Dreamland

I’m back from vacation! Wait..that didn’t come out right. Let me try that again. 

I’m back…..from….(hangs head dejectedly) vacation. Oh hell. 

There, that’s more fitting. Actually, all isn’t that bad. I know I have a couple stories to post from the past week for this blog, but this time I want to post about something that came to me towards the end of the ride home today. 

This past week really was great on so many levels. I got in some great rest, some great runs, made the most of every joyous second with my son (who is just stunningly amazing), and had enough downtime to really think some things through. Coming home from the trip today I realized I had a renewed sense of focus in relation to both my interests in and out of running, which is a motivation I haven’t had in awhile. When I was laid off last winter I found myself desperately pulled in so many different directions, whether that was seeing if I could develop my graphic design skills to a freelance endeavor, or just stepping it up in my running due to all the free time that uninvitingly popped up. Suddenly I found myself somewhat overwhelmed with effort and failure, and I dropped a handful of activities while just trying to stabilize my mental state. I couldn’t trust any of my motivations at the time and felt it best to scale back on everything I didn’t have utmost confidence in. Running, was the one thing I held on to, and it really helped me from going off the deep end. 

So anyways, this week I decided to slowly involve myself back into some of the interests I pushed aside last winter and during today’s drive I found myself quite excited about getting to work on a few projects, or at least setting aside time to continue my old habits. I then found myself wondering why all this has popped up again, which I knew was somehow connected to the vacation, but I wasn’t exactly sure how. Then I realized just how much thinking time I had this past week. There were those precious hours on the beach where we could just sit there (or chase Noah around) that I had nothing to do but think. There were those same thinking hours back at the house while Noah napped. There were more than I ever wanted of those hours while driving through the night out to and up the east coast. I basically had a lot of dreaming time, which I realize I’ve been deprived of a lot lately. Before August (my son) came around, I spent so much time just reading, sitting and contemplating, at coffee shops and wherever, but since August (S.A.?) it really feels like I’ve been going non-stop in one way or another. This week made me realize just how important dream time is to one’s activities in life.

I realized just how important dream time was to my political perspectives and the active push for my own personal utopia. I realized just how important it was to really acting on some of the ideas that came to me years back (which most failed or never started, but that’s not the point). I also realized just how important it has been to my running and where I’ve been taking this. 

Interestingly enough, I haven’t felt like I’ve deprived myself of dream time in relation to running and for a very obvious reason….I have plenty of dream time WHILE running, and considering how much mental effort it takes to actually perform the act of running fast, it only follows that my dream time will be focused on running alone. Sure, my mind wanders to other things from time to time, but I’m most often focused on how I can progress my performances and what other opportunities might open through all of this. That sort of mental time really shows in how much effort and relative success I’ve had with running. Although it comes down to putting one foot in front of the other (rather quickly), it starts with a good chunk of mental space….and a very important chunk of mental space. 

And of course it follows, a lack of that mental focus results in a lack of action. It’s not always easy to find that time to dream when our lives are filled with either so many necessities or distractions. Most of us are not fortunate enough to run for a living, wherein our entire day is set aside for time to dream about running (while actually running). The rest of us work 8 hours a day, have kids, have financial stresses, have blogs (!)/facebook/myspace/texting/twittering, and so much more. Very quickly our time, both physical and mental, is consumed by “getting by” or “getting distracted”. 

The goal then, is to find the space in our days for space in our heads, whether that is for new utopias or new PR’s. Success in that endeavor is always an increased quality of life, without a doubt. Speaking of, I need to get off this computer and get back to that space in my head before all this potential gets sucked away by the old daily routine. Fear not though…the posts will continue. 

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Log

Today….driving. 
This past week….on and off. Some discouraging, some amazing.

Diet

It was vacation made up of lots of road trips. Don’t ask.

More Fire!

I’m finishing up packing duties for our vacation so I can’t devote a lot of time to this, but I want to give a little rundown of today’s workout. 

My weekly workout schedule has now developed a pretty consistent pattern, where Saturday is the long run (20 miles), Sunday and Monday are easier recovery days of varying mid-distances (12 – 14?), then Tuesday is the night you hear the most about – speedwork with the group. We always do some sort of awesomely brutal workout at painfully fast paces, a lot faster than I would ever be able to do by myself. Wednesday is another easy recovery from Tuesday and a gearing up for Thursday. Thursday is another rough workout of some sort or another, whether that is hills or speed. Then Friday is another recovery to get ready for Saturday. Visually, this is an up and down of strenuous speed to distance recovery. As we get further into the months, which will probably come sooner than I think, the recovery runs won’t change much, but the strenuous workouts will get, well, more strenuous. I guess that is what the whole “build up” in the blog header is all about, slowly building up the intensity so as to handle the highest workload just a couple weeks before Chicago. 

By the way, I like that the Chicago Marathon is so large and substantial that it only needs to be referred to by its first name. Say, “I’m doing Chicago” and other runners know exactly what you’re talking about. No further explanation necessary. Anyways…

I would rather have ran today’s workout with the group, or even with one other person, but hey, you do what you gotta do. Specifically, it was a 3 mile warmup, followed by 5 x 1 minute hard then 1 minute easy, then 3 miles at approximately 85%, followed by ANOTHER 5 x 1 minute hard then 1 minute easy, and ending with another 3 mile cool down. 

For whatever reason I enjoy doing the broken up intervals, probably due to the rest time in between, but that’s deceptive since the last handful of hard 1 minutes are usually pretty brutal – today being no exception.

I casually jogged the first 3 miles at a pace that I find embarassing to be seen running, but is necessary to avoid injury and not fatigue myself before the good stuff starts. Then I started the first group of 5 x 1 minutes. It felt good to just lay it on at that pace and not worry about blowing up, and that first group went by without incident.

Then I started the 3 miles at 85%. Initially it took me a bit to transition from the pace of the intervals into the 85% (whatever that is), but my body started to adjust for me. It was fun blasting out the 3 miles even as I started to fatigue, as I was running on a rail trail with a few street crossings, so a couple times I was pulling some moves that reignited the adrenaline I used to feed off of while doing bike messenger work. That broke up the monotony of going all out and added a little challenge to the mix. At 1 1/2 miles, where there should have been my third 800 marker and turnaround point..there wasn’t. So I think I ran a bit farther than 3 miles on this. Regardless, I turned around and started pushing the run the other way, into the wind and on a little incline that is noticed in the legs and lungs if not the eyes. I went through the first mile of this run at 5:18 and reset my watch for the last mile, which brought me in at 5:30. I’m guessing with the incline and decline I probably averaged around 5:20 – 5:25 for each mile. 

Then it was time for the last 5 x 1 minutes. These, I knew, were going to hurt. That 3 miles really takes it out of you and it’s difficult to keep your heart rate down after that sort of sustained effort. I started the first of the intervals and made it through those two with effort, but no breakdown. The third interval I felt myself falling apart and worked to focus on the parts I noticed faltering the most, but it was difficult to sustain one part when another was failing. If it wasn’t my core, it was my posture. If it wasn’t my posture, it was my leg speed. If it wasn’t my leg speed, it was my leg strength. If it wasn’t my leg strength, it was my arm movement. I was sort of a mess. I tried my best to stay calm on the 4th one, but yeah, same story. 

Then potential disaster. When I went to stop my watch I hit some function that threw it all out of wack. As I slowed down and tried to fix whatever I did, I managed to step on a walnut and roll my ankle enough to force me to walk. Memories of the trail race I did last spring that REALLY tweaked my ankle ate at my conscious and told me to skip the last one. I walked on it a bit, rolled it around and jogged for the recovery to see how it felt. Screw it, I decided, I’m doing the 5th on anyways.

I started gently at first, but quickly picked up speed as I gained confidence. I’m sure whatever form I had wasn’t pretty, but I managed to knock out that last one and finish the workout. The ankle was decent and I jogged the last 3 miles home, absolutely soaking in sweat, but satisfied with the effort sustained even by myself.

Like I said, I’d rather have done that with a group. Or at 6pm instead of 4pm when it’s super hot. But you gotta do what you gotta do. The fun thing is, although this workout was a minor step up from the last time we did 8 x 1 minutes, this is still just getting ready for the good stuff. We haven’t even put “quality” into our long runs. That’s when it’s gonna get real good.

Finally, tomorrow I leave to see my son in North Carolina, then head up to New Jersey to see my family. Posting for the next week will be sporadic at best. I’m sure I’ll put something up regarding running in Jersey, on the beach hopefully. Until then, take care. Run fast. 

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Log 

3 mile warmup
5 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy
3 miles at 85% (5:18 – 5:30)
5 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy
3 mile cool down

Diet

Breakfast – 2 pieces toast w/ margarine and peanut butter, coffee
Lunch – Peanut butter sandwich, Sloppy Joe
Dinner – Veggie burger, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes
Snacks – Organic oatmeal packets, water, coffee, chocolate bites, soymilk

Massage / Massacre

I spent most of the day at work painting bathrooms, which apparently isn’t conducive to coming up with a good blog post. I apologize. 

So let me waste your time telling you about a couple massages I got recently. Remember where I was whining about that shoulder injury I sustained, the one that kept me from running for 4 days? Well, I decided to actually shed my insecurities about having people I know touch me about my person and see if some massage couldn’t fix that issue, assuming it was a muscular tension problem. 

The first massage was by my gf’s sister and was what I usually expect a massage to feel like. It was theraputic, relaxing, and did a good job at alleviating the tension that was in my neck area. The very next day I was good to run, even if I did feel the shoulder pain, though only very slightly. 

Then a friend of ours, also a trained massage therapist, came over to do some more work on me after my 10 mile run today. This massage was, well….different. Michelle had gotten a massage from this individual earlier last week and raved about how good she felt…after she got over how PAINFUL it was. I think she was even bruised in one area.

So, I figured my massage might be relatively painful as well…but damn…I didn’t know I would be feeling pain like this, like eyes almost tearing up pain, like tattoo pain but without the lasting souvenir. This was a pain like running mile intervals. Like the predator run yesterday, knowing it’s really good for you, but just dying to see the finish. 

Ultimately, I made it out alive and my shoulder region feels much less tense and with a greater range of movement. More importantly, while working on my shoulder at a certain angle she realized it was actually swollen in one of the areas I said was giving me problems. She gave me the equivalent of a doctor’s note to take it easy at work (Don’t twist my arm!…actually go ahead!) and then mumbled some incomprehensible gibberish about taking it easy with running as well. Yeah, I didn’t hear that either. Taking it easy at work though…loud and clear! Fortunately, my vacation is coming up at the end of this week and should offer me greater healing time while still being able to put in serious training.

She finished the massage session working on my lower legs and I tried to get her to tell me that working on my legs would make me run 30 seconds faster per mile, but she couldn’t verify that claim. Damn. 

Unfortunately, I’m in no position to pay for any massage services, but if I came across some money I’d sure like to get consistent massage work done, and maybe some yoga sessions, and a chiropractor, and…. but yeah, I’m dreaming. Or maybe I could work some sponsorship trades! 

Sorry to waste your time with that one….I’ll see what pops into my head tomorrow. Big workout tomorrow that’s for sure… 3 mile warmup / 5 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, / 3 miles at 85% (5:15 pace?) / 5 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy / 3 mile cool down

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Log

10 mile very easy recovery run

Diet – today was weird…LOTS of oatmeal

Breakfast – English muffins w/ peanut butter and margarine, coffee
Lunch – peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat, brocolli, Instant organic oatmeal packet
Post-lunch snack – 2 or 3 more Instant organic oatmeal packets
Dinner – Pasta with veggies, oil and spices
Snacks – coffee, water, more oatmeal (w/ peanut butter, almonds, brown sugar), soymilk, water, chocolate bites

And on and on

Progression in running is all about consistency. That is what I always tell a curious beginner who wants to know how to run faster, or make it hurt less, or enjoy it more. Consistency isn’t necessarily a catch all answer for those problems, but it’s certainly one of the best places to start. Consistency doesn’t mean running every week, or every other day…it means running almost every day, and the necessary days off being perceived as a complementary element to actually running. It’s a physical action and a frame of mind. I don’t mean to convey it as a struggle or push anyone towards a burn out mentality, but even if you just run for recreation or health or “just cause”, doing it consistently ultimately reaps the greatest rewards.

Easier said than done however.

When I was heavily into riding bikes people always asked me how I rode so much, but my riding wasn’t about making a concerted effort, it was simply a part of my daily routines. I rode to work, to get groceries, to hang out, etc. It wasn’t necessarily something I DID, like going to the gym (or running), it was just part of my life. Running, on the other hand, doesn’t really work that way. If I ran to work I’d be a sweaty mess. If I ran to get groceries, I’d get shin splints from the extra weight. If I ran to hang out….I probably wouldnt’ be much fun when I got there. So it’s a little different, but it’s still helpful to look at a strenuous activity such as running as an integrated part of your daily life. Maybe it’s just something you do right after work to relieve stress. Maybe it’s something you do every morning to wake up. Ultimately, it’s beneficial to establish it in the same way some of us do with caffiene. It is a necessity. Without it, we don’t function how we would like to. We are sluggish (well, that goes both ways), we are ornery, we are generally not that motivated. Running becomes an activity that if we don’t do, we sort of stumble through the day. This is how we develop the necessary consistency to improve our running. Sure, by sheer determination and force of will, one can drive themselves to run even when it gets in the way of so many other things they do, but it’s probably not very fun, and conversely, if running IS one of those things you do, it can only be pleasurable. 

Still, the world is against us. The structure of wage labor demands passive worker bees, consuming most of their day toiling for others, then inserting themselves into the highly aggravating mass of humanity that is the long slow commute home. By the time all that is over, the chair in front of the dumb box (or computer) looks mighty nice. It can be just as much a mental effort of a 10 mile run to actually get out the door to do it. Believe me, I understand.

On the run today, one of the guys was talking about how some people proudly exclaim to him that they workout 3 times a week, for about 30 minutes. Granted, comparatively this IS a good amount of activity when most people are consumed by their daily lives (some healthy, some not) and get not much of any activity. However, seeing as how the other 23 1/2 hours of the day can be spent in relative passivity, I’m not necessarily convinced the benefits are all that substantial. Quality of life is highly dependent upon the use of our physical bodies…this should be very “duh”. This should also be strived for in some way every day.

On a personal note in relation to this subject, this Friday I’ll be leaving to drive to North Carolina to see my son. The consistency of my running will be put in jeopardy without even a twinge of regret on my part, but this is partly due to my active lifestyle and knowing that my days with him won’t be in front of a TV. We’ll probably be hiking, swimming, and doing all sorts of other things….outdoors things for sure. Still, I don’t plan on abandoning my running for 4 days. Sure, I might start my runs at 8 at night, but I’ll do what it takes to get them in. I’m too close to the “official” marathon training schedule to slide backwards in my weekly mileage (did enough of that this week already).

Consistency is the key, for beginners and for elites. How you choose to develop your consistency might make all the difference in how you progress. Good luck.

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Log

13 – 14 miles total – 3 mile warmup / 6 mile “Predator” run – Starting at 5:40 a mile, knocking 5 to 10 seconds off each consecutive mile / 4 or 5 mile cooldown

Diet (weird day)

Breakfast – Oatmeal (w/ peanut butter, brown sugar, almonds), coffee
Lunch – Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Post lunch – Bowl of Fruit Rings (organic, non-sugary version of fruit loops – hey, i had a craving) w/ soymilk, a bit of bean soup w/ tofu and sour cream
Dinner – Bean soup w/ tofu and tofutti sour cream
Snacks – water, coffee, banana, apple, vegan brownie

Not dead yet

Holy. Crap. 

I know I made mention of the importance of recovery in previous posts, but until today I had no idea what it felt like to recover COMPLETELY. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been absolutely dead at work. Where I once zipped around the halls getting all sorts of work done, bounding up and down the stairs without fatigue, lately I’ve been dragging my ass around listlessly, barely able to conjure the mental strength to do much of anything. I almost wondered if I was depressed.

Then this shoulder issue hit me, which although I still think is connected to some of my emotional stress, certainly showed itself in a series of knotted muscles in my back. Fortunately, my gf’s sister has studied massage therapy and gave me a complete upper body massage last night, giving a little more attention to my neck and shoulder area. I wasn’t cured instantly, but by this morning I was A-OK. I still felt the pain, but only very slightly, and I was able to actually do work today.

I went in at 7:00, started a project I’ve been working on, and all of a sudden it was 9:30, then 10:30, then 1:00. Like magic, I was busting out projects left and right, bounding all around the building, working non-stop without even a moment of fatigue, physical or mental. It was like my batteries were plugged in and charged for four days. 

Then I get home, throw on my shoes and shorts and head out the door for a “break-in” 10 miles. I try to stay conservative, but it felt so good to move again that I slowly picked up the pace. Then I’m saying to myself, “Dude, you’re going to fast, slow down. This is gonna hurt. It feels good now, but later you are gonna hurt. Seriously, slow down.” But it felt too good. And I didn’t. 

Now I’m tired and my muscles are tight. I knew this was going to happen. S’okay though, it’s not bad really and I should still be golden for the Tuesday night workout tomorrow. Then Wednesday I have another friend coming over to give another massage…just to make sure. I gotta hook up a sponsorship with a local massage therapist, cause that stuff is nice! 

So yeah, this recovery stuff. I’m not saying that during marathon training you should take 4 days off at a time (absolutely not!), but recovery should be taken with more seriousness than one would think, even a day completely off can’t hurt. I learned this the hard way. Still, it feels better to be back at it again.

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Political vegan theme following: 

This video is interesting. Although I do take exception to the use of the word “Pussy” and still believe that a worldview that doesn’t encompass a manner of total liberation is destined for failure, I can’t help but find this as a fascinating angle on a tired perspective, from a sociological standing anyway. Those in or once in the hardcore music scene will be doubly fascinated.

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Log

10 miles – 1:02 and change. Felt so good to be out…now I’m a bit sore.

Diet

Breakfast – Oatmeal w/ peanut butter, almonds, brown sugar – coffee
Lunch – Vegan “chicken” pattie w/ ketchup and mustard, brocolli, baked beans
Dinner – Bean soup w/ tofu and tofutti sour cream, croissant rolls w/ margarine
Snacks – coffee, water, Emergen-C drink, tea, banana

The mind says to the body

My log on yesterday’s post made mention of a nerve pain in my shoulder that I think I suffered while working construction for a handful of months, but I’m starting to reassess exactly where this pain is originating from.

I’m not a mystic. I don’t believe in the power of prayer. I’m reluctant to reference “spirituality” or anything that isn’t grounded in the physical world, but I will admit that running has really brought home the power of the mind in relation to the physical body. Most runners can tell you about the ability of the mind to influence a body that was once entirely unwilling to submit. I’m still entirely dumbfounded at the struggles I encounter during training to run at specific times, then the ease at which I not only run those times in a race context, but also surpass them by leaps and bounds. It just doesn’t seem possible, until the mind gets set to take over in the right setting. 

Right now I have a pain in my shoulder that very much feels like someone is stabbing a sharp needle into one point or another. It feels like a severely pinched nerve. This “injury” has shown its ugly face a few times in the past, of varying degrees of pain – sometimes debilitating, sometimes not – and ultimately went away after a handful of days. Sometimes though, the pain was so difficult that sleeping or sitting was nearly impossible. It’s THAT bad. When it flares up to this degree, running is certainly out of the picture. When it pops up like this, simply breathing deep, yawning, coughing, sneezing, going to the bathroom, laughing, etc. becomes very painful, forcing me to speak in broken sentences and subdue my excitement. The worst part is I actually don’t know what is causing this.

As I alluded to in my last post, I assumed it was caused by the stresses and strains suffered while working construction, wherein I was doing a lot of heavy lifting, pulling, etc. from day one, without any sort of easing into the process. I just assumed all that upper body work had damaged a nerve/cartilage/bone or two in my shoulders and I was left to simply deal with these flare ups, or else get some sort of surgery, which is entirely out of the question due to my complete lack of finances. These pains, however, are not going to be compatible with my marathon training. Granted, I can get by with missing a few days of running (though I absolutely hate it) while the pains subside and not feel like I’ve ruined my fitness to any noticeable degree…but I’d rather not.

My girlfriend has a much better comprehension of my pain than I do. Not really understanding what was going on, I just blamed the pains on a past strenuous experience. As much as I didn’t want to blame them on running, I couldn’t help but have that in the back of my head. Now, I don’t think running is causing these pains, but it’s probably aggravating them. Michelle on the other hand, has noticed a pattern with these pains. Thinking about the times my flare-ups have shown themselves, she started to realize that they occurred every time I was having difficulty communicating with my son’s mother….a very stressful situation for me. In her assessment, she thinks my pains are caused by stress. Specifically, the stress manifesting itself in the muscles around my upper back and neck, which in turn cause these sharp pains in my shoulder. Following that pattern, I’m currently in a frustrating situation with my son’s mother as I am planning a visit to see him in just about a week..and then these pains.

Like I said, I’m not really a believer in magical thinking. I think most everything has a physical explanation, but this theory of hers makes sense. Although potentially aggravated by my running, these pains may very well be the accumulation of stress, my muscles acting out either as a warning sign to my emotional state, or absorbing the frustrations of my emotional state – the equivalent of grinding ones teeth. Instead of grinding my teeth, maybe I tense up my shoulders, or tense up my back. More new-agey types believe we store stress in our backs, and although I don’t believe there is some sort of mystical negative energy force swirling around my shoulders, I do accept that my mind and emotions are affecting my physical body, either trying to release the discontent or absorbing them in a less destructive way.

Whatever the reason, it hurts. And I want it to stop. And I want to get back to running.

I missed running yesterday. I missed running today. And there is a good chance I’ll miss the long run tomorrow, unless I somehow shake this tension. Today I payed attention to the area around the pains in my shoulder and I was quite stunned how incredibly tight my shoulder and back muscles are, specifically on the right side where all this hurt is accumulating. It was both frightening and encouraging to know that maybe this isn’t permanent. Maybe this is simply an act of overcoming my mental state.

I hope I’m not reaching too far in the mystical realm of desperation, but at the least, I’m currently seeking massage therapy to see if there is anything to this theory. We’ll see how professional touch alleviates potential emotional and physical stress. 

We humans often speak of the mind and body as separate entities, but I’m a firm believer that there is either a fundamental cooperation between the two or even simply one physical entity that has deluded us into seeing it as two. It is important to keep in mind our emotional health with the same attention that we give to our physical health…lest one starts to deteriorate the other. 

The distance running body has limits to the physical stress it can endure before breaking down, and the distance running mind adheres to the same sort of parameters. It is good advice to keep both in check.

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Log

See above

Diet

Breakfast – Oatmeal (w/ peanut butter, almonds, brown sugar), coffee
Lunch – Peanut butter and jelly, banana, cous cous w/ tofu and veggies, water
Dinner – TOO MUCH. 4th of july party w/ veggie burgers, fruit, quinoa and corn, chips and salsa, etc.
Snacks – Pasta w/ nutritional yeast and sauce, coffee

The crystal ball

First off, I was interviewed about running, diet, and blogging by Organic Athlete. They have posted the interview today…so check it out if you are interested.

http://www.organicathlete.org

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As a counter-balance to yesterday’s seemingly pessimistic post, I’ve also been thinking a lot about the boundaries of potential regarding my future in running.

There have been countless individuals with natural talent who have started running, and excelled. There have also been countless runners with natural talent who have quit for one reason or another. I think, to simplify the point, there are only a handful of reasons people quit running, burn-out being at the top of that list, followed by the scheduling constraints of daily life (job, family, etc.), and maybe injury or something a touch weirder below that. This realization, oddly enough, is very encouraging to me. 

I started running two years ago with not a single thought towards the future aside from keeping busy while my son discovered the world. I remember stepping further back from the start line than I already was at my first race, thinking to myself, “Holy crap, I’m gonna get smoked!” I had no competitive ambitions. But race after race I found myself at the front, or with the pack, or leading my age group, and everything kinda snowballed from there. My times dropped. I started training more diligently. I won gift certificates. I made friends in running culture. And so on.

Still, it took me awhile to accept that I was a “good” runner. I envied (and still do) the other guys in the race that consistently run sub 5:00 minute miles. Knowing how far off I was from a talent like that, I didn’t much think about how far I could go with this running thing. I just wanted to have fun and test my limits….I just didn’t know how far my limits might take me. 

Granted, I don’t mean to imply I’m on the threshold of running stardom, not even close…but this is about the future. 

I’m only 32, coming up on 33 in a month, and although this is the time some people have a mid-life crisis or start to really freak out about not living the American Dream, or even expect their running careers to end (as some elites do), I still feel like I’m just getting started. Maybe it’s not having a college running experience. Maybe it was the 13 year hiatus after high school. Still, I don’t yet feel like I’ve gone all out. Yes, this marathon training is noticeably more intense than what I’ve done up until now, but hell, we haven’t even gotten into that heavily yet. Technically, we’ve barely started. 

So this leads me to consider how far I can actually take this. 

Two years isn’t really THAT long in terms of training and it’s worthwhile to note that I’ve been doing this on my own, with no coach except my intuition and the bits of advice I’ve managed to retain from running magazines. I’ve only been stepping things up incrementally, adding a hill workout here, a speed workout here, an extra mile or two there, but nothing extremely dedicated, until this marathon of course. So, forgive my excitement about what is to come.

I’m humble enough to admit that I was quite thrilled, even if I didn’t show it, to find out one of the guys I run with on Tuesdays qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials for this past olympics. For one, it’s encouraging to know that I’m able to keep enough speed to actually hang on in the workouts with runners of this caliber, but further, his qualifying has given me a dose of perspective that inspired this post.

Now, I’m not saying I’ll qualify for the Olympic Trials in the coming years, especially since those buggers dropped the qualifying time from sub 2:22 to sub 2:18, but I am saying I don’t plan on knocking out a couple “successful” marathons and then calling it quits. Running is about progression. Progressing until something unavoidable gets in the way, whether that is the physical deterioration that comes with age (except the world record holder is 38 and going strong), or injury, or the constraints of daily life. 

I only see myself working to get faster and faster, whatever that takes short of doping, so hey, why not? Why not keep the olympic qualifiers as a future benchmark, not anything concrete, but not pushed so far to the back of the mind that it becomes a self-depricating joke?

Thinking about this on the run the other day, another thought came to mind. Let’s say things go better than expected in the coming years and I actually do make the qualifiers…would that mean I would be the first vegan to run the qualifiers? Now, there isn’t much of a record of vegan athletes…and I’d be thrilled to know a vegan has run the qualifiers already (clue me in anybody), but if no one has, why not try to be the first? If that was the only lasting accomplishment of my life, I could think of worse ways to spend my existence.

So who knows, besides time, what may come. All I know is that this still feels like the beginning and I’m not satisfied yet. For now though, I’ve got a lot of work to do.

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Log

Took the day off. It’s a long story, but I’ve developed some debilitating pains in my shoulder (nerves?) that I think are related to past construction work, or maybe current emotional stress, and they flare up from time to time. They get so bad that running becomes impossible…let alone breathing deep, yawning, coughing, sneezing, etc. It’s awesome. So tonight, I’m just looking to get a massage from Michelle and hopefully work this sucker out. Certainly didn’t want to miss my tough workout today, but somethings are unavoidable.

Diet

Breakfast – Oatmeal (w/ peanut butter, almonds, turbinado), coffee
Lunch – Sloppy Joe TVP, corn and brocolli, Peanut butter and jelly
Dinner – cous cous, tofu, veggies
Snacks – water, coffee, banana, tea, wheat puffs cereal, some crappy health cracker 🙂

Once I was the King of Spain

Um, I feel like I need to clarify something about my running. 

Some comments have been made to me regarding my running performance that leads me to believe that I’ve either over-exaggerated my capability, mis-represented what it means to be competitive, and/or have not done a good job explaining running culture to the “layperson”. 

The comments made to me were stated, I believe, in a supportively joking manner, or at least that is how I took them. The comments referenced me taking a podium spot at the Chicago Marathon or becoming a famous runner about to win Chicago, and other statements of a similar matter. At first, I simply took them as humorous, supportive comments, but then I got to thinking and started to freak out. 

“Wait a minute. What if other non-runners don’t understand just how good one has to be in order to win a major marathon, or even place in the top 50? What if I have been inadvertently exaggerating my running capabilities and people have been misled as to what I expect to do in this race? What if I come back from the race beeming that I finished in the top 100 and people are all like, ‘what? top 100? what the hell…we thought you were supposed to win? man, you’re full of yourself…you big jerk.” 

So we come to this post. 

If for some reason I have talked up my training and expectations for Chicago to the point that you thought/think I’m going to put out a world-class performance….I apologize. I’m not. I just hope I finish the race without breaking down so much that I drag my ass across the finish line without going into “survival mode”. That would be awesome. To be even more specific, there is NO WAY I’ll even come close to contending for any sort of placement at Chicago. Not podium, not age group, not even out of Indiana runners. I mean, this is CHICAGO. This is considered one of the “World Series” of marathons, along side New York, Boston, and London. And being a world-class marathon, there will also be world-class marathoners in the field, who actually are in a true elite class, who even get sent out 30 seconds or so ahead of the rest of us so that we don’t defile their air with our lowly REGULAR runner breathing. 

So again, I apologize If I’ve led you astray. Granted, I’m not going to just trot this sucker out, and I’m still shooting for anything between 2:25 and 2:30, but let’s take a look at what that means in the manner of placing. Last year, a local runner ran 2:27 and came in 24th, which sounds pretty amazing, until you take into consideration that this was an Olympic year, therefore a lot of people were not running this particular marathon. I mean, it was a great debut marathon race on his part, but the placing for that sort of time is not typical in a race of this caliber. Two years ago, that time would have placed him at about 11th place, which again is deceiving, because this is the year it was so hot that they cancelled the race a few hours after they started it, which explains the slower times with higher placing. So let’s go back three years to 2006 where that time would have placed him at about 95th. Now we’re talking. That’s more typical of a time like that in a race like this. That’s what I can expect this year…and I’m fine with that. I’m going for goal time, not placement, but I just want to make clear to everyone that doesn’t understand exactly what a time like that means in a race like Chicago.

To clarify my point about performance and caliber, this was a story told by one of the Tuesday night runners. Showman extraordinaire, Jon Little, amused us with a story about his 2006 Chicago race where he came in just under the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiying time, somewhere around 2:21 and change. Not content to bask in the glory himself, he had to use this as an excuse to woo some women….who wisely didn’t believe him. Desperate to prove his manhood, he and a friend took this ladies to an elite runner after party to convince them of their abilities, especially after qualiying for the olympic trials. So they walk to the doorman, ask to get in, and the doorman says this party is only for elite runners and they will have to take their jogging asses elsewhere. Mildly infuriated at his manly ego being crushed like a bug in front of some potential night time companions, Little starts pointing to members in the crowd just past the door, “What?! I beat THAT guy. I beat THAT guy, and THAT guy, and THAT guy.” He was firmly told that regardless, he didn’t have the proper credentials. Despite qualifying for the trials.

Runners, we get no respect…not even when we beat the elites. And I don’t even beat the elites. 

So yes, I’ve finally come to the point where I can confidently say I am a “good” runner, or a “fast” runner, even knowing there are those much better and much faster than me. However, these terms are only qualified on a local level and maybe a state level…dare I say midwest level? I don’t know really. Regardless, in the big scheme of things, I’m an absolute nobody, despite where my abilities place me in specific races. Running is just like any other sport. There are a select few spots in the upper ranks for those hard-working, yet pampered runners, and the rest of us are big dreamers busting our asses for small-town celebrity status. And there is no shame in that. Sure, sometimes we’ll put it on the line at bigger races, but we know we’ll come crawling back to the minor leagues for a more realistic standard. And that’s ok. We like it on this side of the after-party. 

So there you have it, open and exposed. I apologize if I made my efforts out to be anything more than they are, it wasn’t intentional. Stick around though…it’ll still be fun. Small victories are still victories none the less.

——————

Log

10 easy recovery miles. Such wonderful weather, but such total body soreness.

Diet

Breakfast – 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and tofutti cream cheese, coffee
Lunch – Leftover rice w/ veggies (carrots, cauliflower, peas), Banana, potato chips
Dinner – Sloppy Joe TVP on whole wheat bread, corn, brocolli
Snacks – Coffee, water, tortilla chips, soymilk, banana, smoothie

I had to say…

Today it was a good day, even though it was actually a bad day.

This evening was the ritual Tuesday Night Workout…I should really come up with a catchy, hip name for the Tuesday night runs, like, Tuesday Terror? Marathon Madness? The Jon Little Show? (kidding!)

Anyways, I’m always psyched for Tuesday nights, knowing I’m going to max my body out for some period or another, pushing my thresholds out further and further. All Speedwork / Endurance work makes me good, but Tuesday nights specifically make me that much better. I always meet Tuesday nights with anticipation, but tonight I couldn’t shake a few apprehensions related to fatigue and soreness. I wasn’t exhausted by any means, but I did have some sort of side stitch the entire day, which simply wouldn’t go away, even when we started the warmup as sometimes tends to happen. I think, due to the fatigue and soreness, my mental game was a touch off too, which is a bad combination for sure. 

Turns out, tonight’s workout was a set of fast hill intervals, not something conducive to running through a side stitch and fatigue. Specifically it was 4 x 2k on a figure 8 loop of hills (with 3 minutes jogging rest in between), two long steep uphills and two long steep downhills…at a hard pace, cutting the time down each interval. I only hoped everything as far as my apprehensions were concerned would resolve itself as the adrenaline kicked in. 

Not the case. We started the first interval and I felt stiff, but even more I felt the side stitch quite distinctly. Fortunately, I was able to run through it as a minor annoyance instead of a debilitating pain. I fell off a touch on the first interval, but stayed close enough to be happy. At the start of the next one I finally felt strong and loose, but that suddenly went away about halfway up the first hill. Who knows what was going on, but I fought to stay close to the other guys, unsuccessfully. On the third interval I fell off even more and although I kept fighting to stay close, I kept drifting further and further back, finishing that rep about 5 seconds back. I had no idea what was going to happen on the last one, but oddly enough, as we started the final loop I was keeping pace. For a moment I started to drop again, but focused on the power of my stride and went to my calf muscles I realized I was neglecting and all of a sudden I was with the group again. We started to ascend the final hill and I had enough physical and mental determination to fight my way to the top, hanging on the downhill to come in just a couple seconds behind the rest. 

Now, despite the last interval, I was still notching that up to a “bad” workout, until I got to thinking about it on the cool down. In a past running blog post in another realm of the universe some years back I had made mention of “bad” days, the frustration of bad runs, but in the context that “bad” runs were ok. They meant something in the larger scope of running that isn’t easily noticeable when you are slogging through an uninspired jog. I’d like to say now, I’ve changed my perspective on that.

There is no such thing as a bad run.

If you are running, it isn’t bad, no matter how bad it feels. Sure, sometimes you want to run well and for an undetermined reason you simply can’t, but that doesn’t mean what you just did was bad. Even when you have a debilitating side stitch that knocks you down to a 10 minute mile pace, this doesn’t mean your run was bad….unpleasant maybe, but not bad.

Such as today’s run. Sure, it wasn’t effortless, but not every run is going to be. It certainly wasn’t bad, because at the least I was running. In no way did I sacrifice my fitness simply because I didn’t run at a maximum level, if anything I still aided my speed and endurance. 

With that in mind, the only bad run is not running…and even that has exceptions. If you don’t run because it is an integral part of your recovery process, then even not running at all can be seen as a good “run”. It’s when you can run, probably SHOULD run, and are scheduled to run, but decide that it would be much easier to sit in front of the computer, or sleep in, or do anything but take an hour out of your day to run that you can consider that a definitively BAD run. Shame on you. 🙂

So yeah, sometimes things don’t go as planned, but guess what, you still got out there and put one foot in front of the other. That is NOT bad. So however things go, find satisfaction in the effort.

———————-

Log

14 miles total. 3 mile warmup. 4 x 2k. 3 minutes rest in between. on figure 8 hill loop. progressive intervals. 4 or so cool down.

Diet 

Breakfast – 2 pieces of toast w/ peanut butter and tofutti cream cheese. coffee.
Lunch – pasta w/ veggies, banana, potato chips, water
Dinner – rice w/ veggies, water
Snacks – Fruit dessert, Soy latte, Chocolate Soy Milk, ABC cookie, water, coffee