Four weeks

At this point I suppose the goals are simple: continue to remain strong and in shape, and don’t get hurt. That’s pretty heady stuff for any runner because the deep-rooted motivation of any runner worth anything is to push as hard as possible – always try to get better.

So can I get better in four weeks? Well, yeah.

I doubt I can get much stronger than I am in four weeks, but the mental part of the game and my confidence can always improve. In that regard the plan is to keep the mileage high for the next two weeks with a little more quality work (more hills, tempos, fartlek) sprinkled in before starting the 10-day taper.

Three days into the taper I plan to run a 5K. It’s a race, but I’m not going to race anyone but myself. Actually, I’m going to shoot for 15:59 on a somewhat hilly course. We’ll see…

Maybe I’m faster.

Monday, March 31
21 miles in 2:18:13 – early, early in the morning before going to Opening Day.
Last 7 days: 126

Tuesday, April 1
1st run – 17 miles in 1:54:02
2nd run – 5 miles in 34:55
Last 7 days: 126

Wednesday, April 2
18 miles in 2:00:40 – no second run… had to go to a baseball game.
Last 7 days: 122

Thursday, April 3
1st run – 17 miles in 1:51:46
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:33
Last 7 days: 121

Friday, April 4
1st run – 17 miles in 1:47:49 – ran the last 5 in 28.
2nd run – 5 miles in 36:54
Last 7 days: 128

Saturday, April 5
1st run – 15 miles in 1:37:16
2nd run – 5 miles in 34:37
Last 7 days: 135

Sunday, April 6
8 miles in 54:04
Last 7 days: 133 – most ever… beats record of 131 set in October of 1998.

5 weeks to go

I had a whole bunch of pitchy and insightful things to write here about running, but it seems as if I have forgotten what it was. Or, actually, I’m kind of written out for now after a busy – and getting busier – week at work.

One thing worth noting though is that I do 99 percent of my runs solo. I imagine that running with a group is pretty cool and might even make the whole process a little easier.

Anyway:

Monday, March 24
20 miles in 2:12:07 – smooth… could have gone 30.
Last 7 days: 123

Tuesday, March 25
1st run – 17 miles in 1:53:03
2nd run – 5 miles in 34:52
Last 7 days: 122

Wednesday, March 26
1st run – 17 miles in 1:56:59 – sloooooow
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:24 – hills
Last 7 days: 124

Thursday, March 27
1st run – 18 miles in 2:00:29 – I don’t know what this was about… I forgot to stop
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:52 – ran the last mile in 6 because I wanted it over with
Last 7 days: 127

Friday, March 28
15 miles in 1:40:21 – didn’t have much
Last 7 days: 126

Saturday, March 29
13 miles in 1:27:43 – bonk!
Last 7 days: 120

Sunday, March 30
10 miles in 68:40 – went in the city, you know, for kicks.
Last 7 days: 125

Six weeks to go

… and I’m sitting pretty. Literally. I’m just sitting here after eating a bunch of fruit, yogurt and every other thing I could get my hands on today. I ran early and easy and then spent the rest of the day pretending I was a cow on a large field… just chomping away.

Nevertheless, with six weeks to go means it’s time to buckle down. It comes to four-and-a-half weeks of hard training with some more quality work mixed in with the miles. It could get tough when baseball seasons starts up again, but we’ll deal with that as it comes. Long runs, hills, fartlek and doubles will do the trick.

And when it’s all over… who knows.

Saturday, March 22
19 miles in 2:06:15 – easy and smooth
Last 7 days: 125

Sunday, March 23
5 miles in 33:04 – easy and un-smooth
Last 7 days: 124

Mileage by week in 2008:
93, 94, 90, 114, 120, 100, 109, 125, 103, 106, 126, 124

Too tired to move

It’s pretty evident that I’m not taking human growth hormone and it’s also pretty clear that I haven’t glued a testosterone patch to my sack or dipped into my stash of “rest day blood” that I don’t have cooling in a spare freezer in the garage. Fortunately, I don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to run around the block in order to get my heart rate up to avoid the dreaded EPO sludging. That stuff would be so counterproductive if it didn’t work.

When it comes to performance-enhancing drugs I stick with a big cup of coffee and some anti-steroidal anti-inflammatories.

Yeah, I’m boring like that.

So yeah, if I was on drugs I would have been out for my second run tonight. Instead I sat slouched down on the ass groove of the couch while I stared at my laptop or whatever college basketball game I was ignoring on the tube. Frankly, even if I had the drugs I’d probably be too tired to take them.

But that’s the way it goes sometimes, I suppose. Because I had trouble putting one foot in front of the other without tightness or pain to limp into the kitchen for bowls of multi-grain Cheerios, I figured this would be a good day to sit still.

And yes, I feel guilty about it.

Then again, I feel guilty when I use those anti-steroidal anti-inflammatories or artificial sweeteners, so it’s fair to say that I have some sort of a complex.

Here’s the reason for the guilt: being sore and tired are a part of running. Actually, it’s the main part. Running, believe it or not, makes a person tired. It has something to do with the cardiovascular system and muscles and all of that stuff. In other words, if I’m tired or my legs feel tight or balky, I just ignore it and go run anyway.

What, am I supposed to sit inside?

Essentially that’s my theory when it comes to running – go run. If all a person has to do is put in the work in order to improve, why not just do the work? Perhaps that’s overly simplistic, but what the hell? The way it seems is that there are a lot of talented recreational runners out there who could be really good if all they did was run when they were tired.

One of the best parts about my job is that I get to talk to professional athletes about their training methods and workout regimens. Everyone, it seems, has a reason for doing what they do even when they are just winging it. But I still recall a conversation with a pitcher named Robert Person who talked about going through his second workout of the day even when he felt a little worn down. When I asked him about rest and that kind of stuff, he just looked up at me with bleary, tired eyes and said:

“Everyone is tired. Just because I’m tired doesn’t give me an excuse to take it easy.”

I usually think about what Person told me when I get dressed to walk outside every night to warm up for my 8 p.m. easy five-miler. Being tired is no excuse because everyone is tired.

But tonight everything was dragging, which means I have to make up for it tomorrow. I figure if I have trouble walking it probably isn’t a good idea to run.

Tomorrow, though, I’ll be rested and ready to go.

Thursday, March 20
1st run – 15 miles in 1:40:43 – hills and wind
2nd run – 5 miles in 35:53 – tired
Last 7 days: 125

Friday, March 21
16 miles in 1:47:23 – more hills and more wind… had to get tough some, too
Last 7 days: 123

Still here

Yep, I’ve been procrastinating (or just plan avoiding) on updating this site, but it happens. Frankly, between work, a trip to Florida and all the running, I just don’t know what to do anymore.

Hell, I’m tired.

But I’m also strong as motherf—-. Nope, the speed isn’t all there, but as long as I can hold 5:50 to 6:00 per mile pace for about 26.2 miles, I won’t have to feel like a damn disgrace.

Anyway, there are six weeks and four days to the Poconos Mountains Marathon. That give me about five weeks of more crankage, which has been holding up like clockwork. Frankly, when this is all over I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.

Quit? Gear up for another? If I run well, I’ll keep it up. If not… well, I’ll have to talk with some people. Frankly, I’m just too damn crazy and competitive to do this for my health. I thought I’d outgrow all that stuff 10 years removed from my peak, but when (and if) I race I still want to chew off other people’s faces.

It’s a sickness, I know.

Anyway, let’s pick up where we left off.

Monday, Feb. 25
19 miles in 2:07:47 – before heading to the airport to go to Florida
Last 7 days: 123

Tuesday, Feb. 26
13 miles in 1:32:08 – 80 degrees in Clearwater… got heat cramps and threw up in a Target parking lot before guzzling four bottles of Gatorade.
Last 7 days: 116

Wednesday, Feb. 27
14.5 miles in 1:38:47 – got up at 5 a.m. to run before going to the ballpark
Last 7 days: 113

Thursday, Feb. 28
14 miles in 1:32:55 – got up early again and ran to the beach before a day at the ballpark
Last 7 days: 106

Friday, Feb. 29
16 miles in 1:46:56 – felt good… sunny and 60 degrees
Last 7 days: 107

Saturday, March 1
18 miles in 2:02:10 – tired
Last 7 days: 110

Sunday, March 2
8.6 miles in 55:13 – on the field
Last 7 days: 103

Monday, March 3
10K in 42:37 – my stomach blew up
Last 7 days: 89

Tuesday, March 4
20 miles in 2:17:56 – slow
Last 7 days: 96

Wednesday, March 5
1st run: 15 miles in 1:40:25
2nd run: 5 miles in 35:17
Last 7 days: 102

Thursday, March 6
1st run: 13 miles in 1:30:28 – slow and ugly
2nd run: 5.3 in 35:21
Last 7 days: 106

Friday, March 7
1st run: 15 miles in 1:45:06 – sick and slow
2nd run: 5.5 miles in 38:26
Last 7 days: 110

Saturday, March 8
15 miles in 1:41:32 – rain
Last 7 days: 107

Sunday, March 9
6 miles in 42:22 – struggled
Last 7 days: 105

Monday, March 10
1st run: 17 miles in 1:52:33 – last 5 in 31
2nd run: 5 miles in 35:43
Last 7 days: 121

Tuesday, March 11
1st run: 18 miles in 2:01:08 – knockdown
2nd run: 5 miles in 35:40
Last 7 days: 124

Wednesday, March 12
1st run: 15 miles in 1:40:52 – hills
2nd run: 7 miles in 46:53 – could have run 10 more
Last 7 days: 126

Thursday, March 13
1st run: 16 miles in 1:48:11 – solid
2nd run: 5 miles in 35:53 – easy
Last 7 days: 129

Friday, March 14
1st run: 13 miles in 1:22:59 – attacked by dog while running last 5 in 30:34
2nd run: 5 miles in 34:20
Last 7 days: 127

Saturday, March 15
14 miles in 1:34:46 – hip hurt
Last 7 days: 126

Sunday, March 16
6 miles in 41:53 – easy does it
Last 7 days: 126

Monday, March 17
1st run: 15 miles in 1:39:14 – first 10 in 65
2nd run: 6 miles in 42:29
Last 7 days: 125

Tuesday, March 18
1st run: 18 miles in 2:01:59 – tight and tired, but solid
2nd run: 5 miles in 34:59 – OK
Last 7 days: 125

Wednesday, March 19
1st run: 15 miles in 1:39:05 – rain and hills
2nd run: 5 miles in 36:03 – tight and tired
Last 7 days: 123

All this (and a little more) is also posted on the Athelticore.com site.

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.