Titanium is still a magical ride

I ran a 5K last Saturday.  The good news is that I dropped 1 minute from my last 5K last month... I'm hoping that the trend continues.  It was a fun race, as there were a lot of people in costume.  I was chased for the entire race by women wearing reindeer outfits.  I managed to just barely be in front of all 17 of them.  Sheesh!  No way could I run that fast wearing a skirt!
Today, I went for a bike ride.  It was 60 and sunny, and it felt so nice!  I was riding my Arizona bike.  For a bike that I don't get to ride that often, it sure is nice.  The only aggravating thing on it are the rattling STI shifters.  But that's a small problem.  Otherwise, it's a sweet ride.  People say that the frame material doesn't make a difference, but a Ti frame, if it is made right, has a pretty special ride.  I definitely feel fortunate to possess the bikes that I have.

Since it has been a year since I rode here, I had forgotten how to get up north.  I ended up on a road with no shoulder and no bike lane, and quickly realized that I had made a wrong turn (or lack of turn, heading straight when I should have turned right).  Oh well, I found a way onto a much less busy road in a short time.  Then, it was pedal uphill into the wind until it was time to turn around.  And then... wheeee!  Downhill with a tailwind, spinning out for 5 miles.

How do you spell cattywampus?

I started swimming on Friday.  Or rather, I tried to start swimming on Friday.  Bruce offered to help me with my swimming.  Since it has been 6 months since I last swam, we thought that I might have forgotten my bad habits, and it might be easier to learn good ones.  So, after I swam 100 meters, I was exhausted, and felt like I was swimming all over the pool.  Bruce confirmed that I was swimming pretty crookedly.  He decided that I shouldn't swim, just kick.  After trying to kick a 50, Bruce told me that I over-rotated on the left and under-rotated on the right.  So... I'm not "allowed" to swim, just kick, trying to straighten me out.  The goal is to make me bigger, faster, able to swim an Ironman in 50 minutes.  Well, not really.

I ran yesterday, and today, I'm sore.  I was in Auburn and headed out onto the Interurban trail... in the dark.  Why?  Ryan has fielding instruction in Auburn every week, so I figured that I would run while he fielded.  The Interurban was fine.  Unfortunately, in order to get to the Interurban, I needed to head north for 1.5 miles, then I decided to head south towards the SuperMall.  Because I didn't want to run that far, I decided to head back via the West Valley Highway.  The good news was that the West Valley Highway has a good shoulder and a sidewalk for much of it; the bad news was that some of the West Valley Highway has neither.  So, I was jumping back and forth from the road to the bushes whenever a car came by.  Probably won't do that again.  I was pretty happy with my new Forerunner 310XT.  It chirped and vibrated every mile.  So, even though I didn't look at my wrist, I still knew when I had gone a mile.  My previous Forerunner 305 lost its chirpiness a while ago, and it is now barely holding a charge.  Merry Christmas to me!

Running in mud

or sand... or whatever thick, gloppy substance you want.  That's what it felt like while I was running yesterday.  Maybe it was due to all of the Thanksgiving turkey I ate over the weekend.  Maybe it was the 6+ hours I spent driving the day before.  Whatever the case, yesterday was the worst I've felt since I started back running "for real."  Oh well, those days are bound to happen, and anything is better than not being able to run at all.

Let the training begin

So I was able to do my weekend workouts in the cold.  It was sunny, so not as bad as it could have been.  After spending 75 minutes on my bike (2 x 12 @ Z4, 1 x 15@ Z3), I headed out for my 20 minute brick run.  Even though it had been 5 months since I ran off the bike, it didn't feel all that terrible.  But I still have a ways to go.  Thankfully, Wildflower is 6 months away.  On Sunday, I decided that I was too lazy to run in the Fort Steilacoom Turkey Trot.  Too bad since we've gotten a turkey the past two years, but since David was out of commission, I helped the boys first, then went out on a run in the gloaming.  2 x 1 mile at 6:30, which was faster than I was supposed to go, but I actually didn't think I was going that fast; I'm hoping that's a good sign.

And I'm now up to 6 pull-ups and 25 push-ups in a set.

I'm healed!

I had my follow up visit and x-rays today.  My clavicle is continuing to heal, and I've been given the okay to start swimming and lifting and pretty much doing anything short of football, skiing, or anything that is going to result in slamming my clavicle into things.  Guess that means that crashing on a bike is out.  I'm pretty excited!  I think that means I get to learn how to swim all over again.  To celebrate, I did 10 push-ups and 2 pull-ups.

At least I was running

I ran a 5K today.  At least I'm calling it "running."  Now, when I compare it to my PR or even my times from a couple of years ago, I should be disappointed.  But compared to where I was four months ago, I'll take it.  I ran a 20:53 in cold, sunny conditions in Fircrest; I left right after the race, so I didn't see how I did, but there were a lot of people in front of me... a lot of old people in front of me.  My PR is nearly 5 mintues faster than that.  Oh well, it's somewhere to start.  I'm going to work on foot speed this winter instead of putting in the long mileage, so maybe I'll regain some speed.

Suffering... but a good suffering

I started training for real today.  Threshold test on the bike.  Really, it was the first time I've gone hard since June, and it showed.  I couldn't get my heart rate up nearly as high as I wanted, and my power went down the tubes during the second interval.  But overall, I'm only down 5%, so I'll take it.  2 x 20' (2') and the numbers were:
Total:  NP 227 HR 144
1st 20:  NP 236 HR 144
2nd 20:  NP 223 HR 145 (whoops)

AND... I signed up for Wildflower today, too.  No more hiding. 

It's Fall and I'm trying to get back into shape

Here's a photo I shot yesterday morning of the mountain. As I was driving in to work, I saw this and was absolutely amazed. I tried to find a good location to get a picture and was able to find an unobstructed view from the front of the hospital. I have never seen the shadow of Rainier projected across the sky like that. 

Kind of strange that I'm starting to train when the weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and the leaves are turning color. Well, have to start somewhere. I was able to run 5 today; each day, it feels like I'm getting better, which is a good thing. My legs are actually feeling bouncy. There's no better way to explain it. So, although I am out of shape, I feel good (well, except for the out of breath part). 

Yee-ha!

I started running again.  It has been nearly 8 weeks since my surgery.  I started running last week.  Although I am slow and out of shape, I definitely feel better now that everything is back in place again.  On Monday, I was able to run 4 miles at 7:30 pace, which is the fastest I've run since my accident.  Although it felt a bit strange, it didn't feel all that bad, so I am encouraged by this. 

I was also given the okay to start increasing my range of motion.  After nearly four months of not moving my arm much, it is a bit stiff.  There is definitely a difference between the range of motion on my left and my right.

My Cervelo is back on my trainer now, and I even spent some time on the aerobars last weekend.  It was a bit uncomfortable, but it actually helped to stretch out my shoulder a bit.  Of course, last weekend, I was trying to recover from a not-so-intelligent decision to move some cinder blocks in my backyard.  Long story short, I used some cinder blocks to weight down a couple of buckets that are covering mole traps.  Although I tried to use mostly my left arm, I did have to support part of it with my right, since the blocks are probably around 30 lbs.  My right clavicle started hurting immediately, there was some redness over the scar, and I was a bit freaked out.  Thankfully, it has calmed down and is back to "normal."  Stupid moles.

9 screws and a plate-watch out TSA!

I had my post-op visit yesterday.  Stitches came out, and everything looks good so far.  What exactly does that mean?  It means that everything is straight.  I still can't run for another 6 weeks, but can start moving my arm a bit more.  My hip is still sore, but no problems with walking.  So walking and riding on the trainer it shall be.

Starting over

This past week, I have been walking.  For someone who has never been a particularly good walker, this has been difficult.  First, I'm not used to seeing things go by so slowly.  Second, I'm not used to covering short distances so slowly.  But, at least, I have been getting out and moving around a bit.  I have walked around the Chambers Bay golf course 5 times in the past week.  And I did enjoy it, although I would have rather been running or golfing.  Oh well, it's something at least.  Today, I got back on my 'cross bike for the first time since surgery.  Since I am now planning to do the Wildflower triathlon, I figured I'd start riding it on the Computrainer.  After 40 minutes, I was done, not having gone particularly fast on the bike either.  But it felt good to do some work.

Tomorrow, I get my stitches out.  And then I get to start asking questions about what I can start doing.  I feel well enough that I want to increase the range of motion, but am a bit leery, because I don't want to mess up the handiwork that the surgeon did.  The good news is that I'll be itching to really start training again when I can.  The bad news is that this season will be over, and I'll be training for next year. 

So far, so good

I am now 4 days out from my surgery; technical name of what I had done:  open reduction internal fixation with iliac crest bone graft.   Basically, my orthopaedic surgeon made an incision in my hip, pulled out some bone marrow, then made another incision at my clavicle, pulled apart the two ends of the broken clavicle and matched them up end-to-end, packed in some marrow from the graft, took a metal plate, and drilled 9 screws into my clavicle.  Sounds simple, right?

I have been in a bit of pain, but already, things feel better than before the surgery.  Everything feels better "lined up", and my back spasms are gone.  We went to the Bonney Lake triathlon on Saturday, and I watched David race.  Some people, including the person that finished second last year, Bryan, the previous race announcer, Randy, various triathletes, and Rory and Deanna Muller, all recognized me.  I guess it was nice being a semi-celebrity.  Bryan won the race this year, and hoped that I would return next year, so he could race me.  That was nice to hear.  I went for a walk around Chambers Bay yesterday, and my hip started getting sore by the time I was done.  But it felt good to move around.  I'm still living a bit through chemistry, using some pain meds, especially at night.  I'm hopeful I can stop doing this soon.  For now, I'm still in the "chair of healing."

A Bionic Clavicle

Yesterday was surgery to fix my clavicle.  All went well, until they tried to wake me up.  It took me forever and I was pretty stoned for the rest of the day.   But I'm hoping that the corner has been turned and I'm on the road to recovery.  Tomorrow is the Bonney Lake triathlon.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to defend my title, but David is racing, so I get to watch and cheer.

I'm hoping to get on a stationary bike soon, but will have to wait until my bone graft site heals.  Ah well... baby steps.

Returning to the scene of the crime

Today was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  It was one of those memorable Pacific Northwest summer days, and I decided to ride outside for the first time since my accident.  The good news is that my Cervelo is still a great ride and I remained upright.  I even managed to take the corners without freaking out.  The bad news is that the axiom "use it or lose it" is definitely true in cycling.  I didn't feel too terrible, but was riding pretty slowly (18.6 MPH and 153 Watts for the entire ride).  But at least I was outside.  And then I decided that I needed to revisit the scene of my crash.  As I rolled through the corner, I understood better why I might have crashed:  the pavement in the corner is pretty chewed up, and traction is pretty bad, even on a dry day like today.  On a rainy day, it's a pretty bad corner.

So now, I wait for surgery later this week.  It will be a plate, some screws, and some bone grafting.  Then, back to the "chair of healing" in hopes that everything will completely heal.  I didn't think that it would be nearly 6 months until I would be back to training, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

I have heard that the worst of Hurricane Irene has passed the major population centers on the East Coast.  I hope that all of those who live there are doing well and are safe.  My best wishes to everyone there.

The summer of my discontent

Lack of motivation... lack of sense-of-being... frustration that I'm not healed.  It could be all of them. Obviously, I haven't been motivated enough to write anything down, since my last entry was over a month ago.  My longest run has been 5 miles, and I'm fat and out of shape.  Before we left on our trip to California, I decided to make a decision as to whether I would have surgery done, based on how I felt on the trip.  Well... I'm back now, and am going to have the clavicle fixed.  I have an appointment tomorrow with the surgeon, and will set a surgery date then.  Yesterday, the biggest decision was whether I was going to go to San Diego to get it fixed or stay here.  After talking it over with Tracy and Richard (not me, the other Richard... no, I'm not getting all weird and third person-ish on you), I decided I'd stay here, even though I did consider Dave's offer seriously.

I guess the lack of motivation on the trip was that, if I was planning to get it fixed and have to deal with immobility again, what was the point of getting up early just to run slow?  I'm just going to end up in the chair-of-healing again.

On a positive note, at least the vacation was fun, and it was kind of cool running past vineyards.  I even managed to run along part of the Vineman course, and some of the markings were still on the pavement.  Well, that's for another year.

It's all relative

I'm trying to be patient with my busted wing, but it's hard.  I've made some gains (able to ride my bike on my trainer and hold onto the handlebars), and the pain has significantly decreased, but it's still there.  Biggest problem seems to be the muscle spasms in my back.  I'm using a heating pad, heat packs, and a back massager, but when the spasms hit... YIKES!  After watching the Tour for the past week, though, it could have been a lot worse.  Watching all the crashes, with all the broken bones, I do have empathy.  In fact, after watching Janez Brajkovic of Team Radio Shack crash out with a broken clavicle and a concussion, Tracy looked at me and said, "See, it could have been a lot worse." 

My days as a model are over, though.  Not that I was ever much to look at, but now I've got a big ol' bump at the distal end of my clavicle.  Guess my bodybuilding aspirations are done!

This weekend, I get to be a spectator for the Fort Lewis Tri as I watch my friends and my son race.  I was always hoping I'd be on the course when David did his first race.  But I get to take pictures instead. 

Maybe by next week, I'll be able to use the aerobars.  In the meantime, I'm doing everything, from acupuncture to poultices with Chinese herbs.  Do I believe in it?  I'm willing to try just about anything to make it heal faster.

Learning to be (a) patient

Two days ago was my first day back to some semblance of exercise after the accident.  I went to the gym to ride a stationary recumbent bike.  Since that morning was the first time that I was able to put on a t-shirt, I figured that I might as well get some exercise.  After nearly stopping and going home after trying to get changed in the locker room (learned the right and wrong way to put on a pullover shirt), I headed to the cycling room.  Next door, there was a spin or exercise class that was pumping out hip-hop at a earth shattering volume.  And directly in front of me was a monitor tuned to Fox News.  Great.  I was going to be visually and aurally assaulted for the duration of my ride.  30 minutes later, I was moderately sweaty and had enough.  Not bad for a first ride, but I definitely will be bringing my own entertainment to the next session.

I have set up my 'cross bike on the Computrainer at home, but have not tried it out yet.  My back is still spasm-ing up by the end of the day, so I'm not sure how it will tolerate being on a road bike.  At least it's there ready for me.  Of bigger concern is my tri bike.  The crankset appears to now be rubbing on the chainstay.  It may simply need a spacer, but I'm concerned that my power meter got bent during the fall... which would definitely ruin my day.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still sleeping in a recliner...

It was a short season

Well, my first race of the season was also likely my last (race of the season).  A split second bad decision, and I'm on the disabled list.  Here are the gory details:

It was lightly raining when I woke up on Saturday morning.  I am not a great bad weather racer, but I figured it was time to get things going for the season, so I loaded everything up and headed to Fort Lewis for a sprint triathlon.  As I was setting up, it started raining heavier and heavier.  I figured it was not a PR kind of day, so I would take it easy on the bike turns.  There were numerous friends at the race, and I think we all had the same "misery loves company" mentality.

For the first time in a very long time, I didn't get into the water at the swim finish and swim over to the start.  Instead, I walked over to the start, and got a few quick strokes in before I lined up to wait.  My swim was not very good, as I was having a hard time swimming a straight line.  As I made the first turn, I nearly swam into the person in front of me, who came to a complete stop at the buoy to sight the next buoy.  I swam around that person and pressed onwards, zigzagging my way (going to have to work on swimming straight, I thought).  As I made the turn for home, I looked up and saw that there was nothing to sight off.  For some reason, the usual inflatable archway was not up.  After spending some time figuring out where to go, I headed back to shore.

Running into transition (which had been moved for the first time in over 15 years), I noticed a couple of friends getting ready to head out on bikes.  I couldn't get my wetsuit off (my new Xterra suit has some snug arm and leg holes), so my transition was slow.  I also made the decision before the race to put on my cycling shoes in transition rather than on the bike.  Since it was early in the season, my transition skills were a bit rusty, so I figured that it would be faster and less problematic to put on my shoes first.  The bike was hard, as it was raining steadily; I was happy that I decided to put on arm warmers (that decision was one of the few good ones I made on Saturday as you will later see).  I started reeling in people and headed for the turnaround, feeling that I was working pretty hard for the speed that I was going; obviously, the lack of training was showing.  As I approached the underpass, the leaders passed by going the opposite direction.  I counted myself to be in 8th, and very cautiously went around the roundabout (turnaround).  I then picked it up  to try to catch as many people as I could.  After passing a couple more people, I got passed; this was a bit surprising, as it has been a long time since I've been passed on the bike.

Heading into one of the last turns, I was approaching the 5th place cyclist.  I went into the turn with too much speed for the conditions of the day, and my bike slid out from under me.  It happened so fast that I didn't have time to put my arm down and landed on my right shoulder.  As I was lying there, I realized that my right shoulder was really sore.  I spent a few minutes on my back, and a fellow competitor stopped to try to help me.  I assured him that I was fine, and that he should get back into the race, since there was a road guard there to help me anyway.  I sat up in a bit of a daze, with my right shoulder hurting and my right hip and foot a bit sore.  Finally, I stood up... at which point I became pretty nauseated and started shivering pretty bad.  That's when I knew that I was hurt more than just some bumps and bruises.  I started feeling my shoulder and could feel that there was something not quite right.  I decided that I needed to get back to the transition area somehow, and since it was only a couple of miles, I'd ride back.  As I mounted my bike, I could grip the handlebars with both hands, so I was hopeful that, maybe I was just banged up since a broken clavicle would make it really hard to hold on (a bit prescient as you will see later).  I rode slowly back to transition.  As I shifted to an easier gear, I noticed some blood on the aerobar tape; I looked down and saw that my right hand was cut and bleeding a bit.  Oh well.  I rolled towards the dismount line, and people started yelling, "Dismount."  I thought, "Not a chance."  I figured that if I stopped and tried to get off my bike, I'd fall over and block other people's way.  So, I ignored them and rolled to a stop in transition.  Bruce came over to check on me (he was working at the race), and I told him that I thought I had broken my clavicle.  At this point, I was shivering nearly uncontrollably, so he took me into the lifeguard shack where several people gave me towels to stay warm and turned on the heat.  Dave Robbins and Dave Chipchase came in to see how I was doing, and I told them I thought I had broken my clavicle or separated my shoulder.  After Dave R. looked at my shoulder, he agreed that he thought my clavicle was broken.

After Dave R. and Bruce helped me bring my stuff back to the car (after watching me unsuccessfully gather my stuff), I headed home to get cleaned up and figure out how to reassess the damage.  I headed off to the Auburn ED to see my best friend, who was working there.  The x-rays told the story:  displaced right clavicle fracture.

First open water swim of the season

Last Sunday, I went and jumped in a lake.  Actually, it was more of a dip the toes in to see how cold it was, and then gradually ease my way in.  But nonetheless, I swam.  It was a nice sunny morning, which definitely helped my attitude.  And I took David along for his first swim in a wetsuit.  Since it was also my first swim in my new wetsuit (thanks, Bruce!), it was a morning of firsts.  The water in Lake Louise was not too cold, probably low-mid 60's, certainly not cold enough for a neoprene cap, and, although we double-capped, not even bad enough to warrant double-capping. 

I had forgotten how nice it was to swim in open water.  After making sure we didn't see any toxic algae or signs warning about toxic algae, we did a loop around the lake.  I was expecting David to be motoring along, but he was (in his words) "creeped out by not being able to see the bottom or see in front very far."  And I don't think he's used to swimming continuously like that.  The sunshine on black neoprene was a good thing, as I never felt cold, and neither my hands nor my feet went numb.

I have no idea whether I was swimming fast or not, but it felt good to be all stretched out like that.  And I definitely like the feel of my new Xterra Vendetta.  This weekend, we'll see how it translates in a race.

The season is here...

I just signed up for my first triathlon of the year.  The season has started and I'M NOT READY!  Already, several friends have raced, and the unofficial start of the season in the Pacific Northwest, the Blue Lake triathlon, is this weekend. 

I don't think I've ever been this unprepared for a season.  Of course, the terrible weather may have had something to do with it.  So far this year I've:  a) ridden my tri-bike outside once; b) not yet swam in a lake; c) not done any bricks.  "b" is not a major issue, I don't think.  I remember doing my first Ironman without having swam in open water prior to the race.  But at least I was well-trained for it.  This year, my swimming has been spotty, but I should be fine with it.  After all, I'm never going to win a swim Prime, so my goal is to get out with not too terrible a deficit.  "a" is a little bit more of a concern.  Not only have I not ridden my tri-bike outside, but I haven't done too much riding in general.  I wonder what the first attempt at time trialing is going to feel like; my guess is that it won't be pretty. 

I received an e-mail from a friend the other day mentioning that his training has also been less than usual, and that he suspected that motivation (or lack thereof) is playing a role.  Sounds like he has been inside my mind, too.  Hard to believe that I did my first triathlon 15 years ago.  But my lack of motivation also tells me that I've been on the merry-go-round a long time.  I'm hoping that the first race will re-energize me.  Otherwise, it's going to be a long (or very short) season.

Youth is wasted on the young

Last Thursday, I swam with David's team.  Technically, it's also my team, since I'm one of the two Masters.  However, since everyone else is between 8-15 years old, I refer to them as David's team.  Anyway, the main set was 8 x 100 kick.  I can't kick.  That is a well-known fact.  Everyone who has swam with me knows this. 

After 18 x 50 back/breast, we were supposed to do a hard kick set on 4:00.  My times were all around 2:10-2:15.  Most of the kids were in the 1:40-1:50 range.  It's a good thing I check my ego at the door when I swim with the kids, since Sabrina, a 12 year-old girl, had 30 seconds on me per 100. 

Over the weekend, the weather was awesome.  We had a nice Saturday ride.  I took David along, and he rode 30 miles.  Since he rode about 35 miles all winter, it was a pretty big day for him.  I realized after we had returned that his saddle was too low, since he's grown quite a bit since I first set up his bike.  When I measured him, it turned out his saddle was about 1" low; maybe that's why it almost looked like he was riding a circus bike.  After I dropped him off, I went off to go hard by myself for about 30 minutes.  It was great being out on my Cervelo and just hammering along.  Did I mention that I'm trying out a new saddle?  Well, I think I found the sweet spot on the saddle about halfway through, and, for a saddle, it was pretty comfortable. 

I woke up to swim this AM.  Surprisingly, after feeling really tired yesterday, I felt wide awake at 4:30 AM.  My swim was not too bad, just a shade under 3000 in 1 hour.  But I definitely feel like a fish out of water right now.  I guess I need to swim more... probably a lot more.

What I love about Arizona

We returned from Arizona yesterday.  After 5 days of fun in the sun, it was back to reality.  Surprisingly, it wasn't raining when we got home.  And also surprisingly, it wasn't freezing, although going from the high 90's to the high 50's is still a bit of a shock to the system.  I had planned on getting in some good training while in Arizona.  I did manage some nice runs and swims; an outdoor swim workout under warm sunshine is always nice.  However, I didn't do as much as I had planned.  Why not?  Clearly, I haven't felt particularly motivated to do a lot.  So, I only ran 5 miles each time, and never swam more than 2500 yards.  I did manage to play three rounds of golf, which was great, considering we were there for less than 5 days total.  It was pretty awesome to wake up to brilliant warm sunshine each morning; I could get used to that.

Where have I been?

It has been over 2 weeks since I last put in an entry.  Slowly working my way back into shape, but there has been no sense of urgency, so I'm finding it easy to sleep in, and keep my workouts short.  I will likely need a race to show how poor my fitness is before I start getting serious.

I did a tempo run earlier in the week.  It was the first time that I have tried to run fast since the marathon.  Even though it felt pretty hard, I was happy, because I was able to keep 6:30 pace (which is about what I can do these days).

Today was a good day.  I woke up and it was bright and sunny and 80 degrees.  Clearly, I was either delusional or have escaped the interminable rain and cold of the Pacific Northwest.  Fortunately, I am not delusional (or at least don't think I am).  We chose the Memorial Day weekend to escape to Scottsdale, and I met the family at The Good Egg for breakfast.  What a great way to start the day.  I struggled through the run, as I felt sluggish.  Some of that can be attributed to the late night that we had, but since my body hasn't seen 80 degrees since around last October, I figured that was the other reason.  Not complaining at all, though.

Checking a box... happily

The only reason that I have an entry today is that I was able to run nearly 7 miles pain-free today.  I'm hoping that my IT band problems are in the rear-view mirror now.  Between my multiple massages and the foam roller, I have been diligent about trying to get my legs healthy.  So, today was just an aerobic run around Madigan, and I'm simply glad to be able to crank it out without any drama. 

More interesting will be this weekend, when I'm planning to go for an open water swim.  The weather this Spring has been terrible, so water temperatures are kinda cold.  Okay, I'm lying:  they're REALLY COLD!  The buoys on Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington were reading 52 degrees today.  Lake Louise is a lot smaller and a lot shallower, so it should be warmer, but since we only had one day above 60 in April, there's no way it will be 60.  And next weekend, we'll be swimming in American Lake, and my guess (after getting some input from a few people) is that the temperature will also be in the low 50's.  Should be exciting.  What do you know about shrinkage?

Back in the saddle again

I'm training again.  For the most part.  It has now been three weeks since Boston, and last week, I decided to get back (somewhat) into training mode.  I have been pretty easy on my left IT band, trying to make sure that it has healed up.  So, the sum total of my running last week was 16 miles, nothing over 5 miles.  So far, so good. 

That has been the easy part.  Swimming has been a whole 'nuther adventure.  Last Monday, I jumped in the pool with David's team, the UPAC Sharks.  Actually, I have been paying my Master's dues for the past 4 months, even though I haven't been swimming.  So, it was time to actually swim.  I started out in Lane 5 (typically Lane 6 is the lane with the oldest, and therefore, fastest kids), figuring that I should be able to keep up.  And I did... at least through the warm up.  Then, new coach Ashley said, "Main set is 6 x 200:  lane 6 is on 2:45 and lane 5 is on 2:50."  Even when I was/am in swim shape, 2:50 is not going to happen.  Well, it might happen, but I'm not going to be back at the wall for a 2:50 send-off; it would be more of a 160 or 170.  So, anyway, I proceeded to move to lane 4, where it was closer to 4:00 (not by design).  Funny.  I wasn't that out of breath; I just couldn't go any faster.  That was last Monday.  Fast forward to today, where I swam at 5:00 AM.  My alarm went off at 4:35 AM, and it was an, "Oh my, am I really going to get up and swim?"  Unfortunately, the alarm woke up the dogs, so then I was up.  Since it had been a long time since I woke up to swim, I forgot how cold it is when you wake up before the furnace kicks on.  Yikes! 

My swim wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be, although still pretty slow.  Same problem:  just can't go any faster, although I didn't feel that out of breath.  After I got home, I was ready to go take a nap.

This past weekend, I went on a swim-bike.  Not actually swimming, but I think I got wetter on the bike than I did this morning in the pool.  There were intermittent torrential downpours all the way around.  The ride visited the bustling metropoli (is that the plural or is it metropoliseseseseses?) of (in order) Roy, McKenna, Yelm, and Rainier.  I rode with Lisa, Karen, and Ross, all of whom were riding their tri-bikes, and none of whom had fenders.  Arrgh.  Drafting was no fun, but necessary, since the ride was longer than I've ridden all year, and I am frighteningly out of shape.  I hadn't planned on riding for 3 hours, so I only had one water bottle, which was fine until there were about 5 miles to go, and then it got ugly.  By the time I was climbing the last hill on Old Pacific Highway, I was seeing stars.  Probably not going to see those neurons again.  Food, a hot shower, and an hour later, I felt mostly back to normal.

Ahhhhh, it's good to be back in training mode again!

Starting over again

After sitting around for a few days, okay over a week, I think it may be time to get going again.  Actually, I hadn't planned to take too much time off, but I haven't been feeling particularly motivated to start training.  I think it's the "Post A-race letdown."  No, there isn't really anything named that, but I think it's a real phenomenon (that doesn't look right somehow).  In truth, it probably exists for any big thing in which you have planned/trained/studied for a long time, and then... it's over.  The first thing that I think is:  "Now what?"  Well, with the triathlon season looming, I THOUGHT it would be easy to get back in the water and on my bike.  But sitting around, hanging out with my family, watching TV, and eating chips has been a great way to decompress.  I did ride last weekend, and strained my right quad climbing up one of the hills in downtown Tacoma.  DOH!  I think it's because my legs were still damaged from the marathon.  I've also been very good about using my foam roller.  It's almost like getting a massage every day... a very DEEP massage... a dig-your-fingernails-into-something-preferably-not-your leg-because-it-hurts-so-good massage.  You get the picture.

I swam for a short time before my massage on Monday.  After warming up with a 400, I had to share a lane with a few other people.  One of them asked if I wanted to swim a short set with him.  He suggested 200's; after wondering whether I could swim a continuous 200 at all, I suggested 100's instead.  The interval?  He suggested a 1:30 sendoff (SCM).  I tried not to snort too much water up my nose at this.  Besides the fact that I haven't really been in the water since December, I've never been able to swim 100's on 1:30 SCM.  We ended up doing them on 2:00, which seemed fairly easy, except that was about as fast as I could go.  Yikes, I've got a lot of work to do. 

Today, I visited the gym for the first time since... I'm not sure.  I decided I needed to regain some strength, so I tossed some weights around without hurting myself.  I figured it would be a gentle way to start over.

You may have noticed that I changed the color of the font.  It was brought to my attention by Bruce (one of probably two people that have been reading this) that white on black can be quite blinding.  So, I've changed it to a subtle shade of blue.  The calming color along with a nice cup of chamomile tea, and my musings (or is it ramblings?) will undoubtedly cure most cases of insomnia.

Race Day +2

I was going to call this a post-mortem, but decided that was a bit too morbid.  So instead, I'm calling it what it is:  2 days after the race.  The story picks up  on Hereford, which is the turnoff from Commonwealth Avenue, as I'm finishing the race.  Hereford is a short, evil street:  evil, because it has a vewwwy (say "wascally wabbit" and you'll understand what that last word was) slight incline, but after 25+ miles, any incline is evil.  In fact, when I ran this race last in 2006, there was a guy that cramped up and was lying in the middle of the street, with a policeman yelling (encouragingly, of course) at him to get up.  Anyway, I turned left off of Hereford, and onto the last stretch on Boylston, and somehow, I didn't remember the Finish Line being THAT far away.  But I got there and finished in 3:44:24.  And if you look at my splits, yes, I really did run a 2 hour back half after a 1:39:50 front half.  Ouch.  And then we had to walk... and walk... and walk.  It really only turned out to be probably less than 1/4 mile to get space blankets, drinks, food, medals, and our clothing, but it was a really long 1/4 mile.  Because there were so many people walking there by the time I finished, we were inadvertently bumping into each other.  And that's when I realized that my legs were really tired.  I had so little muscle strength left in my legs that, everytime I got bumped, I nearly fell over!

Fast forward several hours to my ride on the T to visit my aunt and uncle and their family in Newton.  It was rush hour, and we were packed like sardines.  There were a couple other marathoners on the train, and none of us were able to balance very well.  Whenever the train would stop and start, we would very nearly fall over.  It was comical.

The next morning (Race Day +1), I awoke to some very sore legs.  The trip to the airport on the T was not nearly as bad as the previous night, although descending steps was entertaining.  At the airport, you could spot the marathoners a mile away:  we were all wearing some article of Boston Marathon clothing, and/or carrying the free Adidas poster, and we were all doing the same post-marathon waddle.  The net downhill of the Boston course really punishes your quads (that's eccentric contractions if you want to know the technical term), and, I think, there are very few people who have trained enough on hills to keep the legs from hurting. 

And even with all that, and even with my thoughts throughout my training that this was probably going to be my last marathon, I have taken a look at which marathon I could do to qualify for 2013.  To me, there's nothing like the Boston Marathon.  Maybe if I were to qualify for Kona, I'd feel the same way, but even then, I don't know that I'd appreciate it as much as I do the history, significance, and pageantry of the Boston Marathon.

Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you!

Well, it's over.  Funny how you spend all this time anticipating the marathon, and once you're there, your only thought is, "I can't wait until it's over."  I'll summarize this by saying that the race didn't go the way I had hoped, and hence, the title.  I finished officially in 3:44:24, which is my slowest marathon ever.  Ironically, I was able to enjoy this race more than my other Bostons, because I was able to look at and soak in the atmosphere (of course, that was because I was going so slow).

Alright, here are the dirty details.  We (Rob Ory, Mark Bieber, and I) headed to the bus pick up point at 6:15 AM.  By the time we got there, there were already big lines to get on board.  The trip to Hopkington was pretty uneventful, although my seatmate was pretty chatty and profane.  Hopkington was cold, windy, and sunny, so we found an area that was protected from the wind by the school.  After waiting for 90 minutes, it was time to dump our gear and head to the start.  Of course, even though I had used the Port-a-potties at the school, I had to go again (call it nervous bladder) on the way to the start.  As we got to the start staging area, we saw a huge line in front of the Port-a-potties, so I found a tree, and Rob did the same.  As I was finishing up, I looked up and was surprised to see a woman drop her shorts and squat no more than 15 feet away; maybe I'm chauvinistic, but I assumed that the outside world is usually a bathroom just for males.  Obviously, I was mistaken. 

I quickly walked up to my corral (Corral 1 in the 2nd wave), and the gun went off.  The first few miles of the race are fairly steeply downhill, and I basically jogged through the first 5 miles at 7:10-7:15 pace, a bit quicker than planned but my effort seemed about right.  After that the road started undulating, so it was time to get to work. 

I got through 8 miles at 7:15 pace, but then my IT band started to act up.  In addition, my GI tract started complaining with some cramps, so I stopped at a Port-a-Potty.  That was when life turned ugly.  As I left the Port-a-Potty, I started to run, and was immediately stopped by sharp pain in my left leg.  I tried to stretch and massage it, but was only minimally successful.  I started jogging, hoping it would loosen up, and it started feeling a bit better, although it was still bothering me.  Talking mental stock of this, I wondered whether I would be able to run another 18 miles.  Figuring that I had to get back to Boston somehow, I decided to keep going.  I also really wanted a finisher's medal, so I planned to finish no matter what.  I wanted to at least run through the "scream tunnel" at Wellesley; there is no way to describe this adequately, but it is a great Boston Marathon tradition.  No, I did not stop for a kiss.

I then got through the 1/2 still in reasonable state, despite having to stop again because of my GI tract.  Same drill with my IT band again.  By then, it had warmed up enough, and I ditched my shirt, so I was only running in a singlet and shorts.  Basically, I was trying anything to distract me and keep me going.  After the 1/2, my legs really started bothering me.  Because my IT band was acting up, I was changing my stride to compensate.  Long story short, I ended up walking a fair amount, although I did run all the way up Heartbreak Hill.  My aunt had showed me where she was going to watch for me in Newton, and even though I slowed down (it wasn't mattering much at that point) as I ran past Newton City Hall, I missed her, and she never saw me.  More walking and running until mile 24, at which point, I figured that I could suffer my way through the last 2.2 miles.  As I ran past the Citgo sign, I realized that it was only 1.2 miles to go, so I was able to pick it up for the last part. 

All in all, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong today did go wrong.  And while I'm disappointed that I didn't perform better, I also understand that one runs a marathon with the conditions of the day, both your own body's as well as the weather and circumstances.  It has been a long journey to get to this point.  I feel fortunate that I was healthy enough to get to the start line, and have had so much support from people. 

Does this blog continue?  I hadn't planned to go on after the marathon, but I may continue it as I transition to the triathlon season.  Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow... you're only a day away

I awoke this AM to blustery wind and rain.  It was similar to last year on the day before the Surf City Marathon, although the rain wasn't nearly as bad.  Still, because I remember struggling to get my shoes and socks dry, I decided to run on the treadmill.  3 miles later, I was done and ready for some breakfast.  After some fruitless searching for a McDonald's (none in this area?  Really?), I gave up and went to Starbuck's for oatmeal and coffee.  Then, it was off for some final souvenir shopping.  I ventured into the Expo and it was total chaos in the Adidas section.  People were having a last buying (feeding?) frenzy.  I managed to escape with my credit card (mostly) intact.  After watching some mindless TV, it was off to the Mapparium.  What is the Mapparium?  It is a 30 foot high globe of the Earth, which is made of stained glass and that you can look at from the inside.  This is at the Mary Baker Eddy library, which is the home of The Christian Science Monitor.  While I won't comment on the philosophy of the The Christian Science Monitor, the Mapparium was interesting.  Then, it was back to the room to put my feet up and get ready for tomorrow.

In search of Hammer Gel

Boston appears to be a GU town.  Well, at least that's all I could find at the Expo and a bike shop.  Well, PowerBar is an official sponsor, so there was PowerGel, too, but there was no Hammer Gel to be found.

Okay, rewind to the beginning of the day.  It was even colder this AM when I went out on my run.  And the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now blowing straight out of the east.  Not good.  What was a glorious tailwind Thursday and Friday had turned into a nasty headwind.  Since Boston is a point-to-point course that runs east... well, you get the idea.  I ran 5 easy with some strides, and then set off for Panera Bread to get a Cobblestone.  If you've never had one, they're basically a baked apple fritter somewhat shaped like a muffin.  Chased it down with some more Starbuck's coffee and I was set to head off to the expo... which was absolute chaos.  The number and packet pick up was easy.

If I would have been smart or more claustrophobic, I would have stopped there.  But, no.  I decided I had to look in on the paraphenalia associated with any expo.  And, of course, it appeared that all 25,000 runners and their families had the same idea and timetable that I had.  But I eventually got out of there without finding any Hammer Gel.  I was told that there might be some at a bike shop down the street, so I stopped there first.   Out of luck there, but they suggested REI, which was just down the street across from Fenway Park.  Under normal circumstances, not a huge deal.  However, because the Expo/Packet pick up was accessible from my hotel without venturing outside, I only had on a sweatshirt.  And the wind was cold and whipping around.  And I had this big bag of STUFF from the Expo.  Still, I thought it would be fun to wander by Fenway Park, since the Red Sox were playing today.  If I had been dressed more warmly, I might have considered getting a ticket; they were selling on the street for around $20.

I returned back after successfully finding my Raspberry and Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gel.  After thawing off in my room, I headed down to the pool for a quick swim and a massage.  The pool was 15 yards long, so I got dizzy with all of the flip turns.  But getting into the pool for the first time in a couple of months was nice.  The massage helped my IT band quite a bit.  Then my big decision:  what to have for dinner?  Pizza or a burger?  I decided to try the 5 Napkin Burger place that I had passed on my morning run (what else to do on my runs than to scout out where to eat?)  After two tries to get a burger that was medium well (the first two were medium rare- for ground beef?  No thanks), I finally got one that I could eat.  Of course, I had nearly finished my fries and beer before the burger made it to me.  At least the manager comped me the burger.  The woman next to me had a burger that was overcooked, and her friend's burger was undercooked.  You would think that a burger place would at least know how to cook their burgers.  Still, the food and beer were pretty good.  I'm hoping to get to sleep a bit earlier tonight; still haven't quite got my body clock regulated.

2 days to go!

The waiting is the hardest part

I awoke this morning to a very chilly, but sunny day.  I headed off for a short run along the Charles River.  My IT band was very grumpy, so my run was not very enjoyable.  After stopping at Finagle a Bagel to pick up a chocolate chip bagel with peanut butter, I went back to my room via Starbuck's to stretch and work on my IT band.  It finally loosened up after some time, making me a bit worried about how it's going to respond in 3 days time.  I spent the day with my aunt sightseeing; first we stopped off for some Dim Sum in Chinatown, then headed to Harvard Medical School to wander about.  She then drove me to the hills of Newton where I tried to imagine climbing up Heartbreak Hill.

(the top)

 (looking down the hill)

  Actually, the uphill part is not what is worrying me at the moment; instead it's the downhill after the hill that concerns me, due to to IT band.  Then, it was off to see the statue of Johnny Kelley in Newton.

All in all, it was a pretty relaxing day, so it gave me a chance to think about the marathon a bit.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

As I write this, I'm sitting in a hotel room in downtown Boston, not more than 1/4 mile from the finish line of the marathon.  It was a very early start to my day today.  There's waking up at the crack of dawn, waking up at 0 dark 30, and then there's waking up in the middle of the night, which I did today.  My flight left at 6:15 AM, so I needed to wake up around 3:15 AM to get on the road, get my car parked, and make it through security with enough time to get some breakfast.  Needless to say, the puppies were not even awake.  They meandered outside after I roused them, but quickly returned to bed.  I made it to Sea-Tac in record time (around 40 minutes), got my car parked, and caught the shuttle to the airport.  I haven't been on a plane trip since they instituted the new body scans.  I felt like I should have at least gotten a kiss.  They even checked underneath my watch band.  Oh well.  Had a nice leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and coffee (patronizing Starbuck's), and got on my plane.  And sat.  Without moving.  Turns out we were going to be delayed a bit.  Since my layover in Chicago was 1 hour, I didn't sweat it too much, although I hoped that I would stay in the same terminal, since O'Hare is a huge airport.  The flight wasn't particularly eventful or memorable, although the United flight attendants definitely could use some personality lessons.  And they managed to bang my elbow and foot in one of their mad dashes with the drink cart.

Got to O'Hare in plenty of time, and, true to the Ling corollary, turned and walked in the wrong direction.  Here's my excuse:  we arrived at C-17 and my connection was at B-14.  I figured that I would need to follow the numbers to C-1 where there would be connecting corridor.  Of course, had I looked in the other direction, I would have seen the sign that said, "B concourse."  But anyway, I reached C-1 and it was a dead end.  Since when have airports created their terminals where the lowest number gate was at the end?  Hmmmph.  That was okay; it gave me a chance to stretch my legs, and I was pleased that my IT band wasn't complaining.  As I wandered through the airport, I looked for a pizza place that was selling slices of "Chicago-style" pizza.  Unfortunately, they were only selling whole pies, so I passsed on that.  I wasn't even really that hungry, but was thirsty, so I stopped and got some water and a banana (again patronizing Starbuck's).

I arrived in Boston around 5:00 PM local time.  The last two times I was here, it was a quick shuttle bus to the subway, and then a pretty straight shot to downtown.  This time, the instructions were to take a bus to the South Station, and then get on the subway.  For some reason, that was the recommendation from the MTBA, so I followed that.  I thought that maybe things had changed since I was here last in 2006.   I won't be doing that again.  I figured out the way I had done it before... after I had to change off the second subway to get to my hotel.  I had the whole "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" thing going today.

After checking into my room, I quickly changed to get in a short run.  I wanted to head to the Charles River to run.  The weather was great!  Upper 50's and sunny.  What a welcome relief to run in a t-shirt and shorts.  I ran along the river, crossed the bridge into Cambridge and ran by MIT.  There were a lot of runners out, most of them plugged into iPods.  I caught and passed one guy just before going on the bridge, and he picked it up to stay with me.  I could hear him huffing and puffing right behind me, so I picked it up to see what would happen.  He stayed with me, so I picked it up again.  I was feeling good, and I think it was because of the weather.  I crossed back over the bridge and headed for the Citgo sign.  What's the Citgo sign?  It's a huge sign in Kenmore Square along the marathon route that is 1 mile from the finish.  So, I wanted to get to the Citgo sign and run along the marathon course.  It turned out to be a very nice 5+ mile run, with my IT band acting up here and there, but not complaining too much.

4 days to go!

The Waiting Game

5 days to go.  It's raining again.  As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise."  Yesterday, I had a good run.  I say good, because my IT band only acted up a little bit.  And most importantly, it was actually nice while I was running.  I woke up and went to get a last massage before the race.  After that, my IT band felt great without any pain.  It tightened up a bit during the morning, but I set out at Noon for my run.   My schedule said 7 miles with 2 miles at marathon pace.  Well... considering my current plan is to run 7:30 pace (seems more reasonable given the condition of my legs and my training), I figured that this run should feel pretty easy.  My inability to pace showed through again.  After warming up at 7:51, I then proceeded to run 7:28, 7:18, 7:13, 7:27, then 7:39 and 7:37.  So, my two miles were significantly faster than marathon pace, and my IT band tightened up a bit more during the run.  I'm hoping that I'll run smarter in Boston, and that my IT band won't complain. 

No time to be (a) patient

The countdown continues:  7 days to go.  Since I was a bit whipped from the road trip this past weekend, yesterday was a day off, both to recover and to give my legs a chance to heal.  I'm kneeling at the altar of the almighty foam roller and TP roller this week, hoping that things will continue to improve.  A fairly easy 6 miles at Noon is on my schedule today.  Tomorrow is a massage and then a last tune up run with a few miles at goal marathon pace.  I joked earlier this year that my goal marathon pace is nearly my long run pace, so I'm hoping it will feel easy.  It had better feel easy!

The Final Countdown

8 days to go!  The taper starts in earnest.  Hmmm.  In order to taper, you need to start from a high amount of mileage.  Since I never really got to high mileage, it won't be much of a taper.  It's more of a rest and try to heal up.  My IT band is still a bit on the grumpy side.  I ran a track workout on Thursday which was 3 x 1600 at 5k pace.  I had planned on running the first one normally, then the second one backwards, and the last one normally.  Now, by backwards, I don't mean literally running backwards; rather, I mean clockwise rather than counterclockwise.  So, it's turns to the right instead of the left.  I figured that it would stress my IT band less.  Historically, I've nearly always run the "normal" way on the track.  After doing this my entire high school career, I found that I couldn't run as fast if I ran "backwards."  And so, after 30+ years of running on the track always turning to the left, it seemed as if I was doomed to run the Thursday intervals slowly.  I even contemplated doing them on the path in Fort Steilacoom park so I wouldn't have to turn, but I can't help running on the track whenever I get the chance.  So, after running the first one, and feeling some pain in my IT band, I steeled myself to run the second one, figuring that I would have a great alibi if I was slow.  Shockingly, I ran faster, and my IT band didn't complain.  One good turn (pun intended) deserved another, so I did the third one backwards as well.  I managed to descend that one, too.  Of course, I was starting from a relatively slow time, so descending was a good thing.   And... the added bonus was that it was sunny enough to wear sunglasses.  Will wonders never cease?

After a day off for travel to Bend, I did an easy 4 mile run on Saturday morning.  It was cold (30 degrees). And my IT band complained, even forcing me to stop and walk a bit when I was going down a hill and felt a really sharp pain in my knee.  Arrrgh!  Fortunately, it let up quickly and I was able to finish my run.  Then, I did some strides back and forth in front of Kenny's house.  I was imagining the dogs watching from the window, like they were watching a game of ping-pong:  "Look, there's Daddy... look, there he is again... and again...and again."

Relief! Finding out what IT(B) was that caused my knee pain

Yesterday was a day off from running.  It was a good thing, because my left knee was still hurting.  After trying to figure out what worsened the pain, I realized that it wasn't the menisci, since weightbearing did not worsen it.  I went to see my massage therapist to see if she could help.  Almost as soon as Amy started working on the area, she said it was my IT band. 

Guess it's a good thing that I don't make my living diagnosing myself.  After getting a lot of work on my left IT band, soleus, and hamstring (some that nearly brought me off the table-think Sigourney Weaver in "Ghostbusters"), my knee was nearly pain-free.  Yes!  Clearly, it was a direct reaction to my turned ankle.  Funny how my soleus didn't even bother me until Amy started working on it.  Of course, my right IT band was also a bit tight from my long run, too, but I was expecting that.  I'm hopeful that things will resolve by marathon day. 

In the meantime, I've ordered a foam roller to use (how many PT tools do I have at home?  Nearly enough to start my own clinic!)

A bad wheel

Today is a day off from running.  This is both planned and fortuitous.  The knee pain that I mentioned yesterday persists, and is both puzzling and troubling me:  puzzling because I can't exactly localize it, although I know how I did it; and troubling because... well, it's two weeks to the day before the marathon, and, last I heard, running involves two legs and not one.  I'm pretty sure that the knee pain was caused by turning my ankle twice while running long last weekend.  When I went on the track the following Tuesday, I could feel it towards the end.  And, as I was running yesterday, it started to bother me while I was running up Chambers Creek.  I couldn't understand this, since the pain was lateral, and I was running up the hill on the right side of the road; I know that runners are supposed to run on the left against traffic, but I'd much rather be running with traffic up a hill instead of against traffic (where cars are screaming downhill).  So, I usually stay on the right when going uphill.  Anyway, the camber of the road would put more stress on the medial aspect of my left knee, but it was bugging me laterally.  And when I came back down the same road (this time against traffic on the left), it really started to hurt.  Hmmmm.  Well, that made sense because the camber was now putting the stress laterally, and I was going downhill. 

I can't find an exact spot that says that it hurts "RIGHT HERE."  All I know is that something hurts in here:

I'm hoping that a day off with some stretching and a massage will help to calm it down. 

Can you tell I'm stressing about it, oh, maybe just a little bit?

The final long run

My last long run was today.  After some horrible weather on Friday, yesterday was dry but windy.  I had planned to run after the SST Social Bike ride (the first one in Dupont, so as the President, I felt obligated to ride), but Ryan's 1.5 hour baseball practice became a 3.5 hour ordeal, and I was the single parent to Ryan, so I had to opt out of the run.  I planned to run 16 miles this morning, checking in on Ryan after about 1.5 hours of it.  Today was a very pleasant, although chilly day, with the sun peeking out and a moderate wind from the west (the "back" part of my out-and-back was going to be harder)

It's funny how your perspective changes as you progress along a training plan.  I figured that the first part of my run would be along Grandview and would "only" be around 11.5 miles.  I was pretty close as it came out at 11.4.  How did I figure 11.5?  I guessed that it was longer than 11 but shorter than 12, so there you go.  Because it was 11.5 miles, I only took a gel flask with some Mountain Huckleberry Hammer Gel (my favorite flavor) and planned to stop at home for a quick drink before the second part of my run.  I wasn't sure where to go for the second part of my run, but decided to run the North Fort trails. Turned out fine, although my left knee started aching as I descended Chambers Creek.  I'm not sure whether it's my IT band, or whether I did something to my lateral meniscus, but it hurts when I extend it, stand on it, or walk on it.  Great.

As I was doing my run, this is how warped my thinking has become (long runs and marathon training does that to you, I guess).  I thought, "Maybe I should keep doing two hour runs every week during the triathlon season.  It would certainly maintain my run fitness and would be easy to fit into my Sunday schedule."  A sharp stick into the eye would take less effort, and probably be just as effective.  Just kidding.  I'll have to see how I feel after the marathon.

Now, the taper starts.  I hope to get healthy and recover for the next two weeks.  15 days to go!

Running with BOB

I had the rare opportunity to run with BOB yesterday.  Who is BOB?   A better question is:  What is BOB?  I'll give you a hint:  I run with BOB often when I'm in Arizona.  Yup, BOB is the big orange ball in the sky who put in a much needed appearance in the Pacific Northwest yesterday.   It was a nice day without rain, shockingly enough.  Yesterday was supposed to be an easy 5 mile recovery run, and for the most part, it was.  My legs felt sufficiently good that I picked it up towards the end; picking it up was relative, because when I looked at my watch at the end, it wasn't very fast.  This is starting to be a recurring theme, and I think I need to resign myself to it.  I'm rethinking my goal pace for the marathon, so that I can have a good race without blowing up too early.  Of course, I'm still hoping for my breakthrough, but I don't think it's gonna happen. 

I do think I am fortunate that I am still able to run.  Regardless of the pace, the fact that I'm still putting one foot in front of the other on a regular basis after 30+ years of running makes me feel like I've been pretty lucky. 

17 days to go!

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

For once, I decided not to procrastinate, and it worked out well.  Okay, when I don't procrastinate, things USUALLY work out well; the trick is to NOT procrastinate, and that's something I have difficulty with.  Perfect example is that I'm kind of cramming for my marathon.  Well, yesterday was supposed to be my track day.  I had planned on either heading over to the Fort Lewis track at Noon, or, if it was nasty outside, doing my intervals on (shudder!) the treadmill.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, my morning clinic ended at 1:30, so the Noon run was out.  I decided to wait until I got home and then head to the Steilacoom HS track. 

After working with Ryan on his music, Tracy and David got home, so I told them I was heading to the track.  There was a light rain falling, and I contemplated doing a bike trainer session instead and leaving the track for a later day, but, since I had heard that the weather was supposed to be really nasty for the rest of the week, I headed out.  The rain let up enough that I was able to do my intervals without getting too wet.  Traction was a bit on the iffy side, because I could hear my shoes squeaking a bit.  It's a poor excuse for running my 600's slow, but I'm sticking with it.  I got through my 5 x 600's and felt okay.  As I was jogging home, my left knee started tightening up a bit.  I figured it was due to the turned ankle (x 2) on Sunday, so I got home and iced it.  Since I didn't get my post-long run beer on Sunday, I helped myself to one, rationalizing that, even though it was a weekday, I earned one from Sunday's run as well as from my track workout.  I know that I shouldn't have to rationalize drinking one beer, but I usually don't drink on "school days."

When I drove into work this morning, I was happy with my choice of doing my track workout yesterday.  It's pretty miserable out today, with the wind whipping and the rain falling sideways.  I'm going to try and sit on my bike later today, and maybe even pedal a little bit. 

Less than 3 weeks left! Yikes!

Listen to the music

I did my long run yesterday.  Figuring that I would be running on my own for nearly 3 hours, I decided to bring my iPod along to keep me company.  I think the weather is just messing with me now.  On Saturday, I was just supposed to run an easy 4 miles.  There were showers all day, and not just the typical misty Spring showers.  No, there were torrential downpours mixed in, too.  I decided to run while Ryan was getting his baseball coaching.  As I got ready to start, there was another downpour, so I elected to wait for that to pass.  When it was over, I looked to the west and there looked like there was a break, so I headed out.  No sooner had I gone about 200 yards, when I started getting rained on.  Luckily, it soon stopped and I was rain-free for the rest of my short run.  That's what I mean by messing with me.  Doesn't seem to matter what the weather looks like; whenever I start running, I need to get rained on just a bit.

Not so with yesterday.  I pretty much got rained on the entire time.  Because I was starting out in the rain, I decided to head off into the trails where there would be some tree cover.  And I hadn't run on the trails in awhile anyway.  Tracy's last comment before I headed out:  "Don't sprain your ankle."  So, of course, within the first 4 miles, I turned my left ankle twice, because of rocks.  But, I've done thatso many times in my life that I just figured I'd keep going and it would be fine.  It was a sloppy slog, but I had my iPod, water, Hammer Gel (more apple cinnamon), and Endurolytes.  I passed Matt Ellis and a friend of his twice on the trails.  We were going in opposite directions, but they definitely looked more like "real" runners than I felt; once upon a time, I think my stride was that effortless... or maybe not.

So, 19 miles (it was supposed to be 20, but I got 19 in without doubling back and I decided that was good enough, especially with all the elevation changes and puddle-jumping that I did) and multiple songs later, I was done.  Fortunately, the rain never got too heavy, so I never got too soaked or cold.  It was ironic that one of the first songs that came on my iPod was The Doobie Brothers, "Listen to the Music," and one of the last songs was BTO's, "Takin' Care of Business."  Sometimes, just listening to the voices inside my head (my ears in this case) works!

Is it age or is it the miles?

Over the past two days, I have wondered:  how many miles can your body (especially your legs) tolerate?  There has been a thought that an individual only has a finite number of miles in his/her legs, and it is the cumulative mileage over years that causes the decline in performance.  That's why those people who were the fast runners in their early years may not be the fast runners in the upper age groups (with some exceptions, of course). Why am I thinking about this, you ask?  Simply put:  I'm getting slow.  3 days ago, I had a fairly easy run, cruising 10 miles at (what is now) a moderate pace, a hair under 7:40/mile.  Felt good, finished feeling fairly refreshed, etc.  Waking up the next morning, my legs felt a bit tired, but I knew that it would be an easy recovery run day.  Well... it was a slog of a run in the trails for 5 miles.  I never felt very good during the entire run, as my entire body felt "tight."  I finished with some strides, and that made me feel a little better, and left me looking forward to the next day's track workout.

Stepping onto the track yesterday, I felt okay.  Rarely do my legs feel bouncy anymore, but I've come to accept that.  What I'm having a difficult time accepting is the speed at which I now run intervals.  My previous quote:  "never did I think I would be working so hard to run so slow" was never as true as it was yesterday.   I keep hoping that my fitness will have a breakthrough, and, all of a sudden, I'll be running fast.  And I also hope that, since I'm training for a marathon, my foot speed is slower because my aerobic fitness is good.  Nevertheless, it's not pretty to go through a 400 in 90 seconds, feeling like I'm working really hard.  I got through my 4 x 1200's yesterday, which were supposed to be at 5k pace.  Based on my intervals, my 5k time is right around 6:15 pace.  Guess what?  My last 5k was at 6:20 pace.  Sheesh.  I guess I need to realize that maybe the miles have taken their toll.  My other thought is that I need to lose some weight.  Late night snacking has put a few pounds on, and, although I have a difficult time reconciling this fact, my metabolism has slowed down a bit.  So, maybe the goldfish and the pita chips will need to go away for awhile.

 I related a "fun" workout I used to do several (well, okay now it's like 15) years back, where I would do 400's descending by 1 second each 400.  And I would warm up by running the first one in 80, then start at 75.  And it wasn't hard.  I think I'm going to try to get some foot speed back after the marathon.  I don't think I can ever do that workout again, but maybe I can get faster.  Either that, or plan to spend more time on the golf course!

Another brick in the wall

Today was a day to "check the box."  My schedule called for a 5 mile recovery run with strides.  Tomorrow's run was a 10 mile run.  Since I am Attending tomorrow afternoon, I decided to switch the workouts.  That way, I would also get a semi-rest day before my next interval workout.  I was still a bit sore from Sunday's run (just another way that my body is telling me that I'm no longer young), but nothing that wouldn't go away after a few miles (at least that was my hope).  Clearly, as you train for longer events, you realize that the muscle fatigue and soreness is part of the process, and is just there to remind you that you are working your body.  And then you promptly forget this after the event is over.  The other thing that is pretty amazing is how quickly your body adapts to the stressors.  A 10 mile run early in my training program was long and tiring; today's run was simply a cruise, with virtually no perceived stress.  It gives me hope that my body is making the necessary adaptations to run the marathon in time for Boston.  That's why I call it "checking the box."  Some workouts are epic; some are for recovery; and some are just to put in the time.  Today was that kind of day.  And even though it was partly sunny, it wouldn't have been a springtime run in the Pacific Northwest if there hadn't been a brief rain shower.  Of course.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

A typical long run for me usually has several different phases.  Although not nearly as dramatic as my long-course races (where I cycle through the Kubler-Ross stages of grief multiple times), most of the time my long runs start out on a positive note.  Sometimes, I feel a bit worn down from the previous days' training, but figure that it will get better as I warm up; sometimes, I feel great and think that I want to run forever.  Yesterday, I felt surprisingly chipper, considering the previous day's tempo run.  My legs could feel just a bit of fatigue, but much less than I expected.  So, off I went on a planned 17 mile journey, carrying some Apple-Cinnamon Hammer Gel, Endurolytes, and water (no bonking for me today). 

It was the first day of Spring, and the weather, although blustery and a bit cold because of the wind, was dry.  I was hoping that it would stay dry for me for a change.  The wind was coming mostly out of the north, so it was going to be a cold one.  From my high school days, I remembered that it was always more pleasant to start off into the wind and return with the wind, so I decided to head north and run for awhile.  Figuring that one of my out-and-back courses would get me 15 miles, I realized that I would need to add a few more miles somewhere.  I thought about adding on a couple of trail miles at the end of my run, but then decided to add in the Soundview Trail by Chambers Bay golf course.  Nothing like throwing in a 250 foot elevation drop (and subsequent climb) in the middle of a long run to challenge the quads and make one wonder about his intelligence.  Still, I figured that if I could survive it, I would feel better about my fitness.  I also rationalized that, although the "out" part of my run was going to be hard because of a headwind, the return trip should be a literal breeze.  And I could look forward to a tailwind while I was running along the golf course.  I was partially right.

The "out" was hard, but not terrible.  The "back" was interesting; because of the tailwind, my stride was affected and I felt like I was being pushed along at a faster pace than I really wanted to run.  And the Soundview Trail?  Yikes!  Steep enough heading down, that I was punishing my quads to brake, and equally steep heading back up, so my hip flexors were suffering.  And there is a good news/bad news part of almost every run from home:  the good news is that the finish of every run challenges me and (I hope) makes me stronger; the bad news is that it is because I have to climb a 1 mile hill at the end. 

But, with the Chambers Bay loop added in, I did run my 17 miles, with a feeling of accomplishment due to the wind and the hills.  A day off today is going to feel good.

The road is long... with many a winding turn

 Over the past several years, I have used this phrase with more and more regularity:  "Never did I believe that I would be working so hard to run THIS slow."   I keep hoping that one day I will run fast again.  Sadly, today was not that day.  The other thing that I have noticed is that I have not felt very fluid when I am running fast.  Something always seems to be a little off.  Perhaps it is because the amount that I have been running in the past few years has decreased, or maybe I just haven't put myself into that uncomfortably fast pace often enough. 

Today was a tempo run.  It was supposed to be a tune-up race between 8-15k.  Because I could not find a race, and life was too busy to accommodate, I decided to run a tempo, trying to simulate a race.  I have never been particularly good at this, as I have a hard time pushing myself hard enough in a non-race setting.  Some things never change.  As I started on my warm up, the warm sunny weather that we were having disappeared quickly, and I started feeling the first few drops of rain.  What else is new?  I was better prepared for this today, wearing a wind vest, so I decided to push onwards and see if it let up or didn't get any worse (thankfully, it stopped).  Because of the Ling weekend activities, I was doing this run in Olympia, while Ryan was getting his baseball coaching.  The route was anything but flat and straight, but, since Boston is neither, it wasn't a big deal.  I used to think I was a good hill runner, but lately, it seems like I lose an awful lot of steam when the road turns up.  Anyway, I ended running 6 miles tempo at 6:51 pace.  I chose not to look at my watch, except to make sure that I ran enough.  My plan was to run around 1 hour total and I finished in 59:25, so at least I timed it correctly.

I keep hoping that things will start clicking soon.  I would even settle for April 18th.

Addendum:  Ryan's recital went very well.  Apparently, all of the extra practice (and angst) of the previous week paid off.  He appears to be someone who can put it all together when the pressure is on.  I don't know if that is a good or bad (does it make him more likely to wait until the last minute?) trait to have.

Stream of consciousness

I had a pretty good run yesterday.  11 miles at a moderate pace was on the schedule.  I don't even know what moderate pace is anymore.  Once upon a time, I could run and figure out my pace and distance pretty closely based on feel.  Now, I'm a slave to my Garmin, and I have no clue.  I chose to run a pretty typical (for me) route in and around Madigan.  As I was running down a trail, I realized that it was nearly springtime, and that the bears would be coming out of hibernation right about... now.  Last summer, when I was running down the same trail, the hairs on the back of my neck started standing straight up; within about 200 yards, I saw a fairly young black bear.  He looked at me... (he looked at me)... I looked at him... (I looked at him)... he sized up me... anyway, he scampered across the trail in front of me.  As I ran past the spot where I saw him cross the trail, I looked off to my right.  There he was, appearing to try to hide behind a pretty small tree.  It was pretty comical; I guess he figured that if he couldn't see me, I couldn't see him.  The only problem I had was that I was guessing his mama was somewhere in the area as well.  I didn't see any bears yesterday, which was a good thing, because I am not very fleet of foot at this time.  All of the longer distance stuff is killing my foot speed, which was already slowing down at an alarming rate. 

The sun was shining (kind of) when I started my run, and I thought, "What a welcome relief from my recent rainy runs."  Predictably, as I was finishing up the last few miles, the squall line, which I did not notice in the west, rolled in and it started raining on me (AGAIN!)  A few years ago, when I was training for an Ironman, it rained for 28 days in a row.  The record for the Seattle area was 32 days.  By the time we got to the  mid-20's, I figured that we might as well get the record.  Of course, it stopped a few days short.  All I remember was that just about every day that I went out to run that winter, it rained.  Kind of like this year.

Because it was St. Patrick's Day, I even wore a green shirt while I was running.  And I did have a Guinness last night to celebrate.  And yes, it tasted good.  By the way, I can write about more than running and beer; it's just that, for many runners, one begets the other, and I do enjoy moderate amounts of both.  But my face definitely turns redder after a beer than after running.

Going nowhere (relatively) fast

I love the track.  I know:  what kind of masochistic streak is inside me?  Stay with me here.  I love the track, because you can't fool it, can't lie about it, can't trick it.  If you run a 400, it's a 400, not 395 and not 405.  And if you run mile repeats, they're a mile (well, okay 1600m), and your splits don't lie.  Just like the clock (or watch) doesn't lie.  And I know the track.  I've been running around one for the better part of 3 decades.  I can run faster on the track than on the road.  I cannot run as fast if I run clockwise around the track instead of counterclockwise (left turns).  Now, I've never been really fast, so it's all a relative thing, and my times from my youth are definitely faded memories.  Nothing short of a miracle is going to make my times on a track go backwards.  But I still love the track.  Today was a track workout if you haven't guessed by now.  It was REALLY windy, and I was running 600's.  The first turn was crazy hard into a cross-headwind, then a tailwind down the backstretch, back into a headwind down the home stretch, back into the cross-headwind, and then a finish with a tailwind.  I finished my 5 x 600's just as the first drops of rain started.  Tomorrow is a cross-training day with my lonely bike and trainer (I say lonely, because I have not ridden it in several weeks).  I might have to brush off the cobwebs before I start!

There's one more thing:  I was driving home and was listening to sports radio as I usually do.  A mention was made of the 1993 NC State NCAA National Championship basketball team.  The conversation turned to Jim Valvano, as it invariably does.  I remember hearing his "Don't Give Up" ESPY speech and being particularly moved by it.  Here is one of his quotes, by which I think we should all live:  "To me, there are three things we all should do every day.  We should do this every day of our lives.  Number one is laugh.  You should laugh every day.  Number two is think.  You should spend some time in thought.  And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy.  But think about it.  If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day.  That's a heck of a day.  You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

5 weeks to go!

Not that I'm panicking again, but I should be on the downside of my training.  Notice the "should."   Last night, I looked at my shoes  from the Saturday downpour; after 12 hours on the shoe dryer and another 18 or so sitting in the garage, they were still wet!  Back onto the shoe dryer they went.  When I looked at the amount of rain that fell, only .3" was recorded.  Really?!  It sure seemed like a lot more than that.  Yesterday was a day off for me, so my body got a chance to recover.  Today was going to be an easy run after work, but I found out there were a couple of crises that needed my attention.  My boys are much less compulsive than I am.  With several days left until a big solo recital, Ryan is still trying to learn the music.  And David was supposed to play duets with him, but decided to start looking at the music today.  Now... I have always been able to sight-read my way through a lot of things, but that comes at the expense of my ability to play by ear.  Conversely, David can play nearly anything by ear, but his ability to read music, much less sight-read, suffers because of that.  So, as can be expected, the duets did not go so well.  Maybe the kids are learning to wait until the last moment from their dear old Dad.  After all, I am cramming for a marathon!

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Tomorrow's run was changed to today, because of life's busy-ness.  So, I decided to run to downtown Tacoma, where I would meet the family.  Part of this was to dispel the demons from my last attempted run from downtown, when I bonked so badly.  Unfortunately, yesterday's nice weather left yesterday, and I awoke to steady rain.  Figuring that I would be cold, I changed my original plan to wear shorts and put on some tights instead.  As it turned out, this was a wise decision.  I also packed my trusty Fuel Belt, which was wise decision #2.  After herding the dogs into their kennel, I headed off to T-Town.  As I ran along the water, I thought about how calm it looked; I had seen pictures of the earthquake and tsunami that had struck Japan yesterday, and was struck by the constrast.  I said a silent prayer for those that were affected by the earthquake and tsunami.  The rain was steady for the first few miles, and then it really started to pick up.  I remembered Carl Spackler's line from Caddyshack:  "I don't think the heavy stuff has started yet."  At one of the intersections, I watched the signal cycle through 3 times without giving me a "Walk" signal.  ARRGH!  A little jaywalking never hurt anyone, I guess.   As I crested the last hill out of University Place, I imagined that the amount of distance I had left was about the same as I will have when I crest the last of the Newtons hills AKA Heartbreak Hill.  That gave me a little boost of energy, as a mental image of that flashed through my mind. 

Most of my run was uneventful.  I did see Karen Ballard when I was downtown, as she was heading off to find some coffee after the St. Patty's Day Run.  She looked as wet as I did, and she was only out for a 5k!  I guess, once you reach a certain level of wetness, you're not going to get any wetter.  Although my run was a bit short at 15.3 miles, it was mission accomplished, and the demons of the last long run have been put to rest.

Maybe it was all a virus' fault

I'm now wondering if I was trying to fight off an illness over the past week or two.  Ryan was feeling sick yesterday, and then I started getting a scratchy throat and feeling very fatigued.  After a long night's rest (9 hours of sleep!), I awoke this morning feeling much better.  My run was cut short, due to a busy day at work and dinner plans, but I definitely felt better while running than I did a few days ago.  I ran about the same pace, but my effort was much less, and I didn't feel drained after the run.  Of course, it was only 8 miles, but still... I'm hopeful that things will continue to improve.  I had originally planned to run the St. Patty's Day 5k race in Tacoma tomorrow, but I decided that I need to run long instead.  So, it's a 20 miler planned, with the weather expected to be nasty.

I definitely will be bringing food and drink for the run.

Slogging through the miles

I must be getting old.  Well, okay, I AM getting older; that is a truism, and nothing I can do will reverse it.  But I'd like to get old a little bit more gracefully, and not trip and stumble into it.  Yesterday's run makes me feel like it's happening more like the latter than the former.  The plan was for 12 miles with 7 miles at half-marathon pace.  Sounded like a reasonable hard run, and I was feeling pretty good as I started out.  When I looked at my watch, though, it was feeling pretty hard to run at an easy pace.  I decided to just run 12 at long run pace.  And I kept getting slower and feeling worse.  I finished my run at a bit over 11 miles (loop course), and was pretty thankful for being done.  I seem to be getting slower and losing fitness, rather than gaining fitness.  In mid January, after being in Taiwan for nearly 2 weeks, I ran a 10 mile race at 6:45 pace, and felt pretty good, even negative-splitting the race.  Yesterday, I ran nearly the same distance at almost 1 minute/mile slower, and didn't feel like I could run any faster.  Between that run and my long run disaster from a couple of weeks ago, I'm starting to panic about Boston... more than a little bit.  I guess the good news is that I can still run a respectable race (relatively) if I run my long run pace for the entire marathon.  That, and it was relatively warm and sunny when I was running yesterday.  Well, today is my day off from running, and tomorrow is another day, so we shall see if things get better.

Has Spring sprung?

Daylight savings time is this weekend.  We get to spring forward, which means one less hour of sleep on Sunday.  Rats.  On the bright side (pun intended), this means that it will stay lighter longer.  On the down side, it will be dark in the morning for a little while longer.  But it means that we're on the way to warmer, sunnier, brighter weather (hopefully).  Yesterday's run was definitely one of the more pleasant ones of the year, weather-wise.  It was still light when I headed out at 5:00 PM for an easy six mile run.  After running through the tip of Fort Steilacoom park, I headed home for some strides.  All in all, it was a fairly easy running day, and the stress of the past two months has melted away.  Now, I just have to concentrate on (and worry about) the marathon.  If the above makes you think I'm obsessed with the weather, well, I'm not.  I'm just finding it harder to go out and do things when the weather isn't cooperating.  I guess it is too many runs and rides in the winter rain that has done it to me.  Cold is fine... snow is fine...cold rain?  Not so fine.

Wave 1 or Wave 2?  That is the question.  I just read about the decision to add a third wave to the Boston Marathon.  They're planning to break it up into three equal waves, with the exact cutoff between waves still to be determined.  Tentatively, they mentioned 3:22:42 as the cutoff, and since my qualifying time is 3:23:16, I'm either at the tail end of Wave 1 or at the front of Wave 2.  Does it matter?  I guess the biggest thing is to make sure I don't start out too fast, which has always been my problem.  We'll see.