Fuck This, I'm going running

Today I started out in a good mood. I woke up today knowing that after a two day rest following the Philadelphia Distance Run I would be back out for a run after work today. My recovery is already well ahead of where it was after my first half marathon in Indy. After that I was sidelined for practically three weeks.

So today work went quick, and I was on my drive home. I eased back into running today. Just a four miler, but it seemed effortless. I kept a pace just over 7 miles and looking back on it I think I could have likely done 6-8 without setting myself back at all. But thats okay. After Indy I had one good run and woke up the next day and was set back another week with an extremely sore quad (my one seemingly recurring injury). I'll take it easy for this week and just enjoy.

But before I even went out for the run, something pretty awesome happened. I was on my way back from work, and turned left into my apartment parking lot. Soon enough, there was a guy straight behind me. I thought he was gonna ask for directions. No, not the case. He asked, "I NEED to know, where did you get that bumper sticker. I saw it, and I've never done this before but I had to follow you and find out and luckily you turned in right here. I mean, I'm a runner too and I think thats the coolest sticker I've seen" I told him I have a friend out in Indy who made the bumber sticker, we exchanged contact info and I told him I'd be in contact with my friend who made the sticker. The sticker? It looks like this...



Some are still available, should you be interested. But, needless to say, when something is this awesome, who knows how long they will last.

Maybe it was my conversation with that stranger that kept a good light mood during the run. Maybe it was thinking of the sticker itself. Maybe I was just happy as hell that I was able to run rather effortlessly so soon after Indy, and at a good pace. Regardless, I am thrilled to get back out there tomorrow.

Race Report :: Philadelphia Distance Run 9.21.08 13.1 miles

Sunday was my second half marathon of the year, the Philadelphia Distance Run.

Let's start with the 430 am wakeup on Sunday. I don't know why, but I just hate being rushed on race day. I'd rather get to the race an hour beforehand, get stretched out, and get in several warm up runs and paces back and forth before the start of the race. I found a parking garage about a 1/2 mile away and made my way towards the start line, which was at Eakins Oval right outside of the Philly Museum of Art around 6am. I was early. The volunteers were even groggy eyed and the corals and starts hadn't even been set up yet. No matter. Plenty of time for my gear check, stretches, warmup runs and pacing.

About 40 minutes before the race I decided to make my way to the porta john. The lines were unbelievable. If there was one thing this race didn't prepare itself for it was the crowd at the portajohns. Rudely, I pretended not to know where the line ended and cut about 100 people in line. Still I waited 25 minutes or so in line and got to my corral only 20 minutes before the race.

Coral 3. Not bad at all. A clear view of the start line. And I thought I wouldn't face too much traffic going out. Now, in my head I knew that I hadn't put in the mileage neccessary for this race. I didn't have one training run of race distance, and only 2 runs of 10 miles or more during the final month of training. So, the plan was for a conservative first 10k. See how I felt at mile 9, and then hopefully push the final 5k. That was the plan.

As the race started it took perhaps a minute for me to get to the start, and immediately I was already impatient with the traffic. I found myself going to the outside and passing people left and right. I didn't anticipate I was going too fast, I just didn't want to stick myself in the middle of a slower pack.

The first two miles took us through old city. Pass City hall, the liberty bell, all the historic places. And with what seemed like 15-20 turns. That's an exageration, but there were sevaral turns. And as we hit the turns the elbows were hitting other runners sides. Not maliciously. It was still just very crowded for those first several turns.

Passing the first two miles I felt good. I told myself i wouldn't look at my watch till 5k, I didn't want to get too caught up in pace and just run my race comfortably. At 5k, 21:30 and change. Okay. So that would be a PR 5k for me. It didn't seem as though i was following my plan. But at the same time. At this rate, it seemed silly (in my head) to slow down. By milemarker 5 the clock read under 35 minutes which meant I would be under 34. I'm convinced that mile marker was off.

Regardless at 10k, I was at 45:17. Again, what would be a PR for me for the 10k distance. It was at this point I started to get a bit concerned that I went out too fast. But I had convinced myself to say fuck it, and just hold the pace as long as I could. Thankfully at this point we were on MLK drive along the Schukyl river, and the road was flat. I noticed around mile 8 I still was doing more passing than getting passed, and as we crossed mile 8, I looked at my watch and ralized I was just under an hour.

At mile nine we crossed over the Falls River Bridge and were on our way back to the Art Museum and Eakins Oval. I knew if I was gonna hit a wall it would be soon, But I also knew if I was to run 8 minute miles from here on out I'd be in at 140 and change.

Sadly the wall chose to win out more than the 8 minute miles. I grabbed a Power Bar Gel from a drink stand and hoped to get a boost of energy. As I ingested it I realized my word that tastes like shit and also re-cut off several runners as I made my way to the water station 50 yards down the way. Sad to say the bar didn't give me the energy I desired, and by mile 10, for the first time, I noticed I was being passed much more often than passing. Still, though I knew that my strategy was long ago fallen by the wayside, and a 1:40 seemed to lose time with every step, I knew that I had a chance to definitely beat my Indy time of 1:44:52. So that was the new motivation for the final 5k.

And the final 5k was difficult, no two ways about it. It was a struggle. As I looked at my final 5k split on the website, I realized I ran my final 5k in 26 minutes. 5 slower than my first 5k. After what seemed like forever we came up on the final mile. Sadly this was going STRAIGHT into the sun. I had shed my singlet 2 miles previous as it was damp as hell with sweat, but now running the final mile, for the first time I really felt the heat.

Still, going into that final 1/4 mile I knew barring a total collapse I would beat my Indy time. As we rounded Eakins Oval, I had in my head that it would seem MUCH longer than my warmup runs earlier that morning. Perhaps that was some sort of reverse psychology that worked. The final quarter though painful wasn't too bad. I pushed towards the finish and came in at what I though was 1:43:05 according to my watch. (My Chip time was quicker!) And I leaned over desperate to catch breath. I was swearing to myself I'd put in proper mileage before my next half.

I wandered around the recovery area somewhere between pleased with my new PR, and disappointed in my final 5k. I eventually made my way over to the finish to cheer others in, and suddenly my mood changed a bit. Seeing people come in at 2:20-2:30 and pushing as hard as they could to get there, but with a smile on their face at their accomplishment put stuff in perspective a bit. Yeah, I faded down the stretch, but I still PR'd and I wasn't sure anymore I had the right to be pissed off about my PR anymore.

Final Results :: 13.1 miles 1:42:57 new PR

90 % of everything is 50% mental

Less than a week till the Philadelphia Distance Run. I guess I am feeling good. Lingering doubts from last weeks quad soreness has dissipated. I got in a final longish run on Sunday of 9 miles in ridiculous humidity, even for the morning. 3 miles of speed work today. 6 miles on Saturday morning. Probably two more 6 mile runs this week. While I won't quite have the aerobic base I had for the Indianapolis Mini, I feel confident enough to run and run well.

13.1 miles is a long way to run though, and a longer time for doubts to fall in. And that's will probably be the hardest part of this race. Sure adrenaline will carry me through the first 4-5 miles. Then there is the halfway there boost. But it's around mile 10-11 that I had my slowest mile in Indy. And part of me thinks I should be able to run my own pace and then use the last three miles as an adrenaline boost and just crush the last 5k. But, of course, it hasn't worked that way in longer runs, and it definitely hasn't worked that way in Indy.

I've tried to find what is that which I have been thinking of when I've run my best times, and when I've had my more productive long runs at race. And the thing is I have not been thinking about pace. Or form. Or some sort of negative split strategy. Instead, my mind has just been blank, or rather not thinking about anything connected with running. It just wanders.

The thing is, come race day there is no preparation that's left to be done. I can stretch, but that's it. Other than that, it's just a matter of enjoying the race. When I watched the Fam Run Like Hell video the thought was to look not of the race as a challenge of your training. Your training is already done. The race is just a celebration.

I've mentioned that Brooks Run Happy ad campaign a little while back and mentioned how I thought it was a bit silly. But really, come race day if it really is about a celebration, they may be onto something.

The Competetion

After two days off to rest the quad, including a very late night in the city on Wednesday to see an incredible Paul Weller concert, I knew that I had to get back out there Thursday, even if only on three hours sleep, and after a full day of work.

At lunch I visit the Runners World website and find more motivation. None other than 2 time Olympic Silver Medalist in the Women's Marathon, Catherine "The Great" Ndereba will be running the Philadelphia Distance Run as well. Not bad.

Several months back, in the beginning of summer two fellow members of The Kip Winger Running Team ran a race in Bellmar, NJ. In talking with the teamates before the race we were laughing at how the elite section of the race was full of Kenyans and Ethiopians. As the race got closer, "Down with the Ethiopians" was the rallying cry.

So now, just over a week away I have the face of my competitor. Sure, when she finished third at a half marathon world championship in 2007 (I think) her time was roughly 37 minutes better than mine. That's okay. I'm going to Philly aiming for a personal best anyway, so my prior time isn't the gauge.

Next Sunday, Catherine...

The Forced Taper...

i'm bumming.

my philly half marathon is in less than two weeks. i'm not where i want to be in terms of training in order to hit my goal time of 1:41. i'm more looking at a 1:45 pace right now. ugly.

so i have been going back and forth on whether to taper my training or not. there are advantages to tapering, virtually everything i've read suggests tapering except kevin hanson of the hanson brooks distance project. but i feel like i tapered too much in the weeks before indy. so, i figured over the weekend that i would go for 30 miles this week and about 20 next week leading up to the race. so just a real modest taper.

this morning my quad felt really tight. i stretched it out and decided to still go about my workout. 10 miles with 5 (1 minute) hill repeats at mile 3. probably not the best move. at mile four my right quad was signaling that it just had it. i stepped off, tried to stretch it out and got in about another quarter mile before i could feel something was way off.

so now, what, 13 days before the race I really have no idea what i'm looking at. and i'm icing my quad and gonna attempt to get out for a sixer tomorrow morning before work. but really, wtf? it's a tough call.

regardless, now against wishes i taper. at the end of the day it's better to listen to your body i'm sure. but mentally this is not the shit i wanted to deal with 2 weeks before the race.

Fuck This, I'm going running

Best employee quits? Check.

Two straight days of absolute shit meetings at work? Check.

A summons to appear in court to resolve a debt? Check.

Oh, can you throw 90 degree heat in there? Check.

Man the past few days have been absolutely brutal. Yesterday evening was spent pacing back and forth terrified about money. In between awful meetings today and a lengthy stressful conversation where I temporarily resolved financial issues, there was far too much on my mind.

Brooks Running has an ad campaign right now, "Run Happy" There are some ridiculous ads for that. Guys and gals running through a psychedelic wonderland with Thumper and Bambi in the background. It's a bit ridiculous. Not in a bad way. If it gets people buying shoes and getting on the road I ain't gonna fault them. But it surely doesn't have the catchy zeitgeist appeal of The Kip Winger Running Team's "Fuck This, I'm going running" does it?

This week, today especially, running was escape. Just thinking bout leg turnover and pace and how much the heat and humidity sucked was much better than thinking about the rest of everyday bullshit.

At least today I got my autographed copy of Brad Hudson's Run Faster in the mail for nailing Ritz's marathon time to the second.

Current Listening :: Nick Cave - No More shall we part