Category: Run

One Week Down

Man, 2011 is going to be my year. Good stuff the rest of the week, including another spin class on Friday, more bike-fu, and a pretty decent run Thursday.

Good late afternoon run with KC on Saturday. Waited at Gym 109 for him; he didn’t show, so I started without him. Original plan was to run to downtown Newport, but there was a cold wind blowing out of the north. I was feeling marginal to begin with, and didn’t want to run against the wind after I was tired and sweaty. So, I headed north. About a mile and a half in, KC calls.

So, head back, pick up KC, and head down to the pier. Somehow missed Colors, and had to stop at the porta john about a mile before the end. Only drawback to the whole day was forgetting to restart my GPS after the portapot, but other than that, life is good.

But, long run felt great. First week ends as a success.

Next week we start working on weight.

Saturday was an interesting experiment. Completely unanticipated, I ended up with a meatless day. Lunch ended up being a veggie omelet, and supper was a guacamole burrito. Not completely healthy, but no meat. Felt good on Sunday morning. Eating well is good.

2011, Continued!

Hey, Amigios!

Isn’t this great? I’m already meeting my monthly average number of posts, and we’re not even a week into 2011! Frankly, it’s kind of creeping me out, this whole needing to share again, but my writing gear’s a little dusty, and I kind of miss the whole thing.

Man, winter is a drag. I still haven’t motivated myself to head outdoors again after Sunday’s slog in the fog. Sunday’s run was a huge milestone, though. Missy came back in from a “short” six miles or so, and since we didn’t have Sunday School, there was still over an hour before we had to be bundled into the car and trundled on down to the house of worship to get some religion. I felt like crap – there was some alien bug brought forth from Oklahoma over the holidays, and it laid waste to my and my youngest’s intestinal tracts. (In my case too much Clyde’s Cider probably helped)

But, it was pushing 50, and I pulled on the Garmin, pulled on some pants, and laced up the sneakers. The new (that we’ve been in for a WHOLE YEAR) house is at the top of our neighborhood; so I slogged down the hill, and out onto the Gold Star highway. I felt awful, so why not climb? There’s about a 1.5 mile long uphill from the entrance to our neighborhood to the top of the hill at Flanders Road, and I slogged on up

Felt.

Like.

Crap.

But, I did it.

It was a foggy, foggy New England day – cold, still snow-covered ground held back rosy-fingered dawn. Ink-black night had transitioned into unseparated-colors-and-whites pasty grey; the air was wet with condensation. No wind, and the kind of dead silence that’s usually not found unless one’s out to sea. Not many folks up early to practice religion the day after the New Year.

And, sucky though it was, it gave me hope. Made me remember what I love about the road, remember the good things that happen in my head when there’s nothing to think about except for turning circles with the feet, staying light in the knees, and following the white line or crushed
gravel.

At the top of the hill, I turned around and headed back towards the house. Funny thing with running, going down isn’t any easier than going up. But, when I made it back to the ‘hood, I figured I’d head the long way around the block to get home. Legs let out about halfway up the hill, walked for about a quarter of a mile, but ran the last quarter mile, uphill.

As I walked in the door, the hiccups set in, and Missy started laughing. Dunno why, but working hard in the cold always gives me hiccup. With my stomach still in a knot, I also got to re-sample the morning’s kashi (yum) [not], but managed to choke it back down.

So, the streak’s still alive. Monday, I snuck into spin class at the Y. 45 minutes of lungs searing on no breakfast may make Billy a slightly skinnier boy.

Streak continues today.
After a crummy adventure with the car in which I fell victim to terrible service and wrongly questioned someone who I’d usually known to do good work, came home to a great supper with Missy and the kids. Put everyone to bed, then TO THE LAIR! 45 minutes on the rollers, 26 minutes on the treadmill, shower, write, and to bed.

With an actual paper book that no-one but me’s requiring me to read.

All hail Discordia

Tips for Avoiding Plantar Fascists

Got a comment from the wayback machine – an old post I’d done for completerunning.com (Iochelli, I miss you, blogfather). Jenn is recovering from Plantar Fascitis, which is my old bugbear. Remembered pain got me to reply. I really hope that Jenn isn’t a bot. But, I’m putting my faith in mankind and the interwebs tonight, ’cause I’m feeling optimistic, and don’t want to lose the promise of Hope and Change…

Here’s what I said:

The good news is that my PF hasn’t reoccurred in about 2 years. I’m not sure if it’s dumb luck, but here’s what I’ve learned:
  • Make a gradual, gradual reintroduction to running. I blew it in 2007 – started training for the 2008 OKC Marathon and wasn’t consistient enough. I tried to jump back in, slacked off in the fall and winter, and tried to make up mileage the two months before the race. I ended up dropping from the whole to the half, and while I had a good race, it wasn’t enough.
  • STRETCH! From spring 2008 until spring 2009, I tried to maintain pretty consistent running volume, and added cross training. One thing I focused on was learning PF stretches, chief among them the toe stretch* and also the frozen water bottle **
  • Cross Train: Spring 2009 I did a half ironman triathlon, and my chief gripe was not doing enough bike/run bricks to get my back ready for the second transition. PF was not an issue.
I’m not a doctor or a physiologist, but what seems to have worked was:
  • Build training volume by adding non-running activities. If you want to sweat, get on a bike, or in the pool, or anything that doesn’t stress your tendons. Your heart and lungs build capacity much more quickly than connective tissue.
  • Be a 10% stickler: Start with about a mile or two a run, and be strict about the 10% rule – don’t increase weekly mileage more than 10% a week. IE, if you do 5 miles in a week, 6 might be too much for the next week.
  • Stretch: Do the stretches several times a day. I’d do them immediately upon waking up, at lunch, and before bed.
  • Avoid treadmills like the plague: I’ve got nothing scientific on this, but I did a lot of my winter 2007-2008 training on the treadmill. I’ve been studiously avoiding them since, and have been less injury prone. My theory is that the treadmill doesn’t listen to your body, it just starts carrying your foot straight back as soon as you make contact.
Good luck!
Bill
PPS – water bottle stretch:
  1. Go drink a drink in a plastic bottle.
  2. Save the bottle and cap.
  3. Fill the bottle most of the way up with water.
  4. Put it in the freezer.
  5. Let it freeze solid.
  6. Pull the bottle out of the freezer.
  7. Put on socks.
  8. Sit in a chair.
  9. Put the bottle under the arch of one foot, push down, and roll the bottle back and forth from toe to heel until your foot begins to feel really, really cold.
  10. Switch feet and repeat until bottle becomes squishy, or until feet become too cold.

Memorial Day Weekend and Vermont City Marathon Wrap-up

So, Marathon number 4 is in the bag, and, I think I’m finally proud to have finished one.

First, I cannot recommend the Vermont City Marathon highly enough – this is the third year the family’s headed up for the race, and we’re yet to be disappointed. Memorial Day weekend, Lake Champlain, and a set of phenomenal races – what’s not to love?

Saturday is the kid’s race day at the YAM Scram. Woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. The kids love it, as it’s one of the few times they get to have Fruit Loops, and I’m a sucker for unlimited coffee and fruit salad. Then, it’s down to the waterfront for probably the best run kid’s event I’ve ever seen. The YAM scram uses the same area as the Marathon finish – same gate, same announcer’s booth, same finishing chute – which is a real hit with our boys. Nate rocked the half mile this year, looking seriously at Melissa before the start and saying “Mommy, I think I need to run it by myself”. And Jake did a great job at the mile, not stopping once.

We changed up Saturday afternoon a little bit – stopping for lunch at the farmer’s market on the town green, and actually lingering at the Expo. The expo’s great – a pretty big space for a medium-small race, so there’s room to move around, and a great walkthrough of the course running continuously. I was pretty psyched that Small Dog Electronics was there – best Mac blog around, and apparently an excellent computer store. I was sorry I’d remembered to bring my power supply with me. Supper was at the Vermont Pub and Brewery, who gets extra credit for selling half pints at half the price of a pint, which is especially handy the night before a race.

Sunday morning was the race – plenty of parking in downtown Burlington. The wife and kids hung out with me in Battery Park for the start of the race, and then walked around downtown while i ran.

Repel the Yankees from New Dork!

About mile 6, I realized that 4 hours wasn’t happening in any way, shape, or form. It was phenomenal seeing the crowds through downtown Burlington, and great to see Melissa and the kiddos.

Second time down church street

Battery Hill, the race’s crux, just before Mile 16, felt great going up just after seeing the family and the drummers at Mile 15, but in Battery park, about 200 yards past the top of the hill, both of my calves siezed, and I battled cramps the rest of the way. 16-21 were really rough, but once I hit the bike path along Lake Champlain, the end was in sight.

Recovery after the race was good. We stopped by the Magic Hat brewery, which rocked, then sat by the pool and wiled away the evening.

At the Magic Hat Brewery

Moon

One of the things I love about living in Connecticut is never being too far from the middle of nowhere.

Tonight’s a perfect case in point. We (the boys and I) are sequestered inside an adirondack-style lean-to, listening to the spring peepers and a babbling brook. The sky’s crystal clear, which means it’s going to get wicked cold tonight. But it also means that every star imaginable, and even a faint trace of the Milky Way is hanging overhead.

What makes it especially sweet is that we didn’t leave until after Nate’s t-ball practice, and a full day’s work and school. 20 minutes in the car and we were at the trailhead, and an easy mile on two-track and we’re here.

The fire’s burnt low in the ring, and we went for a quick walk in the moonlight from the waxing half moon. I can see why lunacy was blamed on the moon – at this point I want to run around, jumping for joy. Were that my lovely wife were here; we’d have to relocate our tent a little ways down the trail; this is a moon that stirs the passions; the spring moon under which young lovers throw caution to the wind and feel freed from conventions and the restrictions. Life returns after the dark of winter, and it manifests itself in limbs intertwined and lips pressed in the strange, clear, beautiful half-light of the moon. Orion, with it being spring, is either out of the sky, or looking away.

I bring a tent for the kids, ’cause the outdoors is kind of big and scary, and ’cause that way I can read and write while they get the wiggles out. They’ve just got a two-person backyard tent that was a birthday gift. It wouldn’t withstand a gale, and weighs about 8 pounds with only a partial fly, but, with the forest so close, we can cancel in a heartbeat if it looks like rain.

So, that’s where I am tonight. The peepers are peeping – not the wall of sound that they will be in two weeks, but a series of random eruptions of croaks. There’s a pair of crickets moving around the rocks of the fire ring, looking for each other. Spring inspires love in us all.

David Shares My Pain

Over at The Thin Trade, David’s struggling with the same thing I am: Namely not getting up off of the couch and into the rack every evening.

This week, though, I’m doing pretty well. I’m posed to hit all of my mid-week runs (One shifted by a couple of days, but still), and really looking forward to tomorrow’s long run. I’ve been doing the Men’s Health Two-Minute Drill after most runs, and it seems to make a difference.

Last night’s run was a good case in point. I got home late, and really, really didn’t want to. But, I jumped on the dreadmill and got it done, and felt tons better as soon as I was finished.

On the belly front, I’m not doing too well, but I haven’t lost any ground since Christmas. Lent for me is going to be giving up soda and fast food (Fast food loosely defined as anything with a white bread bun and french fries). Even though I usually drink diet soda, I’m beginning to believe in the studies that have shown that sugar-free soda tends to just stimulate your appetite so you overeat to compensate for the calories that aren’t in the soda.

Another trip at the beginning of next week – must prioritize exercise for the nights I’m out of town, or the workouts will be replaced by beer.

Hip’s advice last week was well timed – stop thinking about or trying to do stuff and just freaking do them. I do control the little stuff in my life, and can turn my concerns over the big stuff over to God.

Here’s to New Orleans – could this be the biggest Mardi Gras ever?

Not-So Speed(y) work

Pshew.

First real week of travel this month, and man, can I feel it.

Work’s been great, but travel schedule throws me for a loop. Even though I can pretty much eliminate the commute part of the day by staying close to my colleagues, the additional cruft of eating out and the soul-sucking nature of airports and motels makes it tough to get into and out of bed.

Actually, the motel’s mostly tough due to having comfy beds.

Anyhoo, I made Tuesday’s 3 miler, skipped speed on Wednesday, and tried speed this afternoon before heading to another airport for another town.

And the workout STANK.

I ended up doing only 3 out of the 5 total miles. I’ll probably do another 2 when I get to the hotel this evening, and make up the last distance run tomorrow morning.

But – I got it done. BLEH.

Status Update

Been Working (Day job and on the house), Running (As if it were a priority), and Sleeping (instead of blogging or wasting time).

Largely in that order.

Though I did watch It Might Get Loud. And can am left only with the thoughts of the Beastie Boys:

If I played guitar I’d be Jimmy Page.

The girlies I like are underage

Wait… forget that last bit…

Now, to find a track on which to run in the AM.

Does that count, Hip?

Running Reboot

Missy CRUSHED the Houston marathon. I’m so completely proud to be married to her.

At the same time, it’s painfully apparent why she makes things work and I don’t – consistency. I’ve got none; she lets Amtrak know when the trains are off schedule every time she heads through downtown on a run.

So, more than anything, my goal for the Vermont City workup is to hit my workouts. Actionable things to accomplish this:

  • Get to bed before 11. Ideally before 10, but that’s just not going to happen.
  • Get up by 5:30 on workdays, ideally by 5. If I’m up by 5, I can get almost any run up to 6 or 7 miles done before I need to be on the road to the office.
  • Simplify my gear setup. By this, I think I need to get in the habit of wearing my Nike+ watch as a watch, so I’m ready to go every morning. Also, I think I’m going to quit the alternating shoes thing during the week – maybe i’ll have a pair of “long run” shoes for the weekends.
  • Set out gear before I go to bed. I’ve been doing this, but not getting to sleep on time tends to negate this.

So, I’m good for two days this week. Let’s see if tomorrow happens.

2010 Continued

Man, I’m loving life.

First, the Twitter (via William Gibson of Neuromancer fame) spits out this link about neo-cavemen (cave people?) in NYC. Absolutely fascinating, and Nassim Taleb makes an appearance (You have read Fooled by Randomness, right?). So, in one 5 minute diversion, I’ve got:

  • Meat.
  • Exercise
  • Math
  • Stickin’ it to the Man
  • References to squirrel hunting
  • Making fun of Vegans
  • Frenchies.
  • Ex-Navy guys about my age

Fascinating article, but I’m afraid it’d ask me to give up beer.

In other news, I had two great runs this weekend. The first was Saturday afternoon – I went long-ish from NAVSTA Newport to downtown after drill. Was just really, really nice to be out, and in the zone. Highlight was when a pre-family co-worker flagged me down across the street from the post office and introduced me to his girlfriend. She was nice, but the best part was being a decent enough person to work with to be flagged down socially.

Sunday afternoon, I went for a short run to blow out the carbon after the long run. The first half-mile was tough, but I stuck with it for 30 minutes, and felt GRATE! by the end of the run, and woke up feeling great this morning.

Tonite, I made it back to the Y pool for the first swim of 2010. Seems like the Mystic Y raised the pool temp about 5 degrees – it wasn’t painful to get in. I actually broke down and did about 600 yards of drills that I remembered from last winter’s swimming for dummies (Triathletes) class in addition to the standard warm-up/cooldown.

Let’s see about other stuff:

  • One of my running partners for the VT City Marathon training is on DailyMile with me. Very much like the RBF works to motivate me, knowing that there’s someone else out there getting fitter and faster than me is a huge motivator.
  • Similarly, I’m determined to figure out how some of the new “New Media” works. Want a Google Wave invite? Leave a comment.
  • Likewise, I’m all about the MIT Opencourseware Project. I set up a $99 monitor with an Apple TV and a VGA jack for my laptop, plopped my bike trainer in front of it, and I’m reviewing linear algebra and its application to computer science. All for the price of nothing (I’d bought the monitor for something else)
  • Found out that a high school classmate of mine is going to retire from the Army this year. Odd to think that I’m old enough to have retired friends. Happier to think that I can retire from the reserves in about 4 years. And thankful that there’s men and women in this (and other) countries who are willing to dedicate themselves to making the world safe for democracy.
  • Did the final cleaning on the old house. Scrubbed all the applicable floors with Murphy’s Oil Soap, and had a trip down memory lane to scrubbing the floors at the fraternity house on Sunday mornings (morning being loosely translated as noon-ish) after parties.

OK, that’s probably close to enough. Things I still owe:

  • Resolutions
  • Training plan for VT City
  • Pictures of the new house

ENOUGH! Go run.

EDIT: Two more quick things –

  • I’ve got a current intellectual crush on Karen Armstrong. Her book on The Bible is a great and short read. (And it’s out of the same Atlantic series that spawned PJ O’Rourke’s brilliant book on “On The Wealth of Nations”, so it uses small words). God is good, and expects us to be good to each other
  • Bag Balm. I’ve been suffering from some excema on my foot for about 9 months. Peeling, cracking, itching. I’d tried steroids from the doc, and some fancy stuff that Melissa recommended, and it just kept getting worse. Then, as we’re moving, I come across this tin of Bag Balm that we’ve had for a decade or more, since we treated a dog who’d had a run-in with a pricker bush. I figured “What the heck?” and smeared it on, and about 2 weeks later, I’m close to convinced that I’m finally going to get better. Just further proof that everything good comes from Vermont.