Getting back to Boston

Routine 16 miler today from Murray Park to downtown and back to the park, but that's not the point. Today's point was about being there for someone.

You guys may have seen the news reports about the beautiful young TV anchorwoman who was beaten to death in her home recently in Little Rock. I never knew the late Anne Pressly, but one of her fellow reporters at Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate, is one of my running buddies. I saw Michelle last Saturday before the half-marathon, while Anne was still clinging to life, and she told me she had a lot of things to run out that morning. She, too, ran a PR in that race. A few hours later, Anne finally succumbed to her injuries.

This morning, I wasn't sure if Michelle would be out there for the Saturday Crackhead run. I hoped she would. I had e-mailed her earlier in the week to express my condolences and had not gotten a reply, which was completely understandable, and it also would have been completely understandable if she decided not to run. So I was glad when she pulled her car into the parking spot next to mine at 5:50 this morning at Murray Park. Then she told me she was also running 16 miles today, and that her normal Saturday running partner was out of town. That's it, I said to myself, I'm running with her. I bet she doesn't feel like being alone right now. Turns out I was right. Not only was she a friend and coworker of Anne's but she's also young and single, and she's still more than a little frightened that the perp is still at large.

So we set out together and ran four miles into downtown Little Rock, which was the first extended conversation we've had. We talked about Anne, and my time working for the same TV station 30 years ago as a statistician on basketball telecasts, and our performances in the half at Conway, and her feelings in the past two weeks since Anne was attacked. And she thanked me for the e-mail. Then, as we got into downtown, three cars pulled alongside us. It was Coach Tom and some of the other Crackheads, who drove down to join Michelle for the final 12 miles of the run. They parked and got out, and I could have gone on ahead, but I decided to stay with the group. And we ran 12 miles together.

When we finished, we walked around a bit to cool down, and Michelle again thanked me for the e-mail and for running with her. I told her that Crackheads look out for each other. My wife texted me to ask about the run, and I told her about running with Michelle, and she asked me to give Michelle her love and a virtual hug. So I did, along with a real hug of my own.

I feel much better about being there for a friend than I do about the run. I know Michelle appreciated it, and I know she and Tom and the other Crackheads would be there for me if I were in need. Crackheads really do look out for each other. I'm not a very social guy, but I value my membership in that band of nutcases. We're connected by a common obsession, but that obsession also connects us at a deeper level. We're linked by shared suffering, I guess, sort of what war veterans who faced death together share; obviously not to the level of those who have faced enemy fire, but those who have battled themselves and the frailty of their bodies and their desire to do anything except continue to put one foot down in front of the other.

Hadn't intended to run quite this late (finished around 10 p.m. local, which I guess would have been 11 p.m. LAST night), but here I am. GA/recovery on the TM, 9 miles, with a 400-meter surge thrown in every fifth lap largely to break up the monotony, then the last two laps were a surge at GMP. The electronic leash went off at the 5-mile mark; patient calling with yet another non-emergency, so that forced me to stop for five minutes and return the call. I don't see an emoticon button on the toolbar, but if there were, I'd be looking for :rolleyes:. 

Since I won't have a Saturday long run this week due to another trip up the Hill with Tyler, I'll bump a few more miles onto the week's shorter runs to semi-compensate, maybe get the week up to 62 or so. Then next week will have a 22 on Sunday and 17 on Saturday, so getting over 70 won't be much problem before the taper begins. Dadgum, are we already that close to tapering? Yikes.

Speaking of which, good news from the marathon people in Memphis. I was worried about being assigned to the wrong corral or wrong wave and not being able to run with the 3:30 pace bunny. No problems, according to the St. Jude people; I'm on my own in finding and lining up in the right corral for the 3:30 pace. 

Discovered tonight that a 10.25 mile run roughly equals one NFL first half. Began the run as the Steelers tried their onside kick to start the game, finished as the teams trudged toward the locker room at halftime. Those two events were 92 minutes apart. I'd planned to go 10, but kept running after the 10-mile mark until the halftime whistle blew (I do weird things like that sometimes).

In between, lots of bad offense, and a progression run to 8:41 pace with six strides thrown in at the end. Had a queasy patch in the middle as tonight's buffet dinner began to disagree with me, but got through that unscathed. Will try to get 60 miles in by Friday and then next week will be in the mid-70s before taper madness begins.

Didn't get to vote Saturday, so have to get up early tomorrow and get over to the polling place when it opens so I can vote on the way to work. Not going to share my politics with you, but I will say I think this is an extremely important election in a lot of ways. My son has already cast his first ballot and was proud to do so. Unlike my mom and dad, our family will not cancel out each other's votes.

Tough time on the VO2 max run tonight. The legs did not want to loosen up, the heater was on in the fitness center, I'm sweating like a cochon, etc. But I forced the legs to keep turning over through four 1200-meter reps at about 5K pace. Overall, the 10 miles took 88 minutes, even with longer jogs in between than probably Pfitz or Jack Daniels intended. But, hey, I did what I needed to do to get through it; if I'd taken shorter rests, I may not finish four full reps.

I'm probably going to be overtrained by the time I get to next Saturday, I suspect. Fortunately, I'll have 21 days to get over that.

Stayed up way too late watching the election results last night and had a very sluggish day as a result. Sluggishness carried over to the run. Can't recall when I took a walk break on a treadmill run, but I did tonight. I've decided I hate standard time. Dark at 5:30 stinks. Virtually no chance of doing an outside run due to the pancake factor (i.e., a car turns me into one). And running inside right now, even with the ceiling fan on full blast, equals mid-July levels of perspiration.

I'd have to go back through my training diary, which would take way more energy and concentration than I can manage right now, but I'm 95% sure without looking that this is the first time I've ever run 10 miles three consecutive days. I'm supposed to do another 10+ tomorrow, but not sure I can manage it.

Slow steady 12 on the TM tonight; just put it on 9:22 pace and ran and ran and ran some more. Then on 9:13 and ran some more. Total of 111 minutes for the 12 miles. Tomorrow's 8 is likely to seem SO easy. Sunday's 22, on the other hand, probably won't.

The kid is lobbying me to go to Fayetteville tomorrow night. I suppose I can run my 8, then change, pack and go. But I haven't quite given in yet. May have to see how I feel after work tomorrow.

Five miles on the TM at 9:00 pace, just to get in some miles before driving to Fayetteville. Then I'll do 3 or 4 in the morning at the hotel before we go to campus. This will be my first 7-day running week in memory, but hopefully doing Fri-Sat easy will help the legs recover before Sunday.

Also ordered tickets to see Spamalot next month. As a confirmed Knight (pronounced kuh-NIG-uht) of the Holy Grail, can't resist.

Well, the hay's in the barn, as they say in Lower Arkansas. The last long run before Memphis, which went great for 16 miles, then... Now 27 days to sharpen, taper and worry.

First, about yesterday. For some reason, the hotel workout room was closed. Tried twice. Could have run outside, but didn't know the area or have my Garmin. So I decided to skip the little 4.5 mile jog I'd planned and just take my kid to his tour of the UA engineering program. It was fun watching him. He's excited and apprehensive at the same time. I think it's sinking in just how much college is going to be outside his little comfort zone. Also had a little surprise for him: I'd almost forgotten that my dad was named to the Arkansas Academy of Mechanical Engineers, almost a hall of fame for MEs in the state. Less than 100 members from what I could see, and he's one. His picture is on the wall along with all the other academy members at the ME building, and I got to show it to Tyler.

 So we got home around 7:45 p.m., and I hadn't slept well for two straight nights, so I started a load of running clothes in the washer, stuck them in the dryer when they finished and went to bed. Alarm goes off at 4:50, and I've got a splitting headache. So I reset the alarm, rolled over and went back to sleep for a half-hour, hoping the HA would subside. It did, a little, and I got up, did my usual waffle pre-run breakfast, and headed downtown to run. Got on the road a little before 6:30 and just decided I'd run how my body told me to run, not looking at the Garmin or anything, just run. The headache was gone by now. And that went real well until the 16-mile mark, which I reached at probably 9:20 pace, when I stopped at my stash of Gatorade to refuel and stretch. The stretching didn't help, and from then on, I was in pretty much pain -- hip flexors, IT band, ankles, butt, knees, you name it, they all alternated. I probably ran 21.5 plus of the total, which came out to 22.4 on the Garmin. Then I walked around downtown for 20 minutes eating and drinking, drove home, drank some more, did an ice bath and then sat down to do this blog.

So the taper begins tomorrow, although I'll still total 70-plus this week due to long runs on Sunday and Saturday. Back off from there, and try not to get too paranoid about the twinges and aches. Now, I'm going to bed. 

Good, solid, uneventful 9.45 on the TM tonight. I was surprisingly unaffected today after pounding out 22 yesterday; very little pain, not much limping. My back was a little stiff, but that has nothing to do with 22 miles.

Anyway, the run tonight was just a recovery run, ramping up to 8:30ish pace for the last two laps. No major twinges. The Asics are doing all right now that I have thicker insoles to keep my lateral malleolus from being jammed into the edge of the right shoe. But the new adidas, which I wore yesterday, will definitely be my race shoe, especially with use of the toe condoms to protect the old hammers from blistering.

So another 9 tomorrow with 5X600 of VO2 max intervals thrown in. I probably could have done the intervals tonight, but I said "Nah, let's give the legs a bit of a break."

VO2 max night on the treadmill tonight -- 5 X 600 at about 6:50 pace, mixed into a 9.5 mile run. Not sure if it's really getting easier or if I'm just getting better at blocking out the pain. Maybe a little of both. I know one thing -- 6:50 may or may not be my optimal VO2-max pace, but it's definitely a solid side-stitch pace. Had a couple of those tonight. Again was able to deal with that by adjusting my breathing pattern, but I'd rather not have to do that.

IIRC, only two more VO2-max sessions before Memphis. The days really are ticking away; 25 and counting.

Progression run to MP + 5% on the TM, then 6 X 100 strides, then a lap of "warmdown" at MP. Total exactly 75 minutes, or exactly 9:00 pace average. Felt pretty easy, and not really tired afterward.

Routine recovery run, 8.19 miles in 74:59, spiced up by new paranoia as I felt a couple of new twinges along the left tibia (stress fracture?) Frankly, it will take more pain that that to sideline me now, and the twinges subsided.

Running 17 on Saturday with Michelle, my TV-reporter friend. There's a benefit Friday night in honor of the murdered anchorwoman at Michelle's station, and I figured Michelle would attend, so I was surprised to hear she planned to run at 5 a.m. Saturday instead of 6. Maybe she's skipping the benefit after all. Might be too soon for that for her. And no, they still haven't caught the killer.

Did the Cammack Village loop from the state Capitol today. Not an easy run, as Cammack is about 150 vertical feet above the Capitol and you go up and down a lot of hills once you get up there. Took it fairly easy for the first 8 miles or so, then kinda put the hammer down once I headed back down Kavanaugh; miles 11-14 were all under 9:00, as were 17-17.29. I can always seem to pick up the pace at the end no matter how good or bad the run was.

Early miles were slow in large part because I ran with Michelle and Michael. They're getting faster, but they're not there yet :) . After mile 10, they stopped for a water break and I kept going and accelerated. 

Anyway, the taper has now begun. Three weeks from this moment (8:45 a.m. CST) I'll be on the course at Memphis, and hopefully on my way to Boston. 

I'm gonna run later but decided to put a few thoughts down this morning.

First of all, I've been sleep deprived for some time. Don't think it's because of running; I get stiff lying in one position whether I run or not, and have to wake up and reposition, then there's the old BPH rearing its ugly head (if you're not familiar with BPH, and you're a male, count yourself lucky, but know it's coming your way). And I do need more sleep than a lot of 48-year-olds might, always have.

Anyway, yesterday I kind of hit the wall. Took a nap from 9:30 to 11:00 after my run, then took another one from 4:30 to 6, then went to bed at 10:30 and slept until 8:30 a.m. That means I slept for 13 of the 23 hours. When I stay in bed that long, I wake up with a headache. Don't know why, but I do. And I realized it had been a LONG time since I woke up with a too-much-sleep headache; the headache I had last Sunday morning wasn't one of those. But now that I caught up on my snoozing, I do feel better.

I think I will take advantage of the week off before Memphis to make sure I'm well rested. That may be a key for me. Instead of getting up at 7 to get ready for work, get up and do a morning run, maybe take an afternoon nap, then I can go to bed earlier instead of having to do an evening run. My schedule would be much different if there weren't the little issue of having to work for a living...

I think if I were among those who didn't have to punch a timeclock five days a week, I would actually be able to pursue BOTH of my obsessions -- running and golf. Run, hit balls, maybe play nine holes on a regular basis, an occasional 18, maybe go do some intervals in the evening. Right now, there's just not enough energy (or daylight) to run 50-70 mpw and spend any time on golf.

Also, I would like to incorporate more crosstraining if I had time, particularly weightlifting. If there's been something I thought I needed to do in this training cycle and didn't, that's it. Our little fitness center has been invaluable (free access to the TM seven days a week), but it doesn't have much in the way of lower body stuff. I do a little upper body work, which helps some. I would have killed for access to a leg press machine and a hip extension machine -- but I wouldn't pay for it or drive several miles to get it, I guess. I think that's what I have needed to incorporate in my training, to get my glutes and hamstrings as strong as my heart and lungs are. I very rarely get out of breath, except when I'm running intervals, but my legs tend to give out. If I had a bicycle (or a place to keep one), all the hills around here would probably have helped me develop those muscle groups as well.

We keep talking about getting a family membership to a city-owned fitness center in Little Rock which has weights, an indoor pool, an indoor jogging track and a basketball court. Perhaps we'll finally pull the trigger on that and I can include that in my training program for Boston....

Finally, the run. Started off really slowly, legs felt good, so I cranked it up pretty good, got to MP with a mile to go, then with 0.5 to go, blasted it up to MP - 10%. I'm trying out a little mantra, sort of a phrase to mentally crack the whip over my head, and at least for a 1600-meter surge, it worked pretty well. Seven miles in 64:11 overall.

Originally scheduled to do a slow 12 tonight, but I didn't get home from work until after 6:30, then had to make a store run, make dinner and THEN run. Twelve miles was just not going to work under those circumstances, especially since the TM room closes at 10. So instead of a slow 12, I did a fairly quick 7, progressing to 8:20 miles and then with seven strides at the end. The 12 now comes tomorrow, when I won't have to go do a pump fill at a hospice. She says she has about six months left; I don't think I believe her. But I've had quite a few patients pass away in the last couple of years. Cancer, heart attacks, mainly. This one is cancer too. Hopefully none of them died because of something I did, but you're never quite sure in this business. I know every time I fill a pump I could kill this patient if I screw up.

Now that I'm thoroughly depressed...

Don't know if I can really describe tonight's run as 12 "easy" miles. Did I get to marathon pace? No. Was it easy? Not a chance. Ran the last 10 miles at better than 9:00 pace, and averaged 8:50, which is MP + 10%. Push, push and push some more. If the goal of tapering is to decrease mileage but not intensity, well, tonight had the intensity.

Ah, the joys of being on call. After my wife kept me up an hour longer than I wanted watching reruns of "According to Jim," the medical exchange decided to become my alarm clock at 6 a.m. Then again at 6:30, in case I wasn't completely awake. Seems our schedulers forgot to notify the hospital that we planned to do a procedure there at 7 a.m. today, and when the patient arrived, they're like "who is this guy and why is he here?" So to answer those questions, they called me. Poor guy did not get his procedure, and the boss had the scheduling girl in his office when I got to work this morning. No pink slip, alas.

Anyway, decided on a recovery run tonight with tempo run tomorrow. The legs were a little slow to respond, but did better as I stepped up the pace later in the run. Finished up 6 miles in exactly 56 minutes, which is a good recovery pace for me.

Good solid MP/LT run (pace was just a touch faster than MP, so I guess you could stretch it to LT) for five miles, with two warmup and one cooldown. Last significant tempo run before the race. I thought it would be more difficult on me than it was, since I was kinda dragging after work and did not have anything to eat for more than 5 hours before the run. It took the warmup and a mile at MP to really get going, but after that it went pretty well and I really didn't have to push all THAT hard to maintain for 40 minutes.

Ordered a pair of red RaceReady shorts, which I may or may not wear in Memphis. Hopefully they arrive by Monday and I can try them out a couple of times to decide if they make the raceday cut. 

Very, very good run. Nice shot of confidence with two weeks left in the taper.

Easily the coldest morning so far this morning, cold enough that my wife questioned my sanity in running with the sniffles I've had this week. It was 25 degrees when I met Michelle and Michael at the Surgical Hospital. A friend of Michelle's from Dallas was supposed to meet us there but didn't make it, and we left at 5:10 or so (she showed up later, I think, and ran with the Crackheads). Clear, no wind, just cold. And we set off slowly, well over 10:00 pace. Legs felt good. Through the hills, around the Joe K. Poch Loop, back down to the river, still generally a slow pace with a little bit of surge on the loop.

Then, shortly befre I was supposed to turn around and leave those other two (they were going 18), Michelle and Michael both slowed to a walk, and I just kept going. Then I accelerated up the hill past the wooden bridge, hit the turnaround at the quarry, and kept going, hard. Michelle said stuff like "nice run" when I saw them again a few hundred yards later. Michael said "have I told you how much you suck?" which made me crack up. I suck to him because I'm a lot faster than he is, and he knows it, and I know how hard I worked to get this fast. In his abusive way, that was a heckuva compliment.

Anyway, back down the hill to the wooden bridge, over the bridge, past the golf course and the concrete bridge and the dog park and the soccer field, and I'm still running fast. At the soccer fields, the 12-milers come back from their Poch loop, and now I'm passing them left and right. Past the field where the Boy Scouts camped and the skunk was ready to blast me a few weeks ago. Turned on to Campbell Lake, still passing people left and right, and still going hard. But a comfortable hard. I'm not straining at all, just smoothly running at MP, maybe a little faster. Turned off Campbell Lake, up the path to the back of the hospital, around the hospital and back to the car. Last four miles plus at marathon pace. And it was still 28 degrees when I got through, after 2:33 and 15.14 miles.

About 45 miles this week as the taper really kicks in. I can definitely feel the difference now. My legs do not feel like I ran 15 this morning, much of it hard.

Took today off. Orthopedically, I was fine after yesterday's run, but two and a half hours running in subfreezing weather for the first time in eight months seems to have done a number on my sinuses. I went to bed a little early last night and went straight to sleep, but then the drainage kicked in as my bedroom cooled off (the single HVAC vent in my bedroom is at the other end, and there's a large window by my bed, so we get a lot of solar heating in the summer and the room gets really cold in the winter). Then the drainage triggered my asthma, which has not bothered me for months and months, but I was really having to make extra effort to breathe and I was audibly wheezing. It got a little better when I sat upright, so I spent much of the night on the Internet instead of in bed. When I finally went back to bed at 6:30 a.m., I "napped" until 10:00. But the drainage continued off and on all day, and I just decided not to run today. Maybe I'll make up the 6 miles I had scheduled by spreading them out over the rest of the week, maybe I won't (it is taper time, after all).

Strong progression run to MP + 8%, then seven strides at nearly 9 mph. Nine would have been an all-out sprint a year ago, maybe six months ago. Tonight it just felt strong, like I might put in a mid-race surge. Could have gone farther -- or faster -- without much difficulty. I added in a mile and a half of the run I skipped last night, and will probably do the same for three other runs this week. Took me 75:50 to go 8.5. Sub-76 used to be a good 7 miles for me, then 7.5, then 8. In the half at Conway, it was probably my 9.5 split. Hopefully it will be my 9.5 split in Memphis.

Twelve days and counting...

Started out as a recovery run, but kept cranking up the TM as I went and the last mile was darn near MP. I'm getting more and more comfortable at that speed, which is a good thing with 11 days to go. Wound up with seven miles in 62:56.

Wednesday's my last day of work before the race. I'm hoping that not being on my feet at work for nine days before the race will be another source of rejuvenation, if that's the right word.

Last VO2 max run of the cycle -- 3 X 1600 at 6:45 pace, which is faster than my present 5K PR pace. Legs did OK, but for some reason the sweat glands decided to let loose. Last two miles or so I couldn't see for the sweat, which is another reason I like TM running -- I don't have to see where I'm going. Being blinded by sweat when running on Little Rock's infamously uneven sidewalks/streets is a recipe for sprained ankles or worse.

The local Road Runners Club is having a Thanksgiving morning fun run tomorrow. I may go, or I may not. I'll run tomorrow, sometime, but that fun run starts nine and a half hours from now and that just may be a little too soon, even for a light five-mile jog. I have to remind myself that the important run now is 10 days away in Memphis, not a crack-of-dawn trot around the Heights.

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the blogosphere!

Didn't get up for the 7 a.m. fun run, so I took advantage of the fact that our family dinner will  be this evening to accommodate my med-student nephew to get in a midday run -- OUTSIDE! No treadmill for me today, nosirree.

Had the River Trail to myself from a running standpoint, although I got buzzed by plenty of cyclists as usual. Weather was nice, if a little warmer than I would have liked (around 60), sunny with a bit of a breeze. Ran from the bike rental shop past the quarry and halfway down the hill, then turned around and returned. At the Main Street bridge, I took advantage of the flat grassy area between Broadway and Main and ran my strides there on the grass, eight of them in all, then jogged back to my car. Total 7.95.

It had only been about 14 hours since my VO2 max run, and the legs were still a little tight (lack of prerun stretching didn't help either). But the legs loosened up as I ran. In spite of the early soreness, I maintained sub-9 pace for all seven miles of the initial run without any undue strain.

Want time on my feet in training? Spent nearly four hours on my feet at the football game yesterday. And well worth it. The looks on the LSU fans' faces across the aisle after we scored the winning touchdown were priceless. Tyler got worn out at work and didn't go, and Pam didn't go because it looked like (and did) rain. Didn't matter. Had a blast.

Weird to think, though, that the next college football game I attend, I'll drive to, and my son will WALK to from his dorm.

Now to today's run. Rain was gone, but was cold and kinda blustery. Ran in my track pants and neon green tech shirt. Just tried to maintain a steady pace, but once we got about halfway and I noticed that there was a pack of about 10 runners a block ahead of me, I set the goal of catching them. Caught all but one of them, too, once we got over the Broadway Bridge into NLR. Gradual progression wasn't really the plan, but that's how it worked out, and the last mile was in 8:12. I might take an 8:12 final mile in seven days in Memphis. Average 8:56 for 12 miles.

Hard to believe now that the training is about over and I'll be on course in exactly seven days. If I'm not ready to run a good race now, I'll never be. BQ? Well, I'm gonna take a shot at it.

Cap off the month with a five-miler recovery run on the TM. Don't know if I would have run today without the treadmill -- it was cold, wet, blustery and nasty today. If marathon day turned out like this, I might think twice about running. But I finished the month over 250 miles for the first time.