12 weeks to go…

… and I have no idea how I’m going to make it. Oh sure, I’m strong and I’m putting in the work, but this damn hip strain/inflammation is driving me crazy. Yeah, I can and have been running through it, but runners are compulsive, obsessive and whatever the hell else –ive there is. As a result, it’s no fun doing the work and then hoping that all the recovery and rest stuff sticks in order to do it all over again tomorrow.

That’s the thing – tomorrow’s run is always in the back of my mind. Of course most of the time I take the tact of, “I’ll worry about tomorrow when it gets here,” as far as running goes, which is good and bad. It’s good because it makes that day’s workout that much more satisfying when completed. However, I guess it’s not always the best for long-term health.

Anyway, my hip hurts, I need to lose 10-to-15 pounds and I need to add a little bit more intensity to the miles I rack up. Hills are fine, and the fartlek/surges work, too. But for some reason it seems as if something is missing in terms of quality.

So that’s what’s going on as far as running goes. Meanwhile, it appears as if there will be slightly less volume coming at the end of next week. That’s when my wife will be induced into labor to deliver our second son since it seems as if her cervix and the boy are quite content just where they are.

Either way, it’s going to be an interesting week to be sure.

Here’s what happened last week (Aug. 13 – 19):

Monday – 20 miles in 2:14:55
I nearly didn’t go out at all and spent some time figuring out where and when to pack it in and head home. But, as it always happens, I settled in around 5 miles and kept a fairly steady pace the entire time. I even ran some hills.

The trouble was with my left groin or abdominal muscles, which nagged me the entire run. It didn’t hurt or hinder me, but I definitely felt it. I think it’s time to get in for some ART.

Anyway, I did the first 5 in 33:10 and got the work in. Crazy, huh?

Tuesday – 15 miles in 1:42:58
I don’t know what the hell happened here. I put the pedal to the metal and was barely able to run 6:50s. I hope this has more to do with me running 20 miles yesterday than it has to do with my achy hip — yes, today it was my hip and not abs/groin, though they were tender, too.

Anyway, I feel very strong. Actually, the distance is extremely easy. It’s just that I have no speed at all right now and I’m afraid to jump into too many uptempo workouts with my hips/abs/groin in the shape they’re in.

splits:
1st 5: 34:19
2nd 5: 34:27
3rd 5: 34:11

Wednesday – 16 miles in 1:46:26
Felt a little better in my left hip/groin/abs than the past two days, but it’s still not 100 percent. Moreover, I lost some speed/concentration toward the end of the run.

Either way, I’m pleased that I got the work in with a minimal amount of discomfort. Hopefully this little muscle flare up will work itself out soon.

splits;
1st 3: 19:42
next 2.2: 14:05
middle 5: 33:18
last 5: 33:45

Thursday – GOOSE EGG
Took a big fat ZERO today. I went out for 4-minutes and 5 seconds before stopping my watch and walking home. With the cold, my tight hip and some old-fashioned tiredness, I decided I was running myself into the ground and took the day off.

Instead, I ended up eating and making an appointment with my man Siegenthaler for some ART.

Friday – 15.3 miles in 1:45:30
My hip is driving me crazy. It’s tight as hell and takes a long time to warm up. However, despite the bum hip, a nagging head cold, oppressive humidity, a baby on the way and some standard malaise, I still pounded out a few miles today.

Hopefully I can go longer tomorrow.

Saturday – 16 miles in 1:49:40
More of the same, though I’m not sure if my slowness is coming from my cold, my sore hip or both of them put together. Either way, it wasn’t what I would call a grind, but when I got around for my last loop I was finished mentally. Sure, I could have cranked out 20, but there was no point to that today.

splits:
1st 5: 33:53
2nd 5: 34:16
3rd 5: 34:16

Sunday – 18 miles in 2:01:56
I started out a little tight, but once I loosened up I felt pretty good, or at least much better than the last two days. I’m still very strong when it comes to running pure mileage, but I definitely have some work to do… namely with my core and with eating too much. If I can get under 160 I’ll be hard to beat.

Somehow and some way I hit 100.3 miles for the week. Freak, machine, or stupid?

13 weeks to go…

… or 12 weeks to go until the Olympic Trials in Manhattan on Nov. 3. Either way, if the fall marathon training season had not begun over the past two weeks, it should be in full force now.

He tough part, of course, is training through the summer months. This past week was particularly tough because of the oppressive heat and humidity, but that’s to be expected in the northeastern United States. I suppose training through such conditions make one tough, at to one’s dementia or make others give it up and get on the bike… you know, go ride a bike 100 miles, which is probably the equivalent to a 10-mile run.

Aw, come on, I’m just kidding. A 100-mile bike ride is like a 15-mile run.

Be that as it is, there was another running story in The New York Times about the contenders for the Trials flocking to Central Park to train over parts of the Olympic Trials course. It’s a pretty interesting story and a good tactic – in 1998 I made a trip to Boston months before the Boston Marathon to train over large sections of the course and it made a difference. I knew what was coming around every corner and where all the tricky climbs and descents were. Sure, I had run the marathon twice before the ’98 race, but the extra runs made me learned. I studied up.

Plus, running up and down Heartbreak Hill for a few days in a row was kind of like taking batting practice at Fenway Park.

Anyway, with 13 weeks to go and the worst of the summertime heat in the past, it will be nice to settle in and get some work in… if I can stay healthy.

Here’s the week of August 6-12:

Monday – 20 miles in 2:15:57
It took me awhile to get warmed up — 45 minutes actually. Every step I took made me feel like I should turn around and go home. But despite the humidity, which was close to 90 percent, I felt pretty good after that first, difficult 45 minutes. From there I weaved in and out of the streets of my neighborhood, ran a bunch of hills and cranked out the miles. I got pretty tired at the end, but I ran fairly solidly for nearly 2 hours.

Tuesday – 10.5 miles in 1:13:31
Just a miserable day. I struggled the entire time and I was surprised that I went as far as I did because of the ehat and humidity. It seems as if it was 90 and 90 today, which is no good for anyone. If pushed I could have turned out 13 to 15, but it would not have been very fun.

Wednesday – 1st run: 10 miles in 67:11
2nd run: 10 miles in 66:12
Total: 20 miles in 2:13:23
Another nasty, hot and humid day. It was 90 and 90 again this morning/afternoon so I pushed out 10 in 67:11. Needless to say it was very hard work though I’m sure I could have turned in 13 to 15.

I went out again around 7:20 and busted out 10 more when it wasn’t as hot or humid. It wasn’t great and I was dripping with sweat a few miles into the run, but I was able to go at 6:20 pace through the early miles on the way to a 66:12 10-miler.

Hopefully the relief comes soon.

Thursday – 10 miles in 68:31
It was a bit cooler than the past two days, but still over 90 degrees with high humidity. Either way, I felt pretty good during the beginning of the run, but wilted toward 10 miles in. I went to my house to get something to drink before trying to leg out 3 to 5 more, but I started to feel a little dizzy and nauseous. Upon further review it seemed as if I was starting to dehydrate.

On another note, I’m going to the doctor tomorrow to have my pelvis/groin examined. From talking to people it’s possible that I could have a hernia.

God I hope not.

Friday – 16 miles in 1:49:31
Back to my old self for a change. I finally got a chance to run some miles thanks to cooler temps, lower humidity and a relatively clean bill of health. However, the problem during the run was that I was as slow as hell for some reason. Perhaps the heat from the past three days as worn me down a bit? Maybe it’s the weakened muscles in my pelvis/lower back area?

Either way, I enjoyed running for a change and it appears as if tomorrow will be another good day in which to crank out some miles.

splits:
1st 5 – 33:52
2nd 5 – 33:55
3rd 5: 34:22

Saturday – 18 miles in 2:01:11
Very similar to yesterday, though I didn’t slow down too drastically until the end of the run. However, I did a lot of unstructured fartlek where I surged for a little while before backing off.

The tough part is the muscle strain — or whatever the hell it is — in my lower back and abdomen/pelvis. I’m beginning to think it’s something that can be “fixed” with a chiropractic adjustment.

I guess it’s time to make the call.

Either way, I’m pleased about putting out some miles.

Splits:
1st 5 – 33:34
2nd 5 – 33:32
3rd 5 – 33:51

Sunday – 12.5 miles in 1:23:18
I wanted to go a little more than the normal Sunday five miles so I did. Actually, I was going to wrap it up around 8 or 9 miles, but ran into Dr. Jeff Kirchner and added another 5. That was fine by me… it’s always fun to see the good Doctor. Plus, the guy can move.

Anyway, I went a little more than 2 miles to get to the field and then did 5 in 32:54. Either way it was a pretty fun relaxing outing.

There’s 10 straight week in triple digits with a rally for 107. Phew, that was a tough one.

Giving it their all

The first bit of news I saw on Sunday morning was from New York City where Haile Gebrselassie dashed through Central Park to lower Manhattan to win the second NYC Half-Marathon in 59:24. In running the second fastest half marathon in the United States, Gebrselassie beat American Abdi Abdirahman by more than a minute.

Interestingly, Gebrselassie said he was pleased when the star-studded field pushed the pace through the first half of the race. Instead of settling into a small pack with Abdirahman, Gebrselassie took the early pace as an indication that it was time for him to pick it up. Then, apparently Abdirahman told him to, “Go.”

“What do you mean, ‘Go’?” Gebrselassie said during the post-race press conference. “He ask me to go, I am going to go.”

Gebrselassie never has ceased to amaze. At 34 he is showing no signs of slowing down or wrapping up a career that started in the early 1990s and came to the forefront during the 1996 Olympics when he won the 10,000 meters. It’s especially fascinating to see Geb make the easy transition to from middle distance guy to a marathoner, who isn’t afraid to mix it up two to three times a year.

But the most interesting part about the race was seeing Alan Culpepper finish in sixth place in 63:34 and Peter Gilmore run 65:06. Actually, any time Gilmore races it’s interesting. One reason is that he is amazingly consistent as shown in his top 10 finishes in some big city marathons. Most notably, Gilmore was the top American in the last New York City and Boston marathons by routinely posting times between 2:12 and 2:16.

Surely those times are not good enough to win too many big time races where Gebrselassie and guys gunning for world record or sub-2:07s times. But Gilmore doesn’t duck the big races, which should serve him well when he laces it up for the Olympic Marathon Trials on Nov. 3 in New York City.

The best part about Gilmore is that until this year he was running without a sponsor and had just quit his job to devote his time to running. In that regard Gilmore is living the dream of many wannabe running bums when he decided to see how good he can be. In fact, The New York Times chronicled his decision to quit his job to become a full-time runner.

Frankly, I’m jealous.

Here’s the week of July 30 to August 5:

Monday – 20 miles in 2:12:13
This was a tough one. For one thing it was very, very humid again. For another thing I didn’t get out until nearly 4 p.m. because I spent all morning and afternoon painting the new kid’s new room.

Just so you know, painting is no fun.

Regardless, I stuck at it and cranked out the 20 and didn’t really feel like quitting. I didn’t feel like starting, but once I got going I was OK.

splits:
1st 5 – 33:46
2nd 5 – 32:53
3rd 5 – 33:19
4th 5 – 33:14

Tuesday – 16 miles in 1:48:32
This one was a hilly recovery run. I started out slow and just let me body dictate the pace, however, I ran through the hills just so I didn’t feel lazy. By the end of the run I felt like adding a little bit of pace to it and ended up turning it up a notch.

Either way, it was a decent run for what it was.

Wednesday – 16 miles in 1:47:02
Felt pretty good, but slow during the second half. Actually, I was surprised at how strong my legs felt with the heat, sun and everything else. Either way, it was a pretty good run and effort over roughly the same course as yesterday.

Thursday – 14 miles in 1:37:11
I think I ran longer than 14 miles, but I don’t know how much so I just marked it an even 14… anyway, I went pretty damn slow on yet another hot day, but felt pretty good running during the second half. Perhaps I’m getting acclimated?

The secret, at least for me, seems to be running in the shade and into whatever breeze there is on the really hot days. At the same time I hit the hills on the hot ones. So far it works out OK.

Friday – 16 miles in 1:48:30
I felt reasonably fast through the first half of the run and even the beginning of the second half, but the time indicated otherwise. Either way, I did pretty well with the heat — probably my best day with it. However, after the run my right Achillies was a bit achy. That’s definitely from doing hills and roads for four straight days. It’s time to get back on the grass.

Saturday – 15 miles in 1:38:55
Got back on the field today and I could tell the difference in my legs and ankles. Even though it was hot and sunny without much shade on the course, I ran a reasonably uptempo pace. Afterwards I felt like I was going to throw up but that had more to do with the heat than the effort.

splits:
1st 5 – 33:31.64
2nd 5 – 33:00.76
3rd 5 – 32:22.85

Either way, this was the best one of the week.

Sunday – 5 miles in 31:58
Easy like Sunday morning.

That’s 102 miles for the week and my ninth straight week in triple digits… I went back and checked.

Ho hum

I’m a little slow in posting last week’s effort for some reason. Maybe it’s because I had been busy with other work or out running/eating/sleeping/painting and putting together a room for a new baby and hanging out with my three-year old boy. Whatever the reason, I’m hand on, baby!

Be that as it is, I’ve also been searching for interesting running tidbits from around the world to preface the workouts, but again, nothing piqued my interest. After closely following the cycling scene for the past year and Major League Baseball for the last seven years, I need a bit of breather in writing about doping, steroids and the inexplicable testing programs.

Meanwhile I read that Khalid Khannouchi is out of this weekend’s NYC half-marathon because, um, his foot hurts. Yeah, that’s it. Hopefully, his camp reports, he will be healthy enough to compete in the marathon Olympic Trials set for Nov. 3 in Manhattan.

There is a little more than 13 weeks to the big Olympic Trials, which means the elite runners qualified for the race are beginning to ramp up the training at the shot to go to Beijing in 2008. For those not qualified and looking to get a 2:22 marathon for a shot to compete in NYC on Nov. 3, the deadline is Oct. 7. Because of this, the Chicago Marathon pushed up its race date for this year to give any would-be qualifiers a chance on the famous, pancake flat course. Meanwhile, the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pa. boasts the fastest course in the U.S. and is being held the same day as Chicago.

If I had the capability to go under 2:22 and needed a trials qualifier, I’d definitely be in Scranton or Chicago on Oct. 7. Instead it will be Harrisburg on Nov. 11 and Boston on April 21, 2008.

After that, who knows… more training, I guess.

Here’s the training from July 23-29:

Monday – 21 miles in 2:17:29
The hardest thing about running is getting out the door. I damn near abandoned the run because I felt a little rundown from the cold, but once I got going I didn’t want to stop. Somewhere around the third mile I got locked in and felt super strong. It was definitely one of my better runs in a long time. I’m going to say the weather had a lot to do with that — it was 70, low humidity and overcast… perfect.

splits:
1st 5: 33:08
2nd 5: 32:32
3rd 5: 32:49
4th 5: 32:01

Tuesday – 15 miles in 1:39:50
Have I ever stated that the most difficult aspect about running was simply getting out the door? Have I? Anyway, today was one of those days where I struggled to get out of the house and stiff-leggedly ran through the first five miles half asleep, feeling beat up and ready to do some easy, 7-minute miling. But then those easy miles turned into solid 6:30s somehow and if I didn’t force myself to stop at 15 miles I would have posted another 20-plus.

What the hell?

splits:
1st 5: 34:07
2nd 5: 32:44
3rd 5: 32:58

Wednesday – 15 miles in 1:40:04
This one was as steady as she goes. I just ran and didn’t really vary the pace — though I mixed in some surges. In retrospect I should have left the field and run some hills, but I felt comfortable and was kind of locked in to circling around on my loop.

Oh well. I’ll take it.

splits:
1st 5: 33:36
2nd 5: 33:19
3rd 5: 33:09

Thursday – 15 miles in 1:41:16
I was definitely dragging ass on this one. After getting home from work at 3 a.m. after a 14-inning baseball game, not sleeping as much as I needed and then getting up to do it all over again on a very humid afternoon, I’m pretty lucky that I squeezed out the run.

Nevertheless, it’s still worth it to do the work and everything else that goes with it. That part really feels good even though I was crawling around my loop.

splits:
33:55
33:52
33:29

Friday – 16 miles in 1:49:57
I finally hit the hills and that was good. Though I didn’t seek out all of the hills around the neighborhood, I did three miles worth of repeats up one 600-meter incline. Leading up to that I ran an up-and-down three miles before taking it home on a flat final five miles.

During part of that final stretch I ran 6:15-to-6:30 pace, which was good.

Just to make sure it was a really tough run it was 90 degrees and humid.

Anyway, I did some hills and hopefully I can include the code for the altitude gain, etc. here via Google maps or GPS. Better yet, I should do more hill workouts even though the field is much easier on my legs.

Saturday – 13 miles in 1:28:02
I just died out there today. The combination of not getting to bed until 3 a.m. (again!) and the nasty, nasty humidity wiped me out.

I started out on the field where I ran 5 miles in 33:32, and then detoured home to get a drink. From there I went through the neighborhood and hit some of the hills, but nothing like yesterday. By the time I circled around F&M I decided to cut it off even though I wanted to do 14 or 15 miles.

Oh well. It’s been a busy week. I’ll take the 13, rest up and get ready for next week.

Sunday – 5 miles in 32:38
I didn’t get out until 5 p.m., but that was OK. Today was just an easy, easy day. I wanted to go 6 miles, but 5 was good enough. Then we went to see the Simpsons movie.

An even 100 miles for the week. I’m not sure how many weeks of 100 that is in a row, but I think it’s pretty good. If I stay consistent and add more quality workouts I will be ready to run reasonably fast.