Running in the Nation's Capital

2008-09-20T11:04:00.003-05:00

I had illusions of posting a blog about a month ago stating: I'M BACK. It was one of my first "real" runs since the Boston Marathon, and I felt pretty good. It was the start of my training for the Philadelphia Marathon (November 23rd), and I felt that blogging might actually aid in motivating me.

However, as has been the case since the Boston Marathon back in April, I was busy that day and after the run itself, I moved on to working and forgot about blogging. Also, I had a bit of an inkling that I wasn't truly starting to train. I had done one run, and that was it.

Since that time I've managed to sneak in about an average of 3 runs per week, and still don't feel as if I'm training in any sense of the imagination. I've been on the go with work and personal travel since that first run and my workload while I've been home has been more than usual. I just haven't committed to the training process.

This past week I spent in Vancouver, and I wasn't able to log every run I had hoped for. I sacrificed my long run on Saturday, in favor of the idea of going mountain biking. By the time that fell through there wasn't time to pound the pavement for any miles. I was able to run for an hour both Monday and Wednesday, and dip into yoga after my run Monday and again on Thursday. I had an 8:15 flight out of Vancouver on Friday morning, which called for a 530 wake up, so I knew I wasn't going to get a run in Friday, either.

My plan was to run in Milwaukee today, but I'd hoped to be better rested. I was supposed to get here around 4pm local time yesterday, but an 8 hour delay (yes, I think it is the longest delay I've ever faced) of my flight meant I wasn't here until after 11pm. I stayed up with my friends here until almost 2am, hoping that the time change would allow me to still log 8 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, by 7:15am I was up and a bit anxious. The sun seemed to be rising quickly and I knew that running early was my best option, no matter how tired I was, nor that we'd just eaten Chinese food at 1am.

I ran an hour and a half, with a few short walking breaks thrown in after the 50 minute mark. That's been my new thing, ever since the Boston Marathon punished me on its back half (I never did write a blog entry about the experience - i was completely laid up the day of the race, and somehow ended up leaving for a week long work trip to the Philippines the next day. I will write something and post it here, eventually). I have made it a habit of having to stop for minute long walk breaks. By 9am it was already pretty warm with the sun blazing down along the lake front trail in Milwaukee, and it was having its affects on me.

I am unsure of what my training plans hold now. I will be able to run here in Milwaukee again on Monday morning and then will be in DC for a long run Saturday before heading to West Virginia for a work related White Water rafting trip. The following week I can bike and run and log a long run on Saturday. That Sunday, the first one in October, I go to Japan for a week. The last time I was there it was for a quick 5 days and I was able to get in the runs I needed. This time I'm not so sure I'll be as motivated.

I must say, no matter how painful or out of shape (Boston was really only in April and here, just 5 months later I feel as if I've never run an hour before in my life) I am, running does leave me feeling great. So, I trudge on and attempt to get out there, but I just don't expect any sub 3:45 marathon finishes.

2008-04-20T10:22:00.002-05:00

We arrived in Boston yesterday. We're staying in an area called Jamaica Plain. CJ spent a few years up here and found a nice rental house on Craig's List a few months ago. The place is comfortable and we're sharing it with my friend Robert, his wife Liz and Robert's brother, Brian. That's going to be my support crew during the race tomorrow.

We took it pretty easy yesterday, staying within Jamaica Plain. We had a burrito at the Purple Cactus for lunch and then walked along Center Street visiting a bookstore, a flower shop and some other local businesses. Robert, who took Amtrak up from DC yesterday, swung by the house and then went to the airport to meet Brian (who lives in Seattle but was flying up from Raleigh) and Liz (flying in from Vancouver, where she and Robert live).

Around 5:30pm I decided to lay down for a nap while CJ caught up with her friend Gretchen. I sunk into a deep sleep and awoke an hour later, just before Robert, Liz and Brian arrived. We all went out for food and then came back and crashed pretty quickly.

I had a great night's sleep. I was able to quell the anxiety which has awoken me around 5 am each of the past few mornings. Though I did wake up to use the bathroom at that time I was able to get back to sleep until around 7. By then the bright sun was shining, making for a gorgeous morning. We snuck out to get some coffee and a paper prior to taking in a 9am yoga class.

I've avoided yoga over the past week for fear of aggravating what's going on with my shin. My leg was sore all day while walking yesterday, but I suspected that the benefits of an hour and a half long yoga practice would help my hips and hamstrings more than it would damage my shin. Now, as I'm awaiting a well cooked, healthy brunch by Robert, I am feeling happy with my decision to go to yoga.

The class was nice and mellow and I was able to alter the poses which I thought would put too much pressure on my lower right leg. I'd informed the instructor of my injury and the fact that I was running tomorrow's marathon and she kept an eye on me throughout the class. At the end of the class she made a "good luck" announcement and many of the students echoed her well wishes. It was really nice.

My leg is sore and the anxiety of what's going to happen tomorrow is still sitting on my shoulders. However, I'm relaxing and having a good time with my friends. I'm looking forward to heading down to the marathon expo later this afternoon and starting to focus on the race.

2008-04-19T07:26:00.002-05:00

I'm not feeling well. I was up too late, had a few sips of whiskey and only about 5 hours of sleep. I'm vowing to get in a nap and to get to bed early tonight.

I did just go out for a 2 mile jog, and can't say that my leg appreciated it. I'm icing it now and popped some ibuprofen. Now it's time to pack and head to the airport. This run definitely made me realize a PR is not something to shoot for. A FINISH at Boston will be an accomplishment in and of itself.

2008-04-18T15:57:00.003-05:00

Though it was a bit more of a hassle than I expected, I was able to get the results of my bone scans today. In fact, just 15 minutes after I called Washington Radiology Associates to retrieve my results, my doctor called me to see if I had the scans in my possession. Unfortunately I had to leave a message with WRA, and told Dr. Pribut that when I left their exam room yesterday I did not leave with any scans. I wasn't even aware that I was capable of leaving with them, or I would have asked for them.

Dr. Pribut told me that each patient's experience there is different, but that I should try to get the results today. After lunch I called over there again and convinced the receptionist to fax the report to me, even though she informed me she "wasn't supposed to."

As I read the report, it indicated that my scan was negative, confirming what the technician had suspected the day before. The image below is the report issued by Washington Radiology Associates.

I emailed a copy of the report to Dr. Pribut and then followed up with him at his house. We spoke at length about music, running and life. His analysis of the report was that it indeed came back "negative," meaning that the bone scan does not indicate that I have a stress fracture. However, he did say that there are occasions where the bone scan does not pick up a fracture. I believe he quoted a percentage around 15 and I interpreted it as some sort of "error" margin.

He did clear me to run, though, which is exciting. He did provide a note of caution and didn't recommend that I attempt to run a PR (personal record). I was, indeed, looking to log a sub-3 hour marathon, 10 minutes better than my PR in Vancouver which qualified me for the Boston Marathon.

We spoke a bit about my training and I recounted that I'd run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler two weeks ago. When I told him my time, he indicated that may have been too fast. However, there was no real way to know exactly what was causing the pain.

So, I'm going to run! My confidence is still waning, but at least I get to run with my doctor's blessing.

We're flying to Boston tomorrow, and I'll be sure to check in with my feelings and thoughts tomorrow and Sunday.

2008-04-18T08:09:00.003-05:00

I had a bone scan performed yesterday. The bone scan involved a two part process. I had to go down to the radiology clinic for my first appointment at 10am. During that time they injected a radioactive fluid into my vein and took a few pictures of my legs. Following I had to lie on my back and hold my feet in a position where my big toes were pointed towards one another. The technician put a few wraps of masking tape around my shoes in order to hold my legs in position while they took a few initial pictures of my legs with a bone scanning camera/machine.

See the picture below, which I snapped from my blackberry camera phone. I got a kick out of it because it was called the "Detector 1"

That entire process took about 30 minutes and I hurried over to the office afterwards. My next appointment was set for 1pm, so I Metro'd over there, arriving a few minutes beforehand.

The same technician who politely handled the duties for me earlier in the morning explained that this process would take a bit longer. Again, I lied on my back underneath the "Detector 1." This time, however, it took an entire scan of my body. I was able to comfortably lie on my back. This time, though, they had me remove everything from my pockets. That's because they were going to scan my entire body, instead of just take a few quick pictures of my legs.

The technician informed me that it was okay if I wanted to take a nap, which was something I longed for. The past few nights have not consisted of great sleep for me. That morning, in particular, I awoke at 5:30am and wasn't able to get back to sleep. That's a common occurrence when I'm nervous or anxious about things.

The Detector 1 started just a few inches from my nose. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deeply into a state of relaxation. The entire body scan took about 15 minutes. Halfway through it, I opened my eyes and noticed that I was able to view the monitor of the scan. I could make out the outline of my skeleton of the area where the Detector was hovering over. Halfway down it was around my waist, and I anxiously kept my eyes open, hoping to catch a glimpse of when it moved over my shins.

The image was a black screen with a lot of white pixels which formed the outline of my bones. There were a number of moving pixels, too, reminding me of a busy highway viewed from an airplane window high above the road. As the scanner hovered above my knees the image became a bit wider, and my adrenaline rushed through my veins.

As it made its way over what I presumed were my shins, I tried to see if the right one looked any different than the left. In fact, on the monitor, there were two sets of images side by side. I wasn't exactly sure why, so my mind started to wonder if the "left" image was that of the left leg and the "right" image was of my injured, right leg. In all honesty, all four of the "bones" were very skinny and straight, so it could have easily been either two images of each leg side by side, or two different sets of my pair of legs.

Nevertheless, eventually a bigger "blob" began to appear towards the bottom of the monitor and I wondered if that was the "hot spot" of activity that I had been anticipating. But, as soon as I was readying myself for bad news, I realized that it was visible on all 4 bones on the monitor. I quickly realized the scanner had moved its way over my feet, and the blobs were my ankles, followed by my feet.

The timer on the Detector signaled the end of the scan, and we quickly took a few more pictures of my lower legs. One set was straight over my legs, with my feet taped, similarly to what we'd done earlier that morning. The second picture was done with me laying on my left side with my legs apart in order to capture a profile view of the bone.

The technician, who had indicated he'd seen a number of runners this week, and had been very cordial and comforting, told me that though he wasn't in the position to truly analyze the scan, he didn't see much difference between my uninjured left leg and my supposedly injured right one.

I lightly stepped down from the table, still cognizant of the sore feeling in my right shin. It hasn't been painful, really, however it's noticable. In fact, as I sit here and type this now I can feel the soreness in the tender spot along my shin. What it all means, I'm not sure.

Dr. Pribut is out today, so I'm not entirely sure how I am going to have him analyze the results or consult me on what is best for me. I've rested this entire week, but think I may try to run a short 2 miles tomorrow morning. When I first saw him he told me that another runner who he'd seen prior to me had a sore shin and he'd recommended she do a 2 mile run on Friday (today).

I had a dream this morning that I was out for a two mile run, but found myself more than two miles from home. I was really concerned about the potential damage it was doing to my leg. Part of me thinks I could get away without running at all, however, taking 5 straight days off without running almost makes me wonder if I'll even remember how to run come race day.

I've attempted to do some limited yoga and stretching, but it's been hard. Again, I don't want to compromise my leg before the run, but also don't want to go into the race on a completely different schedule of operations than I executed for any of my training runs. I was loving the days I ran when I'd done yoga the night before. It allowed my hips to open and hamstrings to stretch. Now, my legs will be rested, but will they be loose enough? These are all questions I'm milling over in my mind. I've had a lot of conversations with people who are concerned about my health. I'm truly grateful for every single person who has checked in on me or offered a voice of concern. However, what's really worrying me now, is whether or not my confidence will be on the level necessary to run a sub-3 hour marathon. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Race day is not very far away.

2008-04-16T20:43:00.002-05:00

It's pushing bedtime and I'm pretty exhausted. Unfortunately i cannot say that I'm tired from running or yoga, or the combination of the two, which I had hoped would be the case this week. I'm tired from working and my body is feeling the effects of not having exercised in the last few days. Exercise is something I am addicted to; I love the endorphins that flow freely through my bloodstream from running and yoga. That's not something I've felt yet this week.

On top of that, I use exercise as a counter to my lazy posture throughout the day in my desk chair. Because I haven't had that release, nor the ability to stretch, my lower back is tight, as is my neck. It's frustrating.

I've been hyper aware of the feeling in my leg recently. Even though the X-rays I took yesterday showed no signs of a fracture (the doctor told me he expected them to return negative), my leg does hurt when I walk on it. I've been using rest, ice, elevation and ibuprofen to quell the pain and hopefully buy me enough time to be able to run on this thing come Monday.

Since my last post I have received a strong showing of support from many of my friends, family and loved ones. It's really nice to feel that people are concerned on one hand and rooting for me with the other. The encouragement is great, but there's still a small voice in the back of my head wondering if it would be unwise to run the race on Monday. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone can make that decision, other than me. So, bear with me as I figure out what I plan to do.

Tomorrow morning I go in for a bone scan. I have to go in at 10am to have a radioactive tracer injected into my arm. Then, i will return at 1pm to have the scan done. The scan will show whether or not there is a hot spot of activity of bone growth in my tibia - essentially showing that it is trying to repair a fracture. I don't believe I will have the results until Friday or Saturday.

One of my running friends informed me that Lance Armstrong had a stress fracture during his sub-3 hour performance at the New York City Marathon last year. You can read more about it here. In some ways that is refreshing. If Lance could run with a stress fracture, then maybe I can too. However, he did not know he had a stress fracture until after the marathon. He presumed he had shin splints and merely endured. I more or less know that I have a stress fracture, and have to make a serious decision about what running 26.2 miles on that will actually do to my body in the long run.

Right now I'm watching the NOVA program about marathon running on pbs.org. One woman suffered from multiple stress fractures in both of her shins, and was forced to drop out of her training. I'm hoping to find that my fate is different!

2008-04-15T06:32:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty bent out of shape at the moment. I'm almost sure that I have a stress fracture in my lower right tibia (shin bone). CJ came up with the analysis on her own (to which I stubbornly objected), which has been 90% confirmed true by Dr. Stephen Pribut.

I went to see Dr. Pribut yesterday afternoon, following a morning spent sight seeing here in Washington, DC, with CJ's brother David's family. We had a great time touring the Capitol and then going up in the Washington Monument. The later was the highlight for me, because of my affinity to overseeing cities from high above. However, I spent the majority of the morning on my feet, which contributed to the pain in my shin. By the time I was seen by the doctor in the late afternoon, my leg was kind of inflamed and warm.

The doctor was pretty cool. I'd listed "Artist Management" as my occupation on the information document I had to fill out and that led us off with a conversation about music. When I told him I worked with "Punk, Metal and Rock bands" his first question was whether or not I knew of the "Yeah Yeah Yeahs." I thought that was pretty cool, especially since I'd toured the UK with a band who supported them years ago.

I was even more impressed when he told me his young daughter had dragged him to see My Chemical Romance at UMBC a bit before they broke big and he said "I could just tell there was something about Gerard (the band's singer, Gerard Way) that would propel that band to greatness." I wanted to tell him that I was raising funds for SSE who have done a number of events with My Chemical Romance. However, my mind was really focused on what was wrong with my leg, and whether or not I'd be able to run the Boston Marathon.

He asked me a number of running questions and felt a number of places along either side of my shin bone. The outer side is where it hurt the most, but he was still able to generate a bit of discomfort by pressing along the bone on the inner side, too. That, unfortunately, led him to believe that the damage was to the bone, and not just the muscle and tendon surrounding the bone. He wouldn't tell me in so many words, but I could read it in his expressions, that if the results of the Xray and bone scan come back negative, he will not recommend that I run.

That was really tough to digest.

I didn't go into work after the exam. I was really bummed out and pretty pissed off. I've been training really hard and have been attempting to raise funds with almost equal fervor. So, not only would it be a huge let down not to be able to run for myself, but also to let down everyone who pledged money towards "each mile I can run."

I am taking it day by day and I am going to rest this entire week. Luckily, I've trained hard enough to allow myself the ability to take a week off, and still be able to perform well during the race.

It's very hard to NOT be able to run right now, however. It's been such an integral part of my morning routine (and such a "release" and "endorphin rush") that I'm worried how it's going to affect me both physically and mentally. If you're interested to see how I hold up, continue to read here throughout the rest of the week.

2008-04-14T07:05:00.003-05:00

I've been tapering over the past week and a half, which has meant that I've spent less time running. That, to me, should translate into having more time to keep my training blog up to date. Somehow, however, that has not been the case.

Last week was a relatively uneventful one in regards to running. After the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on Sunday, I took Monday to recuperate and then did the necessary 7 to 8 mile runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with the 5 mile recovery runs on Wednesday and Friday. Every run felt relatively okay, aside from the fact that me left foot hurt quite a bit at the start of each of them.

The issue with my left foot is different from the brief bout with plantar fascitis I suffered from a few weeks ago. Now it feels more like an old soccer injury that I never had diagnosed. It's a pretty sharp pain that my less-than-an-expert self would more than likely diagnose as some sort of stress fracture. It used to hurt pretty significantly when I would play in my cleats on the really hard dirt fields in soccer. It's not resurfaced here, but after about 10 to 15 minutes of running it seems to dissipate.

In regards to having more time to write since I'm running less, that's been compromised a bit by the fact that I seem to always fill gaps in my schedule with something else which has been neglected. Occasionally that can be more work (as it seems that there is always more) or more social activities. This week, especially towards the end, my sleep pattern was thrown off relatively significantly. I am having trouble remembering exactly what caused me to stay up later than usual on Thursday and Friday nights, but I do remember dragging through those days.

Saturday I had to travel up to Delaware to see a band play. I was pretty exhausted going into it and was extremely exhausted by the time Stefan picked me up on his way down from Philly around 11pm that night. Luckily he was familiar enough with my bed time to understand that a bit after midnight I conked out in the front seat. I slept from Baltimore to DC, around 45 minutes, and awoke just as we exited the beltway for the remaining 15 minute drive to my house.

I managed to sleep in until just before 8am on Saturday for my scheduled 13 mile run. Stefan had come down to play with a soccer team that I've played on in the past (and have suspended my involvement so I wouldn't risk injury before the Boston Marathon). Their games are just outside of DC, in Maryland, and I told Stefan that my plan was to leave the house by 9am to run there. We'd looked at directions on Google Maps and it indicated that Stefan's driving distance was just around 10 miles. I presumed that running a slightly altered route would allow me to log my intended 13 miles, and if I arrived near the destination shy of that goal, I could fill the missing distance relatively easily.

Starting out from my house, my left foot hurt, as did my right shin. The shin problem appeared the day before at a yoga class. It was slightly aggravated before going to the class, but I really noticed afterwards. I cannot pinpoint exactly what may have aggravated it. This morning, on my run, I could really feel it. It felt like a really sore muscle on the outside of my front shin muscles, on the lower third of my leg. It hurt for the majority of the run.

I ran through Rock Creek Park and up Beach Drive towards the DC/Maryland border. The sun was shining nicely at the start and the temperatures were in the low to mid 50's. I was still dressed in a hat and gloves and had multiple layers on the upper half of my body. Many others were running in t-shirts, or at most, a long sleeve t-shirt or fleece. There were times that I was warm, but when the wind blew, I was glad that I had on as much as I did. I was listening to a podcast by Steve Runner.

CJ's sister-in-law, who is in town visiting with CJ's older brother, David, and their three kids, had recommended Steve Runner's podcasts to CJ over the phone that morning. He's like a number of other podcasters who records his/her thoughts while running. I had downloaded his podcast of him running last year's Boston Marathon, hoping it may provide some insight and continue to motivate me towards next week's race.

I really enjoy listening to podcasts and think that there are plenty of other things I would love to listen to. That, of course, probably means that I will have to continue running long distances. Because, I've noticed that as my runs have shortened in distance and time, the amount of things I've been listening to has also decreased (which is unfortunate since I keep stumbling upon other things I like to listen to). I mainly listen to National Public Radio programs like "Marketplace" and "Marketplace Money", and This American Life in addition to a lot of sports and running podcasts from The Final Sprint, The Competitors Radio Show, Trails and Tribulations and Zen and the Art of Triathalon Training.

Steve Runner's fate at the 111th running of the Boston Marathon was hopefully much different than mine will be at the 112th running this year. He was shooting for a 4:10 race, whereas I am still hoping to break 3 hours. Of course, that's if I can figure out what is going on with my shin and heal it between now and then.

During yesterday's run my shin was really causing me problems. With my foot issue it seemed as if "running through" it was a perfectly acceptable solution. Sure, the next time I lace up and head out the door my foot will hurt again for the first ten to fifteen minutes, but once I've eclipsed that warm up time, I am good to go. My shin, however, might be a different story. It never loosened up, and just continued to become inflamed and feel like a large bruise or welt. And, unfortunately, instead of erring on the shorter side of the mileage to run to Stefan's soccer game, it seems as if the route I took was quite a bit longer. My non-calibrated ipod pedometer logged the run at 17 miles, which means it was actually a minimum of 15. Not exactly the taper I was looking for.

I made it to the field a bit after the game had ended. Stefan and three of the other players had stayed to say hello. It was really nice of them to do so, and it was great to see them, but I was fairly exhausted. The impact of reduced sleep over the past few nights combined with these nagging injuries left me feeling completely run down. Now is the time that I am supposed to be benefiting from extra energy since I am cutting my mileage before the big race. I'm hoping that I am able to do so. And, with the way my shin is feeling, I may be forced to completely stop running instead of just taper.

I've done a bit of internet research on my shin and it seems as if it may be a stress fracture. To me that seems too extreme. I'm hoping it's just a major shin splint and with proper icing, rest and anti-inflammatory medicines I can be healed in time for Boston.

I am able to walk on the leg, though it does hurt to do so. It's not a debilitating pain, but is surely noticeable.

My schedule for this week looks like this:

Today (Monday) - REST

Tuesday - 5 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the evening

Wednesday - 7 miles w/2 miles at marathon race pace (dress rehearsal!)

Thursday - 5 mile recovery

Friday - 5 mile recovery w/6 x 100m strides

Saturday - 4 mile recovery

Sunday - OFF

Monday - RACE DAY

I am pretty sure that even if I reduce this schedule to something that doesn't aggravate my shin, I can stomach through the pain of the run on race day to ensure that I can run the Boston Marathon. I'll keep you posted!

2008-04-06T20:27:00.002-05:00

The results for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler are up. The link to the men's results are here. I finished in 64 minutes and 11 seconds, just shy of my overall goal. I'm listed as the 202nd finisher, though if you include all of the "ties" amongst the finishers, I finished in 37th place. Not bad!

The McMillan Running Calculator indicates that I should expect to run a 6:52/mile at the Boston Marathon, for a finish just shy of 3 hours (2:59:46).

2008-04-06T13:03:00.002-05:00

The race went great this morning! There were a few hiccups at the starting line for me, but after that it was smooth sailing. I am awaiting the official results to see whether or not I was fortunate enough to eclipse 64 minutes. If I didn't, I was damn close.

My night of sleep wasn't great last night. CJ and I went over to our friend Issa's to visit with his wife Marie and their new baby, Ferris. I also wanted to watch the NCAA College Basketball Final Four games, and needed a place to watch them (so goes when your house gets broken into and your TV gets taken). It was a good night, though the games were relatively terrible. In fact the KU (Rock Chalk Jayhawk Russ Rhoads!) jump on UNC was so massive that I decided to cut out at halftime and get home by a normal bedtime.

It rained pretty hard last night and we were sleeping with our window open. One of the windows has a tendency to leak and at 2am when CJ got up she noticed a huge puddle of water on the floor. We spent a bit of time cleaning that up, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Luckily, around 6:10 was the next time I looked at the clock, and when the alarm rang at 6:30am, I had fallen back asleep.

It was still raining then, so I did a very tiny bit of yoga, drank a cup of coffee and then headed out the door. I left the house around 7:10am for the 3 mile jog to the "staging area" of the race at 15th and Constitution, just in front of the Washington Monument.

The humidity from the rain caused me to sweat a bit more than I was expecting for the mid-40s temperatures which Weather.com was reporting. I figured the 3 miles from the house down there would serve as a good warm up, allowing my legs to loosen.

As I neared the White House there were a lot of other runners out on the streets headed toward the race, too. That was a positive because I was a tad worried about making to the race start on time. Because of the number of entrants in the race, the race organizers cleverly implemented a "wave" start. When you register you have to put in a previous run's time and they seed you in a wave respective to that time (if you did not have a previous race's time to report, they most likely put you in the last wave, or potentially allowed you to guess what time you would finish). I can't remember what race I used, but I half presumed that I was in the first wave.

As I arrived at the staging area I immediately hopped in a line for the port-a-potty. I wanted to pee prior to the start of the race. I could hear the announcer on the loudspeaker indicate that the field of Elite Women were shoving off, on schedule at 7:40am. That gave me, presumably, 10 minutes to take care of my business and check my bag.

I struck up a nice conversation with the woman in front of me, half hoping she had a clue which wave started when. Unfortunately, she not only didn't know it, but she was in a different wave altogether, and knew she wasn't in the first one. I didn't see too many other people with yellow bibs in the line for the bathroom, so I presumed I needed to begin the de-robing process while in line. I got my bag ready for the bag check, and shortly after exiting the toilet I sprinted across the muddy grass (the raining had subsided a bit, but the damage had been done) to where i could check my bag.

I immediately turned around and headed for the corral of people waiting to run. The loudspeakers had been strategically placed not only at the actual start/finish line, but also a bit down from the line, so those of us in the "staging" area could hear what the announcer was saying. As I moved closer and closer to the corral I could hear "20 seconds until the first wave starts." Unfortunately he wasn't indicating the wave's color (after the race CJ pointed out that an "A","B","C","D", etc wave system may have been easier for those of us who didn't pay particular attention prior to heading down), but I knew I needed to get my but moving. I hopped one of the metal retaining barriers and found myself amidst a bunch of people in organge bibs, all standing around. I began to excuse myself as I pushed through the crowd towards what I presumed was the front. Eventually I came to a mesh-fence divider that prevented me from moving further forward. On the other side of that fence were a bunch of people wearing red bibs; not my people either. I looked along the left of the corral and saw that there were colored marker flags indicating each respective wave. I couldn't see a yellow one anywhere.

I quickly thought to get out of the corral I was in, though it technically wouldn't have mattered if I stayed in with any of the other "waves" (our timing in the race is based on "chip" timing - meaning that a sensor in the chip is activated when I cross the finish line. The advantage to starting with my wave is that I would be amongst people running at a similar pace as I wanted). Therefore, I hopped the metal barrier on the opposite side from which I'd started, and tried to find the starting line. The speakers were booming and the announcer was already giving instructions for the next wave to get ready to start. I became a tad bit discombobulated and started second guessing which direction the start line was. I had to make a rash decision and though it didn't feel 100% correct, I continued towards the direction I presumed was the start line. Just then I saw a bandstand and knew that's where the announcer was. I leaped over the metal retaining barrier and dashed across the start with a few other stragglers from the first, yellow wave.

Unfortunately there was immediately something wrong with my watch. I couldn't get the stopwatch to start. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but was a bit concerned that I wasn't going to be able time myself. That worried me a lot. While there are clocks on the course, they aren't at every single mile-marker. I made that mistake while running the Outerbanks Marathon a few years ago. Luckily, there, Mick, a friend of Chris's, lent me his watch since Chris and him were going to stick together while I moved ahead. Today, however, I knew I wouldn't be so fortunate. After playing with it a bit, I realized that there was saved "Data" in the watch and that was preventing me from starting a new timer. Within a minute I had cleared that old data out and was able to start my watch.

Now that the hectic aspects of the start were over, it was time to start racing. I assumed a pretty quick pace and immediately began playing catch up. Not that I was necessarily trying to catch anyone, as I was racing against the clock, but I presumed that within each wave (and surely within the first wave) the faster runners had migrated towards the front while the slower (but by no means slow) runners were towards the back.

The course went from starting in front of the Washington Monument to rounding the tidal basin towards the Jefferson Memorial before making a quick exit to Hains Point. If you've been reading my writing about running on here, you know that this is a place that I've logged plenty of training miles. I was already passing people at this point and fortunately the first mile of the road there is flanked by a sidewalk. I was able to run on the sidewalk as the other runners remained in the streets. By the time I looked at my watch ten minutes had gone by, yet I hadn't seen the first mile marker. Because there were so many people along the course, and I was running along the left hand side, I presumed that I'd inadvertently missed it. I continued on, at what I presumed was somewhere near my intended goal pace: 6:24 per mile.

Once the sidewalk ran out the passing became a bit more precarious. I was able to slide in between a few people here and there, and on occasion move onto the grass on the left side of the road, where the sidewalk had been previously. The problem there was the cherry blossom trees along Hains Point were dropping in my face. So, I went with what seemed natural, and was able to keep my mind from focusing on running.

By the time I saw the mile marker for mile 2 I had gone 12 minutes and 31 seconds. I wasn't exactly sure how long my stop watch debacle at the start of the race left missing, but I presumed I was on a good pace. The nice thing was, I felt really good. So, I continued to pass people.

There was a series of interesting signs as we rounded the tip of Hains Point, indicating that the Awakening Sculpture was missing. It was a bit sad not to have it there. The backside of Hains wasn't as windy as it had been on some of my training runs. It wasn't completely free from wind, but it wasn't holding me back, and I wasn't having to push too hard to maintain my pace. I did think about trying to use one or two people as a shield to draft from, since it had worked so well for Chris last weekend when I allowed him to draft off of me. However, I was still moving faster than almost everyone at this point in the pack. It's not to say I was blazing by them, but every few steps along the left hand side had me passing rows and rows of runners.

By the time I hit mile 3 (6:31 mile) I was still feeling good and I began to think about my overall race strategy. At that exact moment, however, I decided to just keep up that comfortable pace. It worked quite well and I was able to snag a few cups of water just before Mile 4 (6:26), the second of which prompted comment from a fellow runner.

After taking the first one, which was barely half full, I made my way to the left, so other runners could come in behind me. However, when I took the baby sip which was in the cup, I immediately knew I wanted more water. The line of volunteers handing out the water was ending, and I had to dash diagonally from left to right in order to snag a cup from the very last person handing out the cups. Satisfied with my second cup, I kept on moving. The comment came from a guy behind me, and initially I thought he was saying I cut in front of him and took his water. However, he clarified that he was impressed with my ability to go get that last cup. It was kind of funny.

Mile 5 (6:25) had us go around the Jefferson Memorial back towards where we'd turned off to Hains Point. The wind picked up just a bit but I was moving right along. I took my gel from my pants pocket and began to strategize on when to take it. I figured that somewhere between the 5 mile marker and the 6 mile marker (the next water station) would be best. I was feeling good, and began to really think that I could maintain this pace throughout the race. I was beginning to feel the effects of running at this pace, but not so much that I thought it would slow me down.

Miles 6 and 7 were run on Ohio Drive along the Potomac River (heading towards Rock Creek Parkway). Again, I have done so many training runs there that I was able to just set my mind into cruise control. Though the wind was present, it was overwhelming. After I passed each mile marker I reminded myself to "sink into a comfortable pace." I didn't want to push it so hard that my body was going to run out of fuel before the finish line, yet I still wanted to maintain a fast pace. I concentrated on form and running economy, and I continued to pass people. Those two miles were both run at 6:23.

Mile 8 was where I really had to start making some decisions. How strong did I want to try to finish, and when should I kick in whatever I have left. I decided that since I seemed to be averaging just around the 6:24 pace, I should continue on, doing exactly what I was doing, and wait until the last mile to really see how I was feeling. We'd turned around on Rock Creek Parkway (just past the Kennedy Center) just before we passed the 7 mile marker (indicating the start of mile 8) and were now headed past the Lincoln Memorial and across the aptly named Memorial Bridge (towards Arlington Cemetary).

The bridge isn't terribly long, but still had a bit of a hill leading up to the apex in the middle. We rounded the traffic circle just beyond the edge of the bridge and then headed back towards the district. The wind in the opposite direction was much stronger, and there was an incline there, too. I leaned forward and pushed myself into the wind, reminding myself that I should maintain the same "effort" instead of the same pace (the idea there is that you don't expend yourself too much going up hills or into the wind by trying to maintain the pace you're running). Here, too, I thought about trying to draft people, but it just wasn't working. I was running a bit faster than all of them. Mile 8, reached somewhere along the bridge, was run at 6:21.

Passing people in races, especially towards the end, does wonders for your psychology. I'd been fortunate to pass people the entire race. However, as we approached mile 10 (the 9 mile marker), I knew this would be the real test. The 6:18 for Mile 9 surely indicated that I still had some gas, but I had to figure out how to keep it together as my arms and legs began to yearn for more oxygen. I took a cup from the last water station and then fell in behind a tall guy in a red shirt. Though the wind wasn't strong, I figured if he were going to set a quick enough pace I could follow him as a motivational tool. After about 20 steps, however, I realized that I was going faster than he was. As I passed him he raised his hands, fingers clasped, to the top of his head. This technique probably helped him with his breathing, but it indicated to me that my decision to move on was right. I was still going strong.

Eventually I came upon a sign which indicated there were 1200m left. I immediately thought to my times on the track, and realized that was 3 laps of a standard 400m track. On a good day of repeats that should take no longer than 4:45. It's a good feeling knowing there's only that much time left in the race. And, soon enough, I was at the 800m mark, so I hit the lap timer on my watch and knew that by the time the next 1:45 had eclipsed I would be 400m from the finish line.

When I hit that mark my body was really beginning to indicate to my mind that it was spent. Though 400m is only one full lap of a track, there have been plenty of times in track repeats that the final lap can seem as if it takes forever. The lactic acid in your legs builds and you can feel them transforming from fluid, movable limbs to solid, unbending appendages. It's almost as if your nice liquid blood is turning to molasses second after second. But that's where the mind can continue to help, and though the first 300m of the final 400m were on a slight incline, I began to push it. I had a bit of help from a fellow runner, who also thought it was time to kick it into gear.

He'd started his dash to the finish just after I took my first step past him. So, unless I made a move, he was going to be the only person on the course to pass me (not to say that I was anywhere near the leaders). I wasn't ready to acquiesce my bragging rights, and matched him stride for stride to the finish. I was simultaneously looking at the clock, hoping to ensure that I came in under 66 minutes "clock" time (presuming my "chip" time would be approximately 2 minutes slower). I'm not exactly sure which of us crossed the line first, but I felt great about my strong push at the end.

Achieving a goal on the course is always much better than not reaching one. I let out a yelp of relief and then heard the announcer indicate that Mayor Adrian Fenty had just finished the race. I looked to my left and saw him, donned in all white (including a white hat) just as he had been a week ago at the National Marathon. Though i didn't do so personally, I must commend the Mayor for finding the time to train. I know he comes from a running family, but I'm still in awe that he's able to put in the miles and the hours necessary to finish as he does.

CJ met me shortly thereafter and we made our way to the "staging" area so I could change clothes. It began raining again, but we wanted to stick around to see our friend Megha finish. We watched from the finish line with her husband Matt as she cruised to a phenomenal finish. We said our goodbyes and then battled the shivers which had set in and made our way to the Metro to get home.

Now, 6 hours after the finish, I am feeling really good. I am waiting for them to post the official chip results so I can rest assured that I achieved my goal of 64 minutes. If that's the case, then my confidence has surely been renewed towards finishing Boston right at the 3 hour mark.

Here are my watch recorded splits:

Miles 1 & 2 - 12:31:56 or 6:16/mile (there was a short delay between the start and my starting my watch)

Mile 3 - 6:31:25

Mile 4 - 6:26:25

Mile 5 - 6:25:87

Mile 6 - 6:23:38

Mile 7 - 6:23:00

Mile 8 - 6:21:50

Mile 9 - 6:18:44

Mile 10 - split between - No record of the first 400m, the next 800m (3:09:18), and the final 400m (1:32:50)

Final watch time: 1 hour 3 minutes and 36 seconds.

2008-04-05T16:01:00.002-05:00

I took yesterday off because I thought that the Cherry Blossom 10 miler was Saturday morning (this morning). It wasn't. I was emailing with a friend on Thursday about when/where the packet pick-up was on Friday, to which she responded that it was actually Saturday. I, slowly, deduced the race was actually Sunday. That threw my entire training for a bit of a loop.

My plan was to take Friday off, run Saturday's run fast, on fresh legs, and then do a long run Sunday. I couldn't really swap the Saturday and Sunday runs, because it would be impossibly to know if I'm ready for a fast marathon after having expended myself in a 17 miler on Saturday. But could I rest another day? Well, I compromised. I ran the 8 miles from my house down to the packet pick up. I would have liked to not have run at all, because even today my legs surely lost a bit of their "oomph" that they would have had tomorrow morning. Now, even if I push myself tomorrow, if i come up short, I will wonder how much of it is a result of not being ready, and how much is a result of having run today.

I can't obsess about this stuff, I know, and I won't. I'm a tad concerned that I won't be able to fit in a long distance run, my last of the training. I just don't have time to do it on Monday, unfortunately. And, the sooner it gets to Boston, I don't want to have expended myself at that distance.

So......what to do? I guess have a good night and see how the run goes in the morning.

2008-04-03T07:20:00.003-05:00

This morning's weather was a lot better than expected. I always listen for what the forecast is going to be, and check the weather channel's website before heading out each morning. Yesterday's news forecast was calling for 20 degree (Fahrenheit) temps this morning. Thankfully it was in the low 40s.

My 5 miles were nice and easy. Almost so easy that a few blocks from my house I was thinking and concentrating on something completely unrelated to running that I ran halfway into the street. My peripheral vision caught a hearse, of all vehicles, approaching from the right side, and I was able to stop prior to being hit. That would've been a catastrophe, for sure.

Not much else to report. I am going to take tomorrow off, aside from hoping to find a good yoga class, in preparation for Saturday morning's Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

2008-04-02T08:22:00.002-05:00

I am tired of the cold. This morning's 45 with a brisk wind had me chilled to the bone. I am tired, too, and I am sure that's a contributing factor. Today was a 6 mile recovery run with 6 x 100m strides. It wasn't until I made it to the track, after 5 miles of easy running on sore legs in Rock Creek Park, that I finally felt as if my legs loosened a bit.

Yesterday was an 11 mile run which actually felt pretty good. All in all things are good, and a nice, early run on the hills of Rock Creek Park is always nice. I am tapering, which means that instead of 15 miles on a Tuesday, 11 miles was supposed to seem short. It did, by and large, but all of the accumulation of mileage between shifting last week and then the marathon this weekend has left me sluggish, overall.

This morning my left foot was hurting quite a bit. I did ice my feet on a frozen coke bottle yesterday, and did yoga at lunch. The yoga class was quite intense, almost more of a workout then a stretching session. The past few yoga classes I attended at Inspired Yoga were geared towards hips and hamstrings. The class yesterday, at Edge Yoga, was a more advanced class focusing on the back. No wonder my back is sore right now!

Donations continue to creep in! I'm just shy of $2000.00, or roughly 2/5th of the way to my goal. I guess I need to dig a bit deeper in my donation garnering skills. Maybe I can do that Friday morning, since it's a day off from training!

2008-03-31T10:25:00.004-05:00

I was wiped out this morning. Saturday was an exhausting day, all in all, between running the 20 miles with Chris and then hosting the party. I was able to get to yoga yesterday and relax a bit, but when the alarm went off just after 6am, I had little desire to get up and run.

The run with Chris was really nice, but my legs were fried, too. Because of my adjustment last week for the issues with my feet, I had run 11+ miles on Wednesday and then 15 on Thursday. To get back to 20 miles so quickly was taking a bit of a toll. I debated either taking today off or giving some sort of recovery run, but after a cup of coffee and some morning email work, I decided that I should just bite the bullet and run my scheduled 9 miles with 5 x 600m at 5k race pace (w/90 seconds jog in between).

It was rainy and a cold 45 degrees this morning. I ran relatively quickly, feeling a bit of pep in my step. I liked the feeling of the cold drizzle as it fell on my face. I ran in Rock Creek Park and then popped out at P Street and made my way to the track at U Street/Cardozo High School.

The speed repeats were a bit tough, but much better than last year. One thing I tend to forget is that these aren't supposed to be "all out" dashes. In fact, they give you an intended pace - a 5k race pace. My one 5k, a number of months ago (actually, the Navy 5 miler), was run at just over a 6 minute/mile pace. So, I use that as a basis, and try to run a tad quicker than that.

This morning I ran the 600s (and it might even be a bit further than 600m) in just around 2 minutes and 5 seconds. I usually hit the one lap mark (400 m) at 1m22s - 1m25s. It was pretty exhausting, but also exhilarating.

I am wondering how to run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on Saturday, and also what I should do for a long run this weekend. I am supposed to go 17 miles, which I may just have to shift until Sunday. I can take off Friday, run hard Saturday, and attempt to go long on Sunday. I am hoping I can run a 6:30 average pace for the 10 miler, giving me a finish in 1 hour and 5 minutes.

I searched around for a running calculator which would give me an idea of what I need to finish the 10 miler in to indicate what I'm capable of in the marathon. I came across the MacMillan Running Calculator which shows that if i do finish the race this weekend in 1 hour and 5 minutes (65 minutes) that I can expect to finish the marathon in 3:02:03.

A finish in 64 minutes (6:24 pace) projects that I can run a 2:59:15.

I am not entirely sure if I am mentally there or not, but this will be a good test. 6:24 for 10 miles is going to be really, really tough, but I am going to see if I can nail it.

The rest of this week looks like:

11 mile Medium Long run tomorrow morning

6 miles w 6 x 100m strides Wednesday

5 mile recovery Thursday

OFF Friday

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Saturday

17 mile long run Sunday

OFF MONDAY

2008-03-31T09:04:00.002-05:00

3:45:30. That was the time on the clock above the finish line at the National Marathon yesterday morning when I looked up as Chris Hesse and I rounded the final corner of the 26.2 mile course. Just then I slipped to the right of the barricades between the sidewalk and the street, ensuring that I wouldn't cross the finish line as an unregistered runner. We didn't stop there, though, I kept gazing left as I sprinted down the sidewalk, watching Chris continue his sprint to finish the race stronger than I could've imagined.

I started the run with Chris and "local runner" Mike Garrity (who was running the half) on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan, just after the race crossed 18th street. That was around 8am, roughly an hour, somewhere between miles 6 and 7, after Chris and Mike began their respective races at 7am at RFK.

I had gotten up with Chris at 5am to ensure he got out of the house alright. I managed to sneak in a few more minutes of rest after he left the house, but was up again just before 7 and out the door by about 7:20. I walked down Sherman Avenue to Harvard Street and then trekked West towards Adams Morgan. I wanted to see the race leaders, and they came by just as we were by my old apartment at 14h and Harvard Street. There were 3 guys leading the pack, and I believe they were all running the half marathon. Then came more and more men, and eventually the leading woman. It's always fascinating for me to see the front runners. They looks so calm and smooth as they are flying by at 5 min/mile speeds.

As soon as I met up with Chris and Mike we went past the spots I'd just walked by. It was cool to run with Chris past 14th and Harvard since we both lived in separate apartments there. He's been out of DC for a couple of years so the construction changes going on in the area are pretty marvelous to him. Garrity used to live our friend Issa further down Harvard Street, and he pointed out the spot he got mugged at 11th and Harvard. It's pretty fun to run through streets that you know so well.

Speaking of Issa, he and his very pregnant wife Marie (who was scheduled for a C-section the next morning) had linked up with Chris's wife, Sheela, their son, Kaya, and a few other friends just on the corner of Sherman and Harvard. It was great to see all of them, before we took off further down Harvard, across Georgia Avenue, and eventually to North Capital street.

I really needed to use the rest room and stopped at one of the port-a-pottys at the next water station. There were 4 stalls, but nonetheless a short lined had formed. Chris and Mike kept running and after the few minutes it took for the line to dwindle I hustled to catch up to them. It was nice to stretch out my legs a bit and run a tad faster pace, but I was to ensure that I saved some energy. Though I was scheduled to run 20 miles that day, which, of course, is shorter than the 26.2 of the full marathon Chris was running, I need to ensure that my legs would be strong enough to push him at the end, when he needed it most.

Once I caught up to them I was trying to engage both of them in conversation. I was talking about the Washington Capitals hockey team with Garrity, and learned that there are different ways to gain points in the standings in hockey. I didn't realize they'd done away with the tie, in favor of either an overtime win or a shoot out. It used to be that during the regular season if two teams were tied after the 3 regulation, 20 minute periods, a tie was registered for each team and they gained one point in the standings. Now, however, they play overtime, and if that doesn't resolve the winner, they go to a shootout. The eventual winner receives 2 points, and the loser in either of those instances (overtime or shootout) receives one point. However, if the game ends with a clear winner during regulation, the winner still receives two points, but the loser gains no points.

I thought I'd figured it out as clearly as I'd just written it (if you're still confused, don't worry, you probably don't follow hockey anyways), and was trying to affirm this with Garrity. He was having trouble concentrating, so we let it die. Soon thereafter, Garrity had dropped behind both Chris and I. Turns out his concentration problem was due to his need to use the restroom. Unfortunately, it had only been about a mile since I had stopped, and we both knew that the next bathroom was at least another mile ahead. Unfortunately, though, he had to go really badly. I stayed with him as he walked and tried to figure out a solution. At this point there were police everywhere and we were running through a neighborhood near Union Station. There was nowhere to ditch out and go without drawing major attention to himself. I thought about asking one of the few people in the neighborhood who were out watching the race, but that seemed a tad awkward. Eventually, though, we rounded on to H street and I spotted a coffee shop. I ensured they had a bathroom and threw Garrity in it, wishing him well with the finish of the half marathon (he had a little over 2 miles left) and then set off to catch up with Chris once again.

I cruised down H Street NE, another DC street which is seeing signs of gentrification. The actual street, however, is bumpy, worn and torn with tons of potholes and uneven surfaces. There were a few people out on the streets shouting "Welcome to H Street Northeast." Most of the pack, which was relatively thick at this point, seeing as this was roughly the 4 hour marathon pace runners, was running on the right side of the yellow lines (that is, they were running in the 3 east bound traffic lanes). I scooted just outside the lane divider and sped up in hopes of catching Chris. There's always a bit of nervousness when trying to find a runner during a race (either as a spectator waiting on the side, or, in this instance, a runner trying to catch another). Doubt and second guessing creep into your mind as you're looking for the person. "Did I already pass him? How far ahead can he be?"

I tapped my "lap" counter when I crossed the 11 mile marker and began running a bit faster. I felt a tad guilty passing so many people. I wasn't a registered runner and here I was flying by people who were working their hardest just to maintain this pace. Many of them had a "HALF" bib pinned to their backs, indicating that they were 2 miles from the finish. As I didn't have a "HALF" I reckoned that most of them were thinking (if they noticed me at all) that I was running the full marathon (there was no "FULL" bib). I wondered what people thought of a guy who was running the full who decided to kick it in to a sub-7 minute/mile pace at mile 11. Did they think I had gotten a late start and was making up for lost time? Who knows. I let the feelings of guilt subside as I passed mile 12 and still hadn't found Chris. Luckily, however, I did find him just a few more minutes up the road, just before the half marathon runners were directed off towards their finish.

Again I tapped the "lap" button on my watch as we crossed mile 13. I had run the past two miles in 14 minutes, or a 7 minute/mile pace. One tenth of a mile (.1) later, we crossed the halfway mark for the full marathon, and the clock read 1:56 (and some seconds that I don't remember). I quickly did the math and realized that if we kept up the same pace we would finish in 3:52. I mentioned that to Chris, who reminded me that this was the "clock" time and not his "chip" time. He thought it took him and Garrity three to four minutes to cross the starting line, which mean their "chip" was starting when the "clock" was 3 or 4 minutes. Therefore, he'd really done his first half marathon in around 1:48 to 1:49.

He and I began to figure out our remaining race strategy as we went around RFK Stadium and back down East Capitol Street. That is such a nice, beautiful street, that it allows your mind to run in many different directions. Chris struck up a short conversation with a couple of older looking guys who were just ahead of us. He prompted them for their expected finish time. They mentioned that they were shooting for under 4 hours. One of them was running his 12th marathon and the other his 15th, so they had an idea of what they were doing. From Chris's response, though, I could sense that he had hoped they were shooting for a faster time. Though his goal was to "finish strong," I know deep down he was expecting to finish faster than 4 hours. Therefore, we began to pull away from them just after that.

It got windy and a tad colder as we ran in front of the Capitol. The route we were taking was one I was well familiar with. On many of my runs this year (and in previous years) I've run around the Capitol. It was here that I started a new strategy to attempt to shield Chris from the wind (let him draft me). Thinking about it now it must've been kind of funny thinking this bean-pole could do anything to shield the broader-shouldered runner behind me from the wind. He did, however, indicate that it was helpful.

A few minutes later we both pit-stopped to use the bathroom and then ran under the mall through the 9th Street tunnel. I was happy to run there, since this is the way I drive to work most mornings. I told Chris that many of the times I called him on my way to work (which corresponds with his morning break period at school - he's a teacher) I was driving through that tunnel!

We came out of the tunnel and were down in Southwest DC. I lived there at one time, too, so it was great to go through yet another neighborhood I was familiar with. We passed by the tennis courts Issa and I used to play on, and it was funny to see that the drooping nets still hadn't been fixed. It was sort of unbelievable, in all honestly. The course then thinned out, and we ran along the sidewalk of the "River walk" just across from Hains Point. This reminded me of the Outerbanks Marathon that Chris and I ran together back in November of 2006. That small race had us run through neighborhoods onto sidewalks and through trails in the woods.

At the next water stop I offered to fill one of Chris's empty bottles with water and a package of his "Ultima" energy drink mix. That took a bit longer than I had hoped for. I was juggling my blackberry, the bottle, a bag of clif shots and the gel that I was going to eat for energy. I ended up dropping the entire package into the water bottle and had to try to fish it out. I was wearing gloves, which exacerbated the challenge. Eventually my fingers were able to snag the packet, but then the powdered substance had congealed a bit inside the packet. I had stopped to walk, realizing that the sooner I got it done the sooner I could actually get moving at a faster speed once again. Chris was once again ahead of me, and therefore I, again, had to increase my speed to catch back up to him. I did that just as we went off of a little jut on the course; a small "out and back" that was added solely to ensure that the course could follow it's overall path, but still have enough miles to accumulate to 26.2. We had a small laugh about that, and then passed mile 19 right by the home of the new Washington Nationals stadium.

The approach to the stadium didn't make it obvious that it was the structure in front of us. Suspecting that it was, though, I looked up and saw the lights. I pointed it out to Chris, a former college baseball player, hoping it was invigorate him. We talked a bit about baseball and how it will be neat to go see a game there, eventually. As we crossed one of DC's many bridges into Anacostia/South East, we caught a much better view of the stadium.

After the bridge we were entering the home stretch of the race. We hit mile 20 and did a bit of math to figure out that it was definitely possible for Chris to finish the race in under 3:45. We would have to pick up the pace a bit, but we also had to do that strategically. If we picked it up too quickly we could incite burn out too early. If we waited too long, though, we might miss the cut-off for a 3:45.

This part of the route, though, wasn't nearly as fan friendly as the beginning 13 had been. We were running along the Anacostia River, on a bike path. The wind was whipping at us relatively fiercely. There wasn't anyone out there to cheer us on, but we kept our conversation alive. Chris had asked me about running a record label and putting on shows, two things I did for a number of years before transitioning into music management. I explained to him that to me and my friends running a label, writing for a magazine, playing in a band, putting out a CD, and a number of other "astonishing" things to most people was the norm, not the exception. We all "did it ourselves." I tried to draw the analogy to Chris using him and his college baseball card as an example. He grew up an athlete and most of his friends in high school and college were also athletes. To them it wasn't strange to have a card. Hell, I can't even count the number of times Chris and I have turned on a baseball game or Sports Center to hear him say "that guy used to play for (insert rival team here)" or "my brother used to play against him." To those of us in the world outside of that level of athleticism, having a card or knowing someone "in the bigs" is really exciting. Just as to those outside of the underground music world knowing someone who put out albums or CDs or someone who plays in a band is something astonishing.

We kept a good pace along the river trail, which went around a small loop and doubled back on the trail prior to mile marker 23. As we we were on the return of the loop we saw the two guys we talked to near the Capitol. They spotted us, shouting "hey guys, good running!" I know we were looking relatively strong because for the past mile or so we had begun to pass more and more people. We were running a strong negative split (where the second half of a race is faster than the first half) and I hoped we could keep it up.

From the trail the route put us out on Minnesota Avenue North East. These final three miles were the same as the half marathon route was last year. I ran that race, a PR for me (1:29) in preparation for my Vancouver 2007 Marathon qualifier for the Boston Marathon, so I was familiar with the route. Therefore, I knew that the remainder of the run was relatively hilly, and it might be tough to push Chris as hard as I would like to. However, I kept on him, reinforcing that his training had prepared him for this and that his son would be very excited to see him after the race. We kept picking off people one by one and even passing large groups of people. The uphill stretches of Minnesota Avenue were not easy. In fact, my legs had been hurting for the past few miles, but I knew that I could push onward and upward, helping Chris meet his goal of "finishing strong." He stayed behind me as we passed mile 24 and then mile 25.

We ran that mile in under 8 minutes, an on the spot goal Chris had indicated during the race - he wanted to run one mile sub 8 minutes. I always figured it would be mile 25-26, but we were able to hit it one mile early. However, I needed him to run another mile sub-8. I wanted him to continue pushing, finishing strong. We came across the bridge back towards RFK and Chris asked if we were going to finish inside the stadium. Unfortunately the course isn't set up to do that (RFK doesn't even have a track inside of it). I did keep running right in front of him, asking him to follow my feet and dig as deep as he could. He did, and shined well. The stretch just before the final tenth of a mile before the race is also slight uphill, similar to the other DC marathon - Marine Corps. That's always a tough way to finish!

There was no 26 mile marker, a pet peeve of mine. Even though the distance between that mile marker and the finish line two tenths of a mile, it's really nice to know when you have only those two tenths left. Last year, at the half marathon, there was no 13th mile marker (bad luck?). It turns out that the course was laid out incorrectly and we ended up running farther than 13.1 miles. That was no the case this year with the marathon, but it was still a tad frustrating.

Nevertheless, after we crest the top of the hill, I slipped to the right of the barricades which separated the course from the sidewalk/spectators. Unfortunately the clock read 3:45 and some seconds. A shot of disappointment entered my mind as I'd really hoped Chris would finish under 3:45. Nevertheless, Chris dug in and began sprinting towards the finish. I was able to parallel him since the right side of the spectator area was completely barren from people. He was moving quickly and it was tough for me to keep up. I stopped at another barricade as he made his way across the line. I didn't see the final time, but did realize that there was a difference between the "clock" and the "chip." I was pretty sure he'd beaten 3:45.

I quickly found Chris who had been draped in a finisher medal and space blanket. I hugged him and led him towards the area where he could return his chip. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "I'm so happy!" followed by "I'm so tired." Indeed he should have been, he ran a perfect race! There were computer terminals set up to view your "chip" time and we found out that he ran a 3:43:59! Surely a personal record for Chris, and better than one of his least favorite runners of all time, George W Bush.

We grabbed a few things for the road and got in the car and headed home. Chris was able to field a few congratulatory phone calls and text messages as I maneuvered the car through the imminent DC traffic. Chris was exhausted, yet elated, and kept telling me that it was a "team effort" and that I was "MVP."

To me it was a pleasure. Chris had pushed me through the Marine Corps marathon in 2005, and we'd run Outerbanks at the same time in 2006. I was really happy to see him run so well.

I forgot to mention that while we were on the bridge running by Nationals Stadium (around mile 19) Garrity had called to let us know he'd finished very strong, after a bathroom delay. All in all, a good run for everyone involved!

Chris and I got back home and prepared for the celebratory BBQ at my house! A great day, all in all.

2008-03-28T09:13:00.002-05:00

My feet were sore this morning. I'm pretty tired, too. I think the running and work, and life in general have got me a bit worn out. I need to rally, though, because tomorrow is the day I am to support Chris in his run at the National Marathon.

I did see that the Boston Marathon is going to be televised. I took the article from here

Boston Marathon Will Be Televised Live, Wire-To-Wire, On April 21
The WBZ-TV (Ch. 4) local coverage for the Boston area runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. WBZ, owned and operated by CBS, has partnered with the Boston Athletic Association for 28 years. VERSUS, on cable, will provide a complete live national telecast from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The elite women's start is at 9:35. "Boston is one of the most prestigious races in the world, so it's fitting to have such respected outlets as television partners so that our race can be enjoyed by fans around Boston and across the country on April 21," declares Guy Morse, Executive Director of the BAA.

Here's to hoping all of it pans out!

2008-03-27T08:26:00.002-05:00

I must admit that I'm feeling a bit of a lull in the entire training. What once seemed so clear, and accessible, has lately become a bit of a monkey on my back. I think part of it is that I've let my guard down just a bit lately. I've acted as if I've already finished the race, as opposed to someone who is only 2/3rds of the way into his training. And, even though the bout with plantar fascitiis has yet to run its course, it's contributed to a bit of a more relaxed attitude about everything.

However, after my 15 mile run this morning, I think I might be able to hone in all of the extraneous energy and keep my eyes on my goal.

I did end up skipping my runs on Monday, and then, as I was about to begin my 11 mile run on Tuesday, I decided that I would take the advice of my friend Morgan. He was visiting from Sweden as I began to notice the signs of plantar fascitiis, and I explained to him my disappointment that I wouldn't be adhering to my schedule. He simply said "can't you just shift everything one day?" So, as I finished my the first 5 minutes of my run Tuesday morning, I decided to keep that one to a 6 miler. I felt little pain, but did notice my feet more than I had ever before.

I spent some time icing my feet after the run, and took a frozen bottle to the office to roll along the bottom of my foot (simultaneously reducing inflammation by icing and breaking up the "build up" of tension via the rolling and pressure). Though I wasn't motivated to do so, I did end up getting in my 4 mile evening run on a treadmill in the office gym around 9pm.

Yesterday morning now called for an 11 mile run with 6 x 1000m repeats. Unfortunately I ran a bit longer and a bit faster before reaching the track than I should have. And, on this run I noticed that my right foot was actually exhibiting more signs of discomfort than the left (the one which was initially feeling the worst). By the time I reached the track I had already run 8+ miles, so my repeats weren't particularly strong. I only ended up doing 4 x 1000m with 2 minutes of rest/jogging in between. My legs were definitely tensing up quite a bit by the end of the workout.

I definitely felt a tad distraught that I wasn't able to complete the workout, but consoled myself by noting that at least I was back on my feet. And, the soft nature of the track actually seemed to help my feet.

This morning, again, i wasn't elated to get out of the bed. The past few mornings in Washington, DC, have been really beautiful. I've been fortunately to run in relatively warmer temperatures amongst the blooming Cherry Blossoms. It's a fantastic time of year! This morning, though, it was a bit gloomy. Nevertheless, I knew once I left the house I would be fine. Indeed, I was right!

The 15 miles passed relatively quickly, and aside from my left quad feeling a tad strained, and my hips being as tight as ever, I felt really good! I was moving pretty quickly and paid special attention to the fact that my route had a lot of hills (through the hilly part of Rock Creek Park, coming out on Nebraska Ave, all the way to Mass. Ave, down to Dupont Circle and then making my way home).

Tomorrow will be an easy recovery day, and then I plan to run 20 miles of the National Marathon with my friend Chris Hesse. I had considered running the National Half, as I did last year. However, Chris has supported me in races prior - he was instrumental in helping me finish Marine Corps, and we both ran the Outerbanks Marathon - and it's time to return the favor. I'm a tad afraid his 8:45 pace will be a bit mind numbming to me, but I hope that we can have a good time and he can reach his goal.

From there we're down to 3 weeks until the race. That's a bit scary!

2008-03-24T07:23:00.002-05:00

I decided to skip my 6 mile am run this morning in favor of trying to lessen the damage to my feet. I've never been good at resting an injury, but as I get older, train more, and read more, I realize that a day or two to recuperate could go a lot longer towards recovery than a day of training can to the overall performance in a race.

I iced my feet last night and took some ibuprofen. I've iced them already this morning, too, and did about 20 minutes of yoga. Without some sort of "release" (running, yoga, etc) my legs and body end up feeling pent up and sluggish. It can be tough for me to concentrate on an entire yoga routine in my living room, but this morning was a nice follow up to the afternoon class I went to yesterday.

I really hope I can mitigate this pretty easily. I don't mind missing recovery runs this morning and this evening, but I'll be concerned if I can't run tomorrow.

2008-03-23T20:49:00.002-05:00

Well, I think I might have an overuse injury: Plant Fascitis. I'm going to monitor it this week, but am a bit concerned. I've worked really hard to get where I am so far in my training, and don't want to have this impede my ability to reach my goal.

On a positive note, I had a really good session of yoga today. On the weekends I've been home I've been getting up and going on Sunday mornings. Today was a slow morning so I opted to go with CJ to the 4 o'clock class. It wasn't overly challenging (much to CJ's dismay), but we focused almost entirely on hips. And, my hip flexors are consistently as sore as can be. Though it was a tad painful at times, I walked out of the class feeling "open."

I need to do more yoga and stretching on my own, which can be really hard. However, th e benefits are what's allowed me to run the miles I'm running thus far. So, I may want to increase the amount I do both as I round the corner of 4 weeks left until race day.

2008-03-23T13:40:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning, Sunday, with a bit of pain in my left foot. I noticed a slight discomfort in my left achilles as I was walking. I presumed it was loosely associated with the overall soreness my legs were feeling from yesterday morning's 18 mile run. However, the discomfort in the arch of my left foot is still there this morning. Hopefully with today as a day off I'll be able to recuperate a bit and be back on track tomorrow.

Yesterday's run was decent overall. My legs, in particular my quadriceps, were sore from Friday's simulated "race." I don't think I ended up writing that much about Friday's run. Seeing as this blog is as much a running journal I am supposed to look back upon as a training guide (many people keep running journals to look for patterns in success or injury - so if my left foot turns out to be more than just a slight discomfort I may be able to see how my training has changed or not by re-reading this blog), I should note that Friday's run was a tough one.

I wasn't terribly interested in facing yet another chilly morning on Friday and opted, instead, to run at lunch from my office. I postponed my departure there a number of times, and finally got out the door around 2pm. I headed towards the Potomac River and the George Washington Parkway trail, which is a straight downhill shot from my office. I set out at a blistering pace, somewhere in the 6:00-6:15/pace. The wind was at my back, the sun on my face, and my legs felt relatively fresh. Unfortunately, once I hit flat ground, down by the river, and the wind made itself apparent, I'd expended myself quite a bit. I was supposed to simulate an 8-15k race, and instead had pushed myself hard for 5k. Nevertheless, I persisted and managed to make an overall successful run. However, I was quite spent at the end, and my quads felt the strain.

Come Saturday morning I found it much easier to get out of bed and hit the roads. 18 miles doesn't even phase me anymore. I convert it all into hours and minutes and know a number of routes, locally, that accommodate those times (and distances). I just put one foot in front of the other and go until it's done. I don't have to push myself too hard, seeing as I am supposed to run the long runs 10 - 20 percent slower than my marathon pace.

One thing I did notice about yesterday's run was that I had to use the bathroom more frequently than usual. I downed my usual cup of coffee before taking off and carried my water bottle in my hand as I've done on every run over 14 miles this year. I usually have to use the bathroom within an hour, but yesterday it seemed to come on within the first half an hour. Then, I went again about an hour and 10 minutes in, and finally one last time around the 2 hour mark.

My legs felt strained and a tad sore, but I still found myself able to push my pace in the middle of the run (specifically Hains Point, which is miles 7-10). However, by the time I'd reached 15 miles my hips and quads were aching. I easily finished the run, but didn't feel incredible at the end. Not bad, but just not incredible.

I was sore most of yesterday, and pretty tired too. I went out shopping with my friend Morgan from Sweden, who is in town. We were on our feet most of the day. So, the Friday sprint and yesterday's long run, coupled with an entire day on my feet, could be what's causing the strain in my left foot. On my shopping excursion I did buy a new pair of running shoes (Asics 2130). Though it seemed strange to replace last pair of shoes after having only run in them for 2 months, I believe I've read that a good measure of a pair of shoes is 500 miles. If I've had the last ones for 8 weeks and have gone almost 70 miles each of those weeks, I am right at that 500 mile mark.

So, this week will start tomorrow with an easy 6 miler in the am, and then a 4 miler in the afternoon/evening. Hopefully that schedule, coupled with my new shoes will allow me to keep on track for the next four weeks of running before the almighty BOSTON.

2008-03-21T15:27:00.002-05:00

I did it! I got out there and went for the run. I tried to delay as much as possible, but inevitably 2pm rolled around and I knew I needed to go.

It wasn't pretty, though it started that way. I headed out from the office with music blaring, the wind at my back, and running downhill. I was flying at a pace I knew I couldn't maintain, especially once I would hit the river with the wind at my face.

I ran 8 miles in about 53 minutes, so essentially it was a 14k "race." If it would've been a 5k I would have done it just under 18 minutes (sub 6 min/mile pace), but I wasn't able to sustain that pace.

The run is done and I can get on with my day. Tomorrow is 18! Should be good.

2008-03-21T07:25:00.002-05:00

I find myself in an unfamiliar situation this morning - I'm at the kitchen table finishing breakfast - having not run a mile yet today! Uh oh. The bottom line is, I'm still tired, and with the weather still showing sub-40 degrees (not to mention the wind chills), I've decided to wait until lunch or this afternoon to run.

Normally I wouldn't fall in favor with such a decision, but I am going to spice things up just a bit! We'll see how it goes. It's Good Friday which means that I'm hoping this afternoon will be quiet at work. Instead of watching the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, I'll make sure I get out the door for my 8k-15k "race."

2008-03-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

I went to yoga today for the first time in a while. I went to a lunch time class that I go to every once in a while. I wasn't terribly motivated to get myself to it, but remembered that it would leave me feeling much better afterwards.

My run this morning was an easy 5 miler, which I kept relatively easy except for the 50mpg gusts of wind.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run an 8k-15k race, and then run 18 miles on Friday. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to simulate the race, but have a few ideas. I'll probably run down to the National Mall, which is 2-3 miles, run a nice 5 mile route down there (5 miles is 8k) and then make my way back to the house. All in it'll be around 9-10 miles (15k-16k) with only the 5 in the middle being run at "race pace."

My friend Chris is coming up next weekend for the National Marathon. I'm pretty excited about that!

2008-03-19T10:13:00.002-05:00

I'm not injured!!

My Dad wrote me an email asking if I was hurt since my last update was March 10th. I'm proud to say that even though my left hip has been causing me a bit of discomfort, I've powered through and been able to complete every training run as planned.

It hasn't been easy, specially since I was in Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest (an annual music conference). I pulled an exhausting 21 miles there on Saturday, after a week of good runs last week in DC, returned home late Sunday and have already done 9 miles of lactate threshold Monday, a 15 mile medium long run yesterday morning and then 7 miles with some speed this morning. I'm feeling great and looking forward to the final month before the race.

I've already raised $1426.00 for my friend Mark Beemer's charity. I'm still about $3500 shy of my goal of $5000.00, but I do know a lot of people have commented that they plan on donating. If you have yet to donate, or would like to pass along the link to someone who would like to donate, please direct them here: http://www.syrentha.org/events/bostonmarathon08.php

Again, I'm feeling great and elated to know that at the very least my Dad reads this thing!

2008-03-10T07:50:00.003-05:00

Daylight savings time is upon us, and though I was able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour last night, there was no kidding my body and mind that by waking up at 6:15am I was really waking up at 5:15am. I didn't sleep great last night, having gone to bed on a full stomach and then having a number of noises wake me throughout the night. I've found that occasionally the nights I try to get the most amount of sleep are sometimes the most fitful.

Nevertheless, I am a morning person, and was able to hop out of bed after the alarm had gone off. I spent a bit of time looking for my running hat as I slurped a timer-made cup of coffee. I headed out the door feeling a pep in the first step. Soon after, though, I was feeling a tad strange during the run. Recently, at the start of most runs, I've felt a sharp pain in my left ribs/chest. It's usually semi-strong at first but then goes away a few minutes into the run. This morning I began to breathe into that location, a strategy I've found works quite well with cramps (and one I can thank yoga for inspiring).

I continued on, as the morning run called for 8 miles w/10 x 100m strides at the end, towards the Capital for a very familiar route. I listened to my downloaded podcast of an interview with ultramarathoner Scott Jurek and wondered if I was pushing things too hard or not. The thing is, I wasn't pushing myself very hard. I felt that I was running a relatively regular "general aerobic" pace, but it didn't feel as easy as it should. With yesterday as a day off, I hoped to have felt more rested.

My mind traveled away from my sore left hip as I hit Pennsylvania Avenue and a beautiful view of the Capital came into sight. The sun was rising around 6:50am and the late winter morning provided a pretty backdrop of orange and grey. I watched the people at the Newseum trade out the front page papers.

The rest of the run was good. After the Scott Jurek podcast ended I listened to another podcast about ultrarunners. It surely makes an 8 mile jog in the morning seem drab in comparison to someone attempting to complete 100 miles in extreme conditions. I did need to use the bathroom and thought about the fact that the National Mall doesn't seem to have many options in that regard. I presume it's a safety and sanitary reason, and thought I would have to hold in my morning coffee for another half an hour, when just as I crossed Pennsylvania Avenue on 14th Street there were about 20 port-a-johns there. Normally when these toilets are placed down on the Mall they are locked, but these were probably hired in association with an event which occurred yesterday, and were open. I relieved myself and carried on.

I made it to the track feeling a tad sluggish, but pounded out my 10 x 100m strides. My left hip and my quads were both feeling a bit strained, and stride number six was probably the fastest one with the best form. From then on I was a bit sluggish, especially on the finishes.

I jogged the mile home up 11th Street and stopped my watch at just about one hour and ten minutes. I came inside to do a bit of stretching and already begin to focus my mind on the 14 miles which lie in front of me bright and early tomorrow morning.

2008-03-09T19:09:00.002-05:00

Today was an off day, and I went to yoga. By the end of the day yesterday if I coughed too hard my hip flexors ached. With daylight savings time upon us I longed for another hour this morning, not to sleep, but to just relax and read.

Yoga was nice and mellow and though it took a long time to get my hips comfortable, I walked out of there feeling ready for another week of running. I hope to get to go another class either Monday night or Tuesday during the day and then again on Wednesday night. We'll see.

I'm feeling a tad irritated, a classic sign of overtraining. However, it could just be the accumulation of everything. I just wish there were more days off in a week, month, year!

I downloaded a few pod casts for this week's runs. Most of them are with endurance runners like Scott Jurek and Dean Karnazes (Ultramarathon Man).

2008-03-08T12:56:00.001-05:00

It's really hard to believe it's been an entire week since I've been able to write anything about running. It's not to imply that I haven't been doing any running, or thinking about what I'd write after each respective run. It's just that things have been too busy to write.

It's obvious that I like to use a lot of words to describe my experiences, but in the interest of time, I think I'll just do a quick recount of the week. Suffice it to say, overall, this week was a good one. I was very motivated at the start of the week, embracing a busy work and travel schedule and anxious and excited to see how I could continue my training while doing such. By week's end, however, my tone was completely different. I was worn out, exhausted, and unsure if I was going to be able to get out the door this morning for my Saturday long run. Luckily, though, I recalled that most of the time with running it is so much about just getting out the door. From there my legs tend to do the rest.

One thing I've noticed with the training schedule I'm following is that there really isn't much room for mental relaxation. At least every other day, and at certain times, back to back days, involve runs longer than 10 miles. I am either mentally recovering or mentally preparing for a major run at some point during the day. It can really begin to wear on me. The end of this week was a perfect example of that, but as I type this I can proudly state that I was able to pull myself together and get out on the roads this morning for a successful, fast, long run.

I was headed to New York for work Monday through Wednesday this week, and Sunday I got a really poor night's sleep. Robert was in town and we went out to dinner on Sunday. I was feeling good and relaxed and because he and I had a thirty minute wait for seats I decided it would be okay to drink a beer. With dinner, I decided it wouldn't hurt to have a second one. I didn't even feel remotely intoxicated upon leaving the restaurant, but the little bit of alcohol did affect my sleep. Therefore, when the alarm went off at 6am for a six mile run on Monday, I was already operating at a sleep deficit. Nevertheless, I skated through the six miles and made my way to New York.

The scheduled required me to do a second run that afternoon, of only four miles, and thankfully I was able to squeeze it in on the treadmill in the basement gym of the hotel. The one thing I did notice is that 8 minute miles seemed fast on the treadmill. I wanted to keep my run to 30-32 minutes, and had to do the last two miles at 7:45 pace. It felt a tad quick, or at least not really relaxed.

Monday night I had a show in New York and was thankful that I was able to turn down the few drinks I was offered. I was in bed by 12:30pm, but up Tuesday by 7am and in Central Park by 7:30. Heidi, who lives and runs in NYC, convinced me that I would be able to do some speed work around the reservoir in Central Park. The workout called for 11 miles with 5 x 1200m at 5k pace with a 2.5 minute jog in between. I warmed up with 5 miles running counter clockwise through the park. This was the opposite direction of the Men's US Olympic Trials that we watched back in November, but I was still able to conjure up images in my mind of those guys running considerably quicker than I was on that fair fall morning. The warm up felt good and the speed work around the reservoir was nice, though it was windy. When I'm not able to find a measured track I use a "time" model in place of a "distance" one. I figure that 1200m would probably take me 4:30 to run, so I run at the perceived rate of exertion for a 1200m run and do that for 4.5 minutes. It seems to work out pretty well. I jogged back to the hotel happy that I'd completed the workout.

Tuesday night was an even later one than Monday, and I did end up having one beer that evening. I hadn't planned on drinking, but I figured one celebratory beer at night's end would be acceptable. Luckily I didn't have the same sleep problems I'd had Sunday night. I was only able to get about 5 and half hours of sleep before waking at 7am for a 15 miler. The weather wasn't very nice and my route involved running through the city streets across town to the East Side path at 23rd Street. I've always enjoyed running through the streets of New York City and this morning was no exception. Dodging people and cars and going where the green lights take you (that is, crossing streets from west to east or south to north depending on which light at an intersection is green) keeps your focus directly in front of you. Before I knew it I was on the east side.

The wind on that side was pretty fierce and unfortunately I wasn't dressed as warm as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I persisted through the run and after stopping for a bathroom break in the facility where people catch the Staten Island ferry, I had the wind at my back from Battery Park up to 57th Street. The rain started with about 15 minutes left of my run, and I logged a fast two miles in Central Park. At this point in the week, after two late nights and two difficult runs I was feeling quite good - very on top of my game.

I was beat when I got home on Wednesday and snuck in a nap before going out to a show that night. I did not stay out late and was up for 10 miles early the next morning. I wasn't elated to get up and go, so I ended up running at 7am instead of my normal 6 or 6:30. It's amazing when a 10 mile "general aerobic" run seems short. However, it did, and I felt fast. I ran with at the pace my body was leading me, cognizant of the fact that I was going to have to run hard on Saturday. Nevertheless, once again, I was feeling good about running Thursday morning.

Continuing with the trend of shows followed by runs, I had another show on Thursday night. With only a five mile recovery run on Friday I thought I could get away with a few drinks. However, we were out past midnight, and though I was barely feeling the positive effects of alcohol, the next morning was rough. I think by Friday everything had caught up to me, and dragging myself out of bed by 8:30 was tough. My run was fine once I got out there, but it was rough to get out of the door. The rainy weather wasn't helping either. Again, the run itself was fine, but the rest of Friday was miserable. I was very, very tired and just worn out. I had hoped to get to yoga Friday evening but when you're feeling tired and unmotivated it's tough to motivate yourself. Therefore, I skipped the yoga class, full well knowing that it would do me more good than harm. I was able to sneak in a few poses Friday evening, but I was wrecked by 9pm. I fell asleep on the couch around then but didn't really get to bed until after 10:30.

This morning was Saturday and I woke up around 6:45 thinking I could try to get out of the house by 7:30am. I spent some time downloading some podcasts for my run, and didn't make it out of the house until 8:15am. Today's run called for 16 miles with 12 at marathon pace. I decided I'd do a nice out and back along Rock Creek Parkway heading towards Hains Point. I wanted to run the first four at a slower pace and then log the last 12 at marathon pace. However, I started off quickly and by mile two I was surely running a pace faster than I'd hoped to at that point. I went with it and kept on at what I perceived to be marathon pace. It was raining out and there seemed to be more and more runners out than in the past few, colder weekends. When other runners looked serious I would wave at them and I noticed a time or two where people were noticing I was running with a lot of effort.

I hit the eight mile turnaround still feeling pretty good, but knowing it would be very tough to hold up for the remaining 8. I wasn't exactly sure when I started the twelve miles for race pace, but was a tad afraid I wouldn't actually run a full twelve at race pace. Nevertheless, feeling how I had been feeling, exhausted from the travel and the work, I already viewed this run as a success. The rain picked up with just a few miles to go and I noticed myself slowing with about three miles left. By the end of the run I felt a tad sick, once again. That's attributable to the lack of sleep, non-stop pace, coffee intake and consuming a gel halfway through the run. I ended the run at home feeling quite out of it, thinking that the remainder of the day would probably be a wash. I did want to write this blog so I can have a record of this week of training.

Overall it was a successful week. I was able to log the 68 miles my schedule called for with a lot of travel and late nights. I want to be able to make things less hectic, but this week I am going to Texas for South by Southwest on Thursday. I'm supposed to run hard Thursday morning and do a 4 mile recovery that afternoon. Maybe I'll do something similar to what I did on Monday of this week when I went to New York - hit the treadmill at the hotel before heading out that night. Friday will be a 6 mile recovery run, but Saturday calls for a 21 mile long run. That's the only thing I'm really worried about. I was able to run 18 miles there last year, but was drinking and on a bit different of a schedule. I would presume that NOT drinking will help me, overall, if I can remind myself that I feel better when I haven't been drinking. However, sometimes when I'm drinking I have more energy. I'm sleeping less but the combination of alcohol and coffee seem to fuel me through some of these runs. I guess all I can say is - I'll see.

5 weeks to go to the marathon:

Sunday - off/cross train (yoga)
Monday - 8 miles w/10 x 100m strides
Tuesday - 14 mile medium long run
Wednesday - 5 mile recovery
Thursday - 12 miles w/7 miles at half marathon pace in the am and 4 mi recovery pm
Friday - 6 mile recovery run
Saturday - 21 mile long run

Total of 70 miles

2008-03-02T18:36:00.003-05:00

Today was a much needed off day. I got a good night's sleep, even though I've felt tired all day. It hasn't affected my productivity, but I've felt tired "in my head."

I went to yoga at 10am. It's really been an integral part of my training; it's been a recovery tool. My legs hurt after yesterday's 20 miles: my hips were tight and sore, my lower back ached and my legs had built up lactic acid.

As we began our hour and a half class this morning I had trouble just sitting with my legs crossed. Every movement that involved use of my hips was accompanied by a tad bit of an ache. However, I knew if I could perform the asanas (yoga movements) in the class I would feel much better. It's something that's hard to remember, but I'm very glad that I've been able to make my schedule so my "day off" is on Sunday, when there's a yoga class and no work. I do try to go to other yoga classes during the week, or even perform my own workout after a morning run, but with my busy schedule and being tired after individual runs, it's proven to be a challenge.

One thing I've noticed is that this blog would be more interesting and enjoyable to read if it had photos accompanying it. When I used to run while on tour I always thought it would be great to take a video camera along with me. It would be like my very own version of Google's "Street level view." Now, I don't really think I'd want to interrupt a run with a photo opportunity, but I do hope to add a bit of that flavor from time to time.

What I've got for now, in honor of a complete month of training (February), is a picture of my training calendar. I write a small bit about each run in the space below the number of the day. The last week isn't filled in because I began using this blog again - and I can only spend so much time writing about all the time that I already run.

I am heading to New York tomorrow after a 6 mile am run. I'm supposed to fit in 4 miles in the evening, so I hope to do that in Central Park. I've got to do 11 miles Tuesday and then 15 on Wednesday. I very well may do it all in Central Park. We'll have to see.

2008-03-01T14:01:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately the first 20 miler of this marathon training was preceded by a night which fell outside of my routine. A college roommate (which seems weird to say, because I don't really identify college as "unit" of time in my life) turned super-DJ was making a rare Washington, DC, appearance, and agreed to meet me for dinner beforehand.

We met downtown on K Street NW across from the Lotus Lounge, where he was set to spin later that evening. I arrived at Lima, the restaurant the promoters responsible for bringing him to DC, recommended after finding out I was a vegetarian. I arrived a tad late for our 9:45pm reservation, but still managed to beat these guys by half an hour.

I grabbed a drink while waiting and felt completely out of place in this Miami/Peruvian inspired club and restaurant. We caught up over food and I had a glass of the wine the table ordered. It was good to see him, and though I'm in the music industry too, our worlds seemed so far apart. Here he was, about to start his night (after having slept on the plane), and I was feeling restless about being out past 11pm.

I was convinced by him and the promoters to at least come and check out the club across the way. It was what I expected - very loud and packed with well dressed people dancing to the 80's inspired house music the DJ was blaring. We were led to the DJ booth, which happened to be about 15 feet away from the dance floor and bar. As the first DJ wound down her set I asked my friend if this was "normal." He told me it was completely out of the norm, and that a lot of his sets are more like the "shows" we used to put on in our house in college - he even confessed that he'd taken to stage-diving on more than one occasion while DJing.

I was offered a few more drinks but opted for a Gatorade knowing that 20 miles loomed at some point in the morning. He started his set at midnight and I stayed for a bit. It was pretty fascinating to see him spin, and it would have been a fun place to have a few drinks. However, in the end, I had to keep my training goals in mind.

I got home around 1am and had no trouble falling asleep. I awoke at 8am and realized that I didn't have any coffee in the house. I went over to the local coffee shop and realized what a beautiful morning it was. Though I was tired, I was excited about the prospects of running on a spring-like day. In fact, today was the first day of the year I ran without my running tights on. In fact, I ran in shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, a fleece, my reflective vest, a hat and my lightest pair of gloves. Within a minute of stepping out of the house, however, I realized that the weather had changed.

I pay quite a bit of attention to the weather since all of my runs are done outside. All this week they said that Saturday would probably be breezy with highs in the 40s. However, things have been known to change, and the short jaunt to the coffee shop made me think today was one of those days. I was wrong.

The strong breeze had me wondering if I should head back after only 5 minutes and put on some warmer clothes. However, I rarely ever want to go back after getting out the door. It took me an hour and a half to get out of the door after returning from my coffee trip (downloading podcasts and lollygagging in the bed). I was tired and the late night was already working against me. So, I pushed on.

I kept the pace quite slow because of the number of miles I'd already logged this week. As I noticed earlier in the week, my calf was being finicky and my quads were feeling a tad strained. I ran down to the Capital and figured I would run a route similar to my 17 mile run a few weekends ago. I added a mile by going up behind the Capital and on the way down noticed that the breeze was quite strong at this point.

However, the worst was yet to come. I ran the "out" part of Hains Point and could feel the wind pushing me from behind. Once I rounded the tip and headed back towards Georgetown, though, I was rudely confronted with the strongest winds I've had to run in. I remember hearing stories from last year's Boston Marathon about windy and unfriendly running conditions. I kept thinking of how miserable I would be if these were what is waiting for me come April 21, 2008.

Halfway down the backside of the Hains Point loop I noticed a Coast Guard boat rushing along the water, breaking the large white caps as it sped over to two other boats. From what I could gather, while not wanting to stop, a row boat of some sort was having trouble in the very windy, cold conditions, and people were climbing over the railing which separates the water from land. It didn't appear as if anyone was injured, but as I continued on fire truck upon ambulance upon park police vehicle sped towards the scene. Unfortunately for me, the wind that these rushing vehicles carried with them added insult to the already injury-inducing winds.

I don't mean to sound completely over-dramatic, but the winds were utterly punishing. And, there really wasn't any relief in sight over the next two to three miles between coming out of Hains Point and along the trail to Georgetown. But, eventually, I surpassed that stretch of the run! That was about an hour and 40 minutes into the run, leaving me with just about an hour, or 8 miles, left.

Though i was moving slower than usual, i was still hovering between 7:30 and 7:45 minutes/mile. This pace against the wind was doing a number on my form, and therefore my legs. With an hour left to go I began to feel my calf strain and my quads ache. Nevertheless, I was able to persist, no thanks given to the 1.5 mile stretch from coming out of the park and running up Massachusetts Avenue. Upon reaching the top, I did contemplate stopping, but as has happened so many times in my training runs over the years I thought "if I stop here it's a really long way to walk back. And on top of that I'm really cold as is." Plus, I really knew the hardest part, aside from the last hill on Harvard Street, was behind me.

I cruised down through the picturesque neighborhoods of upper Northwest DC back towards Rock Creek Park. The podcasts - The Competitors Radio show interviews with Dan Brown and Ryan Hall and a few various NPR shows - ended and I changed over to the shuffle feature on my iPod. Conveniently enough, a few of the songs really hit at the exact right time, powering me through the remainder of the run.

I was wiped when I got home and now, two hours after having returned, still feel a tad out of my element. Though sometimes I do have to make a change to my training schedule to accommodate my personal life, I want to attempt to keep with my efforts to go to bed early and get a healthy 8 hours of sleep. I'm really looking forward to a day off tomorrow, with an hour and a half of yoga in there to aide with recovery.

2008-02-29T08:46:00.002-05:00

Last night I ran my first "double" ever. That is, I ran for the second time in one day. I wasn't exactly sure how it would go, and I wasn't motivated at all to run it. I don't particularly enjoy running anytime after noon anyways. I like to run early, get it out of the way, and not have to worry about it anymore. Yesterday was no different, except that it was actually even a bit harder to run in the evening because I'd already expended myself in the morning.

My understanding is that by running 11 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the evening, it allows for me to run 15 miles in a day, but doesn't fully exhaust me the way a 15 mile run all at once would. Also, by running a second time, it increases the blood flow to the muscles, aiding recovery.

I brought my clothes to the office, and ended up getting out of there around 730pm. It was dark and cold and even though it was only 4 miles, I wanted to run faster than a true "recovery" run because I wanted to get out of the cold. It wasn't a great run, but within 30 minutes it was done, and I was able to return to the office, wrap up my work there and rush home.

This morning the training schedule called for 7 miles "General Aerobic" with 6 x 100m strides. My legs were sore this morning, but thankfully my calf wasn't nearly as tight as yesterday. Still, similar to last night, I wasn't really excited about having to complete this run. Nevertheless, I got out the door and hit the pavement.

I ran from my house down to Rockcreek Park via the Zoo's back entrance. I followed the trail in the park down to the P street exit, then up Florida to the track at 13th Street, where I completed my 6 x 100m strides, and finally a slow jog up 11th street to Lamont before cutting over to Sherman and eventually to Morton St. Overall the run was fine, but my legs were a tad sluggish and I have to wonder how the first 20 miler of this training season is going to go tomorrow morning.

2008-02-28T10:23:00.002-05:00

My left calf is in a knot today. I felt it tighten as I was about 6 miles into this morning's 11 mile run. I pushed through and managed to finish the run, but now, just a few hours later, it's reminding me of the punishment I dealt it.

Winter is still here, as evidenced by the 14 degree (with wind chill) temps this morning. I really don't mind the cold so much. I've accumulated enough "gear" over the years to ensure that I am warm enough. I have a formula, based on the temperature and wind chill, as to exactly how many layers I will wear. Today's debate was whether or not to don a balaclava or not. Instead, I opted for an ear warmer in addition to my hat. However, once I'd been running about 5 minutes, I was definitely warm enough.

Today's run called for 6 of the 11 miles to be done at half marathon pace. I intended to do a 3 mile warm up, but by the 20 minute mark I was already moving quickly, so I launched into half marathon pace. I don't really have an accurate gauge of what pace I'm running, though, so I just ran at a quick pace. And, after about 10-15 minutes, I realized that it may have been too quick of a pace. Nevertheless, I powered through the run. By the time I was on the backside of the 6 miles (or at the 40 minute mark of half marathon pace), I was pretty beat, and my calf was cramping.

I'm about to head out the door to a noon yoga class and then prepare for an after work 4 mile recovery run!

2008-02-26T17:36:00.002-05:00

My legs were sore this morning. I passed out on the couch watching the Democratic Candidates debate last night. Yesterday morning's run really left me exhausted by about 8pm. It was cold this morning and I was thankful that I only needed to do a 5 mile recovery run. Both of my calves were particularly sore, but especially my outer left calf. Nevertheless, the cool winds of an approaching front left me a bit chilly as I completed the 5 miles rather slowly.

Yesterday morning was another 15 miler. I didn't sleep incredibly well the night before, unfortunately. I awoke around 3:30am because a stray cat has taken it upon himself to meow and meow and continue to meow outside of our window. My mind went racing a bit, but then I was able to pass back out until the alarm came on at 6am.

The run itself started good. I added an extra mile up on Capital Hill because I thought I would end a mile shorter at Jason's house (we were supposed to meet for breakfast). By the time I made it 15 miles I still had a mile to go to breakfast which included the ever so sharp incline of the Harvard Street hill.

I trudged slowly up the hill, after having expended myself by running quite quickly down on Hains Point (yes, the Awakening statue is gone!). I felt nauseous towards the top of the hill, something I rarely feel while running. I stopped and walked for the final eighth of the hill, suppressing the urge to vomit.

Overall this run was good. My iPod indicated I went 18.78 miles in 2 hours and 8 minutes. I use the calculation of 8 min/mile to determine that 15miles should take 2 hours - and then set out to run 2 hours. However, I do know that my average pace is considerably faster than 8 minutes/mile. I would muster a guess that on this particular run there were times I was running around 7 minute miles, and the average was at least 7minutes30seconds/mile. That would mean I needed to run one hour, 52 minutes and 30 seconds to complete 15 miles. By the time I hit two hours I would've run 16 and the extra 8 minutes would've been at least another half mile.

Tomorrow is my first 2 runs in a day ever. 11 miles in the morning with some lactacte threshold and then a 4 mile recover in the evening. It's supposed to be about 20 degrees in the morning when I wake up. Bummer. I am looking forward to spring.

2008-02-25T08:47:00.001-05:00

I conjunction with the 2008 Boston Marathon I have teamed up with a good friend to raise money for his endowment. He started the endowment 5 years ago after his wife died of breast cancer. He has been raising funds in a variety of ways through his connection to the music industry ever since. I have supported him in a number of ways over the years, and thought that my marathon running would be a wonderful way to continue to aide in raising funds.

I would appreciate it if you would help me with my goal of raising $5,000, between now and the date of the race. Can you please share this with your friends, co-workers and anyone who wishes to donate money towards providing financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer.

I have been training very hard (this week I will run 70 miles) and feeling great about my overall training. I have yet to set my goal, but plan on attempting to run a 3 hour marathon (my Personal Best of 3h9m at the 2007 Vancouver, BC, marathon was used to qualify for Boston).

The link for donations can be found here:
http://www.syrentha.org/events/bostonmarathon08.php

More about the Endowment (taken from http://www.syrentha.org/index.php)

The Syrentha Savio Endowment (SSE), an Internal Revenue recognized non-profit organization, provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer. Since our inception in 2002, SSE has raised funds through a handful of programs including The Shirts for a Cure Project, The SSE Benefit Concert Series, annual charity dinners, awareness walks and online auctions. SSE has awarded gifts to organizations in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, California that help women in struggling neighborhoods find the means to fight this killer.

2008-02-25T08:31:00.002-05:00

It's a new week and a new morning. The alarm clock went off a tad bit after 6am. I felt groggy from going to bed a bit after 11 last night. I went down to the 9:30 club to see some bands and visit with a few friends. I made a conscious effort to return home early, and did a good job. Of course, I forgot the Oscars would be on. I watched the Superbad guys announce best actress and then fell for the deception that best picture would be next (I believe it was actually "Best Film Editing").

My run today was scheduled for 8 mile (general aerobic) with 10 x 100m strides for speed at the end. There's a track about a mile from the house, so I planned to run a 7 mile loop down to the Capital, then run the strides at the track before using the last mile to recover.

Monday's are always strange for running, because I take Sunday off. If I don't feel completely refreshed I wonder if I pushed it too hard on Saturday or if the hour and a half yoga class on Sunday had an impact on my muscles. Nevertheless, I started out the door just after 6:30, donned in tights, a hat, gloves, a fleece and my reflective running vest. Weather.com indicated it was 39F and the humidity was 71%.

I didn't feel spectacular at first, but kept a pretty decent pace out of the blocks. Again, Monday's prove difficult because even though I wanted to push it this morning, I needed to be cognizant of the fact that I have to run 15 miles tomorrow. Nevertheless, I kept up a pretty quick pace until I ended up at the track. There I was able to complete the 10 x 100m strides with good form and speed.

I never know exactly what pace I'm running because I haven't properly calibrated my iPod + Nike pedometer in quite some time. When it says I'm running a 6:45 pace I typically add about 15 seconds to that (thinking I'm running about a 7:15). On my 10th 100m sprint i tapped the button on my iPod which indicates my current pace - it registered that I was running at a 4:30/mile pace. Even if I were to use the 30 second adjustment (technically it would have to be less at that speed) that would mean I was moving at 5 minutes/mile. Then I began to think about world class marathoners and how they carry that pace over the entire 26.2 miles (42.2km - I've gotten into the practice of trying to convert miles to kms in my head and got a lot of practice while hanging out with my Canadian friends at the 9:30 club last night).

Overall it was a great run. I came home and stretched and am already mentally preparing for the 15 miler that I have to run tomorrow.

2008-02-24T18:17:00.002-05:00

Today was a much needed day off. I did do yoga in the morning however. I was lucky enough to do yoga 4 days this week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights and then Sunday morning. I love the balance it provides my body. I'm running more than I ever have before, and though I wouldn't say I'm "flexible" at this point, my muscles aren't nearly as tight as they would be without doing the yoga.

This week's training looks like this:

Monday - 8 miles - General Aerobic + Speed (8 x 100m strides)
Tuesday - 15 mile medium long run
Wednesday - 5 mile recover
Thursday - 11 miles w/6 miles at Half Marathon pace in the monrning and 4 mile recovery in the evening
Friday - 7 miles - General Aerobic + Speed (8 x 100m strides)
Saturday - 20 mile long run

I'm going to try to go to yoga M, W, F and Sunday again, but work and other aspects of life may prevent me from doing so.

I'm feeling really good about my training overall, and am happy to announce that I'll be raising funds for my friend Mark Beemer's Endowment. More on this tomorrow.

2008-02-23T15:28:00.002-05:00

This morning was one of my top two runs of this training regimen. It's always great when I have a fantastic run. I never really know exactly what elements lead up to such a good run, but my top two runs have both been run in Rock Creek Park.

This morning I was due to run 17 miles. This wasn't the longest run of my training thus far. Last weekend, when in Los Angeles, I ran from Hollywood to the Santa Monica pier, a distance of 18 miles.

Below is a link to the run, courtesy of Map My Run.

17 mile Rock Creek - To East West Highway and Back
Find more Runs in Washington, District Of Columbia

2007-03-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

I ran 20 miles this morning, after having run 5 pretty fast yesterday and having done a nice interval workout with the track group on Wednesday. However, my middle back is causing me a lot of pain.

I went to the chiropractor yesterday, on a whim. My dad swears by them, but I haven't been terribly convinced thus far. My run this morning was tough on me, and when I returned home my back was in quite a bit of pain. I decided to pay a second visit in as many days to the chiropractor. I don't feel much relief at this point.

On top of that I've been very anxious all week and sleeping pretty poorly. All of the stressors are also making their presence felt in my upper back and neck. I'm really just a tense ball in my entire back. It's not a good feeling.

I'm supposed to play a soccer game tomorrow, though I'm unsure if my back is going to allow for it. I'm also supposed to travel to Vancouver for the week. I'm not sure if I'm there mentally, or physically. We'll just have to see.

In the end, though, i was able to log my 20 miles, and I'm hoping that, despite the pain and tension, I will continue to be able to complete my workouts. As strange as it may sound and seem, they are what fuels me at the moment.

2007-03-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

I just got an email from the Race Director of the WIREFLY NATIONAL MARATHON saying:

"We wanted to make you aware that due to a cone placement error this course was inadvertently .24 miles longer than the 13.1 official distance which race officials had mapped and USATF had certified. While your Official Time remains the same for the event, we are providing an amended section to the posted results. Click below for adjusted half marathon race results.

* Adjusted male half marathon results
http://www.nationalmarathon.com/Results/2007/mens-half-marathon.asp"

My adjusted time is 1:29:21 which translates to a 6:49 pace. It doesn't say EXACTLY where the misplaced cone was, so I'm unsure if I can just subtract 1 minute and 40 seconds from my last mile (which would put it at 5:43). I'm going to try to find out.

If what I said above stands, then my times would've been:

Mile 1 - 7:58
Mile 2 - 6:56
Mile 3 - 7:04
Mile 4 - 7:08
Mile 5 - 7:08
Mile 6 - 7:07
Mile 7 - 6:44
Mile 8 - 6:46
Mile 9 - 6:41
Mile 10 - 6:28
Mile 11 - 6:32
Mile 12 - 6:21
Mile 13 - 5:43 (was 7:23)
.1 to finish - .38

Total Time: 1:29:21 (was 1:31:01)

2007-03-28T06:37:00.000-05:00

Saturday was one hell of a day. By the end of it I could still feel the adrenaline and endorphins rushing through my body. That morning I'd gone all out at the Wirefly National (Half) Marathon. I'd set my goal a bit high at an hour and thirty-five minutes(1:35), with the slightest suspicion that I could probably clock a 1:30 if conditions were favorable for me.

When I crossed the finish line my watch, which I'd started the moment I passed the threshold of the starting line (not when the gun fired to signify the race start), read 1:31. A few friends were there to greet me and I was really happy with my performance.

I'd had a few rough weeks leading up to the race. I traveled to Japan and back, then to Los Angeles and back and finally I spent five days in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest Music Conference where I slept on the floor of a hotel room and altered my running schedule to fit my social and partying schedule. I returned from Texas on the Monday before the race and tried to taper to the best of my abilities. However, as this was merely a race inserted into my marathon training schedule, I wanted to ensure that I adhered to that.

The night before the race I tried to ensure that I got to bed early, but probably didn't fall asleep until sometime after 11pm. I set the alarm for twenty past five so I would have time to get up, ensure all of my things were in order, drink a cup of coffee and be out of the house by 6am. As the race was routed through the city, I had a slight worry that I may face some road closures on the way to RFK Stadium, the site of the race start.

There was a slight drizzle when I left the house which increased as I faced a traffic jam of cars all waiting in line to enter the designated parking lot for the race. Like myself, I'm sure many of the other drivers were anxious to park and commence their pre-race routines. Nevertheless, it was frustrating to see many of these drivers battle one another for position in the slow moving line (especially at intersections where cars were turning into the line and others were forging straight ahead). I wasn't entirely sure what my pre-race warm-up would consist of, if anything, and therefore just sat back and followed the line until I was parked.

The rain had let up by the time I got out of the car. It was still dark at twenty minutes before 7am, and I was attempting to figure out what clothes were appropriate for the race. I had pinned my number to the front of my blue Adidas running shirt (which I wore at both the Marine Corps Marathon and the Outerbanks Marathon). As a half marathon participant they also required us to pin a bib which read "HALF" to the back of our shirts. The temperature was just above 50 degrees, and the debate was whether to put a longsleeve shirt under my running shirt or not. Without the numbers pinned to the running shirt it wouldn't have mattered very much; I could easily take off the longsleeve if and when it got too warm. I put it on, and even grabbed my light jacket to prevent me from being too cold on the walk from the car to the starting area.

I was able to give my jacket to CJ before the race started and just as it was time to fight my way into position for the start I decided I'd give her my long sleeve shirt too. Though I tend to have a colder body temperature than most, the humidity in the air led me to reason that I'd be plenty comfortable in just the short sleeve shirt.

I made my way into the herd of runners. I located the 3:10 marathon pace runners (1:35 half; 7:15 minutes per mile) and also bumped into Becky (full marathon participant) and Jason (half participant) from the Potomac Runners track group. Similar to the Outerbanks Marathon I did last November, I had a calm about me that was almost worrying. With most of the other things that happen in my life, I operate with a tad bit of anxiousness. It's not something I recommend, but it's how I've developed. That said, it's a bit eerie to enter into something for which I've set a goal with such an air of calm. I began second guessing myself, wondering if I should be taking things more seriously. Luckily, before I could ponder it too much, the race director and Mayor Adrian Fenty had given their motivational, thank you speeches and the race was upon us.

I made a very conscious effort to start slowly, and kept the 3:10 pace runners within sight. I felt that I was moving at a snail's pace, but reminded myself that the adrenaline pumping through my veins would get the best of me if I allowed it that opportunity. Therefore I trudged along. At most of the larger races the first mile is solely about getting out of the pack and entering into your own stride. With only 5,000 participants in the entire race it took at most half a mile to reach a spot where I would be able run my own race.

I was pleased but a bit worried when the clock set up at the first mile marker read 8:00 minutes as I passed it. I was pleased that I hadn't gone out too fast, but if I was going to average a 7:15 pace that meant I was going to have to make it up with a pretty fast mile towards the end. My game plan was to run a negative split, meaning the I would run the later half of the race faster than the first half. As I ran I wondered exactly how "slow" I wanted to run the first half; which in turn would determine how fast I needed to run the second half.

The pace group picked up their speed and I cautiously followed. My legs felt good as we made our way down East Capitol street towards the back side of the Capitol, itself. From there we cut South a short bit until we hit Independence Avenue. There's a slight downhill there and if I am recalling the route correctly we hit the second mile marker there. We had, indeed, picked up the pace a bit. The second mile was run at 6:56. I worried a bit if that was too fast, but my legs were feeling good. That is the dilemma of a long race, however. Having done a good job of tapering the previous week, my legs felt pretty fresh. It's easy to let that feeling, combined with the race day adrenaline, pump you into running a fast first half. And,if that first half is too quick, then your body crashes before you can maintain for the second half.

I consciously tried to slow down a bit, but as we crept in front of the Capitol and onto Constitution Avenue, I settled into a comfortable pace. My friends Issa, Marie, Ana and Mike Garrity were all waiting around the 3 mile marker (14th and Constitution). It's always refreshing to see familiar faces, and to hear their voices. Almost embarassingly they cheered much louder than anyone else during the day, screaming "Heja Mike, Heja Mike" a chant that Issa learned during my first marathon in Stockholm years ago.

After passing them I noticed two guys running very quickly down the opposite side of Constitution. At first I thought that maybe they'd forgotten or dropped something or were rushing back to the site of an accident or an injured friend. However, with the White House on my right I noticed that these were the front runners of the race who had already made it to the turn around a mile up the road. They were cruising very quickly, and more and more runners followed them.

I tried to take in the scenery and realized that I was hovering around a 7:05 pace (Mile 3 was 7:04 and Mile 4 was 7:08). I began to calculate exactly when and how I would make a move on the back half of the race. I contemplated keeping this pace until as late as mile 8 or 9 and then kicking it in, but once I hit the six mile marker I wasn't able to really contain myself.

I didn't kick things in to an all out sprint or anything of that nature, but did knock twenty seconds off my pace for mile 7 (6:44). By this time we were in Southwest DC on Maine Avenue, a quadrant I used to live in. As I picked it up I began passing people and feeling strong. My only worry was whether or not it was too soon, and even though I'd increased my pace I had to make sure that I wouldn't increase it so much that I would tire before the end.

We crossed South Capitol street, entering the Southeast quadrant of DC. I saw the new Washington Nationals baseball team stadium around mile 9 (6:41). We made our way North once again towards Pennsylvania Ave SE before heading South across the Anacostia River. This was the site of the split for the marathoners and the half-marathoners. The marathoners were directed up a clover leaf on ramp while those of us only going 13.1 miles were directed towards the back side of RFK. I was very happy that my race was almost finished. Though I was begin to feel the early signs of fatigue (Mile 10 was 6:28), my mental game kicked in at this point.

Once you've trained 18 miles and run 26.2 mile marathons in the past, short portions like the 3 miles that lay ahead pale in comparison. It was very easy to draw upon last Wednesday's track work out. We did mile repeats with a one lap break in between. I was running those at 5:40-5:50/mile pace. I pushed my mind back to there and thought about how the lap rest was barely enough to recover. As I was going at a slower pace than my track workout, I should be able to complete the end of this race without any problem. And, if that wasn't enough, I could easily draw into my mind the fact that I only had 20 minutes left of running.

Though I'd looked a bit at the course map for the marathon, I didn't pay much attention to the elevation graphic that was on the race's website. Almost all of the running I do in DC is on relatively flat ground, so I was a bit surprised to find the deserted streets of Southeast to be made up of rolling hills. I was still running fast and feeling good, but the headwind and the hills were really testing me. Combine that with the fact that there were almost no bystanders cheering on the runners at this point in the course and it was a trying test for the finish.

Nevertheless, I dug in and ran miles 11 and 12 quite quickly (6:32 and 6:21, respectively). With only one mile left I continued to push myself. I caught another runner who'd passed me earlier and we ran neck and neck for some time. As my lap timer eclipsed 6 minutes for mile 13 I wondered how far the mile marker could be. Ultimately that would be where the finish line was, too, and I was eager to cross it. My body was really starting to feel it. In fact, I noticed a warm sensation throughout my legs at this point. They'd overcome any small aches or pains or soreness from the previous miles. Yet, I was a bit disappointed to see the mile 13 marker still a ways off. I was a bit in shock when I noticed my mile time was 7:23. I barelled down and crossed the finish line questioning if, indeed, that mile was marked correctly.

Soon enough CJ and my cheering crowd from Miles 3 and 5 were there to greet me. I was given my finisher medal and returned my timing chip. I was happy that the race was over and glad that I'd given it my all. I felt good, yet a bit exhausted. I didn't dwell on it long, but I was still confused about the last mile. I didn't feel as if I'd slowed down at all from Mile 12 to Mile 13. In fact, I thought that I may have gone even faster. That would have been the perfect race. Had I logged that mile at 6:20 or so my time would have been right at 1:30! However, it wasn't, and I will have to learn from that in terms of how I run the marathon. Again, it's a long race and I have to run intelligently so I don't peter out before the finish line.

I took advantage of the free massage, where the therapist really focused on my lower back. Obviously it was tight because of my tight hamstrings. She also did a bit of work on my upper back, which is still showing a weird pain that developed while in Austin.

I attempted to rest after getting home, which involved parking the car at 11th and Girard as Harvard Street was impassable because the full marathon route ran along it. However, my adrenaline was still flowing through my veins and rendered it impossible to fully relax. Eventually, CJ and I grabbed lunch with my friends Matt and Megah before I drove up to Philly for a dinner meeting.

I drove back to DC that night, leaving Philly around 10pm. Usually I am exhausted by that point, especially given the day(s) that I'd just had. Nevertheless, I was still pumped and had no problems making it home safely. Even once I got home I had trouble relaxing and transitioning into sleep. It was one of those days that makes me feel great about all the miles I've logged and the hours I work.

All of that said, it's now Wedensday morning and I have been exhausted the past three days. I biked on Sunday with Audu and crashed out pretty early that night. Monday I got up and ran 8 miles (the first 6 felt good but the last two I could tell I was tired) and had trouble staying up past 9:30pm. Yesterday I went for a slow 5 and felt exhausted at night once again. Allergies combined with the hectic life I've been living have been catching up to me. It's tough to admit that rest is a considerable part of the training formula. I read about avid trainers who sleep anywhere from 10 to 12 hours per day. That is never going to make it's way into my current lifestyle, but I would love to consistently get eight hours of sleep. I was able to get that last night, but it required going to bed by 10:30pm.

Tonight is a fartlek workout with the track group and then I begin to prepare for the longest run of the season. Yes sir, my first 20 miler is going to happen on Saturday morning, followed by my first soccer game of the season on Sunday. I'm excited about the prospects of running Vancouver in 3:10. With the race I just ran I'm confident that I should be able to tackle that.

Below are the mile splits for the National Half Marathon:

Mile 1 - 7:58
Mile 2 - 6:56
Mile 3 - 7:04
Mile 4 - 7:08
Mile 5 - 7:08
Mile 6 - 7:07
Mile 7 - 6:44
Mile 8 - 6:46
Mile 9 - 6:41
Mile 10 - 6:28
Mile 11 - 6:32
Mile 12 - 6:21
Mile 13 - 7:23
.1 to finish - .38

Total Time: 1:31:02

2007-03-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Today might be the last day that I have to wear tights while running for quite some time. The weather in Washington, DC, in March likes to play tricks on us. Though I was gone this past week, it did snow on Wednesday, and the temperature when I got up to run on Friday morning was below freezing. This morning at 7am when I set out for 17 miles, weather.com had the temperature at 35F; 30F with the windchill.

The high this afternoon will be in the 60s, but March will probably remind us once or twice more before month's end that Mother Earth is in control of when winter ends and spring begins. That is, no matter how many plus 60 degree days we get between now and the end of the month, there are likely to be a few more brisk ones slipped in there, too.

I spent the past week in Los Angeles visiting my buddies in the (International) Noise Conspiracy. I had a 9am flight on Monday so I woke up around 5:30 and headed out for an 8 mile run. I ran my normal Capital route but added in a mile long jaunt into the Southwest quadrant of DC. It worked out perfectly and I ended at Sherman and Park Streets Northwest having run just over 8.2 miles. That was a cold, early morning run, but reminded me of why I love getting up before sunrise; I was able to watch the crisp, clear sky turn from the dark of night to the blue of day. The sun rises in our nation's capital are something I will always treasure.

5am on the east coast is 2am in Los Angeles and by the time I lay my head on the pillow Tuesday morning at 2am I'd been up 24 hours. Travel is exhausting, especially when I need to hang out and enterntain. Nevertheless, I woke up around 8am and waited for Inge, the bass player of the band I was staying with, to show me into the gym at the corporate apartments they were housed in. I ran a slow 5 miles, hoping to use the run as recovery. I could see out the window, past the pool, and onto the streets of Los Angeles. I wondered why I decided to run inside when I could've been out in the warm air.

Wednesday I decided to take advantage of the great weather. I was going to miss my track workout in DC, so I decided that after a 10 minute warm up I would run an interval run. I ran 5 minutes on with 3 minutes off. I was able to perform 6 of the intervals and leave a bit of time for cool down during the 8 miles I was out. It felt good to log those miles in the warm, west coast air. I ran early enough to avoid a ton of traffic, and had made a point to get a decent nights sleep the night before.

Thursday was another recovery run, and it was actually a tad chilly when I set out at 8am. I brought my hat, gloves and various long sleeve running shirts and fleeces with me to LA. Nevertheless, I didn't think I'd need it seeing as the previous days had been so mild. It wasn't uncomfortably cold, but it was probably 10 degrees cooler than the day before. Neverthless, I logged over 6 miles, when I'd intended to go only five. However, I found myself on Santa Monica Boulevard near the Troubadour night club and wanted to jaunt up to Sunset before heading back to Fairfax and 3rd where the band's apartment was. That added an additional mile, half up hill to get to Sunset, and half downhill to head further south on Fairfax. I like running on Sunset, having done it countless times on tours when we'd stayed at either the Best Western or the Grafton.

I was utterly annhilated by the time I got back to DC Thursday night. I have a tendency to really wear myself thin when I'm traveling. I want to stay out and have a good time, which often involves drinking, and then I don't compromise on getting my early morning runs in. Tokyo combined with this trip to LA have made 2007 start to feel a bit too much like 2006, and I'm wondering how next week in Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest will be. It could prove to be another week of exhaustion, especially as I'm staying with a friend as opposed to a hotel. We'll just have to see.

I had no desire to run Friday morning, especially since the temperature was back below freezing. I woke up still pretty beat, but made myself go. As always, i just KNOW I will feel better following a good run. I've been using my Monday, Wednesday and Fridays to do long(er) pacing/interval/fartlek/track runs. Friday was no exception and I found myself cruising along. I still have yet to calibrate my iPod + Nike device, and I'm convinced that this particular run probably had me averaging right around 7 minute miles. I was tired, but felt good when the 8 miles were said and done. However, this is the first time that I haven't taken a mild/rest day prior to my long runs. And, given the pace I blitzed through this run, combined with the great interval run I had Wednesday, I wasn't sure what to expect of my body for Saturday's long run.

I made a point to skip the engagement I had Friday night, knowing it would knock me on my ass. I always prioritize my Saturday runs when I can. I know that if I can get up early and feel good about it then I will be happier to have the run finished as early as possible. I woke up at 6:30am this morning and brewed a quick cup of coffee. I took off by 10 minutes after 7am, and headed on the Rock Creek Parkway towards Georgetown. This route would expire 4.5 miles by the time I made it to the start of the C&O Canal trail, and then I'd plan to do another 4.5 miles out on that. That would leave me at 9miles and knowing I was going to stop at the grocery store about half a mile shy of my house. I wanted to ensure I logged 17 without having to add any additional miles at the end - I always hate that.

The first 9 felt great, and I picked it up a bit on the backend. However, by about mile 14 my mind was longing for the run's end. My legs were the nemesis encouraging my mind, but I endured and finished in about 2h 13m (7:49 pace). I feel that I was probably running a 7:30 pace, all in, and that will leave me in good shape to run a sub 1h35m half marathon two weeks from now.

This coming week is going to be a challenge, and I can't say I'm entirely elated about trying to run 18 on Saturday at South by Southwest. However, I've been able to achieve harder in recent times, and I've vowed to not let the music industry obligations and trips detract me from my running. I just don't think that's acceptable. I am happy, however, that I won't have to run in tights while there. And, by the time I'm back here a week from Monday, the trickery of March's hold on winter.

2007-03-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

March is a funny and frustrating month. It has the tendency to show signs of Spring, like it did on Saturday by gracing us with near 60 degree temperatures, and then quickly remind us that winter doesn't even officially end until the solstice three quarters of the way through the month.

Though my fast 11 miles on Saturday was done in great running weather, at 7am it was still a bit colder than I'd hoped for. Nevertheless, I was able to run in shorts, my fleece, a hat and my gardening gloves (my hands were definitely the coldest part). Yesterday I ended up going on a 20+ mile bike ride in the just-above-freezing temperatures, which prepared me a bit for the cold of this morning. Because I am on my way to Los Angeles this week (where it will definitely feel like spring!) and had a 9:25am flight out of National I wanted to log my 8 miles for the day before boarding.

I set my alarm for 5:20am and was out the door by 5:35am. Weather.com indicated the temperature was 28 and the stiff breeze dropped the wind chill to 22. I threw on my tights, undershirt, longsleeve shirt, fleece, windbreaker, hat and winter gloves. Though last week was supposed to be a recovery week, i didn't do a great job of taking advantage of it. Instead I ran my shorter distances faster than I normally would. Combining that with the bike ride yesterday, my legs started today's run at a distinct disadvantage.

The early morning was cold and as I jaunted down Sherman Avenue towards downtown the wind was blasting my face. I started relatively slowly, but was still probably under an 8 minute mile pace. As I neared the 2 mile mark of the run I could tell I was running quickly. I kept the pace up through the third mile, just near the Capitol. Unlike my 7 mile route where I head from the road immediately fronting the Capitol to the pebble covered paths of the National Mall, I cut south on 3rd street and went into Southwest DC. I struggled as I hit the halfway point just before turning onto Maine Avenue.

The fish market was not booming at all and I was glad to pass it on my way to the tidal basin, just opposite the Jefferson Memorial. The pedometer indicated I'd gone about 5 miles in that time and I continued on passing in front of the Washington Monument before being dumped onto 15th Street heading North. By this time my legs were really showing signs of frustration from last week's workouts. However, my mind was able to convince me that the sooner I got home the sooner I'd be warm, so I pushed myself up the small incline before I (Eye) Street.

At Scott Circle I ended up back on 14th Street, which is how I've finished my 7 mile route so many times before. Though it was still a bit anguishing to have to mentally push myself on, I did what I needed to do and eventually crossed U Street. From there it's a relatively steep 5 blocks uphill. I took the hill a tad slowly and was glad to finally level off at the top - the beginning to Columbia Heights. By now the sun was rising and the crystal clear blue sky of the morning was a great reward.

My run actually logged 8.3 miles by the time I returned to Sherman Ave at Park Ave (just north of my house on Morton Street). According to my Nike + iPod pedometer I ran the distance in 1h 3m with an average pace in the ball park of 7:30. I'm still convinced that upon proper calibration I'll find out I've been running both further and faster than I'd anticipated.

It was nice to try to get a quick stretch, especially in the sore area of my right hip. I then rushed through my morning routine so I would have enough time to wolf down some breakfast, pack for my trip and move out. The run was good, but not great. I need to concentrate on running more slowly tomorrow, as recovery is going to be key if I want to get in 8 miles Friday and the 17 miler on Saturday.

2007-03-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

With each passing week I've attempted to write about my running from the previous week. Some of them, I find myself in a familiar position that I am right now - I've already completed my post run shower and am about to get started on some of the week's unfinished work while sitting at my desk in my room. Others, rather last week specificially, I found myself in Japan having run a strong five miles in Osaka. Nevertheless, I just haven't been able to complete any writing about my running. Distractions are one thing, but there must be a lack of motivation somewhere within that's prevented me.

I won't be able to go back through the past two weeks worth of running. However, I will say that I am feeling pretty confident about my training. This morning was an 11 miler and I completed that quite quickly. I kept the National Half Marathon in my mind as I pushed myself on a run that's only two miles shy of what I'll need to run on March 24th. I haven't quite figured out what I'd like to run it in, but my gut tells me anything under 1 hour and 35 minutes will be a success.

Two weeks ago I had a strong running week, and then I was in Japan last Thursday through Tuesday. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my training schedule while there, but I sacrificed a lot of sleep and ran at least one run with more alcohol in my system than I'd have liked. However, it was a test of my will to run and my ability to convince my aching body (lungs, legs, brain, etc) that if I WANT to run something, I CAN.

I've been reading a book by David MacGillivray, the race director of the Boston Marathon. He's consistently challenged himself throughout his life, long before Dean Karnazes (ultramarathon man). Both men have been an inspiration. Having read accounts of people running very long mileage (40+) day after day allows one to really push himself on comparatively short 10 to 15 mile runs.

Running in Japan was fun, though my 15 mile run in Tokyo was a tad frustrating. I'd hoped to retrace the route our car drove to our hotel the day before. That would have taken me by the Imperial Palace in the center of Tokyo. However, I missed a turn somewhere and then couldn't ever get my bearings straight. Tokyo is a monstrous city, with more high buildings than I've ever seen. They never eased enough along my route to allow for an analysis of where I was in comparison to where I wanted to be. Having very little familiarity with the city to begin with also added to that disappointment. Nevertheless, I ran in circles and made random turns in the 35 degree Farenheit weather. It was chilly, but in the end I was happy that I'd logged the miles.

In fact, in my 5 days in Japan I was able to push through a 10 mile run in Osaka, a 5 mile recovery run, the 15 mile Tokyo run, a much needed day off (after the 15 mile run I spent the rest of the day on my feet sight seeing) and then a 7 mile run the day we left. 37 miles on less than 24 hours of sleep in 5 nights once again made me feel that I can do whatever my mind wants me to. That said, I do need some recovery after that.

That's what this week was supposed to be. I did my long run in Tokyo on Sunday there, and the 7 mile pace run was done Tuesday morning Tokyo time. I was finished by 7am, which would have been 5pm in Washington, DC. Therefore after a morning of last minute shopping and a 12 and a half hour plane ride from Tokyo's Narita airport back to Washington Dulles I felt okay about lacing up my shoes for a quick four mile, sunset jaunt Tuesday evening back in DC. The runs were 24 hours apart on the world clock, but both were done Tuesday in their respective locations. That's about as close to a two-a-day as I've ever come.

Wednesday I was glad to return to the track. The workout called for the über-ladder (800-1200-1600-2000-1600-1200-800, all with 400m recovery periods). As always, we were encouraged to modify the training according to our individual training schedules. Though this was a recovery week, I felt as if I wanted to challenge myself with the über ladder. I ended up running it quite well, though my hips were quite tight. Nevertheless, I feel myself getting stronger and stronger with each run.

By and large I completely avoided jet-lag on my trip to Japan. I guess not sleeping for more than 5 hours per night is one of taking care of that, but I was surprised. My trip back from Africa had devastated me and I was sure that Japan would leave me with some astounding sleep deprivation as well. Maybe I've commandeered control of my anxious?! However, after that track workout Wednesday night I was sufficiently wiped, and my body attested to that. I hardly ever set my alarm clock unless I must be up before 7am. My body's natural sleep cycle usually wakes me before that magic hour. Much to my surprise I slept straight through until 8:30am on Thursday morning. I was happy. I was also still beat, and my hips, legs and left foot (my big toe hurts and I'm not 100% confident that I don't have a stress fracture) all were pleading with me to take a day off. Therefore I skipped the easy 4 mile recovery run I would have normally run.

I was actually still tired Friday (two beers from 9 to 11pm at the local bar with friends probably didn't help), but made myself run my 7 mile Capitol route. I really like that route and it was the first warm morning of the year. It was already 50 degrees when I left the house and I ran in only shorts, a base t-shirt and a longsleeve over that. The run itself wasn't bad, and like this morning's long run I pushed myself when I felt I could. I don't know if my iPod pedometer is calibrated the way it should be, but I do know that I'm running faster than I did, whether it's precise or not.

I'm headed to Los Angeles this week, but should be able to get 8 miles in Monday morning before I leave. I'll be back in time for my 17 mile run next Saturday. It's really the following weekend I am worried about - 18 miles in the Austin, Texas, heat at the South by Southwest Music Conference. Nevertheless, I am feeling strong and confident and am sure I'll find a way to not only complete the runs, but continue to improve my times!

2007-02-12T08:07:00.000-05:00

The past week of running was a good one. Here it is Monday morning and I'm finally getting around to scribbling down (I guess scribbling is more a way to say that this is rushed and not thought out than to indicate that I am doing something other than typing) what I ran.

The track on Wednesday night was a solid workout. I ran 8 x 800s and felt like I exerted myself quite hard. There were a lot of people in our group who opted out at six or seven. I pushed myself hard on the last four, clocking in somewhere in the 2:49-2:53 mark on each of them.

Thursday was a short recovery run, though it was really cold so I kept the pace right around 8 minute miles. I am still not fully capable of slowing myself down for a nice, easy recovery.

Friday morning's 6 mile run was good and Saturday's 9 miler was done at a sub 8 minute pace. I had to push myself quite hard on that run and I could feel the burn as I wound down the run. The last mile was up the Harvard Street hill and my legs were letting me know that I've been working them recently.

I was able to take yesterday off from running, though I got in one of the best workouts of the year thus far at the gym. I was able to focus a bit more on my chest and biceps than I have been up until now.

Finally, this morning I went out for a 7 mile tempo run. My legs were feeling this one, too, but all in all I feel revived and elated to be pushing myself. I signed up for the National Half Marathon here in DC in March and still plan to complete the Vancouver Marathon in early May. I do hope to pull it back just a bit tomorrow and then we'll see what Wednesday holds. It's not only Valentine's day, but we're expecting inclement weather (snow/wintry mix) so I'm unsure how that will affect the track workout. There's a possibility I will just get up and run hills that morning.

2007-02-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

I ran on a treadmill today. I'd wanted to get up around 7am and go for a run outside, but the windchill was hovering around zero degrees Farenheit, and I wasn't willing to freeze my tuckus in order to get in a good workout. I'm not opposed to running on a treadmill, though I am convinced that people's times tend to be quicker there than out in the elements.

To test this theory I took my iPod w/the Nike transmitter with me. Not only did it allow for me to listen to music, but it also gave me an alternate way to measure my distance and time. According to the treadmill I did a 6 mile run in about 44 minutes. I started out running just over 8 minute miles. I then increased the pace on the treadmill to around 7:30/mile for miles two and three. Miles four and five were done at around 7:15 and I dipped slightly under 7:00 for the final mile. My iPod indicated that I'd only run 5.46 miles, however. I wonder where the discrepancy lies?

If it's not too cold on Wednesday I will try to re-calibrate my device, but the weather forecast for the week is looking less and less formidable each time I go back to it. I ordered a new wind breaker/running jacket online this weekend, but until that shows up I'm not sure how many runs I will be able to tolerate. That said, i do plan to go out for 3 miles early tomorrow. Nevertheless, until i can calibrate the device and re-test it, I'll wonder if the treadmill's distance was too short or if for all of these long, outdoor runs?

2007-02-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

Whew, it was cold outside this morning. I've recently been told that I'm a walking meteorologist, however I failed to answer what the barometer was going to be like. I'm not sure what my status was reduced to. The bottom line is, I'm a skinny guy without much body fat. The cold tends to seep into my bones and stay there until I'm able to warm myself again. That's usually not until I'm home and have had a long, hot shower.

I woke up this morning and checked weather.com. It indicated that while the temperature was 25 degrees, the windchill would make it feel like it was 15. Learning from the other morning that the addition of my sweat pants and my summit series North Face made me too warm, I donned by typical winter gear and prepared myself mentally for today's run.

Though I was up by 7:15, I made a cup of coffee and relaxed a bit; I gave myself until 8am to get out the door. A few minutes prior to the hour of my deadline I was ready to go. I opened the front door and was quickly hit with a blast of the cold air. I realized I should grab my sunglasses and stepped back inside to retrieve them. For a brief minute I considered ditching the entire ordeal. Nevertheless, I knew that the run would make me feel accomplished upon completion, so I headed out.

I've decided that I am going to run the Vancouver Marathon on May 6th. My buddy Chris is running one sometime in early June and forward me a training plan. I sat down last night and backtracked from race day to where I should be on the current schedule. I'm already at the long run for week 5, which meant that I needed to go out for 12 miles.

Though I haven't been running with a goal or any true consistency in regards to marathoning, I am comfortable with the idea of picking up part way through the training, though.

The run itself was decent, and I averaged 8 minute miles over the 12.75 miles that I ran. I stuck to a pretty standard route for me, heading down to the Capital, behind the Jeffereson Memorial and up Rock Creek Parkway. The stretch by the river was quite challenging because of the wind blowing off the water. It was a tad daunting, but my mind can push my body to persevere. My hands, though gloved, were a tad chilly. It amazes me that I will see other runners out with no hats or gloves. It's well below freezing!

I'm excited about training for another marathon, hoping to break a 3:10 time period. It's 2007 (though a month in) and I'm excited about new challenges, even if it means enduring the cold, windy winter.

2007-02-02T09:37:00.000-05:00

It's not often that I put an entry in when I haven't done a run. I really did consider getting up early this morning, but seeing as I ran the track Wednesday night and then did a 4 mile recovery run yesterday morning, I thought I could use some rest. Of course, that means that I will surely have to make up for it by going for a long run tomorrow. It was in the cards, regardless, but now I will have to make an extra effort and probably go a bit longer.

I've been waking up with a really dry throat lately, and this morning I had a bit of phlegm as well. I haven't been feeling great. On top of that, I actually woke up around 5:30am, and was up for a bit of time. I finally was able to fall back asleep and wasn't eager to wake up at 6:30 for a run.

That said, I've been feeling particularly good about the running I've been doing. The track workout Wednesday night was really good. We did mile repeats (1600m) with a one lap jog in between the intervals. I was able to complete four of the repeats and each of them were right around 6:00 minute/mile pace. My recovery run Thursday morning had me feeling a bit tight, but I was able to run 4 miles at a comfortable pace.

Now I need to go and figure out what runs I need to do this weekend and from here on out. I'm thining a long run on Saturdays, a tempo run Mondays, the track workout on Wednesdays and fill Tuesday and Thursday with recovery runs. Friday can be off and Sunday can either be an easy run or even a cross train day.

2007-01-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

This morning was a cold one, but had to be done. I've found myself having one heck of a busy week, and am still flirting with the idea of starting to train for the Vancouver Marathon. My buddy Chris is running a marathon in early May (Grandmother's Marathon in Minnesota or something?) and he sent me the link for Hal Higdon's Intermediate Training Schedule. I looked at that over the weekend and realized it's an 18 week course. If my calculations are correct I've got a bit over 12 weeks before the Vancouver Marathon (3 months x 4 weeks = 12).

Nevertheless, I also know how much better I feel after I run and I wanted to feel good and rejuvenated today. So, the alarm went off at 6:20 (I made it to bed before midnight) and the weather said 21 degrees Fahrenheit and 12 degrees with the windchill. So, I put on all of the clothes I normally run with and then added a pair of sweat pants and a China-special North Face Summit Series layer (bought a mock version while in China a few years go, so it's probably not an actual North Face) and headed out.

Surprisingly, I actually was pretty warm. I moved at about an 8 minute mile pace (the actual run was just under 6 miles and took about 48 minutes) though my leges felt quite tired. I always tell myself it's okay to go easy (but I think 8 minute miles are easy). I have the track workout tomorrow night so I wanted to save something for my legs. Nevertheless, the run was what it was, and even though I'm feeling a bit tired (7-8 hours of sleep would have been much nicer) I am feeling good about the day and ready to go conquer it. That's why I really like running. On top of that, no matter how painful it is to get out of the house that early when it's that cold, it's always nice to see dawn break. That's truly worth it in and of itself.

2007-01-28T09:54:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but there are often times when I am running that I think about all of the things I could talk about when I go to write about the run. Then, by the time I've managed to make it back home, exhausted (at this point in my "training" - in quotes because I am not currently training for anything specific), I have no desire to rush upstairs and get on the computer to say anything.

I must say, with winter upon us, I have had absolutely no desire to wake in the morning and go for a run. The problem is, I am really bad about making time for the run later in the day. Usually, if I want physical activity at lunch I will head to the gym, and in the evening I have been getting home pretty late, ready to eat, and surely not in the mood to begin running.

That said, i did manage to sneak in a lunch time run on Friday. I was feeling tired in the office and barely wanted to motivate myself to go to the gym. The gym, recently, has consisted of little more than running through 2/3 of my normal routine (I really only have two routines - one for chest/bi/tri and another for back and shoulders, both of which incorporate push ups, ab work and a bit of stretching). After rushing through a half assed work out the other day I decided that I could sacrifice even more time out of the office and hopped on the tread mill for half an hour. That run felt good. Most runs do. The release is what I crave.

I knew I wanted to run yesterday. I didn't push it hard on the treadmill on Friday. My body was still recovering a bit from the "classic-ladder" workout we did at the track on Wednesday night. I really enjoyed the workout, and felt that I was already getting back to my pre-Africa trip pace (I ended up heading up the "second group" which meant that I was running my splits at about 1m30s per 400m lap, but I needed a bit more recovery time). I will continue to use those workouts throughout the winter.

The weather yesterday was quite beautiful. I believe it was in the high-40s when I decided to actually step out the door. I was half torn on exactly when I was going to run. I didn't get up early to run, instead doing some reading, cleaning and heading to the grocery store. By the time 1pm rolled around it felt as if it would be as good a time as any. I started out quickly, running down hill from my house in Petworth/Columbia Heights towards the Capital (Pennsylvania Avenue). It was interesting to run that route during the day, especially on the weekend. By the time I made it down to the Convention Center (9th and Mass) I took a bit different route than I normally would on a morning with deserted streets.

Instead of cutting East on Massachussets and then running down 7th street through Chinatown, I went pass Mass. Ave and because of the traffic light situation ended up going East on H Street. The light at 7th worked so that it was easier to go straight through it, as opposed to turning right/south and heading by the Verizon Center as I normally would. That street would have been insanely packed, anyways. Instead I ended up going south on 6th street, on the back side of the Verizon Center and then made my way down towards Pennsylvania. I believe I ended up going East on C Street, and once I made it down to 3rd Street I encountered a huge crowd of people out for the Peace Rally (a rally to once again try to show Mr. Bush that most of the people who live in this country do not think his Iraq plan is a good, just one).

I would have normally cut in front of the Capital, but that route was cordoned off. Instead I ran up Independence (or was it Constitution?) and went behind the Capital. This added a bit of a hill and probably an additional half mile to my run. By now I was beginning to feel a bit tired and realized I had to make it all the way to 14th street and then back up the house. Luckily, dodging the people and traffic along Constitution (or was it Independence) as I ran along the back side of the Air and Space Museum kept my mind occupied and off of the run. My stomach, which had been upset by a meal the night before, was starting to cause me some serious problems and my mind wanted to lead me home quicker than my body.

That's the nice thing about running marathons. I've said it once and will continue to say it - that mental preparation is invaluable in running. This was a run that I started out relatively quickly, feeling good, but not pacing myself for a full 8 miles. If I had been out for four, it would have been great. So, my mind had to really pick it up and carry me through the rest of the run. I had to block out the stomach ache and the pacing issue. Thankfully, by the time I fronted the Washington Monument and turned North on 14th Street I knew every step that I would make between that and home. For the past three to four years I've been on that road at least 50 times (I had been trying to figure out an approximation of how many times I'd actually been up the street and had to say that it was surely less than 100 but could be more than 50).

i finished out the run and all in all I did 8.11 miles in about an hour and 4 minutes (7:58 pace). I felt good about it and the warm weather surely made it easier to get out there. Today I have work to do and a bit of studying to do, so I'm unsure exactly when I'll make it out of the house. The weather is a bit rainy, and having gone up to Baltimore for the Earth Crisis reunion show means that I haven't truly gotten a great night's sleep. However, I know full well that if i get out there at some point today, I will feel better in the end.

Lastly, I'm beginning to flirt with the idea of running the Vancouver Marathon in May. Robert lives out there and I believe that he is going to run it. I may have business there the day before, anyways, so it might work perfectly. And, it'd give me a reason to really start training, something I might really enjoy!

2007-01-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

I just stepped in from a 3.5 mile "recovery" run. I really don't know how to do a true recovery run. My pace still averaged about 8:15, which isn't too much slower than a lot of the regular runs that I do. It was really cold outside, probably around 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I wanted to ensure that I could keep moving in order to stay warm.

Like I wrote last night, I really hadn't intended on getting up and running. However, as my mind raced while I lie in bed between 5:45 and 7:00am, I couldn't stand the thought of getting out of bed in order to motivate getting over to the gym. Therefore running was the only thing that might ease the anxiety pumping through my system. The run itself didn't truly alleviate that, however. My mind continued to race, at an expedited pace, which is probably what kept my legs moving quickly, too.

My hamstrings are sore from the track last night. My eyes and brain are tired; they're exhausted, in fact. I don't truly know how to keep up. I think soon I'm going to lose my mind. Until then, running should keep me throttling.

2007-01-17T22:37:00.000-05:00

Track Workouts and Returning to the Gym.

I returned to the gym this week. I went yesterday morning and again this morning. I went through a very light routine, though it isn't much different from what I normally do when I go in there. Nevertheless, with the insomnia and jet lag I haven't felt incredibly motivated. However, I've gotten in there just enough to make myself feel good and energize me throughout the day.

Though i worked out this morning I made a return to the track tonight. I run with a group called the Potomac Runners and I hadn't gone since a few weeks before my marathon. However, tonight I braved the sub-30 degree temperatures and went out once again. I love the invigoration that a track workout gives me. In fact, even though I've had trouble sleeping every night this week, it's a quarter til 11pm and I am showing no real signs of tiring. That's rare for me (and I hope I do get tired soon!).

The running plan for tonight was a series of 1200m runs, followed by a 400m jog, followed by a 400m run, followed by a 200m jog, then repeat. I think the intended plan was to do a series of 1200m runs followed by 400m jogs and then finish with a series of 400m runs followed by 200m jogs, but that's not how we went about it.

I was able to keep up with the front runners for the first set of 1200s, and even the first 400 run following that. However, I quickly realized that it had been a couple of months since I'd been out there, and that they were looking to increase their pace with each and every set. I wasn't capable of handling that. I had to slow down with each set, though I didn't fade too far from a 6:00 minute per mile pace.

I ended up running 4 full sets, and then followed it up with a mile cool down. I ran for 52 minutes, overall, and probably around 5 and a half miles. I am debating whether or not I will do any sort of work out tomorrow. I could get up and go for a nice recovery run, or I could just relax. I won't be able to hit the gym again until Tuesday of next week, so possibly I should go in there. However, I wouldn't mind just trying to sleep in! Lastly, and I always have to remind myself this - while days off are good, they typically don't work for me. I like the release I get from either running, going to the gym, or both.

2007-01-15T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is: 2007. I remember my first run of 2006. It was a pretty glorious run in New York's Central Park. I had a relatively late New Year's Eve there, but wanted to start the new year fresh. I was fortunate enough to stay around the Gramercy area of town - 26th and Lexington Avenues. I ran from there up to Central Park, did the big loop, and returned. I think it was close to 10 miles. It was a fresh start for 2006.

I wasn't able to run on the first day of 2007. I was traveling around Africa and I spent New Year's on a slow ferry between the island of Zanzibar and the mainland city, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. From there I caught a bus to the small town of Moshi to meet my friends to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. We spent January 2nd through the 7th on the mountain. I spent the next few days on a Safari in Ngorongoro Crater and the plains of the Serengeti, all without running.

I expected my first run of the year to be Saturday, January 13th, but I managed to sneak one in with my friend Victoria on Thursday the 11th in Rwanda. Her and her husband, Matthew, live there and that's where I based my Africa trip out of. I wasn't expecting to run that day, but Victoria was up for it and I really knew that it would make me feel better. Rwanda sits at around 5,000 feet. That's as high as Denver, Colorado. The air is a tad thinner there, which can make breathing while exerting oneself somewhat of a challenge. Luckily both of us were in the mood for a very slow run. It's also quite hilly, but we found a route that took us up a few steep grades and then onto some flat streets atop the hill. All in all it was a good way to start 2007.

I flew home all night Friday and arrived Saturday morning. It's now Monday, January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday Holiday. I've been struggling to catch up on sleep and transition back into my life here at home. However, I have managed to sneak in three runs.

None of the runs has been exceptionally great. I ran Saturday afternoon around 2pm. It was a short 4-mile loop that I use quite often. Africa is seven hours ahead so my "body time" felt as if it was around 9pm. On top of that, I'd traveled from around 10am "body time" until 1pm (our plane landed at 6am in DC) without much sleep or relaxation. Nevertheless, it felt good to get my first run of the year in DC under my belt.

Coming back from areas where the clocks are ahead (i.e. Europe, the Middle East, Africa) has always seen me suffer great amounts of jet lag. I really hate it and don't really know what to do. I've tried to combat it with all kinds of different things. This time I did a good job of napping on Saturday which enabled me to stay up until a very reasonable hour - 11pm. I went to bed but didn't sleep well and by 5am my body refused to allow me to sleep more.

The sun isn't rising here until almost 7:30am and therefore the first signs of light didn't appear until around 7am Sunday morning. I decided that I should head out for a run around then. Though I wasn't sure of the distance I knew I'd be able to log an hour by heading out of my house, down to the National Mall and Capital and then back up 14th Street. The run dind't feel bad, but it didn't feel great, either. I averaged over 8 minutes per mile, but was actually fine with that. I have no need to attempt to compete against anyone or myself with these first runs of the year.

The one thing that was interesting about the run to me was how little things have really changed in the month I've been away. I used to return from tours when I was working with bands and construction seemed to progress with leaps and bounds. Now, though some buildings had made obvious progress, the visible progress wasn't as prevalent as I would have expected. Though most people don't run off for a month of vacation like I was capable of doing this holiday season, I suspect that some of the developers and construction workers spent a bit of the time I was gone relaxing a bit on their own.

The run itself didn't wear it me out, but did contribute to my overall feelings Sunday. I was tired and couldn't motivate myself to do much. I did manage to get about an hour's nap in on the couch, which made me feel better. In an attempt to combat the depression which always settles in when I return from a lengthy trip I organized a get together at a local bar last night in order to share stories and see familiar faces. My running buddy Chris made the trip up from North Carolina and there were quite a few others who were present. We drank a fair amount, yet within reason, and I was asleep by almost 1am.

Unfortunately, another severe bout of insomnia presented itself to me throughout the night. I awoke to use the restroom multiple times during the night and around 4:30am I awoke for good. Try as I might, I was completely unable to put my mind at ease and return to sleep. This was a condition that I battled with before I left. I am not sure if this is a continuation (most of the effects completely dissipated while traveling) or just a natural bout with jet lag, but it's affecting me pretty severly.

I hadn't planned on running today. The almost 7.5 miles I put in yesterday combined with the 4 from Saturday left my legs feeling a bit sore and tired. However, I've come to realize that running for me is just as much mental as it is physical. The release of endorphins or whatever physical affect it has on my body is so positive that I will probably force myself to run almost every single day. Today I ran and now I'm benefitting from that release. I still feel pretty terrible, but that's a combination of the alcohol and less than four hours of sleep.

The run today was almost 6 miles and I averaged just over an 8:15 pace. By the time I'd put in 3 miles my legs were hurting a fair amount. I was surely sore as can be. However, we've been having a very mild winter in DC thus far (supposedly there were many days in the 70s during my month long trip to Africa) and the 55 degree temperatures combined with the rise of the sun made for an enjoyable time outside, even if the run itself wasn't exactly what I wanted.

So, that begins 2007. I am not sure exactly what my plans for running are going to be. My buddy Chris is running the Virginia Beach half marathon in March and planning to train for a full marathon in either April or May. I've done my marathons in the fall the past two years and am not sure if I will break that cycle. However, as I've realized that running benefits my body and my mind, and I plan on doing it quite frequently, I may just decided to pick a race and run it. Hopefully I'll be able to continue to write interesting things about it.

2006-10-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

Saturday, October 21st, 2006 Run: 20 Miles

It's amazing how something that flows so freely at one point can become so daunting just a few days later. It's not so much that I couldn't think of things to write, it's more that I've been having trouble finding the time to write. The morning is when I'm most productive. It's always been that way. When I was in college, it was rare that I would stay up all night to study or get something done. My mind typically becomes much less productive after 9pm. Instead, I would wake up early and get a fair amount of quality cramming done before lunch time.

It's carried over in life, too. Unlike most of my peers and compadres in the music industry, I prefer to wake up as the sun rises and knock out what I deem to be important. That said, it's not always so easy to ensure that I get up and do things. Running, too, is something I prefer to do in the morning. I believe it follows from the philosophy of "get it done early and relax later." So, with running and writing both vying for the short morning hours between when I arise and when I head into work, it's been tough to continue writing.

That said, it's early on a Sunday morning, and I'm the only person in the coffee shop near my house. I'm not running today, and therefore am able to dedicate myself to writing about my running.

Technically I've done 6 runs since I left San Francisco. All in all it was a good week for my running, though I do have some aches and pains that are indicating otherwise. The first run I completed upon return was the monstrous 20 miler. That was last Saturday, the 21st of October. I was exhausted from my trip to California, and despite the three hour time difference, I was able to get to sleep a little after 1 am (10pm California time). I surprised myself by sleeping until almost 9. However, I was still tired once I awoke, so I ventured out to find some coffee. I figured 20 miles was going to require a bit more fuel than I'm used to giving myself, so I had a small bowl of oatmeal, too.

The route I ran was a variation of the many routes that I've run during this training period. I went from my house through Rock Creek Park all the way to the 14th Street Bridge. I crossed the bridge and jumped on the Mt. Vernon trail. I only had to head out 2+ miles on the Mt. Vernon, but somehow went a bit further (which would mean that my 20 miles expired before I returned all the way to my house). Eventually I did a U-turn on the Mt. Vernon and headed back across the 14th Street Bridge. I then did the Hains Point loop. When I came out of Hains I'd begun to realize that overshooting my turn-around on the Mt. Vernon trail meant that I could alter the end of my route to accommodate the extra mileage. However, my mind was not particularly fond of changing the end of the route.

From Hains Point I typically cut through Southwest, DC, by the Fish Market and then onto the Mall (4th and Independence). From there I run just in front of the Capital before heading North and West on Pennsylvania. I could have easily cut out the jaunt through Southwest or even the portion in front of the Capital, but my mind wasn't ready for that. At this point my legs were quite tired (as was my mind), and I thought the familiarity of the route, combined with the presence of people to watch down on the National Mall, would make the finish of the run easier. It did, but after I cut North from Pennsylvania onto 7th Street and eased through Chinatown, I was disappointed to hit the 20 mile mark by the Convention Center (on 9th Street at this point) - roughly 2 miles from my house.

I'd considered continuing up 9th at the same pace I was heading, but my body really was looking forward to stopping. I stopped my run there but combined running and walking to complete the last 2 miles to the house.

I ran 20.03 miles in 2h 36m 41s at an average pace of 7:49/mile. I ran a negative split, which is how I'd like to run the marathon.

Here is the breakdown of the miles for the 20 mile run.:
Mile 1 - 8:03
Mile 2 - 8:07
Mile 3 - 8:07
Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 7:59
Mile 6 - 7:56
Mile 7 - 7:54
Mile 8 - 7:53
Mile 9 - 7:51
Mile 10 - 7:49
Mile 11 - 7:44
Mile 12 - 7:41
Mile 13 - 7:43
Mile 14 - 7:40
Mile 15 - 7:39
Mile 16 - 7:36
Mile 17 - 7:37
Mile 18 - 7:41
Mile 19 - 7:41
Mile 20 - 7:43

The 20 miles was challenging and I really think that the 26.2 of the marathon is going to be tough. I ran a negative split on the 20 mile training run, and if I want to do the same in the marathon I will have to hold the 8+ minute/mile pace for at least the first half of the race. Form there I can gauge how I'd like to increase my pace. As a 3h 30m finish would be great, I don't want to push myself too hard, but would like to run my best race possible.

----------------------------------------------------------

The rest of this past week I fit in the runs necessary to stay on my training schedule. The highlight of the week was the track session that I did on Wednesday night. I got out there and did 4 x 1600 (mile repeats) at an average of 5:45 pace! I'd been immunized against Yellow Fever, Hep A (booster) and Polio that morning in preparation for my upcoming trip to Africa. The Yellow Fever shot left me feeling pretty ill for most of the day and since I had a soccer game later that night I almost decided not to head over to the track. The previous time I went from a track workout to a soccer game I felt it served as an incredible warm up period for the soccer field. Unfortunately on this Wednesday I misread what time my soccer game was and showed up to the field just as the game was ending: though my legs felt incredible!

Since I didn't play in the game on Wednesday, I got up and did a short 4 miler on Thursday. My hip and the top of my right foot seemed a bit aggravated, and I had a lot of trouble remembering that on these short, recover runs, I should really try to run more slowly. I ran this one at a 7:52 pace.

------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 12 mile run

Yesterday I had a 12 mile run scheduled. I returned to the gym for the first time in a month (rib injury) on Friday night and then went home for a relaxing evening. I ended up in bed later than I would have liked. Like last week, I surprised myself by sleeping in until 8:30. I got up pretty quickly and was out the door by 9am.

Tired of running the exact same routes, I decided to try something a bit different. The first mile between myself and Adam's Morgan was the same, but instead of dipping down into Rock Creek Park and heading towards the Mall I went across the Calvert Street Bridge and ran north on Connecticut Avenue. I had a general idea of what my route would be like, hoping to be able to take Connecticut to Military Road, head East on Military and come back to the house via Rock Creek Park.

By the time I reached Military Road, however, I'd barely eclipsed 4 miles, far short of the 6 mile halfway point. To Turn down Military and reach Rock Creek Parkway would mean that once I got back to my exit point from the Park I would need to continue on to make up the missing mileage. So, instead of cutting over on Military, I took Connecticut all the way to the Maryland border (Chevy Chase circle). At that point I still hadn't eclipsed 6 miles. I wasn't sure how pedestrian friendly Connecticut was past the circle (I know driving it turns into a 3 lane road), so I turned around.

It was a relatively short distance back to Military Road, and instead of heading East I decided to head West towards Wisconsin Avenue. Once I got to Friendship Heights (Military and Wisconsin), I head South on Wisconsin, thinking I could take that to Massachussets and then back towards the house.

By the time I reached Massachussets Avenue, though, I didn't think I would be able to return without having to make up a bit of mileage within the neighborhood by the house. Therefore I continued down Wisconsin towards Georgetown before cutting over on P Street and finishing the run via the well traveled route of Florida to 16th Street.

I'm not entirely sure what went on with this run, but it wasn't spectacular. In fact, if I wasn't able to just chalk it up to a "bad run" I might begin to worry about my preparation for the marathon. There are a lot of things that are weird about doing 12 miles at this point in my training. For one, on the weekends I'm so used to the runs being really long (20 miles was just last week) that 12 miles SEEMS short on paper. However, 12 miles is still a good hour and half out there pounding the pavement. So, while my mind perceives it as short - it's NOT short. It is shorter, but not short.

The new route also may have contributed to an off run. Instead of tracing familiar steps and allowing my mind to flow freely, this felt more like an out of town run. I was constantly guessing and anticipating the next mile to elapse so I could figure out where to turn around. Also, the run was hilly. Heading up Connecticut from Woodley Park is almost exclusively up hill. The portion of Military between Connecticut and Wisconsin was uphill as well, and portions of Wisconsin fit that description, too. And, finally, the top of my right foot and my right hip are having some issues. Even now, almost 24 hours after the run yesterday, the top of my right foot feels bruised in some sense. The issue with my hip has been there ever since the Montreal soccer tournament (where I believe I was kicked in the hip). The problem with these small injuries is they don't necessarily prevent me from running, but they don't leave me feeling fantastic afterwards.

Nevertheless, I finished the 12 miles at roughly a 7:49 pace (I forgot to mention that I calibrated my iPod + Nike system at the track on Wednesday and I'm not sure if that changed anything). It wasn't a fantastic showing, but I am looking forward to continuing to taper my runs in preparation for the marathon. This week I have to run 4 miles tomorrow, 6 on Tuesday and 3 on Thursday. I will do 8 on Saturday (in San Diego!) and then continue to just wind down. I hope that my mind can accept that I will not be running as much.

2006-10-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

Written Friday, October 20th while flying between San Francisco and Washington, DC.

I’ve run twice since my 10 mile run in Diamond Bar. Shortly after my run on Tuesday, myself, my friend Mark Beemer and a friend and employee of his, Patrick Martin, drove up to San Francisco. We were there to see bands, friends, friends in bands, and even have a few meetings.

We got a very reasonably priced motel room (The Ramada Limited Hotel, which is really nothing more than a 2-star motel) in the Marina district on Lombard Street. I’d initially planned to stay on my friend Vanessa’s couch, and Mark and Patrick wanted to get a room at the Phoenix, but circumstances led us to what ultimately became a great place to run.

Having skipped my file mile run on Monday, I’d planned to get in 5 miles on both Wednesday and Thursday. This would give me enough time to rest my legs Friday before my longest training run yet – 20 miles this weekend!

Tired from jet-lag, the 10 miler that morning, and the 6 hour drive up to San Francisco, I was happy that after seeing two bands at Slim’s nightclub we all wanted to get to the hotel for an early night. I called upon my touring band honed skill of quickly falling asleep in a well lit, noisy hotel room to fall asleep sometime before midnight.

Wednesday I woke up around 7am, searched my bag in the dark for my running clothes, shoes and iPod, and made my way out onto Lombard Street. I have a general familiarity with San Francisco, and had even caught a quick glimpse of a road map to indicate that there was surely park grounds to be found if I ran down Lombard street. I left the hotel at a brisk pace and within a few blocks encountered a red light. Instead of waiting patiently for the morning commuters to pass, I made a right turn and realized that water (the San Francisco Bay) lie about 10 blocks ahead. However, after only a few blocks I saw a diagonal street that would take me towards the water and in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

By the time I hit the intersection of Bay Street (the diagonal I had taken) and Marina (the last major street before the water) I’d eclipsed one mile. My legs were anything but fresh, but the surroundings were invigorating. I ran down the “land” side of Marina street. I wasn’t sure I wanted to cross busy Marina Street (which fed certain Golden Gate Bridge traffic into the city), though there was a nice running path on the other side. Quickly I found myself at an on ramp to the Golden Gate Bridge. Remembering Beemer saying the day before that he possibly wanted to walk across the Bridge during our stay in SF I followed the sidewalk a few steps up the on ramp. The thought of running across the Golden Gate Bridge that morning was fascinating. However, within a few steps the sidewalk came to an end. I turned around and made a right (heading North) by the Exploratorium, hoping it would lead me into, what I remembered from the map, would be Golden Gate Park.

The small road by the Exploratorium paralleled another artery from the Golden Gate Bridge into the city and eventually I found myself back at Lombard Street. I made a right (heading West) which put me much further along my initial path towards the Park. I crossed the busy thoroughfare and quickly found myself at the entrance to the Presidio. I realized that I’d misread the map, but was happy to be in some sort of parkland.

I ran within the confines of the old military base - conjuring up memories: of growing up on bases only a fraction as beautiful, of the Harrison Ford movie “The Presidio” and of the part of Dean Kazantes book “Ultramarathon Man” where he encounters a few military men training for the Western States Endurance 100 miler run.

The weather was magical and the run was great. Eventually I hit the midway point to my 5 mile run, but I instead of opting to turn around and assuredly cover 2.5 more miles, I made my up a very steep hill within the old base. There were a few other runners and a couple of cyclists making their way up the steep incline, too. My legs were surely “feeling it” by the time I made it three-quarters of the way up. At the crest of the road, I stopped at a strategically placed overlook to consult a map of the park to map my route back to the hotel.

I made my turn one road shy of where I was supposed to, but this led me onto a mulch covered path. As I made my way down the trail I imagined myself mountain biking the same trail. It was as wide as a normal sidewalk, not the single track I love while biking, but there were enough exposed roots along the path to picture launching into the air while speeding down the trail. There was a large expanse of grass next to the trail at the bottom where I woman sat watching her dog. Then I made my way up the other side, past a nice community garden and eventually reached Presidio Lane. I headed down that path along a skinnier mulch covered path. The entire path and road were under the cover of giant trees, which made for a very secluded feeling. Though there was traffic along the roads within the Presidio, it still had a very sweet park feel to it.

As I exited the park via the same route I’d entered I heard the voice indicating I’d covered my 5 miles and my workout had ended. I made my way onto Lombard Street and completed one more mile of running by the time I reached Buchanan Street, the cross street closest to the hotel.

All in all the run was good. It was very nice to run in such a beautiful environment. Though my legs were tired, it was nice to be challenged by the hills mid way through the workout.

Wednesday night Mark, Patrick and myself made our way to the show of one of the bands I work with, Strike Anywhere. After the show the club left the bar open and we stayed pretty late to party prior to the Strike boys needing to take off for an overnight drive to Portland. We made our way to the wonderful Mission district of San Francisco for a very late night burrito. By the time we made it to the hotel and went to bed it was after 3am.

The combination of the alcohol and a full stomach made for a pretty lackluster night of sleep. By 9am I was wide awake and had no desire to run. I realized that often times running allows me to aid the cure of a hangover, but having covered 16 miles of running the past two days combined with a lengthy hike Mark and I had completed in Marin the day before told me to take a day off. As I’ve mentioned before, I like to adhere to schedules, so I was a tad disappointed that I wasn’t going to knock out another 5 miles.

We had to go out for another round of show going and partying last night. Though this show was at the same club and we ended it with late night burritos, the events between did anything but conjure up notions of déjà vu. I dind’t drink as much, but the burrito seemed to sit much heavier than the night before, so I awoke at 8am with a horrible stomach ache. I cleared that problem and then donned my shoes and headed out into another amazing San Francisco morning.

Our luck with weather during our three day stay was quite rare for October. Each day the sky was cloudless and of a perfect blue hue. The temperature in the morning was in the mid to high sixties and the air was clear. I intended to only go four miles, as I wanted to retain as much life in my legs for tomorrow’s 20 miler. However, by the time I’d made it back to the intersection of Marina and Bay, I changed my goal to run as close to the Golden Gate bridge as possible.

This time I crossed Marina Street and followed the trail to the right of the Golden Gate Bridge on-ramp. Rightfully so there were a lot of other runners out and shortly after the bridge on-ramp the path turned from pavement to a hard sand sprinkled trail. In addition to runners there were multiple groups of women out doing morning training routines. Like the stay-at-home mothers that seemed to be everywhere along Chestnut Street’s promenade in the Marina neighborhood, these women seemed to have little worries or urgency to be anywhere. They were simply up early enjoying the weather with friends and staying in shape. Oh the life!

As I ran towards the Golden Gate bridge I wished I had a longer run to complete. From reviewing the map during the course of our stay in San Francisco I knew the trail would eventually lead under the bridge and lead from the waters of the San Francisco Bay to those of the Pacific Ocean. One of the reasons I’d wanted to fly home today was to ensure I’d feel comfortable with the terrain of my 20 mile run on Saturday. I couldn’t think of a better environment than the trail I was on this morning. 2.5 miles had been covered and I was still shy of the bridge itself. Though I wanted to eclipse the threshold of the structure, I didn’t want to push my legs any further than 5 miles. I turned around and realized that entire San Francisco skyline lay within my sight.

I took in the beauty of the buildings, Alcatraz Island and the Bay Bridge. The morning was again magnificent. The entire time Mark and I had traversed the city and it’s surroundings, we joked that any place “on vacation” can seem amazing. He said his philosophy was “once you receive a utility bill in a city the magic is over.” As I transitioned from the sand packed path back to concrete and the sidewalk of Marina Street I wished I was returning to a Marina neighborhood apartment to pay a utility bill.

Instead of returning the length of Marina to Bay, I cut over to Chestnut and ran there until I reached the shopping Promenade. I stopped at 4.6 miles to get a 1.5L bottle of water from Walgreens, a medium sized Peet’s Coffee and a peanut butter and jelly bagel from Noah’s. I felt good during the entire run, probably benefiting from the rest on Thursday. I hope that when I awake tomorrow I also feel good, and that I didn’t expunge my first 4.5 miles of fresh legs by running the day before my long run. Only tomorrow will tell.

Running in San Francisco reinvigorated me. Aside from my rain drenched 18 miler a few weeks ago I have yet to need my gardening gloves or rarely even a long sleeved shirt. I’m hoping the good weather holds for the next few weeks and that marathon morning in the Outerbanks is as gorgeous as many of my runs have been thus far.

2006-10-21T08:15:00.000-05:00

Written Tuesday, October 17th, while sitting in a van driving up I-5 from LA to San Francisco.

Traveling always presents unique challenges to those of us who workout and train. Countless magazines always seem to have recommendations for quick workouts that can be done in hotel rooms. The majority of the travel I have done so many times in my life involved driving for hours on end. If we were lucky enough to get a hotel room, it was usually checking in after midnight and getting up and out quite early. I surely attempted to make time for running, even when time was short. The mental and physical boost running gives me has always been worth making sacrifices (usually sleep) for, but it can still be very tough to motivate myself at times.

I flew into Los Angeles yesterday and was picked up by my friend Mark Beemer and a guy he works with, Patrick. Beemer needed to run an errand down in Orange, CA, and then needed to make it to a meeting down in Carlsbad. I was more or less out of it from the exhausting weekend, and without any real plans in Los Angeles, I agreed that it was no problem to go. However, it meant that in addition to spending 7 hours flying and laying over yesterday, I would spend an additional 3+ hours sitting in the front seat of Mark’s Sprinter van.

We made it to our hotel around 6pm, California time. I contemplated jumping on the treadmill for a short run, but reconsidered. I figured the day off would help me recover from the 14 mile run Saturday and the soccer game Sunday. When I awoke this morning to go for my 10 miler, I was glad I’d opted against a quick jaunt at the hotel.

Running in unfamiliar places can either be very invigorating or quite frustrating. I’ve been fortunate to run amidst some really great cities. I’ve traveled Europe extensively with bands and waking up in Paris, Stockholm or Berlin can be a treat. I can easily combine a good workout with a sightseeing tour. Waking up in Diamond Bar, California, a tad jet-lagged, did not make for an inspiration to move me out the door very quickly.

I knew the endorphin release and the accomplishment of adhering to my running routine would make me feel better, so I strapped on my shoes and my iPod and headed out the door. I mentally prepared for an out and back run, but after the 2nd mile out on the lonesome city street I was on I began to re-evaluate. Instead, I decided I’d turn around at the 3 mile mark, returning half of the distance I’d just covered, and head up a different street that looked like there was more to “look at.”

All there really was were strip mall stores, but that kept me a tad more entertained than the middle class neighborhoods I was running by on the road I’d started out on. It can be very daunting, mentally, to not have a planned route for the distance you’re supposed to cover. The iPod came in handy because it alerted me as each mile passed. However, always hoping and expecting another mile to pass can prove more exhausting than just knowing that you have 4 or 5 miles to go while running a well known route.

Nevertheless, I was able to calculate what it would take to complete the entire run and stop a half mile short of the hotel start point. My finish line would be a Target store, where I could stock up on less than 3 oz travel toiletries. The not-exactly-an-out-and-back philosophy burned me just a bit, as I had to pass the Target by .25 miles and turn around to end in it’s parking lot.

Overall I ran 10.03 miles in 1 hour 17 minutes and 09 seconds for an average pace of 7:41 minute/mile.

2006-10-19T13:59:00.000-05:00

Written on Tuesday, October 17:

Traveling always presents unique challenges to those of us who workout and train. Countless magazines always seem to have recommendations for quick workouts that can be done in hotel rooms. The majority of the travel I have done so many times in my life involved driving for hours on end. If we were lucky enough to get a hotel room, it was usually checking in after midnight and getting up and out quite early. I surely attempted to make time for running, even when time was short. The mental and physical boost running gives me has always been worth making sacrifices (usually sleep) for, but it can still be very tough to motivate myself at times.

I flew into Los Angeles yesterday and was picked up by my friend Mark Beemer and a guy he works with, Patrick. Beemer needed to run an errand down in Orange, CA, and then needed to make it to a meeting down in Carlsbad. I was more or less out of it from the exhausting weekend, and without any real plans in Los Angeles, I agreed that it was no problem to go. However, it meant that in addition to spending 7 hours flying and laying over yesterday, I would spend an additional 3+ hours sitting in the front seat of Mark’s Sprinter van.

We made it to our hotel around 6pm, California time. I contemplated jumping on the treadmill for a short run, but reconsidered. I figured the day off would help me recover from the 14 mile run Saturday and the soccer game Sunday. When I awoke this morning to go for my 10 miler, I was glad I’d opted against a quick jaunt at the hotel.

Running in unfamiliar places can either be very invigorating or quite frustrating. I’ve been fortunate to run amidst some really great cities. I’ve traveled Europe extensively with bands and waking up in Paris, Stockholm or Berlin can be a treat. I can easily combine a good workout with a sightseeing tour. Waking up in Diamond Bar, California, a tad jet-lagged, did not make for an inspiration to move me out the door very quickly.

I knew the endorphin release and the accomplishment of adhering to my running routine would make me feel better, so I strapped on my shoes and my iPod and headed out the door. I mentally prepared for an out and back run, but after the 2nd mile out on the lonesome city street I was on I began to re-evaluate. Instead, I decided I’d turn around at the 3 mile mark, returning half of the distance I’d just covered, and head up a different street that looked like there was more to “look at.”

All there really was were strip mall stores, but that kept me a tad more entertained than the middle class neighborhoods I was running by on the road I’d started out on. It can be very daunting, mentally, to not have a planned route for the distance you’re supposed to cover. The iPod came in handy because it alerted me as each mile passed. However, always hoping and expecting another mile to pass can prove more exhausting than just knowing that you have 4 or 5 miles to go while running a well known route.

Nevertheless, I was able to calculate what it would take to complete the entire run and stop a half mile short of the hotel start point. My finish line would be a Target store, where I could stock up on less than 3 oz travel toiletries. The not-exactly-an-out-and-back philosophy burned me just a bit, as I had to pass the Target by .25 miles and turn around to end in it’s parking lot.

Overall I ran 10.03 miles in 1 hour 17 minutes and 09 seconds for an average pace of 7:41 minute/mile.

2006-10-19T13:56:00.000-05:00

From Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Traveling always presents unique challenges to those of us who workout and train. Countless magazines always seem to have recommendations for quick workouts that can be done in hotel rooms. The majority of the travel I have done so many times in my life involved driving for hours on end. If we were lucky enough to get a hotel room, it was usually checking in after midnight and getting up and out quite early. I surely attempted to make time for running, even when time was short. The mental and physical boost running gives me has always been worth making sacrifices (usually sleep) for, but it can still be very tough to motivate myself at times.

I flew into Los Angeles yesterday and was picked up by my friend Mark Beemer and a guy he works with, Patrick. Beemer needed to run an errand down in Orange, CA, and then needed to make it to a meeting down in Carlsbad. I was more or less out of it from the exhausting weekend, and without any real plans in Los Angeles, I agreed that it was no problem to go. However, it meant that in addition to spending 7 hours flying and laying over yesterday, I would spend an additional 3+ hours sitting in the front seat of Mark’s Sprinter van.

We made it to our hotel around 6pm, California time. I contemplated jumping on the treadmill for a short run, but reconsidered. I figured the day off would help me recover from the 14 mile run Saturday and the soccer game Sunday. When I awoke this morning to go for my 10 miler, I was glad I’d opted against a quick jaunt at the hotel.

Running in unfamiliar places can either be very invigorating or quite frustrating. I’ve been fortunate to run amidst some really great cities. I’ve traveled Europe extensively with bands and waking up in Paris, Stockholm or Berlin can be a treat. I can easily combine a good workout with a sightseeing tour. Waking up in Diamond Bar, California, a tad jet-lagged, did not make for an inspiration to move me out the door very quickly.

I knew the endorphin release and the accomplishment of adhering to my running routine would make me feel better, so I strapped on my shoes and my iPod and headed out the door. I mentally prepared for an out and back run, but after the 2nd mile out on the lonesome city street I was on I began to re-evaluate. Instead, I decided I’d turn around at the 3 mile mark, returning half of the distance I’d just covered, and head up a different street that looked like there was more to “look at.”

All there really was were strip mall stores, but that kept me a tad more entertained than the middle class neighborhoods I was running by on the road I’d started out on. It can be very daunting, mentally, to not have a planned route for the distance you’re supposed to cover. The iPod came in handy because it alerted me as each mile passed. However, always hoping and expecting another mile to pass can prove more exhausting than just knowing that you have 4 or 5 miles to go while running a well known route.

Nevertheless, I was able to calculate what it would take to complete the entire run and stop a half mile short of the hotel start point. My finish line would be a Target store, where I could stock up on less than 3 oz travel toiletries. The not-exactly-an-out-and-back philosophy burned me just a bit, as I had to pass the Target by .25 miles and turn around to end in it’s parking lot.

Overall I ran 10.03 miles in 1 hour 17 minutes and 09 seconds for an average pace of 7:41 minute/mile.

2006-10-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Traveling always presents unique challenges to those of us who workout and train. Countless magazines always seem to have recommendations for quick workouts that can be done in hotel rooms. The majority of the travel I have done so many times in my life involved driving for hours on end. If we were lucky enough to get a hotel room, it was usually checking in after midnight and getting up and out quite early. I surely attempted to make time for running, even when time was short. The mental and physical boost running gives me has always been worth making sacrifices (usually sleep) for, but it can still be very tough to motivate myself at times.

I flew into Los Angeles yesterday and was picked up by my friend Mark Beemer and a guy he works with, Patrick. Beemer needed to run an errand down in Orange, CA, and then needed to make it to a meeting down in Carlsbad. I was more or less out of it from the exhausting weekend, and without any real plans in Los Angeles, I agreed that it was no problem to go. However, it meant that in addition to spending 7 hours flying and laying over yesterday, I would spend an additional 3+ hours sitting in the front seat of Mark’s Sprinter van.

We made it to our hotel around 6pm, California time. I contemplated jumping on the treadmill for a short run, but reconsidered. I figured the day off would help me recover from the 14 mile run Saturday and the soccer game Sunday. When I awoke this morning to go for my 10 miler, I was glad I’d opted against a quick jaunt at the hotel.

Running in unfamiliar places can either be very invigorating or quite frustrating. I’ve been fortunate to run amidst some really great cities. I’ve traveled Europe extensively with bands and waking up in Paris, Stockholm or Berlin can be a treat. I can easily combine a good workout with a sightseeing tour. Waking up in Diamond Bar, California, a tad jet-lagged, did not make for an inspiration to move me out the door very quickly.

I knew the endorphin release and the accomplishment of adhering to my running routine would make me feel better, so I strapped on my shoes and my iPod and headed out the door. I mentally prepared for an out and back run, but after the 2nd mile out on the lonesome city street I was on I began to re-evaluate. Instead, I decided I’d turn around at the 3 mile mark, returning half of the distance I’d just covered, and head up a different street that looked like there was more to “look at.”

All there really was were strip mall stores, but that kept me a tad more entertained than the middle class neighborhoods I was running by on the road I’d started out on. It can be very daunting, mentally, to not have a planned route for the distance you’re supposed to cover. The iPod came in handy because it alerted me as each mile passed. However, always hoping and expecting another mile to pass can prove more exhausting than just knowing that you have 4 or 5 miles to go while running a well known route.

Nevertheless, I was able to calculate what it would take to complete the entire run and stop a half mile short of the hotel start point. My finish line would be a Target store, where I could stock up on less than 3 oz travel toiletries. The not-exactly-an-out-and-back philosophy burned me just a bit, as I had to pass the Target by .25 miles and turn around to end in it’s parking lot.

Overall I ran 10.03 miles in 1 hour 17 minutes and 09 seconds for an average pace of 7:41 minute/mile.

2006-10-16T19:51:00.000-05:00

I subscribe to Runner’s World. I’m not exactly sure if I got the subscription myself or if someone sent it to me, but I get pretty excited when it shows up each month. Contained within are snippets of motivation that keep me both excited and informed about not only my running and training but that of others, too.

The cover man of the latest issue is Lance Armstrong. Retired from the world of professional cycling, Lance is ready to tackle the marathon. He’s unsure how he’ll fare, but the story within contained a number of expert’s opinions on what time the 7 time Tour de France champion will need to complete 26.2 miles.

I haven’t really followed Lance and his obvious domination of the cycling world. I haven’t formed my own opinion on whether or not he was a doper. But I do remember reading an interview with him where he said that he liked both beer and wine. In that same interview he talked about how he had to abstain from both during his lengthy 9 month training periods.

I’m well into my the training for my third marathon. Before I started this one I’d considered giving up drinking once again. I drank only a bit before my first marathon and don’t really remember how much or often I imbibed during last year’s training. This year, however, I surely didn’t go the route of teetotaler. I’ve kept a pretty active social lifestyle, which quite often has involved a couple of drinks.

Friday night it involved a LOT of drinks. I flew up to Boston to visit a couple of the bands that I manage who were out on tour together. I had no intentions of wreaking the kind of havoc that ensued by night’s end. However, I did. I had a great time, though bits and pieces from the last few hours of the evening I can hardly recall.

I fell asleep around 4am Friday night and had to wake up at 7am to go to the airport. I squeamishly survived the flight and wondered if my blood alcohol content could have been over limit (something I would have never considered before – usually thinking that a night’s sleep, no matter how short, is enough time for one to go from drunk to sober – until I spent a few weeks this summer in Sweden, where the limits are much, much lower than the US) for driving.

When I got home around noon my roommate and a friend who was crashing on the couch both commented that I reeked of alcohol. I was a bit disturbed by that fact, because even though I did not feel 100%, I surely didn’t think that I was still a walking barrel of whiskey. Robert, the house guest, who is training for the Seattle Marathon at the end of November, and I were scheduled to do a 12-14 mile run that day.

I was feeling bad enough (sleep deprivation alone would’ve been a cause for concern) that I went to bed for another hour. When I awoke around 1pm I still felt bad. I’ve never been one to get really bad hangovers, nor have I been one to let a drinking lifestyle affect all of the other things that I have going on. It’s probably this thought process that’s allowed me to continue to drink while training.

Luckily the weather in DC was what I’ve come to expect from fantastic fall days: an immaculate blue, cloudless sunny sky with a cool breeze and temperatures in the mid sixties. Robert and I each decided to leave the house with long sleeve poly pro shirts. Just a few steps from the house I almost felt that this was a mistake, the warm sun shone down and warmed me quite quickly. I’m usually quite stubborn when it comes to my choice of outfits, meaning once I’ve taken off from the house I stick with what I have on. The consequences are rarely dire, though the potential for being uncomfortable is far greater as the length of the run increases.

I chose one of my favorite routes for the 14 miles – from my house down to the Capital, around Hains Point and then return along Rockcreek Parkway. While we were almost at the awakening statue on Hains Point (which has been featured in a series of national running advertisements recently) I asked Robert if he’d ever been there. He reminded that the one time he had been there was last year when he and our buddy Chris came out to run alongside me for the second half of the Marine Corps Marathon. The weather during this run was just as beautiful and perfect as it had been that day.

The effects of the previous night’s activities were really beginning to affect me about halfway through the run. Robert wasn’t feeling particularly well either, so I was once again forced during a long run to make my mind convince my body that finishing was possible. Once we came out of Hains Point and had almost 5 miles remaining, my mind was set on having the run completed. I was dehydrated with a couple of cramps and even my upper thighs (just below where they join the hips) were feeling quite sore (a soreness I’ve had on quite a few runs this season). Though the final 4.5 miles was very long, it was all very familiar. In fact, it was the exact same 4.5 miles that I ran during the previous week’s 18 mile rain laden, sleep deprived long run. The familiarity allowed me to easily pick mental goals along the way. “Okay, here comes the stretch along the Potomac.” “The next part is not covered by shade and is right by the road, but once you round the curve it’s quite a nice stretch.” “It’s probably only 2 miles left until the huge hill coming out of the zoo.” Each and every one of these reminders were small motivators towards finishing the entire run. That, in and of itself, was a pretty big accomplishment.

Following the run I briefly stretched and took a shower. After that, my body really began to show that it was not a fan of my actions. The drinking or the running alone are pretty abusive. To combine the two completely polar extremes was a shock the body wasn’t ready for. I plan to do my very, very best to avoid putting myself through such a process ever again.

I talked to my buddy Chris yesterday, a day after the run. He told me that he “crushed” his 14 mile run (a saying he said he took from me, much earlier in the training schedule, before my long runs became challenges for reasons other than just the distance covered) and was excited about the race. He did inform me that he was planning on slowing his goal to a 3:45 instead of the 3:30 we had initially set for ourselves. I am unclear what my strategy is going to be. As Chris reminded me, “we have a big week coming up this week,” (10 miles on Tuesday, a few other 5 mile runs and then 20 on the weekend). I plan to re-assess my goal for the race after the 20 miler, but intuition tells me I will start out running 8 minute miles (3:30 pace) for the first 13 and then see if I think I can put it into overdrive and finish with anything below that. And, as for the big week, I am traveling in California all this week and am not entirely sure when, where and how I will be able to get all of my runs in. Stay tuned.

2006-10-12T09:33:00.000-05:00

I just got back from the run I needed to do. It was a bit over 4 miles. I ran, stretched momentarily, took out the trash and the recycling, grabbled a bowl of cereal and some orange juice and then sat down at the computer. On my long runs a lot of times I've begun to think what I will write about when I get back to the computer. Of course, what I was thinking about at mile 6 has usually long since disappeared by the time I've run 10 more miles, stretched, showered, eaten and gotten along with my daily business.

Today I wanted to sit down almost immediately in order to relay the discomfort that existed while on this run. In addition to my rib flaring with pain, my right hip and my left knee were bothering me as well. The 4 miles did not feel great, but they didn't kill me either. In fact, I don't believe that I feel any worse now than I would have had I not run. So I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma. My daily runs are supposed to be a reprieve from the grind of daily life. They are supposed to be enjoyable and invigorating. If my body is aching while I run, is it going to help or hinder?

I'm still convinced that the release of the endorphins that occurs while running, even if masked by a tad bit of pain, is more beneficial to me than not running would be.

That said, I did 4.21 miles at a 7:39 minute/mile pace for a total of 32:18 time logged and 523 Calories burned.

2006-10-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to battle a small amount of depression. I'm acutely aware of its cause, but it's very hard to combat. I lead an above normal active lifestyle. Some people run, others go to the gym, others cycle to work and still others play recreational soccer a few times per week; I do them all. However, because of the injury I sustained to my rib a bit over a week ago, I've had to dramatically curb my physical activity. This has left me feeling underworked, physically, which leaves me unstable, mentally.

Yesterday was the worst of it, and today I will attempt to climb back out of it. I'd wanted to write an update to my blog both Monday and Tuesday, but I was not able to muster the words. Monday was Columbus day. I had intended to go on a bike ride with a friend that always pushes my physical limits on two wheels. I was looking forward to the exerted feelings my body is left with after a strong ride. The weather was perfect and I was excited about not pounding the pavement. Biking, I assumed, would give my rib a bit of reprieve.

In the string of bad luck I'd encountered a few weeks ago, the front wheel to my road bike had been taken. I ordered a few replacement parts and my riding buddy held the missing pieces necessary to reassemble my machine. The problem is, come Monday morning, my riding buddy had become radio silent. I reached out a few times during the morning, but by 10am I'd lost hope that we would be able to convene and go.

The morning was a beautiful one and I knew that the weather could not be wasted. Over the weekened, while in St. Louis, I'd received a text message inquiring about my desire to head out for a hike on Monday. I'd politely declined in favor of the biking. With that out of the question, I quickly attempted to re-instate the plans to hike.

Washington, DC, is about an hour and half to two hours from Shenandoah National Park. The discrepancy in time lies in whether or not you encounter traffic, which trailhead you're driving too and how fast you actually drive to get there. There are two staple hikes that I usually call upon - Old Rag and Whiteoak Canyon. They are two very different hikes, but neither of them seem to grow old. Of course, if I were to find the time to make the trip west to the mountains a bit more often, I'd have to add a few more circuits to my repertoire.

We decided on Old Rag and left DC around 11:30am. We did encounter a bit of traffice on I-66. Construction on a holiday can be very bad. It added at least 30 minutes to our trip, but I kept reminding myself that the entire point of the hike was to head out and have a relaxed day. The weather was fantastic: sunny and 75 degrees with a bright blue, cloudless sky. Once we surpassed the construction we exited the interstate and hit the smaller highways. The wind from the open windows whisked our hair and cooled our faces. It's amazing how a relatively short car ride from the city can transfer you to such an open and enjoyable place.

Old Rag is one of the most famous hikes in the Shenandoah. It affords the best views and after hiking on a tree covered switchback trail for a mile and half you get to the boulder scramble. The first time I ever hiked Old Rag I encountered a hiker shortly before that portion of the hike. He informed myself and my hiking companion that just up ahead was the boulder scramble - "people love that part." Ever since then, it's been an inside joke of sorts.

Seeing as it was a holiday and we were one of the last cars to reach the almost completely full parking area, it should have come to no surprise that there was a "traffic jam" at the start of the boulder scramble. To the uninitiated, the boulder scramble portion of the hike involves approximately a mile of walking, climbing and slithering over, under and around gigantic rocks. The maze of rocks is not constant. It is common to propel yourself up and over a set of balanced boulders and then find yourself, once again, hiking on a singletrack trail. The traffic jam occurs because some people have a harder time maneuvering portions of the fallen boulders. While they are struggling to negotiate their way, others are left to watch and wait.

It wasn't horrible by any means, and some of the back ups occurred at places that imparted magnificent views. Having hiked throughout the western United States and in Alaska, I have an adjusted judgement of what qualifies as magnificent on the east coast. In the grand scheme of things I would much rather be on top of a mountain in Colorado or Wyoming, staring out at other peaks and the expanse of valleys and flat lands below. The views in the Shenandoah are different, yet still inspiring. In the more than 10 times I've hiked Old Rag, today provided the clearest skies and the ability to see the furthest. In addition, the leaves had begun to expunge their cholorphyll and change colors. The height of leave changing season probably isn't for another couple of weeks, but the hint of what is to come was there - and it was on rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

The boulder scramble was fun, but the pulling motions with my arms combined with the impact of having to jump or lower myself down from certain perches on the trail began to agitate my injured rib. I'd hoped that the activities of the day would allow my rib to rest while simultaneously engaging my body physically. I'm quickly reminding myself that what I discovered about rib injuries a couple of years ago still stands: everything active affects it in some way.

At the top of the climb we rested and relaxed. It took us a bit under 2 hours to climb the 3+ miles to the top. We sat on one of the highest boulders on the mountain and let the wind cool our sweaty backs and brows. The sun shined bright onto our faces. The weather could not have been better. Any hotter or more humid would have had us sweating much more profusely. Any cooler would have had our bodies inginiting goose bumps. What makes hikes all the more rewarding is that there is no paltry way to the top - you've got to be willing to exert yourself physically to reap these rewards!

The back half of the hike is a lot easier than the way up. After the scramble, the 4+ miles back to the parking lot can seem a bit dull. However, I like to use that time to appreciate the beauty of the scenery. 2 miles down is on a trail and then you hit an almost flat ground fire road for the remainder. The fire road parallels a canyon stream and the noise it emits relaxs and soothes.

As we descended I was talking with my buddy, explaining to him how the injured rib affects my normal routine of physical activity. We also talked about ultra marathoners, triatheletes and other "extreme" athletes. I joked that sometimes I feel that I do almost everything I can physically and it amazes me that there are people that do things on a more extensive and intense level. My mind always begins to wander if I have it in me to make that step at any point in my life.

The ride home was relaxing, too, but my agitated rib was causing me discomfort. I wondered how it would feel the following day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I awoke on Tuesday very sore in the ribs. The injury tends to intensify in the mornings and evenings. It hurts to sit up in bed, cough, laugh, move quickly and sometimes it hurts to just go about your daily activities. Tuesday it seemed to hurt more than Monday, so I'd really flirted with the idea of scrapping the 9 mile run for the day. After the hike on Monday I went to the 9:30 club to see Built to Spill when I should have been catching up on sleep from the weekend in St. Louis. I knew I wasn't going to get up at 6:30 to complete the run before my weekly breakfast with Jason at 9. So, for all intents and purposes I'd acquised to the idea of not running.

I am a man that likes scheduling and structure. There are times when I prefer to throw all of that out of the window, but when it comes to learning, studying or training I like to have an order to my operation. Whether the structure or plan is correct or not is besides the point; I want to follow something. So, to miss a day of training was already beginning to bug me by the time I'd finished breakfast.

We were again adorned with a beautiful day. After weighing over the options in my head, I determined that strapping on the shoes and heading out, no matter how painful, would be better for me than to skip the run. Thankfully the first few steps were less painful than the ones on Sunday's run. In fact, after the first mile, I was feeling pretty good. As I kept pushing myself I wasn't noticing any pain. My legs were a bit tired overall. I kept thinking that I was probably running a faster pace than the iPod + Nike system was telling me, but a lot of that could have very well been from the long run on Friday, the run Sunday and then the lengthy hike Monday.

I did the 9 mile run at a 7:40/mile average pace and felt great afterwards. A lot of thoughts in regards to my injury, my running and life in general passed through my mind. I was tired and a bit tight following the jaunt. I was glad that I had gone for it, though. My rib hurt afterwards, but I'm not sure that it would have hurt any less had I not gone for the run. It's just something that I am going to have to deal with, unfortunately.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday is typically the day for track workouts, but I decided to skip last night's. I had a soccer game following it, and had hoped that would be enough to ignite my body, physically. A few weeks ago I did a track workout and by the time I reached the soccer field I felt more incredible than ever before. The near sprinting prior to going out on the field really had my heart pumping and my legs loose. Last night was a different story.

I arrived almost at game time and didn't properly warm up. None of us ever do. It's recreational soccer and we all lace up our boots, kick the ball around for a bit, and then start the game. If I were to discipline myself to jog, stretch and even sprint before the game, I'm sure that I would benefit from performance during the game. Here, however, is where the double edge sword rears its head. I showed up to the game feeling a bit "off." My rib was already sore and the thought of moving and getting warmed up wasn't appealing. I'd rather just get out there in the heat of the moment and go for it.

That's essentially what I ended up doing, and it left me with mixed results. My rib hurt almost the entire time I was on the field. The pounding of the cleats on the turf sent jolts to my torso. I was able to get warmed up, but the substitution sequence left me on the sideline for lengthy portions of both the first and second halfs. I'd sacrificed a track workout in favor of running around for 75-90 minutes on the field. In the end, I probably played 45 minutes total. Though we won a relatively easy game 4-1, I left the field feeling defeated both physically and mentally.

I want to be able to maintain my normal exercise routine. I like running 5 mornings a week, doing a track workout, hitting the gym at lunch, biking to work and playing soccer a couple of times a week. All of that takes a bit of motivation at times, but I know that I am going to leave feeling better physically and more accomplished mentally. Now, I'm trying to find some sort of balance, a medium. I want to be able to continue to run, but want to provide rest to my rib, so I skip the gym (all of the sit ups and other movements I assume will cause more pain). My preferred bike has been out of commission and my schedule for work has allowed me drive in or work from home. All in all, I'm facing a mental challenge that I wasn't prepared to deal with at this stage in my marathon training. I am attempting to see it as another fued I must tackle in the long road to accomplishment. At times, though, it feels like nothing more than an unwanted burden.

That said, it's Thursday morning and I need to log 5 miles. It hurts to move and sit up, but if Tuesday taught me anything, I've got to play through the pain!

2006-10-09T09:42:00.000-05:00

After the struggling run on Friday and travel out to St. Louis, I gladly took a day off Saturday. I have a bit of a sickness, however, and almost wished that at some point I could fit in a run. Luckily for my legs, I never found the time.

Sunday was a different story. I awoke relatively early. I was still tired but was unable to talk my mind into going back to sleep. Megan and I had slept on a blow up mattress on her friend's living room floor. It held the majority of the air through the night, but I was unable to remain asleep past 7am. I opened a book that I've been reading and waited for the temperature outside to warm up.

The sun was shining through the living room shades, and by about 9am I was anxious to get outside. Megan's friends live across from Forest Park in St. Louis. The day before we'd done a brief driving tour of the very large park. From that I could see that it was a great local spot for running and biking. There was a trail that went around the perimeter of the park, and that's where I was going to jog.

I wanted to go about 5 miles, and had no clue how far one loop would be. It almost didn't matter, because the first step I took shot a significant pain straight to my rib. I winced but was sure the pain would dissipate once I warmed up. I was right, though it never went away. Each time my left foot connected with the ground the soreness was agitated.

I'm not entirely sure what caused this run to hurt my rib more than the 18 miles on Friday. Maybe the recovery from that run made it more sore. It also could have been two nights on the air mattress? None of it truly matters. I am capable of running, which is good, but I am going to sustain a bit of pain, which is bad.

The run itself was nice. My legs were a tad tired as well. I ran those 18 miles at a pretty quick pace, and I know my legs were feeling the effects. Nevertheless, the beauty of the crisp fall air and the scenery of the park were enough to keep me huffing and puffing along. The circumference turned out to be 5.36 miles, and I averaged about a 7:47 pace.

2006-10-06T06:38:00.000-05:00

I don't remember if it's from the 80's movie Boyz in the Hood, the rap group NWA or some other old school source, but I could swear I remember seeing or hearing a mock commercial that was hyping the Army which said "we do more before 6am than most nigg*s do in their entire lifetime." I also remember hearing that people from the music community that I grew up in would replace the urban slang word nigg*a with vegan. Though it's a round about method of getting there, I felt like that today I was going to do more before 6 in the morning than most vegans do in their entire lifetime.

Today I'm taking a trip. I have to leave my house by about 9:30 am. I also had to run 18 miles in order to free myself from a long running commitment this weekend. Though I've run in many of the greatest cities in the world, I didn't want to burden myself or the people I'm staying with to ensure I'd have a good run. In fact, I figured I could have much better control of all the things necessary to have a good, long run.

Boy was I mistaken. I'm having a few issues in life, some really major ones, that are causing me anxiousness. After going to sleep around 11:15 last night I awoke at 2am. I've never been a person who has trouble falling asleep. Instead, my insomnia comes on the backside. When something's on my mind, there's little to no chance of me sleeping in. However, today was an extreme example. Not sleeping in can at times mean waking up between 5 and 6am. Unless I'm suffering from severe jet lag, 2am is unheard of.

My alarm was set for 5:30am. I wanted to get out of the house by 5:45am and hopefully be back by 8:15am. That would give me plenty of time to go about my morning routine, get a bit of work done and pack for St. Louis. As I lay in bed, completely wired, I began to worry that I wouldn't fall asleep again. So, at 3:15, after an hour of my brain causing me grief, I decided that I should just do the run then.

I sprung from bed, checked the weather.com report (56 with a light rain), put on a running shirt and a longsleeve shirt, grabbed my cotton gardening gloves (which I typically use between 45 and 55 degrees) donned my shoes and iPod Nano and took off out the door.

Georgetown is an empty place at 4am. There's a clock on a building on the eastern end of Georgetown. As I passed it, already a bit wet from the much heavier than light rain weather.com had given me, I was in awe at the reading the black hands expressed in front of the big orange glow. It was 4am, and I was the only person in Georgetown. It's about 3 miles from my house to Georgetown. I ran the length of it on M Street, trying to imagine how busy it would be later in the day, and especially on the weekend. From there I crossed the Key Bridge (eclipsing Mile 4 and feeling the water soak through my gloves) and got on the Mt. Vernon trail.

I'm familiar with the Mt. Vernon trail from the Memorial Bridge and to the south. I was about a mile and half north of where I usually get on. I made one wrong turn (almost crossed the Theodore Roosevelt Bridget back into DC) in the pitch black, but quickly corrected myself. By Mile 5 my shirts were soaked and heavy and I was beginning to wonder if the early departure was such a good idea.

I brought two gels with me, each with caffeine in them. Though I've never been a huge fan of eating anything while running, I do believe that the gels help provide energy. On these long runs I usually take one at the half way point. Today I decided I would take one at the 6 mile mark and again at the 12 mile mark. As I sucked down the espresso flavor CLIF GU at mile 6 I wondered why I wasn't just using that as my halfway point and going home.

I always read about if you're having a bad run that you should call it off and try again the next day (or week). I've never been a fan of that philosophy. These long runs to me are truly mind over matter. They are training runs and you train for a reason. Barring some horrible injury, I don't ever plan to call off the race I'm doing and try it again at some other time. Maybe those who espouse such philosophies run more races and more often than I do. I do one marathon per year at best - I need to make it count!

The Mount Vernon trail was dark and the pounding rain was creating a lot of puddles. Though there aren't many cars out at 4:30 am, it only takes one or two coming towards you to cause interim blindness. That, of course, allows you to firmly plant one foot into an ankle high puddle - cold feet!

I made it to 9 miles without too much trouble. Getting back was a different story. The rain was being driven by a powerful wind which was now going to be my headwind. I seemed to have picked up the intensity of my run on the back half, but that headwind was causing me a lot of troubles.

I'd hoped to be able to share the shuffled songs that came on my iPod while I ran, and what each one of them made me think about. However, when I stopped my workout on the device it cleared the tunes. I definitely have ton on my mind, and it made it hard to concentrate on running at times. That made me hit quite a few major puddles on the run home.

I basically retraced my steps back, but crossed the Memorial Bridge and ran along the DC side of the river instead of staying in Virginia and heading back across Key Bridge. WIth 4 miles left I began to get pretty tired. My legs have had a rough week. However, I was mentally able to continue to push myself. As eluded to before, this is why I train. Those that haven't set their mind on a goal and have something to work towards have trouble relating to things like this. But there was no way my mind was going to let my body stop (and any second spent walking would actually just be another one OUT IN THE COLD RAIN).

With 2 miles left I had to run up the hill heading out of Rock Creek Park to Calvert Street. My legs really weren't happy with that decision. My thighs were starting to really feel it and the range of motion in the hip socket and hip flexors had drastically decreased. Nevertheless, I pushed on, worn, tired and very cold. Crossing the bridge on Calvert Street leading to Adams Morgan I got a huge gust of wind and rain thrown at me. I felt like i could have easily used plenty of reasons to not do this run, and at that point I felt as if someone was really trying to stop me.

All in all it was an 18.11 mile run in 2 hours 22 minutes and 11 seconds. My overall pace was 7:52 and I burned 2247 calories. That means at least ONE good thing - I get to eat a LOT today! I'm hoping to get some good rest and recover this weekend, though I may try to throw a run in on Sunday some time. That said, I only have one more really long run before the race - 20 miles two weeks from now!

2006-10-05T07:32:00.000-05:00

Within a year after moving to DC in 1998, I found a running club that worked out at the Georgetown University track. There was a monthly fee which provided me with access to a coach (which is different than actually providing me with a coach) and a group of people who were running pretty seriously. I wasn't training for anything in particular, but I liked going to the track once per week and running with other people who were. I also met another runner that liked to go for 7 to 10 mile runs on the weekends.

At the beginning of 2000, my band took off for a 2-month European tour. From there we kept going, organizing and playing shows in the US, Canada, South America, Australia and eventually back to Europe. I was able to run occasionaly while on the road, but it never was able to amount to anything seriously. Our times between tours were rarely more than a week, and usually jam packed with errands and logistics.

I continued to tour with my own band into 2001, and then I filled the time in between our tours by working for another band. Soon enough I was on the road all of the time. In 2003 I had a break and decided that I would train for a marathon. I took a job as an outdoor educator and the schedule didn't ever provide me with the ability to dedicate myself to the track on a particular day of the week. To prepare for that marathon I would alternate weekend long runs with speed work (mile distance).

Last fall I decided that I was going to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. I trained by doing weekday runs and long runs on the weekend. I followed a different training plan, and went in with the mentality that a slower time would probably leave me feeling better following the race (I ran a 3 hour 16 minute marathon in Stockholm and felt pretty bad afterwards). Sure enough, I ran a 3:40 at the Marine Corps and was actually able to walk the day following the race. During my training for this race, however, I did absolutely no speed work.

This fall I've decided to run the inaugural Outerbanks Marathon in North Carolina. With a schedule that permits me to be in town quite frequently, I decided to include track running and speed workouts once again. I found a group that trains at a track near my office on Wednesday nights. I've been going a little over one month, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

Getting together to run with a group can be an invigorating experience. It allows you to chuck all the excuses to the side and saddle up for the weekly workout/challenge. Since I've been going to the track, we've done a variety of workouts. We've done ladders (400m-600m-800m-1200m-800m-600m-400m), fartlek workouts (when the track is closed because the high school needs it for a function), 800m repeats and even a hill workout. Unlike the Georgetown running club I joined in 1999, this one is more loosely organized. The workout is set each week and people of varying abilities band together to run the set workout at whichever pace is comfortable for them. At the Georgetown workouts we were able to ask the coach what we should be doing, based on our goals and upcoming races (back then I wasn't training for anything, so I just kind of mixed things up depending on which other runners were there).

Last night the track was closed for a high school girls' field hockey game. Like the last time we did a fartlek run, we headed to the Custis Trail (which parallels I-66) for a tempo run. After a 10 minute warm up the plan was to do 5 minutes "on" followed by two minutes recovery. Tuesday morning I ran my 10.5 miles (9 miles was all I was scheduled for) and then I played a co-ed soccer game Tuesday night. My legs were tight when I arrived for Wednesday night's workout, but the 10 minute jog got me feeling loose enough to try to stay with the same group I usually pace with.

Our first 5 minute run was done at a pretty quick pace. I have trouble telling exactly how fast it was, but I would guess it was at least a 6:15 minute/mile pace. It was tough and the 2 minute jog of recovery was much needed. During that jog the six of us that were running together were debating how many "on" periods we were going to shoot for. Some were saying four while I was actually thinking that five might be realistic. With the Army 10-miler race coming up this weekend a few people wanted to save their legs. I joked that since we'd only completed one I could talk about doing as many as I pleased, but after the second or third "on" period I would probably be whistling a different tune.

And no truer words have been spoken! The second five minute speed period was tough. If we were going at a 6:15 minute/mile pace that meant that we were covering approximately 8/10ths of a mile at that quick speed. My typical pace on a training run is around 7:30, so this was really pushing it. On top of that, the activities of the day before had done their wear and tear on my legs, too. We completed our second 2 minute recovery jog still heading "out" (away from our starting point), and turned around at the start of the third 5 minute "on" session.

This segment of the workout really separated the true runners from those of us who were flailing to follow in their footsteps. It was very, very tough. I was breathing heavily, something that made the rib injury that was reignited during my soccer game Tuesday night incredibly painful. During that 2 minute recovery jog I was wondering if I was going to be able to pull off a 4th "on" segement.

I did, but it was at a considerably slower pace than the first three had been. My guess is that if the first couple were done at that 6:15 pace then this was more around a 6:45. It was still challenging and left my body feeling exerted. When it was over we all jogged back to our start point. I felt exhausted but good. That's the beauty of these workouts (and most runs in general); it leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment and an endorphin rush.

From there I saddled up on my bike and cruised back to DC for a good, rewarding dinner!

2006-10-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

This morning I was scheduled to run 9 miles. I had an issue that kept me up much later than I'd hoped. For a lot of people, staying up after midnight is not a big deal at all. However, as the clock made it's way into the new day, I thought over and over about how I'd be waking up and trying to get out the door by 6:30am. I bought myself a slight bit of time by setting the alarm for 6:30. With my new technology that must accompany me (the Nano iPod + Nike gear) it took me a few extra minutes to get going, but I was out by 6:45.

Again, using my old school 8 minute mile approach I figured nine miles should take roughly 72 minutes. That would put me back at the house by 8am, giving me enough time to go through my morning routine before going to meet Jason for our Tuesday morning breakfast.

I was glad that the air was humid, making the low 60's temperature feel warmer than it actually was. My hands tend to be the most susceptible to cold, and this time of year is when the gardening gloves start to make their appearances on these early morning runs. Today was warm enough that I was able to go out in just shorts and a t-shirt.

I ran a familiar route that I can typically expand upon to make it a bit longer. I run down Sherman Avenue, which turns into 9th street (just past U Street). Around the convention center I make a left and cut over to 7th Street. This allows me to run through Chinatown and past the big screen TV outside of the Verizon Wireless Center (formerly MCI Center) before hitting Pennsylvania Avenue. I go left on Pennsylvania and cover the 7 blocks to the Capital. That's more or less the half way point of the short version of this run. I typically head back along one of the gravely paths on the mall, head north on 14th Street and once I reach Columbia Heights I make my way back to the house. To extend it, I typically add something when I'm down by the Capital and then either make my way back to the 14th Street approach, or end it in a different way altogether.

Today I added a jaunt behind the Jefferson Memorial and then continued on along the Potomac River towards Georgetown. I felt as if I was moving at a relatively decent pace. The iPod/Nike software allows for you to hit a button on the device at any given time and a woman's voice will tell you exactly how far you've gone (to the 100th of a mile - i.e. 2.65 miles), the time that's eclipsed since you began your workout and your current pace. My body felt as if I was running much faster than the 7:30+ paces it kept quoting me.

I figured the route I was taking to return home would actually be a bit longer than 9 miles, but by the time the count started going down (the voice would state "3 miles to go" instead of "you've just completed your 6th mile") I was really feeling a bit exhuasted. However, I've consisently been able to push myself to complete the runs at a good pace, regardless of whether or not my body agrees with that.

I continued along Rock Cree Parkway (the road that takes you from behind the Jefferson Memorial, along the Potomac) until I came to the P Street bridge. I exited the park then and covered the last couple of miles on surface streets. When I'd completed 9 miles I knew I still had a ways to go, and attempted to slow my pace to something more suitable for my worn legs. It was pretty much all uphill from the park to my house, so the slowed pace was nice. I ended up logging 10.51 miles in 1 hour 21 minutes and 53 seconds. My average pace was 7:47/mile. My legs are a tad fried, and I have a soccer game that I have to play on them tonight.

2006-10-02T09:44:00.000-05:00

This morning was intended to be an easy 4 miles. I always have trouble trying to figure out recovery for myself. Typically, my long runs are on Saturdays. Each Sunday in the fall I have a soccer game. Monday morning usually means that my legs are sore and when I wake up it's usually a struggle to figure out if I should run or not.

I lay in bed around 6:45 pondering that this morning. Aside from what I would consider to be regular recovery, I had to deal with the fact that I injured something (muscle, tendon, etc.?) during yesterday's soccer game. I iced it last night, but the soreness still prevailed.

After an hour or so of work, I decided that I would go out very easy. In addition to just getting in the miles, I wanted to try out the new Nike + iPod system that I splurged on Saturday. I was impressed during our 16 mile run on Saturday by Robert's ability to know how far we'd traveled as well as what pace we were running. I'm typically not one to spoil myself, and have never been a fan of buying things (especially those you've lived thus far without) to make myself feel better.

The system is pretty simple and was designed by Nike and Apple. It uses an iPod Nano (the smallest iPod they currently make, I believe) with a small transmitter that plugs into it. It also comes with a small, modular receiver that is supposed to go into the special made Nike shoes. Robert indicated that instead of purchasing the shoes (I've never been a fan of Nike's fit, not to mention all of the political/sweat shop issues that were raised a few years ago), I could merely go to a hardware store, purchase some velcro, and implement my own DIY solution to securing the receiver to my shoe.

The good news is the system seems to work. Though I haven't actually calibrated it yet, it's use of GPS satellite technology presumable gives it an "accurate enough" functioning for my tastes. The bad news is the system works. That means what I once thought was about a 2 mile turnaround from my house (for a 4 mile run), was actually 1.8 miles. So, I had to go an extra .2 miles.

The system allows you to tap the center button on the iPod to have a woman's voice indicate to you the distance you've traveled and what your current pace is. It automatically tells you (again, via a nice voice into your headphones) when you've reached each mile for that run. Before you go out you set the distance you desire to run. So, after the first mile the voice indicated "you've run one mile." When I hit my newly established 2 mile turnaround it indicated that as well. On the way back (once you've passed the half way point) it counts down the number of miles you have left. Eventually, once you've reached the point where you only have 500 meters (why it goes in meters when you've indicated that you'll be running miles and your base unit is the mile, I'm not sure yet) remaining, it counts down each successive 100 meter point. I don't know exactly what it says when you've reached your mileage "goal" for that particular day, as I typically start my runs from my doorstep and end them at the end of the street. That's a shortfall of about 100 meters I found out this morning.

All in all I'm pretty excited about the new technology. When you plug the iPod into the computer it automatically updates the information to your online Nike Running account. This allows you to trace and track all of the runs you've performed while wearing the iPod and transmitter. I've never been one that NEEDS music to run, and I typically do not do my long runs playing any music. However, I have been complaining a bit that the 2+ hours on the roads and trails each Saturday morning have been a bit dull. Now I'll have a convenient way to listen to new music and other things (audio books, etc).

The run itself was okay at best. The normal soreness of my legs and back was present. That combined with the soreness made for a slow run. However, that's sort of the point of the weekly starting 4 miler for me. Tomorrow I'll bust through a quality 9 miles (followed by another soccer game Tuesday night), hit a track workout Wednesday (which has been great for my running as well as my soccer), take Thursday off and then log 18 before heading away for the weekend.

Once I figure out a way to share my Nike account information, I'll make that link available.

2006-10-01T07:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was supposed to run 12 miles. I'm following a training schedule that Hal Higdon designed. My friend Chris sought out the book and I used this same schedule for the completion of last year's Marine Corps Marathon. Chris helped pace me through the last half of that race, just a couple weeks prior to his run in the Richmond Marathon.

This year we deicded to seek out a marathon that we could run together. He helped me tremendously last year, but doing 13 at a pace a bit quicker than he was used to may have caused him a bit of comfort and success for his own run.

A second buddy, Robert, ran the Richmond Marathon with Chris last year as well. Those two ran the Marathon in the Parks in DC/Maryland in 2004 together. This year Robert has yet to commit to which marathon he is going to run. He's unsure where he'll be in November, but has his eyes on the Seattle Marathon. He claims there is a chance he might be able to run with Chris and I when we hit the Outerbanks Marathon on November 12th.

Robert had the weekend off from a pretty grueling work schedule and he and I wanted to run together yesterday. I'd done 16 last weekend and Robert, who is a week behind me on the Hal Higdon training schedule was due to run 16 yesterday. I decided that I would leave the house with him and then see how I felt after 6, the point at which I could turn around to easily complete a 12 mile out-and-back.

I decided that we should just run the same route that I had run last weekend. Part of the trouble with doing really long runs is knowing what route to run. I often find myself as early as Wednesday or Thursday during a week beginning to contemplate and almost worry about where I'll go. This weekend I wanted the run to be a chance for Robert and I to catch up by talking, so the decision to run an already calculated route made the most sense.

Rarely do I do a run that doesn't start and end at my house. The thought of driving to run doesn't particularly interest me. I already think that long runs eat up way too much time, so to add a 15 minute drive on either side rarely makes sense to me. If we had amazing trails within that short of a radius of the house, like I did when I visit my buddy Bricks in Boulder, Colorado, I'm sure this would be an entirely different story. Therefore, we left my house shortly after 10:30am.

The first mile is on surface streets, but then we are able to head down a big hill on Harvard Avenue before cutting through the backside of the National Zoo and getting on Rock Creek Parkway. The weather was a nice, chilly temperature and there was very light rain coming down. It's approximately another 3 miles to the entrance for the C&O canal down in Georgetown. The first mile of that is on a bit of hilly brick-sidewalk that goes by a few quaint shops and restaurants as well as the C&O Canal visitor's center.

By the time we were on the "real" C&O canal (just at the western end of Georgetown) I figured it'd been approximately 5 miles (my watch read 38 minutes had elapsed). Robert was running with a nano iPod as well as the new Nike software which uses satellite and a radio transmitter between a receiver on the shoe and the iPod nano itself to measure the distance you've covered. It also plays music, but we were talking the entire time so he had to put an earphone in to see what the computer said. We were at 4.98 miles. My internal pacing sensor was equal to that of the computer!

At that point I felt good. On my longer runs I've probably been averaging around a 7:30 minute/mile pace. To slow it down to 8 significantly improved my stamina. For the first time in all of my long training runs I could sense that a negative split would be possible and I might not have to mentally challenge myself to finish the run. Of course, we were only 1/3rd of the way through, so there was a chance that these thoughts could be erased.

They weren't, however. When we hit the 1 hour mark I still felt great and realized that we must be approaching our turn around spot. I was surprised because I realized that the week before I had surely gone out longer than 8 miles. Thinking back I wasn't sure if my intended return route was going to be exactly the same distance the route to the C&O had been. To break up the monotony I'd planned to hop on the Capitol Crescent Trail, which paralells the C&O for the first 3 miles out of Georgetown, and run on surface streets back to my house.

Yesterday we did the same thing, and upon the finish of the run Robert indicated my suspicions were correct - it was 7.5 miles on the return. That said, the week before, when I was supposed to go 16, I probably ended up doing somewhere along the lines of 17.5-18.

The nice thing about running on the C&O or the Capitol Crescent Trail is that they have mile markers. It allows you to confirm the pace you think you're running at. On all of my long runs I typically calculate the distance I am going to travel based on 8 minute miles. That's exactlly how I ended up going out 9 miles the week before. If I were to assume that I would need to turn around at the 8 mile marker, that would be at 64 minutes. But, if I was running an expedited pace, which seems to happen frequently, I would surpass 8 miles. In fact if I was actually running 7:30/miles when I reached 64 minutes I would have run 9 miles. Eerie.

Our return yesterday was nice. Robert did begin to slow down a bit on the back half of the run. While the 8 minutes was a tad slower than I was training, it was right at what he was used to running at. Therefore, once we'd left Georgetown and hit L Street NW, I could tell that my energy level was much higher than his. In fact, I felt that I could easily pick up the pace and finish the last 2-3 miles much quicker. Once we turned left onto 15th Street Robert gave me the signal that he was going to keep the moderate pace he was at and that I should feel free to take off.

From 15th street it's almost all uphill back to my house. It's a slight incline up 15th to just past U street, then I make a slight right onto Florida Avenue, where the incline becomes a tad bit steeper. Once I make a left on 14th Street, the real challenge presents itself. However, it's a short hill, less than half a mile, and once you crest the top you've surely almost reached the end.

I pushed myself and ended up finishing feeling great! The fact that I was forced to slow down to keep the pace comfortable for myself and Robert made it so I could finish the run feeling wonderful.

Next week I'm due to run 18. If things work out, I might be able to run with Chris who is supposed to be in town for a wedding. I am, however, supposed to be out of town, but I'm hoping there's a way that we can run together. Last year we did all of our long runs together, and the fact that we can talk and laugh while we're running surely makes the 2+ hours we are out pounding the pavement much more enjoyable.

2006-09-29T11:05:00.000-05:00

I ran five miles today. My legs are a bit drained from the track workout on Wednesday (6 x 800s around 2:55) followed by a soccer game. I never know if I should then try to run on Thursday, with the hopes of keeping my legs loose, or on Friday. Running on Friday, I presume, gives my legs time to recover from Wednesday's track run.

Tomorrow I have to run 12. Extreme Robert is in town and he's slated to run 16. I did that last weekend. Maybe we'll go together or I'll do it on my own. Twelve just doesn't sound like a lot, but I can imagine tomorrow I will still find that it's a burdern to bear, mentally.