Surprisingly Good Run

Long day at work today, with a couple of interviews late in the day. Which means I was ready for a run to get out and stretch out and leave the cares of the day in the dust. Ye olde training planne called for 6 miles of hills, and that's what I did. I was a little afraid that my legs would be tired but I think the pent-up energy of the day translated into a really good run. By the time I was two miles in I was running 9-minute miles, and kept up that pace for most of the run. The air was cooler and the sun was going down, factors which no doubt contributed to a little bit faster tempo.

Since I was thinking about what I ate for lunch Monday and how that run went, I should note that today I had both chili and pasta. At work we had a chili contest, and I was one of the judges. Of course after that I had to partake of the winner of the spicy category. I had also brought a small bowl of leftovers from last night, which was a pasta dish with tomato sauce and turkey sausage. I probably ate too much, but it was all so tasty. Add in a jalapeno cornbread muffin and an apple and it seems downright gluttonous. I'm just going to say I got in my carbs and protein and leave it at that. It's not like I do that every day.

Monday in Autumn

Is it officially autumn yet? I could look it up but the only research I do for this blog involves running. It felt like the beginning of autumn today. That sun has the lower in the sky feel, I felt a little chill when the sun went behind a cloud, and a bee got underneath my shirt. Wait, what? Yes, I was wearing a sleeveless top and a bee flew into the left arm hole and was walking across my chest. I felt it more than saw it fly in, and then when I felt to see if there was something there, there was. Naturally I reached up and pinched it, killing the intruder quickly, and fumbled with it to get it out of my shirt. When it fell on the sidewalk I realized it was a bee, and just because I'm this way, I stepped on it out of spite to ensure its demise.

That was the extent of the excitement. Unless you count having to stop and wait for six cars to pass so I could use the crosswalk. Because after all, crosswalks don't mean anything these days. The whole 6 miles went easily and I felt okay but not great. The legs were a little leaden but not overly. Lack of something in my diet? I don't know, I had leftover smoked ribs, beans, and chili cheese Fritos for lunch. Maybe it was just the joy of work bleeding over into my running. Sad to say I'm not expecting a great week at work, but I am expecting a great week of running. Hopefully I'm wrong on one of those - the former would be my choice.

Back in the Saddle

After a bunch of stuff going on this past week and not a single run, I was able to get in a long run today. Between baseball games and people in town for meetings I figured it would be less stressful if I didn't try to squeeze in running, too. And after last week's debacle and race entry postponement, it was actually nice to have a week off. Ask me right now and I think it's good to have some time off once in a while, but ask me in the middle of training and I'll disagree, especially when racing is at hand.

I definitely felt fresher today when I started running, as if my legs had been replaced with newer versions. I ran 10 miles, and the other great thing was the mental part of it. I never felt like stopping to walk like I have most of the more recent runs. The weather was certainly a help as the temperature was in the 60's and the humidity was lower. This is what I've been waiting for.

I need to retool the training plan in order to hit the Memphis date. I thought for a brief second about just doing a couple more half-marathons this year and calling it good, but then realized I've run a full every year starting with 2007 and I don't want to break the string. Not that it's a long string at this point, but I'd like to keep it going. Really, I don't want to get to be 80 years old and say that I've run at least one marathon every year for the past 40 except for that darn year in 2010 where I was a pansy and decided not to run one. I have over two months of cooler weather in which to train, so I think it's a good idea to keep going. Besides, it's Memphis - a great cause, ribs, music, etc. Who wants to miss that?

The Virtual Running Club Decides

Today was supposed to be a major step toward the marathon in about five weeks, an 18-miler. I woke up very early and once again ran the first half in dark and the beginning dawn. And then for some reason it all fell to pieces. Well, the main reason that I'm blaming is the humidity. Once again I could tell before a mile was under my shoes that the humidity was way up, and it was about 85%. The temperature wasn't bad, but humidity kills. When I'm brushing sweat out of my hair in the first mile I know it's going to be tough. I hydrated pretty well, I thought, following the same plan as last week. Unfortunately that just wasn't good enough. As added insult I ended up with a few nice blisters, including a big one on the underside of my right pinky toe. That happens so rarely that it just bugs me that much worse when it does.

The Boy had a practice game today, so on my way home I called my Virtual Running Club members. Well, the other member. He said his run had not gone well, either, and that he had topped out at 13 miles. I laughed and told him I'd won, then, because I ran 13.1. Yes, my goal once I decided to quit early was to get in a half-marathon, and that's what I did. As we talked neither of us felt good about our training thus far and what's still to come before the Des Moines Marathon. I remarked that maybe the day both of us had bad runs was maybe not the day to make a decision, but after some more discussion we decided to regroup and focus on the Memphis Marathon in December. I'm going to revise our training plan and hope that things get better as autumn kicks into gear. I think I'll put the Kansas City Half Marathon into the plan, especially since that's the weekend I would have gone to Des Moines.

I'll admit I'm a little disappointed, but also a little relieved. The stress of trying to fit in quality runs, especially in the next 2-3 weeks, was going to be a bit much. Plus the other member of the Virtual Running Club has an international business trip to India in the next month, and you know that would be tough to get in good workouts. It stinks to run only one full marathon this year after finishing four last year. But I'm just not feeling it at the moment, and I do feel better about gunning for December instead.

The Virtual Running Club Meets

This week the Virtual Running Club held a meeting in St. Louis. The occasion was reputedly for Alan's birthday, but in reality it was to run. The running itself actually went about as well as the Cardinals' games we attended. Swept by the Cubs? Depressing. As the Cubs supporter sitting to my right at the ballpark was leaving last night he said good-bye and I said, "Now I know what a Cubs fan feels like." He had been only semi-obnoxious but he was definitely mostly-drunk, and so of course he didn't realize I'd just burned him, and not for the first time during the evening. I can be subtle when it's called for. Beats the last time I went to a game when the Cubs were in town and I was yelling at the hecklers a few rows in front of us that they should drink up, because if I was a Cubs fan I'd be an alcoholic, too. But enough about that subject.

We ran alongside the Mississippi on Tuesday morning, and as I alluded to, the run was not a good one. The plan was to run 8 miles with six of those at marathon pace. The day turned out to be not only hotter than we'd been led to expect, but it was also quite humid. Being the experienced runners we are, we quickly adapted our plan. First we slowed the pace a little, and then we cut the run shorter, finishing with 5.5 miles as the total. Of course, I could also blame the evening before and the not-so-good sleep we got, but I think we could have toughed out a few more miles if the weather hadn't been so hot.

Today's run back home went better, but it's still too warm to do the speedwork according to plan. I ran a mile warmup, and then started in on a tempo run. I got 1.5 miles into that before realizing I should slow down if I expected to finish. That's what I did, and was able to finish. Again, not a great run, but some of that is probably still self-inflicted. Now that the fun and games are past and the Cardinals are going to miss the postseason, it's time to buckle down and get in some good training. Cooler weather will help, too. The next meeting of the Virtual Running Club is planned for the Des Moines Marathon in October. Until then, we'll be running together apart.

The Best Long Run Since Forever

At last, a long run I feel good about! Sometimes there are benefits in getting out of bed at 5 a.m. and starting a run before the rest of the world has awaken. Today was definitely one of those days. I ran 15 miles, and ran at a faster pace the last 1.5 miles to finish strong. I also managed the run better. After the first four miles I stopped by the house and ate a gel thingie (don't know what else to call it) and had a drink. Then at eight miles I downed a couple gel thingies and strapped on the drink belt for the rest of the outing. The temperature was around 60 degrees - just about perfect. Even after the sun came out I managed to stay in the shade on my route, which I changed in order to take advantage of that shade.

After a rough several months it was really nice to have a good run, especially with all the aborted and scaled-back runs during all the heat of summer. The race is just over a month away, and this was a key run in getting to 26.2 miles. This week I'll be in St. Louis and plan to keep it going so that next Saturday's 18-miler will be another good one. Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if I'd get to the point of being able to run a marathon in a month. If this one had gone poorly I would have reevaluated if a marathon was still a possibility. But no need. Now I feel it's certainly possible, and if my speedwork will fall into line and I have some good outings on those a good race is a strong possibility. We'll see how it goes.

Impeccable Timing

So I get home from work, and it's cloudy outside and has been raining during the afternoon hours. I lie down on the living room floor, doze for about ten minutes, and then get up and dress for a run. At which point the sun comes out, shining quite brightly, and the air becomes more humid than a sauna in the rain forest. I was going to run some Yasso 800s, but went kaput after two of them, and saying I ran two is actually kind of generous. In total I ran a whopping 3.25 miles and probably sweated 3.25 gallons.

To add to the misery, while we were preparing dinner the clouds came back and it cooled down a little bit. So much for hitting the right window.

This weekend the wife and oldest daughter are on the other side of the state to take part in a triathlon. The report I got from them this evening is that the course is much more hilly than was described online. Seems like I've experienced that before. At least they're having fun together, and that's what really counts.

Marathon Pace

Stress at work can be a great motivator. In my case, I had a lot of frustration to burn off, and even when I felt like cutting back my speed or ending early I thought about work and was inspired to run harder all over again.

Today's run was a 7-miler, with a 5-mile marathon pace run sandwiched between a 1-mile warmup and similar length cooldown. I was shooting for 8 minutes/mile and stayed fairly close to that. The temperature was up near 80 degrees and the sun came out just in time for my run. A nice breeze helped keep things cool.

I should have run yesterday. I got all dressed up and took the boy to baseball practice, but when the coach said it would be a quick one I decided to stick around and run either later or the next day. Practice lasted an hour and a half, which would have been plenty of time to get in my run. Yeah, I should have known better. The weather was perfect and I had plenty of energy. After all the conflict at work today plus having to interview five people, my energy level was down today and allergies were playing games with my sinuses. Nevertheless, it was good to get out and run and burn off a lot of stuff.

I have to realize that I'm in the middle of training and that the race itself will likely be cooler, but I felt today like there's no way I could keep up that pace for 26.2 miles. That's what I have to do, though, to get under the 3:30 mark. I wonder if that's a realistic goal? Plenty of guys my age can do it. I don't know, this might be the year for completing a couple more marathons and then adding to my training plan in order to reach that goal next year. I have a feeling it's going to take more mileage and dedication than I can offer this fall. As always, that feeling is subject to change tomorrow.

Labor Day Run

Normally I wouldn't run the day after a long run, but I have to get on track for this race next month. I took it easy on a windy 6-miler, and even walked for several minutes when I ran into a couple of neighbors walking back toward the neighborhood. The wind was gusting pretty good out of the south, but I'm not going to complain. After the high temps and the impending coldness of winter, I'll take what I can get.

I neglected to mention that yesterday was the first long run where I used the newer pair of shoes. Until now I've only used them for shorter runs, and everything went well yesterday. Used them again today, and I think I've transitioned enough to where they're now my main pair. They're what I'll take to St. Louis next week for the couple of runs I'll do there. I was quite the fashion designer's nightmare today: blue shorts, red shirt with black panels on the side, and running shoes of black and yellow. Clearly I'm not too worried what people think of how I'm dressed while running.

TMI

Finally, a long run. I ran 12 miles this morning after not logging any major miles last weekend, and I was unsure if I'd get any this time around. If I'm going to run this marathon in Des Moines it's going to be 12, 15, 18 & 20 for my long runs starting with this week.

Actually, it was supposed to start yesterday. However, Friday night I stayed up late and then BAM! - I was up the rest of the night with very little sleep. My plan was to awake at about 6:30 on Saturday morning and enjoy a long run in the coolness of the 50's. I ended up on the couch for most of the night going crazy with an allergy attack, and when I woke up I moved back to bed and stayed there until after 10:30. Not one of my better days. This was one of those attacks where not only was I enjoying the bountiful snot and drainage in nose and throat, respectively, but also my whole body was achy and it felt like microbes had invaded my entire being. I pretty much did nothing on Saturday and did my best to avoid the outdoors. My plan worked since by bedtime I was feeling better.

This morning I did get up at 6:30 after waking up only a couple of times during the night, and I was out the door before 7 a.m. I made two errors in this morning's run: not putting on sunscreen and not going #2 before heading out.

First, the sun started rising about 15 minutes into the run, so I spent the majority of the run trying to take advantage of as much shade as I could find around here. Most of the outing went pretty well, fortunately, but by mile 11 I was feeling sluggish. The good thing is that at that point training takes over and I was still cruising at a sub-9:30 pace. I did get my gel bites in earlier this time around as well as a little bit of sports drink. I think next weekend I will be wearing the drink belt so I don't have to keep stopping by the house.

And second - now for the portion of our show where we get into too much information (TMI) - but hey, this is a running log where there are no off-limit subjects. Normally before a long run I hit the head and empty out everything, but today I neglected to do so. Oops. At about mile 9 I was feeling uncomfortable, and by mile 11. 5 I was ready to crap my pants. The walk up the hill after finishing the run was one of the worst I've ever had. It's a good thing I've had over 40 years of training since the last time I messed my pants. Before a race some runners have nervous bowels, but I've never had that problem because I usually take care of business beforehand. Now I know what they feel like. Sorry, not the most delicate of subjects to discuss, but it's part of running. I've heard of people, particularly women, who will pee down their leg in the middle of a race. And there are famous instances of elite runners having to relieve themselves mid-race. God bless them all - as un-fun as it is to ponder, we're all human and we all have to do the same things every day. Sometimes it just hits at the wrong time. I'll keep that in mind before heading out on my next long run.

Stupid Lightning

So this is the first day in months - months I tell you! - where the temperature right after work was conducive to exercise. And of course a thunderstorm comes through and I had to cut short my intended 6-miler. If all you imaginary readers take a look back through my postings you'll know that I actually enjoy running in the rain. However, I'm allergic to lightning and don't mess around with the stuff. What a shame, because today the temp was just under 70 degrees. With the wind blowing it felt even cooler than that.

I ended up going a whole 3.5 miles. I was supposed to do 5 Yasso 800s and ended up doing three with no real cooldown at the end other than my walk up the hill to the house. I was shooting for a 7-minute/mile pace on all of them. The first one felt good, the second all right, but the third was tough. I think it was because of the storm and the fact I was running partly uphill against the wind. Dang it, I was hoping to get to 30 miles this week but I'll be a few short. Well, as I build up toward a 20-mile run in a few weeks I suppose it's okay to be a couple miles on the downside, particularly if I avoid the lightning.