Brilliant!

Ah, Nick is now a contributor, and as Don makes progress in his recovery, I can't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm for running again. Two words for that: "Brrrilliant!" (For the record, I know I mistyped that word, but have decided to keep it for a dramatic, tony-the-tiger effect.) Julie, that dog will have you out running with it in no time just to get its hyper ass to sleep through the night! ;)
I was actually considering writing about my current ambivalence towards running. I simply have not been able to get excited about it. It must be mid-training lethargy. Or mono. But I won't now. Nope.

Because as they say at the UC- "Four drunk runners ain't nothin' to fuck wit'!"

Ah, yes. On to the run(s)

Sundays run: 14 miles
Time: 2:02:19
Overall Impression: As Good As Fourteen Miles Can Get Really But I Jammed My Knee (AGAFMCGRBIJMK)

Yesterday's Run: 7 miles
Time:1:02:04
Overall Impression: At First Nervous About Knee Then Just Happy It didn't Rain (AFNAKTJHIDR)

I'm realy not sure if I like this part of the training schedule more than the previous one. I'm down to running three times a week, but the distances are getting longer. On the one hand, there is less of a day-to-day grind. On the other hand, the runs cohere less. It's harder not to view them as isolated jaunts, as opposed to(more desirably) part of a larger goal. I spent a good twenty minutes yesterday scouring my email for an excuse to delay running. Then, when I couldn't find anything, I checked the news, hoping for either a disaster or a good celebrity divorce, only to be disappointed again.
Both runs went pretty well though. I'm still slower than I was earlier, but not by too much. I'm trying to find a good balance of staying relaxed, but while still moving forward. I don't want to strain anything, but I am slowly realizing that after I run for 2 hours, it doesn't matter whether I have run 14 miles (Sunday) or twelve miles (previous Sunday)my legs get just about equally tired. I might as well take the result that puts me a little closer to the finish line. All the same, just under 9 minute miles seems to be where my comfort zone is on the long runs right now, and I'm afraid to mess with the formula too much. Other than the fact I desperately need new shoes...
Midway through Sunday's run in Germany's best rendition of the English countryside (right around six miles) a German dog, about the size of a forest yeti, ran into me and tweaked me leg a little. I felt a small twinge in my knee, but kept moving on.
Now, don't get me started on Germany's leash laws. They take the dogs on subways, people. Hell, when I worked in a bookstore, I had to contstantly fend off owners who wanted to let their dogs run around and drool on everything. Books are made of paper. Paper doesn't like drool. I digress.
Anyway, as I was getting closer to the finish, I hit a small downhill slope and jammed the same knee a little, which made an "oh!" sort of feeling in that "not so good" way.
Then on Monday, or maybe Tuesday, but definitely not Wednesday, I was walking with Tessa and plotting yet another pub crawl through Cologne. I do this even though I have neither the finances nor time for such a crawl. Its just that there are so many damn bars in this town, and I need a way of sorting them. This particular plan involved hitting all the bars in our area that lie on street corners whch don't meet at a 90 degree angle. There are a lot. At one point, I felt a twinge in my knee, and started to get a little, um, nervous.
So, long story short, yesterday was a test run on the knee. I am happy to say, that there were no problems to report. My quad just above the knee seemed a bit tight, but I stretched it into oblivion, and now it seems to be okay. I never really pushed things too hard yesterday, and don't plan to tomorrrow either. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that I was just being paranoid.

The enemy deserves no mercy. There's no mercy in this dojo!

Hark, What Nick Through Yonder Window Breaks?

Welcome Marathon Nick!!!!! I just wanted to be the first to usher in the new member. Gosh, we feel like we already know you.
From stories of smoking while running to feats of eating and running that only Dayton would also attempt I must say we bow at your feet for having run Boston. (Picture, at least myself, in a Wayne's Worldesque pose chanting, "We're not worthy....")

Now, on to today's run. Bear with me here folks as I will be detailing most every run for at least a little while. Until the novelty of being able to run wears off, I'm afraid your stuck with me. Went to the RSF today for a nice timed run on the treadmill. Changed clothes next to someone who must have sweat his fucking nuts off in May, thrown the dirty clothes in the locker, and is yet to have cleaned them. My was that pleasant. And then headed out to do some stretching and join the mayhem that is the RSF during the first week of classes.

All went well. There was only a 5 minute wait for a treadmill, all things considered not a bad wait. Then it was up onto the machine. Went for a five minute walk (which I may have to incorporate from now on) and then sent the track screaming at a dizzying 10 minute mile pace. Each lap I increased the speed by 1/10th of a mile. That is for a mile. Then I began to slow things down as the knee was beginning to hurt. I'm truly beginning to feel that I'm a little scared of pushing my knee, and that the conservative decisions may be holding me back. However, if I'm wrong and the conservativism is helping (Oh Lord, help us if conservativism can help anything.) then I injure myself. So, for now, I proceed with extreme caution.

That said, it was a great emotional boost to be able to even run 2 miles and still feel like I wouldn't need joint replacement.

In the end here's the deal:

Distance: 2 miles
Time: 18:50
Place: RSF Treadmill (the nice ones)
Overall Impression: LOSATANMIT (Look Out Steve Austin There's A New Man In Town)

Score One More for the Kenyans.

It's been a crazy week and things are starting to get back to normal. So here are the details of last weeks running.

First, I went for another one of my long distance runs on Wednesday. Yes, that's right, 3/10 of a mile. It was huge. I made it all the way back from my warm up walk before I started to feel pain. We won't even bother to speak of times, because I've been so nervous I would injure myself that I'm sure I'm running way below the speed I could have.

Being frustrated from my venture I went inside and jumped on Steve's "Gazelle" and popped in the Tony Little tape. I did the ten minute workout and actually broke a sweat for the first time in 30 days. And frankly, my waistline is starting to show it. Being unable or unwilling to change my diet, I have managed to gain 10 pounds this month. I've done worse, but this still doesn't make me happy. I'll be working to take that off over the next weeks as I get back into running.

Back in Wisconsin for the weekend it was party central. Red Eye into town then run around with wedding preparations all day. Rehearsal dinner that night with copious amounts of light beer, which, by the way, is the bane of my existence. How am I supposed to get drunk with light beer?

The next morning it's up at 6:30 for a run with my brother. He's been having troubles staying on track as well. Have been considering inviting him to join the list for his own motivation. We decided that since today was the wedding it was not worth breaking a leg and not being able to walk down the aisle. So, we head out with the plan that we will stop and walk back as soon as my knee starts hurting.

Low and behold we made it a whole mile. ONE MILE!!!!! It was almost as exhilirating as finishing that first marathon. So, with a time of 10:08 I feel I have actually re-entered the world of runners. I will attempt another run tomorrow morning on the treadmill looking for similar or better results. I'm so excited I can't wait to get going.

As it stands I'm happy to be where I am, but pissed at having lost a month of training. I'm going to get back in slowly and see if I can't still run that marathon in December, but will not be pushing myself too hard. I can't afford a full relapse right now.

I'll Race Ya To The Dumpster and Back

Sooo, what people don't realize is that a puppy is much like a baby. It requires constant attention and supervision. It wakes up at an early, early hour. Can't be left alone for more than five minutes, etc. You get the idea.

Point being, the furthest I have run has been to the dumpster and back after disposing of dog poo. When sleep schedules level out, I am hitting the road.

Hope you all are faring better with the running!

Cologne's Green Belt

The funny thing about rain when you run is the sudden impulse to get back into the car/home quickly. Only then you realize you've spent the past hour running away from the car/home, and it is nowhere in sight. And then it hits you that an hour of running in one direction is a very hard thing to quickly render undone, especially in the middle of a forest. So you get philosophical about running in the rain, and spend the next hour convincing yourself how much you love being wet (which you don't), and how it beats the hell out of July's heatwave (which it does).

Run: 12 miles
Time: 1hr 55m
Where: Cologne's finest wooded area (thank you Mr. Adenauer!)
Overall Impression: Wet (W)

In a wierd way, I'm as happy with this run as last week's barnstormer. I was tired all week, and I really wanted to take it easy. The main hurdle with that is convincing yourself that its more pleasant to run 12 miles in 120 minutes instead of 108. Especially when its raining, and twelve minutes is roughly equivalent to the time it would take to drive back home and jump in a hot shower.

But my legs were loving me for it. I was able to stride without any of the twinges that have been hitting my hips or quads, and I really got to appreciate some beautiful greenery and a lot of lakes. Apparently Adenauer had the area forested as a social work project, because there was no bay to build bridges over. They even put a lot of sheep in there...All in all, it felt oddly English (although I read they populated it with american trees, known worldwide for their robust bark and christian values). I even caught myself looking the wrong way once at an intersection.

Only around six miles in did I start to fatigue, which I expected considering the way I felt all week. It was mostly my calves though, and I think that mentally I was getting tired of the rain. I basically sped up to almost a nine-minute mile at that point, figuring my muscles were loose enough to handle the exertion.

All the same, I felt so much relief when I was finished, I think I was just thrilled to have accomplished it. And that, boys and girls, is the moral of my week. If you lined up my two distance runs of the last week beside each other, this is the one that will most likely remember my marathon. I'm not good enough to go in there and try and sprint the whole thing. I just want to finish it. And it's going to have to be a relaxed pace, more than a little endurance, and the need to just make it to the end that will get me there.

Just remind me of that in a month, okay?

Is this long distance?

After two weeks of physical therapy, I laced up the shoes today and headed out for a run. It was going to be a good long run, maybe even 3 miles, but I was being optimistic. I did my exercises, stretched and did everything I am supposed to do, even took some aleve to counteract the dehydration from last night's training efforts at the pool hall.

Total Stretch/prep time: 20 minutes

Stepped out the door and decided to do a 5 minute warm up walk, which is part of my normal home running routine. Helps me get used to moving and head out without hurting anything.

Total Warm-up Time: 5 minutes

Then I'm off. Heading down the street at a nice slow pace, checking my knee every step to see if there are complaints. I'm really covering some ground here. I'm flying. And then my knee starts to hurt. I have to make the choice: Risk injury or give it a rest and walk the rest of the way home. I decide to walk and head pack head on my chest, crushed at not having completed the 3 miles.

Total Running Time: 1.5 minutes.
Total Distance: 300 yards.

Well, it's better than nothing. A week ago I couldn't do a step. So it goes to show this rest is getting me somewhere, but it is really starting to kill me not being able to run. I never quite believed all those people that said I would get addicted. Now I know they are right. I'm feeling like I would pimp myself out if it meant I could run again. Either that or I'm just looking for an excuse to stem the rose.

Best of luck to both of you. Congrats Julie on the run that is awesome!!! And Dayton take it easy on the legs, get some rest if you need it, don't push it too hard.

There is no Room for Hate in my Heart Today!

Well kids, I know this will come as a shock, but I am hate-free today. That is right. I just had a wonderful running experience. (I might be hatin' tomorow when the pain kicks in, but right now I am feeling good!)

The weather is gorgeous, mid to low-70s, partially cloudy, slight breeze. Aaaaahhhhh, Northern California, how I love thee. Let me count the ways.

I relived the good old days and took a run from campus up Spruce to Wildcat Canyon to the Botanic Gardens and back. After two months on a flat band-o-rubber, this was challenging but wonderful all at the same time. I wasn't sure I would make it up Spruce without having an aneurysm, but I am happy to report that no major brain cells were destroyed (as far as I can tell right now). Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. That is all I can say about today's run. The Kenyans are not wrong!!! Four days straight of drinking does make you stronger! (Is this why we are called 3 Drunk Runners?) ;)

Distance: 9.1 mi (was really hoping it was 10, but alas...)
Time: 80 minutes
Place: Berkeley/Kensington Hills
Overall Impression: WWWMALPT (Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. Maybe a little painful tomorrow).

Dead Legs

I'm lying in bed and my legs are still tired from yesterday's short run. It occcured to me when I was running seven miles on Wednesday that the entire week would be nothing but recovery runs, but all the same. I live on the sixth floor, I sleep on the seventh. I need those legs for stuff.

I vaguely remember this happening last time, but I think it was the week after I had a 14 mile long distance run. My body broke, and I got way sick. Luckily, I had the time to take a week off and I came back fast and fitter. No time for a broke body now. No broke back...wait.

I'm trying to be smart about the eating, and on the hunt for Glucosamine. By the way, ask a German for Glucosamine. Go on...You done? Didn't work did it? Now ask for "Glu-koz-ameen-a". Ah, there you go--You want 7,000 pills or 14,000? Spelled the same, but no creativity in pronunciation on the their part. Just blank stares and nothing for the joints. Surely the Americans say it correctly? Can't the rest of the world just adapt? ;)

I just found out that there is a running store around the corner that, perhaps, has the most techinical asssessment machines for shoe buying I've ever seen. I'm going to overpronate my way on over there soon, because my shoes are breaking down quickly, and so are my hips as a result. Just think of the montage sequence from Rocky 4, with the jump cuts between Rocky and Ivan Drago training, and that should be me. I'll be the one plugged into big computers with random oxy pads on my chest. When I'm finished, I'll be running against freedom. Watch out Apollo.

Sweet Nelly, I am returning to the Promised Land

I've got my running accoutrement packed and ready! Watch out Bay Area.

Don, I hope your knee is better. 'Cause I feel the need, the need for speed (or at least a good run) ;) and a pint-sized Vodka Tonic (not simultaneously, of course).

Pacemaker, you will be there in spirit. I will visualize you running ahead, sauntering back and doing a couple laps around us, taking off again, etc. It will be just like old times :) :)

Stats:
Last Weeks Miles: 21 (all logged on the treadmill. I am still a wussy)
Total Time: 3:16:25 (which looks really good, until you realize that I managed that distance in 4 days spread out over a week)
Overall Impression: RGITESMSTIDTRAEM (really good in the end, so much so that i decided to run an extra mile).

GAG -Erlebnis Halb-Marathon

So, clearly GAG is an acronym, but i still find it very amusing to pair it with anything athletic. Especially something endurance related. As a result, I ran the first five kilometers expecting michael hutchence to hop along beside me with his pants around his ankles.

Okay, on to the good stuff.

Yesterday's Run: 13.1 miles
Place: Köln Mülheim
Time: 1:48.42
Overall Impression: Very Good But A Bit Painful (VGBABP)

This is where the Kenyan Method really got put to the test.
Using all the scientific knowledge of a humanist (i put the wissenschaft in geisteswissenschaft, baby), I thought I would conduct an experiment by replacing beer and cake with whole grain noodles, bananas, and lots of water.
Here we go:

Hypothesis: We might be wrong about Kenyan training habits.

Experiment/Test: See if "Good" food is really "good for you" by eating said food instead of yummy drunky stuff.

The Result: My average per mile dropped from last week's 8.78 minutes to this week's 8.28 minutes. In other words, half a minute faster.

Conclusion: Kenyans put steroids in their beer. And Human Growth Hormone.


The thing I love about races is how early they are. For example, as I walked to my subway stop, I passed a bar that was still clearly open from the night before. At 7:45 am, these people still thought it was saturday night, and i felt decidedly underdressed. (this was alleviated when i actually arrived at the start and realized, among a sea of asics tank tops and funny little hats, one can never be underdressed at a race.) Mostly though, I spent the train ride wondering how many conditions would need to be met for me to stay up until 7 AM drinking, and concluded they all involved me sneaking home to take a five hour nap around 2 AM.
So when I got there, I lined up in the "slower than 1:50 group" because my unofficial goal was 2 hrs flat. Really, I just wanted to finish, but I was cautiously optimistic.
At the gun, it was your typical anarchy. Everyone forgets they have chips and decide they need to cross the line quick...and by quick they mean now.
I knew I was running fast early, and I knew the adrenaline was carrying me. In fact, I was telling myself by the third kilometer that "I'll learn from this." and "This is why we run these things, to make mistakes when they don't count." I wasn't sure how to record my splits because of the ridiculous metric system which means nothing to me. I simply have no spatial/time comprehension of a kilometer.(Every time I say this to Tessa's grandmother, she sighs, and sits me down. Then she tells me that there are one hundred centimeters in a meter. And one hundred meters in a kilometer. She explains this patiently, like she were talking to a particularly astute piece of balsa wood.) I finally decided to focus on 5K splits, since the beer ads told me that there were 21K in a half marathon, and 5K is the only useful distance for americans, besides 10K.
My first split came in around 25 minutes, which is pretty fast for me. I got nervous, and started to hypreventilate. Then I basically decided I could keep riding the adrenaline a little further and then slow down to a halfway normal pace. I also say my first cow of the day.

By 10K my legs were numb. I had found someone with whom I decided to keep pace by following the logic of, "Hey, his calves are roughly the same size as mine!" He apparently decided the same thing, since we spent a lot of time drafting for each other. Second split was just over 26 minutes. I don't remember any cows for this part.

At 15K I was less than happy, but I found a particularly good stretch of my ipod that seamlessly blended the raconteurs, belle and sebastian, and michael jackson's "PYT". Good times were had by all. I finally stopped to pee near a scary cow, and resigned myself to crawling the rest of the way. Third split was about 26:45

At 20K Belle and Sebastian's "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying" came on. I wish I made that up. I was able to laugh in appreciation, but it ended up being the one song I skipped. At this point I realized that I was going to finish in under 1:50, so I'd say I was happy, if feelings could be felt through a haze of unconsciousness. Fourth Split: 24:45ish (I crawl faster than I run.)

By the finish, I was pretty beat, so there were no handstands or anything. I envisioned a mad sprint, but once I saw my time, I felt no need. Which was good, because I was crippled. I was pretty ecstatic though. For frame of reference to the H.S.H. (Hayes Street Haters), my time in Sonoma was 1:49:45 for twelve miles. I basically ran a mile further than I did then in a minute's less time. This is by far my best distance run, which is mostly attributable to race day superpowers, sure. I don't expect to carry that pace for a full marathon, but it is encouraging for a roughly 4 hour finish.

Tessa asked me afterwards how much further I could go at that pace, and I somewhat conservatively told her "five feet". In retrospect that wasn't fair. I'm pretty sure now I could have managed ten.

Physical Therapy

The short story, my knee is stressed and needs rehab. "Will he ever run again, Doctor?" "We can rebuild him. Better, Faster, Stronger."

The long story: it appears my present knee problems could be linked to my scoliosis. Yeah, that's what I thought. But, he says the scolios makes me walk, and therefore run, funny. By working on that we will work on getting me back running again. he didn't seem surprised when I told him I wanted to run a marathon again in December. It looks like it may be possible. I'm very much enheartened by today's meeting.

No ban on running, so I will strap on the rubber tomorrow and see if I can do a mile.

Moose

Oh How I love to hate the Treadmill

Treadmill tips from my days at the RSF:
1) always lie about your sign-up time! Adding 10 minutes is usually not noticed and you get a longer work out.
2) This may seem counterproductive, but counting my steps seems to help take my mind off things. It works like a minor meditation in the middle of your workout. Keeping track of your footsteps can help you forget just how many you are taking. Especially if you give yourself the task of simply counting them to 100 and then starting over.
3) Try to find something interesting to look at.
4) cover any sort of monitor that tells you how far or how long you have been on the damn thing.
5) Running next to the cute boy helps you run harder while trying to impress him. That's what I hear.


Nothing else for the moment. As inspiration strikes I'll pass it on.

The light at the End of the Tunnel

Ladies and gentleman, there is one!!!!!

After a painful week and a half of inactivity following the marathon, I do believe I'm back on my feet. While Yoga is not particularly straining on the knees it was a good test of what kind of muscles I can use in the area and still feel no pain. The class at the evil hour of 6:45 a.m. went very well. And I was master at Yoga!!! I could tell by how many times the instructor said something like: You in the ROTC shirt, straighten your knee. Or: You in the ROTC shirt, sit on a block it will be easier. (thus inferring I was doing anything but make it look easy. Hell, I was just happy to be sitting.) And before you get any wise ideas, the ROTC stands for Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps (A throw back to the Drum Corps days, kind of.) So, yoga has proven I may be ready to run. Will try something on Saturday.
In the meantime I couldn't be happier to be on the road to recovery. I've bought all sorts of inspirational material, Dean Karnazes "Ultra-Marathon", Patricia Nell Warren's "The Front Runner" to keep me motivated during my bedtime reading. I'll keep you posted on the Karnazes book, for those interested. Also, I'm contemplating another book. Run to Win: Training Secrets of the Kenyan Runners I know we already know the answer, but there's no harm in seeing just how much they drink, is there?
I'll keep you posted as to progress.
Deetsch - Congrats on staying on track, despite the cake and the shots and the beers and the......

Hater - Work it out. Sounds like getting outside could be the best thing for you. It will be hell, but in the end you'll be a stronger runner than I in my pampered world, complaining that the temperature rose to 70 before noon on the day of the SFMarathon.

I Got the Treadmill Blues.

My man left me. My dog is dead. My pick-up truck won't run and I got the Treadmill Blues.

What to do? What to do? What to do when you live in a bayou? What to do when you live in an area that has an official festival celebrating the mosquito? What to do when the average daily humidity is 77%?

The answer: SUCK IT UP AND RUN.

I was briefly locked out of my usual running locale and handy treadmill (since some yayhoo! decided to bring a glass container into the pool area, which inevitably broke, blah blah blah. Pool had to be closed down. Gates locked. You get the picture). I was faced with the reality of logging miles outside. Yes, I had grown soft over the last five years. The mild climate of the Bay Area had spoiled me. However, faced with the option of not putting in at least a couple of miles that day or potentially causing myself heat stroke, I opted for the latter. (Never say I am not dedicated!) Low and f*ckin' behold, what did I discover? I run faster on pavement! Tja. Who knew? (An 8 minute mile pace on a treadmill feels way faster than it does on pavement). Sooo, even though it is still "sticky" outside, I am making it a point to slowly increase my number of outdoor runs. Come fall, or at least the Texas-bayou-swamp equivalent of fall, I will be set.

Much like Mainz and Cologne, and nothing like the Bay Area, the LJ (that is what I like to call it. I even made up little gang signs for it) is flatter than, well, me. I completely agree with Dayton, running flat terrain is not only boring but lacks challenge for various parts of the body (read: the butt). Rather than focusing mentally and physically on just trying to make it up and over the next hill (or steep, muddy, slipper slope!), your mind is left to ponder the mile that you can see in any direction. Now, consider running ten miles and getting nowhere!

This brings me back to the "Treadmill Blues." Here is what I have come up with, so far, to help break up the monotony of running indoors on a treadmill. LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER TIPS!!!!!

1) Vary speed and grade of the treadmill every quarter mile.

2) Think about those beautiful and challenging runs through SF, Golden Gate, Tilden, Wildcat Canyon. Theoretically, I could simulate one of those runs by varying the grade on the treadmill, but it is more about distracting myself mentally (losing myself in some form of thought to make the minutes click by faster).

3) Imagine your running partners in front of you and needing to catch up with them ;) I also find that, even though I don't have a competative nature ;), I am more likely to push myself to finish or go an extra mile or minute, if there are other people in the workout room.

4) Lastly, put together a bad-ass running mix. As Don pointed out to me on our Sausalito run, the first 20 minutes are the hardest. Or was it Dayton who pointed that out to me on the Fire Trail run? Anywho, point is, if you can make it over the 20 minute hump, generally, you will finish your run. So, I have laid out my playlist so that around minutes 17 or 18, a particularly upbeat song comes on (something I would sing along with if I weren't gasping for air). I also do this for minutes 30, 40, etc.

Even with these coping mechanisms, I am still finding it hard to motivate myself. Give me a shout out if you have any advice!

Was There a Third Hater?

Recent photographic evidence shows that there may have been a third hater running through the Bay Area between January and May, 2006. Although the reports are unverified, these photos from Cologne should thrill the conspiracy theorists who claim that two people alone could not possibly hate the Hayes St. hill so much.

Mainzelrennchen

So, I'm lying in bed and my legs are tired and I know I have to run again this afternoon but I need to spend a good fifty hours in the library before I go to grandma's for porridge and tea.

Oh yeah, I remember this part of the schedule.

A few quick notes about running this time 'round:
First
-- I'm faster than I used to be, but not fast in any traditional sense of the word. No blue-light shifts here, just a couple of snail stompings.

Second
-- I like running in cologne, but it's way too flat. The Bay Area's hills, although excruciating and evil and just plain dire on paper, at least make different demands of diffferent parts of Dayton. Mi piace cosa nueva.

Third
-- Cologne may be flat, but there are mad runners here. Crazy, wicked, mad runners. It's a great community. In fact, I'm joining it this weekend with a half marathon that has a really funny name I just can't recall. I just read that Stuart Murdoch ran here not long ago. I wonder what he listened to on his ipod...hmmmm.

Alackity alas--On to the most recent run of consequence

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 85.50 minutes
Place: A Mainzish stretch along the Rhein
Overall Impression: Good Since I drank Five Beers and Two Shots the Night Before (GSIDFBTSNB)

Well, I half-assed Julie's Kenyan method, but I think it still affected me slightly. It was either that or the cake I had for breakfast. It's always a great sensation when you're midway through a run and you realize you didn't take it seriously enough. The result is that it exacts evil revenge on you for the next day.

Cyclists call this "bonking", but quite frankly cyclists are doping wankers.

I still kept a sub-9 minute mile, though, and this along a particularly windy part of the Mainz. (Which reminds me, I've now run a long various stretches of this river. Shouldn't we just run along the entire damn thing? Raise money for orphaned Romanians, as Tessa would say?)
What I love about running in Germany is the alternating green and grey patterns stemming from some very fine arboreal habitude mixed in with some very horrible architectural choices during the sixties and seventies. (See, we go to modernism exhibits, and we say "ooh, ahh. you were a fine man, mr. gropius." Then we leave the museum, look at everything that actually came about, fleshed out in graffiti no less, and we ask the tour guide to take us to the castle with poor lighting and ventialation, and with no consideration about maximized efficiency of movement in the kitchen.)
The moral of this whole post is, of course, that I have finaly reached the stage of training where cake and alcohol almost wholly get excised from the routine. The thing is, ten miles is a long ways, sure. But it shouldn't have felt that long, especially since it was a little short (fast), if you know what I mean. Time to start thinking about the best ways to fuel this here Hendersonic Flyer.

Oh yeah, odd knee pain tells me its time for new shoes. I just looked, and I'm at about 450 miles since January, so I'm due.

50 Marathons in 50 Days

I don't mean to flood the blog here, but just found this on the web. Dean Karnazes will be running 50 marathons in 50 days starting in September. Crazy stuff.

Endurance 50

moose

My unexpected break from Running

Well, it was not really part of my plans to run a marathon and then take two weeks off, but it seems that that is what I will be doing. The day of the race I was uncomfortable, but what was I to expect? Then I went about my day on Monday limping a little but not too bad.
Hoping to help heal any damage from the race, I was icing my knees and ankles most of the day, as well as taking the max dose of naproxen. In the end I went to work on Thursday and was having difficulty teaching the second half of the class, because my right knee hurt so bad.
I decided it was time to see a doctor. I went to urgent care and they gave me a knee brace and a referral for physical therapy. I've been wearing the brace ever since. Even at the beach on Saturday. YOu should see that interesting tan line. The good news is my knee feels better and I'm even contemplating a yoga class tomorrow. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Running stats for the week of July 30 - August 5:
Total miles: 26.2 (marathon)
Nothing since. Looking head on into one more week without running.

Wish me luck on a speedy recovery. In order to stay on track for training for the December California International Marathon, I need to begin training on Wednesday August 16.

Moosie Marathonie Chimes In

So, a long time ago, in what seems a country far, far away the decision was made to run a 7.46 mile race and raise money for charity. The result was trek through many parts of the Bay Area I had not seen in my 11 years here. Not discounting a trudge through mud and pain to reach the Livermore Lab, spawning the mantra: Fuck You Jason Whitt, the runs brought us closer together and stronger together. In the end we both finished the race.

Here we are at the finish line. Our time was good. 1:04 for me. Not bad.

However, somewhere along that crazy road I made the decision to run a marathon. Was it the 35th birthday? Did I feel old and need to prove something to myself before my beer gut kept me from tying my shoes? Whatever it was the game was on and there was no turning back.

Training alone for a marathon is really nothing I wish on anyone. It was tough work getting up in the morning knowing the next 4 hours would be spent circling Golden Gate Park alone. The highlights were when you would see the same runner for the second or third time, knowing they were going through the same thing. The runs were nice and comfortable, but I never felt the strength that I thought I was going to need to finish the race.

A week before the race, I was on taper after all, I was supposed to run 10 miles. 4 miles in and my knee felt like it was going to jump right off my leg and run away. I was in so much pain I stopped and walked the rest of the way home. A week of ice, naproxen and rest and I entered race day not having run in 7 days. Not a good plan, as I understood it.

In the end the race went pretty well. I hit a wall at 20 miles that really slowed me down, but in the end I finished in 4:43:15!!!!!


Here's proof I actually ran the race. Well, proof I started anyway.


At 5:57 I'm 3 minutes away from the gun. I was in position and ready to get things started.

T-1 minute. On the starting line. I'm at the front of the wave and pretty much stay there eventually catching up to the previous wave. I'll spare all the details, but it was a great run and just finishing makes me feel awesome.

I used to be a Runner. Once.

Once upon a time, in a far far away land (California), I used to be a runner. By definition, according to the "New" Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus, a "runner" is "a person who or animal which runs, esp. in a race." Well, I'm no goat but I am a person and I did manage to run in a race, once. See! I even have a picture to prove it.


Never, never in a million years, did I imagine that I would sign up, train for, and cross the finish line (1:02:10) of a race. I have to give mad props to my running partners deetschei and moose. Without the two of them, I would never have discovered that, at the age of 29, I could still sprint a 7.20 mile. I also wouldn't have realized how important it is to have a support group (people to talk to, to help motivate you, and to kick your ass when you don't think you can run another step). I am not a completely reformed pessimist, but I am certainly well on my way.

Although I am currently not training for a race, I still lace up my shoes, pound the rubber band, and try to log my weekly miles. I can't quit running. Sometimes my bad knees make quitting look really appealing, but I am hooked! You all know what I mean. The feeling you get when you haven't run in a few days and your legs grow restless. The feeling of slipping into your broken-in, trusty running shoes. The thought of passing your mile markers, the sights, the sounds. The playlist you strategically compiled, so that your favorite song kicks in and keeps you going right when you feel like you can't go any further. The days when you don't want to run, but after you do, you can't believe you ever felt that way. But I'm preaching to the choir, right?

Okay. Lets get down to business. My stats are crap and I am fine with that.

Yesterday's Run: 7 miles
Time: 67:30
Yesterday's Temperature + Humidity: 96 Fahrenheit (avg. 75% humidity)
Place: Boring Old Treadmill in my airconditioned apartment complex gym (with a view of the pool)
Overall Impression: I've had easier days.
Avg. Miles per Week: 20-25

I am running to get skinny, look fab in my swimsuit and to keep eating cheese guilt-free, so I am not following any training plan but my own (run long and slow to burn lots of calories and not pass out while doing it). This does not mean that I am not already contemplating my next race. While I am not quite as ambitious as deetschei and moose, I am thinking about a half marathon (gotta learn to walk before you run, baby). I just don't know when or where yet. Suggestions?

So, this is basically my running stats from the past month. I took two months off to drink heavily during the World Cup and wreak havoc on the futures markets of all grains harvested everywhere. Since I was a completely broken man by the end of that um, bender, I decided I would start running again from the beginning...because I think by definition you have to start there. Since blogger is so great about uploading files, I have to cut and paste it from my spreadsheet. Unfortunately, my graphs (graphs, he says!) will be forever lost to you.
[...] Imagine hours passing since I wrote the first paragraph[...]
Alright, since I'm getting very angry at the formatting gods, I'm just posting total miles for the past month and overall average.
These are stupid, unusable numbers- but numbers all the same:

July: 99.26 miles
Average Time 8.8 minutes a mile

Cool Runnings

Yesterday's Run: 6 miles
Time 51:02
Place: Uni Gelände + Aachener Weihe
Overall Impression: Pretty Relaxed Except for Obvious Need to Amputate Right Leg (aka. PREONARL)

So, this is basically to give people an idea where I am in the greater scheme:

I'm training for the Kölner Marathon (October 8ish) using the Beginner's Marathon Training Guide on Runners World.com as general guide. I have to modify it slightly for time reasons,and I like to extend some of the weekend distances, but I'm more or less in the seventh week of training. I used the same plan for the Phoenix Marathon (Which, I might add, was a ROCK AND ROLL Marathon...I should also add that it apparently takes more 26.2 bands to make running in Phoenix interesting...oh, and the .2 band was a midget with a banjo). I added a second 20 miler into the mix just to ensure that I would spectacularly crash out in pain and sweat and tears anyway...Needless to say, it's a very good training plan.
This time my goal is around the four hour mark, which means I probably should involve a bit more tempo running just to be safe. But quite frankly, I'll be happy if I finish with all of my legs still on my body. All six of them.
This week is the second or third week of five-day-a-week running, which is starting to bring me some really erratic times. Some days I'm-a- flyin'. Others, I'm merely logging miles and trying to get in before the heatstroke melts my cerebellum.
I'm doing all of my training in Cologne,save for an eight miler in Paris last weekend, that I ran while slowly realizing I was unwell...it's a good story, I'll tell you about it sometime. Meanwhile, I have realized that Google Earth v.4 is key for anyone who can not decipher the impossible calculations neccessary to convert kilometers into miles. I mean, 1 mile = 1.609 kilometers? That's a decimel point people, and I'm no Stephen Hawking.

Just so you know, I'm not a blogging kind of guy. However, a useful space for discourse is never a bad thing. In fact, sometimes it's even good.
So I envision this little nook of the internet (far enough from the porn that we remain clothed, yet close enough that the red lights keep us warm), as an opportunity for us to talk about how we are, who we are, and where are, in regards to running.
For those of you who enjoy communities, it should welcome you with open arms. For those of you who want competition, I'm sure someone here wants to kick your ass, too. Mostly though, I'm working under the vague premise that talking to people about running has always made me a better runner...except when it doesn't.
Having said that, we don't all need to feel obligated to dispense wisdom with every word. Quite the contrary. I'm personally more interested in the mundane aspects of the daily grind. You might not be though. Who knows? This is a place to talk about the three-miler as much as the thirty-miler (who the fuck runs thirty miles?). It's an interactive running log. It's a place for amateur geeks.
Ah yes, amateurs...See, I'm an amateur at blogspot as well. There will be growing pains. I don't know how I want to structure this yet: I want a few people to contribute. I want a lot of people to contribute. I want top-secret people with superhero pseudonyms. I want transparency and middle names...There will be growing pains. But if I employ half the intelligence my mama says I have, it should sort itself out eventually. Did I mention the growing pains?
At the very least, we should have a small group of runners who will just ramble about what they do. If you want to contribute, it could be fun. I will invite you.