Category: Run

Juneathon 1/30

Half day at the office. Didn’t bike in, ’cause my hope was to get a bike ride in with my lovely wife after work. But the meeting went long, and we were up against the kids getting out of school.

So, mowed the lawn and saddled up to pick up the big kid from middle school. Awesome late spring day, great spin down to the school. Picked up the boy, and we headed home via downtown and River Road. And, again, I’m struck by the surreality of my kids’ lives – this is ‘normal’ for them. And I want it to seem normal, but not entitled. But it was an hour of good talk, an hour of spin, and an hour that I’ll treasure for a long time.

River road home from school

But wait! There’s more!

It’s still recovery week after the Vermont City Marathon, but the young son looked up at me with his big doey brown eyes and asked if I’d run the short Bluff Point Twilight Trail Race with him. Duh, of course I can.

This is one of my favorite races – great cause in the New London County Women’s Center, awesome course at Bluff Point State Park, and early in the nice weather when being outside is a huge treat after winter breaks. The short course is about 3.8 miles – out to the bluff and back via the hill in the peninsula. Nice two-track the whole way; packed dirt or crushed granite.

Bluff Point Twilight Trail Run 2012

The run was awesome. Small son has a great sense of pace, and we started passing folks about halfway. He gutted it up the hills, flew down the downhills, and about blew my doors off when he sprinted for the finish. Nice.

Wife ran with the big son – they flew, both setting PRs for the course. Funny how happy I am being the slowest in the family.

BPTTR rocks for post-race. There’s always corn chowder from the US Coast Guard Academy goat locker. AND there’s massage students from a local massage school hitting their requirements for sports massage. I got the hook-up this year; Stacey completely worked out the residual stiff from Vermont, and I was happy.

Only down side was forgetting to check the tide tables and parking in the lower lot – the tide was still coming in, and I had to wade out to the car.

Spring tide after the Twilight Trail Run

Even I need reminders I’m not entitled sometimes.

Marathon Fallout

June. Man, life is good up here in New England. Blue sky, low humidity, morning fog. Lovely. Ought to be like this for another 4 months. Come visit

Still way behind in writing up Gran Fondo NYC and another Vermont City Marathon. But, as this is (theoretically) a running blog, here’s some red meat for y’all:

Marathon fallout

Usually the nail’s gone before race day. I was hoping I’d keep it this year.

It’s the freakishly long second toe – I’ve tried shoes ranging from 8.5 – 10, so it’s not a toe-box matter or something like that – I’ve lost nails from both hitting the end of the shoe and having the toe box fold too soon. Just a cost of doing business, I suppose.

Can’t say no

Got home from work on Saturday. N, the youngest boy, says, “Hey Dad, how ’bout running around the block with me?”

Awesome.

Bike Month Day 4

Fog, cows, stone wall

Friday wasn’t quite a work day – had some admin to take care of in Newport first thing in the morning, but made it back to Mystic in time to take another ride with my lovely wife, who’s starting to ride. And was reminded again of why I love riding in rural Connecticut.

Out of the house, and within 20 minutes, we’re on thin, low-traffic two lane, surrounded by walls of Connecticut’s state flower, granite, and bucolic bovines.

Rode easy for two hours, fog rolled in off of Fisher’s Island Sound, and back home to meet the kids after school.

I threw in another 4 miles up to the top of the hill near the house. Feeling pretty good, but dreading the last long runs before Vermont City.

Dread

Winter is making me her snitch. Short days, a little dose of Seasonally Affected Disorder, busy at work, and a lack of give a crap make it easy to fall off the wagon.

Can’t let it happen. Just can’t.

So, I jumped on the treadmill again. J., the oldest, had swim; I drove and ran. Broke out the heart rate monitor, set the treadmill for 7 MPH, and hung on at 80% for 35 minutes. I was actually pretty pleased – in the past, the mill has slowed me way down after about 20 minutes to keep my heart rate down; tonite I just kept cruising.

Eating isn’t quite the struggle that it has ben, but I haven’t been hitting the physical hard the last couple of weeks. Need to pick it up – four months until Gran Fondo NYC, not much more until Vermont City.

Busting the Zero

Internet, I’ve been in a funk lately. Partially weather driven, partially work driven, mostly slacker-induced. But I think I’ve turned the corner tonight. First run in a week or so.

Instead of sitting my butt on the couch after 12 hours at the office tonite, and another hour of work pending for the part-time job, I watched Dr. Who (Dum da dum, Dr. Whoo-ooh, dum da dum) while cranking out a couple of miles on the treadmill.

And that, for the hour or so I had the endorphin high, seems to have made all the distance.

Still haven’t biked to work in 2012. Which is a serious case of needing some Rule 5 (and missing out on Rule 9). New self sealing tubes in the commuter last night, which was ironic, ’cause the Cage (car) needed some air in the tires in the 15F this morning.

I’m still spun up about the runner who was killed by a careless driver in my folks’ neighborhood last week. In that vein, it doesn’t help to hear that a cricketer in Australia’s the latest to pick up the “Get off the road, geeks” mantle. The Sydney Morning Herald has a good take on it, though:

The important concept that non-cyclists often ignore is that we are all road users. … I also see a consistent improvement in the consideration they show for cyclists. Every year, there is a noticeable improvement in courtesy, patience and a general awareness of riders as valid road users, and for this I am very grateful.
Cyclists need to be beyond reproach in our use of the road to maintain the respect of motorists. But I would also love for every registered driver in Melbourne to ride a bike to and from work every day for a week.

OK, I’m harshing my mellow – need to accentuate the positive. Life’s good, winter will someday end, I’ve got a frame I love. We’ll end with some gratuitous nakedness:

Naked

If you’re lucky, I’ll show some closeups and soft focus on the rear dropouts later.

Vacation miles

Should have ridden this morning, ‘Cause it’s going to be down in the single digits tomorrow morning.

The run has been exceptional over the last week. Mild temperatures and good legs have kept me happy and on the road. The bike, not so much, but ‘salrite, ’cause everyone needs a break now and again.

Best run of the holiday week was Friday with my lovely bride. We’d headed up to Manchester, Vermont without kids. Original thought was to get in some cross-country skiing, which is tough with the boyos, especially after they’ve seen downhill. But, Mother Nature’s been gentle this winter after blasting us with Irene and the October Snowmageddon.

Stayed at the lovely Inn at Manchester, ate Thai food downtown, and walked arm-in-arm through a shopping mecca realizing that there wasn’t really anything we needed. I bought socks, though – made in America and 100% wool. And we both dug the Northshire Bookstore, though I was crestfallen that I couldn’t score the lifesize Nancy Drew cutout for bosmon after her brilliant series reading and reviewing ALL of the original ND mysteries.

Nancy Drew

We set out about 8, no particlar route in mind, and not sure how the legs would feel after a week of eating and drinking. But as the snow flakes tumbled down, and the joys of running the false flats of the Battenkill valley sunk in, we decided to to the loop around town, which ended up being not quite 7 miles. There was a moment of tension about mile 5 when we hadn’t quite made it back to town, and Missy threatened to strap me to the rocket sculpture in one of the town parks, but I managed to bluff for another half mile and we were back on a stretch of road she recognized. No speed records were set.

Finished up with the half mile of marble sidewalk in front of the Orvis store, confirming a suspicion I’ve held for about a decade that they’ve stopped being a sporting goods store and are now merely a means for separating moneyed fools from their dollars. Marble and snow make a great lubricant, as well as looking spectacular.

Best part about staying at a bed and breakfast is the breakfast – cottage cakes, which are kind of panckaes, ‘cept light on the flour and heavy on the cottage cheese and egg, and sausage. Missy didn’t want sausage, so *score* – more for me.

I’m starting 2012 in a good place – not where i want to be weight-wise, but happy where I am fitness- and injury-wise. It’s great to be able to bang out 5+ without thinking, and I’ve got a solid group of folks with whom to run or bike when I want company. Life is good.

Running, cruel mistress

I’m a middle-aged distance runner.

Which is translated as I’m old and slow.

I’m also a Navy Reservist, which means that twice a year I get graded on how fast I can run a mile and a half.

Over most of the last decade, I’ve taken a smug satisfaction in being able to be pretty competitive in running that mile and a half twice a year. It’s not tough to excel at the run – anything better than 12 minutes (8:00/mile) is pretty competitive.

So, two weeks ago, I turned in an 11:04 for the mile and a half. I also ran a mile from the gym to the track before the run, and then did about 3 miles after, ’cause I needed to add mileage as I had been expecting to run the Vermont City Marathon on Memorial Day weekend.

Well, I woke up on 4 April with a stabbing pain in my left heel. F*sck, I said, and blew off my long run that weekend.

I tried cranking out a mile on 6 April, and 3 on 9 April – both times I woke up hurting.

So I took off a WHOLE WEEK, and tonight I tried running again. The first half mile rocked – my legs are fresh, I’ve been riding a bike all week – man, I thought I was good. Woke up with no pain, walked a lot today.

But, about a half mile into the run, I started twinging each step.

And at 3/4 of a mile, something “snapped”, and I limped back home.

My heel’s been throbbing for the last 4 hours, despite a fair amount of barley malt, yeast, and hops as medication. I’m really upset (p!ssed), ’cause the weather in Alabama is phenomenal for running. Man, I want to run.

I rented a bike and have been riding like a madman. I’ll likely do 40 or 50 miles tomorrow morning. But I’m crying because it hurts to run.

Stupid marathons.