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?
6.06.2010
6.02.2010
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.
5.25.2010
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.
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.
5.03.2010
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!
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!
4.26.2010
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.
4.22.2010
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).
4.13.2010
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.
Jim2 recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. See article here.
4.10.2010
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.
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.
3.05.2010
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.
2.04.2010
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.'"
"'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.'"
2.02.2010
2.01.2010
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?
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