. The rest was a jog in the park back to the Art Museum.

I've been doing OMW (old man walk) all day after that, and to make it more fun I went rock climbing (indoors) this afternoon, so my upper body doesn't feel much better. But as you can see from the time stamp on this post, its hardly a hopping Saturday night at the casa tonight.

But the beer I've just cracked open tastes delicious. 14+ miles in 1:54 on this route.

2009-08-14T09:59:00.002-04:00

Pulled up this screen and then got distracted and now I don't feel like writing any more. Not so much that I don't feel like writing but I've got other things I need to take care of.

Anyway, its Friday, when the cumulative gunk from the past week weighs down on me and makes it oh so hard to get out in the morning. But get out I did, met up with Deirdre, and we went west - Cobbs Creek and all the way around and back on Woodland. Run was a bit like Wednesday's - good clip, enough conversation to make the time go quick, and high humidity although the temps are a bit cooler.

Otherwise, another one for the log book. 8.5 miles, untimed.

Keeping On

2009-08-13T09:01:00.001-04:00

Nine miles in 76 minutes, running a Columbia Bridge loop. Nothing fancy nothing exciting. Just getting my groove back. 100% humidity this morning as the last part of the run was through a drizzle. Had first listens of the Bottle Rockets' latest and Blood Oranges' first albums - both good, the second is the better run-to music.

Run, Repeat

2009-08-12T10:01:00.002-04:00

I stayed up all day yesterday, went to bed early last night (I was really tired) and got a good nights sleep. Felt fresh this morning as I got up at 5:30 to get ready for the morning run. Not only did I feel rested and non-lagged, but I felt like I was in a routine again. Right now that is important for me.

Met Deirdre at the Chestnut Street Bridge and we ran a version of a Sweetbriar loop. The run was pleasant enough as we mainly chatted through it, with the humidity that promises to blanket the city today still not quite having descended. We ran up Sweetbriar Hill and I realized that I've definitely lost some conditioning.

After getting home I started lifting again. I try to do one set of reps for something upper body after I run just to keep some semblance of tone, but haven't done that for several months due to the changes that have been abounding. Started up again with that, as much a symbol of being able to get up, run, lift, get ready, go to work, repeat for a stretch of time now.

8 miles in about 67 minutes.

Stepping towards Normality

2009-08-11T09:58:00.002-04:00

I'm back in Philly. Got in this morning after spending all night on the red-eye flight. There is no good way to fly in from the west coast, but I'd rather lose half the night than lose half of the day. I'm pretty good at sleeping just about anywhere, so I was asleep for most of the flight. But that was only 4 1/2 hours, and then I found myself in Philly at 6:30 a.m.

I'm figuring the best way to deal with the jet lag is to just keep on going like its any other day. So I laced up my shoes and went out for a run. Warrington loop. Hot and humid. Slow and plodding. Head in a fog. But I feel better for having done it. A step towards regained normality.

5.5 miles untimed.

Doing It When I Can

2009-08-07T13:34:00.002-04:00

In San Francisco now on the third and final leg of our honeymoon. And yes, I've been running for the past three days straight.

Before getting in to San Fran yesterday, we spent the previous four days in Healdsburg, a small town in the northern part of Sonoma County. Like Sonoma, a great getaway spot for enjoying wine and food. The pace is a bit slower in Healdsburg, however. Despite there being plenty of folks with the same intentions as us, it is definitely more off of the beaten path. And instead of staying in town, here we had a cabin on Fitch Mountain just outside of town, overlooking the Russian River.

This was a perfect place to stay, but the narrow winding roads amidst the hills made me a bit skittish about running. Monday I took the day off. Tuesday Reba and I went cycling through the Dry Creek Valley, which I counted as cross-training. By Wednesday I needed a run, so I took the narrow roads around Fitch Mountain and into Healdsburg. And it wasn't so bad. Traffic was sparse and the hills were not as steep as they seemed from the car. Route was mapped for me here. 6 miles, untimed.

Yesterday, we got in to San Francisco and had a few hours in the late afternoon before dinner. I laced up my shoes and went out along this route. This was a fun route. Not much good for training, as it was a 100% urban run along city streets punctuated with intersections. Even with my city running skills there were various intersections in which I couldn't help but stop. Its also a bit disorienting that the west coast car culture is much more accommodating of pedestrians. So when I cross a street against traffic, planning to flow through the traffic, that traffic abruptly comes to a halt for me to pass, even when I am clearly and flagrantly jaywalking. It's very disconcerting and somewhat disarming, as paradoxically I feel forced to wait to cross at the green because of this.

The route was a good cross section of San Francisco - starting off through South of Market in a neighborhood that felt like it should have homeless people and services, although it was largely devoid of street life and the only service area I saw was a big St. Vincent de Paul center. Then chugged through Mission, Castro and Tenderloin neighborhoods. 10k in 51:13.

Today I took Reba out to the Embarcadero (heading up Market St. the wrong way first) and then turned off at Fisherman's Wharf to make my way aimlessly through the city, seeking only to return in the general direction of Union Square and to avoid the really steep hills. I largely succeeded at the latter, realizing that I have very limited sense of direction and that San Francisco is a difficult town for me to get oriented. The areas I went through weren't as interesting and I felt like I was running without purpose, all the time stopping for intersections and forgoing any sense of rhythm. I set out to run anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, got back to the hotel in 64. Didn't map it (couldn't if I tried), guessing it be around 7.5 miles.

All this leads me to the question I posed myself on my Healdsburg run: why do I run on vacation. It kinda-sorta feeds the addiction; it kinda-sorta maintains my fitness; it sometimes, like yesterday, is a good way to see the city but other times is a slog, like today. So I don't really have a good answer, but I do it anyway. When I can. And I don't get too stressed if I don't.

Wine A Little...

2009-08-02T13:21:00.001-04:00

... you'll feel better.

Greetings from Sonoma. We've been here for the last four days (since I last posted) and its been lots of wine, food and sun. A honeymoon that is the perfect fit for what Reba and I like to do together.

That also includes running, although that is the one thing Reba won't let me do with her (long story). But we've both been doing it on our own.

Three runs in the last four days. First one was the hilly one which my last post foreshadowed. Mountainous is the better word. I wasn't aware at the time how literally the Sonoma Valley is a valley. The route I mapped was up the south wall of this valley, and was unrelenting in its uphill and in the steep nature of this. Part of this was great, as I ran up into the fog-shrouded mountains with my first taste of vineyards on both sides of the winding roads I was on. Then reality set in. The fact that one of the roads I planned my route on turned out to be a private drive, with a gate cutting off access, threw my g-map plans out the window and then a fork in the road which wasn't there further confused things, so I turned around and headed back rather than chance getting lost and thereby doing many gratuitous hills. It was really ridiculous, but I survived what turned out to be 7.5 miles in I think 66 minutes.

The next day, Friday, was a day off as we rented bikes and hit several wineries. Great way to do things and no worries about DWI's.

Yesterday I did 15. Headed out Route 12 towards Santa Rosa and then hit Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen, which I took back into town for a loop. The traffic on this run was more than was ideal, and much of the running was through town, but once I got out into the country, surrounded by vineyards, it gave me a taste of the valley (yes, I stayed in the valley) that you can't get any other way. I left too late and the sun was harsh, but I was glad to get a long run in. Just under 2 hours.

This morning was an easy 40 minutes (4 miles, conservatively) out to the Gundlach-Bundschu Winery and back. The GunBun is on the outskirts of Sonoma, but was a bit too far, and I cut the run short when I went 20 minutes and still had a bit to go to get there. I learned that the east side of Sonoma is the better-off part of town, and that it is definitely smart to get out early before the sun blows away all the early morning overcast.

Heading up to Healdsburg to spend the next four days. Don't know if I'll get internet access or want to break away from the fun we're having to post again from there. But through it all I should be running.

Gone Fishing

2009-07-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

I hate coming back to this blog after I haven't posted for a while.

But life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.

The highlight of my week is that I am now married. Reba and I tied the knot (a double knot like the kind you do at the marathon start-line that won't come undone) on Saturday at a great little ceremony-reception we had at home with about 40 of our closest family and friends. In addition to the great company, it was good food, good music (provided by Maricela's band) and plenty of alcohol. It was all we could have wanted out of that evening.

And so here we are now in Sonoma where Reba and I are honeymooning. We got in today and will be hanging out in wine country and then San Fran for almost two weeks. We aim to have it a balanced vacation, with a good bit of biking, hiking, canoeing and, of course, running which we plan to cancel out with plenty of wine and foodie food. I just planned out tomorrow morning's running route and the elevation map looks pretty sick, with a loop that goes from a little above sea level to over 1100 feet and back down in about 8 miles. Tune in tomorrow and check it out.

And now to catch up:

- today was a DNR;
- yesterday was a 3.5 mile leg stretcher on a Franklin Field loop;
- Monday was a 48 minute run (5.5 miles, conservatively) through Bartrams Gardens, 58th St., and back on Florence Ave.
- Sunday was a DNR
- Saturday (wedding day) was a 7+ mile run of two times the lower Tinicum loop (around Darby Lake). This was a great relief of the pre-wedding jitters, it allowed Reba to be the runaway bride, and Scott, Sarah, Tammy, Polly and Todd all joined us.
- Friday was a 50+ minute run (6 miles?) out to Cobbs Creek and back on Springfield with the full contingent of Club West Philly.
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week I don't think I ran anything. It was a bit crazy that week, as I had several work deadlines and wedding prep that all rolled up into one giant stress ball. Looking at it now, its funny how I blew off running as it is times like that when I need running the most. But it is also times like that when I stay up to the wee hours and just can't drag my ass up early in the morning to run.

But now I've got almost two weeks of relaxation in a beautiful place to do it. I am also still on east coast time, which means that I should be wide awake around 5 a.m. tomorrow morning, perfect for getting my running thing on.

Untitled

2009-07-20T09:51:00.002-04:00

No running this weekend. I'm resting until my shoes come in.

That being said, I met up with Erin and Jody this morning. I threw out my current shoes when I last ran on Thursday, and used an old, old pair of racers that I have lying around for just such emergencies. They have their miles on them, but were still springier than the shoes I'd been running in. This makes me feel even more that my pains are related to shoes.

This morning's run was un-eventful. Out to Cobb's Creek, took some trails along the river rather than the usual bike path for much of the way, and headed home down Springfield. Weather continues to be unbelievably nice, hope it stays this way through Saturday. It seems like too much to ask.

Call it 6 in 55 minutes.

Chasing Reba (or We Were Promised Jetpacks)

2009-07-16T10:17:00.002-04:00

Woke up this morning when Reba got in after running an Art Museum loop. 45 minutes later I found myself heading out on the same route.

This is the first time I've run in three days. The first day off was planned to rest my Achilles, which were getting sore. The second day was one where my tendons still didn't feel right, but work obligations also played into it. I told myself that it all kind of worked out, that my other commitments acted as a sort of protective factor to prevent an impending injury. This sort of "everything for the best" approach, where the result explains the process, is what I hate about evolutionary fill-in-the-blank approaches that are in vogue these days, and I have to pause as to whether I'm doing the same thing with my running (or lack thereof).

Turns out in this case my layoff, for whatever reasons, was for the best. I ran a very sluggish loop with my tendons laying low but making it plain that they were just one fartlek away from flaring up. I was reduced to plodding, and while its not unusual for me to have such a pace on my early morning run, what is unusual is the restriction of knowing I couldn't break out of it if I wanted to.

I also realized one likely culprit are my shoes, which are worn well past their natural life and are hanging on until the cavalry arrives in the mail in a few days. So I'll take it easy at least until then.

So the saving grace of my run was that I overhauled my iPod before I left and put on some new music. This is something I should do much more often than I do. The band on the rotation this morning was We Were Promised Jetpacks, a great name for music to run by. Its one of my efforts to listen to contemporary stuff. It came well reviewed and has a driving beat, like Interpol or Coldplay, that I like to run to. For what its worth, it gets the Seebo thumbs up.

With that my run felt like going on a car ride just to drive around and listen to the radio. No particular purpose for the running this morning save that it gave my body something to do while the ear buds mainlined music into my brain.

5.5 miles in 54 minutes.

Leg Stretcher

2009-07-13T09:25:00.002-04:00

Worked late last night and slept through meeting up with Club West Philly. Had a appt. this morning but still managed to lace up my running shoes and get in 3 miles. Days like today, getting a few miles in is a whole lot better, mentally if not physically, than chalking up a DNR.

The run was nothing spectacular, just a jaunt down through Penn campus. The weather is still mild and the traffic a bit heavier than it is an hour earlier. But it feels good to get a run in.

It also let me monitor my legs a bit. Both achilles tendons were tender at the ankle this morning. Tender, not sore. But I won't be heading out to the track tomorrow, as that would be pushing things.

Thirsty

2009-07-12T13:10:00.002-04:00

Missed signals with Deidre and John but Plan B worked out nicely: I hitched a ride with Reba out to Tinicum and took the long way home.

This meant doing the figure 8 around Tinicum, like old days, another loop around Darby Lake (I call this the bottom loop, Reba calls it the top loop) and then home on the roads. After the figure 8, about halfway through the run, I stopped by the car and had a little picnic of Gatorade and Gu. Reba finished up her run around this time and we got to chat. A woman showed us a turtle with yellow markings on its shell and told us of the restorative powers of stinging nettles. Then I was on my way around the lake today.

A bit steamier than it has been (i.e., more like July), enough to make me thankful for the abundance of shade on the trails. My right heel and left hamstring were both a little sore, so I was happy for the softer surface. I did not appreciate, however, the wet bushwacking that was required in the carwash segment. But otherwise, little has changed at Tinicum and it was like visiting an old friend.

The run home was longer than I remembered it being. I ran home down Buist Ave, which I was unfamiliar with but was a better alternative to Lindbergh Blvd. as it was less trafficked. I started baking in the sun at around this point however, as my planned two-hour run dragged into a 2:22:19 run. I'm happy about this, as two hours for a long run has been approaching a rut with me.

Call it 17 miles. That gives me 50 for the five days I've run this week. All is good now that its done, I've just been very thirsty since I've finished.

Oh yeah, no run yesterday. I think shifting to every other day mode when the workouts got a little more than my legs could handle turned out to be a good idea. And the porch sale went well.

Random Notes

2009-07-10T12:55:00.003-04:00

I did yesterday's workout today. The usual. Head down to MLK and run 3 miles as fast as I can. Fast wasn't as fast as the last couple of weeks, 3 in 19:12. Still, I was glad to run fast for 3 miles, as I still had alot of residual crud in my legs this morning. One of those mornings where I made a deal with myself that if I just got out to the Art Museum then I could run as fast (0r slow) as I wanted, and then just ran whatever I could. I knew from the first accelerated steps this would not be as fast as the last few weeks, and that took any pressure I put on myself off.

I wonder if I will get substantially (say tempos at 5:30-5:45 pace) faster again, or if this is my plateau.

I took the fire road again from the top of Strawberry Mansion Bridge once the tempo run was done. Its a really good reward for having done the workout. Totally alone in the middle of the city.

And the weather continues to be amazingly perfect.

And finally, with today's workout I now have a new load of crud in my legs and I continue to gimp about. Tomorrow we're having a porch sale, so I'm either gonna run easy or not at all, and then we'll see what Sunday brings.

DNR

2009-07-09T09:39:00.001-04:00

I was hobbling around all day yesterday like I had just finished a marathon. One of those days when I could almost hear people around me saying "and running is supposed to be good for you?"

Its not a worrisome pain, other than it makes me realize how much my body has to build up again to get me in any kind of semblance of the shape I long for. But given that I don't want the pain to turn into anything worrisome, I'm taking the day off. Despite what is one of the nicest mornings of the year.

See you tomorrow.

One of those Mornings

2009-07-08T09:16:00.003-04:00

Not the most enjoyable run this morning.

I knew it would be such with my first step out of bed, landing on legs that were still hurting from yesterday's workout. Thus the run started off slow and wobbly in what was easily a 10+ minute pace.

Most of the first half of the run I felt sick to my stomach. This landed me the dilemma of keeping my commitment to meet Deirdre at the Chestnut St. Bridge or just going home. I kept running.

I made it to the bridge, 5 minutes late, and no sign of Deirdre. I wait about five more minutes and plod on toward Lloyd Hall, Lemon Hill and parts beyond.

I really don't want to run by this point but I want to get some miles in and things settle down. The second half of the run settled down and picked up a bit, although I never came close to hammering it. But I felt good enough to appreciate the warm but crisp morning and all the shade that is the reward for getting out early.

I ran for almost 73 minutes, figuring I had eight miles easy. I g-mapped the course I ran and didn't even get 7 3/4.

One of those mornings, glad I kept going.

Half Full

2009-07-07T15:34:00.003-04:00

or half-fasst?

Pushed my run back about 45 minutes so I could have some coffee with Reba this morning, as she went into work late. Its a nice little ritual we used to do alot more than we get a chance to do now.

Afterwards I headed out to the 58th St. track. The sun was beating down when I got there. Nothing too imaginative today - 4x1600 (400m rec). First one in 6:01; then 5:57; 6:08 and 6:24.

I was really psyched about the 5:57, its been awhile since breaking 6, and is harder on that track due to conditions. But I clearly gave it too much on that rep, as the next two suffered. I was really spent on the last rep.

So I'm not sure what to focus on in this workout - whether it was a good workout or a bad one. As with most things in life, its a shade of gray. What I can tell you, however, is that for the rest of the day my legs have had that old familiar beat with a baseball bat feeling. Its a dull aching pain, but a good pain as it indicates hard work as opposed to an injury alarm. So I guess I'm continuing to progress.

10 miles total in 78:54.

Quickie

2009-07-06T08:52:00.001-04:00

Easy run this morning. Its supposed to be hot today but not so much at 6:30. Met up with Deirdre and Erin and we ran down to Bartram's Gardens and back around on 58th and Florence. Not much beyond that to report. The temptation was there to run longer but I cut it short to 45 minutes. Guessing 5.5 miles.

Weekend Update

2009-07-05T21:28:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth. About the best running weather I've ever had on such a holiday weekend.

Friday I took the day off to sleep in and celebrate Reba's birthday.

Saturday I went up to Bryn Mawr and met up with Mike McGrath and six other folks from out there. Eight of us became four who went for 12 miles and, with some stops and starts along various trails, ended up with about 12.5 in 1:47. With the trail detours and the water stops it was hard to get a rhythm going, but there was good company and lots of hills. The group is more "grown up" than the Saturday group at the art museum; they are all my age as well as my pace. I like that. Its also good to run with Mike, which I don't get to do often, especially at a time when we are both happy with our still modest training achievements.

12 miles yesterday left me with a decision this morning of whether to call that my long run or not. I still wasn't sure as I took off this morning, up 36th, past the zoo and onto the fire trail. Instead of turning up Ford Road I sealed my decision to run longer by continuing up the narrowing trail in search of the elusive Wooden Nipple. The WN is known to a select few and I had never run it, though I have heard it mentioned enough to know it exists. My rule of thumb was to stick to my right when the trail split. I had a bit of trouble finding the trail again when I came out at the Chamounix Stables and after that it became an uphill bushwhack that reminded me why I don't do trails. The story ends happily as I did make it to the summit and came down the more familiar Bloody Nipple to Falls River Bridge. By then playing Henry Stanley had taken its toll, and my heart was no longer into it as I trekked back down MLK on my way home. I got some of my mojo back towards the end and finished what should have been a two-hour run in 2:12. Won't do that one again but have now expanded my knowledge of Philly running just a wee bit more.

That gives me 64 miles for the week and for the third straight week I've been happy with my training. Future is brightening.

Dragons

2009-07-02T12:04:00.004-04:00

Ever since I've been running on MLK, since 1997 and back when it was known as West River Drive, I've run by a statue of St. George slaying the dragon. Its a cool statue, with George kind of slight and boyish, sitting naked save for his helmet on a horse (that can't be comfortable) and about to put the finishing spear thrust into the belly of a dragon lying on its back at the horse's feet. The dragon is more scrappy than fearsome, alot smaller in stature than I picture dragons.

This provides fodder for some internet detective work that I do every once in awhile when some item on my run catches my interest (what did we ever do before the internet?). Looking up the St. George and the Dragon statue, I get this info from phillyskyline.com:

The statue, whose sculptor is unknown, was cast in 1876, in time for the Centennial. After speaking with Margot Berg, the director of the City's Public Art Program, we determined this as the journey for the sculpture: it was commissioned in 1876 and after the Centennial placed on the portico at St George's Hall at 13th & Arch. In 1903, when the Society moved to 19th & Arch, so too did the sculpture. In 1923, it moved again with the Society to 19th & Spring Garden. In 1935, for some reason, it was moved into storage at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it stayed for 40 years. In 1975, they dusted it off and dedicated it on West River Drive, in time for the Bicentennial. That's where it remains today -- Martin Luther King Drive, near Black Road.

Then there is the psychological aspect of this statue. The slaying of one's dragons. I thought of this as I was doing my tempo run this morning. The dragon of the morning was not a particularly odious one - run the three miles in under 19 minutes. I had done this last week, but had my doubts as to whether I could do it again as my body feels pretty beat up lately. Made it up to the Strawberry Mansion Bridge in 18:54, so the dragon is slain with a few seconds to spare. I'm liking how I can start a bit slower on these runs and then still manage to finish in under goal time. So the dragon is dead at least for the day, but it'll be back next week.

That was the highlight of my morning run, which was essentially a repeat from my workout last Thursday. I like running this loop alot more since I substituted the fire road trail for the roads that took me over Belmont Plateau. The fire trail gives me a run through the woods that I look forward to as I hump it over the MLK 3. This morning I had a member of the Fairmount Park Track Club - an adolescent deer - run ahead of me for a bit before diving off into the woods. Total of 11 miles in 91 minutes.

Yesterday's run with Deirdre was a merry chase through Center City, South Philly, and then SW Philly on this loop. Good for 8.5 miles in 73 minutes. Its been a period of exploring new routes lately, and its helped with reinvigorating my running.

Speaking of dragons, the ones that inhabit my workspace are roaring, I better stop here and fight them back.

Track

2009-06-30T16:36:00.003-04:00

Sarah Palin named her kid Track. She can't be all bad.

I was all set to blog on this morning's run earlier, but couldn't get online. Now the days events have overtaken me, so I need to be brief. Not the way I like to write, but I want to get this down.

Headed down to the track this morning. Wanted to get in a track workout, didn't want to go all out. Kind of a gut check workout - see where my head and my heels were at. As a result, I did longer reps - 2x3200 with an 800m recovery - so that I wouldn't have to go so fast. Anything under 13 minutes was fine with me, as often happens I overachieved with a 12:22 and a 12:29. This was about the pace I did on last Thursday's MLK Drive miles, and is good to build on. In an ideal world rep 2 would have been faster than rep 1, but it wasn't there and I didn't push it too hard. Just getting back on track. Get it? Haha.

Sofar heels feel fine.

Ran 2.5 miles home. All totaled 10.5 miles.

Curb Enthusiasm

2009-06-29T09:10:00.003-04:00

Got an urge to blog again this morning. Got the urge despite (or perhaps because of) having two deadlines weighing heavy on my mind and the kids at home. Its a beautiful summer morning, and my desire to write likely reflects my feeling good about my running.

Its easy to wax positive about all the running I want to do on a day when I don't run, as I did yesterday. Its well known among writers about how much easier it is to get to the point of being "ready" to write than it is to actually write. It was a different story at 5:45 this morning when I got up. It still did not feel at all upbeat and enthusiastic heading out the door 35 minutes later. And once I was out I was into the moment more than I was filled with the self-consciousness of this morning's run being part of anything much grander. I leave that to writings such as I did last night.

I met up Deirdre at where Race Street meets the Schuylkill bike path. We headed past Lloyd Hall over Lemon Hill and into Fairmount Park. We talked about our weekends and the chatter got on to other topics including one of our pet peeves - those who fear that running in Philadelphia is unsafe. We both have our takes on this - Deirdre responding that it is less safe for a woman to be at home than running the Philadelphia streets, as violence against women is far more pervasive at home than in public places; and I maintain that it is far safer to run in the city than in the suburbs when you factor traffic fatalities into the equation - something that is more prevalent in the suburbs.

We are clearly both biased and admittedly are likely to twist things to align with our points of view, so I did a quick google to see what there was on the web on this. The answer is, of course, that it depends on how you twist things around. One article says that when you just look at fatalities (traffic or homicide) at the hands of strangers - which speaks to the concerns voiced by people bringing this up - urban areas are indeed safer. Another article I found muddles the case a bit more but asserts that there will always be an irrational fear of the spectacular (albeit rare) event over the more mundane. And thus it is fated that people will continue to post to the Philly Runner message board inquiring about their safety when they ponder running the streets of this fair city.

And to show my enthusiasm this morning I tacked on ten extra minutes to make this route which got my mileage up over 8. In 70:03. Life is good. My run is over, and I can again be enthusiastic about all the running I can do in the future. Be careful out there.

Reasons not to Run

2009-06-28T17:58:00.003-04:00

So I got to nine days straight running yesterday. I met up with Deirdre yesterday morning early and we ran out to the Ben Franklin Bridge and back around. The run down entailed going through sleepy South Philly neighborhoods, and once we got to Center City I got this feeling of being in control of my geography by just being able to run past different places and landmarks and navigating around them by foot. Hard to explain, but definitely liberating. 14 in 1:50:26.

I ran early yesterday so that Reba and I could pack up and go up to NYC for a wedding. The bride has run NYC Marathon a couple of times, which was one of the reasons the couple chose the reception hall, Gustavino's, which is located under the Queensboro Bridge and built into the arches of the bridge. The place itself is very elegant (with no hint of the cars driving the bridge overhead) and right at that signature moment of the marathon when you run off of the bridge and onto First Avenue.

With that inspiration, you'd think a run this morning would be a no-brainer. It wasn't. I decided to take a day off and sleep in, with the partying and the running of late, it seemed a no-brainer. But it was a beautiful morning and our hotel room was two blocks away from Columbus Circle, and I longed for my running shoes. Reba and I did get out and walk through Central Park a bit, which was as vibrant as ever.

New streak starts tomorrow morning.

Day 8

2009-06-26T08:50:00.002-04:00

Day 8 of consecutive running. Didn't want to do anything too strenuous. Started out oh-so-slowly to Erin's house. Met Erin & Deirdre at Erin's house and then lost Erin at 60th & Pine. She may have been overcome at our having lost that prominent celebrity yesterday evening. Deirdre and I continued the run down to Mt. Moriah and back on Springfield.

I gained momentum as the run got longer. At first I thought I'd only last to Cedar Ave, then as I got more comfortable I had to limit myself to the route we did, as I could have gone on forever. First really humid sticky run of the summer. I think there will be plenty more of those, however.

Hot Wheels and a Gravel Road

2009-06-25T09:56:00.002-04:00

This blog has, if you haven't noticed, become a weekly instead of a daily feature. I've felt uncomfortable with that. I used to say the workout isn't done until its been blogged, but things have obviously changed. I'm still working through those changes, getting used to them, wondering if they'll be permanent, but for now that is how it is.

That is not to say I haven't been running. After missing last Wednesday and Thursday due to Maricela's graduation from high school (yay!) and family coming in, not to mention the rain, I've run every day since then. Its been quality running to boot, but my legs have been feeling very beat up. And today's run probably won't help that.

This morning I took it down to the Drives to spin my wheels a bit. A bit on the humid side, cloudy, but still way cooler than it has a right to be. I haven't done any extended fast stuff since my achilles pain kicked in again, and I just wanted to take it faster than I usually do. From sub 7 minute pace at the first quarter-mile I felt good and dropped it to a sub 6:30 pace by the mile mark and continued to lower it until I finished the three MLK miles in 18:48. That is not much slower than I had been doing before my latest round of agida (thanks to Reba for that word) set in. This includes the last quarter trekking it uphill to Ford Rd. on top of Strawberry Mansion Bridge. I love that finish, giving it all to finish strong despite a steady uphill (not to mention having to brave the morning rush hour in crossing MLK). When I finish that and beat my goal time, it might be the best feeling I'll have all day.

Deirdre and I ran around 11 on Monday after Erin decided to sleep in. We went up over Strawberry Mansion Bridge, around the reservoir, and back across Girard by the zoo. That was a scenic run on a beautiful summer morning, and I took a piece of that run and incorporated it into this morning's run. There is a fire road that runs from Belmont Plateau all the way to Ford Road. I have known about it as it is the trail where you turn off to go to the infamous Parachute Hill. I just never made the connection to run it in conjunction with my SMB loop. So instead of running down Chamounix today I took the road less traveled and it was beautiful. An oasis of solitude, birds chirping, and soft gravelly road in the middle of Philadelphia. I thought of the feature in Runner's World called "Rave Run" where they'd put a picture of a runner in beautiful scenery and thought that between running along the Schuylkill, running the fire road, and then through the Horticultural Center, I'll put this run up against any for scenery and serenity. And I smugly wallowed in what a great city Philly is to run in.

This morning is the kind of run that keeps me going, and the urge to write about it, perhaps to gloat a bit about it, gets me coming back to this blog, for while I'm not as true to it as I once was, I can't leave it either. 11 miles (or so) in 89:36.

Recap of past week:
Yesterday: 7 miles in 62 minutes (w/ Erin) up through Mt. Moriah and back down Springfield;
Tuesday: 5.5 mile Art Museum loop, untimed;
Monday: 12 miles (see entry) w/ Deirdre; 95:35;
Sunday: 5.5 miles, Warrington loop untimed;
Saturday: 14 miles, up to Manayunk and up the 3 Bears in pouring rain, 1:56, w/ Deirdre, John Dubs et al.
Friday: 8 miles out west with the full Club West Philly contingent

Putting in Miles

2009-06-16T13:59:00.002-04:00

After coming home from trips in the past, I've warned against the letdown that occurs. You put in the effort to run while traveling but then it falls apart when you return home. Well, my running was, shall we say, relaxed on the West Coast last week, but I've been getting out these last few mornings.

This morning I forsook a hard workout and did an easy eight up and around Sweetbriar. I enjoyed it. Skies were still grey from last nights downpour and it contrasted with the prominent greens along Boathouse Row. I felt like I was in an oil painting.

I'm back to just putting in miles. 8 in about 67 this morning.

Catching Up

2009-06-15T08:38:00.002-04:00

I see that my last post was on June 4. Eleven days ago.

I had a couple of good weeks before that last post, things have slowed down again since then. I'll try to reconstruct, not because it would necessarily interest anyone but because I like to keep a record of my runs. I'm afraid, however, that some will be lost to a poor memory.

Fri, June 5, I ran an Art Museum loop. 6 miles.
Sat, June 6, I ran a Mt. Moriah/Kingsessing loop. 6 miles.
Wed, June 10, I ran a FF loop, 3.5 miles.

That was the ancient history. Again, I may well have missed a workout but that is the gist of it. On the bright side, it rests a borderline Achilles inflammation. On the darker side, it shows how busy-ness combined with a lack of drive to make regular training a priority easily gets in the way of things. Not that this is bad, its more like its a choice. Whether its a choice I want to make is what I've been wrestling with for awhile now and going over and over again, in one form or another, on these pages.

Which takes us to recent history. I took a trip to LA, starting last Wednesday. This let me run through Skid Row, downtown, and South Central LA for an hours worth on Friday, recreating the loops I ran last December when I was there last. Then, when work was done, we stayed a bit in Santa Monica. The original Muscle Beach. The claim is that its the birth of the physical fitness movement of the 20th Century. I ran two hours, one hour south through Venice Beach and Marina del Rey, then turn around and run back. I'll call it 14.5 miles. Lots of thoughts to write of California, but I'm not feeling it this morning. Jet lagged out, looking at alot of stuff waiting for me at work, and bummed because I have all this time I have to take off by the end of the month or I lose it, and not seeing the opportunity to use it all up.

I did drag my jet-lagged ass out of bed to meet Erin and Jody at 6:30 for a run out to Mt. Moriah and back (Chester Ave up, Thomas Ave back). Easy 5ish, glad I made it out.

There, all caught up.

Up and Down

2009-06-04T09:11:00.003-04:00

I don't run in the rain. I've tortured myself about it and decided there are some things I just don't do. So you can call me whatever you like, but when I was set and ready to go and I looked out the window at the downpour this morning, I stayed home. I know nobody is calling me anything, and that I'm writing this mostly to myself. It doesn't help that the rain didn't last very long.

And as I write this I'm thinking if I can cut loose a bit this afternoon. My schedule is very flexible of late as I have the fortunate problem of having to take 12 vacation days before the end of this month or I lose them.

Instead of running I'll play catch-up on this blog. Yesterday Erin, Jody and I found a better way to get to Bartram's Gardens on our way to an easy 5.5.

The day before it was a 7.5-mile Sweetbriar loop. My heels are still tender enough to where I am not pushing the tempo. Monday and Sunday were days off. And I can't remember what I did on Saturday. Think Seebo. Oh yeah, I went on a Kingsessing loop through Mt. Moriah cemetery. I'm guessing that's about 7, don't feel like gmapping it. Which takes me back to when the Achilles pain flared up.

So I'm on three-quarter speed, part due to the inflamed tendon, part due to life, and part due to weather. A few weeks up, a few weeks down. That's how my running is going.

Blues for Achilles

2009-05-28T09:22:00.003-04:00

For some reason the world seemed a sad place this morning. I wasn't so much feeling sad as I felt more in touch with the sadness all around. Maybe there is no difference in this distinction. Headed out into the overcast with Patty Griffin on the iPod singing her portraits of lonely lives.

Steeled myself for ten miles, up the Acme loop. When I hit Penn campus I finally got mentally focused on doing this run. Just about then I became aware of increasing soreness in my achilles tendons. The decision to turn back up Market Street and head home was almost immediate.

I suppose it was easier to make this decision because I had myself set on running 10 before I cut it short. It was also clear that doing so this morning was pointless. Run easy today, maybe a little longer tomorrow, and see how things go. On those times I get achilles pain, it usually comes after a track or a hill workout.

I did get in 3.5, untimed.

All I Really Need to Know...

2009-05-27T10:33:00.003-04:00

I learned on the track. For instance:

Lesson 1 - life is not linear. In an ideal world you work hard and you see results. The track tells you that reality is much more capricious. I did okay on 1600m repeats when I first started up again on the track 2 weeks ago, got slower last week, and this week my four 1600m reps were virtually identical to those I did last week: 6:12; 6:06; 6:04; 6:05.

Lesson 2 - when all else fails lower your standards. I thought I could go faster this morning and when that didn't happen I started grabbing onto smaller positive stuff that I could get out of this workout. Hence what I am most proud of is on reps 2 and 4 my times would have been even slower had it not been for a pair of final lap dashes where each came in at 1:29 (sub 6 minute pace). This pace is a psychological milestone/barrier for me at the moment so its good to see I can get under this at least some of the time.

Lesson 3 - when you get stuck, let it go. When I do this ideas seem to bubble up. Especially when there is a 2-mile cooldown to jar things loose. I don't seem to be making much progress in taking 1600m reps head on, so I'm thinking next week I'll do 800s to get my legs turning over a bit faster, and then move back up to 1600s.

Lesson 4 - life is interstitial. Best parts of this morning's run were things like the cool breeze hitting my face on the backstretch, the way the greens stood out against the gray sky, and the beauty that emerges from the interplay between nature and the crumbling remnants of Philly's postindustrial past.

Sounds like the beginnings of a book here, one more that I'm unlikely to ever write. In the meantime, 10 miles total in 83:20.

PS - for the record, dnr yesterday and 5.5 miles (Warrington loop) on Monday, untimed.

Sixty

2009-05-24T22:16:00.000-04:00

Ran a similar loop to what I ran Wednesday, just went down 46th instead of 49th streets. That made it 8.5 miles or so. This puts me over sixty miles for the week. I'm happy about that.

Otherwise not much to report about a hot humid holiday weekend morning.

Running Just Not Writing #2

2009-05-23T21:36:00.003-04:00

First things first. Big news of this post is that Reba and I are engaged. Happened on Thursday under the Lansdowne Sycamore. We've been talking about it for awhile, and plan is to have a low-key wedding celebration later this summer. Life is good!

Running is good too. I'm on my way to closing my second straight solid training week. Each run would, in less hectic weeks, be a blog entry in itself. But here is a recap on the last three runs:

Thursday was an 11 mile Strawberry Mansion Bridge loop with three tempo miles. I remember feeling very stiff and unmotivated. I popped a sports-gel before I left to see if it would motivate me any. I didn't feel any more energetic, but did squeeze out an 18:58 over the three tempo miles with the last two miles catching up after a somewhat slower 6:35 first mile. Was it the gel? I didn't feel any burst of energy, I feel like the time came from a concerted effort to push and seasoned with some grit. But who knows. Don't remember the time for the whole loop, its not important.

Yesterday I had my blog entry outlined before I finished the run. It was a glorious run, one of those you wish you could put in a bottle and wish that it didn't have to be used on such a relatively inconsequential run. It also marked what I call my return to the hamster wheel, meaning that I have returned to tallying the miles in my head. I really want to run 60 this week, and as a result I extended my run by one bridge and did a 9.5-mile Montgomery Bridge loop. Don't remember the time, do remember that running was fun that morning.

And today I went out to run long. I started by heading out to the sycamore on my usual 10-mile route and extended this loop by going deeper into SW Philly at the end. My goal was to go 2 hours. Ran for 2:01:33. Had to map it for mileage and it fell a little short of 14 miles, so I call it 13.5. Had I known I'd have thrown another ten minutes in. This morning was a hot one. I'm glad I got out early and glad that I have the long run over for the weekend.

This leaves eight miles for tomorrow and I get 60 for the week.

Never Broke a Sweat

2009-05-20T11:45:00.002-04:00

Got up and out this morning at 6:20, despite a late night last night. Don't know if Club West Philly left before I got there or if nobody showed. Either way, I made my own way on a well worn path up to the Art Museum and back via Sweetbriar Ave. and 42nd/48th Sts.

Made my easy day an easy day by leaving my watch at home. Left my music at home as well, making the run a bit old school, just me and my thoughts for as long and as fast as I wanted to go. Beautiful morning, chilly enough so I never broke a sweat.

7+ miles on this route. Time known only to God.

Maturing

2009-05-19T09:04:00.002-04:00

I got out of the house at 6:35 today, that's progress. Headed out to the 58th St. track to build on last week's workout. I figured I did 3x1600 in 6-flat apiece last week, let's see if I can do four of them today. Things didn't quite work that way - the first 400 came in at 1:35 on the way to a 6:12 time for the first 1600. The next rep came in at 6:06. Number 3 was in 6:05. And after a mad dash over the last 200, the final rep was in 6:04.

A good track workout means that I leave with some new insight into myself. Today I felt like I challenged myself from where I was at. I like the track I'm running at, complete with its cinder surface, the grass encroaching into the first lane, and the joggers and walkers, mostly older African-American men, who sometimes move to the outside lines when I pass and sometimes not. These singular features make for times that can only approximately be compared to other tracks, so the best yardstick becomes past performance. By this measure I did worse today than last week. After the first 400 I knew I would. But taking the first 1600 as a measure, I did progressively better with each subsequent rep. So disappointment gets tempered with satisfaction at having hung in there. It feels like I made the best with what I had this morning, and I left the track feeling good about the workout.

It felt mature. Not mature in the sense of being all grown up, mature in the sense that I felt in a place this morning when old times and aspirations were not so important, and I was more oriented to the moment - with where I was at both with myself and my surroundings. Its hard to put into words.

On my first lap I passed an older guy jogging his laps. I said "good morning" and he responded in kind with labored breath. I expected he'd finish soon and there'd be one less person to run around. I lapped him numerous times during my intervals, first arcing around him and towards the end he started using the middle lanes so I could keep on the inside. After I finished and started my cooldown home, he was still doing laps around the track.

All totaled, 11 miles in 89:48.

Forbidden Drive

2009-05-17T11:56:00.004-04:00

Wind blowing and rain hitting against the window was the first thing I heard this morning. I let out a groan and Reba recognized that as the sound of my trying to get out of running this morning. Still complaining, I pulled myself out of bed and we headed up to Roxborough, where we met up with one of her friends who lives right off of Valley Green Inn on Forbidden Drive. The two of them did their loop, and I ran home from there.

Running conditions were dry and otherwise great. Everything is a dark lush green shade from all the rain we've been getting. Running Forbidden Drive makes it easy to imagine that Philadelphia is light years away. From there I headed down Kelly Drive and then the Schuylkill Bike Trail and through Penn campus, and added another two or so miles so as to make it a two hour run.

That gives me 52 miles this week. I wanted to start counting my miles again next week and shoot for 50, but I'll have to up my target now. I'll be in Boston tomorrow, and I'll just take the day off.

14.5 miles on this point to point in 2:02:14.

Running Just Not Writing

2009-05-16T20:54:00.004-04:00

Last time I blogged was Tuesday. I've run every day since then. Each run I figured out what I wanted to blog about the run and each day I've (obviously) not taken the time to set it down. So I'll just catch up today.

Wednesday I ran with Erin on a somewhat crazy loop south on 47th Street, across Gray's Ferry Ave, and down the embankment, across the Septa tracks, and through the post-industrial detritus to pop out at 58th Street. We then ran that back home. Between the embankment, the weeds, the traffic and the like it is safe to say this will not be a regular route. Just because a route is different doesn't make it good.

Thursday I couldn't get out of the house to run my planned 11 miler. This remains a problem and I was prepared to write about it, but its too late to blather about it now, until next time. Or you can just read my April 30th post, as I complain about the exact same thing. Ran a 5.5 mile Art Museum loop instead, the rain poured for the last half mile of the run, glad to get in the house and thought maybe this wasn't the best morning to run all those miles.

Friday I did the 11 miler, an SMB loop, the one that I should have done on Thursday. Ran three miles for speed - 19:02. One mile longer than the fast stretches I've been doing, and the second hard workout of the workweek. Run felt good.

And today, I didn't get out till around dinner time. I was working all day, mostly on getting the house together again after we had painters do major work for the last week. It came out really nice, but its almost as big a job cleaning up the dust and related mess they left behind. The house is clean again and feels much better. I think, however, that I got the bigger workout here. My legs were dead and I was tired by the time I got out to run a Warrington loop, so it was an easy 5 anna half.

That brings me up to date. Hopefully I'll get some miles tomorrow and it'll be a decent week; one to build on.

Atlantis

2009-05-12T08:57:00.003-04:00

On most mornings I'll try to come up with excuses not to go to the track but today, from wherever, came this need to go to the track. Problem was finding a track to go to. So I sought out Atlantis, the mythical track in SW Philly that is the subject of many an apocryphal tale, but has never been seen by anyone I know.

Yes, I hyperbolize, and the mystery was quickly deshrouded by scanning Gmap, where I located this oval at 58th and Elmwood. I was excited to scout out new territory, and ran about 2 miles up there to discover pretty much what I expected - a somewhat overgrown cinder track. The infield was freshly mowed, but the grass overflowed out to the track so that in many places running on the track necessitated running in what would be Lane 2. There were also several walkers on the track who most of the time would not budge from their inside track position.

So with those challenges I set a goal of 3x1600 at 6 minutes with a 400 m recovery. I had to push to get this, but get it I did: 6-flat, 5:58, 6-flat. Just about right for where I'm at. I think success all depends on the goals you set. This morning's wasn't too particularly ambitious, but it leaves me feeling good.

Sunny spring morning, new horizons, a good running day. All in all 11 miles - 6 on the track and 5 on this loop out and back to the track.

Oh yeah, Florida was fun. Didn't run on Friday or Monday, but got in 95 minutes (call it 12 miles) on Saturday and 45 minutes (call it 6 miles) on Sunday. Both runs were through and around the streets in the over-55 neighborhood we were staying at, in the heat that would get up to low 90's. I ran Saturday's run hard. For some reason running those streets reminded me of running 5k's that snaked through suburban streets, and I worked my way into that state of controlled breathlessness that comes in those races. Left me feeling content that there is still some fight in me.

Fairmount Park Trivia

2009-05-07T10:43:00.004-04:00

Q: What do Shubert, Goethe and Verdi have in common?

A: They all have statues in the Horticultural Center that I passed by this morning.

Culture on the fly.

Still didn't make it out this morning before 7, but I'm working on it.

The rain thats been drenching this city let up a bit this morning. Grey skies and 50's, good running weather. As Reba says, the animals are going to be lining up two by two pretty soon.

Ran two miles in 12:32 on MLK. This was my vegetables for the day, eaten so I can grow big and strong. I hope to increase the portion next time.

For dessert I meandered through the Hort. Center. Explored a little bit, took some time to check out the sculptures that dot the place.

My encyclopedic knowledge of porta-potty locations in Philadelphia paid off on this morning's run, but forced me to add about an extra half mile on my usual route.

All in all a fun morning out, 9.5 miles in about 75 minutes.

Yesterday I ran about 6 (guesstimate) in 45:52 with Erin and Jody.

Off to Florida for the weekend. See if can run, and write, from there.

Shouldn't Have

2009-05-05T10:16:00.004-04:00

worn my watch this morning. Thought I was going at a descent clip this morning. Then I timed my MLK miles and saw that I was taking them at an 8:30 clip. Not that it matters a rat's posterior, but I guess it does. I'd like to think I was going faster.

My stops and starts continue. I've been writing about them for so long now. Busy weekend and rain laid me off for three days after doing 6 on Friday. I set the alarm for 5:30, didn't get out of bed till 6:15, and didn't get out of the house until 7:15. This early sluggishness is a bad habit, but like many they are hard to break.

Run was drizzly but good. Took it out to the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and back through Fairmount Park. One reinforcer of getting out later is that I've now worked the Horticultural Center into my regular route. About a half mile of no traffic and blooming purple bushes, and I can reach over the fence and grab some zen out of the Japanese Garden.

And the amusing thing is that my watch is at home so I can't even record the time. Gmap calls it 11 miles.

Tired Old Man

2009-04-30T09:30:00.002-04:00

"Do you know who I am?" said Bill Haley,
In a pancake house near the Rio Grande.
The waitress said, "I don't know you from Diddley,
To me you're just another tired old man..."

Still not getting much traction with my training. Eeked out four easy miles around Franklin Field on Monday, and I blame my non-running over the last two days on a combination of the psychic gunk from Sunday's run and end of semester stuff that's keeping me busy. After tomorrow, however, I won't be able to use that as an excuse anymore.

The immediate problem that's been keeping me from running regularly has been my inability to get up early. I need to be out of the house by 6:30 at the latest on weekday mornings if I'm to have time for any kind of a hard workout, and lately I've had a hard time getting myself out of bed by that time. Today was a case in point, and a planned 11 miler got shaved to an Art Museum loop.

Once I got out there, the running went well. Mornings have returned to being nice and cool, and a wobbly first mile turned into a strong, albeit untimed, pace for the remainder of the run. The Dave Alvin song quoted above popped on my iPod as I was finishing, and I knew I had a good blog opener.

6 miles, untimed.

Stupid Running

2009-04-26T17:05:00.003-04:00

Got up this morning and felt the pressure to finish and send off a paper I've been working on. Perhaps it was the urgency of the matter, perhaps it was just that I didn't want to do my long run. Whatever it was, the procrastination was productive as I got done what I had to do. But then it was midday when I left the house.

I got about a mile or two in before I realized I'd underestimated the heat. Wunderground says it was in the low 90s today, but I shrugged it off as I'm not too sensitive to hydration issues. When I got to Lloyd Hall I filled up at the fountain and kept going up past Edgely Field and up to Huntingdon St. I wanted to do some North Philly running today and sofar so good. Huntingdon is a low traffic one-way (oncoming) street, with a sight-line that stretches a good half-mile in front. Best of all, I'd never run here before. Huntingdon t's into 22nd St. and by then my throat was starting to get dry. At 15th St., I went south to Ridge, and I realized I was feeling worse than I should with the miles I have left to do. I started becoming aware of how little I had hydrated, and the availability of drinks all around were it not for my omitting to bring any money along.

I mentioned how I had dinner with a homeless guy in Vegas. During the course of our conversation he challenged me to live on the streets in Philly for a week without bringing any money. He asked me if I would promise to do that. I said that if I promised this I'd be bullshitting him and he lowered the bar to a day. I said I'd consider it but wouldn't promise something I might or might not keep. We left it at that.

I'm not saying my little run here fulfilled that promise. But it was instructive in how apart I felt from the city, me with a burning thirst I was unable to quench. Two little kids dressed out all Nation of Islam were selling water at an intersection, asked me if I wanted any. I considered bumming a bottle off of them saying I'd pay later. Considered going into a store, going up to people to do the same but interestingly something held me back. At 13th and Ridge, just by the big shelter, I cut the run short and headed back home. Figured I'd get me some water at a fountain in Rittenhouse Square. I got there only to find that there is nary a drinking fountain in Philadelphia's toniest park. The absence of this basic corporeal act of mercy surprised me. Does it keep the bums out of the park?

West another mile I was back on Penn campus, where I had no problem finding some water and drank my fill. The run was pretty much shot by then, and I trudged the rest of the way home. Still, I got two hours running time and 14 miles out of it.

I was really surprised at how the dehydration hammered me. Might also have to do with this being the first hot weekend of the year, and the body is still adapting. I can remember in years past when I'd deliberately run with a thirst to see how long I could handle it. Not today. I think I've become more humble and also more able to read my body's signs and give in when I sense distress. Today was one of those days. Hopefully I'll be smarter on my next long run.

First Day of Summer

2009-04-25T17:00:00.002-04:00

Back from Vegas. Went out on Thursday evening and did a whole lot of walking around the Strip and the downtown, so I called that a "workout" and slept in yesterday morning. I didn't do much to ease the financial woes that are hitting this boomtown hard, as I didn't gamble, drink much, or otherwise engage in the vices that fuel the city's economy. But I did take a homeless guy to McDonald's, he ate and I picked his brain a bit on what its like to live on the streets in Vegas. Not a good situation, unsurprisingly.

Went out to the Drives this morning with Reba to run. Did the eight and a half mile loop and then some, calling it 11. Ran it old school: no watch, no iPod. Alot of people were out today. Broke a good sweat. Figure to go even longer tomorrow, and will definitely bring the iPod.

Sin City

2009-04-23T12:08:00.002-04:00

This ol town filled with sin
It'll swallow you in
If you've got some money to burn...

A postcard from Vegas, where I'm spending today and tomorrow for a conference sponsored by the National Human Services Data Consortium. Just the type of folks to do Vegas with.

I've never been to Vegas before. I hate to admit that my images of Vegas are heavily influenced by the Godfather and Hunter S. Thompson, and on the way out here I read the classic architectural tract Learning from Las Vegas, which was from about that era. The latter book, a quick read with alot of pictures, makes a case for the architecture of the Strip as being one expressing the American vernacular of sprawl and how it was a welcome counterpoint to the often vapid modernist highbrow architecture of the time.

What was sprawl in the 70's has now become urban, with towering hotel/casino buildings fronted by spectacles and a vibrant streetscape that is surprisingly walkable. I spent yesterday evening walking through simulacra of Paris, ancient Rome, Venice and the like. But Venturi et al.'s point does remain, that these behemoth structures are "decorated sheds" and beneath the veneer lie the acres of gaming tables that are ultimate the same in a depressing kind of way.

If you don't think that a casino is depressing then walk through one at 6:30 in the morning and look at the people who are still at the tables or, worse yet, playing the slots. You have to walk through what seems like a half mile of these to get from the hotel elevator at the Mirage, where I'm staying, to the front entrance. I was heading out for a tour - I had me a ten-mile course all gmapped out and my running shoes on. There is no better way to see a city.

My tour went north up the Strip for the first four miles. The over-the-top grandiosity of Treasure Island and Wynn's soon gave way to a zone of transition where they look to still be building these edifices, and I don't envy the developers holding the bag here. The Sahara, with its gaudy Arabian theme marked the official end of the Strip. Going farther up Las Vegas Avenue was like peeling away time, as the architecture reverted to the car-centric and somewhat dated themes that was more consistent with the Vegas in my head. Wedding chapels, pawn shops, strip clubs and rent by the week motels that looked like they could fit in at Wildwood brought out an underside of Vegas that holds much more interest for me. A right on Fremont Ave and it seemed to be a parallel Vegas here, a B-version perhaps, one that the hordes of people crowding the Strip further south never get close to. Unless they have to get some quick cash for their Rolex or need to get married.

When I hit Maryland Avenue I headed back south and improvised, zig-zagging through the residential streets and seeing if there was really as much foreclosed property as one reads about. The cab driver who drove me from the airport described this as a boom town going bust, but the modest, Hispanic blocks I ran down looked okay. From there I hit Joe W. Brown Blvd. and it was backstage of the Strip, seeing from the back how the large hotels lined up along LV Blvd. like a movie set. Here the run started getting long, the traffic was bad, and the view was boring. I was ready to pack it in.

The run made for good sightseeing but not very good running, as I kept it slow and never got much of a rhythm. The official loop length was 10.1 miles, but was a bit longer with the turns I made. Still, 91:49 was a slow pace. But speed wasn't what today's run was about.

Postscript:

To catch up, I have been running, modestly, over the past week, just not blogging it. Yesterday I ran the same route through the Horticultural Center that I did two Thursdays ago, and ran the MLK two miles in 12:21. Getting faster but still a long way to go. Tuesday it was an Art Museum loop, Monday and Sunday were off, and Saturday was a rushed 7.5 around Cobbs Creek and Kingsessing. And that brings me up to date. The semester is over next week, and then I'll have no excuses left for not running hard again.

A Good Feeling to Know

2009-04-17T08:07:00.004-04:00

Have you heard... Poco is getting back together. Yes, I rolled my eyes too, does this world really need one more group of old farts dusting off their instruments and taking to the road to dredge up music from days gone by?

I heard the news on XPN as I was getting ready for my day after this morning's run. Then dj Michaela Majoun followed up this bit of breaking news with the comment that, in case we had forgotten what Poco sounded like, or never knew in the first place, she'd cue some up. "Good Feeling to Know" came on. And I smiled.

I was never much into Poco, but was into the Rock/Country/California sound that they were a part of. And a beautiful spring morning like this was what a song like that was all about. Remembering spring days in college, when much of life was hanging out on campus on a blanket my friends and I referred to as "the center of the universe." It was movable, we said, and thus the center followed us around. Thought it was cute at the time, now I see it as very age-appropriate. But what that song brought back was the feeling of how, on spring days like that, life and the world seemed limitless.

I also remember mornings like this when my running seemed limitless. Didn't feel that way this morning, though I don't yet think those days are necessarily gone. It's been another difficult week running-wise, hampered again by bad weather and the demands of work which currently has me under a heavy teaching load rounding into the home stretch of the semester; and a couple of research projects I had to deliver on.

I did make it out yesterday for a 10 mile Acme loop, and met up with Erin and Jody today for a jaunt around the 19143. My bones creaked, and I came to the reality that I won't be in shape to run Broad Street this year. But the sun was out, I was with good friends, and the scent of Spring flowers was heavy in the air. A good feeling to know.

5 miles, untimed.

Easy?

2009-04-13T08:23:00.002-04:00

Erin's back around and running, and we met up for an easy 3.5 to Cobb's Creek and back on Cedar Ave. We caught up some, she talking about the misadventures of Iris and me talking about misadventures of M's college selection process. And then the run was over.

Run was slow; Erin was coming off of an extended layoff and I was sore after yesterday. I felt old this morning, as it took a long time for my creaky legs to get warmed up. This after my realization, upon finishing blogging yesterday, that while the 12.5 Easter miles I ran was a good effort, it falls somewhat short of what I consider a "long" run.

I guess that's why they call it an easy run, although on days like today its questioning like this that makes them all but easy.

No watch, no map today.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T20:36:00.005-04:00

Not much going on here this year, kids are out of town and no family get togethers. Instead of church I engaged in my usual Sunday morning ritual and went out for a long run.

I didn't go to church but the streets were full of people who did, decked out in their Sunday finest. The trees were decked out in their Sunday finest as well, including the cherry trees, which are peaking about now. My boss suggested I run by the long row of cherry trees that runs from the Horticultural Center, where the attached picture was taken, to the Catholic Total Abstinence Fountain, where I saw them. Two parallel rows of spectacular blossoms and one of Philly's many little known gems.

It was a rare long run where I didn't want to stop. Went through Fairmount Park up to Overbrook Farms down Cobbs Creek, and instead of going back down Christian St. I went the extra mile or so down to Warrington before heading home. I felt strong and the morning was beautiful. I had Tom Russell on the iPod, and then Dave Alvin; the latter had turned me on to the former. Life was good.

In that spirit Reba and I spent a good part of the afternoon planting the little patch in front of our house. It has been neglected over the last few years and this was a perfect day to literally plant life back into it. Celebrating rebirth, is, afterall, what this holiday was all about before the Christians appropriated it.

12.5 miles in 1:44:12.

Easy 4

2009-04-10T11:46:00.001-04:00

"And I'm fine ‘cause I know, any plane I ride can fly me home."

Untimed, out to Cobbs Creek and back on Christian St.

Journeyer

2009-04-09T09:36:00.005-04:00

I'm on a roll lately. Today was one of those runs where I was just glad to be out there.

Headed down to MLK Drive to rev it up a bit. I hesitate to be more specific than that; all I wanted to do was run fast a little. "Fast" and "little" were the key words, with the latter - at 2 miles - easier to operationalize than the former. I started out at a 7 minute pace and figured it a reach to break 13 minutes for two miles. I had more speed than I thought, however, and nailed them in 12:52.

Nothing to write on a blog about, but I was happy with it. It represents my umpteenth start towards something, but I will go back to the well one more time. This gives me something to build on. A little faster and/or a little longer each week. And I'll be writing about it here.

On my way home, going up Montgomery just before Belmont I decided to take a little shortcut to bypass that intersection. On my way I noticed that the gate to the Horticultural Gardens was open, and suddenly it was a long-cut. I haven't been in the Gardens, except for when the Philadelphia Marathon course ran through it, since Tony was in a running stroller. The perfect time of year to improvise (for the second straight day) and I found a little route through the gardens that let me out in the back of the Please Touch Museum. There was flora, and there also was sculpture, like the one pictured, which exploded with metaphor.

Running by art and spring colors, and the world transforms. Headed back through West Philly and saw boundless possibilities in everything. Life is good. 9 miles here, 72:32.

45 Now

2009-04-08T09:58:00.002-04:00

Thanks for the birthday wishes. It's good to see some of the folks that lurk come out occasionally. I can identify with that, as my tendency is to remain in the shadows while keeping up on what folks have to write of their various exploits. I also admire folks, Mike Salkowski and Joseph Wood come to mind, who have at times really worked on keeping in contact with a network of bloggers. I'd like to be like that, but, like a diet or a new year's resolution, the effort generally backslides. Facebook is the same way, I tried to keep up with it for a little while, but now I check in mainly to read what other folks are up to. And before that, it was the same with letter writing. Oh well.

On to running. Club West Philly is disbanded for a bit, I expect we will reconstitute soon but in the meantime its harder to get out of the house without a set time to meet and people waiting. But once I got out it was another up, springy run, this time out west. Took some paths along Cobbs Creek as an alternative to a part of the bike trail with mixed results. But mainly it satisfied a craving for exploration and something different. And now I'm familiar with another wrinkle of running in that area.

I also dug up Springsteen's Magic cd and put it on my iPod again. I heard Radio Nowhere yesterday and wanted that energy. It did deliver, with the odd feelings that come with a song that I associate with running over a particular, past period of time - in this case with training for Boston in '08.

Call it 10k, untimed, along this route.

Birthday

2009-04-07T09:10:00.002-04:00

Wish me happy birthday; I turn 45 today.

From an aging runner's perspective, each birthday means you get a little more time taken off of the age-graded charts for your race times, and this time around I also move up into another age bracket. That means I have a few more minutes cushion for a Boston qualifying time, and I'll have a bit of an easier time getting age-group shwag at local races.

All this is done so that us older folks can remain competitive, it let's us say this is what we could have done were we still 33... or 27... or whatever. That is a particular thing about this society, cultures traditionally venerate age and younger persons can't wait to become older, and to share in the wisdom and respect that that affords. Then again, I doubt that Black Elk or Confucious ever were seen in running shorts.

I did get the gift of a beautiful, brisk Spring morning, and made the best of it by heading out for what used to be 8 miles before they closed the South Street Bridge, but now has been shortened to 7 3/4 miles on this route. The sun was bright and the flowers in bloom, including the yellow wall of forsythias I made a point to run by outside of Penn's ice rink. I felt fast, and I felt alive, and the world was good. Looking forward to 45 more years of this.

Haven't blogged in over a week as I haven't run much. One of those spells where I was really crunched with work deadlines and classes and staying up late and sleeping instead of running. For the record, I ran 5 1/2 around Warrington Ave a week before Sunday, 8 1/2 with PR on Saturday, and 7 1/2 in Tinicum on Sunday. Each of these runs is a story in itself that will, unfortunately, be mostly lost in the quicksand of my memory.

That is why I blog.

Race for Humanity 5k

2009-03-28T11:33:00.003-04:00

This is a race put on by a sorority at USP, and the start is within a short warmup run of my house. I of course have last weekend's marathon as a ready excuse for any problems with my performance. So I figured even if I didn't race it I should at least go out and show support. Represent, so to speak.

The two prior times I've run RFH the course has wound through the neighborhoods and went within a block of my house. This year though the City tried to strongarm the race organizers into paying for much more police overtime to keep that course, and the organizers, whom I assume are college students, balked. Pay triple to get the same thing you've gotten the last three years - that makes for a good civics lesson, Philly style.

So instead they ran the course in nearby Woodland Cemetery. This means that the Race for Humanity was run through a graveyard - not sure what to make of this. Also not sure what to make out of the confluence of cemeteries and running I've been experiencing lately. Finally, it meant that the course was a loop repeated four times on an up, down and curvy road that had badly cracked pavement. And we'd have to tread softly to avoid waking the dead.

A couple of hundred folks braved the ominous clouds that hung over the morning. The student who took my registration said to make sure I write my name on the tearoff part of the bib, since "[I was] going to win." I laughed and shook my head. Mike Daigeaun, who won the race last year, was standing around the start and he didn't look to have much competition. As the gun went off I felt I could probably scam 2nd place with an 18 minute something time here but after about a half mile I felt both my achilles tendons burning. The figuring did not take long - if I were to run the rest of this race I'd risk frying my heels like I did at a Bryn Mawr speed workout last summer - it obviously wasn't worth it. So I did two things I rarely do - learn from past mistakes and drop out of a race.

After walking a little I hung out a bit with two course marshalls, one of whom is a student of mine. I busted on him by asking why he wasn't in the race and he stammered a few things before saying he was tired of giving me excuses all semester and that he just had too much to drink last night. Sounded like that was the first time he ever told that to one of his profs. I told him that there was in fact no better cure for a hangover than running.

I then moseyed over to the finish line and chatted with various folks I knew, including another student of mine who finished his first 5k here in 31 minutes. He'd been talking about his training for the race all through the semester and I was glad to see him finish.

Logistically, the race was a mess but somehow averted being a disaster. On a 4-loop course, the leaders were soon left to thread their way through the walkers and joggers they lapped, in some instances two times. Finishers were missing the chute and people who still had laps to go were stumbling into the finishing chute. A car started driving up the course and, when stopped, explained that he was late for a procession being held at the mansion. That was a first in my racing experience. But the cool thing about this was that nobody seemed irate about any of this. Everybody came out to run, few really came out to race and among those that did, there didn't seem to be an expectation of anything more than what we got. And at least the rain held off.

I jogged the half mile back home and my heel seemed okay. I'm treating this as a warning and will continue to just do miles and work in speed very carefully at a later time. I don't know what this portends for Broad Street. But I'll take it a week at a time. 1.5 miles today.

Getting the Crud Out

2009-03-27T11:25:00.002-04:00

I like to think that running a week after a marathon amounts to jolting the legs enough so that all of the crud that accumulated from the race starts to break off, float around for a bit and create achy feelings, and then get cleansed away. While questionable from a medical perspective, it does let me feel like I'm healing myself by running more. That is the way it works, right.

Anyway, great morning to run. Sunny and mild and the plants and trees seem like they are right on the verge of bursting into Spring. I ran it down to the Art Museum and came back west on Hamilton Street. The street runs parallel to Powelton Ave. but is less traveled and less known to me. It has gorgeous old houses and people that obviously take care of them, and gawking at them did much to pass the running time.

Catching up, I went 5 or so miles (40 minutes worth) on Wednesday, took a day off yesterday, and today did 5.7 miles, untimed.

With a Whimper

2009-03-24T09:32:00.003-04:00

I made it out this morning for a short run, 3.5 or so to Franklin Field and back, just to get things rolling again. Had these expectations now, with a clear race calendar, that I could do anything I wanted. This morning reminded me that it is still cold out there, that I still don't feel like getting up at 6 am to put in miles, and that if I want to do all the wonderful things I am dreaming about I'm still going to need to get there by the same means I've always had to, traveling an endless, circuitous journey of many miles.

Given that, today was that single step that these cursed long journeys start with. Unassuming to be sure, but I'm again on my way. Don't know where to yet either, but ultimately I'm guessing to some fall destination.

That being said, I did get to run past the Fisher Fine Arts Library on Penn campus and see its brownstone exterior basking in the morning sun. It is one of my favorite running sights and energizes me on the occasions when I time things right to catch it.

Afterthoughts

2009-03-22T22:11:00.004-04:00

Back in Philly today, had some thoughts on the ride home.

I checked the results of the half marathon. John and I didn't get our names in it. So you'll have to take our word that we double dipped yesterday... crossing the finish and getting times for both the half-marathon and the full marathon. We went out last night - me, John, Ian and Steve K. (who was in DC over the weekend), Reba, Heather, Nora and Allison - and the first pitcher hadn't even been drained before it became the defining story of the race. To paraphrase John, without that little blunder it would have been just another so-so marathon. Now it'll be one we always remember.

The other thing that has stuck in my mind a bit, which I think I mentioned in yesterday's post, was the little episode I witnessed at about mile 24 where a cop along the course was pushing and shoving a spectator/passerby for no apparent reason. No-one around the two, the guy was not resisting, and the cop was just in his face, pushing and shoving the guy backwards as he was shouting something. While I wouldn't call it brutality I can't imagine how, in any context, that could have been considered appropriate police procedure. I think if anything would have been gained by asking the cop if he realized he was looking like a brutish idiot to the runners streaming by. And I think if anything was lost as instead I ran by, fully into my second wind and intent on moving up a few notches in the finishing order.

I also think of Michael Wardian, who is somewhat of a DC running celebrity/oddity and past three-time winner of the National Marathon. He finished second yesterday, running a 2:22. He then turned around and went down to Virginia Beach, where he ran a 2:35 today in the Shamrock Marathon. He runs some vast number of fast marathons, ultras and the like, holds the record for the fastest baby-jogger marathon time and had the fastest marathon time on the treadmill, and the like. All that with a job and two small children.

I guess I take comfort in how that running from one race to another repels me. Then I think how, after taking tomorrow off, I'll start up again with a few miles on Tuesday and start planning out a strategy for getting some faster times again. Jai-ho!

DC National Marathon

2009-03-21T17:27:00.004-04:00

Sometimes 26.2 just isn't enough.

But it's done, and I'm on the couch watching the NCAAs on my sister's couch.

The race really began last night as I was driving down here, later than I wanted and with a WaWa chicken salad hoagie as my pre-race dinner, and I decide my race plan would be to go out with John Dubs and see how long I could hang with him. He was going for a sub-3 time and I figured I'd give it a shot. I knew my training was lacking for this to me it was a bit like taking an exam without studying... see what happens.

It was chilly and dark when we - Rebecca (who was running the half-marathon), Sal (a friend of my sister's) and I pull into the RFK Stadium parking lot. Just about enough time to get all the usual pre-race business taken care of and to find Ian and John. Gun goes off and I go out with John. Weather is perfect and the company is good - we're working together and heading up to the Capital and then past the mall. I kept 5-mile splits and mile 5 goes by in 34:49 - perfect given the slow start.

That's the thing about marathons. The pace is comfortable, almost too comfortable, but there is an awareness that this is a long race. The next few miles through Adams Morgan and back around toward the Capitol are where most of the course's hills are, and the 5 mile split at mile 10 is 33:39 (68:28 total). This is right on schedule. The first 10 miles, however, are the warmup and this is the point when potential problems often first introduce themselves. For me, my stomach was acting up and a blister was starting up under the ball of my right foot. I stop briefly to readjust the sock, a futile effort. Nothing to do but keep running.

The run continues on pace until midway, here the course forks - marathon to the left and the half-marathon to the right. John and I never did see the left. We run right into the finishing chute for the half before we realize we screwed up. Our "finishing time" was 1:29:50, perfect except for it being the wrong clock. Waves of confusion and anger and panic come over us, we turn around, upstream, to return to the marathon course and pass the other halfway mark in 1:31:48. We lost two minutes.

I talk to John about the need to focus on keeping up our effort and forgetting this little misstep. Like a gymnast falling off the balance beam. Just get back on and keep going. I say this as much to myself as to him. We circle RFK stadium and head out to the second part of the course, and soon after that I start falling off the pace. Nothing to do with the missteps; I'm just running out of gas after overreaching with my pace.

At this point I don't think I've ever wanted to quit a race more. My foot hurt, I was off pace, and I was right at RFK Stadium. The main thing that kept me going was that I really didn't feel like telling everyone for the next few weeks that I dropped out. I mean, I had all kinds of reasons to quit, but nothing that forced me to. So I said I'd take it as a long run. But I knew it would be a long run.

The miles got longer, which makes sense as it was taking longer to finish them. Miles 10-15, with the extra time at the half, came in at 37:05. At this point I'm slowing and people are starting to trickle past me. I give up any hope of a sub 3 hour time and start wondering if I'll get a Boston qualifying time - 3:20.

Here we're back at the capital and heading southeast towards the Anacostia River. Running through tunnels and on freeways, slowing down and more people passing me. This is really miserable. Not quite a death march, but I'm struggling to find reasons to continue beyond just seeing if I could do it. The course crosses the Anacostia River over a bridge that has a metal grate surface with spikes. This kills my blister. Then its a long out and back along the riverfront. At mile 18 I pop a GU and then do a Gallowalk through a waterstop and throw down two cups of Gatorade. I see John coming back as I go out, he looks much better than I. The riverfront part of the course ends at mile 20, time for these five miles is 41:12. Total time 2:26.

I'm feeling lousy, but at least its the part of the race now where I'm supposed to feel lousy. At mile 22, going through the Anacostia section of DC, I'm thinking that I could walk from here on in and it only would take an hour more. This gives me comfort until a paunchy guy with a fuel belt that is pulling down his shorts passes me. Its sunny as we go through SE Washington neighborhoods and at mile 23 I start getting a second wind. Really extraordinary. I just start kicking it up again. I reeled in people who passed me a few minutes ago, including fuel belt guy. I go up a ramp and see a chubby white cop pushing an older black guy around. Shoving him and yelling. I want to intervene but keep going, I can't see any reason how this was appropriate. The cop obviously felt he could do this with impunity. And he was probably right. This sticks in my mind as I feel better and better. Mile 25 and the split is 41:48. Mile 25 is in 7:22, not great but a full minute better than the pace I was getting a few miles back. The last .2 was in 1:23 and then it was done. 3:17:23, 141st place out of about 2,000.

Looking back, I basically got what I trained for. I'd been telling people that I'd be happy with a BQ. Just before the race I decided to reach for the sub 3, knowing I'd likely get a race like this if I came up short. Looking back now, it was a good gamble. It would have been great to get a sub 3, it would have sucked to miss a BQ. Any time in between really didn't matter.

What intrigued me about this race was my second wind. Never been running out of gas in a marathon and then recovered like that. I was in a full sprint down to the finish, holding off a guy coming up from behind me. The only reason I could think of for that was the GU/Gatorade at mile 18. I've got to experiment with mid course replenishment in future training cycles. Along with that, better logistical planning to get more sleep and eat better before the race couldn't hurt either. And finally, more extensive training would have made a difference.

Some things to think about. For I'll be back. That was one thing this race had me determined to do.