Tres Bien

Ok, so I will cut straight to the chase: I didn't go for a run in Paris, even though I had all of my gear and was ready.   The reason though, was a combination of things, but the largest was that we were staying in the city center, just off the Louvre.  It is crazy busy there, with tourists, cars, french people and small-ish sidewalks. 

I drafted a post a couple of years ago about how to act when you visit New York, tentatively titled "Welcome to New York, now leave" but it turned out really snarky.  It ended up as a compendium about all of my tourist pet peeves and sounded much more mean spirited than I had intended.  One of my pet peeves, though, is us runners, who feel compelled to RUN in the city.  Not run in Central Park or on the Hudson or East River, but choose to run down Sixth Avenue. Or through midtown Manhattan. It drives me crazy to see Mr. Runner Guy, sweaty, all geared up, running, dodging people on a crowded sidewalk, people who just wan to get to work.  A city sidewalk is not a running track.

And in Paris that is what I felt: the running routes seemed so -- contrived.  I just never saw one that seemed like a real route rather than a route to just run in Paris.  I saw a lot of people running laps in the Tuileries Garden.  The Tuileries Garden is spectacular, and a lap is about a mile and a half.  Like this:

But right now, the "Garden" isn't egreen, but sort of a clayish white.  And people, tourists (like me) were everywhere.  I live in New York, and didn't want to be one of "those people."  So, no thanks -- I'll walk it around it and enjoy it instead.  Running along the Seine looked kind of cool too, but there are cars, people and stairs to deal with.  No thanks.  Supposedly the Bois d' Bologne is great to run in, but I didn't want to ride the Metro.  Same with the Luxembourg Gardens. 

Or maybe I just wanted to eat, sleep, and drink and not worry about running.

One word of advice though: Parisians are not early birds.  Running at 7 am, you would have the whole city to yourself.  But, again, the city center streets really aren't set up that well for running.  I suppose I could have run down the Champs d'Elysee (a nice broad street), and I am sure there are a hundred other running routes, but at the end of the day, I just wasn't thrilled with it. Of course, if I had to run (if I was training) I could have made due.  But I didn't.  So I chose to sleep in, grab a cafe creme' and a croissant and wander aroudn the city instead.

One other Paris note: the people could not have been nicer to me and my family. We didn't go to touristy spots, but even still, the waiters and people were incredibly nice, friendly, even helpful.  More so than New York, and made for a delightful experience.I cannot say enough about the people we met, and who were incredibly friendly, chatty and engaging.  Tres bien, indeed.

Ok so I can't get into my other post to edit it. Blogger is displaying its French sense of peculiarity. Paris is awesome. There are lots of runners here - or at least there were on Sunday morning when we got here at 8 am or so. By most accounts Sunday morning is best time to run - fewer crowds and cars. But wow what scenery! I am from New York and think Central Park is the perfect place to run. Paris may not have the perfect place to run but wow what runs you could so here. Driving in, I did see a running store called Planet Jogging. Pretty cool. Well now, all I have to do is go run!

Some runs and start to vacation

There is a great U2 album called Zooropa.  It gets lost in U2 lore as the album are Achtung Baby and before whatever else they did.  It actually was a series of outtakes from Achtung Baby that didn't make it onto the album.  At any rate, I remember I bought the CD walking on the way to work one day in 1993.  I still remember the day and buying the CD.   And then I listened to the CD over and over and over at work.  Late at night, it can be hard to keep up the energy, and I listened to music, just like I used to when studying.  And that album just spoke to me.  I don't know why.  There was one song that perfectly encapsulated my experiences in life at the time: Somedays Are Better than Others.  Its a collection of kind of cliche lyrics about how some days are better than others.  But the song just always stuck with me. That song summed up my day today.  Next week is a break week for kiddos at school and for first time in four years, I am going away with the family on vacation.  Awesome.  Our flight left late Saturday, and so I decided to get in a good run before we left for airport.  I decided on my hilly route given I ran my long flat route the weekend before.  I was a beautiful day here, about 50 degrees, and  a perfect day to run.  But en I started gearing up.  My Garmin was dead' of course (despite being at 50 percent power last night).  And my sunglasses fogged up maybe 10 seconds into the run.  And then Garmy just stopped tracking at about two miles (a good two miles, too!) so I have no idea what my real pace was.  And just as I was getting into a groove, a crazed driver honked at me and almost ran me over to get directions.  But most troublesome was my right hamstring.  It felt as tight as a guitar string.  I mean I couldn't tell if my leg was bending or if it was just swinging straight from my hip.  When I was done, it was honestly sore, a feeling I can honestly say I have never had in my years of running.  Tender, almost; tight and sore.  And good news: I about to sit on an airplane for seven hours! So, some runs are better than others.  And this one kind of sucked.  My time (if Garmy hadn't gone on strike in middle of it so I would have actually known it...) would have been OK, even good.   But jeez, it felt like a struggle, and the old hamstring just said no mas. But still, hard to complain in big scheme of things. Ah well, who cares, really.  Tomorrow, we will be in Paris.  Long story how we ended up here on winter break, but the beaucoup miles from my work travels last year made it a lot easier. (Short story is that last year when I got the bill from the winter break trip that I didn't go on, to a place I consider to be eminently forgettable for my 10 year old, I told the wife the next trip would be a lot more memorable, so Paris here we come!). Anyone know of a good run in central Paris?  By all accounts, it is kind of hard to run in Paris (as someone who works in NYC, I totally understand that; few things make me angrier than seeing Johnny Runner trying to run down Sixth Avenue, dodging crowds of working stiffs like me on the sidewalk, cars and traffic lights; if you run in NYC, please run in Central Park or along the rivers.). But I did bring my running shoes and gear to the City of Light.  And my Garmin too, in hopes of getting a cool map of my run.

First Long Run in Long Time

After reading around on blog world. I decided that I had been treadmilling enough, and decided to go for a long run on Saturday.  I always loved long runs when I was training for a marathon; in fact they were my favorite parts of training.  But, given my current state of fitness, I thought I simply wasn't ready for one. I just decided, well, I will go out and give it a try, and if I have to go slow, that is OK.  If I have to take a walk break, that's OK too.  Just be warm, hydrated and accept what I get from nature and my run.

To make it easier on myself, I ran a different route -- one without hills.  My usual loop has vertical gain and loss of about 500 feet over 5 miles.  That can be really hard on the legs and body.  So, I chose a flat trail near my house, one I ran often over course of marathon training.  And I decided on about 7 miles, with goal pace of 10:00 or so.  Not hard, just cruising for me.  I had been mentally planning -- visulaizing -- this run for several days, including the turnaround point.

Saturday started with a warm snow shower, temperature in mid 30s.  Snow didn't stick, but made for a wet trail, and also kept everyone else inside.  Perfect.  As I geared up to go, my iPod was dead, so just me and my thoughts

I felt great the first several miles.  I kept looking at my Garmin and telling myself to sloooow down.  This was a long slow run, not a tempo run or race.  I successfully dialed it back (some), but just let my pace find a groove.

And then I noticed that my turnaround point was further than I thought.  It was about one mile further, actually, so a 7 mile run would become a 9 mile run if I didn't turn around before my goal.  Given I had visualized the run, the turn around, the mental milestone I wanted to achieve, and most importantly, how I felt, I decided to push it to 9 miles.  It actually felt good.  At the turn around point, a teenager looked at me and said  "Are you training for a marathon?" I said no, why?  And he said "because you look like a serious runner."  I chuckled and took that in stride.

I ended up going 9.03 miles, at an average pace of 9:19.  Felt awesome.  Of course not like the old days, but I still get a huge kick out of being able to just do it.  And all day Sunday, I was so sore all over, back, ankles, ribs, you name it.  But it felt great.

Pace:

	Time	LapTime	Distance
Summary		1:24:34.8	1:23:50.0	9.05						181
1	8:57.5	8:57	1.00
2	9:15.2	9:15	1.00
3	9:45.0	9:40	1.00
4	9:18.5	9:19	1.00
5	4:40.6	4:40	0.51
6	9:19.2	9:17	1.00
7	9:01.6	9:02	1.00
8	9:16.0	9:15	1.00
9	9:13.5	9:15	1.00
10	4:52.9	4:46	0.51
11	:54.8	:24	0.02

Value of Blogging. Or, am I getting old?

Since I started posting again, I have re-read a bunch of my old posts and race reports.  And they made me smile, particularly reading about my 2009 NY marathon experience (here and here). That was my second NY Marathon, with the first coming in 2006.

And then something occurred to me:  I don't really remember my first marathon.  I wasn't blogging about it, wasn't thinking about it, I was just doing it.  It was also my first organized race.  I do remember that I trained using Hal Higdon's book.  I don't really remember the start or much about the first 15 miles.  I remember running up First Avenue, the Fred's Team kids, and, after thinking about it for awhile, that I rode on the bus out to Staten Island and sat next to an older lawyer.  I remember seeing my family at mile 18, and then, about 2 minutes later, I ate a green, unripe, hard banana and a vanilla gel (yuck!) and almost vomited.  And my first walk break was on the Willis Avenue Bridge at mile 20 or so.  I remember, at Mile 25, trying to keep up with a guy running in a pink tutu and ballerina outfit. (I couldn't.)  I don't remember any of the training, except my first long run in the rain.  It took me awhile to remember that I got injured about 2 months before the race (PFS), and because I had to shut it down for a month or so before the race to let the PFS heal, and then I had to hope that I had trained enough before the injury.  My time was 3:50.

That is seriously about all I can recall. I don't remember the start or the finish, although I do have a picture of crossing the finish line.  That is kindof scary for something that wasn't THAT long ago and for what should be a defining moment. I have basically a blank slate.

In contrast, I remember vivid details about marathon #2 in 2009.  And, re-reading my blog reports and race reports makes me remember it even more vividly.

I attribute the complete difference in recall to the fact that I was blogging about race #2.  During long runs, I can remember composing posts in my head as I ran.  Thinking of what was interesting, or memorable, or would be a shared common experience to write about.  And of course, I then wrote that down, and can now re-read it.

Or, maybe I am just getting old and just don't remember 2006 all that well.

Crash and Burn

Let's just say that my run last night...well, it didn't go according to plan.  The clip below is from an old, artsy movie, Koyaanisqatsi.  The music is Philip Glass.  My run at about mile 3 was equivalent to 1:26 in the clip below...



The rocket is an unmanned 1962 Centaur rocket explosion, not a Space Shuttle; the movie came out in 1982, four years before Challenger.  The whole movie is a total trip, and a mediation on life, technology and nature.  I have never watched it beginning to end, but in college it was a favorite movie for stoners and trippers.  (In college, I once walked into a fraternity brother's room and saw a group of guys crying as they watched this part of the movie; they were all stoned out of their minds.)  The music is haunting though, as is the image of the rocket falling.

Know Thyself

In my high school, senior year of English class, for whatever reason, I recall that our English teacher told us that the Greek temple at Delphi had two maxims carved into the stone.  "Know Thyself." and "Nothing in Excess."  He explained that these two philosophies formed the core of Greek philosophy and living.  I also have no idea if that is true or if he made it up. (A quick Google search reveals... it is certainly a popular belief, although not grounded in historical fact.  So, he didn't make it up.)

At any rate, that came to mind when I saw this post, The Ten Golden Rules of Living the Good Life, by Panos Mourdoukoutas

In sum, he suggests:

1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures and new destines to reach with your mind.
2. Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond your capacity to direct or alter.
3. Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation.   
4. Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your life simple.
5. Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy existence; self mastery requires ruthless candor
6. Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. 
7. Be a Responsible Human Being.    
8. Don't be a Prosperous Fool.
9. Don’t Do Evil to Others.
10. Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded.


Rules 5 and 6 are basically the Delphi inscriptions (at least as related by my high school English teacher).  While I realize they may not contain any groundbreaking philosophy, it did make me think about goals, living and ways to maximize the experience.  As conflicting goals and the demands on time pile up (and change over time), it is always helpful to have a reminder of some basic tenets of leading the good life.  I suppose I could wax on poetically about this, and quote a couple of other motivational things that are probably pretty unique to me (the end of Saving Private Ryan, anyone? Epictetus?), but at the end of the day, the rules don't make the call.  We all do in our everyday choices.

So for me, running is baked into life and choices and a way to live and balance.  It is important, but so are lots of other things.

Hope you have a great run!