training

Who Let the Dogs Out?

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On a spur-of-the-moment decision, Ev and I decided to take our friend up on his offer and head down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. 10 hours after deciding, we commandeered my brother Vince’s car and were on the road. Despite some traffic we made it down to the small town of Lexington, NC with plenty of time to help get things ready. A delicious meal ensued.

As with all my weekend adventures, I look forward to running in new places. Lexington would offer its own beauty and uniqueness that sets it apart from the usual DC paths… and so much more. Allow me to paint the picture for you: it was 8am on a clear Saturday morning. The grass had frosted slightly overnight and the air was refreshing in my lungs. A great day for a run! As is customary, I mapped out my route the night before in a simple out-n-back fashion so not to get too lost.

Was that a left or a right?

Turned out to only be 5 turns out, and 5 turns back. Pretty good. Nothing like that garbage above. As I began down the first of what would be many, many (oh-so-many) hills, I took note of how fresh the air smelled and how peaceful it was. That is, until I met… ::insert ominous music:: …Charlie. I’m sure Charlie is very nice once you get to know him, but he was a bit too friendly. This is a better representation of Charlie, but picture him without the boat anchor and hear him roaring at me.

Good Grief

I should mention that the dog-leash business in North Carolina must be in the tank, because maybe one in five was kept off my heels. So anyway, Charlie was the toughest of my battles. His prison warden old lady owner stepped out onto her porch and yelled “Charlie, git over he’ya RIGHT NOW!” Charlie wasn’t having it at first, but then backed down and returned to his den home.

Really he caught me terrified out of my mind off-guard. I kept an eye out for more encounters. The next “friend” greeted me around mile 4 right after a tough uphill. I took a page out of Cesar’s book and intimidated the IAMS out of her. As I continued, feeling good as I cruised through hill after hill and narrowly escaping fending off a few more canines, I felt the ground shake. SHAKE. It was a cataclysmic bark from a massive rottweiler. For a second I thought my long run was going to turn into a speed workout until I realized this behemoth was the one-in-five who was restrained. Although, I think he was only “restrained” because he chose to be. He could have torn the tree he was tied to along with him after me if he wanted.

G Zuss, he is huge...

Well, the rest of the run was smooth. I considered finding another route back so to avoid any more encounters but decided to brave it. Fortunately all my good friends headed in for lunch (or found another unsuspecting runner.) Maybe that’s why I didn’t see anyone else…Monster

The Details:

Lexington, NC Chase Run:

Route

Distance: 16 miles
Time: 2:08:27
Pace: 8:01 min/mile
Average HR: 164 bpm (183 max)

 

The Hills!

 

Brutal Hills, perfect for training for the Miami Marathon...

 

 

How Hot is the Sun?

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And the traveling weekends continued. To recap, it was Maine, then New Jersey, and then Florida, making 3 weekends out of 5 (and a 4th out of 6 coming up).

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Heading to Florida was exciting for more reasons than I can list. But I’ll try:

  1. See the family.
  2. Go wedding venue shopping

Ok, so that’s 2 reasons. You can’t deny that they are very good reasons.

Getting down to it, the run in Florida was terrible awful horrible tragic unfortunate less than ideal. It actually drove home the fact that I would not be moving to Florida at any point while my running career is even mildly active. Why is it so bad to run on pancake-flat roads in close proximity to the beach and barely ever a drop of rain, you ask? Because it is hot. Not just hot though. It is raining-rocks hot. This is what the sun must feel like.

I started out feeling pretty good. I noted that the outdoor thermometer said 78.6* and humidity was 77%… in the shade. I couldn’t tell if the sweat started before or after the front door closed behind me, but it took approximately 3 seconds for the beads to begin forming on my forehead. From the get go I went out too fast, not because I pushed too hard, but because I was going at my normal pace instead of dialing it way back for the heat.

At mile 5 I gave in to logic and reason to take a break rather than push the limits of heat exhaustion. 5 minutes later I was back at it, feeling rejuvenated… for about 30 seconds. Then I remembered that it was 93 degrees in direct sun with no breeze. 2 miles later I took another break under I-95 in the shade. As the creature of habit that I am, I decided to stop 2 miles later at a gas station. I wound up finishing at a little over 10 miles instead of the prescribed 12, which was a bit disheartening. But then I realized I was still outside and couldn’t imagine taking one more

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step.

I guess not all was lost. I took advantage of the Summer-like weather and dove into the pool to cool down. Almost made it all worth it… almost. Hopefully it will only make me stronger for this coming weekend! Unlikely I’ll post again before the race, so wish me luck!!

The Details:

Florida’s 10 Mile Long Run:

Route

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:26:21
Pace: 8:30 min/mile
Average HR: Didn’t wear HR Monitor

Hey Motivation, You Can Run, but You Can’t Hide

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I don’t know if it’s from

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the dark mornings (sunrise after 7am, really??) or knowing that my training is coming to an end (Chicago here I come!) or voodoo, but I have had a heck of a time getting motivated to get up in the mornings to go run. Now to be fair, getting up at 6am (or earlier, much to the disapproval of Ev) is never easy. But it has become a habit for the last who-knows-how-long, so I’m used to getting up. It’s really the motivation that has been on vacation. Even on my long run this past Saturday I considered (for just a nano second) not running ::gasp:: ::scream:: ::zoinks::

Rather than give in to the Motivation-Sponge, I sought external devices. We’re not talking performance enhancing drugs or a stunt double running for me, no how! Instead, I got all technological up in Motivation’s face. Yes, we are in the Digital Age people (as opposed to the Analog Age*). To combat the shady tactics used against me, I fell back into the grips of none other than my iPod Shuffle. You may laugh, scoff, even shake your head for any number of disapproving emotions, but for me, I haven’t run with earbuds crammed just inches from my brain for quite some time (the reasons will perhaps be explained in a future post). For fear that music alone would not suffice, I upped the ante and loaded up a podcast. A PTI** podcast to be exact.

The beauty of a podcast is that I can multitask! Tackle a hill while catching up on the sports world. Sprint a mile while updating my tech-knowledge. To be honest, it beats the alternative. Here’s a little secret: to pass the time on boring runs, when the Motivation Witch zaps the energy out of me, I multiply. Get your mind out of the gutter, I practice mental math. Probably not the juicy secret you were hoping for, but I literally go through 2×2, 3×3, … , 29×29.. I usually get stuck in the mid thirties. Anyway, my newfound interest in podcasts has made multiplication a thing of the past. Sorry Archimedes.

I’m excited at the prospects of all the information I can absorb while running in circles. I’ve run for more than 167 hours this year alone (a little more than 1200 miles). Think of how much time that is! Sorry, Destroyer of Motivation, your time has expired. For now, I have an Internets-worth of information to take in. Once I finish, perhaps we’ll meet again.

The Details:

8 Miles with 3 x 1-mile Intervals:

Route

Distance: 8.04 miles
Time: 1:02:55
Pace: 7:49 min/mile
Average HR: 158 bpm (181 bpm max)

*Thanks Ev 🙂

**PTI is short for Pardon the Interruption, a sports talkshow on ESPN where two old guys yell at each other about the latest sports news.

Moving Forward

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The response to my previous post was unbelievable. Thank you everyone who clicked the link I sent you read about my heartwarming story of a boy and girl falling in love, overcoming obstacles, and ending up together with a dorky (if not creative) engagement surprise.

And through all

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that fun and spontaneity, the running continues. I have scaled it back a bit to running 4 days a week instead of 5, to be fresh for race day. The last three weekends consisted of running in Maine, then DC, and then New Jersey. The NJ run was my last big run before tapering. 20 miles of fun through the rolling hills and townships (New Jersey is dotted with townships, though I’m not exactly sure what one is). Some of the exciting things I saw as I explored my homeland (born in NJ) included goose crossing signs, cows grazing, and mansions the size of, well, mansions. You may be surprised to hear read that I didn’t come across any items that “fell off a truck”, no one wearing cement shoes, and not a single person say “fuggetaboutit” in the entire 20 miles. Not even a single Soprano crossed my path! More common, actually, were jogging strollers and sunshine.

The run itself was awesome. I find myself enjoying rolling hills compared to pancake-flat roads, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for Chicago (we’re talking IHOP-flat in Chicago). I traveled through Florham Park, Madison, Green Village, and Chatham and then back to Florham Park. This is a far cry compared to Florida, where you have to drive 5 miles to get from the retirement home adult lifestyle community to the Botox clinic, all within in the same development… but I digress. I was hoping to see some deer or a groundhog, but no such luck.

For those of you who picture New Jersey looking like the offspring between a garbage dumpster and a water desalination plant, don’t forget it is known as the Garden State. It made me proud to say I was born in the armpit of the greatest country in the world. And without armpits, where does the garden-scented deodorant go? Go America!

The Details:

New Jersey’s 20 Mile Long Run:

Route

Distance: 20 miles
Time: 2:41:36
Pace: 8:04 min/mile
Average HR: 157 bpm (176 bpm max)

The Maine Event

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Fear not!   I was not attacked by a bear or a giant lobster.  However, I saw both (kind of… check out the pictures.  The bears (and moose) are made of solid chocolate, but keep in mind: a chocolate bear is still a bear…).  Anyway, I went for a 17 mile run while in Maine.  The weather was, well, perfect.  58 degrees, 2% humidity (based on my internal humiditometer), and not a cloud in the hemisphere.  It was supposed to be 18 miles with 14 at Marathon Pace (~8 min/mile).  Based on the route I chose, 17 is what it came out to be.  An exact 8.5 miles out and 8.5 miles back.

Lighthouse

Maine-ly (see what I did there?) because of the amazing weather, wide bike lane, and awesome scenery, everything about this run felt good.  As the sun was rising during the first mile I started to pick up the pace to get to the 8:00 min/mile mark.  My plan was to run miles 2 through 15 at that speed and use the other miles as warm-up and cool-down.  Well, when everything falls into place like it did, I actually found it difficult to go slow enough.  After a bit, I stopped fighting it.  Other than the first mile (8:15 min/mile), every mile was under 8 minutes.  Actually, there were several late in the run in the 7:30s that felt amazing.  It seemed like I always had another gear to get up the next hill, so instead of slowing down, I pushed a little harder and not because I thought I was being chased by a giant lobster.

The halfway point was the end of Cape Elizabeth in Two Lights State Park.  The picture above was taken later in the trip when Ev was looking for rocks.  (Side story: Ev and I went to Cape Elizabeth so I could show her the lighthouse and great view I saw on my run.  There were lots of people there, most of whom were staring at the ground and picking up rocks.  It turns out they were looking for sea glass*.  Well, without a moment’s hesitation, Ev started looking for sea glass.  She was quite good at it too.  If it were a game, I think she would have won.  You can see her dominating the children competition in the picture.  End side story)

Without going into too much more detail, the entire run was amazing.  Perhaps the Maine Marathon will find its way onto the schedule, but that’s for another post.  Definitely in the top 5 best runs ever.

The Details:

Portland’s 17 Mile Long Run:

Route

Distance: 17 miles
Time: 2:12:24
Pace: 7:47 min/mile
Average HR: 159 bpm (174 bpm max)

*Sea glass, for those who don’t know, is just glass that gets eroded in the ocean and washed on shore.  Typically from beer bottles and the like, it finds its way onto the sand in a very smooth condition.  That is your sea glass lesson for this blog post.  Questions can be directed to http://tinyurl.com/q6edza

Running Takes a Back Seat to No One!

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But blogging does… Life has been busy busy this August, so some niceties had to be sacrificed. Thus, it’s been awhile since you’ve been subjected privy to my thoughts. Too bad! Because August was a huge month of miles. My most ever actually. Now that August is over, the grand total was 204 miles. I know, I know, but please, hold your applause. It definitely feels like I ran 200+ miles last month.

September has kind of picked up where August left off, though so far the intensity has fallen off a little. There was an unexpected switch up in the schedule already (future blog post to come with more details [updated]). I did get a pretty good Birthday Run in yesterday though. Scheduled for 12 miles, but I ended up finishing around 11.3. Why the shorter distance, you ask? Because it was my birthday, so I could do what I want. And because the island I was going to run on was closed (how/why/when do you close an island??), so I had to modify my route on the run (PUN!).

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p>Tomorrow is a tough 9-miler, and then Ev and I are going to Maine! I’m excited to run in Portland, especially with 18 miles lined up. I only hope I don’t get mauled by a bear or giant lobster. I’ll be sure to carry a claw cracker and wear a bib. It should be a great time!

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I’ll be sure to report back after we get back from faux-Canada. Stay tuned.

Hains Point

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Oh Hains Point.  More like Pains Hoint. Running around Hains Point is just painful.  I headed down there this morning to get my run on, and realized why a) I don’t ever train there, and b) don’t like that part of Marine Corps Marathon.  It’s just flat and boring.  I’ve never run it in the morning, though, and I was surprised by how many people are biking around the little island.

The thing is, it seems like biking is the way to go.  I’d say I saw 3 other runners plodding along and maybe 40 bikers zipping around.  It’s about a 3-mile loop around the south end of the island, so I got to see some flamboyant aerodynamic cycling outfits 2, 3, or even 7 times… like when I saw one really ridiculously dressed fast girl guy 7 times.

All the speedy bikes definitely made me feel slow special for not being one of the crowd.  They were probably all passing me thinking “hmm, he looks awesome.  I think it’s because he’s running and I’m just riding my bike like the other 40 people including that girl guy.”  I could basically read it on their faces.

There were a few roller bladers too.  I thought those were extinct.  Like dinosaurs.  And Furbies.

Anyway, it was a run of pros and cons, ultimately leaning towards the cons.  Doubt I’ll be back, but that’s what I say now.  We’ll see what happens when it’s 6am and I need to think of where to run 12 miles on-the-fly-run.

Tuesday’s Medium Long Run:

Route

Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:40:57
Pace: 8:24 min/mile
Average HR: 152 bpm (171 bpm max)

Over the River and Through the Woods

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This weekend’s run wasn’t typical of my normal Saturday runs for a number of reasons:

  1. I ran with the DC Road Runners rather than solo. I couldn’t quite get geared up to run by myself.
  2. Because of #1, I got up at 5:30am on a Saturday. Really.

    I didn’t even know Saturday had a 5:30am. I left my apartment at 6:30am and ran to meet the DCRR group 3 miles away.

  3. We ran through the Glover Archibald trail, which involved running over a river and through some woods! Actually really awesome, but would definitely have gotten lost. I’m thinking a Blair Witch situation, only actually scary and less seizure-inducing.
  4. I got back from the run so early (see #2) that I got back in bed and still got up at a luxuriously late reasonable time.

Overall I’m really glad I went so incredibly early because I a) got to run with people, b) tried a BA* course, and c) avoided the heat. I still don’t think I could run that route without getting lost, so I’m not sure it’s worth trying on my own (see #3).

On a side note, I bought a Vanilla Hammer Gel and took it with me, but it remained in my pocket the entire time (per usual). The DCRRs have a midpoint water stop so I refueled around mile 9 with some Gatorade.

Saturday’s Long Run:

Route

Distance: 18 miles
Time: 2:32:19
Pace: 8:27 min/mile
Average HR: 155 bpm (173 bpm max)

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p>*BA = bad ass. simply writing BA makes it seem more scholarly, like a Bachelor of Arts. Why do you think people say BS? Of course it’s for the scholarly connotation of a Bachelor of Science.

Colin all runners

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It’s been awhile since we last talked.  I blame it on the economy prior commitments, but could have also been due to Michael Jackson’s untimely departure.  Ok, let’s get serious, I don’t have prior commitments…

Anyway, this past weekend Colin was in town (worth noting: not to see me) so we planned on getting a non-race run in together.  Yes, a non-race run.  The only times we have run together in the last 4 years has been for races, and quite a few at that.  Imagine my excitement when I could take him on a “tour” of my turf!  Like a little school girl when she receives her first Beanie Baby iPhone… times have changed…

Anyway, we had 17 miles on the calendar and that’s what we did.  My initial route was more like 19 or 20, which is too bad because it would have been an awesome display of what DC has to offer.  But I cut it down to 17 miles and we were good to go.  I hyped it up to show off the mountains of the District that would impose a quad thrashing like no other.  We had agreeable weather that stayed cool enough during the early hills and then heated up on the downhills.  So a “thank you” is in order for the weather man.  The highlight in my mind was going to be the no-cars-allowed section of Beach Dr.  In an effort to thwart my promises of a car-free zone someone decided to require immediate medical attention.  Selfish!  So we had to navigate around some ambulances and a police car, which in turn passed us back after they were done ambulancing and policing.  Graciously, Colin let this slide.

We approached the “mountain” portion around mile 9 but actually handled it pretty well.  The pace was even the whole time, something I typically have trouble with on my own.  At the top of the mountain, right next door to the National Cathedral, we deviated from my normal route and headed into No Man’s Land (that area northwest of Georgetown) and saw some new scenery.  The long downhills were much appreciated.  After a quick jaunt through Georgetown (thankfully before the shops opened) we were back at my place.

It was a great change to run with someone, especially a formidable rival.  It definitely helped the nearly 2 and half hours fly by.  Unfortunately it doesn’t look like there are any more rendezvous in the foreseeable future.

PS- It’s worth mentioning that we swung by Good Stuff afterwards for burgers and shakes.  Epic.  How could a Milky Way milkshake be anything but outrageous?  It can’t.

Details:

Route

Distance: 17 miles
Time: 2:25:57
Pace: 8:34 min/mile
Average HR: 158 bpm (174 bpm max)

If the shoe Pfitz

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Pfitz Pfitz Pfitz.  Looks funny no matter how many times you write it.  Pfitz.

I’m halfway through week 3 of the Pfitz 55/18 training plan (18-week plan that peaks at 55 miles per week) and it’s pretty taxing (like corporate bonus taxing after all the bailouts).  I’m sure the reason is that it’s a pretty big increase in miles for me since the Country Music Marathon.  After running the last three days in a row, tomorrow’s rest day seems to be a Pfit-ting reward.  So much, in fact, that I think I might even take Friday and Saturday off too!

Gasp!?!?!

Yes, 3 (planned) days in a row.  Of not running.  Maybe.  With the Fairfield Half Marathon coming up on Sunday, I’m certainly not running on Saturday.  Friday is supposed to be an easy 4 miles.  Thursday is a day off.  So all I’m really missing is 4 miles and moving my Saturday long run to the race on Sunday.  Knowing me (and I like to think that I do), I’ll probably run the 4 miles anyway.  That said, if I don’t run on Friday, I’ll look back at these three days as a crash taper cycle in preparation for the race.  Undeniably I want to be fresh so I can beat Colin and regain the title of “winner of the most recent half marathon: the Mike and Colin story – as told by Mike”.

Also going with the theme of the title, I just bought some new shoes!  Well, they’re the same Brooks Beasts that I’ve been running in since Marine Corps, but a new pair!  Picked them up at Running Warehouse for a pretty price and even got an additional 15% off my order!  Even better, they give free 2-day shipping and it’s being shipped today!  Wow!!!  Exclamation point.

This morning’s run was a little bit brutal mixed with a dash of ouch and a smidgen of when-will-it-stop.  Falling under the category of Lactate Threshold (which Ev found hysterical), it involved running 4 of the 8 miles at half marathon pace.  How fitting considering there is a half marathon coming up.  Well, hopefully it isn’t a precursor to the race, because it did not go as well as I would have liked.  For 4 miles I was struggling and burning.  Some may be attributed to running the previous two days, but overall I’m going to need to slow way down for the race if this is what it’s going to feel like.  If I remember last year’s course (and I most certainly do), it is a hilly beast.  (Aside: Maybe my shoes and the course can be friends (if you didn’t catch my subtlety, my shoes are the Beast and the course is a beast.  If you did catch it, bravo, and I apologize for such a pointless aside).) Anyway, we’ll see how the race goes and I’ll be sure to report back. I’m sure you can’t wait to hear all about my victory.

The details:

The Route

Distance: 8.0 miles
Time: 1:02:52
Pace: 7:50 min/mile
Average HR: 163 bpm (179 bpm max)
Splits: Mile 3 – 7:08
Mile 4 – 7:21
Mile 5 – 7:20
Mile 6 – 7:19