Category: Run

Interesting Thoughts

So, I got back from work this afternoon, and an interesting thought occurred to me: “Man, I’m really, really looking forward to running.”

Funny thing, though – I was.

My lovely wife’s gonna blush, but one of my New Year’s resolutions has been to ask “What Would Missy Eat” (WWME) before I put anything in my mouth. I’ve talked about it in the past, but running with her over Christmas really made it stick for me. Here’s the diet program:

  • Lotsa veggies
  • Nothing but whole wheat
  • A little bit of lean meat
  • Never skip dessert.
  • Next to no fast food

I’m not religious about it, but I’m feeling better after a week of it. Haven’t had a chance to hit the scale, but I think it’ll be a pound or so.

And the run? Well, it was the first “Run Less, Run Faster” workout in preparation for the Oklahoma City marathon. Mile repeats – 10 minutes warmup, 3×1600 repeats with 1 minute rest, and 10 minutes cooldown. I did it, more or less, but it was probably closer to being 3×1400 repeats with about 3 minutes recovery between them.

But the run felt good, and I man, I’ve had some endorphins working at the end. Yeah, this running and eating well is good stuff.

So Many Answers

David over at “Adventures in the Thin Trade” has some interesting questions:

1. So if you are someone who likes to run with headphones/earbuds, do you like to race with them too?

Yes – helps me focus, helps me concentrate, and gives me somewhere to go when I’m pushing hard other than that dark “Man, this really sucks” place.

2. If you like to race with headphones and had a free entry into the Minneapolis Twin Cities Marathon would you race? Headphones are forbidden on the course and those confirmed to have used them (photos/videos) will be disqualified.

Not just yes, but heck yes. I’m actually tempted to see exactly how many races I can register for and get disqualified from for wearing headphones. The rule they use to ban headphones (USATF Rule 144.3.(b)) should also disqualify folks for things like GPS and heart rate monitors, but I don’t hear people getting kicked out for them. The rule used isn’t a safety rule.

3. Do you think wearing headphones is a safety hazard?

4. Do you think headphones are less of a hazard in a controlled route race?

On a closed course? Probably less of a safety hazard than a live band or a water stop.

On an open road? It depends. I try to keep the volume low enough that I can hear most traffic over whatever I’m listening to.

5. Do you find those who wear headphones to be a hazard to you on the course/road?

Nope. No more than folks who walk through water stops, or stop to tie shoes, or who fumble around with those freaky looking gel belts, etc…

6. Spirit of the Marathon is screening in theatres all over America on January 24. Are you planning to go? Is it sold out yet where you are?

7. Have you ever heard of a one-time-only screening of a film before? Unusual to me.

No, dunno, no.

8. Have you ever seen a running watch that gives you an air temperature reading? That would be cool

.Or hot, depending on what kind of a day it was.

Oh, and I gotta brag on my Alma Mater again – we just got mentioned during the National Championships, something that’s never happened before, and not likely to happen again, due to our being DIII:

8 for ’08

Missy and I started off the year right – 8 miles on New Year’s morning. She took it easy on me, and we both finished together. Even though she has to sandbag for me now, I still LOVE running with my blushing bride.

Sunday was 4 miles – early. Believe it or not, I made it out of bed to enjoy some “warm” weather. Funny how high 30’s can make everything better after some single-digits.

Lastly, I’m still on the Nike+ bandwagon, and am using the “resolutions” for this year. I’m targeting 700 miles for the year, with 70 miles for January.

Races? I’m running the OK City Marathon at the end of April, and registering for the NYC Lottery. My fall fall-back is going to be the Hartford Marathon. And, as always, the highlight of my year will be the New Haven 20K on Labor Day.

Missy’s targeting the RunVermont Marathon, and the boys and I are looking forward to Memorial Day in the mountains. She’s also looking at the San Antonio Marathon,

So, life is good, hope everyone’s on track for ’08, and keeping warm.

My wife can kick my *$$

So, it’s official: Missy’s a far, far better runner than I am, or likely will ever be.

We’ve both given blood in the last week, and set out to run together this morning. Every downhill, she pulled away from me, and pretty much the whole first part of the run, I felt like she was really pushing me.

But, running faster’s the only way to get faster, so I hung.

We headed over Cow Hill towards downtown, and swung back north on River Road. I tried to bail just south of IH-95, but Missy goaded me into keeping on. About mile 5, I stopped and walked for a while as she went up about a half mile, and back about a quarter. I made it the two miles home.

I still love running with Missy, but it’s a different flavor. Now, I feel like I’m running out of desperation – need to get skinny so she doesn’t leave me for the pool boy (But Billy, you don’t have a pool! Tell me about it. Still can’t figure out why we keep paying for pool service…)

All kidding aside, life’s great. I’m taking about 10 days off, we’ve got company coming, and we’re going to trek into the Big City (NY) to take the kids to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I’m gonna get to see the cube at the entrance to the Apple Store outside of FAO Schwartz. And, we get to ride the train.

Running’s been great while on vacation – good run on Sunday, and Missy got me out the door on Monday, even though I wanted to rest. Christmas was good – I’d convinced Missy that we needed a Wii back in September, so it’s been sitting in our basement since October. I dig it – it’s as revolutionary a concept in video games as the Atari 2600 was. And the good folks who write games for Nintendo seem to be able to avoid the siren’s call of looks over gameplay. Not that the games aren’t pretty.

Gaah – 18 weeks until OKC. This is going to suck.

So, I lied…

No posting about running last night. I got wrapped around the axle trying to keep my Windows VM up and running. Stupid windows.

But running has been very, very good to me.

I’m back on a mas o menos “Run less, run faster” (henceforth referred to as RLRF) schedule – rest Monday, track work on Tuesday, Cross-train Wednesday, tempo run Thursday, Cross-train Friday, long run Saturday, and rest, easy run or cross-train on Sunday. I like it, in that the three runs each have foci – try to puke on Tuesday, try to finish exhausted on Thursday, and cruise on Saturday.

And I’m pumped about the idea of blogging about running again. Open Source’s intervew with Jonah Lehrer struck some deep cord with me – Cezanne painting the same mountain over and over again, learning about the way he perceived the mountain along the way. Running may be my mountain, and this blog may be my little attempt to push us closer to Truth. (This is where my wife rolls her eyes)

Last Thursday’s tempo run was out-freakin’-standing. I left the office around noon, and just RAN. Snow had started to fall; there was about a half-inch on the ground, and there was a steady wind coming across the Bay from the north. I was sore from Tuesday’s abortive track workout, and sorely tempted to blow off the run in the snow, but I’ve come to recognize some cold hard truth:

  1. I’m right up against 16 weeks until the OKC Marathon
  2. My wife’s wicked skinny, and is planning to run the Vermont Marathon in May. So, I’ve got one shot at getting the family title back, and then she’s got it pushed under 4 hours.

So, I laced ’em up, and headed out the door into winter.

And the run was good. There’s something soothing about running in the snow. I was on the trail that circumnavigates the base, padding down the soft stuff, and watching the drivers hunched over the wheel in the universal “Oh, crap, I hope I don’t slip” pose. I passed one other runner, doing the loop in the opposite direction from me, with his face and hair coated with ice, just like mine.

About mile 4, I broke down and walked for a little bit. Interestingly enough, as soon as I stopped, the snow started melting off of my fleece and face. I was digging on it.

But the run was great. Winter ain’t gonna phase me, no siree bob.

Back to the grind

And a grind it is.

Actually, work’s great. Exciting and everything. Just had a huge brief, went well.

15 miles last week, all good miles. I kind of blew up the day the boat pulled back into Jax – tried to go 8+ after two weeks off, and man, did that suck.

But, we’ve done a Christmas pageant, shoveled snow, and life is good. Will write about running in the snow later.

Oh, I’ve been running all right

We did the turkey trot again.

Though something was WAY off this year.

(As an aside, can I say that the commercial that’s running on ESPN for RockBand – the sequel to GuitarHero – has me stoked, even though I’ll never, ever, get an XBox. There’s this bus, running through the desert, with guys doing some song on top of it. Man, for the days when rock and/or roll was dangerous).

The something that was way off was the weather. Instead of frigid and wet, it was dry and warm. To the point that the folks who did the “dip” part of the Turkey Trot and Dip actually played in the river instead of immediately running for the heater.

Race was good. Jake made the entire mile, and Nate got out of the stroller and made it over the hill in the Y-Parking lot and all the way to the finish line. Missy rocked the 3 miler.

We got our number drawn during the post-race raffle. Missy grabbed the good bottle of wine, but Nate decided we REALLY needed a YMCA bag for the boys to use for swimming lessons. So, we’ve got a good bag, and Missy and I are paying for our next date.

I ran home from the Y. It should have been phenomenal, ‘cept I took a wrong turn, and what was supposed to be 7 miles turned into 10 miles, mostly uphill.

The upside? I made it over the Old Mystic hill, and showed I’ve got more in the tank than I thought I had.

The downside? 174 before I got on the plane this morning…

Trivia – November ’07

Trivia tonite.

It really amazes me how much I love living in a small town in New England. I dug our off-year local elections (No on the senior center to replace the really nice senior center they’ve already got, no on the heated pool if they approved the senior center, and yes for the animal shelter ’cause I’m on the verge of becoming a bleeding heart – Obama ’08 if Ron Paul or Huckabee lose the ‘pub nomination). And the monthly trivia night at the Harp and Hound downtown is the icing on the cake.

I broke down tonite and ran after the van got back to the carpool lot. Nothing exciting, 4.3 miles. 10 minutes warmup, two halfhearted 800s around the soccer field – no track, no lights, just running on turf, which is wicked tough, and 15 minutes of cooldown.

And the monthly bike downtown to the pub. Couple of beers – we lost again (stupid Gimballs parade), and a 45 minute ride back to the house in the dark. Took a new and different long way – only saw three cars.

It’s an interesting crowd – there’s a couple of teams from either Conn College or Mitchell, a bunch of Pfizer types, usually a team from out-of-town, a couple of Navy teams, and us – a combination of engineers and n’ere-do-wells from around town. There’s good beer, no room, and it beats watching television.

The ride home for me is the best bit, though. There’s a serendipity to spinning as transportation, feeling the fog roll in off of the Sound, and appreciating the silence that follows the first hard frost. Good sleep tonight. I hope it’s still warm in three weeks.

Flu Mist

So, I hadn’t thought about it much, but there’s a pun up there.

And, yeah, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted. I owe Jeff a meme, Mark an article, and a slew of congratulations to David, Danny, and everyone else who’s done marathons.

So, let’s take this in reverse chronological order:

This weekend: Missy and I took place in the 5.5 mile tribute run on Friday. Neither of us really follow the marathon scene, but the idea of a guy literally running his heart out is moving. So, while I took the kids to swimming, Missy ran to the Y, and then I ran home. Did the 5.5 for Ryan and another 4.5 for myself. Life is good.

Sunday night was an aborted camping trip – Jake and I headed out to the woods, had supper, and started sleeping. Turns out he’s a really light sleeper, and I mistook that for being on the verge of hypothermia, so we hiked out at one in the morning, in the dark. Which ended up being extremely cool in its own way. When we got home, we snuck into the guest room downstairs and pulled the door shut behind us. Missy and Nate didn’t realize we were in until we walked out after they were eating breakfast. The extra sleep was nice.

I had a great run while on travel last week, but am having trouble getting in runs during the week. I started riding a van-pool, which rocks for giving me an extra two hours in each day to do whatever the heck it is I want, but giving up flexibility is tough. I can’t delay leaving for work, and even though I’m consistently getting home earlier than I did before, I feel obliged to spend the time saved with the wife and kids, as I’m essentially getting personal productive time while I’m on the van (Such as time to catch up on my RSS feeds and eventually to blog on a regular basis).

So, schedule is going to be in flux. Plus, there’s cool stuff coming up at the end of this month that is really going to throw everything to the breeze.

Two weekends ago was a bust. The remnants of a hurricane blew through, marking the first nor’easter of the year. Plus, I had drill, which pretty much kills weekends. The flu mist completely killed me – on Saturday night I was asleep by 8, even before my oldest kid hit the hay. Sunday wasn’t much better, ’cause I was dreading heading to the 8th day of work in a row…

So, that’s pretty much it. Overall, I’ve got nothing to complain about. Once I get logistics worked out, the van is going to be a godsend – keeping me on a regular schedule. But for the time being, there are kinks to work out.