Wile E. Coyote or the Road Runner

Some days when you get up and run, it feels like the legs just GO. They are a machine; they turn over effortlessly, and you want to run forever. And when I look at my Garmin, my pace is always too quick and I have to remind myself to slow down. Pace yourself. It is a marathon, not a sprint (that is the cliche anyway, even if it is only a 6 mile run.) I picture like the the Road runner cartoons, where his legs move in wheel-like circles, like a locomotive, with puffs of dust coming up:

But sometimes, not so good. Feel like legs are made of lead, and how on earth am I going to make it through this? And, the heart rate is always too high, the pace too slow, and I just hope I don't feel like this on marathon day. Feeling like this:

That was this morning. I actually got up and ran before work, with the idea I would run a relatively fast tempo run. I know that I ran 15 miles on Monday at 8:06 average pace; I figured I could run 7 miles at 7:30 pace, no problem. I signed up for a half marathon this weekend, and NYRR proudly displayed my best per mile time in a long race 7:06 per mile. This morning I felt "How on earth did I ever do that?"  And, the outside of my right shin and knee has been stiff (not sore like joint pain, just weirdly stiff), and it hurt too.

One mile into the run, I never hit the rhythm. It never felt right, and I never hit the groove. This run was a constant push for me. My normal running route has a bunch of hills, with a 250 foot hill at mile 5.5. Today, cruising up that hill, my heart rate hit 174 (at least that is what I saw when I was running -- I haven't reviewed all the Garmy data yet). That is high -- nearly 95% of max. I know the point of a tempo run is to push yourself, but when I made it to the top of that hill, I was done. Not sure how I made it all the way home, because I had no energy at all.

I ended up running 7.2 miles at 7:31 pace, with a 6:59 mile thrown in there for mile 4-5, running down a gentle slope.  I hope this makes me stronger come race day.  And I have to admit I feel pretty great right now at work, having my workout out of the way.

Day for Atonement

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. I am not Jewish, but living in new York always makes one contemplate Jewish holidays and today was no exception.

It was an unusual weekend. Another crushing week of work, family and client obligations all conspired to limit me to only one run, on Monday. I had decided to run long on Saturday, but Friday rolled around and at the end of the week, ended up having drinks with friends. Running Saturday was out. And Saturday was the homecoming football game, a tailgate and friends. Running Sunday was out. And Saturday I think I consumed more calories than any day in 2009. Pizza, fried chicken, cocktails, chips and beer. Mmmm. When you let go, you let go. When I was on my diet, I was so fastidious that I ate nothing bad for me. Nothing. It was like being an alcoholic and staying sober by refusing to drink. But now that I am training, and not trying to lose weight, little holes in the dyke of resolve have appeared.

And another thing: committing to training and really pushing hard require a great deal of mental focus and commitment. When I am working hard, it is very, very difficult to maintain that focus in running. It is very hard to maintain that intensity in the gym or running when I leave the office. Eh, so this week was hard.

Anyways. It is basically a three day weekend around here because of Yom Kippur. School is closed. Work is about half full. And so I decided to come in late this morning. I got up this morning and ran 15 miles to atone for lazy weekend. All in all a pretty decent workout. First half was difficult -- just didn't feel perfect. And then had some Gatorade and a gel at the 8 mile mark, hit the bathroom, and second half was much, much smoother. Ended up doing 15.25 miles in 2:03, for average pace of 8:07.

But I am getting worried. I need to run more than twice a week. Hopefully, work will allow me to at least get out and exercise so I can maintain my cardio, even if I can;t do all the FIRST workouts. On one level I am stoic: My marathon time is what it will be. But I want to finish training on a strong note so that I feel confident come November 1.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I was traveling again this week, and, on one level that makes training easier. I can get up, train and then be ready for the day, so long as the hotel has a treadmill. I laid out my running clothes before I packed, and my running socks (wadded up in a ball) were on top. Then I quickly packed, and away I went.

The next morning, after flying out the previous night, I woke and started to get dressed. No socks. Now I know what my 2 year old was clutching in her fist as I chased her the previous night. Hmmm. What to do now? Ditch the run? Run sockless?

Nah...I just wore the dress socks I had worn the night before. They were thin, and pretty close to the foot. I have seen my running socks, and it wasn't like they were magic or engineered by NASA or anything. So black dress socks on, went to the gym.

And you know what? Worked out fine.

15 Miles, Accidentally

This was a long week of work. I didn't get a chance to run Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I kind of had my eye on the Queens Half Marathon on Sunday, but logistics to and from were killing me. The race begins and ends on College Point in Queens, a very picturesque spot. But that is far from the subway, train or bus. And parking is a nightmare. NYRR had buses, but you to be at NYRR in the city by 5 a.m. -- which meant like a 4 a.m wake up for me. Ummm, no way that was happening. If was going, I was was going to have to drive and hope. And its on a Sunday, and I don't like to run long on Sunday -- I like to enjoy my Saturdays during college football season. Already thinking about the beer and chips during Florida/Tennessee. So, I was unsure if that was going to happen. That left me running long on Saturday, but Friday night happy hour/dinner crushed that. I am no fan of drinking and running, so I slept in. Saturday I was trying to summon the courage not to drink and just get up and run long around here Sunday morning.

Saturday, though, was beautiful here. First really Fall day. Temp in sixties, sunny and bright. A great day to run. So after errands, I decided to blow off the first half of Florida/Tennessee and go run. And what a run it was. Fast, felt great and just ZOOM. I had it in my mind I could run my normal route twice if I felt good and maybe get in 14 miles. But I hadn't planned on running, so I had no water or gel on my route. I felt great and decided not only to go twice, but three times to run the 20 I gave up on last week. Loop 1 was in can and really fast -- averaged sub 8 minutes. Stopped at the end of one loop (7 miles), got water and a gel and went out again. Another super fast loop, again sub 8 pace. I was hoping for 8:30 pace, but just felt great. And I still had remnants of alcohol in me, with terrible sleep in the middle. And I hadn't eaten right or planned on this run at all. I had to stop at 15 miles because I ran out of time and had family obligations. But what a run it was. I did miss the Florida/Tennessee game, but got to see end of USC/Washington..which was much more exciting. All in all, worked out well: a great run, ended up with no beers in the afternoon, and a make up for my blown 20 last week.

And no, I am not going to get up and run the Queens half. Enough is enough and I got my miles in!

I suppose sometimes the best runs are those we don't overplan and overthink.

Distance Time Split time Elev. chg.
1.00 0:07:35 7:35 -26
2.00 0:15:37 8:02 +28
3.00 0:23:21 7:43 -43
4.00 0:31:02 7:41 +36
5.00 0:38:34 7:31 -109
6.00 0:46:47 8:13 +14
7.00 0:54:41 7:54 +23
8.00 1:02:37 7:56 +36
9.00 1:10:48 8:11 +56
10.00 1:18:35 7:47 -29
11.00 1:26:25 7:48 +5
12.00 1:34:12 7:47 -68
13.00 1:42:25 8:13 +90
14.00 1:50:06 7:41 -127
15.00 1:58:28 8:21 +84
15.06 1:58:55 0:27 -26

Awake

After a general malaise regarding training, I looked at my schedule: 7 weeks to go. Time to awake, get out there and do it. Had a great run tonight and feel strong. Getting close to the home stretch.

By the way, on late night TV I happened onto the end of "Queen -- Live at Wembley Stadium" that was recorded in 1986. Wow -- what a performance. I will blog about it later, but what an incredible experience that must have been.

20 Miles Fueled by Taco Bell...Not

Before I embarked on my long run, I had already thought about what I was going to post. Friday I had a business trip and ended up getting stuck in an airport for about 5 hours to get home. Thankfully I was in the airport club, so not a bad place to be.. and free drinks! But I didn't touch one because I knew I was running the next morning. That was hard. Finally got home about midnight, and set alarm for 6:30 to get up and go. My Garmin also died suddenly - battery completely drained, so I had to make some strange arrangements to get my charger, which was in my office.

Anyway I had to eat dinner in the airport Friday night. My choices were a pizza from Sbarro, a Philly cheesteak or Taco Bell. Taco Bell had a big sign promoting their healthy choices -- basically the soft chicken fresca taco. OK, 190 calories, 6 grams of fat. It is chicken, a tortilla, lettuce and tomato. And Salsa and some kind of sauce. OK, give me 3. Tasted great, too. I kind of chuckled that would be last meal before my run.

In New York, the reason my flight was delayed was because of the terrible weather. It had rained all day Friday and was forecast to rain all Saturday too. That's Ok I have run before in the rain -- anyone living in New York this summer has. I thought about running on my treadmill, but I had been inside all week and just wanted to be outside. So outside I would go.

6:30 came early, but I got up, ate a slice of bread and away I went. First bad thing: Garmin had reset itself -- it had died, and all data lost. My profile, previous run, all of my settings, everything gone. Thankfully I had uploaded all my data so I didn't lose any data, but everything else had to be reset -- my profile (male, DOB, weight, etc.); my screens showing time, pace, etc.; Auto Scroll on/adjust senstivity, etc. Ugh.

And it was raining. Not drizzling, not misting -- rain. Yuck. Streets were also flooded, but not so bad. I actually looked at the weather and radar showed no major storms so I thought it would pass. It didn't. Off into the rain I went.

I felt bad, but struggled for several miles. And then it hit. A cramp in my stomach turned into an absolute I have to go to the bathroom NOW feeling. And not the kind you can duck into the woods and take care of. I had to find a bathroom soon, like immediately. I was running a series of loops, but I was at the exact opposite end of my loop from my home, so I would be back by my house in 3 miles or so. I tried to hang in there. Nope. I had to go. And I had to stop running -- just too much and made the feeling slightly less intense. Thankfully, my course also took me around by our tennis club, and I made an emergency 7:00 am pit stop, literally dripping wet, to the amazement of the cleaning crew. I just barely made it.

That feeling sucks, btw. It makes your gut just ache. And I knew it causes dehydration too. And it was 100% humidity. So I packed it in. I ran home and called it a day. 6 miles, I have no idea what pace. I'll just skip this run. No way am I going to suffer over 15 miles more in humidity, risk serious dehydration to run a 20 miler ..in the driving rain!

Thatis the first time I have ever bailed on a run before -- I may not make my goal pace, but always get to the end.

I have had this GI issue happen once before in my first long training run for my first marathon. I thought I would die. But I got over it, and it never happened again..until Saturday. Looking back on my sleep, hydration, etc., it was all ok. Why could it have come back? Umm, then I remebered...Taco Bell for dinner? What was I thinking?

Last Summer run...

Labor Day has come and gone, and just like the seasons, a new school year, a new fall, a new season have come.

We were in Florida over the long weekend, and let me tell ya, it is hot down there. Nothing like what it has been in summers past, but still, 92 and humidity still feels awfully hot after the mild summer we have had here. In fact, it was very strange getting off the plane back in New York and feeling ... fall. The temperature in NY is now in the low 70s. So much cooler than Florida. And, if you watch the US Open night matches, the people in the stands are freezing. I ran once in Florida. That was the product of running on both the day I left to go to Florida and the day I got back (Labor Day), but neither day in Florida.

So Saturday, I ran 18 miles in Florida Saturday. I started at 7 a.m and finished about 9:45. Ended up finishing 18.24 in 2:32 for 8:14 average pace. Splits are below, and I ended up running the second half faster than the first. But heart rate was higher too. The sun was really bright and it was getting hot (83?) by the time I finished. I wouldn't want to start any later in the day. As I was coming home, feeling pretty good, this guy in triathlon gear was jogging the other way. He was serious, hard core, and absolutely flying. Waved and smiled at him, and he did the same. One thing about running near the beach in Florida -- people with boat trailers! I hope they realize that the boats are wider than the cars. Can get kindof scary seeing these boats come whizzing by...

One thing I did to prepare was to hide water along my route the night before my run. I had an out and back route, so I hid water at 5 different places along my route, and ended up with 10 water stops along the way. That helped tremendously, not only because of the hydration, but also because it broke my run up into small segments. I was constantly focusing on the next water stop ... where did I hide it again? Did someone see the water and, thinking it was trash, throw it away? (That happened to one of them.) It was a really positive run though, and glad I pushed through the heat to make it.

I formed a couple of conclusions, too. The Nike LunarTrainer experiment is over. They are kinda cool shoes, but for me, just not practical for long training. I have now run about 100 miles in them, and have decided they are nice for short distances, but not long ones. I wore them on this Florida long run, and finished with a massive blister on the side of my big toe, and a blister on the end of my second toe also. Today, when I ran at home in New York, I ran in my Gel Kayanos, and it felt so much better. Like meeting up with an old friend for lunch.

Second, I like using Gatorade Endurance for long runs. I have a bunch of Accelerade thanks to a sale at GNC, but I really like the Gatorade Endurance better. It is smoother, doesn't have any aftertaste or funky smell (I find Accelerade has this bad smell), and just goes down easily.

And anyone who hates Tim Tebow should read the profile of him in this month's GQ. If you don't like him after that, then I don't know who you would like. An admirable young man for sure.



Time Distance Split time Elev. chg.
0:08:03 1.00 8:03 -6
0:16:30 2.00 8:26 -2
0:24:48 3.00 8:18 +29
0:33:02 4.00 8:14 -14
0:41:16 5.00 8:12 +23
0:49:38 6.00 8:22 -1
0:58:02 7.00 8:23 -7
1:06:25 8.00 8:22 +17
1:14:44 9.00 8:18 -21
1:22:45 10.00 8:00 -10
1:30:49 11.00 8:03 -21
1:38:52 12.00 8:00 -5
1:46:59 13.00 8:07 -8
1:55:05 14.00 8:04 +28
2:03:12 15.00 8:06 +3
2:11:21 16.00 8:08 +11
2:19:29 17.00 8:08 -23
2:27:42 18.00 8:11 -5
2:30:58 18.41 3:16 +13
2:30:59 18.41 0:01 +0

Labor Day preview and August lookback

Tonight was a speed workout, and time to reflect on the last month of training. Looking at my training log tonight I realized that over the last month I have slipped into the pattern of run, take day off, run, day off, etc. I suppose that is because the FIRST runs are really hard and I just don't feel like running on a day after a really hard day. My knees are stiff, my toes hurt, my quads are tight, something; all I know is that rest seems good. And I have been much busier with work and traveling, so it is really hard to sneak in workouts. To my great surprise, though, I found out that I actually ran more miles in August than July, and set a mileage record for me (130). I know for the high milers out there, 130 miles may be two average weeks, but for me that is a pretty solid month. And I actually did not run a single race. In fact I haven't run a race since the half marathon at the end of June. I'll probably schedule a half marathon one weekend in September just to get the racing mode back in mind. And I am curious to see if all this FIRST training has produced faster running times -- or is it just establishes muscular endurance to run 26.2 at the pace I have already established at shorter distances. I sure hope it is the former -- that FIRST has made me faster.

All of which leads me to conclude I am going to have to switch to morning runs. As I get busy this fall, and I know my schedule is going to really heat up (I often work 60+ hours per week, and commute on top of that), it is going to be increasingly hard to work out at the end of the day, much less if I ever want to see my family. So I guess, I am going to have to start getting up and doing it earlier. I am somewhat fortunate in that the New York legal world operates on a late schedule -- people are rarely in before 9 a.m. So, I can run at 7 or so and still be in office on time. But I have NEVER in my life been able to maintain a morning exercise regimen. On one level though I feel like I really have no choice, though, if I am going to make it to the starting line in November. At some point I ramble on about the glory that is college football and post my picks for the weekend.

I can't wait though, to feel the chill in the air. College football starts in earnest this weekend. Cooking out, leaves turning, crispness in the morning...my favorite time to be in New York.

Until then, Go Blue and have a great Labor Day. I am on tap for 18 miles in the Florida heat...