No this post has nothing to do with Marx. I just wanted a clever title :-)
On Tuesday, I arrived in Berlin's Tegel Airport not knowing that the exit was just a few feet away after leaving the plane. The luggage carousel was right next to the gate. I happened to connect in Frankfurt and the passengers were mostly businessmen; they just had carry on luggage... and I made the mistake of following them. As it was, I had to wait until my bag was transferred to the lost-and-found to retrieve it. Aside from the inconvenience of waiting an extra 45 minutes, the minor mishap was not all that bad.
I had a full night of sleep. Awesome. Jetlag? What is jetlag?
On Wednesday I went to Postdam for a few hours. Nice little town. Ran 6 miles in the evening with two at ~7:30 pace. Still sleeping pretty well.
On Thursday I took a 2.5 hr train ride to Dresden... came back to Berlin at 9:20pm.
On Friday I ran four easy miles. Then I picked up my bib. The only thing worth mentioning is that the t-shirt was not included. If you wanted one, you had to buy it in advance. I have way too many t-shirts; I did not get one.
Saturday, I did very little walking and rested as much as humanly possible.
********
On Sunday morning I feel fresh and alert, ready to tackle my conservative goal of hitting sub-3:30.
I make it to the start with about 20 minutes to spare. I take one of four hammergels. I feel thirsty so I have about 10oz of water. The mass of runners is pretty amazing. European runners are faster than the average American runner. I am in the fifth corral(3:15-3:30) and it takes me close to three minutes to cross the start.
My breathing is easy; I am relaxed. I had figured that I needed just under 5 minute klips, but a "whole" five was much easier to keep track. I expected to make up the few seconds during the last 2.2 Ks. After all I was not really racing it this time and expected to have plenty of energy at 40K.
By the third K I was about 28 seconds behind and was rather close to the 3:30 pacers. Even though I would cut the deficit by a few seconds, the 3:30 group managed to inch further away from me. I just could not get into a rhythm that allowed me to stay closer; in fact, the two times I tried widening my stride, I felt the effort was too great and went back to the LR-effort.
The race was so crowded, it was difficult to get to the aid stations w/o slowing down significantly or stopping all together. I am used to getting the cups from the volunteers and keep going at the same speed as I approach the station. Not here. I was forced to grab a cup from the table. And the fact that the cups were made of plastic, made it impossible to squeezed them w/o breaking them.
By the 16th K, I knew that I was not feeling it on that day. I blame it on a rookie mistake. I blame it on poor pre-race day hydration. I should know better than that. Sure, the crowded aid stations probably took away a minute from the final time. Sure it was relatively warm. But what I feel made it tough was that my legs felt fatigued. A fatigue that I suspect was due to under-hydration.
At this point I had to make a decision. Do I keep on running or do I use a strategy that some purists may frown upon, and that is to take 60-second walking-breaks. I decide to salvage what could turn out to be a death march past 30K and opt for the breaks. They will start at 22K, and continue every three Ks.
I did stop at 22, 25 and 28. But I was feeling too tired so I cut the distance to two Ks. I was losing about 35 seconds from the original pace; acceptable to my tired body and mind. Breaks at 30, 32 and amazingly... after taking hot tea (yes, the Germans have hot tea at aid stations) I felt this boost of energy so I decided to go an extra klip to 35; it must have been the sugar in the tea. I think it was around this time that I saw this man with his legs bathed in blood (really bad chafing???); and the guy just kept on going; needless to say, I was inspired.
However, my feet were aching. And 35K is a long distance so the breaks became every two Ks once again. Even though I was still taking the same 60-sec breaks, I was running faster as my 2-K splits were very close to 10 minutes. I struggled whether to take a break at 41 or not. After all the finish was so darn close. I wussed out and took a walking break. Funny thing is that I still managed a 5:48 for the last 1.2 Ks (7:48 pace, including the 60 seconds walking).
I was so tired when I finished. But I was in one piece. No discernible injuries. Interestingly enough, the piriformis has not bothered me of late. Probably because of trigger-point therapy. I did get three separate bouts of PF flare-ups; fortunately, they did not lasts more than 10 seconds.
The following day my legs were in fairly good shape. Very little soreness, if any. Were the walking-breaks the reason? Probably so.
**********
The numbers: 45th Marathon completed. Chip time=3:33:57 Splits=1:45:33/1:48:24 +2:51 split; Fourth Major (missing London)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sundry
I caught the Phantom a couple of weeks ago; it was just as good as I remembered it; or it might have been better as the special effects were definitely improved. Grade: A
On Saturday I went to see Julie and Julia, more so because I love any movie with Streep than because I love cooking. Meryl was her usual self, outstanding as Child, even while she let slip a personal quirk here and there. Who would have thunk it that she could play a much larger woman than herself (as Child was quite tall, who incidentally was quite sexual- something I would have never guessed). This was achieved by filming her with much shorter women... and men. The juxtaposition of the two Js worked quite well. Amy Adams mannerisms reminded me so much of Meg Ryan, there were times I was confounded to "see" a different face. The movie focused on their lives, lives that were almost opposite yet shared a common bond: great food. If you haven't seen it: what are you waiting for? Grade: A-
Running has been hit or miss; more miss than hit. I have been averaging low mileage as it relates to marathon training. My long runs have been non-existent and my legs are taking much longer to recover. Any speed I had seems to have evaporated into thin air. I often find myself fatigued, which leads me to rationalizing not running for that day. Still, I remain optimistic that I can do a decent showing in Berlin (3:30-3:35) depending on how I feel that day. I do know that these "ruts" tend to hit me from time to time; they run in cycles. The difference now is that the rut is lasting longer than average. Grade: C-/D+
On a positive note, it was suggested that the soreness may be due to the low mileage... and Fran just may be spot on. So as he aptly put it: just run! And I will. I intend on running at least six days a week with a mini-taper week before Berlin.
Cheers
On Saturday I went to see Julie and Julia, more so because I love any movie with Streep than because I love cooking. Meryl was her usual self, outstanding as Child, even while she let slip a personal quirk here and there. Who would have thunk it that she could play a much larger woman than herself (as Child was quite tall, who incidentally was quite sexual- something I would have never guessed). This was achieved by filming her with much shorter women... and men. The juxtaposition of the two Js worked quite well. Amy Adams mannerisms reminded me so much of Meg Ryan, there were times I was confounded to "see" a different face. The movie focused on their lives, lives that were almost opposite yet shared a common bond: great food. If you haven't seen it: what are you waiting for? Grade: A-
Running has been hit or miss; more miss than hit. I have been averaging low mileage as it relates to marathon training. My long runs have been non-existent and my legs are taking much longer to recover. Any speed I had seems to have evaporated into thin air. I often find myself fatigued, which leads me to rationalizing not running for that day. Still, I remain optimistic that I can do a decent showing in Berlin (3:30-3:35) depending on how I feel that day. I do know that these "ruts" tend to hit me from time to time; they run in cycles. The difference now is that the rut is lasting longer than average. Grade: C-/D+
On a positive note, it was suggested that the soreness may be due to the low mileage... and Fran just may be spot on. So as he aptly put it: just run! And I will. I intend on running at least six days a week with a mini-taper week before Berlin.
Cheers
Monday, June 29, 2009
Only in LA
Yesterday, on my way to the beach, I casually look to my right (on the 10 FWY) and I see five cyclists riding on the freaking FWY!!!! WTFX3??? Now this was definitely not a sanctioned ride, and although the traffic was stop-and-go I could not believe my eyes... those guys had some major iron b*lls...
OAN, and after my last rather unsuccessful run, I had trepidations about today's run... even while I was aware that these "bad" runs come in cycles, I could not help but feel sadden... especially when one considers the impending three marathons looming in my not-too-distant future...
On to today's run... I started slowly and had a 9:10 split for the first mile... hmmm, not THAT slow... the second mile was a blistering 8:30 [insert your favorite ironic emoticon]... then the next .75 of a mile was run at low 8ish pace... I suddenly had a stroke of genius; I decided to go sub 7 for a half mile... boom, 3:29 (right on target)... ah, but I wasn't done... I kept the effort and completed ONE mile at sub-7... aren't I wonderful??? :-) I fully recovered; well not really, but my HR was ALMOST back to normal... stretched, as I old age has taught me an important lesson: and that is that my aging muscles NEED to be stretched :-)... I start running, and pick up the pace; this time I am hoping to run 1.5 miles at sub-7 pace... 3:25 (half mile split) and I am feeling PREETTTYYY good... THANK YOU... then I note a 3:26 for the next split; still well within my goal; but the effort is becoming labored... the third half-mile split is a not-too-shabby 3:27 for a 6:52 overall pace... Boy do I LOVE running FAST (relatively speaking of course) :-)
The workout: 7.5 miles (7:55 pace) with a one tempo mile in 6:53 and 1.5 miles @ 6:52 pace. Ended it with a cold Sierra Nevada...
Have a great week y'all!!!
OAN, and after my last rather unsuccessful run, I had trepidations about today's run... even while I was aware that these "bad" runs come in cycles, I could not help but feel sadden... especially when one considers the impending three marathons looming in my not-too-distant future...
On to today's run... I started slowly and had a 9:10 split for the first mile... hmmm, not THAT slow... the second mile was a blistering 8:30 [insert your favorite ironic emoticon]... then the next .75 of a mile was run at low 8ish pace... I suddenly had a stroke of genius; I decided to go sub 7 for a half mile... boom, 3:29 (right on target)... ah, but I wasn't done... I kept the effort and completed ONE mile at sub-7... aren't I wonderful??? :-) I fully recovered; well not really, but my HR was ALMOST back to normal... stretched, as I old age has taught me an important lesson: and that is that my aging muscles NEED to be stretched :-)... I start running, and pick up the pace; this time I am hoping to run 1.5 miles at sub-7 pace... 3:25 (half mile split) and I am feeling PREETTTYYY good... THANK YOU... then I note a 3:26 for the next split; still well within my goal; but the effort is becoming labored... the third half-mile split is a not-too-shabby 3:27 for a 6:52 overall pace... Boy do I LOVE running FAST (relatively speaking of course) :-)
The workout: 7.5 miles (7:55 pace) with a one tempo mile in 6:53 and 1.5 miles @ 6:52 pace. Ended it with a cold Sierra Nevada...
Have a great week y'all!!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Musical Chairs
I have always tripped out on people who prefer vinyl records... I always dismissed them as being "stuck in the past." Apparently I am wrong (not the first nor last time). There is indeed a difference as transcribed below. Apologies to Dave for "borrowing" his most excellent explanation...
***My problem, WRT digitalization, comes more from recorded music. And the world of recorded music provides us with an opportunity to foresee the problems an all-digital distribution system of literature may have.
When the CD was first introduced by Sony and Philips in the 1980's, it was touted as having "Perfect Sound Forever". It was an immediate success. And yet many people (such as myself) still prefer to listen to LPs, in spite of the extra effort and expense required to do so. Why?
Well, first I'll bore you with the technical details. The standard CD uses a sampling rate of 44kHz, or 44,000 samples per second. But keep in mind that this is the *sampling rate*, not the frequency response. Take the standard orchestral tuning pitch of A, which is 440 Hz. This pitch is used because it's in the range of virtually every instrument in the orchestra. At a sampling rate of 44kHz, you have 100 pixels to draw this sound wave (with all its attendant overtones) in such a way to distinguish a bassoon from a violin from a human voice. Now, for reasons I could explain much more simply with pictures, electrically amplified and distorted instruments (electric guitars, voices through microphones, etc.) produce much "simpler" wave shapes (due to electronic "clipping", or cutting off the top of the sound wave) than do acoustic instruments. SO for most commercially produced popular music, digital recording is adequate. But there is a reason that whenever Sony (which owns Columbia Records) came out with a new audio format (CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, etc.) the first two recordings they trotted out were Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" and Bruno Walter's stereo recording of Beethoven's 6th - those two 1958 recordings are the best recordings Columbia ever produced in terms of sound quality, and intervening technology has only made recordings cheaper and easier to distribute, not better sounding.
But then the ubiquitous MP3 format came along. The absolute highest sampling rate of an MP3 file is 32kHz (less than 75% of a CD), but most MP3 files streamed on the internet are in the 12.8kHz - 19.2kHz range. At these rates, you're down to 30-40 pixels to draw an A(440) wave, and far less as you listen to higher frequencies (pitch increase is exponential instead of linear - going up one octave doubles the frequency). This just makes most treble clef instruments sound screechy.
The result of this is that most people who listen intently to recorded music find digital recordings quite fatiguing. I can listen to my classical LPs as long as my attention span lasts, and then throw on some jazz LPs for dessert. By contrast, my limit on a CD is approximate a Mahler symphony. But I will admit that I listen to music differently from someone who uses music as a soundtrack to their run, so while LPs are my preferred music format, I don't view that preference as universal.
At first the recording industry loved the new CD format - production costs went way down while at the same time retail prices went way up (remember in the mid 80's transition a CD would be priced at twice what the same LP would cost, even though the CD cost less to manufacture). CDs required less retail space in a store. Playback equipment was cheaper and required less maintenance. Profits soared - for a while. But then something happened.
Not only can LPs produce more accurate sound, but they used to be distributed with great covers and liner notes. Glenn Gould's liner notes on Bach's Goldberg Variations are as good as any published in those journals Chuck complains about. The RCA 1956 recording of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe is embossed with a 16 page booklet about the ballet illustrated by a young Andy Warhol. The stereo set of Brahms symphonies conducted by Bruno Walter and issued posthumously in 1963 contains an illustrated biography of the composer written by his daughter. And I've found some LPs (Otto Klemperer's Bach Orchestral Suites and two symphonies by 20th C Dutch Composer Henrik Andriessen) which came with full orchestral scores. Meanwhile, with a CD case you got a little pamphlet with abbreviated notes in microfiche that anyone with eyes over 12 years old would need a microscope to decipher, which is still a far cry above the MP3, which is usually just a sound file with no extra material. And the RIAA wonders why they cannot achieve the level of sales and profits they had a generation ago. To me, it's quite obvious - they've devalued their product and turned it into a commodity.
How this relates to the publishing industry remains to be seen. Newspapers are already on life support, and for perhaps good reason (why wait for stale news to arrive at their whim when you can get it fresh online)? And clearly, many people like the immediacy and portability of digital books. Then again, the same arguments can be made in favor of MP3's. And for popular light summer reading this distribution method might work (people rarely complain about the sound quality of MP3's when listening to rock or pop music). But what about those books that you would want to take a bit more seriously; that you would prefer to read in bed or in your favorite chair without interruption? I'm not so sure I would want my only access to James Joyce to be electronic (if nothing else, it would make it difficult to use "Ulysses" as a door stop). But industries like economy and efficiency, so they will eventually prefer to move all of their publishing to a single channel, and digital is cheaper and easier for them. What will we lose? I don't think we know yet. For the vast majority of people immersed in popular culture, probably nothing (just as all but a few people consider the CD's replacement of the LP a good riddance). But for connoisseurs, there is a tangible loss that is hard to explain.
Dave Frederick***
***My problem, WRT digitalization, comes more from recorded music. And the world of recorded music provides us with an opportunity to foresee the problems an all-digital distribution system of literature may have.
When the CD was first introduced by Sony and Philips in the 1980's, it was touted as having "Perfect Sound Forever". It was an immediate success. And yet many people (such as myself) still prefer to listen to LPs, in spite of the extra effort and expense required to do so. Why?
Well, first I'll bore you with the technical details. The standard CD uses a sampling rate of 44kHz, or 44,000 samples per second. But keep in mind that this is the *sampling rate*, not the frequency response. Take the standard orchestral tuning pitch of A, which is 440 Hz. This pitch is used because it's in the range of virtually every instrument in the orchestra. At a sampling rate of 44kHz, you have 100 pixels to draw this sound wave (with all its attendant overtones) in such a way to distinguish a bassoon from a violin from a human voice. Now, for reasons I could explain much more simply with pictures, electrically amplified and distorted instruments (electric guitars, voices through microphones, etc.) produce much "simpler" wave shapes (due to electronic "clipping", or cutting off the top of the sound wave) than do acoustic instruments. SO for most commercially produced popular music, digital recording is adequate. But there is a reason that whenever Sony (which owns Columbia Records) came out with a new audio format (CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, etc.) the first two recordings they trotted out were Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" and Bruno Walter's stereo recording of Beethoven's 6th - those two 1958 recordings are the best recordings Columbia ever produced in terms of sound quality, and intervening technology has only made recordings cheaper and easier to distribute, not better sounding.
But then the ubiquitous MP3 format came along. The absolute highest sampling rate of an MP3 file is 32kHz (less than 75% of a CD), but most MP3 files streamed on the internet are in the 12.8kHz - 19.2kHz range. At these rates, you're down to 30-40 pixels to draw an A(440) wave, and far less as you listen to higher frequencies (pitch increase is exponential instead of linear - going up one octave doubles the frequency). This just makes most treble clef instruments sound screechy.
The result of this is that most people who listen intently to recorded music find digital recordings quite fatiguing. I can listen to my classical LPs as long as my attention span lasts, and then throw on some jazz LPs for dessert. By contrast, my limit on a CD is approximate a Mahler symphony. But I will admit that I listen to music differently from someone who uses music as a soundtrack to their run, so while LPs are my preferred music format, I don't view that preference as universal.
At first the recording industry loved the new CD format - production costs went way down while at the same time retail prices went way up (remember in the mid 80's transition a CD would be priced at twice what the same LP would cost, even though the CD cost less to manufacture). CDs required less retail space in a store. Playback equipment was cheaper and required less maintenance. Profits soared - for a while. But then something happened.
Not only can LPs produce more accurate sound, but they used to be distributed with great covers and liner notes. Glenn Gould's liner notes on Bach's Goldberg Variations are as good as any published in those journals Chuck complains about. The RCA 1956 recording of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe is embossed with a 16 page booklet about the ballet illustrated by a young Andy Warhol. The stereo set of Brahms symphonies conducted by Bruno Walter and issued posthumously in 1963 contains an illustrated biography of the composer written by his daughter. And I've found some LPs (Otto Klemperer's Bach Orchestral Suites and two symphonies by 20th C Dutch Composer Henrik Andriessen) which came with full orchestral scores. Meanwhile, with a CD case you got a little pamphlet with abbreviated notes in microfiche that anyone with eyes over 12 years old would need a microscope to decipher, which is still a far cry above the MP3, which is usually just a sound file with no extra material. And the RIAA wonders why they cannot achieve the level of sales and profits they had a generation ago. To me, it's quite obvious - they've devalued their product and turned it into a commodity.
How this relates to the publishing industry remains to be seen. Newspapers are already on life support, and for perhaps good reason (why wait for stale news to arrive at their whim when you can get it fresh online)? And clearly, many people like the immediacy and portability of digital books. Then again, the same arguments can be made in favor of MP3's. And for popular light summer reading this distribution method might work (people rarely complain about the sound quality of MP3's when listening to rock or pop music). But what about those books that you would want to take a bit more seriously; that you would prefer to read in bed or in your favorite chair without interruption? I'm not so sure I would want my only access to James Joyce to be electronic (if nothing else, it would make it difficult to use "Ulysses" as a door stop). But industries like economy and efficiency, so they will eventually prefer to move all of their publishing to a single channel, and digital is cheaper and easier for them. What will we lose? I don't think we know yet. For the vast majority of people immersed in popular culture, probably nothing (just as all but a few people consider the CD's replacement of the LP a good riddance). But for connoisseurs, there is a tangible loss that is hard to explain.
Dave Frederick***
Thursday, May 21, 2009
B2B Redux
I have been slacking big time on my running... supposedly because of my PS (piriformis syndrome)... more on that at the end...
So I signed up for Bay to Breakers early hoping I could break 50 (as I ran 51:16 in 2008)...
BUT, I was not counting on being injured... suffice it to say, that the injury has improved (meaning it does not hurt nearly as much)...
I had a very conservative goal (7 to 7:10 pace)... ALAS, the day dawned warm... warm enough that my 1.5 mile "jog"to the start had me sweating...
I start right behind the elites and the centipedes (the fasts ones any way)... BUT there is this 70ish looking woman in front of me (WTF?)...
There must have been about 200 runners in front of me... BUT when the "gun" went off, I must have gone through that many people... Did they jump in? Most likely... so I found myself weaving for the first mile, 6:58 (6:48)... parentheses show last year's splits... I find myself in oxygen debt, NOT A GOOD SIGN...
I am already hurting and I try to slow down to "feel" tempo effort... find myself at mile two in 7:17 (6:53)... and I am okay as I think I can recover to have a decent showing... then the Hayes terraced hills hit me and I struggled as I never have struggled before in a race (and I am being conservative)... I want to walk so badly, my EGO hurts... I see what appears to be the end of the hills and I "jogged"it in... BUT there is one last slope, one that is so short I know I can take...
THEN, there is this short sharp downhill, that my legs are not ready for and the third mile split comes at a disappointing 8:24 (7:52)... ahh, but the terrain can only get easier, right?... no, there is a mild upslope on mile number 4... so I just "sustain" the effort... BUT my legs are spaghetti by now... mile four in an embarrassing 7:46 (7:05)... I plod on as my legs and lungs are begging for mercy... a few runners pass me... BUT I hold my place... mostly.
Mile 5, 7:43 (6:53)... WTF? I am not recovering as much as I should be... I am really hurting... was it the lack of strides? METHINKS so....
Mile 6 is a slowish 7:17 (6:28)... and I think that I should be able to knock a "noble"sub-7:15... BUT no, I can only muster a 7:24 (6:28)... and I want to give up right there and then... my EGO screams at me, telling me that there is less than half-a-mile to go... so I muster any left-over energy and finish with a 55:55, 3:06 for the last stretch (2:49)...
It takes me about 30 minutes to get back to normal as I left everything I had on that day behind...
I am NOT disappointed as I did not have it that day... MAYBE I can redeem myself on another race...
Thanks for reading...
PS: it appears that the injured muscles were the aBductors along with the piriformis... I have been stretching the culprits, and the pain is almost gone :-)
So I signed up for Bay to Breakers early hoping I could break 50 (as I ran 51:16 in 2008)...
BUT, I was not counting on being injured... suffice it to say, that the injury has improved (meaning it does not hurt nearly as much)...
I had a very conservative goal (7 to 7:10 pace)... ALAS, the day dawned warm... warm enough that my 1.5 mile "jog"to the start had me sweating...
I start right behind the elites and the centipedes (the fasts ones any way)... BUT there is this 70ish looking woman in front of me (WTF?)...
There must have been about 200 runners in front of me... BUT when the "gun" went off, I must have gone through that many people... Did they jump in? Most likely... so I found myself weaving for the first mile, 6:58 (6:48)... parentheses show last year's splits... I find myself in oxygen debt, NOT A GOOD SIGN...
I am already hurting and I try to slow down to "feel" tempo effort... find myself at mile two in 7:17 (6:53)... and I am okay as I think I can recover to have a decent showing... then the Hayes terraced hills hit me and I struggled as I never have struggled before in a race (and I am being conservative)... I want to walk so badly, my EGO hurts... I see what appears to be the end of the hills and I "jogged"it in... BUT there is one last slope, one that is so short I know I can take...
THEN, there is this short sharp downhill, that my legs are not ready for and the third mile split comes at a disappointing 8:24 (7:52)... ahh, but the terrain can only get easier, right?... no, there is a mild upslope on mile number 4... so I just "sustain" the effort... BUT my legs are spaghetti by now... mile four in an embarrassing 7:46 (7:05)... I plod on as my legs and lungs are begging for mercy... a few runners pass me... BUT I hold my place... mostly.
Mile 5, 7:43 (6:53)... WTF? I am not recovering as much as I should be... I am really hurting... was it the lack of strides? METHINKS so....
Mile 6 is a slowish 7:17 (6:28)... and I think that I should be able to knock a "noble"sub-7:15... BUT no, I can only muster a 7:24 (6:28)... and I want to give up right there and then... my EGO screams at me, telling me that there is less than half-a-mile to go... so I muster any left-over energy and finish with a 55:55, 3:06 for the last stretch (2:49)...
It takes me about 30 minutes to get back to normal as I left everything I had on that day behind...
I am NOT disappointed as I did not have it that day... MAYBE I can redeem myself on another race...
Thanks for reading...
PS: it appears that the injured muscles were the aBductors along with the piriformis... I have been stretching the culprits, and the pain is almost gone :-)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Kara and Me
Last year I signed up early for NYC... who decides to run HER first full Mary there? Yep. KG.
Then on impulse I sign up for Boston... who decides to run HER second full Mary at B? Yep. KG.
I signed up for Berlin early this year... who's also running it? Yep. KG.
Coincidence? I think not. She's stalking me. No.Doubt.About.It.
Then on impulse I sign up for Boston... who decides to run HER second full Mary at B? Yep. KG.
I signed up for Berlin early this year... who's also running it? Yep. KG.
Coincidence? I think not. She's stalking me. No.Doubt.About.It.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Carlsbad 5000
This race bills itself as the fastest 5K... The course itself is fast but is not flat, and it does include TWO hairpin turns.
As stated before I wanted to run sub-20... and the way I was going to do it was to wear my garmin to avoid a fast start and a potentially season ending injury.
I wake up at 3:30 as I have to drive some 90 minutes to the start... NOT to mention that I had yet to pick up my bib number. I had paid $20 at an expo...
I ended up making it to the town center right around 6AM... plenty of time before my scheduled race, 7:05AM...
Picked up my bib and T-shirt (nice design, BTW)... warmed up for one mile easy...
30 minutes before the start I do another w/u mile... this one including four striders at perceived 5K effort... my piriformis gets massaged... and I am ready to roll.
I line up four rows back. And the gun goes off.
After a few steps walking we're off. It's crowded. But it's controlled. I look at my Garmin and I am running sub 6. Hmmm, relax. Adrenaline pumping, my legs want to turn over quickly. About 200 runners are ahead of me and even if I wanted, I could not go faster. My pace slowly drops. The effort feels more like a short tempo run. We turn left and Garmin says 6:16. Hmmm, I expected it to be slower. The course is full of mild inclines, and there is a mild wind that will be on my face for the second half of the race.
I cross the one-mile marker in 6:21. Damn. A bit fast. Will I implode? FI, if I do, I do. I maintain the effort. We are running by the ocean. Also, I am beginning to pass runners. I am feeling good. The first hairpin turn approaches. I turn wide as suggested by a RunnersWorld Forum member (13th OA, 52-years, 16:40). I keep on passing runners here and there. The pace begins to feel harder to sustain. I am still following Garmin. Mile 2, 6:20. How can I be running a 5K in such even pacing? Will the third mile drop off dramatically? I tell myself that I just have to endure the race for about seven more minutes.
We are now on another slight incline and the second hairpin turn appears. There are two other runners close to me. I decide to go a couple of meters ahead to avoid getting in their way. I also swing wide. I would end up passing these runners. I feel nauseous. The puke-meter is redlining now. I try to relax to see if the feeling will go away. It doesn't. My Garmin has been showing the pace is getting faster. I turn left and I see the finish line. Mile three, 6:15!!! I complete the last stretch in 39"... for a final time of 19:35(chip)... matching my gun time of my 19:34 (watch) PR.
To say the least I am extremely happy with the result. To think that I almost PR'd with no race specific training... Apparently my aerobic fitness has stay put. We'll see how my endurance is come April 20th.
If you are only going to race ONE 5K in your life, it has to be the Carlsbad 5000. Awesome race. The best $20 I have spent on ANY race.
As stated before I wanted to run sub-20... and the way I was going to do it was to wear my garmin to avoid a fast start and a potentially season ending injury.
I wake up at 3:30 as I have to drive some 90 minutes to the start... NOT to mention that I had yet to pick up my bib number. I had paid $20 at an expo...
I ended up making it to the town center right around 6AM... plenty of time before my scheduled race, 7:05AM...
Picked up my bib and T-shirt (nice design, BTW)... warmed up for one mile easy...
30 minutes before the start I do another w/u mile... this one including four striders at perceived 5K effort... my piriformis gets massaged... and I am ready to roll.
I line up four rows back. And the gun goes off.
After a few steps walking we're off. It's crowded. But it's controlled. I look at my Garmin and I am running sub 6. Hmmm, relax. Adrenaline pumping, my legs want to turn over quickly. About 200 runners are ahead of me and even if I wanted, I could not go faster. My pace slowly drops. The effort feels more like a short tempo run. We turn left and Garmin says 6:16. Hmmm, I expected it to be slower. The course is full of mild inclines, and there is a mild wind that will be on my face for the second half of the race.
I cross the one-mile marker in 6:21. Damn. A bit fast. Will I implode? FI, if I do, I do. I maintain the effort. We are running by the ocean. Also, I am beginning to pass runners. I am feeling good. The first hairpin turn approaches. I turn wide as suggested by a RunnersWorld Forum member (13th OA, 52-years, 16:40). I keep on passing runners here and there. The pace begins to feel harder to sustain. I am still following Garmin. Mile 2, 6:20. How can I be running a 5K in such even pacing? Will the third mile drop off dramatically? I tell myself that I just have to endure the race for about seven more minutes.
We are now on another slight incline and the second hairpin turn appears. There are two other runners close to me. I decide to go a couple of meters ahead to avoid getting in their way. I also swing wide. I would end up passing these runners. I feel nauseous. The puke-meter is redlining now. I try to relax to see if the feeling will go away. It doesn't. My Garmin has been showing the pace is getting faster. I turn left and I see the finish line. Mile three, 6:15!!! I complete the last stretch in 39"... for a final time of 19:35(chip)... matching my gun time of my 19:34 (watch) PR.
To say the least I am extremely happy with the result. To think that I almost PR'd with no race specific training... Apparently my aerobic fitness has stay put. We'll see how my endurance is come April 20th.
If you are only going to race ONE 5K in your life, it has to be the Carlsbad 5000. Awesome race. The best $20 I have spent on ANY race.
Down and Out
Training was going well for B*ston. I had averaged 50 mpw for the first 10 weeks of the year. Then I read about the POSE form and decided to try it on my scheduled 18-miler. Damn me for doing it on a long run. By seven miles my right piriformis was in flames. I stopped and stretched; the pain in the @ss was lessened. I continued until the end but could tell my arse was in bad shape, figuratively and literally. Managed to run 50 miles for the 11th week.
I was scheduled to fly to Europe during the 12th week and knew that running would take a back seat. The day I was to fly I decided to do speedwork. Made up the workout as I went along. Decided on 5X1-mile at ~6:45 pace. I ran the first one in 6:29. I knew I was toast. Next one (after a 75-sec standing recovery) is done in 6:32. Still too fast; my heart rate was too high and needed 1:45 to recover. As I was doing the third repeat I knew I would have to cut it short as my form was falling apart. Decided to cut it at 1/2 mile, 3:16. Rested for two minutes and ran another half-mile in 3:12. Obviously my "fast" miles did me in. On the cool down, and just about .6 miles from my house I start getting a really bad stitch. So bad I must have looked like Quasimodo. Miles for the 13th week: 19.5.
On the beginning of the 14th week (Sunday) I happen to find myself in Rome, conveniently I might add as it is marathon day. I decide to bandit a portion of race (I did pay for a walk/run bib :-)) and I jog to the first K marker. There where about 25 locals waiting to do the same I was about to do. Damn bandits!!! The 3:15 pace groups approaches fast on the cobble-stone downhill and I try no to crash into the mass of runners. The first K seemed easy and I felt I would not have trouble holding this pace for 10 miles. Alas, I found myself struggling and dropped the pace a bit little by little. I then eye a guy with a Mexican flag and start talking to him. He was fading fast. His goal was to run 3:40 (and he had been running with the 3:15 group!!) and knew he was in-and-over his head. Then my hip flexor started to flare up and I started hobbling. Quit the course having ran 7:40s for 14Ks... I jogged back to the Colosseum. Then walked to the hotel I was staying to watch the end of the race.
Three days later finds my worn out shoes on the bridges of Venice where I attempt to keep up any fitness I had built up. I don't know if it was dodging locals and tourists but my hip felt a lot worse at the end of the 5-miler (8:20 pace). I knew that rest was not an option. No more running for a while. 16 miles for the week (14th).
It is Wednesday and six days have passed without running. I am back in Lala Land. I want to try an easy five. Not even a half mile into the run and my hip is quite painful. I stop at two miles and stretch. I turn around knowing that it is better not run the extra mile. Four miles at 9ish pace. I am walking lopsided; my body seems to try to balance the tightening of the hip flexor. I am now worried that Sunday's 5K should not be run at all. I am bummed because the Carlsbad 5000 has been one of those races I have been wanting to run for a while.
I rest on Thursday. But I have accu-pressure on the sore piriformis/hip flexor and sore hamstring.
The next day I feel energetic. I want to run an easy eight. I start the run and I notice my stride is fluid. First mile in 8:01. Faster than I have ran a first w/u mile in quite some time. Again, I change the easy run into a workout run, since I am feeling good. I am thinking 3-4 miles at previous MP (~7:25) would be fun. The second w/u mile is clocked at 7:15... wow, I have lost all sense of pacing. I don't stop to stretch but decide to continue the effort. Mile three in 7:04. Damn, this is very close to my long tempo pace. There is a slight headwind too. Mile four has me struggling a bit, 7:16. Back to life, back to reality. I make a hairpin turn. The headwind is now a tailwind. It helps. I run this mile in 6:54. I stop after this mile to get a full recovery and to stretch, paying particular attention to the injured muscles/tendons.
After I few minutes I take off thinking mile six would come in at MP... nope, the first quarter was 1:45 and it felt easy so I just held on, 6:54. Ran the last two at 7:26 and 7:22. Overall pace for the eight miles: 7:15. Not too shabby. It confirms what I have known for a while. I like to run fast (relatively speaking). I will step on the starting line on Sunday. Sub-20 will be my goal. Even when I have had very little speed w/os.
Saturday is a recovery run. Four miles at 8:50 pace. I threw in an extra quarter at 5K effort, 1:41. 6:45 pace??? Damn, sub-20 may be a bit lofty of a goal. I come up with a plan: 6:30, 6:30, 6:20 and hammer the last stretch for a sub-20. But I will be happy with beating last year sole 5K, 20:27. It is so easy to pen a plan; the issue is to execute on race day.
Mileage for the last three weeks before Sunday's race: 19.5, 16, 16. If I fail, I will not be able to blame it on fatigue :-)
Next: Carlsbad 5000 Race Report
I was scheduled to fly to Europe during the 12th week and knew that running would take a back seat. The day I was to fly I decided to do speedwork. Made up the workout as I went along. Decided on 5X1-mile at ~6:45 pace. I ran the first one in 6:29. I knew I was toast. Next one (after a 75-sec standing recovery) is done in 6:32. Still too fast; my heart rate was too high and needed 1:45 to recover. As I was doing the third repeat I knew I would have to cut it short as my form was falling apart. Decided to cut it at 1/2 mile, 3:16. Rested for two minutes and ran another half-mile in 3:12. Obviously my "fast" miles did me in. On the cool down, and just about .6 miles from my house I start getting a really bad stitch. So bad I must have looked like Quasimodo. Miles for the 13th week: 19.5.
On the beginning of the 14th week (Sunday) I happen to find myself in Rome, conveniently I might add as it is marathon day. I decide to bandit a portion of race (I did pay for a walk/run bib :-)) and I jog to the first K marker. There where about 25 locals waiting to do the same I was about to do. Damn bandits!!! The 3:15 pace groups approaches fast on the cobble-stone downhill and I try no to crash into the mass of runners. The first K seemed easy and I felt I would not have trouble holding this pace for 10 miles. Alas, I found myself struggling and dropped the pace a bit little by little. I then eye a guy with a Mexican flag and start talking to him. He was fading fast. His goal was to run 3:40 (and he had been running with the 3:15 group!!) and knew he was in-and-over his head. Then my hip flexor started to flare up and I started hobbling. Quit the course having ran 7:40s for 14Ks... I jogged back to the Colosseum. Then walked to the hotel I was staying to watch the end of the race.
Three days later finds my worn out shoes on the bridges of Venice where I attempt to keep up any fitness I had built up. I don't know if it was dodging locals and tourists but my hip felt a lot worse at the end of the 5-miler (8:20 pace). I knew that rest was not an option. No more running for a while. 16 miles for the week (14th).
It is Wednesday and six days have passed without running. I am back in Lala Land. I want to try an easy five. Not even a half mile into the run and my hip is quite painful. I stop at two miles and stretch. I turn around knowing that it is better not run the extra mile. Four miles at 9ish pace. I am walking lopsided; my body seems to try to balance the tightening of the hip flexor. I am now worried that Sunday's 5K should not be run at all. I am bummed because the Carlsbad 5000 has been one of those races I have been wanting to run for a while.
I rest on Thursday. But I have accu-pressure on the sore piriformis/hip flexor and sore hamstring.
The next day I feel energetic. I want to run an easy eight. I start the run and I notice my stride is fluid. First mile in 8:01. Faster than I have ran a first w/u mile in quite some time. Again, I change the easy run into a workout run, since I am feeling good. I am thinking 3-4 miles at previous MP (~7:25) would be fun. The second w/u mile is clocked at 7:15... wow, I have lost all sense of pacing. I don't stop to stretch but decide to continue the effort. Mile three in 7:04. Damn, this is very close to my long tempo pace. There is a slight headwind too. Mile four has me struggling a bit, 7:16. Back to life, back to reality. I make a hairpin turn. The headwind is now a tailwind. It helps. I run this mile in 6:54. I stop after this mile to get a full recovery and to stretch, paying particular attention to the injured muscles/tendons.
After I few minutes I take off thinking mile six would come in at MP... nope, the first quarter was 1:45 and it felt easy so I just held on, 6:54. Ran the last two at 7:26 and 7:22. Overall pace for the eight miles: 7:15. Not too shabby. It confirms what I have known for a while. I like to run fast (relatively speaking). I will step on the starting line on Sunday. Sub-20 will be my goal. Even when I have had very little speed w/os.
Saturday is a recovery run. Four miles at 8:50 pace. I threw in an extra quarter at 5K effort, 1:41. 6:45 pace??? Damn, sub-20 may be a bit lofty of a goal. I come up with a plan: 6:30, 6:30, 6:20 and hammer the last stretch for a sub-20. But I will be happy with beating last year sole 5K, 20:27. It is so easy to pen a plan; the issue is to execute on race day.
Mileage for the last three weeks before Sunday's race: 19.5, 16, 16. If I fail, I will not be able to blame it on fatigue :-)
Next: Carlsbad 5000 Race Report
Monday, March 02, 2009
Running and the Law
On Saturday I was supposed to run long, 19-20 miles. I did not plan on including a 10K "time-trial" in the middle of the punishing workout, but Mindi challenged her readers to a "virtual" 10K "race." She did magnificently; read her report here.
I start my run at a very conservative pace. The first six miles averaged 8:18, and I could feel the fatigue in my legs. Damn. Was it the three miles I ran on Thursday with 40 seconds on, 70 seconds off? I did average 6:57 for those three miles. A sign that my legs might have been on the verge of over-training was when my recovery run on Friday had my legs protesting a bit. Naturally, I just did not feel "it." But I got ready to run at least the pace I ran on my last half-mary (6:57).
The first half mile is too conservative as I glanced at my watch and I saw a 3:36 (7:12 pace). I have to pick up the effort. I do. The first mile is a not-too-bad 7:05. The bike trail is fairly flat with a couple of grade-separations (under-passes). The second mile comes in at a more "decent" 6:56 and I have thoughts of negative splitting the race. I continue the same perceived effort but I notice the stride is shortening. Mile three, 7:05. Shit. I tell myself that 7:05s are not that bad, especially on beat up legs. I desperately want to quit. It's just a workout. I am supposed to run long steady pace, :-) I decide to hang on and take one mile at a time. It also helps that Mindi had much worse circumstances and she did it; and did it rather well. Mile four 7:04, thank goodness I have not slow down. I concentrate on my form. I am not hurting as much as if I was racing others, but it is very close. Mile five, 7:02. Yes. Only one mile and change to go. I know I can finish this thing. Mile six, 6:53. One last quarter. I cover it in 1:45, or 1:30 for the .215 of a mile. Final time is 43:35. And I am so exhausted. I know I will not be able to do the 7-8 miles left to complete the scheduled run. I compromised on doing 15 total miles. I rationalized that the quality of the 10K should more than make up for the lack of distance.
On another related note: it had been thirteen straight days of running and the month of February had me averaging 57 mpw. My legs are definitely tired. I had arranged to meet a former co-worker for an easy Sunday run around the Rose Bowl (RB), but I was hoping he would cancel as I felt I needed a day off.
I meet him at 10AM sharp. He is wearing sandals and cargo shorts. WTF? He tells me he has to be elsewhere at 10:30 so we would have to postpone the run. I say fine, I'll tag alone. We come back to the RB and the day is just gorgeous, maybe a bit too warm. We run a route that is rather hilly. Luckily, we are running easy. Still, the hills were tough.
I finished feeling good about my 14-day running streak. We then make our way to re-hydrate. An hour later we decide to drive but a block away to have a bacon burger. We are in separate vehicles. I park and I look on my rear-view mirror and what do I see? A patrol-car with its lights on. Shit. I promptly go for my wallet and pull my license. The Officer comes over my side and asks me for license, registration and insurance. I hand him the license and look for the insurance and registration. I fumbled the two and he notices that I do not have a current proof-of-insurance. I assure him the insurance is current. He asks me if I know why he stopped me. I say no; and I didn't. He tells me that I made an illegal turn, a "no-turn-on red."
He walks over to his car and gives my info to his partner. I am upset that I did not see the signs forbidding my infraction. All along I have been calling the Officer Sir.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he comes back. No pad on his hand. Good news? Yep. They decided to let me off with a warning as I was some 20 miles from home. I was so relieved. But the anxiety stayed with me for the better part of the remaining day. That combined with several restless nights and the mileage accrued made for one extremely tired old dude....
May you all have a wonderful week!
I start my run at a very conservative pace. The first six miles averaged 8:18, and I could feel the fatigue in my legs. Damn. Was it the three miles I ran on Thursday with 40 seconds on, 70 seconds off? I did average 6:57 for those three miles. A sign that my legs might have been on the verge of over-training was when my recovery run on Friday had my legs protesting a bit. Naturally, I just did not feel "it." But I got ready to run at least the pace I ran on my last half-mary (6:57).
The first half mile is too conservative as I glanced at my watch and I saw a 3:36 (7:12 pace). I have to pick up the effort. I do. The first mile is a not-too-bad 7:05. The bike trail is fairly flat with a couple of grade-separations (under-passes). The second mile comes in at a more "decent" 6:56 and I have thoughts of negative splitting the race. I continue the same perceived effort but I notice the stride is shortening. Mile three, 7:05. Shit. I tell myself that 7:05s are not that bad, especially on beat up legs. I desperately want to quit. It's just a workout. I am supposed to run long steady pace, :-) I decide to hang on and take one mile at a time. It also helps that Mindi had much worse circumstances and she did it; and did it rather well. Mile four 7:04, thank goodness I have not slow down. I concentrate on my form. I am not hurting as much as if I was racing others, but it is very close. Mile five, 7:02. Yes. Only one mile and change to go. I know I can finish this thing. Mile six, 6:53. One last quarter. I cover it in 1:45, or 1:30 for the .215 of a mile. Final time is 43:35. And I am so exhausted. I know I will not be able to do the 7-8 miles left to complete the scheduled run. I compromised on doing 15 total miles. I rationalized that the quality of the 10K should more than make up for the lack of distance.
On another related note: it had been thirteen straight days of running and the month of February had me averaging 57 mpw. My legs are definitely tired. I had arranged to meet a former co-worker for an easy Sunday run around the Rose Bowl (RB), but I was hoping he would cancel as I felt I needed a day off.
I meet him at 10AM sharp. He is wearing sandals and cargo shorts. WTF? He tells me he has to be elsewhere at 10:30 so we would have to postpone the run. I say fine, I'll tag alone. We come back to the RB and the day is just gorgeous, maybe a bit too warm. We run a route that is rather hilly. Luckily, we are running easy. Still, the hills were tough.
I finished feeling good about my 14-day running streak. We then make our way to re-hydrate. An hour later we decide to drive but a block away to have a bacon burger. We are in separate vehicles. I park and I look on my rear-view mirror and what do I see? A patrol-car with its lights on. Shit. I promptly go for my wallet and pull my license. The Officer comes over my side and asks me for license, registration and insurance. I hand him the license and look for the insurance and registration. I fumbled the two and he notices that I do not have a current proof-of-insurance. I assure him the insurance is current. He asks me if I know why he stopped me. I say no; and I didn't. He tells me that I made an illegal turn, a "no-turn-on red."
He walks over to his car and gives my info to his partner. I am upset that I did not see the signs forbidding my infraction. All along I have been calling the Officer Sir.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he comes back. No pad on his hand. Good news? Yep. They decided to let me off with a warning as I was some 20 miles from home. I was so relieved. But the anxiety stayed with me for the better part of the remaining day. That combined with several restless nights and the mileage accrued made for one extremely tired old dude....
May you all have a wonderful week!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Start Spreading the News...
Dear Alejandro ,
We are pleased to confirm that you have been accepted for entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2009. Our records have been updated to reflect your acceptance.
Big grin on my face :-D
Yesterday I found myself racing my first 8K. Not having done much speedwork of late had me guesstimating a 7 mpm pace. I warm up for two miles and do two strides at perceived goal pace.
I lined up about four rows deep. There are a whole lot of pre-teens and sub-18-year-olds. The "gun" caught me off guard and I just follow a rather large mass of runners. I hope to reel most of them in. The first mile is a smallish loop that has some challenging rolling hills, 6:37. I can only dream I can average this pace. The "fade" is expected to come later. Mile two is a straight away that appears deceivingly flat; it is not, 6:49. Then we work our way around a larger loop and a monster hill is just in sight. [It might not have been that big, but my legs definitely complained] I set my sights on three sub-teens. I finally catch them after cresting the hill, 7:08.
For some reason, I tend to run better in downhills and the next 1.97 miles had a nice gradual decline. I start passing a runner here and there; I am still running strong, 6:20. The last stretch is practically mile two, but in the opposite direction. I am running next to a bearded runner. Exchange a couple of sentences. He is fading a bit. I get an adrenaline rush. I push the pace a bit more. The gag-meter is redlining. I force myself to lower the effort, as I know I would have to make a full stop to toss my cookies. The gagging feeling stays with me. One younger runner passes me as we make the turn into the parking lot where the finish is. I tell him to "bring it home." He thanks me. I increase the effort for I do not want anyone else to pass me, not this close to the chute, 6:01 (6:12 pace). 32:55 by my watch, 32:57 official tag time.
I am quite happy with the result. It shows that I am not as slow as I think I am.
The food provided at this event is the BEST I have ever seen. Pizza from BJ, brownies from ClaimJumper, salads from Cali-Pizza Kitchen, breakfast tacos, smoothies from Jamba Juice, and more!!
A 12-year old beat me by more than FIVE minutes!!! He ran 27:43 (5:36 pace)... Amazing...
Have a nice week!!!
We are pleased to confirm that you have been accepted for entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2009. Our records have been updated to reflect your acceptance.
Big grin on my face :-D
Yesterday I found myself racing my first 8K. Not having done much speedwork of late had me guesstimating a 7 mpm pace. I warm up for two miles and do two strides at perceived goal pace.
I lined up about four rows deep. There are a whole lot of pre-teens and sub-18-year-olds. The "gun" caught me off guard and I just follow a rather large mass of runners. I hope to reel most of them in. The first mile is a smallish loop that has some challenging rolling hills, 6:37. I can only dream I can average this pace. The "fade" is expected to come later. Mile two is a straight away that appears deceivingly flat; it is not, 6:49. Then we work our way around a larger loop and a monster hill is just in sight. [It might not have been that big, but my legs definitely complained] I set my sights on three sub-teens. I finally catch them after cresting the hill, 7:08.
For some reason, I tend to run better in downhills and the next 1.97 miles had a nice gradual decline. I start passing a runner here and there; I am still running strong, 6:20. The last stretch is practically mile two, but in the opposite direction. I am running next to a bearded runner. Exchange a couple of sentences. He is fading a bit. I get an adrenaline rush. I push the pace a bit more. The gag-meter is redlining. I force myself to lower the effort, as I know I would have to make a full stop to toss my cookies. The gagging feeling stays with me. One younger runner passes me as we make the turn into the parking lot where the finish is. I tell him to "bring it home." He thanks me. I increase the effort for I do not want anyone else to pass me, not this close to the chute, 6:01 (6:12 pace). 32:55 by my watch, 32:57 official tag time.
I am quite happy with the result. It shows that I am not as slow as I think I am.
The food provided at this event is the BEST I have ever seen. Pizza from BJ, brownies from ClaimJumper, salads from Cali-Pizza Kitchen, breakfast tacos, smoothies from Jamba Juice, and more!!
A 12-year old beat me by more than FIVE minutes!!! He ran 27:43 (5:36 pace)... Amazing...
Have a nice week!!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
One Good Run
I have been hesitant to post a goal for Boston. And my ol' legs just don't seem to have the same pizazz they once seemed to have. I went so far as to join the Boston sub-3:10 thread at runners world. But then the sysop changed the look and feel of their forums. And magically, there was no record that I had ever boasted I could run sun 3:10; I mean, I had a hard time running a sub 3:18 in 2006 on much younger and readier legs; what on earth was I thinking? On top of that I am not following ANY structured plan; I am just trying to get at least two quality runs and sustain the weekly [read weakly] mileage in the 50s.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. I had 15 on the menu. 8 mpm seemed about right, but I would not worry too much if I ended up 20-30 seconds per mile slower. I started a bit fast [for me] as it was a bit cool and windy. I had a tailwind for the first 1.7 miles, then as I entered the man-made channel the wind was suddenly on my face. Not too strong but it kept me honest [whatever that means]. My stride felt fluid and quick. I hit the three mile mark in 24:15. Can I sustain this pace? Even with a headwind?
The bike trail is clearly marked every quarter-mile. And I notice that the pace is getting a tiny bit faster. Next three mile segment is completed in 23:28, or 7:52 pace. WTF? I am dreaming or what? I also feel really strong. I kept on wishing I felt like this during race efforts.
On the next quarter I check my watch and I am now running 7:40 pace. And this with a headwind. That means that I should be able to run 7:20s on the way back. I hit the hairpin turn and now the headwind is a tailwind. Nice. In an effort to drop the pace to 7:20s I notice I am working a bit harder. This three-mile segment is run at 7:30 average pace, 22:30.
Then the unthinkable happened. The notion of working harder went away and my breathing was as relaxed and even as it has ever been. My pace dropped to 7:10s. It was short of amazing. Where was this coming from? Two days earlier I had to cut a tempo run short as I could barely survive three miles in just under 21 minutes. Penultimate three-mile segment, 21:34 [7:11 pace]. The runner's high was just beginning. I exit the bike trail with a low 7 mpm pace. And I hit a headwind. No matter. I am on a natural high. One mile to go. My left knee ached a bit but not enough to slow down. I finished the last segment in 21:05, almost the same pace as my tempo run two days ago. 1:52.52, roughly 7:31 pace. Needless to say I was on cloud nine :-)
So what? I had ONE great run... what does this mean in the bigger scheme of life? It means I will go for a sub 3:15, which would qualify me for London 2010. Incidently, I signed up for Berlin 2009 and will sign up for NYCM 2009 [as I already have a qualifier].
I leave you all with a picture from the Surf City Marathon. Happy running.
Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. I had 15 on the menu. 8 mpm seemed about right, but I would not worry too much if I ended up 20-30 seconds per mile slower. I started a bit fast [for me] as it was a bit cool and windy. I had a tailwind for the first 1.7 miles, then as I entered the man-made channel the wind was suddenly on my face. Not too strong but it kept me honest [whatever that means]. My stride felt fluid and quick. I hit the three mile mark in 24:15. Can I sustain this pace? Even with a headwind?
The bike trail is clearly marked every quarter-mile. And I notice that the pace is getting a tiny bit faster. Next three mile segment is completed in 23:28, or 7:52 pace. WTF? I am dreaming or what? I also feel really strong. I kept on wishing I felt like this during race efforts.
On the next quarter I check my watch and I am now running 7:40 pace. And this with a headwind. That means that I should be able to run 7:20s on the way back. I hit the hairpin turn and now the headwind is a tailwind. Nice. In an effort to drop the pace to 7:20s I notice I am working a bit harder. This three-mile segment is run at 7:30 average pace, 22:30.
Then the unthinkable happened. The notion of working harder went away and my breathing was as relaxed and even as it has ever been. My pace dropped to 7:10s. It was short of amazing. Where was this coming from? Two days earlier I had to cut a tempo run short as I could barely survive three miles in just under 21 minutes. Penultimate three-mile segment, 21:34 [7:11 pace]. The runner's high was just beginning. I exit the bike trail with a low 7 mpm pace. And I hit a headwind. No matter. I am on a natural high. One mile to go. My left knee ached a bit but not enough to slow down. I finished the last segment in 21:05, almost the same pace as my tempo run two days ago. 1:52.52, roughly 7:31 pace. Needless to say I was on cloud nine :-)
So what? I had ONE great run... what does this mean in the bigger scheme of life? It means I will go for a sub 3:15, which would qualify me for London 2010. Incidently, I signed up for Berlin 2009 and will sign up for NYCM 2009 [as I already have a qualifier].
I leave you all with a picture from the Surf City Marathon. Happy running.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Pacing 3:30 Surf City Marathon Runners
I was feeling a bit anxious as this was my first attempt at pacing. This time it was not about me; it was about those runners who wanted to tag along and run 3:30 or as close to it as possible.
My ride had Frank (a team member who was carpooling and who was pacing the 4:10 group) and I a bit nervous as the cars did not seem to move and it was already 6:30. We were a little less than a mile from the start. Marathon was to start at 6:50. I asked Frank if we should start jogging to the start and he said yes. On our way there we had to make a pit stop. We left that pit stop with about three minutes to go. We could hear the Anthem being sung. As we approached the start, we hear that the wheelchairs are given the green light. I wish Frank good luck and I head to meet the other 3:30 pacer... with only 30 seconds to spare.
Right away the pace felt surprisingly easy. I tried to maintain an 8 mpm pace. At 10 miles I was a bit ahead with 24 seconds banked. At twelve my feet started feeling tired (wore shoes w/ 250 miles on them) and my left knee was bugging me. At this point I was about 10 seconds behind the other 330 pacer. Then at 13, this kid tells me that he intends to run with me for the rest of the race. He was a god-sent savior as my mind was beginning to struggle (I have only ran longish once since the NYCM - 17 miles at 8:24 pace). Travis and I hit 20 miles in 2:39.43 or 17 seconds ahead of the intended pace.
I just stayed with him and finally around mile 21 I was given a zip-lock with orange wedges that did the trick. I felt renewed. I had taken three hammer gels at 5, 12 and 18.5. So nutrition-wise I was fine. Maybe the high humidity in the first half dehydrated me too much.
In the latter miles, the other pacer and I encouraged two runners to pick it up as they looked strong. We ended up finishing in 3:29:54. Not too bad says I.
It felt really good to have been able to "help" two runners achieve PRs and to encourage Travis as he was fading at the end. Would do it again in a heartbeat. One negative was the misplacement of mile markers. They threw me off a couple of times, but was able to adjust.
I must note that running a marathon is so much easier on the mind as on the body; racing is tough, really tough.
Temps were cool and foggy during the first twelve miles and they warmed up a bit after 13. 50F/82% at 6:50, and 60F/53% at 10:20.
My ride had Frank (a team member who was carpooling and who was pacing the 4:10 group) and I a bit nervous as the cars did not seem to move and it was already 6:30. We were a little less than a mile from the start. Marathon was to start at 6:50. I asked Frank if we should start jogging to the start and he said yes. On our way there we had to make a pit stop. We left that pit stop with about three minutes to go. We could hear the Anthem being sung. As we approached the start, we hear that the wheelchairs are given the green light. I wish Frank good luck and I head to meet the other 3:30 pacer... with only 30 seconds to spare.
Right away the pace felt surprisingly easy. I tried to maintain an 8 mpm pace. At 10 miles I was a bit ahead with 24 seconds banked. At twelve my feet started feeling tired (wore shoes w/ 250 miles on them) and my left knee was bugging me. At this point I was about 10 seconds behind the other 330 pacer. Then at 13, this kid tells me that he intends to run with me for the rest of the race. He was a god-sent savior as my mind was beginning to struggle (I have only ran longish once since the NYCM - 17 miles at 8:24 pace). Travis and I hit 20 miles in 2:39.43 or 17 seconds ahead of the intended pace.
I just stayed with him and finally around mile 21 I was given a zip-lock with orange wedges that did the trick. I felt renewed. I had taken three hammer gels at 5, 12 and 18.5. So nutrition-wise I was fine. Maybe the high humidity in the first half dehydrated me too much.
In the latter miles, the other pacer and I encouraged two runners to pick it up as they looked strong. We ended up finishing in 3:29:54. Not too bad says I.
It felt really good to have been able to "help" two runners achieve PRs and to encourage Travis as he was fading at the end. Would do it again in a heartbeat. One negative was the misplacement of mile markers. They threw me off a couple of times, but was able to adjust.
I must note that running a marathon is so much easier on the mind as on the body; racing is tough, really tough.
Temps were cool and foggy during the first twelve miles and they warmed up a bit after 13. 50F/82% at 6:50, and 60F/53% at 10:20.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
SoCa Half Mary
I signed up for this race mainly because it was relatively inexpensive, $34 (a $4 club discount included). It also took place about 30 miles from home.
I got there about 40 minutes early. A brisk jog later, I pick up my bib and a sucky cotton T-shirt. Still warming up, I head back to the car to drop off my warm-ups and the "goodies." I then jog to the start with about 10 minutes to spare... enough time to stretch very tight hip flexors and piriformis. I line up very close to the front; maybe about three rows back.
The MC lets the sole wheelchair participant take off first. Two minutes later it is our turn. It's a bit crowded but I welcome it as I don't want to go out to fast. Mile 1 in 6:52. My A goal was to run sub-1:30; B is to average 7 mpm, and C a very conservative 7:15 pace.
The course is billed as flat and fast. It may be flat, but the several turns "cost" me at least 15 seconds. The Santaanas are strong and screw up my planned even-pacing. At one point a monster gust hits us and I just let go; I almost stopped altogether and walked; I did manage a jog. This female runner who had been trading places with me back-and-forth says something, but I can not discern it. I just uttered that I hated the wind.
This runner seemed to have targeted me as someone she was not going to allow to get ahead of her. Really. She would pass me, breathing rather heavily- like one would breathe when running a short tempo. Then she would fade and I'd be forced to pass her as I did not want to draft off of her. Then a couple of minutes later, she would pass me again. I was more amused than anything else. Finally around six miles, while we were running on a bike trail (more than 80% of the race took place here) I dropped her during a mild incline. Clearly she was running a bit too fast for her current fitness. She would finish about 2:30 behind me.
By eight miles I was really tired, particularly my arms. I just tried to hang on. After this mark more runners passed me than I was able to reel. I was trying really hard to catch up to a bare-foot runner (I got as close as 20 meters) but he slowly gained distance.
It's now the last mile and I am hanging on to this one guy. I am hurting as much as I have hurt in a half. I hang on though. We are now running on the sidewalk. It's the home stretch. We make one final turn and the finish banner is there. The guy in front of me picks it up; I follow through. Now he really guns it. I finish just a second or two behind him. Oddly, the official results have him seven seconds ahead of me. No matter. He helped me push myself at a point where I was running on fumes.
Five meters into the chute, I get really nauseous and I thought I was going to toss my cookies. Final time: 1:31:01. Sweet. I am pleased with the effort as I came to this race without tapering. I give myself a solid B+.
Splitville: 6:52, 7:02, 6:52, 6:37, 7:12, 14:01 (6&7), 6:56, 6:53, 7:05 [1:09:29], 7:12, 7:02, 7:16 for the last 1.1
Nice way to start the 2009 year...
Happy running!
I got there about 40 minutes early. A brisk jog later, I pick up my bib and a sucky cotton T-shirt. Still warming up, I head back to the car to drop off my warm-ups and the "goodies." I then jog to the start with about 10 minutes to spare... enough time to stretch very tight hip flexors and piriformis. I line up very close to the front; maybe about three rows back.
The MC lets the sole wheelchair participant take off first. Two minutes later it is our turn. It's a bit crowded but I welcome it as I don't want to go out to fast. Mile 1 in 6:52. My A goal was to run sub-1:30; B is to average 7 mpm, and C a very conservative 7:15 pace.
The course is billed as flat and fast. It may be flat, but the several turns "cost" me at least 15 seconds. The Santaanas are strong and screw up my planned even-pacing. At one point a monster gust hits us and I just let go; I almost stopped altogether and walked; I did manage a jog. This female runner who had been trading places with me back-and-forth says something, but I can not discern it. I just uttered that I hated the wind.
This runner seemed to have targeted me as someone she was not going to allow to get ahead of her. Really. She would pass me, breathing rather heavily- like one would breathe when running a short tempo. Then she would fade and I'd be forced to pass her as I did not want to draft off of her. Then a couple of minutes later, she would pass me again. I was more amused than anything else. Finally around six miles, while we were running on a bike trail (more than 80% of the race took place here) I dropped her during a mild incline. Clearly she was running a bit too fast for her current fitness. She would finish about 2:30 behind me.
By eight miles I was really tired, particularly my arms. I just tried to hang on. After this mark more runners passed me than I was able to reel. I was trying really hard to catch up to a bare-foot runner (I got as close as 20 meters) but he slowly gained distance.
It's now the last mile and I am hanging on to this one guy. I am hurting as much as I have hurt in a half. I hang on though. We are now running on the sidewalk. It's the home stretch. We make one final turn and the finish banner is there. The guy in front of me picks it up; I follow through. Now he really guns it. I finish just a second or two behind him. Oddly, the official results have him seven seconds ahead of me. No matter. He helped me push myself at a point where I was running on fumes.
Five meters into the chute, I get really nauseous and I thought I was going to toss my cookies. Final time: 1:31:01. Sweet. I am pleased with the effort as I came to this race without tapering. I give myself a solid B+.
Splitville: 6:52, 7:02, 6:52, 6:37, 7:12, 14:01 (6&7), 6:56, 6:53, 7:05 [1:09:29], 7:12, 7:02, 7:16 for the last 1.1
Nice way to start the 2009 year...
Happy running!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Purple Rain
Happy holidays you all...
Today was raining. The astute runner that I am, I checked radar pictures to figure out a good time to run and not get soaked. At 2:30PM, the sky cleared and I knew I had to take advantage of the gap. Alas, by the time I was ready the sky was overcast.
I took off without really fearing the impending rain. The pace was aerobic, easy on the legs.
Two days before I had had a wonderful run where I turned it into a fartlek. In that run, I pushed the effort on a couple of challenging hills; I accelerated a quarter, then a half (after a recovery slog)... I was feeling great, even after the half-mile pick-up wearing me down. I recovered with a 7:25 mile. Yeah, I know; that is very close to my GMP. The icing on the cake for this run was the last mile where I accelerated two blocks, jogged one (these blocks are small); I ended up with 7 pick ups and the final split was a 6:50. Needless to say I was very pleased with the result.
The following day was wisely slotted as a recovery run. But no matter how slow I tried running, the pace ended up averaging 8:15. Not fast, mind you, but much faster than the 8:45s I wanted.
Back to today. As I enter the Rio Hondo River, I feel a strong headwind (I guesstimate 11 mph) and my legs are feeling tired as if they were climbing a not-too-steep hill. Not to mention that I was drenched by this time. I stopped worrying about where my foot would land as the shoes were already soaked. I turn around and now I have a tailwind, but I take it easy. I am thoroughly enjoying the rain. I exit the man-made channel and hit local streets. The few stragglers look at me as if I am nuts. I am averaging 8:30s. One more mile... now half a mile left. I decide to do four accelerations. My knees push forward driving with a force I did not know they had. The muscles on my legs contort into shapes seen only in elite runners. I finish this mile in a not-too-shabby 7:39. Totally wet. And with a big goofy smile on my face. Life is good. Indeed.
[Today's mileage puts me at 1972. I should break 2000 by Monday. Yup, another 2K year for me.]
Last, but not least, may you all have a happy and prosperous new year.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Soccer Players
What is it about former soccer players being such speedy runners? I'll tell you what "I" think is the reason: drills, drills, drills. Maybe Seebo or Tom can answer this question as they are both former soccer players and both can run 5Ks in the 16s. As for me, I tried out numerous times when I was a kid to make a team with no success; I just sucked at all sports, period. I was one of those kids who was picked either last or next-to-last.
This reminds me of an incident a few years back, when I felt I was in good aerobic shape; I was asked to play an informal game of soccer. And while I was able to run back and forth in our smaller than regulation playground, I endured soreness for the next three days... ouch.
The reason I bring up soccer is that yesterday while running in ovals on my local dirt track, a soccer game was going on. The players were teens. From time to time I would peek to check out a play. At one point, the ball exited in front of me and the kid who had kicked it out had it in his hands. One of the other team's players stretched his left arm for the ball. The kid with the ball tosses the ball away from the other boy. I was flabbergasted. No, I was pissed. I felt like cornering that insolent kid and lecturing him to boredom what it means to be sportsman-like. Alas, his coach did not seem to share my view as the kid continue to play sans being "educated."
Then I notice that this other kid, who had been playing basketball appears to be racing me. I did not notice this until he had stopped. But on the next quarter, his brother (about two years younger) is ready to race me, so I say: bring it on. I sprint as hard as I can and I manage a small lead on the boy, but I am hurting. I expected him to fade quickly as I was going all out and he is staying put. Damn, he is going to beat me. I taunt him by saying that he is not about to let this ol' guy beat him. Finally he stops (after about 150 meters) and I am so grateful as my lungs and legs are totally exhausted. I am heaving and puffing as I try to recover and the oldest boy wants to race me again, this time with me being aware. So I try to sprint again but he gets in front of me and I cannot pass him. I yell at him to move over as I want to pass him. Obviously I should have gone around him, but I was still hurting from the previous sprint and I needed the inside all to myself :-) He promptly cedes way and slows down. I continue the quarter at a crawl and meet the family again. This time it is a ~seven year-old who wants to challenge a man who could be his grandfather. He immediately gets in front of me. I pretend to go all out but stay just behind him. I start to exaggerate my breathing to let him know that I am "working." He stops and I go over to congratulate him on beating me :-)
The run ended up lasting for six miles and even though it averaged only 8:06 pace, it took me a couple of hours to get over that nauseous feeling you get when you overexert yourself. That sprint really did me in; I am just glad I did not get injured.
Have a wonderful week!
This reminds me of an incident a few years back, when I felt I was in good aerobic shape; I was asked to play an informal game of soccer. And while I was able to run back and forth in our smaller than regulation playground, I endured soreness for the next three days... ouch.
The reason I bring up soccer is that yesterday while running in ovals on my local dirt track, a soccer game was going on. The players were teens. From time to time I would peek to check out a play. At one point, the ball exited in front of me and the kid who had kicked it out had it in his hands. One of the other team's players stretched his left arm for the ball. The kid with the ball tosses the ball away from the other boy. I was flabbergasted. No, I was pissed. I felt like cornering that insolent kid and lecturing him to boredom what it means to be sportsman-like. Alas, his coach did not seem to share my view as the kid continue to play sans being "educated."
Then I notice that this other kid, who had been playing basketball appears to be racing me. I did not notice this until he had stopped. But on the next quarter, his brother (about two years younger) is ready to race me, so I say: bring it on. I sprint as hard as I can and I manage a small lead on the boy, but I am hurting. I expected him to fade quickly as I was going all out and he is staying put. Damn, he is going to beat me. I taunt him by saying that he is not about to let this ol' guy beat him. Finally he stops (after about 150 meters) and I am so grateful as my lungs and legs are totally exhausted. I am heaving and puffing as I try to recover and the oldest boy wants to race me again, this time with me being aware. So I try to sprint again but he gets in front of me and I cannot pass him. I yell at him to move over as I want to pass him. Obviously I should have gone around him, but I was still hurting from the previous sprint and I needed the inside all to myself :-) He promptly cedes way and slows down. I continue the quarter at a crawl and meet the family again. This time it is a ~seven year-old who wants to challenge a man who could be his grandfather. He immediately gets in front of me. I pretend to go all out but stay just behind him. I start to exaggerate my breathing to let him know that I am "working." He stops and I go over to congratulate him on beating me :-)
The run ended up lasting for six miles and even though it averaged only 8:06 pace, it took me a couple of hours to get over that nauseous feeling you get when you overexert yourself. That sprint really did me in; I am just glad I did not get injured.
Have a wonderful week!
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Spirit and Wounded Knee
I finally got to watch Spirit of the Marathon. As many of you know, it takes place in 2005 and culminates in the Chicago marathon. The docu-movie was quite enjoyable. It was heartbreaking to see Njenga finish third, but that's life in the elite's world.
Now, I happened to have been there as a participant and on my second viewing of the movie (not having been able to spot me the first time) I decided to freeze the screen a few seconds after the start of the race. Wham! I am there, right in the middle. Kind a cool [what a running nerd I am].
OAN, my left knee, the one that ached a couple of times during the NYCM, continues to bug me. The pain is rather dull but noticeable. So I decided to use a brand new pair of running shoes for yesterday's run. Lo and behold, no pain... at least in my knee. Alas, my left plantar was flaring up for the first couple of miles. The shoes I have been wearing (both pairs in the low 100-mile usage) seemed to be the reason. Or so I thought. Later on in the evening, while laying on my bed, the knee started aching; same kind of dull pain I had been feeling during my runs.
I began massaging the usual suspects for tender-spots (i.e. the ITB, Vastus medialis, the top of the gastrocnemius) and nothing discernible. Hmmm. Looking up at the symptoms of knee ailments narrowed it down to ITB Syndrome. But the core of the band seemed okay; until I followed it to where it connects to the knee. Yup; there it was: tender to pressure. I concluded that I have a mild case of ITBS. Oh well; I am glad it doesn't appear serious.
I will have to run easy for the next few weeks... it is what it is :-\
Cheers!
Now, I happened to have been there as a participant and on my second viewing of the movie (not having been able to spot me the first time) I decided to freeze the screen a few seconds after the start of the race. Wham! I am there, right in the middle. Kind a cool [what a running nerd I am].
OAN, my left knee, the one that ached a couple of times during the NYCM, continues to bug me. The pain is rather dull but noticeable. So I decided to use a brand new pair of running shoes for yesterday's run. Lo and behold, no pain... at least in my knee. Alas, my left plantar was flaring up for the first couple of miles. The shoes I have been wearing (both pairs in the low 100-mile usage) seemed to be the reason. Or so I thought. Later on in the evening, while laying on my bed, the knee started aching; same kind of dull pain I had been feeling during my runs.
I began massaging the usual suspects for tender-spots (i.e. the ITB, Vastus medialis, the top of the gastrocnemius) and nothing discernible. Hmmm. Looking up at the symptoms of knee ailments narrowed it down to ITB Syndrome. But the core of the band seemed okay; until I followed it to where it connects to the knee. Yup; there it was: tender to pressure. I concluded that I have a mild case of ITBS. Oh well; I am glad it doesn't appear serious.
I will have to run easy for the next few weeks... it is what it is :-\
Cheers!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Snail
Because I committed to pace the 3:30 runners on Superbowl Sunday on behalf of the "A Snail's Pace Club" it only made sense to become a member. And I did.
Sunday last, I joined five other members for a run and it was quite enjoyable. It's no wonder that running with others makes a huge difference.
Yesterday I had one of those days where I felt amazing pounding the asphalt. My legs had that magical spring and my lungs seemed to have an excess of oxygen. I went out easy and by the end of the first mile I knew I had to take advantage of the euphoria my legs and lungs were feeling. My stride lengthen naturally little by little and the run ended up being a progression run. Splits: 8:37, 7:57, 7:52, 7:40, 7:23, 7:19 and (drum roll please) 6:49. I had not run a final mile this fast during a training run in ages (I used to consistently do it in another life). The runner's high stayed with me well into the night. I just wish I felt like this during a race :-) Or have more of these runs at the very least...
Last but not least, my love for the theater can only be surpassed by traveling. About 10 days ago I went to the theater to see By the Waters of Babylon starring non-other than Demian Bichir of Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas and Weeds fame. I definitely enjoyed the story as well as Demian's acting. But Shannon Cochran was short of perfect. She played her role so well she almost made me cry. At the end, I stayed behind to steal Demian's John Hancock. I should note that I am not normally star struck; I guess in this instance is that I have liked Demian's acting since I first saw him in one of those cheesy Mexican soap-operas.
Have a great week!
Sunday last, I joined five other members for a run and it was quite enjoyable. It's no wonder that running with others makes a huge difference.
Yesterday I had one of those days where I felt amazing pounding the asphalt. My legs had that magical spring and my lungs seemed to have an excess of oxygen. I went out easy and by the end of the first mile I knew I had to take advantage of the euphoria my legs and lungs were feeling. My stride lengthen naturally little by little and the run ended up being a progression run. Splits: 8:37, 7:57, 7:52, 7:40, 7:23, 7:19 and (drum roll please) 6:49. I had not run a final mile this fast during a training run in ages (I used to consistently do it in another life). The runner's high stayed with me well into the night. I just wish I felt like this during a race :-) Or have more of these runs at the very least...
Last but not least, my love for the theater can only be surpassed by traveling. About 10 days ago I went to the theater to see By the Waters of Babylon starring non-other than Demian Bichir of Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas and Weeds fame. I definitely enjoyed the story as well as Demian's acting. But Shannon Cochran was short of perfect. She played her role so well she almost made me cry. At the end, I stayed behind to steal Demian's John Hancock. I should note that I am not normally star struck; I guess in this instance is that I have liked Demian's acting since I first saw him in one of those cheesy Mexican soap-operas.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
2009 Committments
I have committed to pace the 3:30 group, Surf City Marathon on Feb 1, 2009.
I have also signed up for the 113th running of the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2009. Six days later, I am supposed to toe the line at the Big Sur Marathon; I know, stupid is as stupid does.
Cheerios,
A
I have also signed up for the 113th running of the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2009. Six days later, I am supposed to toe the line at the Big Sur Marathon; I know, stupid is as stupid does.
Cheerios,
A
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Finally
PRELUDE
The merging of the three starts was approaching quickly. Mile 8 was a disappointment as I did not feel I had slowed down the effort, 7:48. This split did not bode well. I pick up the effort a bit, mile 9, 7:41. Damn. It is just not clicking. MP effort is there, not so the pace. I make one last push knowing full well that too much push can be disastrous in the latter stages of the race. Mile 10, 7:10. Huh? It sure did not feel “that” fast. Maybe a misplaced marker? [1:16:37] Well within goal.
I think it was in this mile where I went by the Hasidic neighborhood. A Hasidic Jew wants to cross the street but there are so many runners out there. He starts running diagonally, wisely avoiding runners. A couple of runners behind me found him to be funny as he was in his customary outfit and carrying a briefcase as well and could not stop laughing; I did not think it was funny at all; on the contrary, I thought it was very thoughtful of the man as I know how opposed to the marathon the Hasidic neighborhood is. Mile 11, 7:41. It was right here that I knew I was NOT going to meet my goal; I was going to keep on trying though. Mile 12, 7:28. Damn rolling hills had me second-guessing my eventual “failure.” Mile 13, 7:34. Halfway split, 1:39:11. Hmmm, I can still go sub-3:20 if I can achieve a no-worse-than 90 seconds positive split. Ah, but I the fade was waiting for me; I was just hoping it’d be a gentle fade.
In previous NYCMs I was done by the Pulaski Bridge. Not so this time. But it was not rosy as my left knee began to ache. Now that I think about it, I consciously slowed down the pace to prevent a full-blown injury. Mile 14, 7:37. Mile 15, 7:44 [1:53:42]. Yup, it was the knee. Thankfully the pain went away. The Queensboro Bridge was in my sights- a humbler of men and women. Mile 16, 7:51. If I can hold a 7:45 average for the next ten miles I’ll make my goal. Definitely doable.
Mile 17 aided by the downhill and the crowds on First Avenue is clocked in 7:29. A bit disappointing considering that it was downhill. Then the aguish began. It was harder to sustain the turnover needed for 7:30s. At mile 18 the knee pain came back, 7:41. By the mile 19 marker my knee felt fine, 7:52. I am fading steadily. Right after this marker I see the Reservoir Dogs Running club and Elyssa ready to snap a photograph. I start yelling at her: where is my cookie, where is my cookie? She was too focused on capturing a teammate of hers and did not hear me even though I almost ran her over. :-)
Time to cross into the Bronx. A runner behind me slips. A friend of his quickly goes to help him get up. Mile 20, 8:09 [2:32:42]. Time to kiss my goal goodbye; time to steal a decent time from the race that owns me; time to rise to the occasion and keep those mile splits as close to eight as possible. I cross the gentlest Bridge of them all, mile 21, 8:11. I am now back in Manhattan. A few quick turns and I can see the empire state building. The crowds have not stopped being supportive. Mile 22, 8:10. I guess I had been favoring my left leg as my right piriformis started to stiffen up. It’s all guts from here. My legs are done. Finito. I start using my arms; they are now doing most of the work. Mile 23, 8:03. The crowds create a funnel and my tired mind and body make me feel annoyed at them; so selfish of me. I toss my gloves. Mile 24, 8:16, ouch. The pace is supposed to feel easy but it is taking enormous amounts of energy. I turn into Central Park. 2.2 miles to go. Piriformis is still quite stiff. I am in deep concentration; I barely notice the crowds. Mile 25, 8:01. Time to exit the park and hit CP South. I actually feel as if I am racing. I pass dozens of fading runners. I reach Columbus Circle in pain but knowing that the end is near. Mile 26 shows that I really was spent, 7:43. I make an effort to break 3:25 on the clock and the last segment split is 1:32 [3:22:38].
I cross the finish line really tired but knowing that I gave it my best shot on a windy day. To be fair, I drafted off other runners for the first 16 miles. Then I braved the cross winds. But really, the wind was not a factor in my not meeting my goal. It was the knee. Fortunately, I am feeling fine today.
I am pleased with the outcome in spite of not meeting my sub-3:20 goal. It was an 18-minute course best after all.
While watching the online taping of the race, I can be seen walking visibly fatigued while Miss America 2008 was being interviewed.
Oh---and on Monday, while having lunch at a bench in CP, I saw Howard Stern jogging with his trainer. I should keep tabs of ALL the celebrities I have seen.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading… if not, thank you for stopping by.
Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind. (Leonardo da Vinci)
Marathon “weekend” started well enough. I was to take the late red-eye to JFK on Thursday. When I checked on Wednesday my itinerary had changed. The flight I was on was gone; I was re-booked in the earlier red-eye. That meant that my “new” flight might be oversold. I should note that I have learned to dislike red-eyes and the chance of avoiding one during this critical race made it all the more appealing to “volunteer” to fly the following morning.
Sure enough, United was asking for volunteers. I jumped at the chance. I asked the clerk if he could upgrade me as well. He said to take the upgrade or an upcoming free flight. I went for the free flight. He re-booked me for the 8:20AM flight and I notice the seat-number is rather low. Business class maybe? I was also given meal and hotel vouchers. Not bad, huh?
I ended up sleeping a peaceful six hours or so. The hotel shuttle dropped me off an hour before the plane was to take off. I noticed that my ticket did not have a group number so I lined up with the vips. It was a business ticket after all!!! Man, oh man can I get used to flying this way. The flight went by so quick! Kevin Bacon was in my flight; yet another celebrity I have seen.
I “quickly” made my way to the Javits convention center to get my bib. The place was not crowded at all at that time, 6:30PM. I then went to my hotel by LGA. I know it was quite a way from the action but I have to watch my expenses.
I ended up sleeping 10 hours that night. After coffee I showered and went to Manhattan. Walked for a bit around times square then made my way to 72nd Street and CP West and kicked it for a while. I then realized I could go kick it by Tavern on the Green, the finish of the NYCM. As I am getting close to the already enacted finish banner I notice a running clock and it reads 3:18:XX… Was that an omen? I thought so. Things were looking up indeed. While kicking it, who runs by but the speedster Ryan Hall. Then Mary showed up to do a rehearsal of the awards ceremony. I was going to stay put but I was getting bored so I decided to visit Columbia U. That burn up some time and went back to Tavern on the Green to carbo load. I met some nice folks from Great Britain and learned that I can get a guaranteed entry to the London marathon if I can run a sub-3:15. This means I may have to travel to Tucson and make an attempt next month.
I finished rather quickly and I bid goodbye to my temporary friends. Hit the sack relatively early. I woke up at 5AM, having slept seven hours. My body and mind felt well rested. The weather was to be marathon perfect. Niiccceee!
I chose Royal blue for the top and light grey shorts. I had struggled the week before on which shoes to wear. Supernova classics have been good to me in marathons; but the ones I had broke in seemed too stiff, no energy-return whatsoever. The other shoes I considered were air-max nikes as they had what felt great energy return. I settled on the tried and true, supernovas.
It was really cold for this so-Cal boy. I am glad I took the ferry as this meant I only had to spend an hour or so in Staten Island. I was just about to take off my warm-ups when it was announced that wave one was closed. It did not take me too long to take a couple of puffs of albuterol and to drop my bag off at the UPS truck. It was 9:10AM. There were still 30 minutes to wait. The wait seemed long. Guys were peeing wherever they could, without remorse. It felt windy and colder than it was.
THE RACE
I felt good. I had a plan. The horizon looked bright.
The cannon sounds and we’re off, or rather we start moving. It would take me a couple of minutes to cross the start. I did not want to run the first mile too fast; or too slow. The wind was strong but I tucked in behind other runners. Mile one, 8:28. Time for the downhill, 7:08. Great. So far, so good. I enter Brooklyn and could not be more excited. Mile three had me already at MP, 7:24. Mile four is flat and somehow I slowed down a bit, 7:34. Mile five is an identical split, 7:34; the road is still flat [38:10]. The crowds are out in full force. Oh no. The 3:30s form a human wall and “threaten” to hold me back. I run on the median and sprint past them. How do you like me now? :-) Mile 6, 7:20. Mile seven, 7:27. Perfect, right where I want to be.
Sure enough, United was asking for volunteers. I jumped at the chance. I asked the clerk if he could upgrade me as well. He said to take the upgrade or an upcoming free flight. I went for the free flight. He re-booked me for the 8:20AM flight and I notice the seat-number is rather low. Business class maybe? I was also given meal and hotel vouchers. Not bad, huh?
I ended up sleeping a peaceful six hours or so. The hotel shuttle dropped me off an hour before the plane was to take off. I noticed that my ticket did not have a group number so I lined up with the vips. It was a business ticket after all!!! Man, oh man can I get used to flying this way. The flight went by so quick! Kevin Bacon was in my flight; yet another celebrity I have seen.
I “quickly” made my way to the Javits convention center to get my bib. The place was not crowded at all at that time, 6:30PM. I then went to my hotel by LGA. I know it was quite a way from the action but I have to watch my expenses.
I ended up sleeping 10 hours that night. After coffee I showered and went to Manhattan. Walked for a bit around times square then made my way to 72nd Street and CP West and kicked it for a while. I then realized I could go kick it by Tavern on the Green, the finish of the NYCM. As I am getting close to the already enacted finish banner I notice a running clock and it reads 3:18:XX… Was that an omen? I thought so. Things were looking up indeed. While kicking it, who runs by but the speedster Ryan Hall. Then Mary showed up to do a rehearsal of the awards ceremony. I was going to stay put but I was getting bored so I decided to visit Columbia U. That burn up some time and went back to Tavern on the Green to carbo load. I met some nice folks from Great Britain and learned that I can get a guaranteed entry to the London marathon if I can run a sub-3:15. This means I may have to travel to Tucson and make an attempt next month.
I finished rather quickly and I bid goodbye to my temporary friends. Hit the sack relatively early. I woke up at 5AM, having slept seven hours. My body and mind felt well rested. The weather was to be marathon perfect. Niiccceee!
I chose Royal blue for the top and light grey shorts. I had struggled the week before on which shoes to wear. Supernova classics have been good to me in marathons; but the ones I had broke in seemed too stiff, no energy-return whatsoever. The other shoes I considered were air-max nikes as they had what felt great energy return. I settled on the tried and true, supernovas.
It was really cold for this so-Cal boy. I am glad I took the ferry as this meant I only had to spend an hour or so in Staten Island. I was just about to take off my warm-ups when it was announced that wave one was closed. It did not take me too long to take a couple of puffs of albuterol and to drop my bag off at the UPS truck. It was 9:10AM. There were still 30 minutes to wait. The wait seemed long. Guys were peeing wherever they could, without remorse. It felt windy and colder than it was.
THE RACE
I felt good. I had a plan. The horizon looked bright.
The merging of the three starts was approaching quickly. Mile 8 was a disappointment as I did not feel I had slowed down the effort, 7:48. This split did not bode well. I pick up the effort a bit, mile 9, 7:41. Damn. It is just not clicking. MP effort is there, not so the pace. I make one last push knowing full well that too much push can be disastrous in the latter stages of the race. Mile 10, 7:10. Huh? It sure did not feel “that” fast. Maybe a misplaced marker? [1:16:37] Well within goal.
I think it was in this mile where I went by the Hasidic neighborhood. A Hasidic Jew wants to cross the street but there are so many runners out there. He starts running diagonally, wisely avoiding runners. A couple of runners behind me found him to be funny as he was in his customary outfit and carrying a briefcase as well and could not stop laughing; I did not think it was funny at all; on the contrary, I thought it was very thoughtful of the man as I know how opposed to the marathon the Hasidic neighborhood is. Mile 11, 7:41. It was right here that I knew I was NOT going to meet my goal; I was going to keep on trying though. Mile 12, 7:28. Damn rolling hills had me second-guessing my eventual “failure.” Mile 13, 7:34. Halfway split, 1:39:11. Hmmm, I can still go sub-3:20 if I can achieve a no-worse-than 90 seconds positive split. Ah, but I the fade was waiting for me; I was just hoping it’d be a gentle fade.
In previous NYCMs I was done by the Pulaski Bridge. Not so this time. But it was not rosy as my left knee began to ache. Now that I think about it, I consciously slowed down the pace to prevent a full-blown injury. Mile 14, 7:37. Mile 15, 7:44 [1:53:42]. Yup, it was the knee. Thankfully the pain went away. The Queensboro Bridge was in my sights- a humbler of men and women. Mile 16, 7:51. If I can hold a 7:45 average for the next ten miles I’ll make my goal. Definitely doable.
Mile 17 aided by the downhill and the crowds on First Avenue is clocked in 7:29. A bit disappointing considering that it was downhill. Then the aguish began. It was harder to sustain the turnover needed for 7:30s. At mile 18 the knee pain came back, 7:41. By the mile 19 marker my knee felt fine, 7:52. I am fading steadily. Right after this marker I see the Reservoir Dogs Running club and Elyssa ready to snap a photograph. I start yelling at her: where is my cookie, where is my cookie? She was too focused on capturing a teammate of hers and did not hear me even though I almost ran her over. :-)
Time to cross into the Bronx. A runner behind me slips. A friend of his quickly goes to help him get up. Mile 20, 8:09 [2:32:42]. Time to kiss my goal goodbye; time to steal a decent time from the race that owns me; time to rise to the occasion and keep those mile splits as close to eight as possible. I cross the gentlest Bridge of them all, mile 21, 8:11. I am now back in Manhattan. A few quick turns and I can see the empire state building. The crowds have not stopped being supportive. Mile 22, 8:10. I guess I had been favoring my left leg as my right piriformis started to stiffen up. It’s all guts from here. My legs are done. Finito. I start using my arms; they are now doing most of the work. Mile 23, 8:03. The crowds create a funnel and my tired mind and body make me feel annoyed at them; so selfish of me. I toss my gloves. Mile 24, 8:16, ouch. The pace is supposed to feel easy but it is taking enormous amounts of energy. I turn into Central Park. 2.2 miles to go. Piriformis is still quite stiff. I am in deep concentration; I barely notice the crowds. Mile 25, 8:01. Time to exit the park and hit CP South. I actually feel as if I am racing. I pass dozens of fading runners. I reach Columbus Circle in pain but knowing that the end is near. Mile 26 shows that I really was spent, 7:43. I make an effort to break 3:25 on the clock and the last segment split is 1:32 [3:22:38].
I cross the finish line really tired but knowing that I gave it my best shot on a windy day. To be fair, I drafted off other runners for the first 16 miles. Then I braved the cross winds. But really, the wind was not a factor in my not meeting my goal. It was the knee. Fortunately, I am feeling fine today.
I am pleased with the outcome in spite of not meeting my sub-3:20 goal. It was an 18-minute course best after all.
While watching the online taping of the race, I can be seen walking visibly fatigued while Miss America 2008 was being interviewed.
Oh---and on Monday, while having lunch at a bench in CP, I saw Howard Stern jogging with his trainer. I should keep tabs of ALL the celebrities I have seen.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading… if not, thank you for stopping by.
Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind. (Leonardo da Vinci)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
8305
It’s funny. This Sunday past, as I started my planned eight at MP, my breathing was labored, even though I started running at just under 8 mpm pace. You see, I ran around the rosebowl; it’s marked every quarter of a mile. The first quarter was a disappointing 1:58, and I got ready to cut the workout short as I thought I was getting exercise induced asthma. I continued the same effort and I missed the one mile marker. I did get a 1.25-mile split: 9:29, meaning that taking the 1:58 out, I had ran the uphill mile (~2%) in 7:31, or MP. Cool. I went on to complete the loop in 7:18 pace, and the eight miles in 7:19 pace. The effort was a bit harder than I would have liked but it was 80˚F after all (with low humidity). I was pleased but the workout left me totally spent. No matter. My legs felt strong and I felt confident I could break 3:20 at the NYCM.
Then came today. I had three measly miles at MP. Easy right? Right. I warmed up for 2.5 miles and I felt fine (8:30, 8:02, 4:00) with the exception of the two accelerations that had me gasping for air. Damn. I fear I will not have an easy time doing what should be an easy workout. The first MP mile comes in at exactly 7:30, and I don’t feel too bad. Half a mile later I turn back (3:47). Hmm, I need to pick it up slightly to get back to MP. The second mile split reads 7:32. Well within the acceptable margin of error. The next quarter would break my heart in two as I was really struggling to breathe, 1:55. I gave up right then and there. I slowed down to a slog, 2:20 [4:15]. Then I seemed to recover and the next quarter was a more adequate 2:06 [6:21]. It was here that I commanded my legs and arms to go all out on the next quarter, hoping to run a 1:20 and rescue a “lost” mile. I gave it my all; I suspect my form was nonexistent, flailing really. Final split was 7:50. WHAT? I can only run a 90 second quarter? Not only that, my chest was hurting, my breathing was rapid and I had to walk for a few steps. I almost walked the 2.5 miles home. Luckily I convinced my fragile legs to continue at a slog, 9 mpm pace. The positive outcome out of this workout is that I definitely suffer from EIA. At least I have an answer to my less than spectacular workouts. Oh well. Hey, now I can say Paula and I share the same medical condition.
Regardless, I have a race this Sunday and I still intend on meeting my goal. If I do not get an EIS episode during the marathon, I feel confident I can cross the finish line with a big goofy smile.
The plan is rather simple: go out easy and achieve MP by the fifth mile, 38:30. I hope to gain some time in the next five-mile segment, 1:15:30. And chip away a few more seconds in the third five-miler, 1:52:45. The fourth segment will be the critical one, and I expect to do it in 38:00, 2:30:45. The last five-miler should slow me down a bit, 38:30, 3:09:15. If I meet my forecasted splits up to this point, I should be able to run the last 1.2875 mile in less than 10 minutes. We'll see how it goes.
Should you feel like following my anguish, err race, my bib number is 8305. If you add all the digits, you get 16, or 4 squared, my “lucky” number.
Then came today. I had three measly miles at MP. Easy right? Right. I warmed up for 2.5 miles and I felt fine (8:30, 8:02, 4:00) with the exception of the two accelerations that had me gasping for air. Damn. I fear I will not have an easy time doing what should be an easy workout. The first MP mile comes in at exactly 7:30, and I don’t feel too bad. Half a mile later I turn back (3:47). Hmm, I need to pick it up slightly to get back to MP. The second mile split reads 7:32. Well within the acceptable margin of error. The next quarter would break my heart in two as I was really struggling to breathe, 1:55. I gave up right then and there. I slowed down to a slog, 2:20 [4:15]. Then I seemed to recover and the next quarter was a more adequate 2:06 [6:21]. It was here that I commanded my legs and arms to go all out on the next quarter, hoping to run a 1:20 and rescue a “lost” mile. I gave it my all; I suspect my form was nonexistent, flailing really. Final split was 7:50. WHAT? I can only run a 90 second quarter? Not only that, my chest was hurting, my breathing was rapid and I had to walk for a few steps. I almost walked the 2.5 miles home. Luckily I convinced my fragile legs to continue at a slog, 9 mpm pace. The positive outcome out of this workout is that I definitely suffer from EIA. At least I have an answer to my less than spectacular workouts. Oh well. Hey, now I can say Paula and I share the same medical condition.
Regardless, I have a race this Sunday and I still intend on meeting my goal. If I do not get an EIS episode during the marathon, I feel confident I can cross the finish line with a big goofy smile.
The plan is rather simple: go out easy and achieve MP by the fifth mile, 38:30. I hope to gain some time in the next five-mile segment, 1:15:30. And chip away a few more seconds in the third five-miler, 1:52:45. The fourth segment will be the critical one, and I expect to do it in 38:00, 2:30:45. The last five-miler should slow me down a bit, 38:30, 3:09:15. If I meet my forecasted splits up to this point, I should be able to run the last 1.2875 mile in less than 10 minutes. We'll see how it goes.
Should you feel like following my anguish, err race, my bib number is 8305. If you add all the digits, you get 16, or 4 squared, my “lucky” number.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
