Midnight Run(s)

Occasionally because of long hours at the office, I get home late and end up running around midnight. That has happened twice this week. It's not ideal. But I have put myself in a situation where I have two important and time consuming goals that will be realized at about the same time: End of October. One is of course the NYC Marathon. The other is a large and involved work thing concerning databases and such.

It has been a good week.

I am lucky enough to have a colleague from our Italian office, MZ, here to help. He, along with JS and SR from India, has been working late every day with me to be as productive with this week as possible. I think we have made good progress. There's a ton of work left and I will be pulling 6-7 day work weeks of 10-12 hours per day... It's basically an endurance event in and of itself. Why do I do such things? I guess I really love a challenge and/or I'm psychotic.

My runs have been good. I feel healthy again. I ran a nice 10.2 mile stretch last Saturday. Sunday I did some leg strengthening at the gym, and Monday I had a nice 8.6 mile tempo run (at midnight). When I run at midnight in Prospect Park, I feel like I own the place and any other scant person I see is just passing through. The air is cool and crisper. A few people linger from the evening parties they just had and I can hear conversation and laughter. Jim runs across my path in search for picnic scraps (he's a raccoon. Yes, I named him Jim). It's my park; these are my roads and my running lanes and my hills. I own them.

And then they turn the lights off.

Yes, at some time after midnight, the lights in the 9th Street entrance go off. The main road inside the park is still lit, but getting out of the park on Monday (then Tuesday am) I had the feeling I could twist my ankle at any moment. Oh the gods of fate would have laughed at me if I had. Last night's run (my trusty North Hill / Tempo combo!) finished just before midnight so I didn't have the same issue. I should be smart though, and just slow down if that happens. I'll think about that for next time.

My brother called yesterday to ask about running shoes and a running club upstate. He's taking this running thing seriously and I'm proud! I look forward to running with him soon. I still have to email him the "plan" I drew up earlier this month. Yeah, I'm lame. It's just been sitting in my computer. Tonight, I promise.

Last week I posted 24.6 miles. This week I should be close to 41 miles. Feeling strong, and hopefully getting fast.

Five point three and pain free

I completed my normal easy loop without pain for the first time in many many weeks. Tomorrow night I will hit the hills for the first time in months. I'm cautiously excited.

NYC Half

I was supposed to run the race this morning. When I laid out my training plan, this race was supposed to be a measuring stick of my progress and I expected to be fast. 7 minute miles or less would have been my goal. Anywhere close and I would be happy. Turns out this race still was a measuring stick, but unfortunately I haven't measured up.

I decided not to run this 13.1 mile event because I cannot get past 4.5 miles without pain. I would have finished the race, battling my IT band, and would have made matters worse. The NYC Marathon on Nov 1st is my goal and I had to come to terms with reality.

Reality can really bite sometimes.

I woke up at 6:30 am today (2 hours later than if I actually ran the race) to watch. I packed up my boom box, hopped on my motorcycle, and headed out to the West Side Highway at 16th Street. I don't run with ipods or music, but I do appreciate the music boost now and then on the road. So I blared some tunes for the runners as I cheered them on. It was a good mix starting with Beck, ending with The Foo Foo Fighters, and having some Beatles, RCHP, Foreigner, The Roots, and even Boyz II Men in the middle.

It's a bit frustrating to just watch and not run. But I am a fan, and I did enjoy catching the elites that I am familiar with. Paula Radcliffe of Britain won the women's side. Deana Kastor of the USA streaked by, but didn't place. And Ryan Hall of the USA took third on the men's side.

[caption id="attachment_68" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ryan Hall, just ahead of Abdi Abdirahman of New Mexico and Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi."][/caption]

Running has always been a favorite American pass time, but it has been many years since we've excelled in the long distances. The Kenyans, Ethiopians, etc have dominated. Ryan Hall is at the forefront of a resurgence of talent in the US. He placed 3rd in the Boston Marathon last April and 10th in the Olympics in 2008. He's only 26. I'm excited to see what he will do in the coming years. He inspires me to not just run, but also be part of this growing talent here in America. So again, it's a bit frustrating to be sideline. I have to be patient.

Yesterday afternoon I ran another 4.5 miles. It was my third run in a row with pain developing at 4.5 miles. I decided to go out and run again later that night. Stopping to stretch a few times, I made it 5.3 miles. So I put in 9.8 miles yesterday (so much for patience). My leg is a bit sore today, both from the run and the treatment I gave it afterwords. I'll rest and stretch today and see how things go tomorrow.

Broken Arm

No, not my arm. My physical therapist's arm. I think I’d trade his ailment for mine. That way I could run and he could work on me.

I shouldn’t wish my ailment on him though. Coach Michael broke his arm in the NYC triathlon a couple weeks back. He is doing a yearlong fund raising effort for the LLS by competing in one endurance event per month. I have one marathon lined up this year. He has a few left and needs his legs more than I do. I emailed him earlier today wishing him a fast recovery… and inquired about my dilemma as well.

My 5.3 mile run last week went well. My Saturday run did not. It was a fun run that I participated in with the rest of my LLS Team In Training group on Park Avenue as part of the mayor’s Summer Streets program. Park Ave was cleared of traffic for pedestrian use all the way to 72nd Street. But I only made it 7.2 miles before stopping because of the same pain. Still, it’s an improvement so I was ok with it until this morning. Again, I couldn’t make it 2 miles. What am I doing wrong? I hope Coach Michael as time to respond. I’m going to try a few things on my own involving my gluteus maximus and a softball. Sounds painful? Yup, it is. But if I can run again, it will be worth it.

Lessons In Wisconsin

I just spent seven days in Waterloo, Wisconsin with my parents and siblings, visiting my cousin Cs, her husband Cp, and new born baby DJ. Our time spent was great. I could go on about how cute DJ is, but this is a running blog not a baby blog.

Oh who am I kidding, let’s talk about the baby a bit. She is growing super fast. From the day we arrived to the day we left, we could really see a difference. She’s about three months old now and while we were there she discovered that her hands are the most fascinating devices in the world. It was amazing to witness this cognitive development; suddenly she wanted to grab things- blankets, fingers, jewelry, etc… The baby also is on the brink of giggling. She already smiles a lot. And when DJ gets fussy, she doesn’t start crying. I can see her trying to communicate, as if the words are stuck in her belly and she cannot force them out. She burrows her eyebrows, concentrating hard to form words or some kind of coherent sound, but nothing comes out. So close.

[caption id="attachment_40" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="DJ, fascinated with the world"][/caption]

Ok, back to running… I am very fortunate to have a cousin who is a massage therapist that married a man who works for Trek Bicycle and has a Wii.

My cousin Cs knows all about trigger points. We discussed what Coach Michael has already done for me and she took it further. She let me look through a couple of her text books from school that described pain, the cause of pain, and the treatment. “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook”, by Clair Davies. I recommend this book to all athletes… well, actually, everyone should read this regardless. Cs then gave me a session on my right leg and holy moly did she find some trigger points. Intense, liberating pain.

My running mileage was not nearly what is should have been the last few days because of my issues. But Cp helped me out by borrowing a demo bike from the local Trek store in Madison. He was able to size me up and fit me properly as well. The day of my sub-mile frustration run, I took a 2009 Trek Madone 5 series out for a nice 15 mile ride in farmland. Sweet bike. The ride made me feel better about my lame legs; at least I got in a good workout. I think I’m pretty much hooked on cycling. Cp tells me, “I shouldn’t have given you the Porche of bicycles to test. I should have started you with a lower model.” Perhaps he’s right. I cannot drop the $3,900 or so it costs to get one. I’ll definitely have to start with a cheaper bike. Perhaps I can find a good, used “Toyota” somewhere.

[caption id="attachment_51" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lance Armstrong\'s busted bike from 2003 Tour de France"][/caption]

My brother, sister, and cousin also asked that I put together a running program for them. Cs has some running experience. Bro and Sis do not. I created a 28 day program that will get them running three miles comfortably. We went to the local high school track on Sunday and tried it out. It went well. But as any runner knows, consistency is the key. They will have to stick with this to make it work and only they can do that… though I’ll be signing Bro up for a 5k in the autumn as motivation!

So I ran a bit here and there and I had that nice 15 mile ride. I rolled my quads, got some therapy done to my legs, and tried to rest. And I played with the Wii Fitness game. It gives you a serious workout. I am impressed. I did a bit of Wii yoga which helped me be more conscious of my balance and posture. There were some good strengthening exercises, and fun games to play to improve balance. But the real gem was Hula-hoops. Awesome core workout. My abs and hips are still sore (my record is 321 spins, in case you were curious). I think I may buy a hula-hoop for working out.

Tuesday night I went back out on the track to test my legs. The cork surface softens the impact so I thought it would be good to take advantage of it. It was a nice run. I averaged about an 8 minute per mile pace and made it 4 miles without pain. I stopped around 4.5 miles. Yesterday I spent 15 hours traveling back to NY in a Ford Excursion, checking emails, and getting my legs stiff. Then I hopped into another vehicle and drove 3 more hours back to Brooklyn.

Today I will run again, my “easy” 5.3 mile loop in good old Prospect Park.