ING New York City Marathon, then Sidelined

After a good stretch through the summer's triathlons and the fall marathons, I finally pushed the envelope a bit too much again and find myself out of action with a sore left knee and this week a bad back.

Thankfully, all this didn't happen until AFTER a couple of fun and successful marathon efforts in Denver and New York City with NYC being the goal race. Denver was a most enjoyable trip with everything at the time seemingly done well within myself as far as the race itself went. Slight soreness of the left knee was only noticeable a couple of days after. The major race problem was having to take two long potty breaks at seven and sixteen miles, the first time I've ever needed even one of those during a race. Since I was doing it basically as a trainingrun for New York, I was happy with a finish time of 3:53 and change. The altitude only seemed to really get to me over the last five miles or so or maybe I was just stetched out by then. Kelly and Austin were great hosts, arranging some terrific places to breakfast, lunch and dinner. AND---Kelly ran her first half marathon on not all that much training that she managed to sneak in around all her PhD work and dragged Austin to 2:07 in the upper third of her age group!! The weather was nearly perfect, cool at the start, but quickly warming, then sunny and warm for the postrace.
New York City's weather, on the other hand seemed much more questionable heading into our midweek trip there, however. Delayed arrivals by nearly every Thursday flight meant that Gretchen, flying in from Seattle, missed getting to the Broadway Billy Elliott show with Chris and me on Thursday night. With all the cabs tied up because of the rain, we ourselves (Chris and I) only made it to the theater dry and on time by taking one of the bicycle rickshaw things officially called pedicabs. Fun and maneuverable, but definitely a slightly more dangerous way to navigate the streets of the City. Friday and Saturday rain continued off and on with a five mile race in Central Park for me Friday morning followed by a test subway trip to the Staten Island Ferry----I felt like I needed to figure out where I needed to go for the race and the girls were nice enough to come join me. In the afternoon-- some shopping and a trip to MOMA for us all and then the girls headed to the Met to take in the opera after we ate at Picholine on Friday night.
Probably the most exciting thing to happen for me, though was an elevator encounter. Elevator? Ah, Yes. We were staying at the Hilton New York City on the Avenue of the Americas (Seventh Avenue) just south of Central Park and this must be where ING, the major race sponsor was housing the elite runners becuzzzzzz, jumping into an elevator on the ground floor (and we were staying on the 43rd) it became clear that one of the occupants was Meb Keflezighi, last year's winner. I didn't get all autograph goofy and I never actually called him by name, acting all cool and everything, but just said I'd be pulling for him on Sunday as I left the elevator, WHERE-UP-ON, he asked my name and wished me a good race. A wow moment for me. Saturday was low key with some shopping and a trip to MOMA, an early pasta dinner at Trattoria del Arte and early bedtime. Usually, I fall asleep easily the night before a big race and then wake up at 3 or 4 unable to sleep anymore. This night I was wide awake until at least 11, then up at 3 but I've never felt that sleep before a race is really all that kind of a critical deal. So, up and awake and bundled in five layers or so, I ate more than usual and then off to the Ferry. Met a nice couple from Dallas in the lobby also headed for the race and we shared a cab, a ride on the ferry and a bus and walk to the staging area. It was pretty frigid and we all appreciated all our clothing, but the excitement level was amazing with 45,000 of us assembling at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the huge suspension bridge which spans the mouth of New York Harbor. Once the sun came up it got a bit better but the wind still made it cold. I think they pull off the logistics of this thing impessively wel, though, for such a big event. It's a three wave start--15,000 runners per wave spaced a half hour apart, starting at 9:40 am. I was assigned the first wave because I'm so speedy and after loading into the corrals at 8:55 literally tons of clothing shed by us all and an exciting start, I crossed the start line ONLY three minutes after the horn sounded.
One of the most amazing things about the three American Majors (Boston, Chicago and New York) is the percentage of foreign runners. This is most impressive at NYC though. Twenty thousand of the entries are from overseas and you could hear all kinds of languages and see flags from everywhere before and during the race. I had conversations with people from France, Germany, Norway, Columbia, New Zealand, Argentina and Japan before the race. Pretty fun for an old man with a lifetime in the Midwest.
Starting the race on the big bridge is just great for a couple of reasons. The view across the harbor and the Manhattan skyline is really impressive on the left, but it is also a long steady climb for about a mile and nice to do while your legs are fresh and excitement is high. They use both levels of the bridge and despite being the start of the race, it didn't feel that congested. Downhill and off the bridge was sweet too and care had to be taken to hold back the pace. Coming into Brooklyn any number of overhydrated folks ducked into the bushes (or not) and we converged with the people from the upper level of the bridge. Things were tighter through the next few miles and that was really the top concern for awhile. The worst moment in this regard came when a young woman elbowed me hard as she pushed through the crowd and dislodged my Garmin running watch from my its snap-on perch on my velcro wristband. This isn't that easy to do or so I thought and I gasped in horror as I heard it skittering on the pavement behind me. I turned into the sea of moving humanity in my minds eye seeing the headline of the Death of the Trampled Marathoner in the next day's NY Times when a wonderful human from New Jersey yelled, "I've got your watch". He'd seen what happened, been able to pick it up and quickly thrust it into my grasping hand. After profusely thanking him, I would love to tell you that I ran the rest of the race with him, but he hadn't been able to train much and dropped off soon after that.
The rest of Brooklyn and Queens were pretty even and steady as the miles clicked by and the sun angle rose a bit higher. There was some trash talking between runners from Queens and Brooklyn to pass the time and the accents were great fun. The mark for the half marathon point is just before the assent of the Queensboro Bridge and I hit it in 1:45 something feeling very good about time, pace and effort level. Things changed a few minutes later as by the middle of the Queensboro and passing a bunch of folks and being passed a lot, I felt much more drained. I hadn't expected such a protracted uphill. The trip down was nice though and then the curl off the bridge and up First Avenue was exhilerating with the masses of cheering fans and wide open street. Easy miles. By the time we crossed into the Bronx, the crowds had thinned quite a bit, most everyone was tiring but I was still passing more than being passed. Having just crossed back into Manhattan, the watch again was knocked off, again by a young female and no New Jersey savior in sight. This time though, by mile nineteen, things had thinned out enough that I was able with artful dodging to backtrack and retrieve it successfully. Relieved again that it was ticking off the (wasted) seconds, I reclipped and headed on, still feeling fairly strong. Gel management, fluid management and the lack of a need for a portapotty had all gone well and I now knew that if I didn't cramp up badly or hit the wall completely that I had a shot at a really good time. I was still high (I guess low) fiving kids along the way up until about mile 22 when I slowly went into survival mode with the left knee starting to ache slightly and the legs just trying to continue at the best sustainable pace possible. I was beginning to run on fumes at this point after a few minutes earlier having actually entertaining the idea of picking up the pace toward the end. Dream on. The fact that I had run the race in Central Park just two days before was both good and bad. On the one hand, I knew how much further it was to the finish and on the other, I knew how much further it was to the finish. By now people were running and walking very disparate speeds and attention needed to be paid to the road ahead even more than before. The 40K and subsequent Mile signs were all welcome sights, though, baby and the final two tenths to the finish I gave it most everything I had. ----Garmin and official time of 3:35:37 ----two minutes faster than my previous PR in Chicago a year ago and on a tougher course. I was one very happy dude. Very rewarding after all the training.

Once through the finish, it was still only about 49 degrees and breezy, and I cooled off pretty rapidly after deciding not to bother to retreive my bagged stuff on down from the finish line. But----there had been no rain all day and Chris met me with a rickshaw at our predetermined corner and got us back to the hotel through the crowds quicker than we probably would have made it any other way. The throngs of cheering people were spilling out into the street making walking on the sidewalk nearly impossible with runners just continuing to flow along the race route. Back to the Hilton. Shower. Bed. Lunch. Bed. Then actually out to dinner at Rosa Mexiano, which Austin recommended and which was great. Then a good night's sleep.

My "friend" Meb finished sixth this year. We saw him again at the buffet breakfast the next morning along with the second place finisher Emmanuel Mutai. Did not see the rescued Chilean miner who ran or Al Roker who both finished about five hours and forty minutes to great applause. All in all a fantastic trip for me and wonderful of Chris to put up with all of my prerace paranoia and postrace shuffle. Gretchen's contact driver guy, Tom Izzo, yes TOM IZZO, got us to La Guardia for another delayed (wind and rain) flight back home.

So----- four weeks after, I still have the sore left knee, a bit of a cartilage issue with the right knee and a sore back. Hopefully all resolvable. Ted says after checking the left knee at Thanksgiving that he guesses Patella Femoral Syndrome which should return to normal eventually even with no surgery, just ice and excercises. I would really rather still be able to run a bit, but I suppose a forced rest after eleven months of training is probably a good idea. We'll see.

All in all, a most satisfactory 2010 racing season with fewer races, but PR's in the 5K and marathon. Now no running for a while.

At the very least there are the Holidays and Zach and Leah for diversion anyway. Cheers!

One Week til Denver, Four til NYC

Hoping to look this good after the next couple races



No blog posts in a long time, but training has gone well. I achieved a PR at 5K in Sept very unexpectedly the day after a long run--21:32 on a measured course. The first time I've ever run a less than 7 minute pace.

In a week's time, I'll be flying to Denver to run the Denver Rock 'n Roll Marathon as my last long run before NYC on Nov 7th. Apparently Dathan Reizenhein sees the wisdom in this plan too, as I see that he has just entered Denver in his prep for the NYC Marathon as well. I'm sure he'll be right on my heels. Actually, he'll be doing the half with Austin and Kelly, but I'm sure that they can handle him.

I'm still undecided of my exact approach to the race, but I ran 23 miles followed immediately by a 2 1/2 mile walk 2 weeks ago and recovered for a 1:42:35 at the Brooksie Way half last weekend so with the altitude factoring in at Denver and another week to recover, I guess I'll play it by feel after starting out at 8:25 or so.

The Chicago Marathon was on the web this morning and I watched the beginning and the end sandwiched around my own six miles. It looked like a fantastic day for the spectators though a bit warm for the runners with 68 degrees at the start. I followed my friend Guy Marshall through his splits as he was trying for under 3 hours at age 46. Finishing time-------2:59:46. Oh yeah! And then Sammy Wanjiru's finish to win was incredible. A tremendous kick the last quarter mile.

What a beautiful fall.

Big congratulations to Ted and Angela on their engagement this weekend!!!

BTW I'm running for Doctors Without Borders and any donations in my name go thru the crowdrise.com website clicking on the GIVE tab and searching for Thomas Claflin

A First And A Third

It was a busy and exhausting week. Wednesday, I competed in the last of the three Running Fit triathlons at Island Lake (the T Rex). Zach now has an inflatable dino bigger than he is swiped by his Nonnie (with permission). After third and second place finishes in my age group in the first two races of the series, I managed a first in this one by passing the guy I needed to beat in the last quarter mile of the run just before the finish. It helped that he was slower than his times in the first two races. Still, very satisfying... So much so that I immediately signed up for another sprint tri scheduled in the same park for this morning (Sunday). Well----- this was a bit overly ambitious, especially since the marathon training schedule meant that I had just run an eighteen miler yesterday at Kensington. My body had no idea what my brain had decided and I was thoroughly humbled by fatigue this morning, six minutes slower than Wednesday, and was extremely fortunate to take third out of the eleven in my age group. I did, however, carry a bottle of wine home as a reward.

The body is spent. Day of physical rest tomorrow. Well, maybe a walk.

The Crim Ten Mile Race in one week. With no speedwork in a long time, it looks to be relatively easy but slow.


34 miles of running for the week, mostly warm and humid HR 151 two sprint tri races

Training in the Rainforest

I'll spare the details, but I had a colonoscopy test today. Let's just say that the gut pains I've had at Boston the past years were good practice for all the gas pain after the deal today. Once again, running has it's benefits. Chris was great to be my chauffeur and personal nurse.

Slacked off and didn't do my scheduled run this morning, just an early mile on the bike in the neighborhood before the porcelain throne beakoned me back home in haste.

In general training has been going well. No significant injuries, a couple of bricks, a fifteen miler last weekend and some swimming at the cottage this past week thrown in. There have been no races to gauge myself by, but the third of the Running Fit tri's is a week from today on the 18th and then the Crim ten mile race in Flint ten or eleven days after that.

My niece Laura's wedding is this weekend, however, and training will take a backseat to family as all the kids come in for the doins. Should be great fun.

Miles last week 30
Two swims
One brick 12.7 mi bike 3.1 mile run

Great Fun In The Sun

So Austin selected components and built me a road bike that I could use for Triathlon racing, general road use and potentially go to Ted when after I wipe out, breaking multiples bones and retire from racing --pass it on. It's based on a Cannondale CAAD9 frame, aluminum with a carbon fiber fork. I feel good on it and it fits like a glove.

The Pterydactyl Tri this past Wed was a rerun of the Tri at Island Lake a month ago, except this time I was nine minutes faster overall, second in my age group instead of third and four minutes faster on the bike for the major part of my improvement. Really a blast. Chris, Liz, John Zach and Leah came to watch me compete again too, which was great fun. Two different guys came up to me after the race and asked me where I got my smokin' hot bike.

Marathon training has suffered, but oh well. Gotta work in a long run around a trip to cousin Bill's Wampler's Lake party tomorrow. Very hot and very muggy these days. Thank goodness for AC for sleeping and today's babysitting.

Balancing the Training

The melody for the theme of this summer as far as my training goes seems to be chords of the usual marathon training program spliced with additional riffs of triathlon swimming, cycling, laces and races.
Last Sunday, I tried a brick workout, doing a lap around Kensington-plus on the bike for 12.4 miles, then a 3.1 run. The bike ride was slow enough that the run was pretty much down near 7 minutes per mile and progressively negative and fully caffeinated I was feeling pretty good about my fitness. Monday involved just a bit of a swim after work (the day job still being a real obstacle to training). Tues, Wed and Thurs were just 3 tough miles each in the early morning heat and humidity. Fri--child care- then Sat----a 15K race and today (Sun) a sprint triathlon at Clark Lake down near the Irish Hills. Neither of the weekend races were all out, but an attempt to just do some training, enjoy the moment and not make the upcoming Tri on this coming Wednesday (Pterydactyl at Island Lake) impossible to do.
The Tri today included a first transition time of over5 minutes between the swim and bike (including more sunscreen) which triggered a drive to Running Fit for some Quik elastic laces. My bike time was slow but on the horizon, Austin is shipping me a new road bike that he has hand built for me, which hopefully I can use in the next race on Wednesday. Absolutely can't hurt. Here's a picture. I know----------- really awesome!

New Beginnings

So Maybe it's time to start jotting down some training musings again.

For the record, the Boston Marathon went well in April, fulfilling most of my hopes. No PR or anything, but requalifying for Boston and a definite Boston PR. 3:50:19. A bit of walking with bad stomach cramps after probably too little water with my gel just after Heartbreak Hill, but easily the best of my three attempts. I was in the top 25% of my age group, which given the competition at Boston, I'll take. It was really nice to have Chris to help me home from the finish.

So next up is the New York Marathon on November 7th. It's a lottery deal because of the number of applicants they usually get, but they accept some folks on times. It turns out that my 3:47 in Chicago last fall is fast enough to qualify me for New York, so that does that. Now comes more training with the new cycle starting this week.

Just to change things up a bit, help with core strength and hopefully ease my chronic work related back pain, I decided to enter a series of three "sprint" (read "short") triathlons in June, July and August. The first of these was last week and let's just say it will serve as a baseline. Of my age group of seven guys, I was 6th in the swim, 4th in the bike and 2nd in the run. Second in the run in a laughable 27+ minutes. Third overall.

Anyway, the plan is to put a little more time into swimming and biking workouts in the next couple of weeks and hopefully do better in the next one. Austin wants to build me a decent road bike to use in place of my mountain bike hybrid which he says will take five minutes off my bike time. Workin' on that.

Runningwise, I ran a PB 5K a couple of weeks ago at the USATF certified Plymouth YMCA race--22:06 and hope this means my speed overall is now back more to last summer levels after feeling slowed by last November's sprained ankle for many months. Mile splits were 7:25, 7:03 and 6:58. Once again, going out slow proved a successful strategy.

Summers are great in Michigan!

Off To Boston

Well, we're about to leave for Boston with no apparent volcano plumes to impend us. It's been a busy week with a group of last little four mile runs more for the brain than the legs, but really nice to run in this warmer weather able to drop more of the clothing and simulate the likely race conditions better. I feel lucky training has been able to be as consistent as it has this cycle. Few runs had to be modified or shifted because of snow, ice and rain, not to mention injury and now I just hope it can all come together reasonably well on "the day".
The weather forecast at the moment for 45-52 degrees and partly cloudy sounds pretty good. If the gusting 40 mph quartering tailwind/crosswind doesn't blow us off the road or dehydrate us too much all should be good.
I head off with the usual amount of trepidation, but a more positive feel than the past two years. Still, this course deserves all kinds of respect. The plan will be to start slowly and build if it's there. Off we go!


Tues 4 miles 8:56 pace HR 150
Wed 4 miles 8:38 pace HR 149
Thurs 4 miles 8:25 pace HR 149
Fri 4 miles 8:48 pace HR 142

Race And Last Long Run

It's been a busy weekend with Annie and Brian in town and baby Leah's arrival. I did manage to get to the Martian 10K in Dearborn on Saturday and was very satisfied with the run. I think I was 3rd in my 60-65 agegroup with a 46:25 at 90% effort or so.
Yesterday was one last time around the lake at Kensington. Very nice at about 50 degrees. Now it's very little addition running this week, heal the niggles up and don't do anything stupid.

Sat 6.2 miles 7:28 pace HR 163
Sun 8 miles 8:24 pace HR 149

Roller Coaster

Publish Post

The emotional roller coaster rocketed up this morning with the birth of Elizabeth's and John's little girl Leah Marie just before 6 AM this morning. Welcome joyfulness. And just in time for Annie and Brian's arrival later today. Liz really knows how to do these things.

Oh, and the running. Four easy miles each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday dodging raindrops. Wednesday morning at 5 AM it was a muggy 68 degrees (April 7th) and lots of perSPI-RAtion for the first time this training cycle. A skunk encounter fortunately remained odor free.

If everything is good with Liz and the baby, I'm planning to go down to Dearborn tomorrow morning and run the Martian 10K at 85% effort for a last tuneup for Boston.


Tues 4 miles 9:09 pace HR 148
Wed 4 miles 8:50 pace HR 152
Thurs 4 miles 8:59 pace HR 148

Really Tough Week and Peep Tower

Tough week here with the incredibly sad passing of my brother on a rainy Saturday juxtaposed with the Easter family get together on an absolutely gorgeous Sunday. Mary, Jessie, A.J., Brian, John, Liz and Zach. And a player to be named very soon. Eggs were hidden for Zach, beer for the older "kids" and a peeps tower for a centerpiece surrounded by a fine pizza meal. Christine has been amazing, once again.

The running got mostly done.


Tues 4 miles 9:43 pace HR 150
Wed 4 miles 9:02 pace HR 152
Thurs 4 miles 8:26 pace HR 148 Newtons no long pants
Sat
7 miles at 8:21 pace HR 152
7 miles at 9:51 pace HR 145
3 miles at 8:22 pace HR 157
Sun 3 miles 9:39 pace HR 141

Weekly Total 32 miles HR 149

Best Laid Plans

A pain free back is always a challenge in my profession, and recognizing that, I had set up appointments with my chiropractor and the massage therapist (thanks folks) Thursday night after the work week and Friday afternoon to try to optimize things before today's scheduled last long run before Boston. Good in theory. Unfortunately, something freaked out in my back between the two appointments on Friday mornin and even a quick extra trip to the chiropractor and Chris's Friday evening massage left me still in sharp pain with any movement as I headed to bed Friday night. This morning it felt about 50% better when I got up, and with rain in the forecast for tomorrow, getting the long run in today if possible seemed like the best option.

Well, I laid out my GU Gel and water at Kensington at five, ten and fifteen and waited for it to warm up a bit from 26 degrees. At about 9:00 I started walking to the start and once again, POW, the searing pain in my back returned with a vengeance. Yikes! Well I decided that I was committed to at least give the thing a try and see if it was feasible at all. The first mile was really totally miserable and slow, but the pain eased to a manageable, if strength sapping dull roar and I did eke out 23 miles which I stubbornly had as my goal in my mind. Things got even slower at the end, and with no refueling the last eight miles and never being able to shed the long pants, hat and gloves, I was actually just very grateful to be able to finish the run. I wore the mouthpiece the entire time. It felt as if I was clamped down on it just about the entire run and is now significantly indented. My bite also felt altered for a couple hours after taking it out at the end.
A problem that I hadn't foreseen-- since I can't get my top and bottom front teeth together with the mouthpiece in, stripping the gel out of the foil packet every five miles ain't so easy. Oh, well.

Time now to rest, taper and heal.

Sat 23 miles 9:04 pace HR 149 28 degrees at the start 10 mph winds partly sun Kayanos

Weekly mileage 35





Blisters, but no other immediate injuries as a result, thankfully.

Last Run Before The Last Long Run

A rain pattern was about to move in according to the radar this morning, so I arrived at Kensington a bit earlier than usual in no wind, 46 degree conditions and got the run in before many drops fell. Warm enough for no long pants felt liberating. Day of rest tomorrow, then twenty to do on Saturday.

Thurs 4 Miles 8:32 pace HR 152

Under Armour Performance Mouthwear Maiden Voyage

So I got my custom fit "Under Armour Performance Mouthwear" in the mail from the lab yesterday, supposedly proven by research studies to improve athletic performance and tried it out on the morning run for the first time today. Initial impression--neutral. It felt fine, but with my mouth mostly just hanging wide open to suck in maximum oxygen as is typical, it's difficult to see how it could make any difference. My pace on the run was identical to yesterday, but my HR was lower by 6 BPM, which is a good thing, but could just be the result of another day's rest since the weekend and no wind. Still, we'll use it some more and see. Not sure about using it for the twenty miler this weekend, but..........

Wed 4 Miles 8:48 pace HR 146

Taper

Well, the taper has officially started. After a much needed day off yesterday, it was just four miles this morning with a very sore left hamstring, likely the result of the ill advised sprint at the finish of the trail race Saturday. I guess I'll say it was worth it, though, since it was the difference between second and fourth in my age group.

http://www.runmichigan.com/results/full.php/2010/03/20/no-frills-all-thrills-trail-run-6.html

Uneventful run this morning . The prediction was for possible rain and 32 degrees, so 37 and dry was an unexpected gift. The focus now is on my last 20 mile run coming up this weekend. No snowstorms in the forecast.

Tues 4 miles 8:49 pace HR 154

Hunger

When Austin would wake up and get something to eat in the middle of the night in the midst of heavy duty triathlon training I could never quite believe it. But even though I ate what felt like a fair amount yesterday, I woke up at 3 AM this morning with hunger pains and couldn't get back to sleep until I got something in the tummy. Crazy. It did, however allow dozing-in much later than usual and do the morning run well past dawn. It was a chilly, breezy 35 degrees and very light rain with just about everything sore. Better by the end, though.
Then back home to finally take down the outside Christmas lights and clean up the debris field from the shattered floodlight I hammered and spewed with the snowblower six weeks ago. MAYBE about time. Combined with the fact that Zach and Chris and I got the grapes pruned on Friday ......I think we're all ready for the season to change. Zach was actually very helpful carrying lots and lots of pruned "sticks" to the "BIG pile". The fact that there seems to be train track in the garden also failed to escape his powers of observation. Oh, boy---looks like some work to do there, maybe a good project for TAPERTIME.

Boston Marathon numbers have been assigned and after having a number in the 19,000's two years ago and the 17,ooo's last year, based on my previous qualifying times, this year I'm

15,452

which means I'll start in the fifteenth corral. That's still in the second wave starting at 10:30 but closer to the front of it. I still might decide to start a corral or two further back, just to help resist going out faster than I should, but at least the number indicates slightly more respectability.

Sun 5 miles 8:48 pace forgot the HR monitor just as well Kayanos

Weekly Mileage 36

Trail Running

With one more week to go before the final really long training run before Boston, this weekend's long run involved mostly not allowing the niggly stuff to evolve into a full blown injury.. The past two years, training for Boston, about this time in the training is when I've taken on foot pain that has caused me to have to cut back the mileage the final month and do just enough to let me run Boston with a good chance of finishing.

The left foot has a bit of plantar fasciitis at the moment, probably from running in the Newton shoes three of the past few days with less heel on the shoe and a different contact/lift off angle changing stresses. Anyway, I split the 14 mile run today again. This morning's run at Kensington was a 9 mile counter-clockwise loop in order to go as easy as possible on the left foot tendonitis. The direction makes a difference because since the path slopes towards the lake for drainage, it gives me more left foot arch support running in that direction which seems to help the ankle. The run itself was respectable, other than the unscheduled toilet pit stop after 5 miles which cost my time 2 minutes. Thank goodness for the facilities, however. After downing a quick Muscle Milk and a ten minute drive to Huron Meadows Metro Park, I did another 5 miles in a trail race................. coming in second in my age group, finishing four seconds in front of the number 3 and number 4 age group finishers. Starting slowly, then passing people all the way to the finish was great fun.

After a nice taste of spring the past few days, it turned cloudy, colder and windy today but the rain held off until after the runs, thankfully.

My training pace seems to be about twenty seconds slower than past winters at this time, but getting through uninjured would absolutely be worth the tradeoff.

Went to Scott's this afternoon and changed the oil in his generator and with Chris, the furnace filter. All around, a good day.


Thurs 5 miles 8:48 HR 150 46 degrees wearing the Newtons
Fri 3 miles 8:44 HR 146 45 degrees wearing the Newtons
Sat 9 miles 8:38 HR 152 36 degrees 11 mph wind back to the Asiics Kayano 16's
5 miles 8:27 HR 154 trail race some slightly muddy

last day of WINTER! Can opening the Georgian Bay cottage be far off?

St Paddy's Day Wow weather

With a meeting that would keep me up late after dinner last night, I decided on Sunday to switch the usual Monday off day to Wednesday to allow me extra sleep this morning instead. That decision resulted in a very sluggish Monday jog and an even slower Tuesday slog just trying to get the miles in.

The weather, on the other hand, has turned absolutely fabulous, resulting in a Spring Fever epidemic and a gorgeous St Patrick's day today with temps in the mid sixties and bright sunshine. And with a couple three more like this to come, the weather people say. Oh, yeah.

Maybe I'll try the Newton Sir Isaac shoes tomorrow and see if that perks things up. ......or maybe it's just been the after effects of the cold I had and the race on Saturday. Anyway, four more days until the calender says Spring!

Monday 4 miles 9:33 pace HR 139
Tuesday 5 miles 9:15 pace HR 146

Nice taste of Spring.

Warm temperatures early in the week gradually, relentlessly led to a nearly snowfree landscape around here, and the rain of the past few days have finished off any remaining snowplow piles. The dirt roads are washboard muddiness, and the trail around Kensington is 100% clear for the first time in months. YAY!

A sore throat from ten days ago evolved into a full blown head cold by Monday and training has been tough as a result, but all scheduled runs have been accomplished. Yesterday, rather than the usual continuous long run, I elected to split it up by doing the complete Kensington loop in light drizzle, then drive to Flushing for their Shillelagh 4 miler race. It was only light rain at the start of the race, but soon became a more serious steadiness, but it was great to feel the competitive juices for the first time in quite a while, albeit with rather fatigued legs. I finished only sixth in my age group, but at least three of the guys that beat me are also going to Boston. MY rainful experience paled in comparison to the downpour Annie and Brian ran through in DC in a four mile race there yesterday. Gutsy run, guys!

Cross"training" on Friday's day off involved stairmaster climbing with Zach and dealing with a "critter call" from Sandy Davies. It all started out when she called during dinner in some distress with the dogs going crazy out by the fence when she let them out. Without a husband, she was attempting to resolve a Stuck Animal issue. Chris, Liz and I headed over with headlamps (running accessories can crosstrain too), gloves and shovels to save the day. Picture Chris in her "reading in dark" glasses with the sideframe mounted reading lights and Sandy with her hefty flashlight and we were quite the vision of a team of animal control patrol. Hi Beams of the Equinox were also used to turn night into day out by their back fence by the gazebo. Well, it turned out that what we decided must be a cute muskrat, in his/her haste to escape the dogs, most probably, had nearly, but tragically NOT Quite Completely, made it's way through their chain link fence. It was now very well stuck with dual citizenship of the bordering territories, his rear legs, ass end and long, skinny tail residing in Daviesland, its head and front legs in Frontierland. There was some collective feeling that the very apparent needle teeth on the neighboring property were to be respected. Increased concern was voiced in this regard as Chris bravely applied some manual pressure to the pooper end of the beast as his head twisted around trying to bite her. I made a second try at forward movement by goosing him with the shovel, but this also failed to "gain traction" as they say. Applying a half an animal's worth of vaseline so close to those needle teeth was quickly discarded as an option, leading me to decide that since "extraction" was supposed to be part of my skill set, that it was just time to go for it.
So with my gloves firmly gripping the tail and with significant tugging at various angles.........out pops the little goober and in a beautiful fluid arching trajectory one relatively whole and totally traumatized muskrat landed plop on the other side of the fence. Mission accomplished! Regrettably, no pictures for posting.

As is so often the case, you just never know what life's going to bring.

Weekly running summary

Mon 4 miles 10:00 pace HR 140
Tues 6 miles 8:38 pace forgot the monitor
Wed 5 miles 8:49 pace HR 150
Thurs 5 miles 8:48 pace HR 148
Sat 9 miles 8:31 pace HR 156 caffeinated
1 mile untimed
4 miles 7:40 pace HR 157 caffeinated
Sun 6 miles 8:51 pace no monitor caffeinated

Bill Rodgers to run Boston

According to his website, Bill Rodgers plans to run Boston again this year. It would be great fun to pace along in his vicinity for a while in Boston like I did at the Melbourne race, but I have no idea what time or corral they might have him start in.

The training week went reasonably well and now we have some welcome nicer weather. Yesterday's long run was significantly easier than three weeks ago, but part of that was being able to ditch the long pants and a vest after the first ten miles and do the last eleven in just shorts and two long sleeved shirts. What FREEDOM. Prior to the run, after planting my water bottle and gels at the 5/15 mile mark, driving back to the start, I saw a woman ahead of me go down hard on the side of the road, and was able to give her a ride back to her car to clean up her bloodied knee and hand. She seemed mostly annoyed that she had only gotten in 3 miles before the spill but grateful that snow was still abundant for icing while she waited for her husband to get back from his run. Recover quickly, Karen.

Tues 6 miles 8:41 pace In my new Newton "Sir Isaacs" felt good and FAST
Wed 5 miles 8:58 pace 150 HR with the new HR monitor trying to hold it below 150
Thurs 5 miles 9:09 pace 145 HR
Fri 4 miles 8:55 pace 150 HR
Sat 21 miles 9:02 pace 148 HR (caffeinated)

weekly mileage 41

Like A Dear In The Headlight

Few new things happening on the morning runs these days, but this
AM proved you never know.

I had just set off down the path at Kensington, 5:30,a bit late for me and on a Friday, for the first time this training cycle. Sixteen degrees, no wind, nice moon, very quiet. As I'm nearing the first quarter mile marker, a dark form looms in the distance and is quickly discernible as a car, parked in the moonlight in the middle of the path with lights extinguished and the motor running. Homeless sleeping, drug running, or...................no time to think, barely enough run to squeeze by the car with snow banks on both sides of the path when in the illumination of my bright headlamp up pops a lovely female form clad in.....well...... nothing. No sign of her cowboy.......oh well maybe she was just changing her cloths. Red retinas in the headlamp. Me streaking on by. Very WELL clad, myself. Interuptus maybe, a man, but relief on their end, I suspect, that I'm not THE MAN.

On my way back on the trail, off clicks my headlamp in the more than adequate moonlight , I return a half hour later to the same spot and to.................... a guy taking an early morning walk. "Good Morning", "Good Morning". Not nearly as exciting.

Footprints

Snowy Windy City Week

Every February for the past thirty years or so has meant an annual pilgrimage to Chicago for a big four day trade show and educational deal. A fun diversion, but a challenge to marathon training the past three years. It usually makes for a whirlwind week and this year was no exception.

Last Monday morning, knowing that it might be difficult to get in all the miles on the schedule for the week, I decided to go for a run on my usual rest day. A snowstorm was in the forecast, but hey, let's start the week with a challenge. Photo above. What I hadn't figured real well was the length of time it would take me just to drive to the park and back given the conditions and ended up only having time for about amile of running in the tree inches of snow that had arrived at that point. Still, always great fun to place the first footprints in the freshly falling stuff. Tuesday and Wednesday the roads were clear and the park path mostly, allowing nice typical early morning jaunts.

Wednesday night I caught Amtrak in Ann Arbor and arrived in Chicago a bit after midnight to snow falling and at least a sane cab driver who managed not to slide over and get hung up on a median barrier on Wacker Dr like one taxi we saw.

My classes began at 9 on two days and at ten on Friday, so I decided that would be my day for the long run with a thirteen miler north on the Lakeshore bikepath into a howling frigid wind going and a real tailwind coming back. Quite a few runners given the conditions. Six miles the other days were fun. Saturday night at 6:30 as I was walking back to the hotel it was obvious people were setting up cameras on tripods for something at Michigan Avenue and the river. Just as I started to ask someone what was up --fireworks lit up the sky and continued for about ten minutes. What fun.

The train trip gave me time to make it through most of the book BORN TO RUN that Austin gave me for Christmas and I'm loving it. I'm totally sold on his compelling argument for barefoot running and how cushy shoes have screwed us up. Now how to transition is the question. To be continued. Nice to be back home.

mileage for the week 40

All in all

Civilized Weather Weekend

Lucky weather for the weekend runs. As warm as it has been in a long time. Lots of people at Kensington yesterday and one deer bounding in front of me across the path even a good two hours after sunrise. My pace is slow compared to a year ago, but the main goal still is to try to avoid injury as I up the milage. I HAVE been using my heartrate monitor to help slow me down, but it died a couple of weeks ago and yesterday's new battery has failed to revive life. So I've ordered a new one to get a gauge on things again along with new socks to replace the now holy ones Austin gave me awhile back. Off to visit brother Scott.

Sat 13 miles 20-27 degrees dry 8:58 pace

Sun 6 miles 32 degrees dry 8:43 pace 36 miles for the week

Not related to running, but we lucked into witnessing the last nighttime launch of the Space Shuttle the morning after the Melbourne Masters race in Fl a couple of weeks ago. And these were pictures we took from 20-25 miles away!

Bit of Recovery

Last Saturday's twenty miler, the first of this training cycle, was followed by two long miles on Sunday very early to allow for a quick purchase of a dozen roses and back home to celebrate Valentine's Day. Appropriately, maybe, went to see the movie Valentine's Day in the late morning. Mildly entertaining stuff. Only came close to falling asleep the one time.

Tues AM 6 Miles 23 degrees light snow covering 9:18 pace
actually passed a guy walking at 6:00 I think I blinded him inadvertently with my headlight from the tone in his voice as he muttered "good morning"

Wed AM 6 Miles 22 degrees light snow covering 9:08 pace

Thurs AM 5 Miles 30 degrees no snow and warmer, 8:54 pace able to shed a layer which felt great

Fri watching, or maybe being watched by Zach His grandmother Chris notes his personality development, as most toddlers, into that of a South American dictator

In Need Of Boston Motivation

Having started running about five years ago, my times have steadily improved discounting injury timeouts until just recently. My one great failing until now, alas, has been my inability to break four hours at the Boston Marathon in '08 and '09. Since four hours is the automatic requalifying time for this sixty-two year old male who has managed to best that time in his other three marathons, this has been a frustration. So I'm giving it one more try in two months. Boston 2010, April 19th.
However, with the age clock ticking away and the seemingly unrelenting Michigan winter continuing, I've decided in an effort at additional motivation to begin documenting this final Boston training. So here we go.

Twenty miles today at Kensington Metropark loop. That is to say, two trips out and back on the section of the hike/bike asphalt loop around the lake that they make a valiant attempt to keep clear and dry through the winter. Very tired and struggling by the end, but got 'er done. Eighteen degrees and light winds, good surface. 3:01:45 9:05 pace