Outside Run, Not So Bad

As you all know I hadn't planned on running outside while here in Beijing. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. And surely this morning was desperate times.

I awoke at 5:15 and I was wide awake. There was just no sense in going back to bed, and if I was going to get a run in today I was going to have to go right then and there. So, I did. Oh and the gym doesn't open until 7. I braved the heat and had a nice time.

The path around Workers Stadium seems to be quite a popular place to run. I passed several! WOOHOO 3 WEEKS IN AND I'M ALREADY PASSING PEOPLE!!!!!! Furthermore, the pollution isn't so bad. I can still feel my lungs and my allergies didn't react too badly. Of course, the effects of pollution are usually much longer term than just a 20 minute cooldown, but at the same time, I'm really feeling like the pollution here isn't as bad as has been reported. But then, how do you measure pollution with the naked eye? Further, reducing traffic emmissions, shutting down factories, and yesterday's rain all have added to the cleanliness of the air today.

Overall Stats:

Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 29:02
Pace: 9:40
Overall Impression: The Chinese Seem To Like The Hayes Street Haters Shirt!!! (TCSTLTHSHS!)

Beijing Update

Well I did it. I ran today. I was supposed to do 4 miles, and I'm afraid I didn't quite get it all done.

The gym here is crazy. It's empty. During my 40 minutes on the treadmill I saw two people. One when I got there and another when I left. That was it. The treadmill was nice. Complete with television. Not a bad deal really. I turned on Chinese MTV and enjoyed a nice run.

Well, nice if you like running in 85 degree weather. Yes, I know I told you I was at the gym, but evidently it is not air conditioned. The thermometer on the wall read 85! I couldn't believe. No wonder I was sweating my balls off.

At about 3 miles I did something wrong and invoked the emergency shut down. Sweating, panting and feeling a little light headed I decided that was far enough. I showered and went home. I've been making up for the distance with a lot of walking, so I don't feel so bad, but I will try to beef up the next few runs to make sure I do all my mileage.

I found the runners! My mistake was thinking that no one here runs, I was looking in the wrong place. Actually the wrong time. When we headed to dinner tonight I saw all sorts of runners. They were waiting for the cooler weather. It was even breezy tonight and was therefore approaching something you might call comfortable. That run outside may actually happen. As I get acclimated to the weather here I'm starting to think it may even be feasible.

I'll keep you posted.

Running in Beijing

The short version of this post is that it hasn't happened yet. I have, however, been doing a lot of walking. And I do mean a lot. I have decided, after tackling Tiannenmen Square, Banhei Park and the Pearl Market already today, that my run will be tomorrow morning. This will keep me a little off schedule, but the walking is surely helping, and quite frankly I'm having some weird leg pains. Can't figure those out yet, but it will come in time.

I will not be running outdoors. Period. Two reasons:

1) This picture

That is Beijing at about 5 p.m. It has looked like that since I got here. Now imagine that humidity with 90 degree weather. I'm sorry Dr. PP but that is worse than anything Texas has ever seen.

I still await someone who can explain the fascination with building world capitols on swamps. Berlin, Washington, D.C., Beijing. I mean, WTF?

2) I have been here for three days and seen One, count him, One runner. That's it. It just isn't done here. Besides, if you knew the chaos that is crossing the street WITH a green walk light here, you might understand my apprehension to put myself in harms way just for a run. BTW, I have been here for 3 days and am yet to see a cab driver use a turn signal. I feel so at home!!

That's it. As soon as I run at the gym here, I'll be sure to post.

Week 2. Done and Done.

Week Two is now in the books.

When last we met, I wasn’t sure if I could squeeze any more miles out of Greenwich. I did manage to get twelve miles from it last week, but just barely. Greenwich Park opens up to a group of very large fields in Blackheath, and I thought I would worm my way around the periphery of those just to see how far I could go without having to retrace my steps. It accommodated my needs, but I will definintely have to run somewhere else next week. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. But please understand that I am trying to keep unsavory experiences such as stabbings, muggings, flashings, shootings, and even maimings to a minimum. It’s a tall order when you live in the big bad city ☺

Speaking of the city, I officially had a horrible run on Tuesday. I don’t even want to blog about it (But I will). And the thing was, it had nothing to do with me. I felt great physically, but it was if London completely conspired against me. Don’t get me wrong, I know I poke fun at London a lot. You kind of have to give the place a hard time simply because Londoners take themselves so seriously. But it really is a great place to live most of the time. I mean, its silly to say, but there are only a handful of cities in the world that have as much going on as London at any given moment. And by handful, I mean maybe three. And I only speak the correct language to be understood in maybe one and a half of them.

Nonetheless, Tuesday was the day London let me down. It was hot and smoggy. The sky was literally brown. For some reason, traffic was horrible so I was running by permanent gridlock, which meant I was constantly inhaling exhaust. There was even more garbage than usual on the sidewalks (and in this part of town, there be more than a little on good days). To top it all off, there was a plague of flying ants. I kid you not. They were everywhere. You know how sometimes you run through a cloud of gnats and the cloud drifts along with you for a few feet, so that you get temporarily nervous that it will stay with you constantly and you will never be able to stop going “ptff ptff ptff” with your mouth? Well, that happened to me Tuesday, except it was with flying ants, and the cloud literally stayed with me for the duration of my four mile run. I had bugs crawling on my jersey when I got home, and it stung when they bounced off my arms and face while running. I had to shower even faster than usual just to wash off the unclean feeling. By the time I was out of the shower, I generally hated everything about the city and wanted to move to the forest and live in a house made of candy. It was not a quality day for urban appreciation.

Soooooo…that was that. London and I have since hugged and made up, but I still don't trust it completely. Everything else is going pretty well. I have been lifting weights for my cross training, and feel pretty good about the three runs a week. Speed work and tempo runs are all under control, although the super nice track I found near us costs £2.40 to use. I think I should get them to sponsor my marathon fee… seriously.

Last Weeks Miles: 23 miles
Average Pace: about 9:15
Overall Impression: Ant Free For Two Days! (AFFTD!)

Swimming a 9:30 mile!

Yes, you read that correctly. I went out the other day for my 3 mile run and finally realized what Dr. PP was talking about when she needed to grow gills. It's awful. I felt like I was aspirating the entire run, but I did it! Well, almost.

I headed out of the house and decided to run the driveway--that's a 1/4 mile already! And just headed on down the road. Aside from the need for goggles and fins, I have to say it all went very well. I didn't exactly have the distance mapped out, and I haven't found the other half to my Nike+ since the move, so I was judging the distance by my watch. My previous 2-mile runs had been at 9:30 so I assumed that would be my pace for 3.

On my way back my newfangled shoe laces proved to be not so cool. They are elastic "never tie your shoes again" shoe laces, and I have to make some adjustments to them, for I could feel the blister on my heel at mile 2.3. Mind you, I haven't had a blister since the finish line of my first marathon 2 years ago. I tried to push through it and keep running, then I remembered that I had promised myself I wasn't going to be injured this time around. I know that sounds a little wussy, but a blister can set you back a few days and I didn't want that to happen. So I stopped and walked home. I measured the course yesterday and it turns out I had actually already run 2.8 miles, so I was pretty happy.

Today I undertake the 3 mile that I should have run yesterday (letting the blister heal) and will begin treadmill training later this week. My schedule will be a little f'ed up this week what with a flight to china and all, but I will stay on track!!!

BTW, I have started a blog to relate my travel experiences and will be letting everyone know of my exciting journeys through that. You can find it atVagabunt. I won't be able to tell you everything until I get back from China. Word is our internet activity and our conversations will be monitored. Oh how I love China!!!!

Week One in Review

Week One is in the books, and in retrospect it went pretty well. I found a track through Google Earth that is about one mile away, so I will be able to do my tempo runs and speed work without any problems. The track is actually pretty sweet: it is rubber, it is well maintained, and I have yet to see the chalk outlines of dead bodies on the way there.

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

The long run on Sunday was switched a long run on Monday, proving that it is never too early to start shaking things up. I was in Bournemouth for a three-day bachelor party this weekend, and after wakeboarding and flying like crazy around a ropes course, I was feeling a little “fragile” by Sunday afternoon. If you throw in copious amounts of alcohol and a trip to clubs and pubs that literally ended after the sun was coming up, then you could imagine my desire to postpone those ten miles. (Quick aside: My wife will testify that I am obsessed with the idea of staying in bars until daylight, which is pretty humorous because I tend to go to bed before ten PM. Having actually realized my lifelong ambition, I can assert both that it was wonderful and that I deserve a ticker-tape parade of some sorts for actually staying awake and coherent the entire time. I have two words and a coordinating conjunction for you: Vodka and cola.)

In short, the extra day’s recovery didn’t help. Hell, I didn’t feel right until Wednesday. The ten miles? Let’s just say that I did them in a time that was very close to the prescribed time and leave it at that. Oh, and this week’s training is still on schedule so I won’t be missing any runs, either. Nice recovery, methinks. Now if I could only find my liver.

On the technical side, I bought a new sensor for the Nike+ so I am not running watch-commando any longer. Well, I had my watch with me the entire spring, but I just chose not to use it. I highly recommend going without if you aren’t training for anything, but its just a matter of choice. Granted, I am going to come up much more than a hundred miles short at the end of this year’s calculations, but it’s all good. I’m back on the clock now and keeping close count of everything with an intricate system of punch cards and sundials. Granted, I’m not quite as clinical about my preparation as, say, the Russians are in Rocky IV, but I don’t have the best of Soviet technology at my disposal. I like to imagine that Drago and I share a few attributes, however, and that I still gleaned some important training strategies from that montage in which he pummels a red cushion with his communist rage.

This week should be pretty chill. It totals twenty-two miles with a twelve mile run on Sunday, which will involve a lot of circles in Greenwich Park. As I look over the next few weeks, I realize that Greenwich is failing to offer me the miles I need, and that I will have to start directing my attention northwestward, towards the city. London running is always a mixed bag, but if I can cut across London Bridge on a Sunday morning, then I should be able to find it almost entirely vacated, save for the zombies. Today I have five miles, with two miles at 7:38, which are in turn broken up by 800 meter jogs. Tuesday I ran five miles, but I don’t remember the time requirement. It was a modest goal that only left me half dead. But, then again, that could have just been the bachelor party’s revenge.

Last Week’s Miles: 21
Last Week’s Time: Ack, I’m not online right now! Let’s say I did them all in six
minutes.
Overall Impression: In Training Limbo. Not Quite There Mentally Yet. Marathon
Still Too Far

And I Ran...

"I ran not far away, but I ran...." (Sung to the tune of Flock of Seagulls) Come on everybody! You know the tune. Sing along.
That's the story of the beginning of Marathon training. It's going to be a long slow training, but I'm very optimistic. Deetschei and I are training for Dublin and clearly he is going to kick my ass, but he's younger, he'll probably always do that.
This should be week 2 of the training, but it is really just week 1. Aside from Forest and I's 2 mile run on Sunday I have run about 35 miles since the end of April. That included the marathon. Not good. Therefore, I've stepped way back to the beginning and will do a training plan that is registered as "very hard" but starts with an assumed 6-10 miles a week. That's more than I have been doing, but I'm hoping it won't stress me out too much to start that low.
Training absolutely had to begin today, 1) because it is now 15 weeks to the marathon, and B) because I weighed in at 200 pounds yesterday. I haven't weighed this much in a long time, and I will now be taking care of that. You all know that I am recently singled and with my new found poverty, I'm sure losing weight will not be difficult, however, in the land of cheese and beer I am already finding it tricky.
Well, Cheese, beer and French Toast Fantasy. Ann Sather restaurant in Chicago serves French Toast Fantasy. Thank god for me it is 200 miles away. I would be a house. Start with two cinnamon rolls. Slice them in half (like a bagel) dip them in egg batter and fry like french toast. Nice start, eh? Well, then you slather some Mascarpone cheese in the middle, top with gronola and fresh fruit. Then you can finally serve. You'll be happy to know I didn't use the syrup she provided, although it certainly would have been decadent.
But, I digress. I'm going to look around and see what other training plans might be out there and maybe more appropriate for my fitness level, but for now, I've got 8 miles scheduled this week. 2 today, completed in 19 minutes--not bad, not bad. 3 on Friday, 3 on Sunday!

Wish me luck. The goal, as I've discussed with Forest, is to finish this marathon injury free. I know I said that about the last one, and I didn't injure myself at the marathon. I did it beforehand. So, in a sick way, I didn't injure myself with the last marathon. Anyway, I'll be taking it slow. Icing, Ibuprofen, etc.
Nutrition is also going to be a big part of it all. I've been working on following a different eating plan, one devoid of foie gras, and will slowly improve my diet and overall health, so that on race day I will be svelt and ready to go. :-)

Glad to hear everyone else is doing so well. Keep up the good work!!!!

Over the river, through the woods, over the hill and another hill and another hill...

So, as I recently discovered, there is a reason why they call our area "Hillandale." Compared to the swampland that was the L.J., our new home is full of small hills and some steady, gradual inclines. I won't even pretend that it can compete with Sixpack's Twin Peaks run, because it simply can't. Some days I really miss the flat, mindless run through the old neighborhood; other days I enjoy the new challenge and the fact that this kind of running forces different muscles to work. The other big challenge created by our recent move is finding a long enough route (that doesn't loop 10 times) that navigates between questionable and less questionable streets and neighborhoods. I joked with Ginifer when she gave me my Garmin that I wish it had a feature with police updates or could tell you "Crack head in .10 miles. To avoid, turn left now." (Clearly I shouldn't have watched so many episodes of The Wire before moving here.) But seriously, we found a really great area that has tons of regional parks with paved and unpaved trails. In many regards it feels a lot like the Bay Area and runs along Wildcat Canyon or Nimitz Trail.

I have been running 3 to 4 mi. runs every few days. My times are good - given the fact that I am becoming reacquainted with hills - I love the fact that uphills almost always mean speedy downhills! Nothing really noteworthy to share. I need to find some local races to get me back into the competitive mode. I'll find a few things that will help me focus and give me a goal.

That is the update from here. Let's hear from the rest of you DrunkRunners! Runs only When Chased - post about your 5k and how your training has progressed. Sixpack, any runs across Portland? Wisconsin? Forest, how are you surviving with Sixpack constantly giving you a hard time? Deetschei, keep us posted on the joys of running without a watch - I am intrigued.

16 weeks to Dublin (training again)

First off:

Dr. P.P.: Those are some great pictures of B2B. It looks vaguely fantastic, in that wonderful sort of way. Although you have heard many congratulations from me behind the scenes, let me formally congratulate you on your smoking marathon result and remind you that my only living goal left is to beat your time by exactly one hour. (Just some context: I told the good Dr. that I wanted her to beat my marathon time because I knew her competitive nature would help push her forward over the last miles. And now, my own competitiveness is well served with an attempt to beat her time. Our relationship is predictable that way. :) )

Forest: Welcome Back! Don’t sweat your marathon time in Madison, I believe you currently have the current fastest marathon record in the group. You don’t have anything to prove. ☺

I have been running regularly since my half-marathon in January, but I haven’t been posting. It is my bad. This Spring I had a fantastic amount of written work due, and quite frankly I didn’t want to risk using up all of my good words on the blog and leaving myself empty for publications. I have similar philosophies about going to the driving range before a round of golf: I know I only have so many good shots in my body, and I don’t want to risk wasting them before the game even begins. So, just know there was plenty of running, but I simply didn’t feel like talking about it.

Know what else I didn’t do? Time it. The battery on my Nike+ died a few months ago, and I have been running completely commando in the watch department. It was refreshing to not worry about anything while logging my requisite 20 or so a week. If I only managed fifteen, or even thirteen miles a week, I didn’t sweat that either. In fact, I had two decent lay offs of about ten days that occurred when I twisted my ankle in London and then slit my foot open on a rusty pipe in Mauritius. The latter left a very lovely scar that I have begun to tell people was received during an emergency foot transplant. Starting now.

Speaking of Mauritius, I have finally run in the southern hemisphere in spite of the obvious risks of falling off the bottom of the earth. It was heavenly. We were limited by lack of sidewalks and we always had to run in pairs because of gangs of wild dogs (no lie), but the fresh air and the scenery were exquisite. I wanted to eat the whole island as I hustled up and down the same hill near our house. I wish I was officially training for a marathon then, so I could mark off another country in which I have run whilst training, but its cool. I’ll keep Mauritius in my heart nonetheless.

So I think I have established that Spring was a big grey area of aimless running. Summer and fall will be exactly like that, but only the total opposite. I have just started a 16 week plan for the Dublin marathon that promises to completely rock. I am a little reticent about it because it only has three runs per week, and I just don’t believe these plans have enough run days in them. Also, I know…I mean I KNOW, that nobody ever does the required cross training on the “off days” that makes these plans work. So I reserve the right to switch running plans halfway through to something else…but so far, I’m still pretty psyched. It has the tempo and speedwork I need to bring my time down, plus three savory 20 milers. I look forward to the tears.

Even though I am running with a new plan, my big focus this time around will be nutrition. I am not satisfied that I can repeatedly log sub 1:50 half marathons, complete 20 milers in under 3:10, and then show up for the marathon and only walk off with 4:52. It simply does not add up. And the more I flash back to my last marathon, the more I am convinced that the noon start, coupled with my only eating a small bowl of pasta four hours previous, conspired to my Bonking at 17 miles. In fact, I got in touch with a physical trainer a few months ago who advised me before I started training that I should run real slow in order to train my body to gain fuel from fat more efficiently, and to eat more. Lots more. So I said to myself, “Listen to THAT guy”. And I did. And I do. And I will. Food is going to be the fun part of this marathon. There is going to be a lot of it, and I sincerely hope that I put on a few pounds of blubber over the next couple of months, so that when I hit twenty miles my body just starts devouring itself like Pizza the Hut in Spaceballs. That’s when I know I will succeed.

Regular posts to come. I swear.

Bay To Breakers (aka DrunkRunners Fest) 2008

Thank you, Sixpack, for sounding the call to all Drunk Runners. I admit that I have been very remiss in posting since my marathon. Initially there was nothing to report as I was sidelined by that ever-so-annoying Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome Hoopla.

A report from Bay to Breakers is long overdue. Due to various factors: Sixpack was practically on his deathbed (despite the copious amount of alcohol we poured down his throat in an attempt to kill whatever was making him sick), my shins and ankle were still causing me a lot of pain, the copious amount of alcohol consumed across the Bay Area the day/night prior to the race, etc.... we ended up walking the race and taking in all the sights, sounds, and liquids we came across along the way to the finish line.

First there were drinks at Vesuvio in North Beach (sadly, no pics).

Then multiple Irish Coffees at the legendary Buena Vista.

Next was Jupiter, where we sat and drank beer for at least 5 hours - there might have been some pizza and live reggae in there somewhere, but I mostly remember beer:

After that it was off to our dearest haunt, Zeitgeist (again, no pics). If memory serves me correctly, we headed back to Sixpack's place at around 1:30 am and more drinks were consumed. Only Ginifer seemed fit enough the next morning to run the race; however, out of a strong sense of DrunkRunner loyalty, we all ended up walking it together. To be fair there was a bit of running at appropriate moments - at the start of the race, up the last few blocks of Hayes Street (how I hate you, Hayes Street!), during photo ops, and a mad dash toward the finish line.Lest you think us total weenies, we did consume Jello shots before 10am!

And stopped by the beer tent, post race, for refreshments after our arduous effort!

While I have opted not to post pictures of every naked person we saw, I leave that in Sixpack's capable hands, I will share these pics with you. There is something to be said for walking B2B - you certainly get to see a lot more of the colorful side of the event.

The start of the race - flying tortillas, marshmallows, and beach balls. Note the tons of yellow signs telling us we were sinners and going to hell.

A group who were apparently big fans of "Deadliest Catch"

My Peeps (This one was for Chantelle)

Vikings

My favorite: Salmon swimming upstream

My arch nemesis: Hayes Street

Who doesn't want to save the TaTas?

Seriously, did anyone actually think there wouldn't be a group of Elvises at this race?

Don's lesser known, but feistier twin

Well, it was a long 7.46 miles, but we finished and looked damn fine in our skirts - Note: Sixpack got more shout-outs from fellow skirt runners than the sistas, which was most likely due to the fact that he has the better legs!

Forest who???

I'd like to start this re introduction by congratulating  Dr. PP on her marathon, that was an awesome time you clocked. It truly is the best feeling in the world when you cross that line, sorry it took so long but GREAT JOB!!

One other thing I need to point out right off the bat, I was feeling good in the beginning of the marathon and could have definitely went out in front but CHOSE TO STAY WITH THE CLAN. After Six Pack stretched his legs I chose to stay back and make sure Kojak crossed that line before they stopped recording times.

I think I should have ran my race, cause I ended up with IT band syndrome. I you all noticing a pattern here, all I ever do is get on here and complain of injuries. Why do we do this people why. Sybil and I are not speaking at the moment, for once I won and have taken the last month off. Things are starting to settle down and I think I'm going to try running this weekend and see what happens. This time around I'm going to come back slow. I'll build a good base work my core and do weight training and see if I can kick this injury crap. I have scheduled a half marathon for Sept. I'll see how that goes and how the body feels, I may try to do Jacksonville in Feb and carry that through to Madison again. Well folks HAPPY RUNNING hope to see you in the funny papers.

Forest F. Gump