Ibid

Everything I wrote yesterday still applies.

Sunday, February 24
13 miles in 1:26:27
Last 7 days: 125 – best week since ‘98
Resting heart rate: 42

Groovy, baby

It seems as if I have found the so-called happy medium. Actually, after some rough weeks building up the mileage and struggling with a cold and all of the other pressures that non-elite (but serious) runners have to deal with, a groove has been set.

Yep, we’re feelin’ groovy.

I don’t know if the workouts have been perfect, because, frankly, I’m sorely lacking long interval work. But as far as strength goes, I’m tough to beat. Better yet, there isn’t anything to complain about. Every morning after I finally drag myself out the door, I crank out the runs like clockwork. Depending on how I feel, I rip through hills, runs surges, mess around with some lactate threshold and just do some disassociation. During that part I’ve been able to remedy the U.S. policy toward Cuba as well as the ambiguity of the so-called war on terror.

Frankly, the end of the Cold War should not have caused a wholesale shift in policy or philosophy toward the former Communist Russia and China.

Nevertheless, the running has been going so well lately that even two snowstorms couldn’t through me off. Actually, the consistency of the wintertime temperatures in the low- to mid-30s has been… perfect. There haven’t been any odd extremes that normally sent me seeking out treadmills of big parking garages.

Oh, but there are changes brewing. On Monday afternoon I fly to Clearwater, Fla. for a week of writing about spring training baseball. Most normal folks, I suppose, would look forward to the warmer climes and a chance to chat with ballplayers about the upcoming seasons, but I’m feeling a little ambivalent. Though it’s just a week, I’ll miss my wife and kids terribly.

Secondly, my routines are just so ingrained right now. I get my sleep, wake up to percolating coffee, have a Clif Bar, do some work and writing, get dressed and crank out the miles. After that, I go to get my kids from school, hang out with them while I do some more work until they go to bed and then I do another short run.

After some more writing and work, I unwind with a book and some TV news and drift off.

It’s so satisfyingly mundane that any deviation is a little unnerving.

Anyway, everything is going well. Things are achy, but not sore or hurting. My mind is straight and the groove is as firm as granite.

The fear, of course, is to keep the groove from morphing into a rut. Or worse, an injury.

Shudder.

Anyway:

Tuesday, February 19
1st run – 15 miles in 1:40:03 – strong
2nd run – 5 miles in 33:53 – stronger
Last 7 days: 112 miles

Wednesday, February 20
1st run – 15 miles in 1:42:11 – on the field in the snow
2nd run – 5 miles in 36:02 – around F&M in the snow
Last 7 days: 122 miles

Thursday, February 21
1st run – 15 miles in 1:39:54 – solid
2nd run – 6.4 miles in 43:41 – didn’t want to stop
Last 7 days: 123 miles
Resting heart rate: 43

Friday, February 22
15 miles in 1:43:37 – bonked!
Last 7 days: 119 miles
Resting heart rate: 42

Saturday, February 23
15 miles in 1:39:25 – last 11 in 65 minutes
Last 7 days: 121 miles
Resting heart rate: 41

The most important aspect (for older dudes like me) when it comes to work outs is the recovery. If you want to be able to get out and run the next day – let alone walk – the recovery has to start almost as soon as the last step. The good thing about this is that the body is cooperative. It wants to recover as well. In fact, there is this thing called the “glycogen window,” which is about an hour-long period after a workout where your body will replenish its lost stores most effectively.

In other words, if you take in the right kind of food or drink as soon as you get home after that 20 miler, you can replace all the lost energy you will need for the rest of the day and beyond.

Physiology is a crazy thing, man.

Anyway, sometimes I’m asked: “How do you do it?” That question usually follows, “Why do you do it?” Both are difficult to answer, but for the how part the biggest reason is fruit. Actually, the banana is usually the first thing I eat or drink after any type of sporting activity because it’s going to keep the muscles from going all wacky.

Oh, but there are other fruits, too. Nature’s candy, as we like to call it. Perhaps the best way to replenish as quickly and deliciously as possible is to gather a bunch of fruits, mix them up in a blender and drink it down. In places like Colorado and California, such concoctions are big business. In some places the Smoothie joints rival the coffee bars. Sometimes they even combine the two businesses.

I call those places Xanadu.

But not everyone can make the trip to Xanadu. But if you have a blender you can play make believe. Here’s what you’ll need to do it:

• 1 banana (2 if you want to push it)
• A couple of handfuls of berries, particularly straw-, rasp- and blueberries. Strawberries are a big endurance sport fruit, which I learned when reading about the training and nutritional methods of German triathletes. One fellow, in particular, noted that during the buildup for an Ironman race his main food was strawberries. Apparently he ate them all the time all day long. It was later revealed that he also had a taste for EPO, but that’s another issue.
• Two heaping spoonfuls of non-fat yogurt. Soy milk is fine, or soy yogurt is better. Don’t do three spoonfuls.
• 1 cup of freshly squeezed (organic) orange juice… this is optional
• A couple of handfuls of ice – or a little water… it’s the same thing
• 1 spoonful of honey… this is optional, too

Dump all of the ingredients into the blender, turn it on and mix it for two or three minutes. It will look purple. Very purple, in fact. Pour the purpleness into a cup and drink up. Tomorrow you will be fired up and ready to go.

Monday, February 18
21 miles in 2:19:09
Last 7 days: 110 miles
Smoothies drunk: 1
Trips to the buffet at the Taj Mahal: 2
Books read at B&N with Michael: 3

Doing nothing

It’s kind of funny – I ran 22 miles in the past two days and I feel like I haven’t done anything. I don’t exactly feel refreshed, in fact, my calves are still spasming like they always do. But I’m not too exhausted to get up and walk around the house. That’s a nice and rare feeling.

The easy days are vital. But I wonder what it means when a 13-miler and an hour run are considered “light.” I guess it means I’m strong.

But there is still a lot of work to do. May 4 is 11 weeks away and I think I’m going to get there in one piece if I pay attention and stick with the plan. That’s always the easy part, right?

Friday, February 15
1st run: 13 miles in 1:28:33
2nd run: 6 miles in 44:17 – lots of fun
Last 7 days: 116 miles
Resting heart rate: 44

Saturday, February 16
13 miles in 1:29:00 – felt tired, tired, tired
Last 7 days: 110 miles
Resting heart rate: 42

Sunday, February 17
9 miles in 59:25 – ran faster than marathon pace for a small stretch and it was easy
Last 7 days: 109 miles

Going slow

There is a whole lot I don’t know about the so-called recovery day. For instance, is it a recovery day if one runs slow or does it have to do with volume and intensity? There are many schools of thought on the issue, I’m sure. But after doing a slow effort as a recovery run, it’s the volume and not the intensity for me.

Here’s what happened:

After feeling a bit tired and burnt after piling up the miles, culminating with an 18-miler in the snow on Tuesday, an easy, easy day was the call for Wednesday. The fact was a day off or a quick five-miler would have been the best course of action, but something I read in Michael Sandrock’s Running Tough piqued my interest.

In the introduction to the section about recovery runs, Sandrock wrote about a time when as an undergrad at Colorado he had a chance to run with the Frank Shorter. Oddly enough, though, during the run Shorter never ran faster than a trot and Sandrock found himself being unnerved by this. Was he in better shape than the great Frank Shorter? Why was he going so slow?

He learned why Frank was taking his time the next day during an interval workout, when Sandrock was left sucking wind and sitting on the sidelines as the Olympian tore through a very difficult session. The message, of course, was that Shorter was going easy, easy so he could go as hard as possible when he needed to.

The story got me to thinking, which is always a dangerous proposition. Instead of an easy day 5-miler or complete rest, why don’t I go for a trot? It could be invigorating or something… why not?

Let’s just say that all runners are different. Nope, you didn’t need me to point out this, but it’s true. Some of the things that work for Frank Shorter might not work for me. Or maybe it’s just because I really disliked holding myself back and resting up that it drove me nuts. Maybe I was doing what was right for me all along?

What do I do? I run medium-hard nearly every day. One day I go long and another day I go short and fast. That’s the plan anyway. Sure, some people smarter than me have proven that by running medium-hard all the time means that a runner will turn in a medium-hard performance on race day instead of a fast one. Yeah, I understand that. But on my medium-hard days I run up hills, down hills, fartlek, surges, strides and whatever else I can squeeze into a 15-miler or whatever. Sometimes I even do 3×5-miles or 5×1-miles. I mix it all up. Maybe it works, maybe I should re-evaluate… I don’t know. The point is I enjoy it – I don’t like taking it easy.

So instead of a medium-hard runner, perhaps I’m a gumbo runner? Since I like to mix it up as much as possible corning the term seems like the most apt description. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be a fast runner again. We’ll see.

Wednesday, Feb.13
10 miles of slow recovery in 1:17:43
Last 7 days: 112 miles
Resting heart rate: 42
Cough: unbearable

Thursday, Feb. 14
1st run – 15 miles in 1:41:17 – felt tired in the beginning, but strong and good at the end
2nd run – 5 miles in 36:44 – it was slow, but it was all I had
Last 7 days: 112 miles
Resting heart rate: 49
Cough: I took a Sudafed… don’t tell the doping control boards.

Round and round again

The best footing for running in today’s conditions was at Baker Field just on the other side of Lancaster Country Day from my house. It’s a really big field where Franklin & Marshall College’s athletic fields are located along with some hills as well as some trails that winds around the Conestoga River next to abandoned brick yards. Because the field and the brick yards are wooded, I’ve come across deer, foxes, turtles and snakes during runs, which, frankly, is a bit unnerving.

Nevertheless, I try to run on the field and trails as much as possible looking for any bit of relief from the steady pounding of running. Actually, I’m for (almost) anything that might ease the pain a little bit.

Anyway, three loops around the perimeter of the field is five miles. Depending on the workout, the monotony of those loops can be a blessing because it’s kind of like a track. Each time around is the same and it’s a good way to gauge how well or poorly one is running. But it can get really tedious, too. That’s especially the case when one is piling up the miles like me. But again, it forces one to work on mind drills and disassociation tactics in order to grind out lap after lap.

Today, because of the steady snow and windy conditions, I looped the field 10 times. Mixed with a short jaunt around the front of Country Day and through the neighborhood streets, the 10 laps came to 18 miles.

The mileage was the good part because I figured it would be a good idea to bite off as much as possible in one run because the conditions were deteriorating quickly. With freezing rain and sleet expected to settle in on top of the snow, it seemed doubtful that I was going to be able to get out for an evening run.

At the same time I didn’t take into consideration the ass-kicking a 2-hour run can dish out from time to time. Typically, after an hour of running I start to feel good, like a second wind or something. I can (and do) set my watch to it – after an hour of running I can really start to go. For a marathoner, that’s a good thing.

But today, after an hour, man…

No, I wasn’t going to stop. In fact, I kept making deals with myself every few minutes or so.

“OK, get to the end here and it’s 14. Or I can keep going to the house and it’s 15. That’s good enough.”

But when I got to the end of a lap, the deal changed.

“Alright. There’s 14. If I do one more it’s 16. That’s not bad for a day like this.”

Then I got to 16.

“If I can keep it together for one more lap, that’s 18. Eighteen miles will get me to two hours – that qualifies as a long run, right? Yeah, a two-hour run on a day like this… not bad.”

That’s pretty much how it goes sometimes. There’s nothing fancy there – just old-fashioned craziness. But as a result, I had to take a nap and a long soak afterwards… maybe it’s a good thing the roads and field will be an icy mess tomorrow. I think I can use the easy day.

Tuesday, Feb. 12
18 miles in 2:02:00
Last 7 days: 124 miles
Cough: yeah, but the humidity helps

Getting out

The weather really hasn’t been all that bad this winter. As far as running goes, I only had to shift one workout indoors because of the weather and if I really had to go outdoors to get it in, I could have. Sure, there have been a few bitterly cold days, but with the fabrics used in the clothes made for cold-weather running it hasn’t been difficult to go outdoors every day.

That’s the best part about running – getting outdoors to move around. I don’t really get into that spiritual side of running or anything like that; I just like going out to feel the heat or the cold and the sun and rain. Perhaps that’s spiritual, I don’t know, it’s just fun. Plus, running in extreme conditions or on days when most people would never even venture to the grocery store will make me tough. The last thing I want with running is for it to be easy.

Still, the weather has been nice this winter. For the most part the temperatures have been in the 30s, which is comfortable for cranking out the miles. Actually, it’s been rather nice and the one day when it got into the high 60s I was worried about dehydration and heat cramps. But it seems doubtful that I’ll feel those warm temperatures any time soon until I head off to Clearwater, Fla. in a few weeks. That’s because it’s supposed to snow up to four inches sometime tomorrow. Ice is predicted to fall out of the sky, too.

In other words, it’s supposed to be a big mess, though it appears that if I get out early enough, it should be easy enough to get the work in. I got lucky during the past few days, too, when I squeezed in a 10-miler on Sunday before the 50-mph winds knocked out our power for a few hours. Today, though the high temperature didn’t crack 20 degrees, I dodged the westerly winds for 15 and then added on for 5 more at night when the winds were calm.

Besides, is ever really too cold?

So far so good, though I’m setting up a contingency to workout indoors if the snow proves to be too burdensome. But based on how things have gone all winter long all I really have to do is get dressed and go outside.

Sunday, Feb. 10
10 miles in 68:12

Last 7: 100

Times wind gusts nearly knocked me on my ass: 3

Cough: constant

Monday, Feb. 11
1st run: 15 miles in 1:39:10 – good form led to solid pace even though it took a good fives miles to get loose.

2nd run: 5 miles in 34:24

Last 7: 120

Cough: relentless in morning; fine at night

Shoe: Brooks Defyance… it doesn’t hit stores until April, but I got my hands on a pair last December as a tester. It’s a very comfortable, yet stable shoe and I’d even buy a pair if it came to it. So far I’ve put 309 miles on them and I bet I have at least another 200-plus to go.

Is Nyquil a banned substance?

They say the body is at its weakest when it is tired. Stress levels rise, energy dwindles and those nasty parasites find a host. They dive in and treat your body like a roadside motel off the state highway.

The good part is those unwanted guests will move on. But the bad part is they will go when they damn well please.

Actually, I don’t know if “they” say that at all, but it sounds right. The reason why it sounds right is because one night I stayed up way too late, didn’t get the proper amount of rest and then the next thing I knew, I was coughing and wheezing and squeezing my temples as hard as possible with my fingertips.

I blame my kids. Yeah, that’s right I said it. I know they’re little and are unwitting victims of every germ, virus and mutant strain that passes from snotty nose to hand to mouth as the veritable bacteria frappes that they are, but whatever. They made me sick. It wasn’t the other way around.

How do I know? Well, I guess I don’t. I am neither a physician nor have I visited with a medical professional during the past six months. But I am damn sure that I would have been properly rested and strong, thus making me less susceptible to injury and ailment had I been in bed at 5 a.m. instead of trying in vain to help a little boy with an ear infection fall asleep. That’s no easy task based on what we know about the human ear. That is where we seem to find our balance or equilibrium, if you will, and if that delicateness is disturbed the entire system falls apart.

So any time the little guy put his head onto the pillow, all the fluid and garbage floating around in those narrow canals floated to-an-fro and clogged up pathways for other important signals. As a result, the poor kid was up screaming and I was up just trying to help him keep it together, which is about all anyone can do when spectating at an old-fashion ear event. Sympathy is for suckers.

As a result I picked up a headache and a chest could/cough that is more annoyance than illness. The baby brother got the coup de grace – a double ear infection, as they call it in the biz. Combine that with a stuffed nose and the baby doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.

Nevertheless, I’ve been curiously lucky enough to get in my workouts despite the madness at the house. Except for Monday, when I was simply flat-out whipped from sitting with the kids all night and day, I was able to get out and put in the regular amount of training that has become the norm over the past few weeks. In fact, a few of the days I even went out twice.

How about that?

That’s a funny thing within itself, I have to admit. Though I never revealed it anywhere else, my guideline for training was to do two weeks “on” and one week “off.” During the so-called “on” weeks the plan was to pile on as many miles, hills and whatever else I could and see where I was at the end of the week. For an “on” week, there is no ceiling. However far I can go, that’s the workout.

There are limits, of course. My recovery time is different than the good runners in the country simply because I don’t have the support of a sponsored athlete. I can’t get a daily massage because there is work to take care of, bills to pay and the agony of an earache to rubberneck. Plus, massages cost money. So do shoes, and food and drinks and ice. That means more work on top of work, which makes me no different than anyone else…

Aside from those two-a-days, of course.

Anyway, since I was last heard from here, the work has been steady. So too has the rattling in my chest and the pounding against my temples.

To wit:

Saturday, Feb. 2
15 miles in 1:42:35
Last 7: 113

Sunday, Feb. 3
13 miles from F&M to Susquehanna River in 1:25:47
Last 7: 120

Monday, Feb. 4
Up all night
Last 7: 100

Tuesday, Feb. 5
14 miles from F&M to Millersville and back in 1:35:18
Last 7: 98

Wednesday, Feb. 6
1st run: 17 miles in 1:53:36 – 70 degrees!
2nd run: 5 miles in 34:01
Last 7: 99

Thursday, Feb. 7
1st run – 15 miles in 1:40:01
2nd run – 5 miles in 34:02
Last 7: 104

Friday, Feb. 8
15 miles in 1:43:20 – didn’t have anything
Last 7: 99

Saturday, Feb. 9
1st run – 14 miles on Baker Field in 1:34:46
2nd run – 5 miles in 33:52 – felt good
Last 7: 103

Running in the rain

According to the report in the local newspaper, we received a record-type rain today. In fact, schools operated on a delay because of the icy conditions in the morning and the general sloppiness brought on because of the precipitation.

There’s nothing I could have done about it, so I went out and ran.

Actually, went I started out around 11 a.m. it was lightly misting. It was so light that I really didn’t notice it was raining at all. That’s good because if it was raining hard at the time of my departure, the run would have been a chore. Worse yet, there was a time that any drops of precipitation would have caused me to hide indoors until it cleared lest my skin boil away.

Basically, I was soft.

No more, though. These days I have a certain amount of time to do things so when I have to get out the door at 11 a.m. in order to squeeze in the miles, that means 11 a.m. rain or shine. So out I went to splash my way through yet another 15-miler.

Actually, the weather wasn’t so bad for the first 12 miles or so. Sure, it rained steadily, but not enough to keep dog walkers indoors or other folks out meandering around from shooting me looks as if to say, “You’re crazy for running around outdoors in this weather.”

My reply is always the same.

“Maybe so, but it beats the alternative which is sitting indoors.”

Damn right.

Anyway, as I climbed one of the last hills on the way home through the neighborhood I actually saw the deluge begin. From my point on lower ground I thought: “Man, that’s some hard, hard rain. It looks like I’m going to run right into the teeth of it.”

Two seconds later it was as if a fire hydrant had been opened from the sky and marked my path from the top of the hill.

By the time the second run came around, the rain was gone and the lingering humidity actually made it feel fairly warm. Despite the nasty weather with rain and sleet, I still got in a 20-mile day.

Stats:
1st run – 15 miles in 1:40:32
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:07
Miles for the week: 92
Miles in last seven days: 113

There goes January

It’s another one of those slow-going days where it felt as if the most difficult thing was to peel myself off the couch. When I finally pushed myself out the door to run this morning, I nearly turned around and went back in. I felt like it would have been a good day to hang out and eat Doritos before realizing that the notion of such a thing is purely metaphorical.

We don’t keep Doritos in the house.

With no Cool Ranch this side of the grocery store, I got out there and did what it is I do. In fact, I warmed up quickly and moved smooth and strong on the grass and mud on F&M’s Baker Field. I also moved rather slowly, but that’s a different story.

But after turning in a 15-miler in 1:42:29, I peeled off the wet and muddy clothes and tossed them into the washer. The plan was to turn on the machine after my shower so they would be clean and ready to go in time for an evening jaunt. But after showering, picking up the kids, doing some reading/writing and making my weekly radio appearance with the irrepressible Mike Gill, I forgot about the pile of clothes fermenting in the washer. By the time I remembered and got it going it was already 7 p.m.

There was no way the laundry would be clean and dry in time for me to get out there. After all, I don’t go out after 8:30 p.m. because I need time to recover for the next day. It’s the only real measure of self-preservation I use when it comes to running.

So no doubles again. That means I’m going to have to do a pair of runs on Friday, which will be a chore since some freezing rain is on the way.

Yay!

Anyway, since starting the build up on Dec. 31 it seems as if I’m ahead of the curve a little bit. My speed isn’t great and I should get in a race or the track soon, but the mileage is really good. There’s more work to do, but one month into it I can’t complain.

Stats:
Thursday: 15 miles in 1:42:29
Resting heart rate: 41
Miles in the last 7 days: 106
January mileage: 446 or 14.4 per day at 6:48 pace