Marathon Training Started Without Me

Oops.

When I registered for MCM, I dusted off my 16-week marathon training spreadsheet, entered the 10/29 race date, and back-filled the weekly dates to get to a training start date of 7/2. With that in mind, I always thought my training would start the first week of July. Except that I checked again today, and training should've started the week ending 7/2 ... i.e. this week. Still, it's only the first week, and I was supposed to do 3/3/3 on Tue/Wed/Thu followed by 6 on Sat. Instead, I happened to do 4/0/4 on Tue/Wed/Thu and tomorrow I'm doing the Liberty 5K race here in Dallas.

So I might not get all the miles in this week, but I think I'll still walk away well trained. Why? Because of a heck of a workout yesterday and today trimming trees in my backyard. Every July 4th, the well-heeled members of the Gleneagles County Club here in Plano assemble at the club for an All-American Buffet followed by a spectacular private fireworks display. Non-members such as yours truly, assemble the family clan at our house for a big, boisterous dinner, followed by pool-side seats to view the same so-called "private" fireworks display directly across our back yard! We're barely a mile and a half from the club, so it's almost as good as being there!

I only managed to trim two of the four large trees I have in the back, but even that led to this mountain of a pile of brush for the recycling truck to pick up. It easily took over a hundred trips from the backyard to the back driveway, carrying or pulling branches, and stacking them on top of this pile. Some of the logs you see must have weighed a good 40-50 lbs each. It took 6 hours total to do this, 3 unplanned dips into the pool to cool off, 1 slightly twisted ankle (but not enough to keep me from my race tomorrow), and miraculously, 0 broken bones or chain-saw mishaps! I'm marking this down as "cross-training" on my marathon training spreadsheet!

50 Yards and Olympic Glory

At the annual Dadfest 5K in Dallas today, they inaugurated the 50 yard dash, which this Dad was all over! I signed up our 4-yr old, Sydney, and got her all psyched up, carbed up, and well rested last night for a 6:45 am wake-up call. She even caught an extra 15 mins power nap on the drive over to the Pizza Hut Park, home to FC Dallas.

A thunderstorm had blown through overnight and it was unusually cool, overcast, and windy this morning. We got there in plenty of time to get ready before the 7:45 am start.

The race was run in waves of 6-8 runners, which sometimes ballooned to 12-14 runners because, well, 3 and 4-yr old kids don't always follow instructions closely and when the big man with the loud voice yells "GO!", sometimes you just gotta take off and run!

Sydney was in the 3rd or 4th wave, and I stood behind her waiting for the signal. Mom and sis waited at the other end, ready with the camera. At the last minute, she turned and said she wanted me to run with her, and I said I would follow behind her but don't wait for me!

Finally, the big guy says "GO!" and off she went. With blazing speed, she lit up the concrete and coasted to an easy finish, barely breaking a sweat! And the best part ... they all got a medal! What a way to make the little kids happy!

The 5K started a little past 8:00 am. Unbelievably, it was my first race of the year. I usually sign up for several races beginning in March, but with travel and soccer games and gym meets and volleyball tournaments, I just didn't get around to it until now. It felt "good" to run again, but I quickly got that deja vu feeling of eagerly signing up for the race, can't wait for it to start, and then gasping for air mid-race and wondering again why I put myself through this torture?

Oh, and the Olympic part of this story ... guess who started off the 5K? All Around Gold Medalist in the 1984 LA Olympics, Mary Lou Retton!

This made my other daughter and gymnast-in-training, Stephanie's day, and she even passed up a sleepover at a friend's house last night so she could follow her 'ol Pop to a run meet this morning! Now, if only Mary Lou had told her to eat more protein and don't forget her vegetables ...

It's Supposed To Hurt Like Hell!

That's how a perfect race is supposed to feel, according to Dean Karnazes' junior high school coach. It's in his book, Ultramarathon Man, which I just finished and I can't say enough good things about. For a runner, it's a truly humbling and inspiring read. I'm not about to sign up for an ultra, but I'm sure as hell not going to complain about any more nit-picky little crap that goes on during my "short" runs. At least for the next few days ...

But there's one hurt that did feel like hell, the $119.95 kind. That's what I needed to give today to get these. I tried once to go with the cheaper Brooks Addiction 7, but it felt too squishy and I eventually gave up running in them.

So since I started running, I've really only worn these Brooks Beasts, starting with the blue/gold on top, then the all-grey in the middle, and now in my favorite color: ORANGE! Well, just a bit of orange, but I'll take it. Also new this year - a $10 price increase, which offset the $10 coupon that the Run On store here in Dallas gives out every once in a while. Things could be worse I suppose.

I'm back in Dallas this week after 4 months in NYC. I had a great time running all around Manhattan, but now it's back to the heat and the old stomping grounds for a while. I've got a 5K coming up this weekend, and I'd like to get used to the heat by then. Did 6 miles Sunday, and 4 miles Tuesday, both times going out at 6:30 am to beat the heat, which was in the mid-70s even then. But hey, no more whining, right? It's supposed to hurt like hell!

The Wait Is Over And The Pain Begins

I thought about posting this same title last night, but didn't want to jinx my lottery chances for the NYC Marathon. It occurred to me that the title would work either way ... the pain of training if I got in, or the pain of not getting picked if I didn't! I needn't have worried, because I didn't @#%$+?>*&(^ get in! And to add to the indignity of it all, I had to wait through 25 minutes of server timeouts on the NYC website before it finally let me see the big N-O next to my entry. If they say the results will be posted at 11:00, why don't get it ready by 11:00 instead of taking the server offline starting at 11:00 and then taking 25 minutes to load it back up? Don't they know some x0,000 people like me are hitting the refresh button every 10 seconds? But I'm not bitter ...

... because I'm going to D.C.! Oorah! Yup, I quit pitying myself long enough to sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct 29, and I can't wait! Plus, all the RBF meetup reports like this one from Anne in San Diego are making me anxious to get out there and meet some of you too, and I think it'll be a great time. As far as I know, Bex is leading this stellar crew! Good luck everyone!

June 5th, 2005

First of all, a big CONGRATULATIONS to Anne, Susan, and Nic for finishing San Diego yesterday! Each has her own story for how they did it, but they all finished!

I'm partial to San Diego, because today is my one-year annivesary of becoming a marathoner there, and I think I will remember this date for some time to come. I haven't run another one yet, but I'm hoping I can still make it this year (please, please NYC, pick me!).

Anyway, to commemorate this date, I went out for a long run this evening starting out in Chinatown. My hotel woes continue, regrettably, and I've been placed in a pretty pathetic dump built recently in 2001 but furnished completely with liquidation-quality stunningly-bad rejects from 1961 - yet they have wireless hi-speed internet - go figure! I made my escape and headed straight for the Williamsburg Bridge (thanks for the tip, Josh), crossing over into Brooklyn. Using my spotty memory of a Yahoo Maps printout, plus two consultations with NYC traffic cops, I zig-zagged my way to the Brooklyn Bridge, and crossed back into Manhattan. I even threw in a sprint up the easier Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge for good measure, probably scaring a few tourists with my all-out huffing and puffing. With a final navigation past City Hall and through the Chinatown crowds, I made it back to my "hotel" in 1:02:31, a touch over 7 miles.

So, do you remember where and when was your first marathon?

Bump Draft

Is it a bad thing to follow someone if they're running at a good hard pace for you? Last night on the small loop in Central Park, I was doing just that. For the first few minutes, I was really motivated, pushing myself just to stay close. We were passing people left and right. It felt great!

Then she started to drop off, and I thought, what the heck, I'll keep going and maybe return the favor (is that being presumptuous?). But after I passed her, she kicked it in and quickly re-took the lead. A few minutes later, the same thing happened again, and then again 2 or 3 more times. Finally, she kept going north, and I turned off to stay on the small loop.

So what's the right etiquette? Stay back and she thinks I'm stalking, or run up and she thinks I'm racing? Hey, I just want to run fast!

Bridges Are To Cross

But it's a helluva lot tougher than it looks! Unlike the locals like Josh, for which this is old-hat, you won't find much in Texas to run over like the Brooklyn Bridge. Why did I want to run it? Because it's there. You know what I mean.

The past 2-3 weeks have been busy, and I've been off the blogs and low on running. I'm still traveling every week, and for reasons too long and too trivial to list, I found myself with luggage, mid-week, at work, downtown in the shadow the bridge. Even though I ran last night in Central Park (barely missing Gawker run-ins with Cap'n Kirk, Texas-Ex Matthew McConnaughey, and still-better-as-Lois-Lane Teri Hatcher), I decided at 6pm to change and go for a run instead of heading to my (next) hotel.

I started out at the Staten Island Ferry terminal and followed the water to the base of the bridge. I found my way to the entrance, which was actually a few blocks back "inland". From the entrance, it was tough as nails for me to make it up the incline, and I definitely felt it in my calves. There was also a fair amount of weaving in and around pedestrians in the single 6-foot wide lane reserved for walkers, runners, strollers and dogs in both directions, plus people standing on the side posing for pictures from people standing in the middle! At times you had no choice but to bleed into the next lane reserved for bikers, but you really had to watch your back. I finally reached the middle section, which was flat and much windier and cooler - I'm guessing in the low 60's. I didn't get to enjoy the view as much as I could have, instead focusing on not passing out! After that, it was on to the long decline into Brooklyn. 16:30-ish one-way.

During my break, I wasn't feeling too good about the return trip, but finally decided I'd better get going or I'd be stuck in Brooklyn all night. I'd have left sooner if I had read Anne's post about the dreadin's always worst than the doin'! How I missed this coming over I don't know, but the incline from the Brooklyn side is much more gradual, which meant that the decline into Manhattan would be almost like a free-fall! Well, sorta. It still was tough overall, but I made the return leg in 13:45. This one bridge should last me a while.

New York, New York

Two weeks ago I stayed in Chelsea for a change, at 23rd and 6th. I only managed one run, but as you all know, you see so much more when you're running at ground level. From my hotel, I zig-zagged west until I hit the water, then turned north along the Hudson River. If not for this run, I probably would never have come this close to the USS Intrepid, now a floating museum at 46th street. Running past this old aircraft carrier, you can't help but feel the history and imagine the scenes that it must have gone through. I stopped for a brief moment, then pushed on, missing a few details, if you can call the Concorde parked on the port side of this ship a "detail"! I made it north to 59th street, turned east and ran to the corner of Central Park, then back south again to Chelsea, finishing about a 6 mile rectangular route.

Back in my hotel, it took me a couple of nights to figure out what this was outside my window. I know it's not the clearest pic ever, but the bright light is the top of the Empire State Building, and the reddish glow is street level 6th Ave. I didn't recognize it at first because it appeared to be not that tall, but maybe that was because of the angle from my room - I was on the 16th floor, which isn't that high really. I wasn't in a fancy hotel by a long shot, but I think view turned out pretty good, don't you?

Last week, back in Midtown, I thought it might be nice to run along the East River for a change, so I headed out east. I was somewhere around the low 50's streets, and when I got to the East River, there wasn't a path to run on! Bummer. Ended up just running around town, down to Rockerfeller Center and the NBC Today Show, but didn't wait around for Katie to come outside. Later that week, I thought it might be nice to run across the Queensboro Bridge, since it's on the NYC Marathon course. I like this shot of the grand old bridge - credit Rachelleb - she always seems to get nice pics of ordinary things from great angles. Anyway, when I got there, I found out it's closed to foot traffic! Bummer again.

This week, I was hoping for a good consistent non-stop run, uninterrupted by closed bridges, missing sidewalks, stoplights, morning talk-shows, and old warships. I got my chance last night, getting back to my hotel at 7:00 to change, out again by 7:10, warmed up and at Central Park by 7:15 or so. I started running a counter clockwise loop, and soon fell into a comfortable rhythm. I've never run around the entire park before, and felt this might be the time to do it. It was cool, I was in shorts and short sleeves, and it felt perfect. I've only previously run to the northern edge and back, and when I passed that point and kept going, everything was new to me ... including the hills! They were actually a nice break from the routine pace, and there were a bunch of people training on them. I finally made it past the hills, down the homestretch, and back to Columbus Circle in 54:20 for 6 miles. It felt really really good.

Before I Knew How To Run ...

She could outrun me any day, any place, any time, and it wouldn't even be close.

She could run full-out across 6 soccer fields at sunset while I was still making my way across the first one, and nothing and no one could catch her.

She could literally pull me around the neighborhood - me holding onto the leash like Ben-Hur with white knuckles, struggling to stay upright on my rollerblades, knowing that a single lapse of concentration meant concrete-roadway-face-plant-time, while she loped along casually enjoying the butterflies and flowers.

She could dream of chasing rabbits with the best of them, squeaking and sputtering, stammering and whole-body shuddering in her sleep, while we could only wonder what a grand old time she was having.

Our first baby, before the human kind even showed up, turns 14 tomorrow. In her twilight years, there are no more sprints, the chase is off, there aren't even any more runs. But while she's still with us, she'll always be our baby. Happy Birthday Shari!

Running To Daylight

WARNING: Brag-o-meter set on high ...

Sydney, our youngest at age 4 and destined to forever be the baby in our family, started soccer this year. Playing in a 4/5 girls league, our 4-yr olds were routinely clobbered by veteran 5-yr olds playing in their second season. I'm talking 10-1, 12-0, not-counting-anymore-to-zero thrashings.

This weekend, Sydney decided to have her coming out party. In a double-header, she scored 3 goals in one and 5 goals in a row in the other, and we won both games! In most cases, she simply figured out how to get a jump on everyone else, and out-ran the pack on her way to the goal. That's her being chased by the entire team of 6 blue jerseys, with nothing but green in front of her.

This is the first opportunity she's had to show a focused, organized and sustained run of any reasonable distance. As a Dad and a runner, I couldn't be more proud of my baby! Is it too early to make plans for Boston 2018?