If you run the same short segment over and over and over again you become intimately familiar with every foot and every view and every feature. I've covered this loop hundreds and hundreds of times. It is exactly 750 metres long. I've taken as little as 3 minutes to run around it and as long as 5. I have dodged wayward baseballs, leashes, dogs attached to leashes, dogs not attached to leashes, people, bicycles, lumps of poop, puddles, lakes, glaciers, front-end loaders, vehicles that are not supposed to ever be there in the first place, rocks, cracks, holes, the ever present crowd waiting at either of two bus stops. There is the young high school boy who sits in the bus stop with his feet up, the older woman who has a different wig for each day, the old guy and his son from the retirement 'villa' adjacent to the park, Penny who walks her Newfoundlander, Freddy who walks his German Shepherd, the guy who takes his dogs into the ball field and runs round and round and round. Some people have stopped showing up, maybe they moved, maybe they bought a car, who knows. Sometimes someone shows up once and never again. The news boxes have a different front page each day, the front-end loader clears ice left outside the arena every Thursday, the garbage trucks do their pickups for the arena twice a week. Sometimes the guy driving the truck pulls in, pulls out a paper, and spends an hour reading it. The maintenance guy for the arena walks his dog every morning. The crossing guard for the school arrives at 8, but I'm usually done by then.
And they all watch me.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
The Boston Taper
Yesterday I ran a 30k race as part of my last long run before Boston. I ran this race during my first 20 miler towards Mississuaga last spring, raced it fairly hard, and that worked out well for me. Doing it as my last long run this year, I dunno. The weather was stunning and I did manage to keep myself reigned in enough that at least I didn't go anywhere near my previous finish times. I did 2 slow miles before it started, ran the race just a bit slower than marathon pace, then another 2 1/2 slow miles immediately afterwards. I was all over the wall in the cooldown jog. Don't ask me why but when I bonk I get a big bright spot that shows up in the middle of my vision, and it was glowing pretty good at the end of it all. But I was upright and not suffering badly from a running perspective.
Now comes taper. Not sure how to handle this week. I'll try a little jaunt tomorrow and see how my legs are. I had a blister on my baby toe that I didn't notice until late last night when I smashed it against the corner of our sofa. Ideally this week, I go easy for a couple of days, get 8-10 miles in on Thursday and scrape up a 2 hour run on Sunday. If I'm hurting I'll just have to cut it all back until I'm strong again, hopefully no later than this time next week. My only real concern is that yesteday's runs only had me on my feet for 3:15 when I really wanted to be out there around 3:25. Odd for a race but I'd rather have finished 10 minutes slower than I did. On the other hand I never sat down or stood still between arriving at the race site at 8 am until I got back in my car at almost 1, maybe that will help.
After all this I sure hope there's 26 good miles in these skinny little legs of mine.
Now comes taper. Not sure how to handle this week. I'll try a little jaunt tomorrow and see how my legs are. I had a blister on my baby toe that I didn't notice until late last night when I smashed it against the corner of our sofa. Ideally this week, I go easy for a couple of days, get 8-10 miles in on Thursday and scrape up a 2 hour run on Sunday. If I'm hurting I'll just have to cut it all back until I'm strong again, hopefully no later than this time next week. My only real concern is that yesteday's runs only had me on my feet for 3:15 when I really wanted to be out there around 3:25. Odd for a race but I'd rather have finished 10 minutes slower than I did. On the other hand I never sat down or stood still between arriving at the race site at 8 am until I got back in my car at almost 1, maybe that will help.
After all this I sure hope there's 26 good miles in these skinny little legs of mine.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
And now for something completely different
Kevin Beck calls it the 'World's most earnest parody site'. Others are even less kind. For the person that stumbles onto Richard Gibben's running site, whether accidentally or from his force feeding of every running discussion board known to man, we hope they've done their homework.
My first experience with him was somewhere in Coolrunning where a reference was made to some nonsensical study being presented and one of the posters quickly recognized the info coming from Sir Richard and then preceeded to give us the quick rundown. It seems Richard is a runner of some experience but never really took it seriously (he sounds like an A type personality) until one day he decided that he would go out and kick the running world's butt in a concerted motion as he mowed them down in his path. No doubt he bought a gob of runner literature, read it all and decided to pound out a million miles a week, cuz somewhere it mentioned all top runners do this, and warning signs of imminent injury be damned proceeded to beat his knees and legs into useless props with a sole remaining purpose of keeping his ass from touching the ground. I don't think he races anymore, given the last result I saw from him likely had him finishing just behind Susie Q Austin's butt as she celebrated her 30 minute 5k victory shortly before the finish line was dismantled.
The whole thing seems to have left him rather disgruntled with the anyone capable of maintaining a 10 minute a mile pace for more than 10 minutes. Since surely his interpretation of training methodologies couldn't possibly have been erroneous,the fault MUST lie with the likes of Lydiard and Vigil and other top coaches. He's therefore decided to declare war on what he calls 'conventional training wisdom' and show the world that there is better path to success than hard work and dedication. Now we're not quite sure what 'conventional training wisdom' is since no two people train the same but let's not interfere with a good battle.
Somewhere in my exchanges with him on CR, he decided he didn't like my attitude (one of his favorite methods of evasion is to cry 'Attack! Attack!', declare you the latest member of his sh¡t list, and you'll never get to call his bluff again). So, to allow me to continue my hobby, I 'cleverly' signed onto his own discussion board as 'okrunner' (hee hee....I sure pulled the wool over HIS eyes) so I can get my share of shitsandgiggles when debugging ASP script becomes tedious.
His global contribution to the running world, in terms of advice, is to run 3 days a week...one interval workout, on tempo run (which he likes to call a 'power run') and a long run...and no more, and a top runner you shall surely soon be. This is remarkably like the FIRST marathon training plan published by the Furman Institute, which Sir R seemed to take quite strongly to as of late, and I have a feeling FIRST rather influenced this groundbreaking work of his. Anyway, it's easy enough to disect what comes off his fingertips into typed words and show him how his logic processing unit seems to have a short or two somewhere, but you do have to step around the dozen or so unrelated responses he usually provides to try and muddle whatever the original point was being made. But stick with it, I've learned to keep it focused for him and have even managed to get him to admit he makes things up (see his disc. brd. thread on 'FIRST Training Research Update'), but I have be oh so careful in my responses lest my alias gets bunkied up with my CR ID on his list.
I'm not sure what quite to make of him. I don't know if he's making the whole thing up and laughing hysterically at our own amusement of his brilliant work, or if he actually believes what he's peddling. Either way, like a dog that you can get to chase his tail, it's always fun to poke a stick at him now and again. Beck may have it right.
My first experience with him was somewhere in Coolrunning where a reference was made to some nonsensical study being presented and one of the posters quickly recognized the info coming from Sir Richard and then preceeded to give us the quick rundown. It seems Richard is a runner of some experience but never really took it seriously (he sounds like an A type personality) until one day he decided that he would go out and kick the running world's butt in a concerted motion as he mowed them down in his path. No doubt he bought a gob of runner literature, read it all and decided to pound out a million miles a week, cuz somewhere it mentioned all top runners do this, and warning signs of imminent injury be damned proceeded to beat his knees and legs into useless props with a sole remaining purpose of keeping his ass from touching the ground. I don't think he races anymore, given the last result I saw from him likely had him finishing just behind Susie Q Austin's butt as she celebrated her 30 minute 5k victory shortly before the finish line was dismantled.
The whole thing seems to have left him rather disgruntled with the anyone capable of maintaining a 10 minute a mile pace for more than 10 minutes. Since surely his interpretation of training methodologies couldn't possibly have been erroneous,the fault MUST lie with the likes of Lydiard and Vigil and other top coaches. He's therefore decided to declare war on what he calls 'conventional training wisdom' and show the world that there is better path to success than hard work and dedication. Now we're not quite sure what 'conventional training wisdom' is since no two people train the same but let's not interfere with a good battle.
Somewhere in my exchanges with him on CR, he decided he didn't like my attitude (one of his favorite methods of evasion is to cry 'Attack! Attack!', declare you the latest member of his sh¡t list, and you'll never get to call his bluff again). So, to allow me to continue my hobby, I 'cleverly' signed onto his own discussion board as 'okrunner' (hee hee....I sure pulled the wool over HIS eyes) so I can get my share of shitsandgiggles when debugging ASP script becomes tedious.
His global contribution to the running world, in terms of advice, is to run 3 days a week...one interval workout, on tempo run (which he likes to call a 'power run') and a long run...and no more, and a top runner you shall surely soon be. This is remarkably like the FIRST marathon training plan published by the Furman Institute, which Sir R seemed to take quite strongly to as of late, and I have a feeling FIRST rather influenced this groundbreaking work of his. Anyway, it's easy enough to disect what comes off his fingertips into typed words and show him how his logic processing unit seems to have a short or two somewhere, but you do have to step around the dozen or so unrelated responses he usually provides to try and muddle whatever the original point was being made. But stick with it, I've learned to keep it focused for him and have even managed to get him to admit he makes things up (see his disc. brd. thread on 'FIRST Training Research Update'), but I have be oh so careful in my responses lest my alias gets bunkied up with my CR ID on his list.
I'm not sure what quite to make of him. I don't know if he's making the whole thing up and laughing hysterically at our own amusement of his brilliant work, or if he actually believes what he's peddling. Either way, like a dog that you can get to chase his tail, it's always fun to poke a stick at him now and again. Beck may have it right.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Science Fair
Having at one time been young and infinitely naive and now being old and finitely capacitive I have a tendency to try to pass on the legacy of my experience to my oldest son. Unfortunately I have almost no ability to consolidate the events that allowed me to learn from what I now perceive as being paths to disaster. I've always had great confidence in myself to stand about 6 inches over the horizon and see what's coming, what it might do to me (or for me) and how best to handle it. For some reason I just can't seem to transfer that same level of confidence to my son. Maybe if I could see the world in his eyes I might realize he has the same talent, or maybe all I'll see is video game images a la first person viewpoint.
His big task in school the last several weeks has been to research, prototype and document an item ultimately to be included in his HS's science fair. His original plan involved levels of water in various size hoses and tubes to see what they would do. After he and I going through the plan we decided it didn't make a lot of sense (fill the various size tubes with water and measure pressure at the bottom) and instead decided to persue demonstrating how force can be applied to water in tubes, essentially hydraulics.
Now, understand my son isn't a big believer in providing feedback nor is he stellar in the arena of initiative. But once he puts his mind on something he can certainly persue it to the end even if that end is completely in the wrong direction or 100 yards beyond the edge of a cliff. He'll still be twiddling while approaching terminal velocity, oblivious to the upward motion of all around him and the inevitable meeting with the ground below. This takes a certain amount of reigning, as I explained to him one time to always make sure that what you're trying to accomplish is attainable (even if you're the only one who believes it is).
We built a prototype of a piston driven hydraulic setup. The plans became modified a dozen times over, going from a ballast supplied system (which, after review, we realized simply wouldn't do anything at all) to a closed system. The prototype had two upward tubes (simple ABS plumbing parts) of different diameters and a 'sealed' piston to compress the hydraulic fluid (water in this case) and record the effects on the other piston. Unfortunately we couldn't get the pistons to 'seal' no matter how hard we tried. We reviewed and revised the designs, added thick lubricants to help reinforce the seal...nada. Weeks went by and we were getting to crunch time. Classmates had theirs nearly done, documented, tidied up, and there's my son with little to show except a pair of leaky tubes.
So, on advice from his teacher, we changed the whole setup to use prefabed pistons (syringes) and we devised a sealed system (aquarium air-line tubing and connectors) and managed to form a sealed hydraulic lift system using one very narrow syringe as the activator and a large diameter one for the lifter. Then over a period of three nights built a display setup and stands to aid in measuring (it's very difficult to balance weights on the tiny end of an insulin syringe), and also managed to throw together a practical application display where we put 3 syringes together to mock up a disk braking system. He's a bit depressed that the original work had to be abandoned, he so wanted his nifty looking tubes and pipes and steel-rod pistons to work, but we can't persue what simply will likely end in failure. I'm hoping he's accepting of the new design and it seems he and his classmates had great fun pressing the various pistons and watching what happens. Today he's got a ton of work trying to get measurements and numbers and I have to just hope it all works out without being there to offer guidance.
And I reflect back on my own venture into the Science Fair arena. Me and a friend were trying to build a very basic digital logic system (this was before the days of PC's and it was nothing more than two switches and some lights) and a comparable analog system (although this failed miserably as we had no means of being able to build an output display). We had literally no help from our parents and teachers, persued blindly and abandoned to somehow have something to show, and stood with a rather ratty looking display that mimiced someone having emptied a box of garage junk onto the floor and this is how it fell together. Yet, we won a prize (only because there were less entrants at the fair then there were prizes to be handed out) and came away feeling that we somehow managed to accomplish something worthwhile.
I don't know which outcome my son would rather have, whether the tried and failed original, or the functional 'plan 2'. But I've got at least one more late evening on this one as he has to put together an information display and we cross our fingers hoping it has at least something to do with whatever his original intent was.
His big task in school the last several weeks has been to research, prototype and document an item ultimately to be included in his HS's science fair. His original plan involved levels of water in various size hoses and tubes to see what they would do. After he and I going through the plan we decided it didn't make a lot of sense (fill the various size tubes with water and measure pressure at the bottom) and instead decided to persue demonstrating how force can be applied to water in tubes, essentially hydraulics.
Now, understand my son isn't a big believer in providing feedback nor is he stellar in the arena of initiative. But once he puts his mind on something he can certainly persue it to the end even if that end is completely in the wrong direction or 100 yards beyond the edge of a cliff. He'll still be twiddling while approaching terminal velocity, oblivious to the upward motion of all around him and the inevitable meeting with the ground below. This takes a certain amount of reigning, as I explained to him one time to always make sure that what you're trying to accomplish is attainable (even if you're the only one who believes it is).
We built a prototype of a piston driven hydraulic setup. The plans became modified a dozen times over, going from a ballast supplied system (which, after review, we realized simply wouldn't do anything at all) to a closed system. The prototype had two upward tubes (simple ABS plumbing parts) of different diameters and a 'sealed' piston to compress the hydraulic fluid (water in this case) and record the effects on the other piston. Unfortunately we couldn't get the pistons to 'seal' no matter how hard we tried. We reviewed and revised the designs, added thick lubricants to help reinforce the seal...nada. Weeks went by and we were getting to crunch time. Classmates had theirs nearly done, documented, tidied up, and there's my son with little to show except a pair of leaky tubes.
So, on advice from his teacher, we changed the whole setup to use prefabed pistons (syringes) and we devised a sealed system (aquarium air-line tubing and connectors) and managed to form a sealed hydraulic lift system using one very narrow syringe as the activator and a large diameter one for the lifter. Then over a period of three nights built a display setup and stands to aid in measuring (it's very difficult to balance weights on the tiny end of an insulin syringe), and also managed to throw together a practical application display where we put 3 syringes together to mock up a disk braking system. He's a bit depressed that the original work had to be abandoned, he so wanted his nifty looking tubes and pipes and steel-rod pistons to work, but we can't persue what simply will likely end in failure. I'm hoping he's accepting of the new design and it seems he and his classmates had great fun pressing the various pistons and watching what happens. Today he's got a ton of work trying to get measurements and numbers and I have to just hope it all works out without being there to offer guidance.
And I reflect back on my own venture into the Science Fair arena. Me and a friend were trying to build a very basic digital logic system (this was before the days of PC's and it was nothing more than two switches and some lights) and a comparable analog system (although this failed miserably as we had no means of being able to build an output display). We had literally no help from our parents and teachers, persued blindly and abandoned to somehow have something to show, and stood with a rather ratty looking display that mimiced someone having emptied a box of garage junk onto the floor and this is how it fell together. Yet, we won a prize (only because there were less entrants at the fair then there were prizes to be handed out) and came away feeling that we somehow managed to accomplish something worthwhile.
I don't know which outcome my son would rather have, whether the tried and failed original, or the functional 'plan 2'. But I've got at least one more late evening on this one as he has to put together an information display and we cross our fingers hoping it has at least something to do with whatever his original intent was.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Freedom's just another word for being naked
I joined Bally's recently. Up until July and for the 5 previous years I had been fairly regular in going into the basement 2 or 3 times a week, setting out a nice cushy thick workout mat and doing a routine with 110 pounds of dumbells that kept me reasonably toned and firm anywhere above the legs. In July I started a bathroom reno which required a complete gut and rebuild and the basement floor become a storage area for anything involved. In January I waited for and took advantage of Bally's best offer (I get reimbursed anyway) and now do my workouts there (I still do all of my running outside).
Now, I'm not particularly modest or shy, and maybe it's just some deep seated conditioning from days of yor, but I find it just bizarre the way a lot of men simply like to walk around a locker room completely buffers. I keep a towel wrap and a few guys wear swim trunks when transitioning too and fro the locker area and the shower. Nonetheless it seems that at least half of the guys I've seen just like to stand around and make sure everyone gets a darned good view of whatever it is they like showing off. Maybe it's because I cut phys ed in high school, or maybe because I didn't play league sports, I dunno. But I just can't see myself walking about, looking at myself in a mirror, chatting with other equal fabricless guys and being totally nonchalant about it.
I don't think they need to see my junk and I'm certainly not interested in seeing theirs.
Now, I'm not particularly modest or shy, and maybe it's just some deep seated conditioning from days of yor, but I find it just bizarre the way a lot of men simply like to walk around a locker room completely buffers. I keep a towel wrap and a few guys wear swim trunks when transitioning too and fro the locker area and the shower. Nonetheless it seems that at least half of the guys I've seen just like to stand around and make sure everyone gets a darned good view of whatever it is they like showing off. Maybe it's because I cut phys ed in high school, or maybe because I didn't play league sports, I dunno. But I just can't see myself walking about, looking at myself in a mirror, chatting with other equal fabricless guys and being totally nonchalant about it.
I don't think they need to see my junk and I'm certainly not interested in seeing theirs.
Monday, February 13, 2006
This is the hard part
Make no mistake, it's at this point that it can get pretty difficult and you've got to drum up the reserve from within to get there.
It's 9 weeks to Boston. I'm on 20 mile long runs and all the crucial filler runs in between. As long as I prep for them properly the longs aren't that difficult or demanding, but every other run has to be there to make it work. I have to get up in the AM to tackle that recovery run or that hill workout or make the time for that 80-90 minute mid week mid long. This is the period that crams in the conditioning and the effort, builds the endurance, builds the stamina, sets up my system to handle my goal marathon pace.
I'm not on a schedule, I have no plan or chart set up on a wall somewhere, I just follow my routine and execute the item I think I need on any given day. I know what's going to carry me from one weekend to the next and I know what will mess me up and make any particular run harder than it should be. At this point it's all about execution. I run when I can get it in knowing tomorrow might be a problem so better to have it done than not. I can't skip just because I don't feel 'up to it'.
Saturday I overdid it a bit. My nonchalant run over trail and road ended up being 7 miles...too far. Then we had to go to a kids birthday party and I spent an hour in a pool, half of it treading water which takes more out of you than you expect. And I didn't get any proper meals in. Sunday morning I was tired when I woke up and just not fueled up. As nice as a fresh blueberry muffin is, it won't replace a good solid meal of carbs the night before. 10 miles in I figured I needed to shortturn my second loop and cut it back to 18 1/2 miles...still not bad. It was tough though as I knew I'd be running sans glycogen for a while. Still, that has it's own benefits and so it's not like the run's a total loss. I've accounted for at least one missed target over this period anyway.
I just have to keep in mind that don't want to be standing in the start corral wishing I'd trained properly. It's just not a fun experience.
It's 9 weeks to Boston. I'm on 20 mile long runs and all the crucial filler runs in between. As long as I prep for them properly the longs aren't that difficult or demanding, but every other run has to be there to make it work. I have to get up in the AM to tackle that recovery run or that hill workout or make the time for that 80-90 minute mid week mid long. This is the period that crams in the conditioning and the effort, builds the endurance, builds the stamina, sets up my system to handle my goal marathon pace.
I'm not on a schedule, I have no plan or chart set up on a wall somewhere, I just follow my routine and execute the item I think I need on any given day. I know what's going to carry me from one weekend to the next and I know what will mess me up and make any particular run harder than it should be. At this point it's all about execution. I run when I can get it in knowing tomorrow might be a problem so better to have it done than not. I can't skip just because I don't feel 'up to it'.
Saturday I overdid it a bit. My nonchalant run over trail and road ended up being 7 miles...too far. Then we had to go to a kids birthday party and I spent an hour in a pool, half of it treading water which takes more out of you than you expect. And I didn't get any proper meals in. Sunday morning I was tired when I woke up and just not fueled up. As nice as a fresh blueberry muffin is, it won't replace a good solid meal of carbs the night before. 10 miles in I figured I needed to shortturn my second loop and cut it back to 18 1/2 miles...still not bad. It was tough though as I knew I'd be running sans glycogen for a while. Still, that has it's own benefits and so it's not like the run's a total loss. I've accounted for at least one missed target over this period anyway.
I just have to keep in mind that don't want to be standing in the start corral wishing I'd trained properly. It's just not a fun experience.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
The body is a funny thing
Plan, run to a point just over 5 miles away, run back, pick up a bottle of warm gatorade waiting inside the doorway, run to a point just over five miles away and run back.
Sounds simple enough. And that's what I did. Out, back, peel off the safety seal and discard, turn around, out, back.
Some time ago when I was still a teen, my dad was finishing work in the city with weekend approaching and discovered his car was on the fritz. We were 16 1/2 miles away in the cottage soaking up the east coast sun. He opted to walk to the cottage, thumbing to passing drivers hoping to pick up a lift. He got sporadic hits but had a sizeable trek that eventually brought him to the doorstep something like 4 hours later. In work shoes his feet were sore and blistered and he didn't do much moving around for a couple of days.
In finishing off 20 1/2 miles in a 3 hour period, I get home and stroll a couple of loops around the block to keep from getting too tight. My feet don't have many complaints, the ever present sore spot at the base of the middle toes on my right foot that may or may not ache after a run (it's been there since many years before I started running), a couple of toes have the skin just slightly abraided, nothing more than you would feel if someone accidentally dragged a leather purse over your foot, and a few stiff joints.
I run a distance, I run a bit for a couple of weeks, then I run a bit further than that. The schedule is burned into me like making Kraft Dinner. Monday rest...Tuesday take the trash out, if I feel good (no big run last weekend) then it's 5-6 miles of tempo. If I don't have the time or I'm stiff, maybe 4-5 miles of nothing much...Wednesday, alternate between a hill workout (long or short hills) or a track workout (10-12x400, 5-6x800 or 3-4x1600)...Thursday, try to get a bit of distance in, 10 miles is the target...Friday rest...Saturday I do what I feel like, could be 5-7 miles of tempo, could be 5 easy, could be 6 or 7 miles of muddy messy trail (which is the preferred option)...Sunday, long, sometimes very hard, sometimes just very easy.
And the body compensates. Give it work, it will happily accept more. Work the cycle...push, rest, push, rest. The cycles are short (easy day, hard day, easy day, hard day) and long (buildup period, recovery, sharpen, race, rest and recovery, base build...). I've reached the point where I know what I can hit when I can hit it and what I need to do to get there.
2 hour runs are nothing. I can do them anywhere anytime. Once you hit 3 hour territory you know you're not just another guy in shorts.
Sounds simple enough. And that's what I did. Out, back, peel off the safety seal and discard, turn around, out, back.
Some time ago when I was still a teen, my dad was finishing work in the city with weekend approaching and discovered his car was on the fritz. We were 16 1/2 miles away in the cottage soaking up the east coast sun. He opted to walk to the cottage, thumbing to passing drivers hoping to pick up a lift. He got sporadic hits but had a sizeable trek that eventually brought him to the doorstep something like 4 hours later. In work shoes his feet were sore and blistered and he didn't do much moving around for a couple of days.
In finishing off 20 1/2 miles in a 3 hour period, I get home and stroll a couple of loops around the block to keep from getting too tight. My feet don't have many complaints, the ever present sore spot at the base of the middle toes on my right foot that may or may not ache after a run (it's been there since many years before I started running), a couple of toes have the skin just slightly abraided, nothing more than you would feel if someone accidentally dragged a leather purse over your foot, and a few stiff joints.
I run a distance, I run a bit for a couple of weeks, then I run a bit further than that. The schedule is burned into me like making Kraft Dinner. Monday rest...Tuesday take the trash out, if I feel good (no big run last weekend) then it's 5-6 miles of tempo. If I don't have the time or I'm stiff, maybe 4-5 miles of nothing much...Wednesday, alternate between a hill workout (long or short hills) or a track workout (10-12x400, 5-6x800 or 3-4x1600)...Thursday, try to get a bit of distance in, 10 miles is the target...Friday rest...Saturday I do what I feel like, could be 5-7 miles of tempo, could be 5 easy, could be 6 or 7 miles of muddy messy trail (which is the preferred option)...Sunday, long, sometimes very hard, sometimes just very easy.
And the body compensates. Give it work, it will happily accept more. Work the cycle...push, rest, push, rest. The cycles are short (easy day, hard day, easy day, hard day) and long (buildup period, recovery, sharpen, race, rest and recovery, base build...). I've reached the point where I know what I can hit when I can hit it and what I need to do to get there.
2 hour runs are nothing. I can do them anywhere anytime. Once you hit 3 hour territory you know you're not just another guy in shorts.
Friday, January 20, 2006
"Yeah, I was over to the track early this morning getting a few laps in"
I'm sure this is what the track walkers tell their spouses or friends or anyone else they talk to. They seem to have an affection for inside lane 1, the preferred lane for those for whom the measured track distances actually mean something...that being runners.
A typical high school or college track has 6 to 8 lanes, each 1.2 (it varies from track to track) meters in width and the inner most lane measuring out to precisely 400 meters. For a person executing an interval workout using a multiple of the set distance of 400 meters, that inner lane is crucial to having an accurate assessement of the workout and the current level of conditioning. Most walkers don't even know the lanes have a set distance, and many think all the lanes are the same distance...duh.
As I arrive this morning, not specifically to do a track workout but just to use the parameters to help set pace on this moderately easy run, I arrive in total darkness with the venue all to myself, opting to run clockwise this time to balance out impact forces inherent in running in continuous left turns in the conventional (counterclockwise) direction. As dawn breaks, they arrive and promptly start their stroll on the innermost lane drawn like a floating spitball spiralling towards the inner vortex of the bathtub water going down the drain. Sometimes they actually get mad at me, as though I'm invading their preallocated space. I'm pretty accomodating and will vere around them when necessary but I'm also not above ensuring they feel a sudden rush of sweat laden hot air blowing across their neckline...usually this prompts them to shift left (or right) 1.2 meters. Sometimes 2.4. Sometimes 8.4. Since a hard 400 will be accompanied by short explusions of saliva, this can also have an effect, keeping in mind this isn't intentional but it's surprising difficult to either spit or swallow at these times so fluids will go wherever air goes...mostly outward bound in random directions.
This morning I circuited the course 25 times to total 10,000 meters in a bit over 50 minutes, not including the kilometer between the track and my house and my warmup laps in the muddy confines of the nearby park. The walkers continued towards their habitual 8 to 10 laps which they'll complete some time long after I've left, their cardiovascular system thoroughly cleared by the rush of blood through their arteries. In all fairness, good for them to be out walking, but surely there must be far more interesting things to see along the streets than lane 1 of the local track.
A typical high school or college track has 6 to 8 lanes, each 1.2 (it varies from track to track) meters in width and the inner most lane measuring out to precisely 400 meters. For a person executing an interval workout using a multiple of the set distance of 400 meters, that inner lane is crucial to having an accurate assessement of the workout and the current level of conditioning. Most walkers don't even know the lanes have a set distance, and many think all the lanes are the same distance...duh.
As I arrive this morning, not specifically to do a track workout but just to use the parameters to help set pace on this moderately easy run, I arrive in total darkness with the venue all to myself, opting to run clockwise this time to balance out impact forces inherent in running in continuous left turns in the conventional (counterclockwise) direction. As dawn breaks, they arrive and promptly start their stroll on the innermost lane drawn like a floating spitball spiralling towards the inner vortex of the bathtub water going down the drain. Sometimes they actually get mad at me, as though I'm invading their preallocated space. I'm pretty accomodating and will vere around them when necessary but I'm also not above ensuring they feel a sudden rush of sweat laden hot air blowing across their neckline...usually this prompts them to shift left (or right) 1.2 meters. Sometimes 2.4. Sometimes 8.4. Since a hard 400 will be accompanied by short explusions of saliva, this can also have an effect, keeping in mind this isn't intentional but it's surprising difficult to either spit or swallow at these times so fluids will go wherever air goes...mostly outward bound in random directions.
This morning I circuited the course 25 times to total 10,000 meters in a bit over 50 minutes, not including the kilometer between the track and my house and my warmup laps in the muddy confines of the nearby park. The walkers continued towards their habitual 8 to 10 laps which they'll complete some time long after I've left, their cardiovascular system thoroughly cleared by the rush of blood through their arteries. In all fairness, good for them to be out walking, but surely there must be far more interesting things to see along the streets than lane 1 of the local track.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Pitch Black
which is what greets me at 6:30 in the morning. The park system isn't lighted so you hope for cloud cover to reflect the streetlights back down, so at least you can see what your foot is about to step on. I managed to step ankle deep in a puddle as I was avoiding a glacier that formed over the pathway. One mile out I returned back to answer natures knock on my sphincter door, then 7ish miles out and back. It's really hard to see dogs at the time of the morning, you have to go by sound. I think the owl hooting in a tree down there was hoping for a nice tasty Shihtzu to take home for the yunguns.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Run, run, run, run, run
I ran an 18 miler on Sunday. I was anticipating that it would be a disaster since I've had a couple of problems of running out of energy on shorter long runs lately, including a horrid bonking at 12 1/2 miles on one run and barely squeaking out 14 on another. That's really just prep on my part...the previous days run was too hard for me at this point and just not enough fuel reserves. This time around I took it easy the day before (5 miles only) and deliberatly kept the pace down on the 18 (about 8:40/mile). I got back home after 17 miles and still had reserves left so I did an extra mile in the park...no problems.
I don't stop during my runs. Sometimes in the summer on very long runs the heat can get to me and I've got to stop and catch some breeze to cool off. Or a shoelace gets untied, or I've got to take a nature break. The running world can be viewed in two segments...those who take walk breaks...and those who don't. I'm in the latter category. I see walking during runs as removing some of the satisfaction and it's detrimental to training. I know the proponents and what they say "it prevents injury, it let's you go further than you otherwise would, it prevents bonking" yada yada. None of it is particularly true, all can be managed by pure running and training. Walk breaks introduce a bad habit, and one that can be very difficult to get out of. Beginners should do it because it helps get their bodies accustomed to running and getting the distances in they need to promote early development. If they ran only as far as they could they wouldn't get very far and wouldn't get out very often. Other than that, don't bother.
Once you get used to running without stopping, it's like everything else, you adapt to it, your body adapts to it, it becomes natural and normal. You'll be able to hold a pace for the duration instead of only 8-10 minutes at a time. Recovery will come around, the thought that it 'promotes recovery' is bogus. It only 'promotes recovery' because it 'reduces training', so there's less training to recover from. If someone did that 18 miler I did taking a break every 10 minutes, or even longer when it comes time to take a gu or fiddle with the fuel belt for a while, they're not getting out of it what I did. I did that run because I can, anything else just wouldn't measure up.
I don't stop during my runs. Sometimes in the summer on very long runs the heat can get to me and I've got to stop and catch some breeze to cool off. Or a shoelace gets untied, or I've got to take a nature break. The running world can be viewed in two segments...those who take walk breaks...and those who don't. I'm in the latter category. I see walking during runs as removing some of the satisfaction and it's detrimental to training. I know the proponents and what they say "it prevents injury, it let's you go further than you otherwise would, it prevents bonking" yada yada. None of it is particularly true, all can be managed by pure running and training. Walk breaks introduce a bad habit, and one that can be very difficult to get out of. Beginners should do it because it helps get their bodies accustomed to running and getting the distances in they need to promote early development. If they ran only as far as they could they wouldn't get very far and wouldn't get out very often. Other than that, don't bother.
Once you get used to running without stopping, it's like everything else, you adapt to it, your body adapts to it, it becomes natural and normal. You'll be able to hold a pace for the duration instead of only 8-10 minutes at a time. Recovery will come around, the thought that it 'promotes recovery' is bogus. It only 'promotes recovery' because it 'reduces training', so there's less training to recover from. If someone did that 18 miler I did taking a break every 10 minutes, or even longer when it comes time to take a gu or fiddle with the fuel belt for a while, they're not getting out of it what I did. I did that run because I can, anything else just wouldn't measure up.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Thursday, December 01, 2005
I think I'm somewhere around.....here
I always have trouble figuring out where I reside in terms of being a runner. A sort of running identity crisis. I'm new to the game and never did this to any level before. I think the closest I got was running one lap around a cinder track in the 70's in Junior High health class as part of the 'participaction' awards tests...I recall it nearly killed me. So I have no background other than what I've accumulated over the past 5 years.
I've seen a lot of people who were quite involved in their high school years or in college, etc. or just people who have been at it for decades on end. I don't consider myself as any part of a 'boom', it's just something I'd always wanted to do and one morning headed out the door and started. I'm not in it for any trendiness it might carry.
I don't think of myself as slow, but I certainly don't consider myself as being anyways fast either. A couple of years ago after completing a pretty competitive level 5k one spring morning, one of the local fast guys (part of a very small but talented running club) who has seen me in the park came up and introduced himself, saying "I see you in the park a lot...so how'd you do today?". When I told him my time of 20:05, he just kinda nodded and walked away. Elite snobery? Sure was (methinks he thought maybe I would fit into their group and were approaching for recruitment, but my recreational numbers didn't quite jive with the 'requirements' I guess). But it certainly shows that I'm really not at any level that would make anyone with talent say "hey...that's pretty good!".
If I were midpack, I'd probably be pretty comfortable running with the masses and finishing in the thick of the mob as they squeeze their way over the finishing mats. If I were at the back, I could probably let loose and have fun and really not pay much attention to time, instead just enjoy the surroundings. If I were at the front I'd be fierce and competitive and work strategies throughout the race working to snag those all-important awards positions that everyone else considers waaaay out of scope.
Instead, I'm somewhere between the top and the mid. I'm not going to win many awards (I occasionally snag an a/g placement) and certainly no prize money or trophies to sit on a mantle. I'm not slow enough to just slog through it so I end up having to push to make sure I'm not passed near the end. My rewards usually come with seeing the mass of people yet to finish, finding my way to the food tables without lineups, maybe spotting some faces that are in my league and they'll be my adversaries for the day. It's finishing in that top 15% or so, knowing that I've held my ground and I'm not retrograding into 'jogger' territory.
I'm not anything to brag about. People do far better doing far less work than I do. It's a lot of effort for little or no tangible return, and it can be expensive to boot.
Can't quit now though.
I've seen a lot of people who were quite involved in their high school years or in college, etc. or just people who have been at it for decades on end. I don't consider myself as any part of a 'boom', it's just something I'd always wanted to do and one morning headed out the door and started. I'm not in it for any trendiness it might carry.
I don't think of myself as slow, but I certainly don't consider myself as being anyways fast either. A couple of years ago after completing a pretty competitive level 5k one spring morning, one of the local fast guys (part of a very small but talented running club) who has seen me in the park came up and introduced himself, saying "I see you in the park a lot...so how'd you do today?". When I told him my time of 20:05, he just kinda nodded and walked away. Elite snobery? Sure was (methinks he thought maybe I would fit into their group and were approaching for recruitment, but my recreational numbers didn't quite jive with the 'requirements' I guess). But it certainly shows that I'm really not at any level that would make anyone with talent say "hey...that's pretty good!".
If I were midpack, I'd probably be pretty comfortable running with the masses and finishing in the thick of the mob as they squeeze their way over the finishing mats. If I were at the back, I could probably let loose and have fun and really not pay much attention to time, instead just enjoy the surroundings. If I were at the front I'd be fierce and competitive and work strategies throughout the race working to snag those all-important awards positions that everyone else considers waaaay out of scope.
Instead, I'm somewhere between the top and the mid. I'm not going to win many awards (I occasionally snag an a/g placement) and certainly no prize money or trophies to sit on a mantle. I'm not slow enough to just slog through it so I end up having to push to make sure I'm not passed near the end. My rewards usually come with seeing the mass of people yet to finish, finding my way to the food tables without lineups, maybe spotting some faces that are in my league and they'll be my adversaries for the day. It's finishing in that top 15% or so, knowing that I've held my ground and I'm not retrograding into 'jogger' territory.
I'm not anything to brag about. People do far better doing far less work than I do. It's a lot of effort for little or no tangible return, and it can be expensive to boot.
Can't quit now though.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Noodly Appendage Forever
I'm sure that Bobby Henderson probably figured he'd post his letter and that would be that. Far be it for the masses to let something as (in)significant as this get by unnoticed. Either fortunately or unfortunately, Mr. H will now be forced to live with his own creation for as long as TCP/IP connections exist (and beyond to the next incarnation of network communications...and so on and so on). No doubt the popularity spawned by the FSM has it's drawbacks but Mr. H does seem up to the challenge. It's surprising to see the context of hate mail that comes his way. Here's a message for the masses...LIGHTEN UP!
When my next big run comes up, I'll be sure to pay homage to Him and stuff myself with a second helping of spaghetti, meatballs and maybe a brew...or two. Maybe the next day's expulsion of e-coli will reveal it's own miracle.
When my next big run comes up, I'll be sure to pay homage to Him and stuff myself with a second helping of spaghetti, meatballs and maybe a brew...or two. Maybe the next day's expulsion of e-coli will reveal it's own miracle.
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Coming Tea Party
I have no idea why I would want to run Boston. It's expensive and takes a lot of planning. If you're a mediocre distance runner like me, it takes a fair bit of training as well. Last winter I trained through some viciously cold conditions that decided to descend upon us after Christmas and didn't let up until the Easter Bunny froze his tail off in our backyard, and as a reward for that effort I get to do it all again, only this time at the 'show'. I've invested in two new pairs of shoes to get me through the winter, along with a pair of trials from last year that should keep me on my feet when the slick stuff dominates. It's hotels, and travel, and getting my documents up to date, paying the BAA just to run the thing (you'd think they'd be happy just to have me) and facing 3 hour runs with a scarf wrapped around my face to keep it from solidifying.
Last year Patriot's day in NE was better suited to packing a minimalist's version of bathing attire and hitting the beach more so than it was for running a marathon. The year before was not much better. I figure this time 'round it'll be pissing rain from point to point, the Wellesley girls will have headed back to their warm dry quarters once the first women go by, my family will stand, drenched cold and miserable, somewhere along the race route, shout "Hi dad...we're goin' back to the hotel" as I (hopefully) pass by, and I'll find myself heading up Boylston Street to a smattering of polite applause by others waiting only for their respective kin and more-or-less disappointed that I wasn't him/her.
I just can't figure out why I'm looking forward to it and counting the weeks.
Last year Patriot's day in NE was better suited to packing a minimalist's version of bathing attire and hitting the beach more so than it was for running a marathon. The year before was not much better. I figure this time 'round it'll be pissing rain from point to point, the Wellesley girls will have headed back to their warm dry quarters once the first women go by, my family will stand, drenched cold and miserable, somewhere along the race route, shout "Hi dad...we're goin' back to the hotel" as I (hopefully) pass by, and I'll find myself heading up Boylston Street to a smattering of polite applause by others waiting only for their respective kin and more-or-less disappointed that I wasn't him/her.
I just can't figure out why I'm looking forward to it and counting the weeks.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
The rain, the park, and other things
like hurricane force winds.
Master t&f Cross Country race in Sunnybrook. Nothing can make you feel deflated like having lots of older folks kick your butt in Cross Country, but that's what makes this race so fun! A little mud every now and then is a good thing.
I wish I'd remembered my hat.
Master t&f Cross Country race in Sunnybrook. Nothing can make you feel deflated like having lots of older folks kick your butt in Cross Country, but that's what makes this race so fun! A little mud every now and then is a good thing.
I wish I'd remembered my hat.
Monday, October 31, 2005
I see trees of green
and red roses too.
Not that I'm complaining. It's Halloween and it looks like the trees aren't giving in yet. We have a castor bean plant that's busily throwing out new branches even though it should be dead. I'll suspect this will be a bad year for ice wine.
My application to the Boston Marathon has been accepted. Hotel is booked. Fee's are paid. Now I just have to spend another entire winter training.
Not that I'm complaining. It's Halloween and it looks like the trees aren't giving in yet. We have a castor bean plant that's busily throwing out new branches even though it should be dead. I'll suspect this will be a bad year for ice wine.
My application to the Boston Marathon has been accepted. Hotel is booked. Fee's are paid. Now I just have to spend another entire winter training.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Did I get it? Did I get it?
Nope.
And all 28 runners who finished ahead of me DID get under 20. It was at least heartwarming for a couple of them to actually thank me for pushing them below the mark, by virtue of my consistent pacing and making them 'dig deep', as it were, down the stretch. Had I been paying the slightest of attention to either my watch or the giant finish line clock sitting front and center as I came down the chute, I probably could have done the same myself.
I consider myself the first loser.
And all 28 runners who finished ahead of me DID get under 20. It was at least heartwarming for a couple of them to actually thank me for pushing them below the mark, by virtue of my consistent pacing and making them 'dig deep', as it were, down the stretch. Had I been paying the slightest of attention to either my watch or the giant finish line clock sitting front and center as I came down the chute, I probably could have done the same myself.
I consider myself the first loser.
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