Come and get me

In the August 2006 issue of Outside magazine, Marc Peruzzi wrote that the hard part about living and training in Boulder, Colorado was the competition during workouts.

In most American towns, outdoor-sports aficionados are part of an elite counterculture minority. Mountain bikers and climbers have cachet. Not so in Boulder. Recreating outdoors is the norm here, and it’s in your face. There’s always some horse-toothed mountain-town equivalent of Laird Hamilton ready to kick your athletic pride through the dirt. Remember the 2005 Tour, when T-Mobile kept attacking Discovery, trying to break Lance? That’s what a casual bike ride is like in Boulder. Strangers attack. Old guys with gray beards and steel bikes attack. Reach for a shot of Gu and even your friends attack. And women: Women always attack—they’re the worst.

Even slow guys like me attack. The other day I was reeling in a pro cyclist on a brutal local climb. My heart rate was near its max, but I was feeling good. I was in the zone. Maybe four years of living in Boulder have paid some fitness dividends, I thought.
Then I figured it out: He’s between intervals, and once his heart rate drops below 65 bpm, he’s gone. At least he said “No offense” before he accelerated.

It doesn’t matter what sport you do; you will suffer similar humiliation. Go nordic skiing in North Boulder Park and two Olympians shout “Track!” from a meter back. Climb the Flatirons only to learn that someone once ascended in Rollerblades. Get Maytagged in a hole while paddling Boulder Creek and a World Cup champion slalom kayaker will toss you a rope bag. Running? Not me, not in Boulder. Boulderites run like gazelles. Fancy yourself a mountaineer? The waiters at Sherpa’s have summited Everest. But at least those guys are nice. If Reinhold Messner himself walked into south Boulder’s mountaineering shop to buy a carabiner, the sales staff would give him attitude. It’s enough to make you revolt against the blue sky (300 sunny days a year), pull down the blinds, and watch NASCAR.

I’m here to report that it just isn’t Boulder where this phenomenon occurs. It happens in the sleepy School Lane Hills area on Lancaster, Pa., too. Trust me, I know. Just when you are cruising along without a care in the world on an easy day, satisfied to barely break a sweat with a string of 7-minute miles with no other goals other than to get some work in, some jackass ruins it.

It’s such a pain.

During today’s recovery run after yesterday’s hard 21-miler, a woman with thighs like Erma Bombeck and a stride like Oprah as well as a college kid with Kobe shorts made runs at me. Whenever I came within sight on my loops around Baker Field, these folks lifted the knees a little higher, and pumped the arms a little faster all with the hope of taking a shot at me.

Needless to say I didn’t let it happen, which makes me wonder if I’m the one with the problem. Why can’t I just let those people go? Who cares if they run with me for a little while until they get tired and fall back? Who cares if they pass me?

Obviously, it’s me.

Simply looking to get some miles in at whatever pace felt good, I ended up running solid 6:15 pace for seven miles.

Why?

Because I didn’t want a housewife to get the idea that she was in my league? Because I wanted to teach some college punk that he needed to do some more work?

How arrogant.

Tuesday was not the first time this has happened. In fact, it’s quite routine. During runs on the Kelly and West River drive loops in Philadelphia with my friend Tom, invariably people would take runs at us and pass by. And invariably, I would always say – in a tone loud for everyone to hear – “So Tom, how long will it be when we streak by that dude when he’s sucking air.”

This summer it got to the point where I started calling people on it. Once, while finishing a 16-miler with a series of hills a woman struggling simply to draw oxygen reached the intersection of where a hill began at the same time as me. I gave her a friendly hello nod as I was about to go by her and never gave a second thought until I caught a glimpse of her in my peripheral vision. There she was huffing, puffing and going red-faced crazy trying to take me down on the hill.

I couldn’t believe it and asked her what the deal was: “Lady, are you kidding me?”

She opened her mouth to respond and all that came out was half a breath that was barely audible. That’s when I dialed up the pace, told her I’d catch her around and took off for home.

Yeah, really tough.

And yeah, there is something wrong with me.

Still, there’s nothing wrong with teasing college kids with a 6-minute surge, easing it back to 6:30 to let them close in before dropping them with a 5:45. That’s just too fun.

Anyway, I was in no mood for other runners today and got off the field and onto the roads where I could take it easy. The 14.3 miles in 1:37:28 shows that the last half of the run was done in cruise control.

Now it’s time to dial it back and rest up. Based on my morning heart rate and feeling after the past two runs, I may be toying with over-training syndrome.

Shoe geek
Yesterday’s acquisition of the Pegasus Racers got me thinking about shoes that are no longer made but should be. For instance:

* Nike Air Talaria
* Nike Zoom LWP
* The “original” adidas Ozweego with the quilted toe box
* adidas Response Trail, but not for running.

The Talaria might have been the most perfect shoe for my foot. Sadly, the folks at Nike or the running/consumer public probably saw it as not so fashionable.

Running nugget
The New York Times is piling it on. Maybe an American could win the big race this year? They seem to think it could be Meb Keflezighi is the one to break through.

Ritzenhein anyone?

Going long

Often (relatively speaking) I’m asked what I think is the most important and/or what is my favorite workout during my buildup for a marathon. It’s a very easy question.

The long run and the long run.

Sure, there’s nothing like nailing a tempo run or speed workout well within the time goal. In fact, that’s usually when I feel the most confident and strut a little more than usual into the house post-workout.

But the long run… that’s where the important stuff happens.

Typically, the long run is defined as a 20-mile or 2-hour run, which, according to Olympic marathoner, coach and physiologist Pete Pfitzinger, going long does seven beneficial things:

* Surround your muscle fibers with capillaries.
* Shuttle oxygen with more myoglobin.
* Make mighty mitochondria.
* Increase aerobic enzyme activity.
* Fill the tank with glycogen.
* Burn more fat.
* Builds slow-twitch muscle fibers

I’m no scientist so I can’t really speak too knowledgably about what goes on internally… unless it involves our feelings.

Tear.

Seriously, what I understand about the long run is that it gives one a strong sense of accomplishment and a confidence that makes the marathon distance less daunting. Every expert and runner has their own theory regarding the what, where, and how of doing the long run. Some people do them every other week, or a certain number per training period with a bunch of well thought out reasons why.

My method for the long run is simple – every Monday.

Regardless of training cycle or the distance of the race I’m training for, I go long every Monday. Why Monday? That’s when they run Boston and it’s the first day of the week as far as I’m concerned. So for 16 of the last 18 weeks I ran 20-plus miles every Monday and for 18 of the last 19 weeks I went more than two hours at least once a week. In this regard, I think I’m strong.

Nevertheless, there won’t be a 20-miler next Monday. I’m finished with them until December or January after going 21 miles in 2:17:08 on the final Monday. The taper phase is looming and rest is the best training method at this point.

Typically, long runs are finished at an easy, but not slow, pace. Sometimes I try to go as fast as I can without exerting myself, because the important part is to do the work and not get hurt.

But this one… ugh.

Actually, that “ugh” is an overstatement. Running 21 miles wasn’t too difficult, and I breezed through the first 17 miles in 6:40 pace on the forgiving grass surface at Baker Field. But after 10 loops around the perimeter of the field, I needed a change of scenery so I took off on the hilly four-mile course for a local road race that was held in my neighborhood last March.

And by took off, I mean it.

I hammered the downhills and climbs at just a touch slower than 5k pace, finishing the loop in 23:01. That’s not bad considering that I had 17 miles in the bag to that point.

It also wasn’t smart because my left calf and hamstring started to hurt. Then my stomach started giving me trouble. Then it became a little difficult to sit or stand, so I stretched. Finally, stretching out on the couch with the remote was the best thing to do – if only I could concentrate on what was on the TV.

What the hell was I thinking? Who kicks their own ass less than two weeks before the big race?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Shoe geek
Since 1996 I have worn the adidas Ozweego for workouts. I don’t expect to change this any time soon as long as adidas continues to make this soft, durable and comfortable trainer. But finding a racing shoe that is both durable and light has always been difficult for me.

Oh yeah, I really liked the Nike Air Mariah. It was a basic, old-school shoe with a no-frills, clean design and an easy and cushiony feel when my heel hit the ground. But if I’m not mistaken, they stopped making that one in the mid-1990s.

Always on the lookout for a suitable replacement, I think I may have found one.

Last night I found a pair of Nike Pegasus Racers, tried them on and they seem to have the correct feel. I’ll give it a test this week and report back.

Running nugget
The New York Times is in full marathon mode with NYC just a few days away. Apparently, according to The Times, there are a lot of people training and racing in Boulder, Colorado.

Who knew?

2 weeks to go

I’m not going to run 100 miles this week. In, fact I bet that I won’t even make it to 90 miles. Oh, I’m going to work hard and all of that good stuff, but with two weeks to go I get to rest and — gasp! — relax.

That last part is easier said than done, of course. It’s what makes running and runners funny – they can crank out miles week after week through cold, wind, rain, sleet and snow, but if they are told they need to dial it back just a little bit in order for all of that hard training to manifest itself on race day, that’s just too difficult to understand.

I’ve been there. I can still remember the ’98 Marine Corps Marathon when I cut it way down to 100 miles in my first taper week.

Needless to say, things didn’t go too well on race day.

So here’s the deal: I’m going to go hard on Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday before going easy and Thursday and Friday. On Saturday morning I’m going to race a 5k and will consider an off day next Sunday.

Don’t bet on that, though.

Anyway, here’s how “Blast Week” shook out:

Monday — 24 miles in 2:48:13
Started out at 6:50 pace and picked it up to 6:35 to 6:40 pace through 13 miles. It was an easy, easy pace though it did take a tiny bit on concentration because of the hills and windy conditions. About 90-minutes in, I met up with Jeff Kirchner and I ran with him for about an hour. The pace dipped a bit, but wasn’t slow. When Jeff left I ran for another 22 minutes by myself and I picked up the pace again.

Even after 2:20 I still had some turnover and could have taken the pace to 6 minutes. I also drank on the run and did well with the Gatorade and Red Bull mix. Better yet, I did not stop running once.

I think I’m strong.

Tuesday – 16.1 miles in 1:53:25
Started out slow and a little tight after a long run yesterday, but the pace improved quite a bit after I got through all the hill repeats. At the end of the run my turnover was really good and I had no trouble taking the pace fairly high.

Wednesday – 18 miles in 2:02:35
Ran pretty hard over the first 10 miles at the Brick Yards. Felt pretty strong and the pace was easy even though I was running around 6-minute miles. At the end I tied up a little bit and I slowed in the hills, but I still had the turnover.

Thursday – morning: 15.3 miles in 1:39:02
evening: 6.2 miles in 41:39
Total: 21.5 miles
Ran steady the whole time even though my right calf and hamstring were a bit sore. My 5-mile splits: 33:10; 31:57; 30:55. This run reminded me of the old days. Better yet, I wasn’t even tired at the end.

In the evening, I doubled up for the first time in a long time. Definitely kept the pace brisk even though my right calf was still a little sore.

Friday – 13 miles in 1:27:10
Squeezed in 13. It was extremely easy and I hope I can add another workout tonight, but it seems unlikely with a heavy rainstorm looming. The weather hasn’t been good this week. Either way, not a bad run despite the fact that I was operating on very little sleep a day after doubling up for 21.5.

Saturday – 19 miles in 2:11:59
The first hour was all hills. I did tons of repeats and then held it together the rest of the way. The hills took a bit out of me… and then there was the wind. I didn’t plan on going so long but I miscalculated with my math.

Sunday – 11.5 miles in 1:16:41
Tried to keep the pace up-tempo but not too fast. Brisk is probably the correct word. Either way, I didn’t feel tired or even the slightest bit winded during the outing.

That’s 123.1 miles for the week – my most since 131 miles in mid October of 1998.

Should we talk about the weather?

Generally, I really don’t hang out with runners. Better yet, let me explain that better… I don’t hang out with runners like me, and by that I mean obsessive folks who have to complete certain workouts every day and certain mileage, etc. every week.

I hang with people who run, but not folks who base all of their training and workouts on specific times in a particular race.

People like me are weird.

Be that as it is, whenever I talk to “competitive” runners about training, race and workout times and that kind of stuff, inevitably the conversation always ends the same way: “Sounds like you’re pretty strong. You’re going to do well in (insert name of race here) if you get good weather.”

The regular runners I hang out with never talk about the weather. It’s like it doesn’t exist in the realm of running in heir viewpoint. Oh sure, they know about the weather and the change of seasons and all of that, but the idea of how it effects racing and running is lost on them. If it’s raining or if it’s too cold, they just stay in and save the workout for another day or go to the gym and run on a treadmill.

The conversation about training with my friends usually culminates with a: “Wow, you run a lot.”

Frankly, I prefer to have my ego stroked and not to worry about the weather.

But the weather is an issue for folks who train for late autumn races in the Northeast. It appeared to be an issue at this year’s Chicago Marathon, too, where the times on the lightning quick course were just a tad slower than normal. Yeah, lots of people ran well at Chicago – 44 American men qualified for the Olympic Trials in the race – but think what they could have done if the wind and temperatures had been more seasonal.

It definitely makes it frustrating when a person trains hard during the heat and humidity of the summer only to have his race messed up by windy conditions and cold air. For people like me, who need every advantage they can get just to run a respectable time, the weather is that much more of a factor.

That’s why I’m hoping the spate of coolish temps and high, driving winds is just one of those crazy snaps in the system. Hopefully, the weather is getting the rain and wind out of its system now so it will be 55 degrees with no wind and overcast skies on Nov. 12 in Harrisburg, Pa. Yeah, I expect some wind since part of the race course rolls past the mighty Susquehanna River on the way around City Island, but as long as it’s manageable…

Today the wind was manageable simply because I’m used to it now. The steady 25-m.p.h. gusts had little effect except for a few areas where there were no trees, houses or building to block the air. Better yet, the mid-40 degree wind chills were kind of refreshing. When the wind was pushing me off the road or blowing directly into my face, the crisp, nip air was perfect. It made me remember that hot and humidity stretch in late July and early August when I had to do all of my running at night.

Today I knifed through the wind like a low 2-iron shot for my typical, easy Sunday for a steady and solid 11½ miles in 1:16:41. Though I ran the first 8-plus miles faster than 6:30 per mile pace, I didn’t worry about anything other than enjoying the run. I even took my iPod with me, which is something I do when I don’t care about my focus.

Either way, it wasn’t a bad way to spend an hour on a Sunday.

Running nugget
Catherine Ndereba, or as she is better known, “Catherine the Great,” is in New York City for next Sunday’s marathon. The Times caught up with her at an appearance at a school, where the Kenyan who often trained in nearby Valley Forge, entertained the kids.

How good is the NYC Marathon going to be this year? Catherine the Great vs. Deena Kastor in the women’s race and the deep American field with Baldini and Tergat in the men’s race…

Wow!

ART of the deal

Cole Hamels was an injury waiting to happen, I wrote repeatedly during the first half of the 2006 baseball season. In a blog and in regular-styled writing, a stint on the disabled list was inevitable, I mused.

Why not? Throughout his professional baseball career, the delicate left-hander never completed a full season. Injuries to his back, arm and hand always seemed to be lurking despite the once-in-a-lifetime talent the 22-year old had.

But after 23 starts following his call-up from the minors, Hamels never got hurt. His first full and complete professional season came as a Major Leaguer. His chronic back trouble, as well as his arm, elbow, hand and everything else held up under the rigors of a tough season in which the Phillies were in the playoff chase until the bitter end. Oh sure, he did a two-week stint on the disabled list and missed two starts, but that was strictly a precaution. In retrospect, Hamels said, he didn’t need to go on the disabled list.

So in September, after Hamels turned in another winning late-season outing, I asked the kid what the deal was. How was he able to keep himself healthy and from breaking down after struggling with injuries since high school? After all, it was the history of injuries that kept Hamels from being selected with one of the top handful of picks in the 2002 draft instead of falling to 17th. Finally, after all this time Hamels was recovering well enough to be dependable.

What was the deal?

Part of it was an improved diet rich with organic fruits and vegetables, no alcohol, regular massages as well as regular chiropractic adjustments. But the coup de grace was the active release technique (ART) treatments that Hamels said he received twice a week.

Suddenly a light bulb went off. Active release, huh?

I had recently been informed about ART a few weeks prior from a chiropractor who referred me to the web site, which defines ART as, “a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.”

Plus, if it worked for someone as “delicate” as Hamels, why couldn’t it work for someone like me… you know, because I’m so tough.

In a nutshell, the theory is that the layers of muscles form adhesions that can produce scar tissue to an affect area. According to the official ART web site, as scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain.

To free up the muscles and tendons (my word) and alleviate the adhesions, a series of soft-tissue massage and stretching movements are preformed by the chiropractor.

When I developed something others referred to as “runner’s knee,” and regular massage and chiropractic adjustments didn’t lessen the pain, I figured it was time for ART after talking to Hamels.

It’s a good thing, too, because a few months later – after a weekly session with my chiropractors who also work on a bunch of well-known NFL and NHL players – I have not missed a day of running. In fact, my training is much more consistent, my recovery is better than ever and my knee hasn’t hurt ever again.

Better yet, my chronic calf and hamstring soreness is much more manageable. After a week of hard running I typically show up at my sessions with my achy calves and hammys and am as good as new within 20 minutes.

It’s pretty amazing.

No, my consistency and health is not all because of ART. I eat better and pay much more attention to my recovery than in the past, but my flexibility is better and I haven’t had to worry about injuries.

That’s pretty important.

After Friday afternoon’s ART session, I didn’t feel any discomfort in my hamstrings when I sat down. The muscle spasms in my calves were gone, too. Because of this refreshed feeling, I decided Saturday afternoon would be the perfect time for a hill workout. Speed would have been preferable, as in a race or something like that, but high winds and steady made such a plan a battle on Saturday morning. The point of the training is to get strong and fast, and not to beat myself up in the rain and wind.

So I headed for the hills on Saturday, doing climbs and descents on every substantial hill I could find for the first 61 minutes of the run. And no doubt there were plenty of hills on my regular routes through the neighborhood and its outskirts – I suppose that’s the luxury of living in an area called School Lane Hills.

Nevertheless, I ran extra repeats up and down the hills I run regularly and then ran three circuits on North School Lane between Wheatland and Marietta avenues. After the 61 minutes I was legitimately whipped – so beat that I felt a little weak in the knees when I stopped for a quick drink about 12 miles into the outing.

Because of that I took it easy on the back portion of the run, skipping my regular hills in attempt to keep some semblance of pace on the gently rolling roads back to my house.

But that’s also where it got tricky, too. Figuring I was just a few meters short of running 18 miles, I took the wrong way around on the back loop to home. That’s when I looked at my watch and realized that I was either running very, very slow or the loop was longer than I thought.

It was longer.

Final stats: 19 miles in 2:11:59

Despite the tiredness from the hills, I ran miles 12 to 15 in 19:40 as well as one of those miles in 6:27. That’s not blazing, but quick enough for the workout I was doing.

Maybe it’s the ART? Better yet, it was probably the tailwind that pushed me across the Harrisburg Pike stretch near F&M.

Running nugget
Paul Tergat still wants to run fast. At least that’s what a story in The New York Times indicates.

More hours in the day, please…

People who can juggle kids, jobs and running with calculated efficiency, always amaze me. Those folks who can get up at 5 a.m. in order to get a run in at 6 so they can be finished in time to get the kids out the door by 8 are Supermen and women.

(right: The Breakfast of Champions.)

Even better, some of them even add a second run at the end of the day or during a lunch break. It really is very amazing.

I can’t do it. Even when I didn’t have a real job, a mortgage, bills, kid, etc., I was never one who got up early. Before I actually began writing about baseball and sports I kept “baseball hours.” That means if I get to bed before 2 a.m. I must be sick or really tired or something.

Because of this schedule and lifestyle, racing is often difficult since they are usually held early in the morning. In order to race, I have to make a real commitment to a particular event and then make sure I’m in bed or horizontal very, very early – for me. Nevertheless, the day before a marathon I make sure I’m finished walking for the day at 5 p.m. and in bed at 8.

The rest is just that important. I never realized that until I went to race a couple of months ago and just couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t able to get loose or run the way I had been in workouts. When I expressed this to my wife she smartly told me why I was slow on that particular day.

“You got up in the middle of the night to run. You’re usually asleep at the time the race started so you intentionally got yourself up in the middle of your natural sleep time to run. You were tired.”

She’s very smart.

Fortunately, I have the luxury working out when I am well rested. My wife is to thank for that. While I keep my baseball hours, she keeps her schoolteacher hours. That means she is up by 6 a.m. even on days when she can sleep in. But she’s always been that way, I’m told. So while she tends to our son and gets him ready for school, I ease into the morning. I can get all the sleep I need, wash up, get my coffee, do a few hours of work and then start my workout. Afterwards, I pick up the boy and we wait for her to get home.

It definitely works out well for me.

But today’s schedule had a bit of a monkey wrench throw into it. There was no school for the boy, which meant an extra-early wake up call for me. Usually this means I have to start my run when my wife gets home around 4 p.m., but with an ART appointment as well as the threat of 24-hours of downpour looming, I was left scrambling for a mid-day sitter, which isn’t exactly the easiest thing to find in the world.

But my mom came to the rescue by taking an extended lunch break. I guess 30-plus years of service at her job has its benefits… for me, too.

Thanks to my mom I was able to squeeze in a quick 13-miler, which I completed in 1:27:10. That’s not so bad when the fact that I did it on five hours sleep a days after doubling up for 21.5 miles. It took some extra effort to keep the pace in the early going, and loosening up wasn’t fun, but it’s definitely one I’ll take.

I just wish I could have gone longer. This is “Blast Week” after all. Perhaps if the rain holds off until the boy goes to bed and I’m not too tired after the ART, I’ll double-up again.

Stats: 13 miles in 1:27:10. The first nine went in 60:01. Not bad for a sleep-deprived dad.

On another note, my boy Michael and I had a lovely breakfast at Starbucks this morning. He had one of their apple streusels and organic chocolate milk and I had a venti Colombian with a Clif Bar. He enjoyed the overstuffed chairs and the broad windows. I enjoyed the company. If mornings like that is the reason to put off workouts, I’ll have no qualms about becoming a slouch.

A tremendous slouch.

Running nugget
Runnersworld.com reported that Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, would get some help in his marathon debut on Nov. 5 in New York City.

According to the brief, Armstrong’s sponsor Nike is putting together a pace team that could include 1984 Olympic gold medal marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson, three-time New York City Marathon winner Alberto Salazar, and 2004 Olympic 1500 and 5000-meter gold medalist Hicham El Guerrouj.

So a guy hoping to run 2:45 or so gets a team of rabbits? Wow. If Nike wants to send someone to Harrisburg on Nov. 12 to help me snap 2:40, I’m ready.

Blasting away

This one felt like the old days, though I don’t remember feeling so refreshed after a 15-miler before.

Yeah, refreshed.

I wasn’t sure how the run was going to shape up this morning since my right calf was a little sore and I ran 18 miles the day before, but Thursday’s outing was very solid. My turnover, stride and breathing were as good as I can ever recall. This is despite another windy, gusty day that made the 50-degree temperatures feel much chillier. In fact, it felt like I didn’t run at all.

I guess I’ll have to double up.

Anyway, I ran the first five miles in 33:10, the second five in 31:57 and the final five in 30:55. The last 1.5 miles were run faster than marathon-race pace – maybe even 5k pace – yet I didn’t breathe hard at all. It was just smooth sailing.

Final stats: 15.3 miles in 1:39:02 (6:28 pace).

So I mentioned the old days? Actually, the run reminded me of the workouts my friend Tom Levering and I used to do along Kelly and West River drives behind the Art Museum in Philadelphia when he was going to Wharton in 1997 and training for the Philadelphia Marathon.

During those runs, Tom and I would take turns trying to beat the crap out of each other for 10 miles starting at the Penn Towers, through parts of West Philly before circling the trail to the Falls Bridge and back the other side. More often than not, Tom would push through the first part while I hung on for dear life. But as soon as I got my legs underneath me, I’d push to the end.

I can honestly say that I only really tried to drop him once, but it took a 5:10 mile seven miles into the workout to do it.

Those workouts were some of the most fun I had running, and looking back on my nearly decade-old logs I see a lot of 61 and 62-minute runs written down. The crazy part was that Tom was never a runner, though he was an excellent athlete and a standout high school basketball and baseball player before turning into a college rower.

But based on how he pushed during those runs, maybe he should have been a cross-country runner or a miler on the track.

Post script
Added a brisk 10k in 41:39 in the evening to give me 21.5 miles for the day and a little more than 79 miles for the week. I felt strong enough to really hammer during the evening run, but I reigned it in because my right calf is still achy.

Luckily, I have an appointment with my chiropractor for some ART treatments tomorrow afternoon.

More coffee, please

In the old days, before I went to bed, I made an intricate mix of green tea, honey and lemon juice in an ice-tea machine so it would be ready in the morning before my run. So sure that the green tea made me run better that I lugged that old tea machine with me whenever I traveled to a race or even a pleasure trip.

Nobody knew how to make the tea the way I liked, I reasoned, though a few places came close. If I can recall correctly, the Adams Mark in Clearwater, Fla. had excellent ice tea.

I still have that tea maker and a taste for good ice tea with the right amount of honey and lemon, but I don’t really make it any more. These days, the magic elixir to make me run better every morning comes from Kind Coffee in Estes Park, the stand at Lancaster’s Central Market owned by those guys with interesting facial hair and t-shirts with pithy sayings, or Starbucks everywhere.

Coffee, baby. Coffee.

Apparently, while sitting in the press box at Citizens Bank Park, I wrote about coffee and caffeine as a performance enhancer, so I won’t delve to deeply into it again. However, I wonder what is going to happen when I dial down the training in late November and December…

I’m hooked, huh?

On another note, the Gatorade and Red Bull mixture I have been testing on occasional long runs is not only beneficial to the running, but delicious, too. I was extolling the virtues of the sugar-free Red Bull I drink with my sister recently and she was right there with me.

“You should try it with vodka,” she said.

Blast Week

This is “Blast Week.” Back in the old days in my lead up for the 1998 Boston Marathon, I cranked out a 110-mile week with a pair of two-hour runs just three weeks before the big race. As I recall, I didn’t plan on running so much that week because a warm snap sent temperatures up near 90 degrees. The heat would wear me out, I reasoned.

But after the 2:30:41 (2:30:40 net – I was up front), as well as a then five-mile PR of 26:18 a week before the marathon, I figured I was one to something and decided that the third week out from every marathon would forever be called Blast Week. It would be the week where I tried to incorporate every type of training possible every day.

A few months later, with the ’98 Marine Corps Marathon looming, Blast Week featured three two-hour runs, 57:17 10-mile tempo run and a personal record 131-mile week. Unfortunately, by the time the race arrived I was so burnt I was crispy. I got a cold a few days before the marathon and had difficulty breathing by the second mile of the race. By the time I crossed the Key Bridge into Georgetown not even an hour into the race, I knew I was cooked – it was all over.

Still, I blindly covered 21 miles in 1:55 only to finish in 3:02.

Yeah, it was pretty ugly.

Needless to say, I won’t break the record of 131 miles in this Blast Week. However, three days into my last full week of training before the Nov. 12 Harrisburg Marathon, two two-hour runs are already in the book.

Crazy? Not smart? Perhaps. But it’s what I like to do. It makes me feel strong and confident before a race. If things go well in a 5k I plan on racing in on Nov. 4, I’ll be bursting.

Just so long as I’m not crispy.

It should be noted that I love reading about marathon training. If given a chance, I’d read other people’s training logs and books on training principles all day long. Not only do I find it interesting and educational, but also it is entertaining. Simply, reading (and talking) about running is fun.

Almost as fun as doing it.

Over the past decade-and-a-half I’ve read a lot about training. Jack Daniels, Pete Pfitzinger, and recently, Arthur Lydiard, are just a few of the tested and true experts I’ve dug into in order to make myself a better runner. These men have produced results and plans that work. If one wants to be a better runner, just follow their plans.

Just don’t ask me – I don’t follow any plan. That much is obvious.

Actually, I guess that’s not entirely true. I do follow one plan – my own. The tenets are based on the principles gleaned from the masters, but basically follow a couple of basic rules.

They are:

* Run how you feel. If you want to go fast, go fast. If you want to run long, run long.

* Don’t run if you are hurt. If you have difficulty walking, don’t do something silly like run.

And my favorite:

* You can always do one more.

I got that last one from Floyd Landis.

Anyway, I have always thrived on high mileage, which is 100-miles a week or more. Of course it’s a slippery slope, too. The more miles a person runs, the better the chance for injury. That’s why I have cast aside track workouts (for now) and specific speed intervals in favor of fartlek and tempo workouts. This way, I can incorporate some time of speed work every day.

This might not be the best plan and I’m sure if I did something else – like work with a coach, etc. – I’d get a lot faster. But right now I’m having a lot of fun doing things my way. If I can run well in Harrisburg, perhaps it will be time to “take it to the next level.” Until then, I’ll go with what I know.

That means a 24 miler in 2:48 on Monday where I ran the first 13 miles at 6:35 to 6:40 pace. It was an easy, easy pace though it did take a tiny bit on concentration because of the hills and windy conditions. About 90-minutes in, I met up with Jeff Kirchner, who was out running at Baker Field with his dog, and I ran with him for about an hour. The pace dipped a bit, but wasn’t slow.

But when Jeff left I ran for another 22 minutes by myself and I picked up the pace again.

The good part was that even after running for 2-hours and 20 minutes, I still had some turnover and could have taken the pace to 6 minutes.

One cannot have a Blast Week without running some hills. So after starting out slow and feeling a tad tight after the long run on Monday, I worked through the repeats and ran steady for 16 miles on Tuesday. Just like on Monday, I had a lot of turnover at the end of the run.

After recovering from the hills with some good sleep and a good cup of coffee an Clif Bar for breakfast, I spent the first 70 minutes of Wednesday’s run alternating between 5:50-mile pace and 6-minute pace.

I don’t know what this proves, but it was fun.

After the alternating drill, I ran at 6:40 to 6:50 pace through the hills for five miles before tying up a tad at the end of an 18 miler in 2:02.

So that’s the crux of Blast Week. If there is any science involved in it, it’s lost on me. Either way, tomorrow comes early and there is more running to do.

Oh good… another self-indulgent running site

Here’s the deal:

I have received a lot of response regarding my training and the running posts on my “Finger Food” blog (trust me, I didn’t come up with the title), though it seemed as some of the posts are hard to find. In order to remedy this, I decided to move my training posts and some of my running writing this brand-new site.

This means I will update my progress and other running-related musings every day on this site. Oh sure, I’ll keep adding running stuff to the other “main” site, but this is where to come just for writing on running.

One more note: the weekly roundup format will be the same and will be posted on Sunday, but the rest is anything goes.