Highest mileage week to date culminates in unbelievable long-run

I had one hell of a time recovering from a 19ish mile long run in cold, torrential rain two Sunday's ago. I came back on Monday feeling spacey (4.5 easy); felt better on Tuesday (9 good pace); spacey on Wednesday (5 easy); great on Thursday (9 better pace); spacey on Friday (4.5 easy) and Saturday (3ish easy). After a very difficult week, I was seriously doubting my ability to go 22 miles yesterday. I felt good early on until we hit some good hills at 8-9 miles. My legs started to feel heavy, and I began to worry that that was the beginning of the end of the run. A few miles later, I tried a GU Chomp, and my leg turnover immediately improved. I never looked back. I took it all the way to the end--22.6 miles at 8:31/mile. That's significantly faster than any marathon I've ever run, and it was super comfy. I know that, in reality, the GU Chomp had little if anything to do with my ability to finish this run, but I'll take it.

Jessica was having some issues with a foot, so she decided to turn around and do 21 miles instead of the full 22.6 we had mapped out. When she turned around on Leetes Island Road, it was as if she was seeing me off to my first day of school or to the moon or Mars. At that point, I was still feeling good, and after the turnaround, I decided to put my arms out on a downhill and just savor the moment. Because it really did feel like I was flying.

Weekly totals: 58 miles; 8hrs 15mins

First 5 weeks of training for Austin

Over the last 5 weeks, I've averaged exactly 50 miles/week. This is uncharted territory for me. For 16 weeks, leading up to Missoula, I averaged about 30 miles/week; for 12 weeks, leading up to Green Mountain, I averaged about 40 miles/week.

I've been handling the volume well. My only complaint is some diffuse (Jess taught me this word) right knee achiness, which started after a bumpy trail run two Sunday's ago. The achiness comes and goes. I'm not too worried about it, but I would like it to just go away already.

On Sunday, I did 19ish miles in 2:40 over a pretty hilly route. I took the first half easy and then picked up the pace. The faster pace felt very comforable, and I was easily able to finish strongly. I wish every run could feel like that.

I plan on doing 20 this Sunday and 22 next Sunday. I've built three 22-milers into this training. They're late enough in the training that by the time I get to them, the time it will take me to cover 22 miles will be about the same time that it took me to cover 20 miles. Twenty miles is usually sufficient, but as you become fitter, you cover the distance in less time. In order to get the time in (which is much more important than the distance), one must go longer. About three weeks ago, I did 20ish miles in 2:50. In some of my earlier training, I was doing 19 miles in 3:00-3:10. I'll take anything over 2:30, as that's when major improvements in endurance occur, but I also want to pscyhologically prepare myself for 3+ hour runs.

IT Band Troubles

My right leg/knee problem isn't going away. After 3 days of no running I went to do 16 miles today and barely made it 6 before I had to stop. I just spent some time reading and I'm 99% sure I've got a problem with the IT Band on my right leg. All the symptoms seem to fit. Most of what I've read suggests that I need to stop running until pain goes away. Very disappointing.

Top Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyByGsFyb2k&feature=related

Top Dog at the 2010 Goshen Turkey Trot 1 min 35 seconds into video

Week 4

Did somewhere in the neighborhood of 46 miles this week. It was designed as a recovery week, and I think it played out that way. Might have gone a bit too hard today, and I twisted my right knee, but we'll see tomorrow. I can tell within only a few minutes of running the next effort whether the previous effort was too intense.

Today's trail running at Meshomasic State Forest was pretty difficult. There were some steep, rocky parts where it was difficult to get a good footing...made worse by the fallen leaves. I guess it's good to mix up the terrain every now and again.

Today's run before the phone died

We tacked on about another four.

Running everyday (and in the AM)

Since resuming running only a few days after the Green Mountain Marathon, I've missed only a handful of days of running (by choice). More or less, I've been running everyday, and it feels good. This has allowed me to increase my mileage quite easily. Cramming miles into only four days of running, which I did during my last marathon build-up, was much more difficult.

Shortly after the recent time-change, I began running in the morning. I was worried about how my body would react to such a drastic change, but it turned out to be a pretty easy transition. On most days, I'm out the door and running by 7/am. Yesterday, Jessica managed to get me up out of bed well before 7/am. This was truly an anomaly. I require a solid 8 hours of sleep/night. Any less and I'm doomed for the day. Typically, I'm asleep no later than 10:30/pm, which means, in theory, I should be able to function quite well starting at 6:30/pm, and this has usually been the case. Hooray for sleep.

One other extremely important component of successful running is, of course, diet. I've been trying to make my way through "The Vegetarian Myth," but it's been a challenge, to say the least. It has gotten mixed reviews, but I don't like it. I was led to the book through my interest in, and reading of, "What We Leave Behind," the premise of which is that so long as we facilitate the perpetuation of industrial civilization, Earth (and everything living on it) is doomed as we know it. Anyway, one of the authors of this book, with whom I mostly agree, commented that "The Vegetarian Myth" saved his life--to what extent, I'm not sure, but that's what sparked my interest in the book. According to the author of the veggie myth, there's nothing good about being a moral and/or nutritional vegetarian/vegan. It's kind of depressing.

Bill Rodgers' Training Log

The guy ran a lot of miles.

http://www.bunnhill.com/BobHodge/Rodgers/TrainingLogs/br75traininglog.htm

According to his Wikipedia article, Boston Billy started 60 marathons, won Boston and New York four times each, and DNF'd in a lot of them.

Week 3

Nov. 15
5 miles; 47 mins
Felt fine, but pretty much just jogged to flush the legs.

Nov. 16
AM: 7.5 miles at steady pace; 1hr 3mins; PM: strength training at NHHR

Nov. 17
5 miles; 46mins
Legs started to come around again after rough long-run on Sunday.

Nov. 18
AM: 9 miles at steady pace; 1hr 14mins; PM: strength training at NHHR

Nov. 19
5 miles; 45mins
Legs in a completely alkali state.

Nov. 20
3 miles; 30 mins; strength training at NHHR
No energy, but decided to do a bit of easy running as my last two long-runs coming off of rest days have been rough.

Nov. 21
19.5 miles; 2hrs 50mins
Woke up at about 8/am to eat and then caught a few more Zs until about 11/am. Felt great. One of my better long-runs. I think the easy running and gym session yesterday helped to keep the blood flowing and the muscles loose. Plus, my focus on hydrating and pigging out at Chris Hunter's potluck yesterday couldn't have hurt. Ran everyday this week. That was a first.

54 miles
7hrs 57mins

Week 2

Nov. 8
5 miles; 45 mins
AM: Easy; PM: strength training at NHHR

Nov. 9
7.5 miles; 1hr 3mins
Steady

Nov. 10
5 miles; 45mins
AM: Easy; PM: strength training at NHHR

Nov. 11
9 miles; 1hr 14mins
Steady

Nov. 12
5 miles; 44mins
Easy

Nov. 13
Rest. Moved all day.

Nov. 14
17.5 miles; 2hrs 32mins
Woke up feeling dehydrated after moving all day on Saturday. Didn't get started until late morning. Felt dehydrated right away. Didn't have any water on the run. Ran out of gas at around 15 miles but pushed to the finish.

49 miles
7hrs 5mins

AlSal and Ritz

Shortly after the elites finished the NYC Marathon, Jess and I left the park and spotted AlSal and Ritz. AlSal is the tall guy with the black hat, and Ritz is the short guy with the white USA jacket (head down).

On Point Takes On Distance Running

Best talk radio show around talks about US distance running efforts:

www.onpointradio.org/2010/11/us-runners-marathon

All kinds of theories!

Haile Gebrselassie Retires

Article

If you want to see something really sad, go over to runnersworld.com and watch Haile announce his retirement.

Week 1

Nov. 1
5 miles; 45 mins
Easy, early-morning run in Guilford. Legs felt good. Strength training at NHHR after work.

Nov. 2
7.5 miles; 1hr 3mins
Steady, early-morning run in Guilford. Legs felt fine until the very end. Jogged it back from the corner of the Green.

Nov. 3
5 miles; 44mins
Easy, early-morning run in Guilford. Legs felt good. Strength training at NHHR after work.

Nov. 4
9 miles; 1hr 15mins
Steady, early-morning run in Guilford in the rain. Solid, solid run.

Nov. 5
5 miles; 46mins
Easy, early-morning run in Guilford in the rain. Legs felt fine until the very end.

Nov. 6
Rest. Massage. Travel to NYC.

Nov. 7
15 miles; 2hrs 15mins
Got up at 6/am this morning to do 16 miles in Central Park before the marathon. We did two complete loops around the park but were redirected for the last little bit due to the marathon. Not sure why we couldn't pass through a third time. It got a lot of people upset. Instead of running down West Drive, we cut across the park, took a left on The Mall and hit the 72nd Street Transverse before heading back. Hoping to make 16 miles, I ran to the end of our block on 77th Street. Didn't quite make 16. Legs felt tired today for some reason, even after coming off a rest day. I think yesterday's massage had something to do with it. Jessica doesn't think so, but it was the first time that I had had a massage and she worked my legs pretty good. It was a lot of fun running in the early morning before the marathon and seeing the volunteers set up for the race. Loved the atmosphere. Although Meb or Ritz didn't win today, it was nice to see Shalane Flanagan finish 2nd. She's going to be a great marathoner.

47 miles
6hrs 50mins

Heat Training Article

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/phys-ed-will-training-in-the-heat-improve-your-performance/

Training Schedule for Austin Marathon

This is my training schedule for the Austin Marathon. I put it together myself. I start on Monday, November 1st.

It's based on Arthur Lydiard's "build up" phase. It's full of variety and stimulates different layers of the aerobic energy systems every week. Constantly varying levels of effort and duration in the aerobic throughout the aerobic phase accomplishes far more than constant steady running alone. Livingstone, H.I.T., p. 87.

Photos from Love Your Body 5K

Training for Austin Marathon

Instead of doing a big build-up and taper, I think I'm going to train right through the marathon. I'd like to average somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 miles/week for the next six months, further developing my aerobic capacity. I don't think I'm going to bother with track workouts or threshold runs. Instead, I plan to do a mix of aerobic work. For example, on Monday I'll do a 3/4 effort run. Tuesday: 1/4 effort; Wednesday: Fartlek (six to ten 10 second sprints with at least 5 minutes of recovery in between); Thursday: 1/4 effort; Friday: 3/4 effort; Saturday: rest or 1/4 effort; Sunday: 1/4 effort. I've taken this right out of Arthur Lydiard's playbook. His number one principle was to first train the body to more efficiently provide fuel to and to eliminate waste from the working muscles. The only way to train the body to do this is to run a lot of aerobic miles at varying efforts. Last build-up, I made the mistake of running too many easy miles and not really pushing the aerobic pace. Granted, I did a weekly tempo run/speedwork, but these were close to all out efforts, which are not recommended during the initial period of training. I thought that I was in a bit better marathon shape than 3:53, but I guess not. I now see why I was able to run 3:50 on less mileage. My build-up to the 3:50 incorporated a lot of early very easy aerobic running but gradually progressed to harder aerobic running. For example, I did a good 13-mile run at around 8:15/mile. I didn't do anything this long at that pace in my preparations for Green Mountain. All of my running outside of my tempo work and speedwork was very easy aerobic running. There were days when I felt great but wouldn't push it for fear of jeopardizing my hard workouts, but it turns out that the opposite is true. Hard, sustained efforts are detrimental to the development of one's aerobic capacity in the initial period of training. This type of running should be saved until one's aerobic capacity has been fully developed in the time allowed (for marathoners, 10 to 12 weeks is recommended).

Some may wonder why train through a marathon? The reason is that it can take years to maximize one's aerobic capacity, and I'm not willing to sacrifice years of missed marathons in order to do this. I want to run me a lot of marathons, but I also want to be more consistent in my training.

I'm still making my way through Healthy Intelligent Training: The Proven Principles of Arthur Lydiard, by Keith Livingstone, but I've learned enough thus far to know what I need to do to become a better runner. H.I.T. is endorsed by the Lydiard Foundation and is the go-to resource for Lydiard's principles. Lydiard himself wrote several books on his principles, but his writing was very difficult to follow, so Livingstone tried to better organize it and make it more palatable, which I think he did. In any event, Lydiard was a great coach.

"...the first thing to plan is the fuel supply and waste removal infrastructure because this takes the longest to develop and is the limiting factor for all high-intensity exercise."

"The endurance phase was all about strong aerobic running. At no stage in a "buildup" would an athlete deliberately undertake sustained work above the anaerobic threshold. Lydiard considered this to be totally counter-productive and harmful to the development of the aerobic systems."

"There was a very simple reason for not running every run at a pace that pushed the anaerobic threshold; this pace would be the equivalent of running the mileage of 4 marathons at race pace, each week, or faster. This would be very tiring and would hammer the glycogen reserves and recovery ability of the body. Longer runs at lower aerobic speeds could actually speed recovery from faster efforts."

"First thing: No. No. Never do anaerobic work in conditioning. Never. Ever. That's one of the first things: You don't do it. Don't even try. Don't even run fast to the finish. That's the one thing you've go to learn." -- Lydiard

Ryan Hall to Coach Self

After leaving the Mammoth Track Club and his coach, Hall announced that he will coach himself. He plans on running either London or Boston in 2011.

This is on point from a letsrun.com forum contributor:

"The thing that is really sad about Ryan Hall is that he reminds us of our own failures. Ryan is the best we have and if he can't win a major race how will we? His failures hit a chord with our internal ego, and it is devastating.

Every time I see him race I have flashbacks to my own races, my own disappointments. Failures like PRing by 20 seconds in the 5k and still getting blasted in the last lap by some kid from Eldorett or any other time we compete to the max of our ability and still get manhandled. Ryan is far more talented than me and watching him fail is the most devastating thing to ever happen to my running psych. Every time he loses we wonder why we run. This super talent, this High school and NCAA all star who blows the rest of us away at the trials and has every advantage an American can have is easily put away by some hut dwelling corn eating teen from Iten.

So to you who wonder why we are obsessed with Ryan Hall, maybe you should wonder why you aren't. He symbolizes the best any of us can do at this point."

Week 12 In Review

10-11-10
Strength training at NHHR.

10-12-10
3 miles (28mins)
New Haven. After learning that my car had gotten towed.

10-13-10
Strength training at NHHR.

10-14-10
6 miles (45mins)
Guilford. 1 mile up, 4 mile tempo (6:50/mile), 1 mile down. Felt good, so went.

10-15-10
3 miles (26mins)
Guilford. Legs ached on the way to VT

10-16-10
Did some nature walks in VT. Legs felt achy.

10-17-10
26.2 miles (3hrs 53mins)
Legs felt good for the first couple of miles; then they started to feel tired. I got a second wind after going through half. I tried to keep up the pace for as long as possible. Had a few rough miles at the end but was able to finish strong. In hindsight, probably shouldn't have run a fast tempo on Thursday. Nine minute improvement over last marathon, though.

Post Marathon Haze

Green Mountain Marathon Results

Congrats to all the GMM finishers. I think we all ran pretty good times on a very challenging course on a cold and windy day.

Jessica 3:31
Kristyn 3:34
Karolina 3:37
Dan 3:39
Ryan 3:53

Chicago Marathon

What a race! Sammy Wanjiru is insane. Love these commentators.

Week 11 In Review

10-4-10
Strength training at NHHR.

10-5-10
6 miles (56mins)
Up East Rock. Really enjoyed this one.

10-6-10
Strength training at NHHR.

10-7-10
7 miles (53mins)
Branford. 1 mile up, 5 mile tempo (7:08/mile), 1 mile down. Flying.

10-8-10
6 miles (55mins)
Up East Rock. Felt ok.

10-9-10
Watched the Hartford Marathon in person with Jess and Kristyn this morning at around the 25 mile mark. Strength training at NHHR.

10-10-10
8 miles (1hrs 8mins)
Watched the Chicago Marathon this morning. Sammy Wanjiru is a God. Easy 8 miles up East Rock park roads with Kristyn. Felt great.

Miles: 27
Time: 3hrs 53mins

Weather for Green Mountain Marathon

Weather.com is forecasting a high temp. of 54 degrees. Seems perfect.

Week 10 In Review (51 miles!)

9-27-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-28-10
11 miles (1hr 41mins)
New Haven. Had to jog in place on a few occasions to let cars pass at intersections, so my pace was actually slightly faster than this, and it felt it. I kind of just wanted to get this one over with, because I had been starting to feel the effects of the higher mileage, and I was anxious to see how I would feel today. I guess I felt O.K. for having come off of 49 miles last week. I permanently retired my old running shoes (862 miles), as they began to cause some discomfort on the ball of my left foot. I didn't really have any of the discomfort today in the new shoes.

9-29-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-30-10
10 miles (1hr 22mins)
Guilford. 1.5 mile warm, 7 mile tempo (7:43/mile), 1.5 mile cool. Had to get up before 7/am to avoid the rain. It didn't really rain, though. It was nice to get the run out of the way, anyway. The tempo was rough. I thought I went out too fast, but it turned out that I ran a pretty even pace over a hilly route. It really beats up my legs.

10-1-10
10 miles (1hr 32mins)
Guilford. Had to get up before 7/am today. Ran around town. Stayed off the hills. Some lingering soreness/fatigue, but otherwise felt good. Nothing unusual.

10-2-10
Strength training at NHHR.

10-3-10
20 miles (2hrs 58mins)
Really crushed this one in Central Park. Three loops around the park plus a little. Here are my splits:

6.18 Mi 56:50 9:12
6.08 Mi 54:54 9:02
6.08 Mi 52:34 8:39
1.69 Mi 13:51 8:12

Miles: 51 (highest ever to date)
Time: 7hrs 34mins

Ryan Hall Withdraws from the 2010 Chicago Marathon

Before he even ran the 2010 Boston Marathon, where he set a new American record in 2:08:xx (but still finished in 4th place), Ryan Hall announced that he would run the 2010 Chicago Marathon and attempt to set a new American record there. A new American record, which would be 2:05:xx, doesn't guarantee a win on any major marathon course these days. Is Hall trying to merely break records or win a major marathon?

After running nearly 64 minutes for a half in Philly two weekends ago (4 minutes slower than his PR and the current American record), Hall announced that he had withdrawn from the 2010 Chicago Marathon, citing poor training. Hall's American record in the half (59:xx) and his fastest marathon to date (2:06:xx) came after a solid track season. Since then, he's been racing two marathons/year. It seems that the 130-mile weeks, week in and week out, have finally gotten the best of him. A lot of people are saying that he needs to get back on the track, race some shorter distances, etc. Others are saying that he needs to change coaches. Still others are saying that he'll never break 2:08 again and that he's done. I don't believe that, but I do believe that something is amiss. It's been long-known that Hall likes to self-train and train alone, so a coaching change may not be the answer. Meb is up in Mammoth Lakes as well, and he's doing just fine. I wonder what'll be next for Hall.

Hall's marathon times:

4/22/07 London 2:08:24
11/3/07 New York City Trials 2:09:02
4/13/08 London 2:06:17
8/24/08 Beijing Olympics 2:12:33
4/20/09 Boston 2:09:40
11/1/09 New York City 2:10:36
4/19/10 Boston 2:08:41

Week 9 In Review

9-20-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-21-10
12 miles (1hr 55mins)
Guilford after work. Got a late start; finished up in the dark. Need night gear/accessories. Ran up to Route 80 and came down Maple Hills. Legs felt very strong coming back into town.

9-22-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-23-10
10 miles (1hr 24mins)
4x1600m at Wilbur Cross High School track. 6.37; 6:45; 6:45; 6:43. Felt ok. Cooldown was tough.

9-24-10
11 miles (1hr 42mins)
Ran up East Rock park roads and then over to Prospect via Armory.

9-25-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-26-10
16 miles (2hrs 35mins)
Ran from South Hadley to Northampton. Picked up the pace for a few miles on the bike path. Based on perceived effort, I thought I was running a bit faster than this. Perhaps I wasn't keeping up the pace on the hills. It took about the first 15 minutes to shake-out/flush my legs. Once I hit Pearl, things started to come together. My legs started feeling heavy again after about 8 or 9 miles, but I had the strength to keep up the pace. I haven't taken a single energy gel this build-up. One bottle of water seems to get me through even my longest runs.

Miles: 49 (highest ever to date)
Time: 7hrs 37mins

Intervals

I did 10 miles tonight, including 4 x 1600m. This was my third track workout. Here's my progress, which I'm quite pleased with:

8/5: 2 x 1600m (7:25; 7:11)

8/26: 3 x 1600m (6:49; 6:55; 6:56)

9/23: 4 x 1600m (6:37; 6:45; 6:45; 6:43)

This is my first time ever doing track workouts, so I'm still new to it and trying to gauge the right intensity. Here's a video clip of me during one of the intervals:

1,000 miles

I ran my 1,000th mile of the year last night. 2010 marks the first year in which I have run at least 1,000 miles, and I still have three full months of running to go! I recently started rotating in a new pair of running shoes, but, last night, I ran in a pair that now has 825 miles on it. I swear that I'd rather run in the older pair.

Week 8 In Review

9-13-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-14-10
8 miles (1hr 16mins)
To Sachems Head after work. Took it easy. Felt ok, I guess.

9-15-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-16-10
10 miles (1hr 19mins)
To Sachems Head after work. One-mile warm-up; eight-mile tempo at 7:40/mile; one-mile cool-down. Felt ok. Tried to relax on the hills. Right hammy bothered me for most of the tempo.

9-17-10
8 miles (1hr 15mins)
To Sachems Head after work. Tons of pop in legs. Surprised me after Thursday's hard workout.

9-18-10
Strength training at NHHR.

9-19-10
19 miles (3hrs 7mins)
Guilford. Up to 320 feet and back. Had 20 and change mapped out, but couldn't find a turn, so wound up doing out and back instead. Wound up being only 19 miles. I'm ok with that, because I ran for plenty long. This wasn't a hilly route. It was one big, gradual hill to 320 feet. It really slows me down. I thought I was moving a bit faster than this, but I'll take it. The start was tough, then found a groove around 30 minutes in. Started feeling tired after about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Never got it back. Despite the cool temps and water bottle, I was dehydrated. Perhaps I shouldn't have had even those few sips of wine last night. I thought I had topped off yesterday, but I guess not. Although not my best effort, it's hard to not be pleased with finishing a three-hour run.

Miles: 45 (highest ever to date)
Time: 6hrs 59mins

Week 8 Tempo Run

I just finished the longest tempo run (8 miles) and, probably, the most difficult workout of this buildup. I was 17 seconds slower per mile over the 8 miles (7:40) than I was over 7 miles (7:23) last Thursday. A couple of thoughts as to why: 1) the most obvious is that this week's tempo run was a mile longer, 2) it came after the highest mileage week (44) of my life, and 3) last week's tempo run came after a recovery week, which included lower mileage (33) and no tempo or interval work. I'm pleased with the effort. I don't think that I can run a marathon at 7:40 pace, but I do think that I can run a marathon at a pace faster than 9:16 (which was my pace at Missoula). I hope to come out somewhere in between. There's no question that I'm 10x fitter, but I don't want to get my hopes up by posting any unrealistic goals here.

Week 7 In Review

9-6-10
Strength training at NHHR

9-7-10
10 miles (1hr 33mins)
Around New Haven. Felt decent.

9-8-10
Strength training at NHHR. Introduced some assisted, single-legged squats.

9-9-10
9 miles (1hr 9mins)
Guilford after work. One-mile warm-up; seven-mile tempo at 7:23/mile; one-mile cool-down. Felt very strong. Felt a bit of cramping in left hammy toward end of tempo. Didn't hinder the run at all, though. Some side stitches.

9-10-10
9 miles (1hr 23mins)
New Haven after work. Up East Rock park road to Ridge to Whitney via Waite to Davis back down East Rock over to Livingston. Didn't feel as bad as I thought I would after Thursday's 7-mile tempo run.

9-11-10
Strength training at NHHR

9-12-10
16 miles (2hrs 29mins)
Guilford to Madison and back. Seven minutes faster than last time (about one month ago) on same route at same effort. Felt decent given the circumstances. Legs ached toward the end.

Miles: 44 (highest ever to date)
Time: 6hrs 35mins

Tempo runs

Last night, I went to absolute war with an extremely hilly 7-mile tempo run in Guilford. My pace was 7:23. My pace for the overall 9-mile run (which included a 1-mile warm-up and and 1-mile cool-down) was 7:44. I've done three other tempo runs during this buildup so far:

8/19/10: 6 miles at 7:53

8/12/10: 5 miles at 7:54

7/29/10: 4 miles at 7:59

I think that the higher mileage, hip and core stuff that I'm doing is finally starting to bear fruit. My legs feel bullet proof out there (lunges and 1-legged squats?), not to mention that my hips are out in front of me the whole time, and that I can feel my hips and core driving my legs. After all, your core is your transmission, and without a strong one, you fall apart pretty easily.

A couple of notes/observations from last night: It's difficult for me to not get excited on the hills and hammer, as opposed to letting them come to me. It tenses me up pretty good. I need to relax and let the route come to me. Although my legs were burning up on the uphills, that didn't prevent me from flying down the other side of the hill. I got a few side stitches last night--nothing some additional core work can't help. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy about the effort.

City running and stress

I ran 10 miles tonight in New Haven and almost got hit by a car at the intersection of Orange and Trumbull Streets--a very busy one, indeed. The more I run in New Haven, the more stressed out I get. I absolutely loved running in Holyoke this past weekend. It was all off road and relaxing. I wish we had more of that around here. Having to constantly worry about whether you're going to get hit by a car is not fun and takes a lot away from what I love about running. However, running up East Rock tonight was nice. Part of of the park roads are permanently closed to traffic. I really enjoyed the steady climb to 300 ft and then coming back down the other side to Davis Street. Once I came out of the park, it was all intersections and traffic...and people yelling at me. Apparently, I "run like a fag." East Rock is okay, but it's small. You can't put together a longish run on the trails. West Rock is another story. West Rock is on the New Haven/Hamden line, and it offers a 10-mile trail loop, which I've yet to try. I hear, though, that some parts of the park are unsafe. Jessica and I will have to check it out together. Strength in numbers. Thanks for listening to me complain.

Beartown

Karolina and I did a trip to Great Barrington MA this labor day weekend. We left from my parent's house in New Hartford on Saturday morning and returned Monday. We did a 20 mile run in Beartown State Forest on Sunday. Killer hills. Killer. Karolina picked the route not surprisingly. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4022745

About 130 miles of riding in all. Here is the bike route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4020508. Highlights were Bash Bish Falls, riding through the Mount Washington area, and the dirt road down to Salisbury in 14 mins. Riding after run wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Week 6 In Review

8-30-10
Kayaked and swam in Long Pond; drove back from the island.

8-31-10
8 miles (1hr 16mins)
Up East Rock; down Whitney via Spring Garden after work. Legs ached toward the end.

9-1-10
Strength training at NHHR

9-2-10
8 miles (1hr 14mins)
Branford after work. Legs felt better than they did on Tuesday. Still tired, though.


9-3-10
8 miles (1hr 16mins)
Guilford before work. Hillier route than that of Thursday's. Tired.

9-4-10
Strength training at NHHR

9-5-10
9 miles (1hrs 23mins)
Holyoke, MA. Gravel path around Ashley Pond, Wright Pond, and McLean Reservoir. Nice to get off pavement. Used iPhone GPS. It worked very well. Now if only I could get it to work on the trails around here.

Miles: 33
Time: 5hrs 11mins

Recovery week

Monday started the first and only recovery week of my 12-week marathon training plan. It came after running 170 miles in the month of August. I don't think that I've ever run that much in one month. Already having 16 weeks of marathon-specific training under my belt certainly helped me get through it.

I ran 8 miles yesterday as a follow-up to a 20-miler on Sunday. I felt fine through the first half of the run but then started to drag. However, my legs were plenty strong to get me through it on pace. This is the difference between this training and last training.

I developed a pretty nasty blister on my left, big toe (on the inside) on Sunday. It's pretty painful and looks infected. I haven't popped it, but it's tempting. I think that I'm going to leave it be and pray that it heals. For yesterday's run, I covered it with an adhesive bandage. That seemed to keep it from getting worse. On my left, second biggest toe (on the outside), I have the remnants of a blood blister. This is the kind of foot/feet I had dreamed of. Without these blisters, I didn't have anything tangible to show for all the miles I've been running. So, the blisters are a good and (potentially) bad thing.

I've got about 750 miles on my current pair of running shoes. I have two other brand-new, identical pairs, but I'm reluctant to break them out and retire my current pair. I think I'm going to use my current pair until they fall apart. They feel fine and don't cause any new or unusual aches/pains in my feet/legs. But aren't they supposed to? Aren't we supposed to replace our running shoes after every three- to four-hundred miles, so that we won't develop injuries? That's what mainstream running literature prescribes. Can we trust it? For years, I had been buying up shoes pretty regularly in order to ward off the most preventable running injuries (supposed)--those sustained from using old running shoes. I'm not convinced that that's necessary anymore.

Think about the money that mainstream running literature makes for running companies. I suspect that it's usually the novice runner who has never run three-hundred miles, much less using one pair of shoes, that buys the notion that shoes must be replaced pretty regularly. Or, maybe it's all runners who run in a traditional running shoe with a midsole the breaks down relatively quickly, thereby no longer providing optimal cushioning for a foot that has become accustomed to it.

It's one thing if replacing your running shoes every three- to four-hundred miles works and you stay injury-free, but if you don't, you owe it to yourself to make a change. That could mean not replacing your running shoes at all, using less shoe, etc. Prior to the advent of the over-engineered, traditional running shoe, today's most common running injuries did not exist. That should tell you something. The rule of thumb goes like this: If you have flat feet (low arch), then you require a motion-control/stability shoe; if you have a medium arch, then you require equal parts stability and cushioning; if you have a high arch, then you require a neutral shoe with maximum cushioning. But why? Especially given the fact that these requirements are based on the assumption that these foot types cause varying levels of pronation? People with flat feet can have good biomechanics. People with high arches can have bad biomechanics. Some say that, with very few exceptions--usually owing to some congential structural problem, your feet are perfect for you. If that's the case, then why would anyone need any one of the hundreds of different kind of running shoes currently on the market? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Week 5 In Review

8-23-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-24-10
7 miles (1hr 6mins)
Up East Rock; down Whitney after work. No further comments.

8-25-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-26-10
7 miles (59mins)
3x1600 at Wilbur Cross High School track (6:49; 6:55; 6:56)
Legs felt dead 0.5 miles into warmup. Intervals were tough. Strangely, legs felt best during last few minutes of cooldown. I was supposed to do 7:15 miles, but I went a bit faster (unintentionally). These times are much faster than the ones I did a few weeks ago.

8-27-10
7 miles (1hr 5mins)
Up East Rock; down Whitney before work. Legs felt tired but strong. Usually do this route a couple of minutes slower, but exerted same effort and produced slightly faster run. Left for Portland. Late night. Was kind of pissed about missing gym, but I survived.

8-28-10
Portland, ME. Three sets of pushups at hotel. Continued drive from Portland to Seal Cove.

8-29-10
20 miles (3hrs 7mins)
Mount Desert Island in Maine. Started at cottage in Seal Cove: ran south on 120, east on Seal Cove Road (Acadia National Park), north on 120, west on 120, south on 120, east back into Acadia National Park above Hodgdon Pond, and back to the cottage. The route was extremely hilly. Probably the hilliest route I've ever done. It was pretty hot, too. My legs didn't feel great, but I certainly had the endurance. Had at least another gear and some energy left to go farther at the finish. After the run, I wolfed down a big bowl of fruit salad and walked down to Somes Cove (across the dirt road) to swim in the ice cold water. That's the life up there.

Miles: 41
Time: 6hrs 19mins

The Camelbak returns!

After chafing my back raw a couple of months ago in Portland, I decided to give the camelbak a second chance. This time I wore a T-shirt underneath, rather than a tank top, and it worked great!

on another note, Niko the Indefatigable ran 16 miles with Dan yesterday and 18 with me today. he's tired but not tired enough to pass on chasing flies around the living room. I wish I had that kind of energy.

Acadia, ME for a long weekend

Jessica and I are leaving for Acadia, ME, this evening. We plan on stopping over in Portland and continuing the drive to Acadia tomorrow morning. I've got a pretty good 20-miler mapped out for Sunday morning. Check it out here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3993677

TMJD and running

I've been having jaw pain since two Thursdays ago--i.e., coming up on two weeks. The pain started after a tempo run, got better for a day or two and has gotten progressively worse since then. E.g., I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to fit a sandwich into it. It was that painful. I saw my dentist today. He said I have TMJD from clenching my teeth and, possibly, from grinding at night, although he thought it was less from grinding, as I don't have much wear. He wants me to put my tongue between my teeth while I run, so that I won't bite down. An interesting tidbit is that when you chew food you apply 200 to 800 foot pounds of pressure to your teeth. When you sleep or are otherwise engaged in something other than eating (like running), apparently you can apply up to as much as 2,000 ft lbs of pressure. He wanted to give me a prescription drug to relax the tense muscles and guessed that I was 120 pounds. That's because he couldn't see how muscular I was under my clothes. I'm actually 145 to 150. :-D

The toughest 10k I ever ran

As planned, I completed the Litchfield Hills tri today - and had a blast. It was hard, but it was one of the funnest experiences I've had in a long time. The swim was great. I was one of the few participants without a wet suit, but the water wasn't very cold and once you get moving you get warm pretty quick. Apparently, even the short time I had to work on my swimming form really paid off. I finished the swim in 25:41, some 15minutes less than I expected (that's a big difference for a 1.5km swim). Bike ride was also a lot faster than I thought, 1:20:45 (at least 10-20min faster than I expected). The run was a little rough. My legs felt incredibly heavy, especially in the first 10minutes or so, and at the end I got a stitch in my side I couldn't get rid of, so I had to slow down. But, I knew I should be able to do six miles without too much trouble, so I kept running and finished in 47:49, which is still better than I expected (I was expecting 50-55ish). Including both transitions, my total time was 2:39:16 which I still can't believe :)

I'm already getting excited for the next one and I definitely want to try a half ironman next year. Who's in?

oh, and I think I want to get an actual road bike :)

Week 4 In Review

8-16-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-17-10
7 miles (1hr 5mins)
Branford. Felt fine until the end.

8-18-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-19-10
8 miles (1hr 6mins)
1-mile warm-up, 6-mile tempo (7:53/mile), 1-mile cool-down
Guilford: 146 to Sachem's Head. Late. Dark. Lots of hills. Felt amazing. Flying on parts. Best run in a while.

8-20-10
6 miles (55mins)
Guilford after half-day of work. Felt fine.

8-21-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-22-10
18 miles (2hrs 52mins)
Guilford to New Haven. First six were tough, but felt good otherwise. Legs never really fatigued, despite no GU. First time ever finishing an 18-mile training run out of three attempts. Got caught in a torrential downpour in East Haven. No lightening, though. It looked like it for a while. Cooler temperatures make a big difference. It took only 1 Nalgene before I had to pee again, not 7.

Miles: 39
Time: 6hrs

Pre-workout report

Tonight's the big night, folks. Well, not really. I've just always wanted to say that. Although, it is kind of a big night. Jessica and I are doing a 6-mile tempo run, plus 1-mile warm-up/1-mile cool-down. The big event will take place in Guilford, CT. We're going to run out on 146 to Sachem's Head. It's a nice shore run. Last time we ran out that way (we, as in Jessica), we encountered two very large bucks and a skunk. The skunk was much more frightening than the deer. I'd rather be spooked by a couple of deer with big antlers than sprayed by a smelly skunk. Anyway, it'd be nice to run into something like these animals again tonight, as it gives the run a little bit more excitement than it otherwise would have. Running tempo can be exciting, though, so maybe a run in with an animal or two won't be necessary. Jessica doesn't get out of work until 7 (more likely half past), and then we have to drive all the way to Guilford, so by the time we finish tonight, it most likely will be dark. That's O.K., though, as I welcome the adrenaline rush. In an ideal world, I won't be too sore after this run, and it will be relatively easy. Last week, I didn't recover fully from my tempo run for my long-run and paid slightly in pace. No big deal, but it would have been nice to hit my long-run pace. After all, the marathon is a "long-run," and that's what I'm training for. We'll see how it all plays out. Usually, I like to write in paragraphs, but it's so much easier to just write in one big block. There's a lot less thinking involved. I'd rather think about running than grammar and formatting; however, it's usually the latter that gets me every time. Not this time, though. Or, maybe, since I felt the need to mention it in the first place.

In any event (this warrants a new paragraph), happy running, be well, and safe journey. Cheers.

OH, I almost forgot..If I run well tonight (i.e., tonight after the run, regardless), I plan on enjoying a nice porter with a leftover lentil/quinoa burger. I took my first shot at a homemade lentil burger last night. I screwed up the first batch pretty bad by adding water to the mixture. Poorly written recipe. The second batch came out pretty good, although the spices are a little bit off. Only cumin and coriander? Next time, I'm going to try a different mix. Anyway, they came out well enough to plan on eating them again for dinner tonight. I guess that's all that really matters.

Coventry Tri

Dan and I did the weekly Coventry tri today. He wasn't into all the silliness so much (it took a while to convince him he needed a number on his arm), but it was still a nice workout, so I hope he won't object to me summing it up here.

ca. 5mi bike to Coventry lake, 0.5mi swim (give or take), 5mi ride back, 4mi run with lots of great hills. Sure, our transition times were abysmal but why not interleave a workout with some good chit chat, right?

oh and I think my swimming form is actually improving! yay :)

got my final race instructions and I'm getting a bit nervous about Sunday already. I think I'm quite likely to break the drafting rules, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. Three bike lengths between me and the person in front of me. How the hell am I supposed to tell how far that is? My ability to estimate distance is practically nonexistent. Oh well... we'll see Sunday.

Blog, eh?

OK, Dan says I should blog here, so here I am.

We just ran 20mi at Mansfield Hollow and it was as fun as ever, especially for Niko. I'm going to take a little break from running now, maybe except for a couple short easy runs, because my triathlon is next Sunday and I need this stupid knot in my left calf to go away. In case you're wondering, running 5 miles in the Fivefingers without easing into it is not such a great idea.

I got some good advice regarding my pathetically inefficient crawl stroke, so I'm going to practice a bit this week. I should probably clean/lube my bike, take off the rack and install the tube protector on the rear wheel. Most likely though, I will just lube the chain and ride with the rack and my fingers crossed for no broken glass on the course. Laziness is a horrible illness.

On the biking side of things, I ran over a woodchuck on Thursday; completely flattened it I thought but then it got up and ran away. These animals aren't very smart. If I had killed it, I probably would have given up biking and become a hermit. Now, it may have sustained some internal injuries, but I keep telling myself that it didn't that me and my bike are light enough and a woodchuck that size (it was giant by the way) has enough fat and fur to protect him. I haven't seen him since, but maybe he's on vacation or moved to British Columbia.

so that's about it. oh, i ran a 6:20 mile the other day on the track, which I thought was good enough to justify a big chocolate cookie. Because I never thought I could run a mile under 7 minutes and because the convenience store that sells ABC vegan cookies is right across the street from the track. So there.

Week 3 In Review

8-9-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-10-10
7 miles (1hr 6mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work.

8-11-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-12-10
7 miles (57mins)
1-mile warm-up, 5-mile tempo (7:54/mile), 1-mile cool-down
Branford. Felt ok.

8-13-10
6 miles (56mins)
Up east rock, down whitney via davis during lunch break. Felt decent until the end.

8-14-10
Strength training at NHHR
No energy. Squats, lunges, hips, and upper body stuff.

8-15-10
16 miles (2hrs 36mins)
Out to Madison and back. Painfully slow. Legs had no pop. Dragged feet the whole time. Did too much leg stuff at gym this week. Thinking about doing less next week. Less on the three days I go? Or less days?

Miles: 36
Time: 5hrs 36mins

Week 2 In Review

8/2/10
Strength training at NHHR.

8/3/10
7 miles (1hr 6mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work.

8/4/10
Strength training at NHHR.

8/5/10
6 miles (53mins)
First ever track workout. Loved it. 1.5-mile warm up, including 1-mile from jess's apt. to wilbur cross high school track in east rock and two laps around track; 1-mile interval (7:25); half-mile jog; 1-mile interval (7:11); 2-mile cool down (one mile on track; 1 mile back to jess's apt.)

8/6/10
7 miles (1hr 4mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work. Pushed it a bit on whitney (unintentionally).

8/7/10
Strength training at NHHR. Didn't work legs as hard.

8/8/10
14 miles (2hrs 10mins)
Two east rock/whitney loops sans GU. Carried water bottle. Heat started getting to me after about 12. Negative loops, nonetheless.

Miles: 34
TIme: 5hrs 15mins

GMM Training Plan

This is my training plan for the Green Mountain Marathon in October. I'm posting it here in the hopes that some of our long runs will coincide. It'd be nice to do long runs as a group.

The dates are screwed up, so pay no attention to them. I'm currently in the second week of training. I wanted a more challenging plan for this marathon, so I'll be peaking at 50 miles (as opposed to 40) and doing quality workouts (tempo runs and speedwork every Thursday). So far, I like running four days/week (as opposed to five), because it allows me to fully recover and strength train.

Week 1 In Review

Monday, July 26
strength training at NHHR.

Tuesday, July 27
7 miles (1hr 4mins)
up east rock, down whitney during lunch break.

Wednesday, July 28
strength training at NHHR.

Thursday, July 29
6 miles (49mins)
1 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo (7:59/mile), 1 mile cool down
right hamstring giving me a bit of trouble late in tempo, but otherwise felt good.

Friday, July 30
6 miles (59mins)
up east rock, down prospect after work. easy does it.

Saturday, July 31
strength training at NHHR.

Sunday, August 1
12 miles (1hr 49mins)
legs a bit tired from yesterday. carried new water bottle for first time. worked well, but hand seemed to make water warm--not very refreshing, but i guess water's water.

Miles: 31
Time: 4hrs 43mins

Sunday Long Run

Good run today. I did a little over 16 miles,mostly pavement, though I did cut through a couple town parks with trails. Pretty hilly. First 8-9 miles with Niko and then I did the rest myself. Nice cool weather-70s, low humidity- makes a huge difference. I carried a bottle of water with me, which is a practice I am going to make the norm. No GU. All natural.

Oct Marathon Training Schedule

Here is my training schedule for the VT marathon in October. 3 days/week with peak weekly mileage 30-35 miles. I don't pay much attention to the times the RW calculator spits out, just the distance and type of run.

If this gets me a 3:30 in VT I'll be happy. I'd like to use this as a build up to doing more mileage, and then do another marathon in January. I found that my fastest marathon time came when I didn't take much of a break between marathons. Gotta keep building up the strength and mileage.

Hartford training v. Missoula training

Strength Training

I went to the gym last night for the first time in months (maybe years) and did some strength training. I'm still undecided as to whether to join. I started with a bunch of core muscle exercises and push ups and then moved to the machines/weights. I did leg presses, hip abductions/adductions, and leg curls. I also did seated rows, chest presses, and arm curls. I have no idea whether any of this will benefit my running, but I assume that it cannot hurt it. I've got a weak upper body, hips, posterior muscles (anterior/posterior-muscle imbalance).

Photos from Missoula Marathon

From left to right: Ryan, Kristyn, Jessica


Somewhere along the course.


Notice the bloody, left nipple.

Missoula Marathon Race Report

We arrived in Missoula on Friday afternoon after detouring to pick up Kristyn at the airport in Helena. Before checking into our hotel, we explored Missoula. Naturally, our first stop was Runner's Edge, which is owned by the person who started the Missoula Marathon four years ago. We met several nice people there. Jessica and Kristyn bought some new apparel for the race. We then got coffee (not me) at Liquid Planet and food at Mackenzie River Pizza.

After Jessica's and Kristyn's run on Saturday morning, we went to the race expo, where we picked up our race packets and posters ($5 each). While the race t-shirts are pretty sweet, I'm not sure why they decided to print them on black t-shirts. The expo was outside, and it was hot. Then it started to rain. We took cover for a few minutes and then caught the tail end of the farmer's market across the way. We bought some snap peas. Overall, the expo was pretty good in that it was small, but there wasn't much in the way of free stuff. Despite the small expo, I think we did too much walking around on Saturday, as we walked not only around the expo but to it from the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was wiped out. I wasn't feeling well, so I took a nap. When I woke up, I still wasn't feeling well. I thought I was coming down with the flu. Nerves? After eating (we had a cookout in the parking lot of the hotel), I started to feel better.

We woke up at 3:45/am on Sunday morning. I had a bowl of oatmeal with fruit for breakfast. By 4:15/am, we were out the door, on our way to the bus stop. Runners were bussed from Missoula to Frenchtown, where the marathon started, starting at 4/am. The bus ride was 20 minutes long. When we got to Frenchtown, it was still dark out. It was in the 50s (perhaps colder?). When the cannon boomed at 6/am, the sun had started to come up. The first 8 or 9 miles were straight and flat on a country road with mountains in the distance. There was a 200-foot climb at mile 14, which was kind of nice to break up the monotony of running straight, flat roads. After coming down the other side of the hill, the course made it's way through neighborhoods and then finally back into Missoula. The finish was downtown after running over a bridge. There wasn't much in the way of crowd support (only at the very end). I took water at all 17 aid stations. I took GU at 0:45, 1:30, 2:15, and 3:00. The first one definitely worked. I'm not sure about the other three, though.

I ran pretty conservatively. The first 10K were just as difficult as the last. I couldn't find a rhythm. I finally found one at mile 8 or 9. Then I settled in. My legs felt pretty good through about 20 miles. The last few were the most difficult of the race. I got a cramp in my right leg with a half mile to go. I stopped for 5 seconds, stretched it out, and ran as fast as I could to the finish. The finish was awesome. I loved running over the bridge, being cheered on by so many people. It was a great experience.

Jessica finished in 3:33 (BQ). She placed fourth in her division. Based on her time slip, she was third. We never figured out why that was. Where the results were posted, there were two keypads attached to two computers. Punching your bib number into a keypad produced a slip of paper with your time, place, etc. on it. I had never seen that before. Pretty nifty. Kristyn finished in 3:42 or 3:43 (on no marathon-specific training). I finished in 4:02.

After the race, we drank, ate, and got our (free) pictures taken. Each runner was entitled to one free picture. We got a total of four pictures taken. As you can probably imagine, the line for the free pictures was long. Even though Kristyn didn't register for the race, she got a free picture (and medal and bandana after crossing the finish line), too. Regardless of whether they knew, Missoula really is a great marathon. Jessica and I paid $25 each for our pictures. We're still waiting for our codes so that we can download them. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for the pictures online, we get them all (15-20 electronic pictures each) for $25.

Good Luck Jess and Ryan!

Couple days to go to Missoula Marathon. Good luck! Looks like the weather will be tolerable.

Mount Desert Island Marathon

I was just on MDI Marathon's website and learned that registration for the marathon is now CLOSED! Wow! Guess that changes my fall plans. Any ideas?

Tapering for the Missoula Marathon

Last week began the first of three weeks of tapering for the Missoula Marathon. I went from 40 miles (peak) to 30 miles last week. I plan to do about 23 this week, including a 10-or 11-mile long-run on Saturday. Yesterday started the second of three weeks of tapering. I did 5 and change. I felt good through the first few miles but then tuckered out. Perhaps it was the heat. Perhaps it was the fact that I was coming off two days of rest, something I had not experienced in months. After the marathon, I plan to post a comparison of this buildup vs. my buildup for the Hartford Marathon in 2007. Here's a peak: my weight as of yesterday is more or less the same. I was 145 in 2007 and 148 yesterday. I ran at an 8:32 pace in 2007 and 8:24 yesterday. One of the big challenges this time around has been getting my upper body through the latter miles of long-runs. I haven't done any pushups or core workouts. In 2007, I was religious about that. After Missoula, I plan to incorporate pushups and core workouts into my training for the Mount Desert Island Marathon. While I don't plan to run a fast marathon on the MDI course, there's certainly room to become an overall stronger runner.

The Western States Endurance Run

Check out this article--written by Anton Krupicka himself--detailing Krupicka's training for The Western States Endurance Run, which was held this weekend. His training paid off. He covered the course in 15:13:52.1--9:07/mile--faster than every time ever run on the course, except for one--the time run by Geoff Roes, who finished only a few minutes before him in a new course record of 15 hours, 7 minutes, 4.5 seconds. That's 9:03/mile for 100 miles! Here's what Roes had to say about the race:

"It just really started to flow," said Roes, who has won all seven 100-mile races he has entered. "This is my third 100 where somewhere around (Mile) 70 or 75 it just started to feel good. I warmed up finally, I guess."

Trees/plants

My Jade cutting from late last summer (2009) has finally started to grow. The fourth level is new as of about a month ago. The plant grew very little in a pot in which it was originally planted. About a two months ago, when I transplated the Jade from the pot to a container of water, I found that it had hardly taken root. There was only one very small root poking out of one side of the stem. Since being in a container of water, however, the plant has grown roots and now appears ready for a pot.


My mother planted this California avocado tree for me. It has done quite well, as you can see.


I started this Hass avocado tree about two months ago. I recently cut it back from 6 or 7 inches (it had leafed at about 6 inches) to three inches to encourage bushiness. I plan on cutting it back to 6 inches when it reaches 12 inches. Once it leafs again, I'll plant it in a pot and watch it grow.

Birds

After work on Monday, I sat in the park on Grove and Temple Streets and watched birds. Unfortunately, the only bird I saw was a House Sparrow. I made friends with this one:

During my run yesterday, I ran by this dead bird on the side of the road. Come to find out, it's a Chukar--a bird introduced from the Middle East for hunting purposes. What in the world was a dead Chukar doing on Whitfield Street in Guilford?

Poison Ivy

After Saturday's run at Mansfield Hollow State Park, Jessica came down with a pretty severe case of poison ivy. Here's a taste:

Trail Running Benefits

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19733

Y'all see this article? They didn't mention anything about the problem of poison ivy though.

20-miler

I did my second longest run ever (in terms of time) on Saturday at Mansfield Hollow State Park. Jessica, Dan, Karolina, and Niko joined me for the first 10ish (out-and-back to the dam). I ran with Jessica, Karolina, and Niko for the first 5-mile trail loop and by myself for the second. My legs felt decent until the last 5-mile loop. I did not do a good job of hydrating on the run. It's been tricky this time around, as it was unseasonbly warm this spring. Last time around, I carried a hydration pack, which worked very well, except that it was cumbersome for running.

After the 20-miler, we went swimming in the river. It was cold, and I was the last one to jump in. When I jumped in, Niko jumped on my head and bloodied and bruised my right eye.

Yesterday, I did a short recovery run at Northwoods in North Guilford. Jessica joined me and then did a few more miles on the roads. We ran the blue/orange alternative trail to Bluff Head but didn't make it to Bluff Head, as I missed a sharp right-hand turn. We wound up continuing northwest and onto some roads until turning around at roughly 15 minutes into the run. The difficulty of the blue/orange trail varies, but whether Northwoods as a whole is runnable remains to be seen.

Altitude

If I--as a runner who has never run at altitude before--was told that it would take the better part of two weeks to recover from running 10 miles (6 of which were at 10K race pace) at 5,000-plus feet, I would have responded, "no way." I also would have been wrong. It's not the lack of oxygen in the air, but the lower barometric pressure, that causes the beneficial effects--or, in my case, a large buildup of lactic acid--of running at altitude. I've learned that no matter the elevation, the air we breathe always contains 20% oxygen. It's the barometric pressure that varies. The higher up you go, the less pressure there is. The less pressure there is, the less oxygen there is in your blood...

I didn't seem to notice much of a difference in my performance at 5,000-plus feet. It wasn't until I ran again at sea-level when I began to notice a difference in my performance. My legs would literally not go. I had a very difficult time last week and even this week through Thursday. I'm not sure how coming up short on my 18-mile long run will affect my marathon performance, but judging by this week's long run of 15 and change, I would say that it will not affect it at all.

Week 11

Week 11 started on Monday (a day earlier than normal) at the Bolder Boulder 10K in Boulder, CO. My legs felt good for having run 16 miles two days before the race and a short recovery run the day before the race. Tuesday was a travel day--three flights from Denver, to Dallas, to Washington, D.C., to. Hartford/Springfield. I did four and change on Wednesday and six and change on Thursday. Both runs were difficult. Friday was a rest day. And then came Saturday. I had 17 and change mapped out but could only do 15 and change. I wanted to stop several miles before I actually did. My legs felt like lead, I was nauseous at times, and I was dehydrated. This same kind of thing happened in 2007, while training for the Hartford Marathon. During Week 11 of that buildup, I ran my fastest 5K the day before my long run. I had 18 mapped out but could only do 17. Racing during big weeks seems to be the culprit. Not to mention, I could have gotten more sleep and eaten better. Run and learn.

I was feeling pretty bad on Saturday and Sunday about not being able to finish my long run. However, a decent recovery run on Sunday made me feel better and gave me a confidence boost. I'm optimistic about Week 12.

Sunday Long Runs

Karolina, Niko, and I did 15 miles today at Mansfield Hollow. Jon and Diego joined us for the first 5. It was hot and humid, but we had a good time. Lots of swim breaks for Niko. We plan to make a habit of the Sunday long runs.

Ryan, word on the street is you and Jess ran the Boulder 10K? Can we get a report on how that was? Pictures?

Bolder Boulder

Early this morning, we arrived back in Connecticut from a trip to Boulder, CO. On Memorial Day, in Boulder, we ran the Bolder Boulder 10K. Fifty-thousand some-odd runners were expected, starting in 34 waves, 23 of which were qualifying waves. We qualified, by submitting recent race times, for the 12th wave. We were late to the start, as there was traffic from construction, but able to start in a later wave. (Runners were permitted to start in a later, but not earlier, wave.) Despite starting in a later wave (with slower runners--not that I'm fast), we were able to run without tripping over other runners, which I did a lot of at the Manchester Road Race (the only other big race I've done) two years ago. I was shocked at how well-organized the race was. Dr. Oz was at the start. Ryan Hall was in town, too. However, we didn't get to see Ryan. We learned at the expo the day before the race that he would be at Folsom Stadium, in which the race finished. Running into the packed stadium for the last few hundred yards was such an adrenaline rush. I highly recommend this 10K. It's not billed America's best 10K for nothing.

For having run 16 miles two days before the race, I'm happy with my time of 48:37. In fact, it's my 10K PR. Despite running 21 miles at 5,000 some-odd feet through Boulder (I biked it), Jess beat me by about a minute. Pictures from Jess' long-run can be seen embedded in the text above. The picture on the left was taken on S. Cherryvale Road. The picture on the righ was taken on the path that runs along S. Boulder Road.

My race photos can be seen here: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61703&BIB=DA506&S=230&PWD=

Jess' here: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61703&BIB=DA509&LNSEARCH=1&PWD=

On Memorial Day, after the race, we took a ride up to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Rockies were snow-covered and impressive. My new favorite animal is the Rocky Mountain Elk, although they seemed to be quite a nuisance.

10th week of marathon training

Tonight starts my 10th week of marathon training for the Missoula Marathon, which is on July 11th in Missoula, MT. Last year, while training for the San Francisco Marathon (which I registered for), I became sick with a tick-borne disease and was forced to stop training during week 9. Given last year's setback, completing week 9 this year felt like a huge accomplishment.

After reading the FAQ section of the Missoula Marathon's website and finding out that Missoula Marathon registrations can be transferred from one year to another in the event of extraordinary circumstances, I wrote the San Francisco marathon and explained to them what happened to me last year. A few days later, I received an email from the marathon stating that, in keeping with the "industry standard," it's the policy of the marathon to not allow the transferring of registrations from one year to another, but that, given my illness, the marathon would make an exception for me and allow me to run the 2010 San Francisco Marathon. Unfortunately, the San Francisco Marathon is only a few weeks after the Missoula Marathon and, also, a few thousand miles away. I haven't yet responded to the marathon about its offer, but I plan to decline it.

Week 6 long run

Who: Jessica Borsotti, Ryan Lamanna, and Jared Lamanna

What: Long-run

Where: Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted, CT

Why: N/A

When: May 1, 2010 @ approximately 4/pm

(Temperature: 80+ degrees)

Jess did 18 and change; I did 11 and change. Jared hung for the first few miles and then was left in the dust. He did four and then biked the rest of the way. After running 11, I met Jared, drank some water, ate a banana, and hopped on my bike--with a quarter of a Nalgene full of water--in pursuit of Jess. On my way up the hill, I dropped the Nalgene, and within seconds the water had spilled from the Nalgene and begun running down the hill. My bad. I collected my water bottle and continued up the hill and onto Route 44. I don't know if any of you readers know Old North Road off of Route 44, but that was, I believe, the 13th (and the 14th?) mile of Jessica's long-run. I tried biking up Old North Road, but I had to stop and walk to the top. It was brutal. At the top, I hopped back on my bike and sped down the road. Finally, I saw Jessica up ahead, and when I caught her, she said: "There you are. What took you so long? I need water." I said: "I don't have any water." She said...What she said cannot be published here, due to its explicit nature. Despite my dropping the ball (no pun intended), she ploughed ahead. A few lots down from where I caught up with Jessica was a house, attached to which was an open garage, in which was a man who clearly had had one too many beers. I pulled into the driveway, placed my bike on the driveway, walked into the open garage, and begged for water. The man kindly threw me an iced cold bottle of water from his mini refrigerator and then went inside and filled up my Nalgene with ice and water. I thanked him, hopped back on my bike once again, and sped down the road. When I caught up with Jessica again, she took the bottle of water and was tempted to chug the whole thing. Instead, she sipped it every few minutes and finished--with plenty in the tank--what proved to be a very, very difficult 18-mile route. Yay!

Day after 16-mile long-run, Jess Borsotti triumphs at 4th annual A Community Racing for Research 5K

After a 16-mile long-run on Saturday, Jess won the 4th annual A Community Racing for Research 5K in 21 minutes flat yesterday. Results.

It was warm (in the 70s) for our long-run on Saturday in South Hadley, MA. Jess did 16, and I did the first 10, biking the last six. I secured my bike behind a group of trees, and coincidentally, at the bottom of a steep, half-mile hill. Before switching to my bike, I bathed in, and sipped from, a nearby stream. I tried to keep this a secret from Jess, but my wet hair was a giveaway. And then I continued to rub it in. Oh, well.

Boston Marathon 2010

Instead of streaming the 114th running of the Boston Marathon from a computer, Jessica and I decided to go to Boston to watch the marathon in person. We "started at the finish line" on Boylston Street. We watched the elites on TV at Whiskey's and then moved outside onto Boylston Street to watch them finish, along with scores of other runners, including Jessica's friends Kristyn (3:29:23) and Elaina (3:29:01). Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won in 2:05:52--a new course record! Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi took fourth and fifth places, respectively. Hall set a new course record for an American (2:08:41--59 seconds faster than his time last year).

Jim2

During my 8th week of marathon training, building up for the 2007 Hartford Marathon, I ran a 6:52/mile 5K. I was shocked, given that my previous 5K PR was just shy of 8:00/mile, and that I hadn't ever done any speedwork. I was just logging plain, old miles, all of which were about 10:00/mile. I wanted to know how this could be, so I posted, back in August 2007, the following on one of Runners World's forums and received a thorough and helpful analysis by Jim2, which can be seen HERE.

Jim2 recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. See article here.

Marathon training -- week 3

Jessica and I are training for the Missoula Marathon, which is on July 11th in Missoula, Montana. We are following different marathon training plans, but we do our long runs on the same day. Jessica's long runs have been longer than mine thus far, and to ensure that she's hitting her splits, I've paced her through the first miles of her long runs (my long runs). Ha! It's very rare that I'm not running 30 to 50 yards back of Jessica. Even in that position, I'm pushing it.

I did nine today; Jessica did 14 and change, her longest run ever to date. She ran it at an 8:03 pace, and she said that she felt great, maybe her best since beginning training. I went out too hard today and, therefore, had little left in the tank for the hills in the later miles. I ran negative splits last weekend over a truncated version of today's long-run route and felt much stronger on the hills than I did on the hills today. Controlling the pace in the early miles is key.

I knew that Jessica was feeling good today, because she looked strong on the hills, cruising right up them. She had some doubts going into today's long run, as this week will be a tough week--48 miles--the most she's done in three or four years, but she wound up having a solid run.

Thirteen more weeks to go.

Missoula Marathon training

I plan to start training for the Missoula Marathon on March 22nd, 16 weeks out from the marathon. I didn't want to post on this until after my appointment with Dr. Reach (my foot and ankle surgeon) yesterday. I saw Dr. Reach yesterday for the first time since my only post-op appointment following my surgery to remove a titanium implant from my left foot. He was surprised to see me. He said, "you're not here for my foot, are you?" He considers my left foot his foot. I wasn't. I was there for my other foot. I thought I had injured it in the same way I had injured my left foot, and I wanted to confirm with him that I hadn't injured my left foot, so that I could start training for this marathon. He did an ultrasound on my foot and was able to say with 95% certainty that I do not have a similiar ligament tear in my left foot, just some attenuation of the ligament. Something has been off with this foot for several months now. I didn't know this before yesterday, but the head of the talus (the top part of the foot) slipped out due to the weakening of the ligament and posterior tib tendon. It causes excessive pronation and a feeling as if I'm not "on top of my foot," as I like to put it. The remedy, he thinks, is to do posterior tib tendon strengthening exercises, so that's what I'm going to do.

Excerpt from "Born to Run"

"Humans are among the most communal and cooperative of all primates; our sole defense in a fang-filled world was our solidarity, and there's no reason to think we suddenly disbanded during our most crucial challenge, the hunt for food...

"'But there's a problem,' Dr. Bramble said. He tapped his forehead. 'And it's right up here.' Our greatest talent, he explained, also created the monster that could destroy us. 'Unlike any other organism in history, humans have a mind-body conflict: we have a body built for performance, but a brain that's always looking for efficiency.' We live or die by our endurance, but remember: endurance is all about conserving energy, and that's the brain's department. 'The reason some people use their genetic gift for running and others don't is because the brain is a bargain shopper.'"

"For millions of years, we lived in a world without cops, cabs, or Domino's Pizza; we relied on our legs for safety, food, and transportation, and it wasn't as if you could count on one job ending before the next one began. Look at []Nate's wild hunt with Louis; []Nate sure wasn't planning on a fast 10k immediately after a half-day hike and a high-speed hunt, but he still found the reserve energy to save Louis's life. Nor could his ancestors ever be sure that they wouldn't become food right after catching some; the antelope they'd chased since dawn could attract fiercer animals, forcing the hunters to drop lunch and run for their lives. The only way to survive was to leave something in the tank--and that's where the brain comes in."

"'The brain is always scheming to reduce costs, get more for less, store energy and have it ready for an emergency,' Bramble explained. 'You've got this fancy machine, and it's controlled by a pilot who's thinking, "Okay, how can I run this baby without using any fuel?" You and I know how good running feels because we've made a habit of it.' But lose the habit, and the loudest voice in your ear is your ancient survival instinct urging you to relax. And there's the bitter irony: our fantastic endurance gave our brain the food it needed to grow, and now our brain is undermining our endurance."

"'We live in a culture that sees extreme exercise as crazy,' Dr. Bramble says, 'because that's what our brain tells us: why fire up the machine if you don't' have to?'"

"To be fair, our brain knew what it was talking about for 99 percent of our history; sitting around was a luxury, so when you had the chance to rest and recover, you grabbed it. Only recently have we come up with the technology to turn lazing around into a way of life; we've taken our sinewy, durable, hunter-gatherer bodies and plunked them into an artificial world of leisure. And what happens when you drop a life-form into an alien environment? NASA scientists wondered the same thing before the first space flights. The human body had been built to thrive under the pressure of gravity, so maybe taking away that pressure would act as an escape-trajectory Fountain of Youth, leaving the astronauts feeling stronger, smarter, and healthier. After all, every calorie they ate would now go toward feeding their brains and bodies, instead of pushing up against that relentless downward pull--right?"

"Not by a long shot; by the time the astronauts returned to earth, they'd aged decades in a matter of days. Their bones were weaker and their muscles had atrophied; they had insomnia, depression, acute fatigue, and listlessness. Even their taste buds had decayed. If you've ever spent a long weekend watching TV on the sofa, you know the feeling, because down here on earth, we've created our own zero-gravity bubble; we've taken away the jobs our bodies were meant to do, and we're paying for it. Nearly every top killer in the Western world--heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, hypertension, and a dozen forms of cancer--was unknown to our ancestors. They didn't have medicine, but they did have a magic bullet--or maybe two, judging by the number of digits Dr. Bramble was holding up."

"'You could literally halt epidemics in their tracks with this one remedy' he said. He flashed two fingers up in a peace sign, then slowly rotated them downward till they were scissoring through space. The Running Man."

"'So simple,' he said. 'Just move your legs. Because if you don't think you were born to run, you're not only denying history. You're denying who you are.'"

New Haven running

The night I ran into a branch and nearly poked my eye out. Yyyouch.

Route

Barefooting around an indoor track

It was wayyy too cold on Saturday morning to run, so Jessica and I went to an indoor track in North Haven. 1 lap = 1/13 of a mile. I ran a couple of miles in socks only. My feet and lower legs are still pretty sore, especially the bottoms of my feet from the friction. I never get this soreness running in Nike Frees. Hmmm. False advertisement?

Damn, it's cold and windy out there

I went running in the dark, cold, windy night last night in Guilford. Tonight will be a repeat of last night, only the run will be in New Haven. The wind wasn't too bad around the green, but once I got to the fairgrounds, the wind was brutal. I still don't have any reflective running apparel/gear, even after a "train" friend told me that her husband told her to tell me that he almost hit me running up the yellow stripes on Whitfield.

Compelling research and interesting feedback on barefoot running

Research

Feedback

More on the Missoula Marathon

On my way out to Seattle last summer, I stopped at a Starbucks in Missoula, MT, for breakfast and coffee. I ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was really there for only the coffee. It was early, and it was cold--really cold for July. Anyway, ironically, the marathon begins at Higgins and Front Streets, only a few blocks away from the aforementioned Starbucks. That downtown area is beautiful. Most striking about the city were the surrounding mountains and the preferred mode of transportation--bicycle! As I recall, it was a workday, and everyone--I mean everyone--was commuting by bike--like nothing you've ever seen before. I didn't want to leave, and that's why I'm going back!

Black bean burgers and guacamole

Jessica and I took a road trip to South Salem, NY, to buy a bottle of wine yesterday. Success! We also stumbled upon a cool produce store that was sampling about a gazillion obscure fruits. We wound up buying some assorted olives, a ginger dressing, soap, and a candle.

After running a few miles in the rain last night, we made from scratch black bean burgers and guacamole. Both came out great. The black bean burger recipe called for eight patties, but we only made four. They turned out to be too thick, but they stayed between the bread nice nice.

I've been eating like a pig lately (quality food but a ton of it). Over the last few months of 2009, I lost about six pounds, as I was under a ton of stress, etc. My running really suffered. I'm now slowly but surely gaining back the weight. I hope to be back to an optimal weight soon so that I can begin ramping up my running.