Only Five Days Left

Wow, the race is coming up quickly. Today was a 6-mile easy run, and I kept it about 10-minutes/mile. The weather was a little chillier than I thought. I took my mittens, fortunately, and I could have used some ear protection but it wasn't horribly cold. Some minor frostbite that'll require the removal of at least one lobe, but other than that...

I keep looking for a cheap last-minute flight to Memphis, hoping I can avoid a 9-hour car trip each way. It looks to me as if Memphis suffers from not having a discount airline like Southwest renting a few gates at its terminal since all of the flights are vastly expensive. I found one the other day for $508 on a certain travel site that uses a former starship captain as its spokesman. The trip lasted over thirteen hours and went from KC to Detroit to Indianapolis to Charlotte to Memphis. Seriously? Who does that? Some people may gripe about them, but Southwest is my favorite airline and they would never pull that kind of crap. They're affordable, the stewardesses (yes, I said stewardesses, not the modern 'flight attendant' PC term) are a hoot, and they're always on time. Sigh. Barring a last-minute discount it looks like I'll be driving. That's okay, because at that price all the airlines that keep charging an arm and a leg and don't realize you can actually fill up your planes with cheaper fares and become profitable can all go to hell. I'm sure they'll get bailouts soon anyway.

Turkey Trot + Long Run

Thursday the older three kids and I ran the Parkville Turkey Trail Trot again. This was the first time for The Boy (tm) and he ran the whole way. I was proud of all the kids. The weather was cool with a very stiff breeze out of the west. That made standing at the starting line a lesson in enduring a little cold. The sun was shining and we had a great time. Next year all four kids want to run, as well as the wife, so we'll spend a nice little bundle in registration fees. I don't mind, though, since it's fun and a good tradition.

This morning I ran my final long run and definitely felt the effects of the holidays. The food and drink, and the latter more than the former, caused me to feel sluggish. The weather today was awesome, probably in the fifties by late morning when I started and climbing to over sixty degrees this afternoon. Only one week to go until the race. I have a few more easy runs and one mild speed session planned. I'd like to find a cheap airfare to Memphis, but when I looked today the lowest price was $504 for a trip that would take me to Detroit, Indianapolis, and somewhere in North Carolina before arriving in Memphis thirteen hours later. Yeah, I'm still planning on driving at this point.

More Treadmill

'Twas a dark and misty night, so I stayed in and ran mile intervals on the treadmill. Listened to Pastor Barry's sermon from last Sunday since I was at work, and then some Bear McCreary. I ran 7 miles total and am hoping that the weather will be passable for the Turkey Trot in a couple of days. Three of the kids are running with me, and I think back to the days when I thought running 5k seemed like permission to come home and pig out on Thanksgiving dinner. Amazing how things change in just a few years. It'll be fun to get out with the kids, and this will be The Boy's first 5k. After ten straight days of work, I'm looking forward to relaxing with the family. And who would have thought running three miles would qualify as relaxing?

Work and Run

Arrived at work at 6 this morning, and still managed to get a long run in before darkness fell. The weather for my 15-miler wasn't too bad, a little on the cool side but not bad enough to have to bundle up in ear warmers and gloves. The run was okay, but I keep having this feeling that all the running this year has piled up and my legs never feel real fresh. I don't have any problem completing the runs, but it seems like I haven't had any "great" long runs for a while. Seems that four marathons in a year might be over my limit, which is okay because next year I plan on doing one, maybe two, and concentrating instead on half marathons. I'm thankful for good weather, though, and hopefully it continues a little longer, say another week and a half?

I Love the Whirling of the Dervishes

How many middle-aged American males do you know who run 6 miles with Kate Bush playing on the iPod? Well, now you know one. Listened to the last few songs of Hounds of Love and then all of The Kick Inside. Not your typical running music, but certainly enjoyable.

I hustled out the door to catch a little sunlight, especially since I didn't run on Tuesday with the cold rain falling. This was another 2x800 session, and I found the toughest part is to keep running after the second interval. Especially since the second one ends at the bottom of a hill and the next part is up to the summit and then somewhat downhill for a mile. Even though it was clear the weather was cold and I wore a stocking cap and the mittens, although I probably could have worn another layer and still been fine. This weekend I'll be working, so I have to find time to fit in a long run.

Winter Interruption

Looks like actual winter weather is interrupting my training. The weather today is cold but not quite freezing, rainy, and windy. This was my first time on the treadmill in I don't know how long. 6 miles accompanied by Chickenfoot on the iPod. This was also my first time running on it since we moved the treadmill downstairs. I like it better down here. Tomorrow could be more of the same.

75 Miles to Memphis

That's how many miles are left in the training plan until the Memphis marathon on December 5th. Today was a looooong run, 20 miles' worth. The temp is in the upper 40's with low clouds and just enough mist to mess up my glasses. I wore the rose-colored lenses to protect against what UV rays were out there and the occasional glare as the sun tried to poke through.

Today I went very, very slow. In fact, my average pace was 10:30/mile. With a run this long, though, my objective was to finish, especially since I've had a couple of long runs that were not of the usual quality. At about seven miles I stopped by the house, downed a gel pack, strapped on the bottle belt, and continued with the rest of the run. It wasn't until mile 17 that I realized I hadn't had another gel pack. Gee, that sure would have been useful a few miles before then. I didn't have a bad run, and I didn't have a great run, so I suppose I would classify it as decent. The 10-mph breeze from the northwest certainly kept things cool, requiring gloves and ear protection. I finished feeling pretty good (no doubt from the energy gel three miles before) so I think as the taper starts I'm in pretty good shape for the race.

The Toes Knows

Today was one of my new favorite workouts: 2x800 during a 6-mile run. As I probably mentioned when I did this before my last race, it's just plain fun to go all out for about three minutes at a time. I told the wife I even ran faster than a 4-minute mile, albeit for only a few seconds. This is a good, tiring workout that lets you feel the wind through your hair - if you have any. The weather was cool, and a nice stiff breeze from the south made it interesting, but at least that was against me during the downhill part. Still, it was cool enough to wear a long-sleeve technical shirt and long pants.

And now for an update on the toes: last night I was at a chain bookstore looking through the running section, and I found a book by Hal Higdon, who was the speaker at the Columbia Heart of America Marathon in September. The book had him answering questions about various aspects of running, one of them being the "black toe" malady that infects long distance runners, including yours truly. With all due respect to Mr. Higdon, who has way more years of success and experience than I do, there is no way I'm sticking a needle through my toenail to drain the blood underneath it when a blood blister forms. Yeesh. After that race in Columbia, I've lost three toenails on my right foot. The big toe, which has grown back about halfway, will take many, many months to look normal. The second toe is strangely intact, but the middle toe is just weird. The blood was under the left side of the nail, which I've had to cut away since it was coming loose, but the right side of the old nail is hanging on for dear life. The fourth toenail came off completely the other night, while the pinky just ignores the rest and seems to be fine. And the toes on the left foot? They look at their brethren and snicker because for some reason, nothing bad ever happens to them, even on a hilly run like the course in Columbia.

And that's way more info about my toes than I've ever written, anywhere. My shoes have plenty of room in the toebox, but the problem is - and the wife has been proven right on this one - sometimes the toenails get too long and jam up against the top of the shoe when I run, and that's what causes the problem. It's a good thing we're not judged by our toes, 'cause they're just funny-looking, injured or not.

The Sun Also Sets

I was anxious to get out and run this afternoon when I arrived home. The sun was shining and I wanted to run in the sunlight for a bit, which I did. But boy, did it set fast. By the time I'd run two miles it was pretty much gone. It was nice while it lasted. The breeze was a touch cooler than yesterday, so along with shorts I wore a long-sleeve shirt. Still can't complain, though.

It's funny how I used to hate intervals, but after several years of doing this I actually enjoy them. Tonight I ran mile intervals, three of them, just like last week. At least I think it was last week. The total damage tonight was 7.5 miles. The past week or so I've been in a music-less mode on my runs. I guess it's just a phase I'm going through. Since I probably won't wear my iPod in the race, and I don't even know if they allow them or not, it's good to go with the sounds of nature once in a while. You know, like the idiot on the motorcycle gunning it up to 70 mph on a city street, or the idiot in the truck with the loud exhaust, or the idiot who honks his horn at you. Come to think of it, that's likely the reason I started listening to music on my runs in the first place.

Back to the run, during the intervals I managed to not only keep the average pace below 8 minutes/mile, but actually went faster with each interval. The first interval pace was 7:57, and the last was 7:44. Felt good at the end, and it feels good to know tomorrow is a holiday and I can sleep in a little before we head to a Veterans Day parade in Leavenworth.

Weenies

It was only 5:30 p.m. when I left the house to run, but it was nearing dark. A month ago plenty of other people would be out at that time, but not any more. Is everyone afraid of the dark? It's not like it was cold outside. In fact, it was rather pleasant. Either I'm weird or everyone else is a weenie. And in my little world, I'm the normal one. Heh.

In my solitude I ran 6 easy miles and tried to take it easy. I think I was successful, for the most part, since my overall time was just under 60 minutes. Who would have thought I'd be running on November 9th in shorts and a technical t-shirt? I also did my upper body and ankle weight workouts before running, and I plan on continuing those three times a week until the race. Maybe it was because I gave blood yesterday, but when I tried pull-ups I couldn't do as many as normal. Or maybe I'm out of practice. We'll see how it goes when I do those exercises on Wednesday.

Tougher than Expected

I learned several things during today's run, which was 15 miles and somewhat labored. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, especially for a November morning. The temperature was in the mid-60's, the sun was shining, and there was a nice breeze from the south. What a great day for a run!

I haven't been faithful the last few weeks with my upper body and ankle weight exercises, and today I felt the result of that. My upper body felt fatigued and my hips were a little sore. Also, I haven't done regular long runs the past couple of weeks, last week's because of not feeling good and the week before was divided into three parfts when I ran a 5k race. All that combined to make today tough. The marathon is in four weeks, so I persevered, knowing what's ahead. Hopefully that counts for something. I was going to run the hills of Flintlock today but ended up circling Pleasant Valley Baptist Church four times but then walking a third of a mile before heading down the hill.

Fourth Day

As I usually don't run four days in a row, I thought this would be worth noting. Also, as I remarked to the wife earlier, a week ago at 5:30 p.m. there were several people out walking and running, but after the end of daylight savings time last weekend, tonight I was the only one out. Does that make me obsessive?

I ran 7.5 miles total tonight, and it's probably good I'm traveling to Baltimore for a few days and won't have time to run since my legs could use the rest. Tonight's workout included three 1-mile intervals at 8-minute miles (or better) followed by 800 meters of recovery. I'm noticing that the recovery runs and easy runs are still at a fairly quick pace (for me) at 9:30 or just a little quicker. It's funny because I'll feel like I'm trudging along and look at my pace and it'll say something like "9:23" and I'll say to myself, "Wow." Interesting how all that training combined with cooler weather actually pays off. Let's hope that carries over to the race in about a month.

After Dark

This was the first run in the evening since Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend. I left the house about 5:30 p.m. and it was already getting dark. It was nice and cool, but not too bad. I wore shorts with a long-sleeved top and a race t-shirt over that. After my walking warm-up I decided to put on my knit gloves and kept them on the whole time. All in all the weather was perfect for a nice, easy 6 miles. One change, though, since the sun wasn't out. I went without my sunglasses, for obvious reasons, and this was the first time in a while I've been on a run where I couldn't see clearly. Bummer. I could have worn my regular glasses, I suppose, but I prefer not to due to the whole sweat dripping off my brow thing.

Gorgeous Days

After not feeling good for several days in a row, which combined with cold, rainy weather caused me to skip Thursday's run, the weather went fantastic. Saturday started out nicely chilly and I went out for 18 miles and stopped at 7.4. I just wasn't feeling good from my recent bout with sickness, which I refused to give in to. But I suppose I did with my run, and decided that it was better to stop than to run myself the rest of the way to sickness.

Normally today would have been a day off, but the weather was way too nice to resist. I ran 8 miles in the sun in about 60-degree temperatures. And I felt so much better than yesterday, too. I tried to run at a pace that felt good and found I was running too fast. Or at least that's what my Garmin said. The last mile I finally throttled it down to closer to 10-minute miles as opposed to the 9-minute or better pace I'd been running. I found out later that this was the first day an American has won the NYC Marathon since 1982, and that means it was a really good day for runners all over the country.