Monday, September 28, 2009
One Mile
5:36. It appears I haven't gained any speed since the last time I ran the Continental Fifth Avenue One Mile race two years ago. I had hoped to break the five minute mark, but as the summer rolled on, it became obvious that I wouldn't be able to. Still though, I'm happy to see that I am not any slower. And even though my training has suffered, I'm not doing so bad. It just reinforces my though now. I will be taking it easy on my body, letting my IT bands heal. I do not want to hobble for 26.2 miles come November 1st. I'll do less speed work, same strengthening but shorter, and more endurance mileage work. Today I leave for Paris. My colleague TC was nice enough to book me in a hotel close to a park that is good for running. It is also along the Seine. I hope there is a path along it that I can run on. Mileage will be my focus. I have less than 5 weeks left.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Suitcase Of Pain
This past weekend The Warriors (my relay team) packed up and made our way to Franconia Notch, NH to begin our annual 200+ mile run to Hampton Beach, NH. As always, I have a fantastic time. But it didn't come without drama and pain. About two weeks before we were scheduled to depart, I received a text from Sara asking "So hypothetically, what happens if a runner gets injured and can't run?" I immediately called her. It was a brief conversation. She described a bruise on her calf and feared it may be more than just that. I was falsely optimistic. A week later she emailed me upset that she could not run. It was official- she had a fractured tibia.
Twenty minutes later, I received another email from MP discussing the state of his fractured pelvis and sudden and severe flu (no, not swine flu). He was in no shape to run. Our eleven person team was down to eight (Sara's friend Lauren was only planning on coming if Sara came).
[caption id="attachment_92" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Did you bring your suitcase of pain? Van Two did."]
[/caption]
I called our captain, Kim, and broke the news to her. She was upbeat and confident that we could handle whatever challenges came our way. I was suggesting we find replacements but she believed we could handle it with the team we had. And she was right. As it turns out, Sara came along anyways to support us which is amazing. Thus, Lauren did partake and we ran the race with nine. Our team pulled together in a very inspirational way, everyone stepping up to do the extra mileage that needed to be done.
MP met us at registration the night before to have dinner and send us off right. After locking his keys in his car and having a local police break in to retrieve them, he joined us for dinner and a couple beers. It felt good getting everyone back together for another go. I handed out the jackets I designed and ordered (customink.com= good stuff) and we got tons of complements throughout the night and weekend.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kevin and Lauren, with me in the middle. Man, we look cool. "]
[/caption]
Captain Kim had our start time moved up, fearing that since we had lost a couple fast runners to fractures, we would need the extra time. I think some, including me, thought we'd be ok leaving it as it was. But boy, would we have been wrong. And I was at the forefront of our slowdown.
Friday started off well. Van One cycled through their runners as Van Two cheered them on. My turn came up. I took the slap bracelet baton from Sasha and started off quite nicely. I have a tendency to take off too quickly when it comes to races. I guess I just get over excited. It's common among runners. But this time I probably started off a bit slow and that was just fine. My IT band in my right leg has been acting up and it concerned me. Just two days earlier, I could only run 4 miles before feeling pain. This leg was 8.6 miles long- that's my normal tempo run in Prospect park (to the park, two loops, and back home). My best time at this distance yielded a 7:21/mile pace. I was of course hoping to beat this, but my expectations were tempered by the potential of knee pain. Oh, and that pain came... right around 4 miles in.
[caption id="attachment_95" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me, 4 miles into my first leg"]
[/caption]
So what did I do? What do you think I did? I ran through it. And fast. Slowing down doesn't help, it only means I'd be in pain for a longer time. I ran fast and hard and I destroyed my PR. I ran the leg at a 6:47/mile pace. I was very happy. And in retrospect, I feel fortunate to have had such a successful first leg. The next three were fairly disastrous. There was no grace period without pain. After the first few steps, my knee began to ache and did so the rest of my 8.2 mile leg. I powered through it at an 8:01/mile pace and felt disappointed. I could have burned up that road if I were healthy. I had run that leg before and it's such a great leg- rolling hills and night time. Though my knee ached, it was nothing compared to what I did to myself on the third leg of 6.9 miles. That was torture. My van did an amazing job giving me support though, stopping every mile or so, giving me supplies I thought may help (ace bandage did nothing, but I did run with the stick for the last 2.5 miles, stopping to roll out my quad). I completed that leg at a 12:00/mile pace. My last leg was only 2 miles. Pain was the same, but I powered though it. Again, I had imagined tearing up the roads. A two mile leg?!? I wanted to break the sound barrier on that one. I was really hoping to see if I could put in a couple sub 6:00s, but it wasn't meant to be.
[caption id="attachment_100" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="John, Lauren, Sara, and Kevin enjoying spaghetti dished up by girl scouts in Laconia around 2am."]
[/caption]
I wasn't the only Warrior pushing through pain. In my van, Kevin had an issue with a tendon near his shin (I cannot remember which one). It was doing that grinding thing that isn't so good (anyone who has experienced it will know what I mean). He came into the event with this ailment so he wasn't 100 percent, but he ran strong and we were all proud. John discovered he had IT bands this weekend. The hills (specifically downhills) introduced him to the type of pain I've been dealing with. It was his second leg (the Hills of Death night leg) that aggravated the tendon. But man, did he cream these hills regardless with a 7:45/mile pace.
He often found his runs "boring" which I found hilarious because we gave him the toughest combo of legs. It's interesting though, to see the difference between what drives me in a run and what drives him. I can easily get lost in a run (lost in my thoughts) and take in the scene around me. I love night runs when I'm alone. I love hearing the sound of my feet hitting the ground softly (because soft footfalls mean good form to me). John loves the competition. He likes running in a group and challenging himself against others. And in an event like this, sometimes you are all alone on the road. When I handed the baton to Kevin at the end of my first run, I said to him, out of breathe, "I picked off 15! I picked off 15! See how many you can get!" (Ok, so I can be competitive too). He got about a dozen, including Cape Girl (a whole team wore capes as they ran and we had been chasing them for a few legs). John carried on the trend and counted his pick offs. He got 16 on the Hills of Death leg. VERY impressive.
Lauren turned out to be our strongest runner. Not necessarily the fastest, but in my opinion, the strongest. She was healthy and had great form and a great pace for all four of her legs. I really enjoyed having her in our van and experiencing her first RTB with her. Her preliminary concerns were familiar- the hills, pacing, and the night runs. Yeah, it seems everyone gets spooked about the night runs but then ends up loving them. She beat her expectations and I think, had a very positive experience (she emailed the team 4 days later ready to do it again!).
Sara was a real trooper. I'm not sure I could have tagged along without running. So difficult to not participate. Many people think that I am so disciplined. Ha. No. Sure I train a lot and run at odd hours. But mostly I do what I want to do. And luckily, I want to run. I really appreciated Sara being with us and am looking forward to running with her again soon.
For me, this experience was great. Doing an event like this can't just be about the running. It's a stressful endeavor, running 208 miles and sharing such a small space for 32+ hours. You could lose patience, lose your temper, get panicky or claustrophobic. Your worst traits can get magnified in such a scenario... But so can your best traits if you rise to the occasion. Loyalty, thoughtfulness, friendship, support, patience... Really, this is a test of endurance on so many levels. You could be with your best friend or a stranger and the stress can get to you. But the stress didn't get us. It didn't fracture us- it brought us together. I am very grateful for that. I had a vehicle full of great people who left it all on the road and proved their worth in the van.
[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Warriors! Come out to play!"]
[/caption]
Twenty minutes later, I received another email from MP discussing the state of his fractured pelvis and sudden and severe flu (no, not swine flu). He was in no shape to run. Our eleven person team was down to eight (Sara's friend Lauren was only planning on coming if Sara came).
[caption id="attachment_92" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Did you bring your suitcase of pain? Van Two did."]
[/caption]I called our captain, Kim, and broke the news to her. She was upbeat and confident that we could handle whatever challenges came our way. I was suggesting we find replacements but she believed we could handle it with the team we had. And she was right. As it turns out, Sara came along anyways to support us which is amazing. Thus, Lauren did partake and we ran the race with nine. Our team pulled together in a very inspirational way, everyone stepping up to do the extra mileage that needed to be done.
MP met us at registration the night before to have dinner and send us off right. After locking his keys in his car and having a local police break in to retrieve them, he joined us for dinner and a couple beers. It felt good getting everyone back together for another go. I handed out the jackets I designed and ordered (customink.com= good stuff) and we got tons of complements throughout the night and weekend.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kevin and Lauren, with me in the middle. Man, we look cool. "]
[/caption]Captain Kim had our start time moved up, fearing that since we had lost a couple fast runners to fractures, we would need the extra time. I think some, including me, thought we'd be ok leaving it as it was. But boy, would we have been wrong. And I was at the forefront of our slowdown.
Friday started off well. Van One cycled through their runners as Van Two cheered them on. My turn came up. I took the slap bracelet baton from Sasha and started off quite nicely. I have a tendency to take off too quickly when it comes to races. I guess I just get over excited. It's common among runners. But this time I probably started off a bit slow and that was just fine. My IT band in my right leg has been acting up and it concerned me. Just two days earlier, I could only run 4 miles before feeling pain. This leg was 8.6 miles long- that's my normal tempo run in Prospect park (to the park, two loops, and back home). My best time at this distance yielded a 7:21/mile pace. I was of course hoping to beat this, but my expectations were tempered by the potential of knee pain. Oh, and that pain came... right around 4 miles in.
[caption id="attachment_95" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Me, 4 miles into my first leg"]
[/caption]So what did I do? What do you think I did? I ran through it. And fast. Slowing down doesn't help, it only means I'd be in pain for a longer time. I ran fast and hard and I destroyed my PR. I ran the leg at a 6:47/mile pace. I was very happy. And in retrospect, I feel fortunate to have had such a successful first leg. The next three were fairly disastrous. There was no grace period without pain. After the first few steps, my knee began to ache and did so the rest of my 8.2 mile leg. I powered through it at an 8:01/mile pace and felt disappointed. I could have burned up that road if I were healthy. I had run that leg before and it's such a great leg- rolling hills and night time. Though my knee ached, it was nothing compared to what I did to myself on the third leg of 6.9 miles. That was torture. My van did an amazing job giving me support though, stopping every mile or so, giving me supplies I thought may help (ace bandage did nothing, but I did run with the stick for the last 2.5 miles, stopping to roll out my quad). I completed that leg at a 12:00/mile pace. My last leg was only 2 miles. Pain was the same, but I powered though it. Again, I had imagined tearing up the roads. A two mile leg?!? I wanted to break the sound barrier on that one. I was really hoping to see if I could put in a couple sub 6:00s, but it wasn't meant to be.
[caption id="attachment_100" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="John, Lauren, Sara, and Kevin enjoying spaghetti dished up by girl scouts in Laconia around 2am."]
[/caption]I wasn't the only Warrior pushing through pain. In my van, Kevin had an issue with a tendon near his shin (I cannot remember which one). It was doing that grinding thing that isn't so good (anyone who has experienced it will know what I mean). He came into the event with this ailment so he wasn't 100 percent, but he ran strong and we were all proud. John discovered he had IT bands this weekend. The hills (specifically downhills) introduced him to the type of pain I've been dealing with. It was his second leg (the Hills of Death night leg) that aggravated the tendon. But man, did he cream these hills regardless with a 7:45/mile pace.
He often found his runs "boring" which I found hilarious because we gave him the toughest combo of legs. It's interesting though, to see the difference between what drives me in a run and what drives him. I can easily get lost in a run (lost in my thoughts) and take in the scene around me. I love night runs when I'm alone. I love hearing the sound of my feet hitting the ground softly (because soft footfalls mean good form to me). John loves the competition. He likes running in a group and challenging himself against others. And in an event like this, sometimes you are all alone on the road. When I handed the baton to Kevin at the end of my first run, I said to him, out of breathe, "I picked off 15! I picked off 15! See how many you can get!" (Ok, so I can be competitive too). He got about a dozen, including Cape Girl (a whole team wore capes as they ran and we had been chasing them for a few legs). John carried on the trend and counted his pick offs. He got 16 on the Hills of Death leg. VERY impressive.
Lauren turned out to be our strongest runner. Not necessarily the fastest, but in my opinion, the strongest. She was healthy and had great form and a great pace for all four of her legs. I really enjoyed having her in our van and experiencing her first RTB with her. Her preliminary concerns were familiar- the hills, pacing, and the night runs. Yeah, it seems everyone gets spooked about the night runs but then ends up loving them. She beat her expectations and I think, had a very positive experience (she emailed the team 4 days later ready to do it again!).
Sara was a real trooper. I'm not sure I could have tagged along without running. So difficult to not participate. Many people think that I am so disciplined. Ha. No. Sure I train a lot and run at odd hours. But mostly I do what I want to do. And luckily, I want to run. I really appreciated Sara being with us and am looking forward to running with her again soon.
For me, this experience was great. Doing an event like this can't just be about the running. It's a stressful endeavor, running 208 miles and sharing such a small space for 32+ hours. You could lose patience, lose your temper, get panicky or claustrophobic. Your worst traits can get magnified in such a scenario... But so can your best traits if you rise to the occasion. Loyalty, thoughtfulness, friendship, support, patience... Really, this is a test of endurance on so many levels. You could be with your best friend or a stranger and the stress can get to you. But the stress didn't get us. It didn't fracture us- it brought us together. I am very grateful for that. I had a vehicle full of great people who left it all on the road and proved their worth in the van.
[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Warriors! Come out to play!"]
[/caption]
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
20:13
I ran a 5k *test* with my Team In Training group last Tuesday to measure my progress over the summer. The good new is that I improved substantially even though I was out of commission for nearly two months. I shaved over a minute off my time (including running into a little girl- she's ok). The bad news is I'm not yet fast enough to be comfortable with my pace. But, really, that's not that bad. And I'm happy to have seen improvement. I clocked in a 6:32/mile pace compared to my previous best of 6:47/mile. If this were the Troy Turkey Trot I ran last year, I would have placed 4th in my age group right behind my running pal, MP (of Consistency Intensity Rest (repeat) fame). We had planned on taking 1st and 2nd this year, but our individual injuries have hampered that. So we're aiming for 2010 now.
Reach The Beach is ten days away. This is the annual 200+ mile relay race I run with 10 other crazy runners(including MP). It takes us about 30 hours total, I get little to no sleep, and will run 4 legs for a total of 24 miles this year. It is a blast. Can you imagine being in a van with 5 others for 30 hours straight? We are insane, and that really is what makes it fun. Our chemistry and this common bond we have of submitting ourselves to the torture of running these miles and taxing our bodies, testing our limits. I love it. This will be a nice test for me (since the NY Half could not be).
My IT band in my *good* leg started acting up last week. Yesterday I couldn't run more than 2 miles... sound familiar? Well, I treated it last night, did some low impact strengthening instead, and expect to be ok today for a 7-10 mile tempo interval workout. I should be excited about this, but I'm pretty tired right now. I was up late last night working. Ah, but once I'm on the road I'll feel better.
Reach The Beach is ten days away. This is the annual 200+ mile relay race I run with 10 other crazy runners(including MP). It takes us about 30 hours total, I get little to no sleep, and will run 4 legs for a total of 24 miles this year. It is a blast. Can you imagine being in a van with 5 others for 30 hours straight? We are insane, and that really is what makes it fun. Our chemistry and this common bond we have of submitting ourselves to the torture of running these miles and taxing our bodies, testing our limits. I love it. This will be a nice test for me (since the NY Half could not be).
My IT band in my *good* leg started acting up last week. Yesterday I couldn't run more than 2 miles... sound familiar? Well, I treated it last night, did some low impact strengthening instead, and expect to be ok today for a 7-10 mile tempo interval workout. I should be excited about this, but I'm pretty tired right now. I was up late last night working. Ah, but once I'm on the road I'll feel better.
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