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.

More Money in the Bank

I’ve used this phrase countless times during marathon training … generally as a response to a challenging workout.  Last night’s tempo was not itself excessively challenging – 4mi tempo @ HMP … we’ve been assigned the same workout plus 4mi @ MP as an appetizer.  This particular session brought out additional factors to juggle in addition to simply  executing a run: cold rain, wind, leaves just waiting for you to slip on, puddles with crevices begging for a fresh ankle to mangle, and of course, it was pitch black, save for an occasional flickering lamp along the outer loop of CP.  Even for a dedicated group of athletes as CPTC, the numbers venturing out in this mess were lower than usual ~ 20 folks.

I geared up in a lightweight jacket (not waterproof as I don’t own one), gloves, hat and Nike Zoom Elites.  I was gunning for a longer warm up, but because of the conditions, Coach sent us on our way at the appointed hour, if not slightly earlier.  Therefore, I cut it short (3+), regrouped and headed out with my pack.  As usual Runner’s Kitchen lead the way and pretended to start at my pace, then took off leaving us in the dust … she’s a beast.  Given my growing “stay healthy / avoid stupidity” paranoia, I felt like we were all holding back during the first mile to orient to the conditions.  I had visions of slipping on a leaf or otherwise just biting it. It felt like we were cruising along at MP (7:30) and then would steadily drop to HMP (7:15-20) for the balance.  When Garmin chimed after mile 1 it read – 7:40.  Crap.  Despite that first mile always being slow (gradual uphill), we needed to get going.

I found the rhythm during miles 2 and 3 (7:18, 7:21) and focused on form.  My thoughts started creeping towards marathon Sunday … not necessarily racing visions, but more so how this night (like so many before it) would be reflected upon during the race.  Withdrawing the cash deposited for 4 grinding months for the money day.  I remember the brutally cold sessions on this same route when I first joined CPTC and I was dead last … by A LOT.  Tonight, that was not the case.  I finished with a nice kick for mile 4 (7:01).  All in, a solid effort with 10mi total and 7:20 pace for the tempo portion.

I’m planning to run the last 10 miles of the course in a couple of weeks to find the tangents, get used to the surroundings and continue painting that mental picture of what will happen on 11.7.2010.

Last thing, I absent-mindedly failed to mention Morrissey’s sparkling 2:57:41 PR at Chicago.  Nice work, my man.  CPTC represented in my hometown!

 

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.

Wind Sailing on San Francisco Bay

No, this blog has not turned into the home of some generalist outdoor enthusiast.  It is an apt description of my run in South San Francisco yesterday.  After an uneventful flight from Seattle and restful night of sleep, I hopped up to replicate the CPTC speed workout I missed back in NYC.  On tap 3 x 1mi @ 5k pace with 400m recovery, plus 1k @ “good form pace”.  Rather than decipher the latter, I focused on finding a route to attempt the former.  Given my location, I opted for this spot:

Baytrail along Oyster Point.  It’s a winding stretch along San Francisco Bay, south of the peninsula.  The “trail” part was not dirt (unfortunately).  Rather, it was a mix of sidewalks and asphalt right next to the water … picturesque (San Bruno Mountain, the Bay) and VERY WINDY!  Here is where the title comes into play.  As a relatively sizable runner (as far as most competitive distance runners go), when wind hits me, it hits me like a sail.  I do what I can to tuck in a bit, but it only results in throwing off my stride.  As such, I just try to fight thru it the best I can.  In theory, there should be a tailwind when I reverse course, but I rarely feel that benefit.

At any rate, with wind at steady state of 20-25 mph, speed intervals were challenging.  The scenic view did mitigate some of the pain involved, but not much.  The first two were rough (6:30, 6:30) in that I was well beyond a VO2 effort … not sprinting, but the effort took a lot out of me.  As I braced for the finale, I decided to try locating a less punishing spot to get after it.  So, my 400m recovery turned into nearly 2.5 miles of curving around the pier.  With no relief in sight, I decided to nut up and finish the thing off … 6:35.  Meh.  All in 10.2 miles.

While the splits were not great, I chalked up the session to good resistance training and, more importantly, I felt lucky to be able to run along such a beautiful spot.  Business travel can be a grind, but finding time to run in nice spots is a great perk.

Solo Tempo

The funny (not really) thing about training is that the slightest adjustment to your schedule has a significant ripple effect.  Take back-to-school as an example.  For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been “off” in terms of being sleepy all the time.  At first I thought it was just yet another phase of marathon training … terrified, grumpy, hungry and, lately, sleepy.  After debating the potential issues with a couple of teammates, we came up with burnout (negatives of 18 week program), normal ups and downs of training, early evening darkness.  All or none of the above could be the answer.

Next, I went to my wife.  She nailed it without me even going thru the laundry list.  Back-to-school.  For the last 2 weeks, I’ve taken the early shift of walking my daughter to school (younger kids go 1 hour later initially).  Since August, I have not been running in the morning to take advantage of sleeping in longer.  The simple change of getting up 1 hour early and hustling from the second I wake up has indeed had a ripple effect.  Getting to work earlier is good, but then I would tire out at the end of the day.  My performance at workouts have not been effected because of this, but I have missed the last 2 tempos partially because I’ve felt weak.  I value tempos far too highly to be dragging at the start.  As such, I’ve rested each of the last 2 Thursday nights and done the workouts the next morning.  (In full truth, last Thursday I was working late so missed the start, but then completely bagged doing it that night because of fatigue.)

With that backdrop, I found myself faced with a dilemma: while tempos are critical, long runs are sacred. By moving the tempo to Friday morning would I have enough recovery to properly execute big long runs?  I had no choice but to roll the dice.  On the docket this week was a 3 x 2mi tempo at HMP with recoveries spliced between the intervals.  It’s bad enough just waking up when it’s pitch black outside, but to be standing in front of my building clicking the watch at 5:40am, knowing I need to really execute, is grim business.  The results:

	Time	Miles	Pace
Warm Up	0:13:12	1.47	8:59
Tempo	0:14:32	2.00	7:16
Recovery	0:07:25	0.82	9:03
Tempo	0:13:20	1.83	7:16
Recovery	0:06:12	0.64	9:43
Tempo	0:14:33	2.01	7:14
Cool Down	0:10:59	1.23	8:54

Given the terrain (hilly during tempo portions) and early start, I’m pleased with the effort.  After pissing off shocking the body awake during the first mile, I settled into a nice rhythm.  It’s not reflected here (bc of the Garmin settings), but I negative split big time within each 2mi interval.  I’m working on pace recognition so I tended to go out at MP for the first mile and then work into HP during the second mile.  It seemed to work well. I appreciate this type of workout because if you can feel reasonably comfortable at a quicker pace, when you slow down for 26.2, it should feel less than terrible .  Leading into a big weekend long run on Sunday, this morning is another confidence booster.

The other goal for the weekend is get my body clock fixed.  There is no way I can do (or advising doing) pre-dawn tempo runs … dumb, dumb, idea as I am paying for it all day today.  Part of the solution will be my wife will retake school drop of duties (at least thru November) so I might get back to my sleepytime in the morning.  She’s the best.

Up, Up and Away

A brief update before I jump on the return flight to Gotham:

Wednesday.  If hard workouts are test day, then recovery runs are the day you receive the grade.  With so much emphasis on executing and recovering from solid long runs, Tuesday’s 8x600s provided an examination of VO2 levels.  In the aftermath was pleased with the effort, but that’s kind of like after a test in school when you feel like you did ok … might be hopeful, might be accurate, might be completely wrong.  Wednesday was grade day … B.  7.54 miles of suburban sprawl @ 8:32 pace.  The pace was closer to 8:50s for the vast majority of the workout.  I tossed in 5-6 strides to shake out the rainy slog, which dropped the overall pace considerably.  I generally like adding strides at the end of grinding “easy” runs to boost my mood and prep the legs for the next hard session.

Thursday.  On paper this workout looked easy compared to recent sessions … 2 x3 mi @ HMP w/ 1 mi recovery.  It was not.  Now, compared to my teammates who suffered thru the same workout in the horror of 91-92 degree + humidity back in Central Park, it was not death.  However, at 80 degrees + 79% humidity, it was messy.  I had a window of getting the run completed early in the morning during a thunderstorm.  It was comparatively more pleasant than what I ended up suffering thru 3 hours later.  Mistake.  Couple the conditions with the scenery (more silver automobiles … don’t they sell anything else in the ‘burbs?) and this “test” was as much psychological as physiological.

After a brief 2mi warm up I got to it … surprisingly the turnover was easier than I imagined.  The first 3mi was decent @ 7:15 and the 1mi recovery was ok.  Still, with these types of tempos, the proof comes during the mid to latter portion of the 2^nd half.  On this day it was RUGGED.  I couldn’t get anything past MP for the first 1.25 and that was punishing.  I felt the urge the vomit midway (sorry if it’s TMI) and briefly stopped to try.  I wanted to quit, but I was a good 2mi from the place we are staying and that would have been a shameful walk home.  So I forged ahead feeling like hot garbage and felt like I was sprinting to finish.  2^nd 3mi ended up being 7:13.

On paper it looks well executed, but it sucked.  Yes, the weather impacted the run, but being unable to regulate an even pace during the 2^nd 3mi was a pisser.  Granted if I were running with the team, I would not have had to pace myself per se.  Still it was annoying.  After a crappy 2mi cool down, the afternoon ended at 11.02.  Hopefully, in 6-10 days I’ll see some payoff from this week’s hard efforts.

Friday.  With expectations set VERY low for this recovery run (i.e., anything quicker than a walk would be satisfactory), I will say I felt modestly better than I thought I might.  We had too many family members to visit on this our last full day in Chicagoland, so heading to the Lakefront for a final run was a non-starter.  Instead, I hit the sidewalks (awful, awful to run on) and the occasional asphalt pathway where I could find it.  The weather made this workout better than it would have otherwise been 60 degrees… 6mi @ 8:47 pace.  I am soooooo looking forward to hitting the bridle on Sunday.

Hot, then Not

It’s been awhile since I have attempted anything quicker than HMP.  I bagged last week’s track workout since I was recovering from my first 20 miler.  Like every neurotic runner, when things are going well I invent problems.  This week’s manufactured issue is with all of the mileage build, I need to toss in something quicker to not let the fast twitch muscles experience complete atrophy.  Logical?  No.  But find me a logical runner.

No sooner than I let my neurosis take over, our coach prescribed the perfect antidote with this week’s workouts.  8x600s with the 1st 4 @ 5k pace and the 2nd 4 “a bit quicker”.  Since I’m on vacay, there would be no drafting or relying on others to set the pace.  Solo, baby.  Solo.  I set off for the blisteringly sunny Chicago lakefront again.  From all reports, summer made a return to NYC this week.  Same here in the midwest … 85* when I started, 91* when I finished with the sun on high and bouncing off the lake for added enjoyment.  I knew it would be hot, but I had hoped the swirling wind would provide some benefit.  It did, but also hit me like a sail throughout the workout.  The results: 2:12, 2:12, 2:11, 2:12, 2:10, 2:12, 2:12, 2:08.   Solid consistency.  A bit of a struggle to drop the pace on the last 4 given the wind.  On the last interval, I let it out a bit to make certain a negative split was in the offing.  Overall though, pleased with the effort.  Toss in a slow warm up, cool down and recovery at it was a 10 mile session.

In some respects, this morning’s recovery run was just what the doctor ordered.  Overcast with drizzle and temps in the 70s.  On the negative though, I was back in suburbia running on sidewalks with a view of every silver make of automobile conceivable.  People need some variety and color out here.  Not much to report on the slugfest from this morning.  The first 3 miles were brutal, but after I finally woke up, my mood and the run improved slightly.  I tossed in a few strides at the end to get that good feeling back as there is nothing worse than what a punishingly slow “easy” run does to the psyche. Total 7.5 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.  :-)

Write-Off

On to the next one …  When a blog post starts with those 5 words, you can imagine that the workout was less than stellar.  Tuesday night on the track certainly qualified as less than stellar.  The assignment: 5x1k @ 5k pace with 200 recovery.  The absurdly short recovery was instituted to force us to run at TRUE 5k pace.  Did I listen?  Eventually, but not after suffering for a bit.  Results:

Miles	Time	Pace
4.21	35:15	8:21
0.63	3:56	6:14
0.63	4:08	6:33
0.63	4:05	6:29
0.63	4:12	6:40
0.63	4:20	6:53
2.68	24:00	8:57

Disaster.  No excuses.  In the aftermath, a few folks asked how I felt.  Honestly, I felt terrific during the warm up down to the track.  I even had to throttle back the pace because the legs felt so good.  Obviously my downfall was scooting out too fast on the 1^st interval.  Toss in a short recovery and uncertainty during the 2^nd interval and the night spun out of control quickly.  I should have settled in at 4:00 each and called it a night.  Admittedly, I’m not a fan of longer intervals on the track (hamstering around a circle) and mucked up the execution, but there is still value to be had from whatever happened last night.  Not sure what it is yet, but I’ll go with the thought.  Toss in warm up, recovery, cool down and 10.54 miles for the evening.

Am I worried about last night? Nope. I had a great night of sleep last night and will have a productive recovery run tonight.  I’ve found a nice training rhythm in the last 3-4 weeks, so a blip is not a cause for concern.  On to the next one … Thursday is another big one.  Stay tuned …

Catch Up – Here We Go Again …

Sunday. I was primed for a well executed long run.  I backed off mileage earlier in the week to ensure that I had sufficient energy to run 14. Despite accounting for the equator-like conditions (86*, 70% humidity at 7am), I still came up on the short end.  The plan was 14 and I ended up with 12 at 8:31 pace.  It was messy.  I went back and forth between feeling semi-decent and like hot garbage.  At the end of the day, hot garbage was the clear victor.  While my breathing was not labored (indication that pace was adequate), I had zippo energy.  I GU’d, grabbed Gatorade and drank water seemingly every 3 miles.  It was just a grind. Not satisfying at all.  Total mileage for the week: 49 miles.

Sunday was not a complete waste.  I scheduled a deep tissue massage at a health club (not a member, just close to the apartment).  My last massage (only one as a runner) kind of freaked me out in the sense that the therapist kept repeating “your hamstrings are really tight.”  The last thing I need to be doing is pulling a hammy.  With NYC training underway, I figure I should get “regular” massages.  As these things are criminally expensive, I figure every 6 weeks + regular stretching might do the trick.  Anyway, my previous experience was positive so I decided to book the same guy.  Unfortunately he was not available at the time.  Therefore, I took whomever I could get on short notice.  The therapist resembled a 4^th grade teacher in appearance and demeanor.  Her size belied her knowledge of pressure points.  The pain progression is as follows (I am not embellishing):

1. Acute / Seering
2. Actively tearing up / crying
3. Blackout
4. Giggling

The pain was so severe at the end that I involuntarily giggled thru the last 15 minutes.  I didn’t notice it at first as I was fully occupied biting the pillow.  However, when the therapist asked, “Are you okay?” I snapped out of it and whimpered something.  A rational response would be to tell her to ease up, however, she already knew when to back off when I started convulsing as she worked my legs.  Bottom line is that I had no spare energy to talk.  She should conduct interrogations for Homeland Security.

Monday. Rest day.  Miraculously, the medium run on Sunday and the brutality of the massage left me feeling great.  Completely rested and not sore at all.  The woman was a genius.

Tuesday. Track night.  Normally, I’d be more excited about hammering on the track but when I saw the first part of the workout it left me feeling bleh. 3x1k @ 5k pace w/ 200 recovery.  Bleh.  I’ve done enough track to make the following statement (leaving room to be revised later): if the distance is more than 800, I generally don’t enjoy it.  Why?  Pace management and more likely ability.  It’s a bit more work lugging around 182 lbs at a 5:45 pace for 1k when your actual 5k pace is 6:56. Also, it may sound silly, but I lose concentration on anything more than 2 laps.  All was not lost though.  The back half of the workout was more to my liking: 3×300 @ 3k pace w/ 100 recovery.  Hammertime! Not really since I do have a race coming up on Saturday.  The results:

Distance	Time	Pace
1.79	13:55	7:46
1000	3:40	5:49
1000	3:39	5:47
400	1:26	5:44
300	0:56	4:58
300	0:52	4:37
300	0:51	4:31
2.25	20:48	9:14

Meh.  First the good.  I bagged running to the track from the office.  That type of warm up was not getting the job done.  Instead, I took the subway to a nearby spot and jogged 1+ miles to the track.  Upon arrival, I started doing strides … probably 4x100m.  It seemed to help as the first 2 1k’s were decent.  The problem with the 1k’s is by the time we hit the 3^rd, I was tired and bored.  Normally, I would try to muscle thru the former, but the latter was really annoying me.  Hamstering around a track for distance is just not in me yet.  Maybe that will change.  Instead of pulling out entirely, I took a longer recovery and jumped in for a slow 400.  Meh.

The 300s felt fine.  My confidence seems to increase at the shorter distances.  I ended up pacing our group on the final 2.  I’m glad I had enough left to give others a break since they were really carrying me on the 1ks.  A cool down slog with @mpatent and another teammate ended a decent night.  Total 6.6 miles.

Wednesday. I’m not sure why, but I had it in my head that I wanted to run 10 this morning.  With the weather on my side (break from humidity) and a relatively early start (6:20), I thought I might have a shot at it.  The limiting factor was getting home in time to get read for work.   I was feeling great for the morning after a night workout.  Granted, Tuesday was a short night with only 6 total intervals.  Still the combo of relatively pleasant weather and feeling kind of fresh yielded a solid run.  I cruised around on the soft surface for 8 miles at a 8:16 clip.  To be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve had a run under normal conditions I started questioning why I didn’t feel like a puddle after 3-4 miles.  Regardless, I’ll take it.