So … How’s Taper Going?

Meh.  I know enough not to magnify minor aches and pains, but they are still annoying.  I try to avoid the disease cocktail that is the subway, but it’s a challenge as the buses are crazy crowded after work and I’m impatient.  While full on hypochondria has not overtaken me (yet), I do walk around with a bottle of Purell like it’s the magic potion.  I will say that I was more excited about the race a couple of days ago (I’m certain that it will come back).  I’m finding taper is not some otherworldly elixir… “then poof you feel great”.  Runner’s Kitchen posted an interesting article about tapering.  The point is that taper is more like rehab.  Beating up the body for 4 months requires a few weeks of repair before the big day.  Even though I’m about 50% thru the taper, I’ve given up on “feeling amazing”.  If it happens, great.  In reality, if I can avoid doing anything stupid in the remaining workouts, stretch and eat properly, then the physical is about is good as it’s going to get … which is all you can hope for come race day.  It’s 200% psychological now.

A few workouts have passed since my last post:

Sunday:  I mentioned to a couple of CPTC teammates that I’m not great with heights and not necessarily fired up about running the bridges during NYC.  I don’t have any storied history with fearing heights, so it was kind of a surprise when I was driving over Bay Bridge in October and nearly started convulsing.  That experience unleashed a fair amount of anxiety about 4 months of training potentially getting flushed down the toilet if I freak out on any of 5 bridges greeting runners on marathon Sunday.  In an effort to work thru any potential issues and to see unfamiliar parts of the course, a teammate graciously agreed to accompany me.  To top it off, it was his birthday.  I felt bad that I would be shuffling along at turtle-like long run pace when he is a 2:39 marathoner.  He’s a good friend.

We started at the SE corner of Central Park (60^th & 5^th Ave) and zig-zagged thru midtown until we reached the FDR path along the East River.  This is principally the same route I take to the track for Tuesday night speedwork.  Once we reached south of 6^th street we veered west to begin the ascent up and over the Williamsburg Bridge (connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn).  I’m sure I complained as we went over it, but in hindsight, it was not horrible.  That said, my thoughts about WBurg really do not matter since it’s not on the marathon course.  Still, I felt no anxiety at all crossing the bridge.  In fact, I kept looking around and marveling at the spectacular views … so that’s a good thing.  We touched down in Brooklyn and proceeded to traverse Miles 11-16 of the course.  The signs detailing the route were already up, which is exciting.  We worked our way thru Brooklyn, cruised over Pulaski Bridge and then scaled Queensboro bridge (connecting Queens and Manhattan).  The latter is a beast.  No sense in kidding you or me.  At that point in the race it’s just accepting punishment and grinding thru it.  In fact, aside from now being able to visualize the completely foreign portions of the course, the run was important in the sense that my teammate gave me advice regarding the quiet spots (e.g., Hasidic section of Williamsburg in Brooklyn + pretty much most of Queens + the bridges) and the need to really focus.  We finished up on 72^nd and 1^st Avenue back in Manhattan.  A very educational and enjoyable 14.5 miles.  This upcoming Saturday, I plan to run the final 10 miles of the course which includes both familiar and unfamiliar territory.  More reconnaissance work.

Monday:  Normally this is a scheduled rest day, but with plans for a day trip on Tuesday, I needed to get the speedwork done.  Our coach distributes our weekly workouts on Monday night.  Therefore, I would be my own coach so to speak.  I researched the type of workout assigned 2 weeks before NYC 2009 and Boston 2010 and decided to go with it.  8 x 600 @ cruise interval pace (with 200 recovery).  Since I was not heading down to the track at 6:45am, I took my talents to the East Drive of Central Park and got to it.  Results: 2:21, :19, :19, :19, :20, :20, :17, :10.  In effect,  6:31 pace down to 6:01 pace, which is fine.  I felt in control.  After a brief cool down, I called it a morning at 6.4 miles.

Wednesday:  5.5 mile slog in 70* and 90% humidity.  Eff you summer.  This was a slog.  Felt like garbage.  But for all the great advice I’ve received about recovery runs, tapering, etc., I might have been worried about my fitness and 11.7.2010.  And I’m not even going there about the weather and what if’s.  Instead, I was just glad to turn the page.  On to the next one.

Snapshot of a 1st Time Marathoner’s Build Up

We have completed the build up portion of the training program.  Woot.  Now the small bit of tapering properly and that thing on November 7th.  Since I have closed the major portion of the training cycle, I thought it might be interesting (to me at least) to dissect the build.  It seems like yesterday when I embarked on Pfitzinger’s 18 week / 70 mpw plan.  Ha.  After fumbling around thru much of July, I abandoned that madness … I’ll likely follow it for my 2nd marathon.  Instead, I lunged for the 55 mpw plan and it agreed with me (and my family).  Now, without further adieu, below is a brief snapshot.  If the info below is not sufficient to satiate or makes no sense, feel free to either leave a comment and I’ll respond.

			Number of  Sessions:
Month	Workouts	Miles	Speed	Tempo	17mi+
July	27	193	3	4	0
August	22	229	1	4	3
September	22	213	4	4	3
October	13	128	2	2	3
Totals	84	762	10	14	9

What does any of this tell me, or you?  By integrating both the guidelines of Pfitzinger’s plan, my coach and CPTC workouts, I had a reasonably balanced program.  NOTE: ANY AND ALL CONCLUSIONS DRAWN HEREFROM ARE SUBJECT TO COMPLETE REVISION AND DENIAL BASED ON THE RESULTS OF 11.07.2010.  Had to toss that in there.  Seriously, though, I don’t see many outliers here.  July was designed as a slow burn month with no longer runs to speak of.  In fact, I struggled to properly execute a 12 mile run for most of the month.  In my defense, I (and any other idiot) running in NYC in July might as well have been running in the Amazon.  I found my stride, so to speak, in August and have not looked back since.  When I dive into the actual workouts themselves, I would have certainly liked to execute the tempos better, but that’s water under the bridge.  At bottom, I am where I am.  And based on today’s capstone long run, I’m in decent shape.

While the final exam is on 11.7.2010, today was progress report day.  22 miles w/ 10 @ MP.  Early steady state pace 3 x 2.5mi BPN (8:54, 8:49, 8:42). Erred on side of caution with MP portion – took it to Rez (dirt, flat) to keep left quad happy. Understood I’d be slower on dirt, but I’ll take that trade-off for now. Aside from health, it was a practical move too. There was a walk-a-thon with gobs of people taking up well over half of the roads in Central Park. Battling with cyclists, walkers and runners on the remaining half did not seem productive. I’ll get plenty of road work in next couple of weeks (CPTC tempos + running last 10 of NYC course). On Tuesday night, our coach told me don’t be surprised if I’m a little flat for the MP portion due to 4 months of build, peak weeks, etc. As usual, he was spot on. Legs were slightly flat, but still near MP @ 7:36 overall w/ 6 x 1.58mi Rez (7:45, 7:39, 7:32, 7:40, 7:35, 7:35, and .37mi @ 7:15). Afterwards, more steady state miles on outer Rez. In all, reasonably satisfied. I kept waiting to feel terrible during the MP bit, but it never came in full force. I bounced between feeling decent for the vast majority of the run to “this is more work than it usually is” (briefly stopped to GU after 3rd loop). Idiot tourists were out in abundance on the Rez, but I was not shy about shouting at them. Growling “coming on your left” is understood in any language. Today marked my 4th 20+ miler of this cycle and concludes the build up portion of our show … on to the taper.

Cruising Along

I’ve been reading many Chicago marathon race reports.  Some brutally honest, others more introspective and some euphoric.  All informative.  Congratulations to all finishers, but especially to Eat, Drink Run (my CPTC teammate) and Training Hard, Hardly Training.  Terrific efforts under tough conditions.

New York still seems far off, but as we all know, it’s inching closer.  I’m fine with that.  I still have a bit of work to do, but the hay is almost in the barn.  As always, I’m receiving top-notch advice on tapering and dealing with race week.  I’ll get to more of that as I enter those stages.

Since my last post, I’ve had solid (if not uneventful) workouts, including a well-executed 18-miler on Sunday and smart, cruise-controlled track session on Tuesday (4 x 1k, 3 x 300m) 4:11, 4:03, 4:06, 3:53; 57, 58, 58.  Feeling slightly beat up heading into a fairly moderate 4mi tempo tonight.  I’m planning on a longer, slower warm up to ensure all the parts are in working order.  Other than those items, just trying to navigate the last week of the build-up.  We are starting to see the first signs of NYCM descending on us … good stuff.  Below is an ad feature another CPTC teammate (Sid Howard) and his wife.  Sid is a running legend.

Laundry Day

As the title suggests, today is a day for cleansing (and more traveling – by train today) … cleaning out the staleness of this blog with an update …

Thursday.  Before my flight back to Gotham, I jumped up and banged out an easy run.  The route was similar to the one I followed during Wednesday’s Wind Sailing experience with the addition of circling around the local area a bit more.

It was a fairly pedestrian 10.3mi run … albeit the scenery was fantastic.  To me, SF / Bay Area is the most picturesque city in the country.

Friday. I’m less than pleased when I need to consult the calendar to determine the last CPTC workout I attended … September 7^th.  Good grief.  Since I was flying home on Thursday, I had to miss yet another workout.  This absence stung more than most because I missed my favorite session … hill repeats.  I love them … they hurt deeply, but provide so much stimulus for improvement.  The last (only) time I’ve run them with the team was back in April as folks were preparing for the Boston Marathon.  I captured the experience succinctly with the title: 6 x Hell.

Since my fitness is better, I did not expect such drama this time around … in particular because I would be running the repeats solo and at 6:30am.  The workout consisted of a 2k pickup at 10k pace, 3 x 500m hill, 3 x 300m hill and recovery jog back to the start of each rep.  The results:

I blame the extended pickup on pre-dawn grogginess.  Frankly, at that hour I could not remember if Coach prescribed a 2k or 2mi pickup.  Nonetheless, I felt surprisingly decent for attempting to get some turnover going before the sun came up.  It took the first 2 intervals to fully shock the system awake.  I still can’t believe the pickup was quicker than the first interval. Gah!  After the legs and lungs found harmony, I started to lock in and turned the screws a little.  With a HM tune up on October 2^nd, it was time to build confidence to scale these same hills when it really mattered.  The overall effort felt consistent.  I never sprinted (obviously with those splits), but rather focused on form (leaning slightly forward, keeping stride length short, not pumping arms too much, etc.).

All things considered, it was a solid workout.  Still, I would have much rather have run with my teammates … group suffering and whatnot.  FWIW – I felt like death the rest of Friday because of the travel, cross-country flight, early rise and hard workout.  That said, I’m glad I got the workout in because I believe I would have felt far worse if I had postponed the repeats until after work on Friday … more likely, I would have bagged them entirely.

Saturday. After that April hill session, I was extremely sore for 3 days, especially the glutes.  This time around, when I woke up, I only experienced minor aches in both calves.  My first reaction was that I didn’t hit it hard enough.  Soreness is generally evidence of a hard effort.  Instead, I felt leg weariness during the 7+-mile recovery slog.  At least that’s something, right?

Sunday. Long run day.  Whooo! Whooo!  Not really.  As you will see why in the Weekly Running Review below, I woke up kind of tired.  Fortunately, the plan called for a mid-distance run of 16-18 miles at steady state.  Uncertain of how the body would respond to anything quicker than easy pace, I was thankful.  Similar to last Sunday’s 21 miler, I incorporated both BPN and extended BPN loops (including the same Harlem Hills from Thursday’s repeats).  You might wonder why more hills?  Answer: They make legs strong like bull … good hard training.  While it took the first 3 miles to get into any kind of rhythm, the 17 miles in total felt pretty decent (8:30 pace). The other noticeable aspect of Sunday’s and Saturday’s runs were that I did them without the iPod.  Since we are 5 weeks from Marathon Sunday, it was time to put the music aside … I won’t be racing with headphones so it’s time to put them away.  No noticeable difference … except I was slightly lighter on my feet.

After the run, I scooted over to 5^th Avenue to cheer for my teammates racing the 5^th Avenue Mile road race.  At one point I thought of entering.  There was too much risk of injury and as you will see, I did the opposite of taper this week.

Weekly Running Review (Week of September 20)

Day	Type	Miles	Pace
Monday	Recovery	7.49	8:34
Tuesday	Rest	0.00	0:00
Wednesday	Speedwork/Intervals	10.15	8:04
Thursday	Recovery	10.26	8:36
Friday	Tempo / Hill Repeats	7.95	7:58
Saturday	Recovery	7.14	8:47
Sunday	Long Run	17.04	8:30

Total Mileage:	60.03
Total Running Time:	8:25:09
Pace:	8:25

Observations: I went to 6 days this week and a lot of hill work in preparation for the half marathon this Saturday. These are certainly the dog days of training.  Legs are heavy and the emotional rush of 20 milers has waned slightly.  But with only 2-3 weeks of hard training left before the taper, it’s time to nut up or shut up.  Time to run with More Fire.

It’s Always Sunny in Seattle?

My work travels have taken me to the Pacific Northwest.  I’ve been here a number of times, but this marks the first when I’ve actually seen that ball of fire in the sky.  I just assumed that “overcast and rainy” was the city motto.  Fortunately, this oddity and 58* temps made for a rather pleasant running experience.  After 21 on Sunday and sitting for 6 hours courtesy of  [insert whichever crappy airline you hate], the likelihood for leg stiffness was quite high.  Therefore, I was more than happy to sneak a run in not long after landing.

My route:

Lake Union

I took a spin around Lake Union in the heart of Seattle.  Yep, that view does not suck.  I admit that I caught myself looking around more than usual to take advantage of the scenery and managed not to face plant in the process.  Win.  Seattle can be picturesque, but those times tend to be rare.  The terrain was largely a mix of sidewalks along the pier, a few small bridges and some asphalt.  For the most part it was flat … until the last 2 miles, which were uphill … not the ideal thing for a recovery run, but it was ok.  My legs felt surprisingly good.  Monday’s are always a scheduled rest day, but the travel schedule required an adjustment to the plan.  I’ll be interested to see how I feel on Tuesday because usually I feel crappy (long Sunday, off Monday, run Tuesday).  It could be shaking out a long run the next day is a good thing.

By the way, after some solid advice from @mpatent, I’ve got the post-long run recovery routine down to a science:

1. Immediately after: Endurox, banana, brioche/bagels (or some form of carb)
2. Cold plunge in bath tub (10 min) sipping on sports drink, then hot shower (reduce swelling, encourage blood flow)
3. Contort legs to get into compression tights
4. Meal 1: Cheerios, toast, eggs, strawberries (or blackberries), CytoMax
5. Nap (usually this means blacking out for 20-40mins and wondering if I actually fell asleep)
6. Meal 2: Cheerios, slices of pizza, and some leftovers (can’t even remember now)
7. Walking around the city (had to run errands) to help mitigate stiffness, enhance blood flow
8. Legs up for balance of day and intermittent stretching
9. Sleepytime by 10pm (usually earlier)

The upshot is that these steps drive glycogen replenishment (note the carbs), reduce stiffness and prep the body for the next hard effort.

Back to the run itself … it’s always interesting to traverse new areas, so from that perspective, I loved it.  The downside of traversing new areas is that I always find myself looking around (and occasionally pausing) to make sure I’m not falling off the beaten path.  You might say “how is that possible given that you ran in a circle?”  I’m directionally bankrupt.  Still, I managed to find my way back to the hotel 7.5 miles (8:33 pace) later feeling lucky to have run in such a beautiful city (and not get lost).

Tuning It Up

After Friday’s tempo, Saturday had to be well executed as it served as the bridge to the next big effort, Sunday’s long run.  I could not ask for better weather … in fact I could have used lightweight gloves!  If memory serves the temperature was a crispy 59* with a slight breeze when I clicked the watch.  Before I left the apartment, I searched for the beanie … not cool enough for that yet, but it’s getting there.

To sufficiently shakeout the hard effort, I went a bit longer than usual for a recovery run (7.2 miles) primarily on the dirt.  With 4-5 weeks left of hard training before the taper, it’s time to increase mileage and intensity.  With that brief introduction, on to the main event:

I planned to run the NYRR Marathon Tune-Up: 18 miles (3 loops) around Central Park … even registered and even bibbed up for the “race”.  I’d overhead a few teammates discussing it, but was uncertain how to approach it (e.g., pace).  When in doubt, go to the coach.  He frowned when I mentioned the Tune-Up and said, “Why would you do that?”  Hmmm.  Okay, I paid the money, so what do I do?  I asked myself this same question as I clicked the watch at the start.  Actually, I was on the bridle path when the “race” started.  I was easily the last person to cross the starting line (20 min late) as the crew was breaking down the corrals.  At this point, Coach’s voice came over me and said, “soft service” as in “if possible, always run on soft surface, especially when going long.”  Therefore, I called an audible and compromised.  How?

I did the vast majority of the work on the bridle path north (BPN – 2.49mi loop) but also extended it to include Harlem Hills.  As I mentioned above, time to turn it up … bridle path slows you down by about 10-15 seconds per mile vs the roads and tossing in serious hill work “makes legs strong like bull”.  The combination is a perfect stimulus to this last cycle of marathon training.  Toss in the fact that our prescribed distance for the long run was 20-22 with the final 5 at MP and you have the potential for a baller workout.  The results:

I’ve heard (but never paid attention to) the argument that BPN slows you down.  I just ran it.  However, it’s true … with basically the same effort, I scooted along the 3.4mi loop (BPN+Hills) quicker than the 2.4 mile loop (BPN) ~10 seconds per mile quicker with the only difference being the 1 mile of roads on Harlem Hill.

After mile 14, I left the comforts of the BPN to rejoin the Tune-Up folks (~4,500) on the roads to bang out the final 5 miles at MP.  I let MP (7:30) come to me gradually.  It’s been awhile since I did any dedicated hill work, so I wanted to be careful about switching gears.  Once I got rolling, it felt pretty good.  I wore the Nike Zoom Elites (which are 4 oz heavier than what I’ll wear for NYCM).  I kept thinking back to the recent HMP workouts and how the body must be adapting to the training because, at least on this day, those 5 miles felt comfortable.  Now I just need to replicate it 5x+.  Before I get ahead of myself, I do have an actual tune-up race in two weeks, Grete’s Gallop HM, for which I will go all out.

Last thing, I bagged the idea of racing the 5^th Avenue Mile on Sunday, September 26^th.  Why?  (1) Race occurs on long run day, (2) I will not taper for it (3) Going 100% beats me up for the next week which interferes with training and anything less than 100% is a no no.  (4) 2010 is solely about the marathon, a 1-mile race brings too much risk and little reward.

For now, another 20+ mile effort in the bank (#3 and counting).

Validation Run

A couple of shockers:

1. I’m actually blogging the same day as I ran.
2. Gotham was not felled by Hurricane Whatever it was named.
3. Fall was here for at least one day.

All of the aforementioned events conspired into what I will term as a “validation run”.  Without going thru the annoyance of racing, today provided positive feedback on training.  Happily back home in Central Park, I set off to attempt something I’ve never done … a well-executed long run exclusively on the Bridle Path.  The first part of that goal does not sound so taxing as long runs have been going well during this cycle.  However, doing it on the Bridle is the challenge.  It’s not that the Bridle itself is anything to fret over … rolling hills and sandy in some parts.  Instead it’s the psychological battle of fighting thru the monotony of endless 2.5 mile loops until you achieve your target distance.  The most I’ve ever done is 4 and then ran someplace else to regain my sanity.  Every weekend I read posts by my teammates who regularly bang out 7+ loops.  I admire the discipline it takes to keep looping.  If you can clear that mental hurdle, then it’s one more check on the way to marathon success.  After avoiding CP for long runs since early August and returning from vacay, it was time.  Now or never.

It was a stunning fall day in NYC.  65* w/ 32% humidity.  Yes, read that again.  The city of god awful weather for the better part of 3+ months served up a nice one this morning.  I set off on that familiar trek from the apartment to CP for a brief warm up and began the cycle.  The results:

As hyper-critical as I am about my performance, even I am pleased with this effort.  Everything came together after I loosened up.  It’s rare when that feeling of being able to run forever occurs.  However, my coach prescribed 20, so I listened.  The splits are nice as it ended up being a mini progression of sorts.  After the 4^th lap, (10mi) I stopped to refuel (Gatorade + GU).  It took that 5^th lap to get loose again.  Alpha joined me on lap 6 and of course the pace quickened a bit (8:13) … for those unfamiliar with Alpha – he is in CPTC’s A group (2:38 in Boston) and just ridiculously talented.  Dude walks at a 6:45 pace.  What was cool about running with Alpha was that I was able to hold a full conversation and move faster than I was running solo without effort … good sign.

I decided that I wanted to add a bit of turnover to the workout so I moved to the Outer Reservoir and tossed in a 7:16 pace for 1.65 miles (miles 16/17).  I won’t say it was effortless, but it was easier than anticipated.  Why not run at marathon pace?  I intended to do so, but after a mile I was well past 7:30 so I turned it over a little more to get me within screaming distance of goal HMP (7:15).  Another couple laps on the Inner Reservoir and I shut it down when the Garmin read 20.03 miles.

A solid morning and an indication that training is going in the right direction.  Interestingly, as you know, I have been wrestling with the idea of adding that 6^th day of running to the program.  After this morning, I see no need.  I am getting more benefit from 2 full rest days than I could be adding more slow miles.

Let Me Interrupt …

… that dead space on this blog.  Hopefully, we have hit the valley here on amarathoner.com.  I mean death valley as in absence of life and blogging.  It’s been nearly a week since I’ve last keyed in my thoughts.  Why?  Laziness?  Maybe.  More likely wrapping up the last few work days before “vacation”.  I say “vacation” because we are packing up the crew to head back to Chicago to visit family.  It’s less a vacation and more like not working in a new location … the same stuff, different place.  Although, the benefit is that I am not in the office … so there is something.  What have I been doing since early last week?  Let’s see:

Tuesday:  After the 21 miler on the previous Sunday, I did not see much upside to running the assigned track workout with the team (4×1200 @ actual 5k pace).  While I felt not a single ache or pain, I wanted to make certain that all those little muscles that I tore up were well on their way to healing or at least do no further damage.  Instead, I jogged to, around and from the track at an easy pace to get circulation going.  10.5 mi @ 8:42.

Wednesday:  Getaway day.  We had a flight at 10am which put the run in serious jeopardy.  I guess a pre-dawn run was an option, but that increases the family stress levels.  Not happening.  Add to the fact a 4 hour delay courtesy of the idiots at American Airlines and the run was DOA.  Unscheduled rest day.

Thursday:  I felt fully recovered and a bit anxious to get on the roads.  If I don’t run very soon after traveling I get nervous that my legs will suddenly stop working.  Since I was missing The CPTC Staple Workout, I was highly motivated to do my best to get it done on my own.  What is The Staple.  8mi tempo (1st 4 @ MP, 2nd 4 @HMP) with no recovery.  I had never attempted the full workout during the last marathon season (Boston) since I was new to the team and in absolutely no shape to successfully attempt it.  Therefore, I was left to my own devices to try to bang it out.  I settled on this place:

Chicago Lakefront

Not bad, huh?  Benefits are obvious – stunning views, cool breeze, plenty of company and flat terrain.  I set off on Oak Street beach and headed south and then reversed course.  It was beautiful.  The only “negatives” would be it’s asphalt-only and there were a lot of cyclists jockeying for position.  There was a higher probability of getting run over.

I felt great during the initial 4 mi until I had the need to hit the restroom at the end … annoying.  Pace was decent at 7:26.  I was able to generate turnover much easier than during recent tempos (flat terrain probably helped some) and ended up at 7:18 for the last 4 mi.  I was pleased with the effort, but the real test comes on the hills of CP.  I’m certain there will be another 2×4 tempo coming though. 10.1mi @ 7:38 (with warm up and cool down).

Friday:  Standard recovery run amid suburban sprawl.  Truly nothing to see here.  7 mi @ 8:37.

Saturday:  Since August started I have rested the day before the long run.  Monday was scheduled.  Wednesday was unscheduled.  Therefore, I had to go off plan and get something done on Saturday.  Why?  I’m nuts.  The other reason was we were back along the Lakefront and I could not pass up the opportunity to run with the city as a backdrop.  In this case I had company … my wife.  We ran together for 5 lovely miles.

Sunday:  Long run day.  I would be remise if I failed to mention the weather in Chicago since we arrived … PERFECT.  Low to mid 70s without a trace of humidity … until Sunday.  I’d followed reports that summer would return so I planned on an early run.  Apparently it was not early enough.  The location of the run was here:

Now, I’m largely a city kid in my adult years.  As far as I’m concerned, this was the Amazon.  There were no water fountains … only 2 water pumps.  No lush restrooms.  Only outhouses and port-a-potties.  And certainly no friendly street vendors selling Gatorade.  The route itself was simple in theory.  9.5 mi loop on limestone amid swamps, corn fields and a whole bunch of forest.  My concerns were equally simple … not get lost.  You would think navigating a circle would be easy … meh.  Too bad my Garmin does not have a “Never Lost” feature where you can punch in a route and it commands you to “turn left at 30 feet” etc.  Instead, I had to follow the marked path and occasional passersby (fellow runners, off-road cyclists, walkers and cross-country skiers).

I came loaded … handheld, 2 GUs, plus more supplies left in the rental car.  The terrain itself was hilly … from rolling (constant) to scaling (select spots).  As such, the pace would have to be reduced to avoid bonking.  Save for the 8 foot deer I saw, the first loop was uneventful.  Temps were not too bad  - 70* and moderate humidity.  The sun started to become an issue in the more open areas, but the tree cover seemed to help.  I finished up feeling pretty good.

Now … do it again, but with the temps at 85* and humidity at 67% (I checked during the fuel refill at the car).  Oh yeah, and those hills I mentioned but did not feel on the first loop.  Foot,  meet ass.  Begin kicking repeatedly.  The 2nd time around was rough.  Legs felt like lead from mile 10-13.  I only perked up at that point because I got lost.  I was distracted by an ambulance picking up someone stranded (told you this was the woods) and missed my turn.  I realized my mistake after about .5 mi and retraced my steps and righted the ship.

From mile 14 on was work.   The sun was baking me and I was getting destroyed by mosquitos (I knew I was in trouble when I saw locals spraying insect repellant at the start).   Long runs are meant to be hard.  Not necessarily in the donate-quarts-of-blood-to-insects-hard, but hard nonetheless.  Good training.  Also, friendly folks.  Everyone I passed waved and the scenery was gorgeous.  I’m sure I’ll return next week for a shorter version.  The change from CP was pleasant, but definitely made me appreciate the convenience of my local park.  Total: 19.1 mi @ 8:47.

Monday:  Today is a special day … it’s been exactly 365 days since this blog went live.  August 30, 2009 I set off to capture and publish my running thoughts.  Here we are 1 year later … hopefully wiser, definitely more fit and thankful for all of the comments and experiences shared on these Interwebs.  Happy Birthday.  And thanks to all of you for following this little dog and pony show.  :-)

1 Down, More to Go

Instead of a daily blog, this is turning into a weekly data dump.  I don’t like that.  You can’t like it either.  I need more blogging consistency.  Here’s the recap of last week:

Wednesday.  After a craptastic interval session on Tuesday (5x1k), Wednesday was a simple recovery run + strides + drills.  After work, I scooted along the mini Bridle P and did a few laps around the reservoir.  What I am lacking in blogging discipline, I am making up for it with drills.  I incorporate them after easy runs to make certain form does not go by the wayside during this mileage build up.  Total of 6 miles.

Thursday.  Another biggie in terms of team tempo runs.  On the menu was 7 miles with the first half (plus a bit more) at marathon pace and the rest at half marathon pace.  I wanted to negative split (unlike last week’s evens) so I went out more conservatively and hung with a group for the entire first half.  I usually find myself in no man’s land for tempos … I stay away from the Assassins who jet out early and but keep them in sight enough to where I am slightly ahead of the pack behind me.  Since 7 miles would be my longest tempo ever, I decided to hang with the crew.  It was a smart move as the marathon pace portion felt very comfortable as I occasionally chatted with teammates (7:37).  The challenge would be kicking up enough turnover to drop the pace by 10-15 seconds to get to HM pace without busting out too early and bonking at the end.  I did my best to ease into it, but I tired on the 2^nd loop (last 1.7 miles).  I also screwed up my coach’s instructions.  As we went by him to complete the first loop, I heard him say, “Shorten up.  Shorten up.”  I took that to mean shorten up my stride (tends to be long) to get more leg revolutions.  I completely mucked it up and ended up slowing down dramatically.  I glanced at my watch as I approached the final mile and saw 7:47 pace.  Gah!!!  I kind of panicked because the entire point of going out more conservatively was to have something in the tank to negative split.  Therefore, to make up the time, I pushed it.  The final mile ended up being 6:43, which was not ideal, but at least it worked.  Overall, for the second bit – 7:30 pace.  I walked away a bit annoyed that I changed stride (incorrectly), but I did negative split for the night … albeit at slower than goal pace for each.  Progress over the even split last week though.  Toss in the warm up and cool down and it was an 11.5 mile night.

Friday.  Same deal as the recovery on Wednesday, except no Bridle P.  Instead, I did a series of loops on the reservoir and Great lawn.  Total of 7 miles.

Sunday.  I might have spent a total of 20 minutes on my feet all day Saturday in preparation for the long run on Sunday.  I lounged around and watched more sports than I have in probably the last 2 months combined.  I also hydrated and carbed up a fair amount.  Why?  21.  Not my age or the restaurant.  I had my first 20 spot of this cycle on the docket. Frankly, I did my best not to think much about it.  Any way you slice it, 20+ miles is a big number. This is especially the case when my PR is 18 miles.  Since long runs are sacred, I treat them like marathon Sunday to an extent.  I use it as a dress rehearsal … CPTC singlet of some sort with the shorts and socks I plan to wear on 11.7.2010.  Regarding shoes, I will have a great indication after this upcoming week on the kicks I’ll wear (more on that tomorrow – shoe review).  For now, I wear Nike Zoom Elite 4 which are great daily trainers, but not ideal for speed.  The one element you cannot prepare for though are the elements.  Sunday was humid, overcast and rainy.  It did not matter.  I’m stubborn.

I set off for CP and did a few loops on the dirt (5mi) to shake as much gunk out of me as possible on the soft stuff before venturing down the West Side Highway. By the way, I have figured out my bridle path issue.  Previously, I’ve blogged about CP burnout.  Part of it is no doubt psychological, but part of it is environmental.  Water and humidity hang like a cloud over CP due to the number of trees, which in turn requires more effort from me when on the bridle (the roads are better).  Like clockwork, when I left CP for the openness of the WSH, I instantly felt better.  I wish I made this discovery in June as the summer could have been marginally more pleasant, but my legs will thank me for staying on dirt for most of my workouts.  The WSH route was the same as 2 weeks ago … head south from 96^th down to Battery Park / World Trade Center and reverse course.  Hydration and fuel were critical.  I stopped at Chelsea Piers (miles 9 and 14) for Powerade and a patron said, “Boy, you have a good sweat going.”  I was soaked from sweat and the downpour that washed some of it away.  My shoes were squishing starting at mile 9.  At any rate, I rolled along.  I took 2 GUs, which I guess helped, but believe the sports drinks had a bigger impact on keeping me going.  The strong feeling I had from mile 12-16 briefly flew the coop during mile 17.  It kind of sucked, actually.  Once I hit 18, I saw a definite path to the finish line.  I finished up back on the Reservoir and felt pretty good for having run 21 miles in the rain and soup.  Overall pace was decent at 8:45.

I expected to be completely destroyed after doing 20+, but other than moderately dehydrated and generally fatigued, I felt fine.  I immediately soaked, put on full compression tights and began the recovery process.  While Monday is a scheduled rest day, I need to be back in the game on Tuesday, even if I just to log some easy miles and do a few striders … get the blood flowing.

1^st 20 in the books.  On to the next one.

Land of Gatsby

This past weekend we retired to our estate in the Hamptons schlepped to our friend’s place in East Hampton to visit, let the kids swim, etc.  We’ve been in New York for 8 years and it was our first adventure to the land of Great Gatsby.  No particular prejudice against the tony spots on the Atlantic.  Either work or work or work have tended to interfere with past opportunities to head 3+ hours east of NYC for a weekend of frolicking.  Since I saw no reason to object, we made the trek.  Considering all the crap I put my wife thru with this running business, it’s the least I could do.  My one MAJOR reservation was how/where/when could I get a medium run accomplished.  It’s well-established that I am in full-on selfish Marathon mode, so I really don’t care much about anyone else’s needs (for the most part) as long as I get in my workouts.

Our location, while stunningly beautiful (think Northern California/Muir Woods) and peaceful, I was uncertain about running possibilities as I was not comfortable enough to attempt a trail run.  I’m directionally-challenged and traversing thru the woods with wildlife (remember, I’m not a fan of raccoons, so anything larger is a non-starter) with wild turkeys, deer, etc. could potentially pose a problem. City boy.  Instead, I pulled out my map like Christopher Columbus and attempted to cobble together a route on the roads. As part of our visit, our guests took us to Main Beach:

I had hoped there might be an access road that I could follow, but only sandy beaches … for shorter stuff, it would have worked.  Still, I figured I could run from their house thru town down to the beach and back (a couple of times) to get in the distance.  The issues with this plan were the following: there was a 108% chance I would get lost and the hills were more than what I wanted to deal with on this Sunday.  We are talking about miles of severe incline.  I had no other choice, so I went to bed on Saturday a bit apprehensive about getting in the run … scheduled for 6:30 am on Sunday as we had plans later in the day to visit mutual friends on their estate (think Great Gatsby or better, the Place of Versailles).

On Sunday morning, I steeled myself to get lost and suffer the shame of having to call for a pick up.  As I was about to leave the house, I noticed cyclists and motorcycles riding past on an adjacent road.  The light bulb went off.  That route could not be too awful if folks on 2 wheels used it. Most importantly, it was a straight shoot.  Even I could manage not to get lost if you never turn.  Therefore, off I went for a series of loops on Swamp Rd. (not making this up) in the midst of the Northeast Harbor Forest Preserve.

I saw no wildlife, but plenty of bikers and a couple of runners and one weird dude walking the entire route talking on a cell phone.  I settled into a nice little rhythm and since I had my handheld I could drink on the go.  Only after the first 8+ miles I needed to swing back by the house for a refill of Gatorade that I left in the driveway.  I saw our host, who looked hopeful, but was crestfallen when I told him I was only about 50% done.  Previously, I told them NOT to wait for me to eat breakfast.  More of the same on the back half of the run.  I felt pretty good.  I didn’t toss in any speedier miles since this was a cut back week in miles and intensity.  In total, 15 miles @ 8:32 pace.

My cool down was sweet. Since our guests had a pool, I literally jogged into their backyard, hit the outdoor shower to rinse off the sweat and grime and proceeded to soak and stretch in the pool.  When I told my wife and our hosts how long I went, they all looked flabbergasted (I didn’t have the heart to tell my wife what’s coming next Sunday).  Not a bad turn of events … from the run being in real jeopardy to a very solid effort to chilling in a pool sipping on some Endurox.  While the land of Great Gatsby will not become anything resembling a regular occurrence (just not our thing), a periodic stop may not be so bad after all.