So what do i do...
Go to NYC and watch the NYC marathon on November 2nd and cheer like hell for Abdi and one of the greatest elite fields in the NYC Marathon history.
OR
Run the Bridge
Do this 10k. Across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Camden to Philly and back. That mother fucker is just one big hill. But once you apex it on the way back the final whatever distance is a downhill sprint.
It's a tough call. Should I skip the bridge run, I likely don't have a race until Thanksgiving, and am looking at likely only 2 or 3 races before my Carlsbad half in January. But, the NYC Marathon only comes once a year.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saucony's We Know ...
Saucony has been my running shoe company of choice over the past 6 months or so. Between my Hurricane's and my Paramounts, I feel I have a good few sets. I view their website weekly to see any new products and sometimes salivate over the Grid Sinisters, the Fasttwitch, and the Shay XC. I have enjoyed their sorta small company image against the running world's more heavy hitters like Nike, New Balance, and even Asics, or Brooks. But, I also have secretly wished that they would have a damn cool ad campaign at some point. I mean, I am a child of the media age. I love my MTV, Gossip Girl, and what have ya. So I like cool ads as well. Sue me.
New Balance has their Love/Hate campaign, which is utterly brilliant.
Nike has done more for Track & Field than any company in the sport in this country and always has some hot shit ad campaign.
Brooks "Run Happy" stuff is a bit to hippy for me, but they are trying.
Well now Saucony has a damn good ad campaign finally and they are letting the people in on it as well. Check it out. We Know _________ because we run. It's the shit, told ya. And you can submit entries to have your own idea be an ad.
I love it.
New Balance has their Love/Hate campaign, which is utterly brilliant.
Nike has done more for Track & Field than any company in the sport in this country and always has some hot shit ad campaign.
Brooks "Run Happy" stuff is a bit to hippy for me, but they are trying.
Well now Saucony has a damn good ad campaign finally and they are letting the people in on it as well. Check it out. We Know _________ because we run. It's the shit, told ya. And you can submit entries to have your own idea be an ad.
I love it.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Why have two magazines?
I've talked about this a little bit with Spitz out in Indy, but I'll throw it on here as well. I am a bit disappointed with the current month's issue's of Runner's World and Running Times for a few different reasons. Several months ago, the same publishing company, Rodale, who owns and operates Runner's World purchased the operating rights to Running Times. Fairplay. No real worries there. As is the case with many lifestyle magazines, many themes and articles are repeated from year to year. In running and health lifestyle mags there are a few standby's....
12 Weeks to a new 5k PR!!!
Healthy foods for recovery!!!
Beat the winter blues!!!
and the ever popular, New Year, New YOU!!!!
But here, as we work our way out of the heat of summertime and into some confidence boosting, long run begging fall weather we have identical themes around the last two issues of these two running mags. And what are they, "The Green Issue!"
Now, I am not an anti-enviromentalist by any means. In fact my faith leads me to believe that one of our duties is to be proper stewards of the earth. This in fact has in part led to my vegetarian diet. But, it's hard to miss the irony of a publisher sending out two magazines at 80-90 pages each (many of which, lets face it are not recycled) on the importance of running green.
It's not that I am against this line of thinking at all. It is in fact actually interesting to read about runners footprint on the enviroment. And it is, in fact interesting to read about the steps that many shoe companies are taking to become more green including recycled material in their shoes, and more biodegrable soles, even if they miss some of the most obvious steps (recycled cardboard boxes, please. thanks!). It's just that I am unsure of how much we can write about it. Especially over the course of two magazines. Couldn't it be contained in one? At the end of the day, it's simplistic, I know, but despite Brooks attempts to make a more green shoe, unless it fits better or takes time of my 10k more than my less green Saucony's I'm unlikely to but it just to save a year or two's space in a landfill.
It's nitpicking. Yes, I know. I very much understand. Still, couldn't one magazine maybe use some of those pages to preview the College XC season? Maybe a summary of some of the best College XC courses then serves into a good article on trail running.
Thing is I buy both the magazines anyway. I have a subscription to Running Times, and I purchase Runners World on the newstand month. And even though I told myself I wouldn't this time, due to the overlap of material I did anyway. I love both of your magazines. But please, next month a little more variety?
12 Weeks to a new 5k PR!!!
Healthy foods for recovery!!!
Beat the winter blues!!!
and the ever popular, New Year, New YOU!!!!
But here, as we work our way out of the heat of summertime and into some confidence boosting, long run begging fall weather we have identical themes around the last two issues of these two running mags. And what are they, "The Green Issue!"
Now, I am not an anti-enviromentalist by any means. In fact my faith leads me to believe that one of our duties is to be proper stewards of the earth. This in fact has in part led to my vegetarian diet. But, it's hard to miss the irony of a publisher sending out two magazines at 80-90 pages each (many of which, lets face it are not recycled) on the importance of running green.
It's not that I am against this line of thinking at all. It is in fact actually interesting to read about runners footprint on the enviroment. And it is, in fact interesting to read about the steps that many shoe companies are taking to become more green including recycled material in their shoes, and more biodegrable soles, even if they miss some of the most obvious steps (recycled cardboard boxes, please. thanks!). It's just that I am unsure of how much we can write about it. Especially over the course of two magazines. Couldn't it be contained in one? At the end of the day, it's simplistic, I know, but despite Brooks attempts to make a more green shoe, unless it fits better or takes time of my 10k more than my less green Saucony's I'm unlikely to but it just to save a year or two's space in a landfill.
It's nitpicking. Yes, I know. I very much understand. Still, couldn't one magazine maybe use some of those pages to preview the College XC season? Maybe a summary of some of the best College XC courses then serves into a good article on trail running.
Thing is I buy both the magazines anyway. I have a subscription to Running Times, and I purchase Runners World on the newstand month. And even though I told myself I wouldn't this time, due to the overlap of material I did anyway. I love both of your magazines. But please, next month a little more variety?
Friday, October 3, 2008
Cars
So I went out for a run after work today. Hadn't yet decided exactly how far I was gonna run. Round mile 3 I was deciding whether to push for a quick four, or go for another loop and do an 8er. I'm running cross an intersection, when a car decides to turn left in and totally clip me.
I'm watching this as I am running thinking, "Holy shit, this guy doesn't see me, he's gonna hit me." He's looking the complete opposite direction through his sunglasses when his side view mirror passanger side hits my left elbow, and i have the edge of my left foot run over . The mirror swings in. I don't know if its a luxury car and they are meant to do that or its the force of him turning right into me. I stop for a second looking down at myself making sure i am okay. My elbow is throbbing and bleeding pretty nicely. My foot doesn't hurt too bad though. He's 25 yards down the street when I shout out "Come on man!" or something equally dumb. He screams back, "I didn't see you!" I scream back something to the effect of "JC, fuckin look man whats wrong with you." (I need to go to confession) I start running after him to try to get a lisence plate number or his name or something, and he drives off. Unreal.
I'm seriously still at the "what the fuck just happened?" point. I don't think I've ever been that angry in my life, save the time I found out my last girlfriend cheated on me. I drove around for 15-20 minutes up and down those streets trying to find that car, but to no avail.
Granted, it was gettin darker. Still, it's a situation where there was no excuse to not see me. And herein lies the problem with running in Norwalk CT. It's all roadrunning. There are no back trails, no bike or towpaths, just roads. Thats fine, and at times it's exciting. But going into a winter season, when I will be running in darkness quite often, while I am looking to be between 30-35 miles a week while training for Carlsbad, it's not ideal.
I'm watching this as I am running thinking, "Holy shit, this guy doesn't see me, he's gonna hit me." He's looking the complete opposite direction through his sunglasses when his side view mirror passanger side hits my left elbow, and i have the edge of my left foot run over . The mirror swings in. I don't know if its a luxury car and they are meant to do that or its the force of him turning right into me. I stop for a second looking down at myself making sure i am okay. My elbow is throbbing and bleeding pretty nicely. My foot doesn't hurt too bad though. He's 25 yards down the street when I shout out "Come on man!" or something equally dumb. He screams back, "I didn't see you!" I scream back something to the effect of "JC, fuckin look man whats wrong with you." (I need to go to confession) I start running after him to try to get a lisence plate number or his name or something, and he drives off. Unreal.
I'm seriously still at the "what the fuck just happened?" point. I don't think I've ever been that angry in my life, save the time I found out my last girlfriend cheated on me. I drove around for 15-20 minutes up and down those streets trying to find that car, but to no avail.
Granted, it was gettin darker. Still, it's a situation where there was no excuse to not see me. And herein lies the problem with running in Norwalk CT. It's all roadrunning. There are no back trails, no bike or towpaths, just roads. Thats fine, and at times it's exciting. But going into a winter season, when I will be running in darkness quite often, while I am looking to be between 30-35 miles a week while training for Carlsbad, it's not ideal.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, September 22, 2008
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
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
Monday, September 15, 2008
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.
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.
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