New Year's Weary

I was due to run 6 today.

Its been a long year and we are now creeping to the end. The year has been challenging professionally and given me more growth in the last 6 months than in the last 6 years. While I embrace the opportunity, it still takes its toll. Privately, I have seen family relocations, job changes, job role changes, disease, and even death. I have also had the opportunity to mentor a beginning runner through her first marathon. This last experience is my happiest for the year.

I was due to run 6 today, but I'm weary. I have the next 4 days off and tomorrow is another day.

Slush

We had a light snow last night. The streets are snowy and slush; its 17F, no wind. I didn't bother with hi-tech fabrics, other than a synthetic base layer, prefering to run in sweats. Fridays are my tempo run days, but not today. Fast running on potentially icey roads is just not safe. I left my watch home.

I did a zen-like shuffle through the snow in the pre-dawn light.

Mission accomplised.

Resistance

As the winter begins, I find my mind resists going out for those 18 F windchill runs. My mind's reluctance meets up against the absolute imperative to go run those 6 miles. I go, despite my yearning for a soft warm bed.

3 miles to warm up, then 3 miles of hill repeats. Despite feeling a little residual heaviness from Sunday's 21-miler, I can keep my stride crisp and quick. It is an empowering feeling to glide up the side of Mt. Tendinitis and down the other over and over. On the fourth ascent, the sun crested the ridge to the east and pierced through the barren trees. I was bathed in golden light: an iconic running moment.

Mental will is like muscle. Unused, it atrophies; used, it grows.

Rewards

I perform my long runs as a set of 3 mile loops in my neighborhood. The route is a mix of running along the road and on trails through wooded commons areas, including sections along  a small pond and a brook. I do one loop clockwise and reverse direction for the second. At each return to home, I have a bottle of Gatorade to sip before starting off again. The result is that I think of an 18 mile run not as 6 consecutive loops, but 3 long out-and-backs.

In winter, I run on memory of where I am in the looping pattern, not based on split number on my watch. The cold wind keeps my eyes too watery to read my watch and I also have no desire to bare skin peeling back layers of clothing to get to my watch.

Today, I ran....and ran. When I finished and came inside, Denise remarked that I'd taken a long time for 18 miles. Starting at 6:30 AM, I was astonished to realize it was 10 AM. Upon scrutinizing my spit times on my watch I realized that I had done 7 loops, not 6. I accidentally did 21 miles vice my planned December long runs of only 18.

The brought me substantial gratification. The weather was fairly tough this morning: 31 F with blustery winds bringing the wind chill down to 20 F. In my 6th year of running, at the age of 55, I ran 21 miles accidentally. This is reward.

Cold

It was 21 F this morning, my first run in the twenties this season. My perceived level of exertion was quite high. I couldn't tell if it was from the cold or from the consequtive days of running and lifting.

It doesn't matter. The body, and mind, adapt.

Heading Out

Its 5:40 AM, now, 45 F....a far cry from the hard freezes of the past mornings. The moon is hazy from the clouds and light fog. When I step outside, I can smell the moisture, possible only because of the warmer air. I am going to have a good run today, probably do some repeats over Mt. Tendinitis.

The run did not go as easily as expected. I was a little tired from yesterday's deadlifts, though my stride was crisp and quick.

The morning is the image of fall, black trees stretching long, bare branches up to a sky made gray by the clouds and pre-dawn light. It reminds me of the desolate, lonely art of Evard Munch. The English Puritans saw Satan in the shadows of this desolation. One hundred and fifty years later, the American Transcendentalists saw the face of divinity in the same view. I incline more to the latter's disposition.

Strength

Strength training will make you a stronger, faster, more injury free runner. I do it for these reasons and for aesthetic ones. I also feel the imperative to continue to match the 20 plus pull up ability I had in the Marines.

To save time and focus on deep strength, most of my movements are compound. This involves a lot of heavy chins, pull ups, and rows. I've gripped the bar in the palm of my hand all my life, making for major calluses. Recently, I've taken to holding the bar by my fingers. It has lessened my ability to perform repetitions....temporarily, I  presume.

As a marathoner, my traps, shoulders, and arms are less tired during long runs because of my strength. I believe my leg strength makes me a faster runner and that my core strength protects me from injury.

Today, no running, only a barbell workout.

Trails

I took Denise around the Perimeter Trail in Greenbelt Park today. Since beginning running, we've run almost exclusively on asphalt. The Perimeter Trail is fairly rugged ranging from flat sections covered with a blanket of soft pine needles to steep ascents up rooted embankments and hillsides. The sense of isolation is profound. While the Perimeter Trail is a true soft surface trail, our two years of running the Anacostia Trail System has sensitized us to the fact that these trails can exist in highly urbanized contexts, yet allow the walker or runner the perception of being utterly remote. This feeling is enhanced on the Perimeter Trail as it is rough and rustic.

Trail running is a good addition to a road running program. The non-stop changes in direction and unsure footing force the runner to use muscles in his legs and core that tend to be underused by running solely on hard surfaces. This greater resulting strength in core and peripheral muscles creates a stronger, more resilient, runner. Unfortunately, the run backfired for Denise. The footing instability aggravated her sciatica and she spent a painful afternoon nursing it. 5.2 miles was, perhaps, an overly aggressive introduction to trail running for her.

Long Run

After the MCM, we had two weekends of family emergencies. We were finally home this weekend. Since I'm no longer mentoring Denise through her long runs in preparation for her marathon, I ran alone this morning.

My neighborhood run is a simple and challenging 3 mile loop, half on roads, half on paved trails. I alternate clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. My mind decomposes the run into 3 out-and-back runs, rather than 6 laps. I stopped for a gulp of Gatorade at each lap, the bottle concealed in our mail box.

I started the run to the sound of a Great Horned Owl somewhere in the woods around the pond at the neighborhood's heart. I ended it to the sounds of 3 hawks in various tree tops and the endless chatter of robins, blue jays, and grackles. In the beginning, I was tired and sore from yesterday's trail runs. At the end I was nearly exhausted from the cumulative effects of 2 days' running and the cold.

It was great to do it again.

Happy Trails

This morning, Denise and I ran with the PGRC. The North Face Endurance Challenge advertising finally influenced me and we opted to run part of the Greenbelt Park Perimeter Trail for roughly a 4 mile run. Trail running is very different from the roads. Its about mud, leaves, and whatever the runner encounters in that more natural setting. I had a great time and plan to incorporate 5 or so mile's of trail running every Saturday in my training week. Denise was less enthused, partly because she is adverse to Greenbelt's challenging hills. I keep advising her that the hills are all about gaining strength at this point of her running evolution.

As luck would have it, I wound up running another 4 miles of trails, this time in Catoctin Mountain Park in hiking boots, later that day. My boots are heavy and the trail is rough. I was super tired by the end.

The Front

The winds blew away the rain clouds leaving a cloudless sky overnight. Its 55 and blustery; I'm surprised its not 45 or 35. As my run progressed, I could see the sidewalks and roads dry in the wind.

I did 6 easy ones today, having a bit of DOMS from yesterday's hills.

Runner's High

I don't put much stock in the runner's high.

I ran 6 miles today, under what some would think were unpleasant conditions. We had thick fog this morning to complement the pre-dawn 48 F drizzle. I ran 3 warm-up miles quietly in the dark, admiring the reds, golds, and browns of the leaves through the moist haze. At mile 3, I began to run my hill repeats on Mt. Tendinitis. I had abandoned hat and vest back at my house because I was too warm. It began to rain more heavily. By mile 4, on my 4th crest of the hill, I felt my legs and pace were particularly strong. Facing a glow in the east, with rain water trickling down my face, the thought came over me: "This feels really, really good."

It did for the remainder of the day.

10/30:

Washington traffic was a mess Saturday with the coincidence of Howard University Homecoming, the Rally to Restore Sanity, and the Marine Corps Marathon Expo scheduled for Saturday. We passed Howard University just as the streets were closing for the parade. Not knowing the area well, it would have taken us hours to detour around the festivities. We made it down to central Washington only to find long lines for parking. The crowds were an interesting mix of Jon Stewart party-goers and endurance athletes.

The MCM Expo at the Washington Convention Center was the biggest ever. We spent at least 3 hours winding our way through the booths. I was disappointed not to encounter Kathrine Switzer this year. A chat with her and Roger Robinson had become annual events.

The focus this year was on Denise and her first marathon. To this end, we did not linger at the expo, tiring her legs. Instead, we strolled the three blocks over to the Wok and Roll for a Chinese and sushi lunch. In the quest to increase her carbohydrate intake for she had a noodle bowl; I indulged my sushi desires.

The Stewart/Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity" increased the crowds to the point where DC was very congested. The dissenting party-goers and endurance athletes contrasted strangely, one group focused on the present merriment, the other one tomorrow's challenge. Roughly a third of the MCM competitors are first time marathoners. Their presence is the culmination of months of training in the heat, the dark, in all kinds of weather. Fate can peevishly upend their efforts in a single stroke with a twisted ankle, a cold, or a spot of particularly bad fall weather. Yet they come to test themselves against an unforgiving distance and an uncompromising measuring standard.They eschew the mediocrity of self-indulgent sloth for the uncertainty achieving a public goal and the certainty of the personal transformation in the that occurs in its pursuit.

10/24: Only a 10k

I took Denise for 6 today on a beautiful fall day. Years ago, Gatorade ran an advertising campaign aimed at endurance athletes for its endurance athletic beverage. The by-line read "If you use the words "Only a 10 K" in that order....", then you need their special Gatorade formula.

Denise has become one of those athletes. The 6-miler was her last Sunday run before her marathon. As such, it was intended to keep her body's fitness stimulated but not taxed. This allows her to continue her recovery and strengthening from all those months of long miles.

10/19

Today on our 4.3 miler, Denise and I came across an accident in our neighborhood. On the road - shall I call it raceway? - out the development, a lady had just crushed in her front end on one of the pear trees. The airbag had gone off. She was uninjured, sitting on the curb while a policeman filed his report. It is fortunate she hit a tree: the corner also had children waiting for the school bus in the pre-dawn darkness.

Maybe it is small of me, but I can't say I had any sympathy for her. At 6 AM in our neighborhood, the sidewalks are populated with kids going to school and suburbanites walking dogs, walkers, and runners. While the speed limit is 25 mph, most vehicles come through at much higher speeds. She went off the road, unable to handle a bend. She could easily have killed someone vice demolishing her car against a tree. The neighborhood loses one or two pears elining the drives and courts to cars that go off the road, jump the curb, and smashes into a tree every year or so.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Redemption

Denise had such a lousy 24-miler last Sunday, she really wanted to get it right one last time before the MCM. We did 20 miles today, carefully carbing up, hydrating, and resting yesterday. It worked really well. She had her best long run ever. It was a perfectly planned and executed run in a gorgeous Maryland fall day.  This is a much better "last run in preparation for my first marathon" memory for her. I'm very gratified for her.

Dues

It has been a tumultuous 6 weeks. Denise flew to Florida for her "good bye" party at the Tampa company she started working for 10 years ago after getting her MBA; we flew to Chicago to run the Chicago Half Marathon and sightsee a few days; we travelled to Binghamton, N.Y., for a medical emergency, and return to run 21.8 miles that Sunday; finally, she became ill with strep and spent a weekend very sick.

This weekend, I volunteered yesterday to be "sweeper" after a local 5k. We both spent a lot of time on our feet in the early fall Maryland weather helping prepare for the race and walking the 3.1 miles of the race with the last participant. We know now, this was too much time on Denise's feet.

This morning, I coached and mentored her through 24 miles, travelling from south-east College Park's Lake Artemesia to just short of the Beltway north-west of Silver Spring and back. She was not totally recovered from her illness or the previous weeks' stresses. The distance pummelled her physically and mentally. What I had hoped would be a celebration of her last, longest run, and cumulation 6 months' slow, incremental, training became instead a near death march.

She finished her 24 miles, though it was not pretty. Now, she will taper slowly downward  into her 26.2 mile effort. Our plan is that 3 weeks after doing 24 miles with little rest from the stresses of life and training, she can do well at 26.2 after 3 weeks of careful stress management and decreasing running miles.

Transformation

I mentored Denise through a 21 mile run yesterday. She came through phenomenally well. Her journey to marathon distance has brought a transformation in body and mind. In body, she has hardened and curved and rolled back decades of aging. What has really been amazing to me is her mind transformation. Her success at distance has bred a determination and transformation in mind to succeed that is quite opposite to the woman who used to get annoyed at me when I would quote Tere Stouffer Drenth's remark that success at the marathon depended simply upon the dictum: "All you have to do is do the miles." Denise weathered through the summer's 90 degree challenge and now basks in the strength of body and mind that can easily take her through 21 miles now, in the cool of the arriving fall.

At 21, 23, and ultimately 26.2, when I grasp her hand as she crosses her milestone, I kiss the hand of a woman who willfully transforms herself into someone better than she was.

Its 4:45 here in Chicago; we've been up since 4 sipping coffee and eating peanut butter on Fox and Obel whole wheat bread. Denise and I have travelled to the Windy City to run the Chicago Half Marathon. Denise has yearned to do this race since she first saw Spirit of the Marathon and the participants running the Chicago Distance Classic.

We met some protagonists of the U.S. running scene a the Expo. Jenny Hatfield is a coach, blogger, and advisor here on active.com. Dane Rauschenberg is an marathoning and ultra-distance author and athlete. Michael Sandrock is a running author, columnist - we first see him when he opens the running movie Showdown.

Well, breakfast has just opened downstairs. Need to go eat a bit more.

One other thing:

On this day, 2500 years ago, a small Greek army face a Persian force 2 to 5 times its size on the plane at Marathon. After a face-off of a couple of days, the Athenians stopped waiting for their Spartan allies and surged forward a hail of projectiles launched by the Persian specialist archers. The heavily armored Greeks met and crushed the Persian troops, routing them in panic back to their boats and swamps.

Phidippides, who had already run to Sparta and back to get aid, will begin his famous run back to Athens to announce the news.

In 21st Century America, we forget that that battle, that moment in time, not only was the inspiration for running's most famous racing distance, the Battle at Marathon made western history possible.

The Chicago Half Marathon

Denise ran a PR today. We got up early, at 4, to warm up, eat, and prepare. There was the usual confusion....making coffee, eating peanut butter sandwiches, me realizing that I'd brought one of her racing singlets.


The Chicago Half Marathon begins and ends in Jackson Park. After a couple of turns in the park, it follows South Lake Shore Drive roughly 5.5 miles northward to just beyond Bumham Park, then turns south and returns to the finish near the start. This turnaround occurs at 8.5 miles, so at this point the runner is over half done, confusing some who instinctively feel that the turnaround in an out-and-back would be at the halfway mark. The course itself is flat, fast, and scenic. Lake Shore Drive runs through a string of parks, flanked on the west by gleaming buildings and on the left by a gleaming lake.

Race management is excellent. When they tell you not to drive, don't. Most of Chicago's hotels are clustered around a vibrant downtown. The race start is best approached by a brief walk south to Millennium Park where shuttles bring runners to the starting area. Give yourself plenty of time; board the shuttle at least an hour before race start. There are 18,000 runners converging on Jackson Park.

The Expo is on Navy Pier: walking distance from the downtown hotels. It is large for a half marathon, and well-run also. This year's speakers included Jenny Hadfield and Dane Rauschenberg, both exuberant speakers for the running movement.

Chicago is an excellent running destination. There are plenty of attractions to entertain after the race. I recommend staying an extra few days to enjoy the restaurants, museums, shopping, parks, and other attractions....all within walking distance of the downtown.

Still Another

Its 4:22 AM - I slept in a bit. The coffee's brewing right now. When its done, I'll take a cup up to Denise to wake her. Then we'll go for a run. I'm concerned its already too late for me to fit in my hoped-for 10 miles.

Coffee to Denise; put Peanut in the bed; peanut butter bread for both of us, half a slice for Denise, whole one for me; shave; take Peedle out; get running gear; eat banana; take Peanut out; put on running gear with Denise.


On our first neighborhood lap at 5:20 this morning, I commented to Denise that the increased traffic on our normally deserted summertime streets was more like when school is in session. By my last lap, just a little over an hour later, a trickle of high school students appeared. Their reduced number and absence of book bags indicated to me that some sort of orientation was to occur. Then, sure enough, the season's first school bus arrived.

9.4 easy ones for me today.

Then back; take out Peedle; take out Peanut; stretch on the back porch (gratefully roofed and screened in); down a glass of chocolate soy milk and some cantaloupe; and now.....rush to shower.

Its 7:50. Where'd the last three and a half hours go?

17

I took Denise for 17 today, her first at this distance. We crossed into Montgomery County before turning around. She was pleased at the thought of running from one county to another.

It was a good day for large animals. Just before the turnaround, a mature fox ran across the trail towards the stream, halted when it saw us, and retreated back into the woods higher up on a hill. It stood partially concealed in the woods watching us, and allowing us to watch back. We lingered for several minutes admiring the handsome animal before we continued along on our trot and allowed the fox to finally achieve his drink at the stream.

On the return, we were graced by a large, horned, buck leading two does to drink at the Anacostia. He was standing in a clearing checking the safety of the trail while his ladies lingered in the tree line. We came to a dead stop when we saw him. He stared back before retreating to the woods and leading his does around us.

The heat of August 1 is, perhaps, making the large suburban mammals bolder as the approach for a drink in the streams and rivers the trails follow. It was a treat to see them.

I noted to Denise that seeing fishing ospreys, large bucks, foxes, and pre-dawn bats and owls were a bonus to the rewards of long distance running.

Denise ran 35 miles this week, capping it off with a 17 mile long run. She, too, is about to achieve the moniker of "endurance athlete".

Time

7.0 easy miles today. 67F/73%.....its actually comfortable out there!

I had wanted to do 10, but ran out of time, again. Denise says the only thing that will get me to retire is to train more miles. I've often thought that I'd do the JFK 50 my first year in retirement. I can see training 70 miles per week in retirement. At some time, I'd like to win my age bracket in some marathons, even if the bracket is the 65 to 69 age group.

I've seen some studies showing average marathon times slowing across all age groups except the boomers. Apparently, we're competitive and unwilling to slow down. This will make my quest more challenging

55: Defeated

I've looked forward with anticipation to ordering from the seniors' menu at Denny's for years. My 55th finally rolled around and, as I'm choosing my favorites off the menu, the waitress tells me that breakfast is free on my birthday. So, I pick from the entire menu. My indulgence in the seniors' selections will come another time.

To save time, I did not run today....only a barbell work out. My other longish runs this week more than compensate.

Mental Respite

It was 73F, 75% humidity this morning. The drier air felt cooler, a welcome respite from the intense heat we've experienced. Looking back on my running evolution, I realize this perception is entirely relative. Three years ago, this morning probably felt uncomfortably warm.

As I run, I understand the relationship of my mind to my body. In fact, there is no relationship; they are really parts of a whole, they are one.

I realize that just as my body is now the expression of past mental states, so my mind is actively creating my future physique.

Strong

Great running week. To cap it off, good Friday run. I started tired, but as often is the case, I felt strong by mile 5. At this point, I did my 3 mile tempo run. In 68 F, 100% humidity, I was drenched in sweat.

I continue to be amazed at the steady strength gain I've experienced over these 5 and a half years of training. We all know consistent training makes you stronger, but to personally experience the transformation - at the age of 55 - still astounds me.

Heat

I could feel the asphalt radiating yesterday's heat back into the cooler morning air as I began my run this morning. It was a memory of yesterday's triple digit temperatures and a harbinger of more today. In the first mile from my home, I came across 3 vehicles idling. One was in a driveway, empty, the other two were minivans by the curbside, each with a younger male occupant. Ten minutes later, the empty one was gone, but the minivans remained. I can only guess that the occupants preferred the air conditioning preferable to the moist 63 F morning air. 20 minutes later, one of the minivans was still idling curbside, its occupant presumably waiting for a passenger.

I found irony in this comfortable consumption of irreplaceable fossil fuel during the summer that will be most remembered for BP's oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The lust for cheap gas is poisoning the Gulf. If the oil slick makes the Keys, the reefs, which took hundreds of thousands of years to grow, will be destroyed in days.

The sun broke the horizon this morning as a dark red disk the color of clay.

Milestones

I mentored Denise through 14 miles today. It is her longest run ever. I did another 6 to cap off my week at 42 miles. It feels good to be back at this level again. We finished our run in near 90 F sunny temps. The weeks of training in the heat are beginning to pay off in terms of greater heat tolerance.

We arrived at the park at 6:30, our earliest ever. Two female deer and a young buck were feeding next to the tree line just in front of where we parked. Denise was extremely excited and pleased because she'd never actually seen a male deer with antlers in the wild.

Retirement

I was frustrated at having only enough time to do 5.5 miles today before work. I had hoped for 8.5, including my tempo workout. But sometimes the training just doesn't fit.

Until recently, I've not been able to imagine a scenario in which I considered myself ready for retirement. I like the challenge, I like the strife, and I like the money. But Denise made an observation that displayed more insight about myself than I have. She remarked that I would retire to have more time to train. I instantly realized the truth in this. At this point, my body is adjusting to 50 miles per week. I sense that I will want to take myself to another level with training at 70 or 80 miles per week. I will half to be retired for this.

Easy

For the second time this week, some early morning walkers commented that I make running look easy as I ran past them. This time, I grinned and said, "Its not.....".

This is an interesting thing about distance running. It is such a simple concept. The imperative is: run, run long. Yet, it can be very hard, as the week's miles pile up, or the miles already run during a particular work out accumulate. Somehow, hard does not matter. In fact, in a world almost completely given over to the easy, hard redeems and purifies.

Distance running is hard and because of this fact, it is necessary.

Cool Reprieve

63F and only 60% humidity this morning. It made for a comfortable 4.5 miles. We hardly even broke a sweat.

Day Off

Took a vacation day to get caught up/ahead of school work.

Ran 8.5 today. Heavens, it felt good. The weather was a little cooler. During the run, Denise and I passed an overweight lady in her 30's run-walking. She remarked that we made it look easy. We slowed to a walk to exchange some words of encouragement and to tell her that while its not easy, the fitness transformation is well worth the sweat.

Single Set

I did a barbell workout today, abbreviated so I could continue my school work. I was interrupted yesterday by having to retrieve my car with a flat tire at work. Anyways, no run under the clear morning pastel sky today, rather a basement barbell workout. Single set to failure on each exercise.

Mid Term Weekend

I did 7 miles today. 83F, 70% humidity. I think I'm adapting to the heat.

We saw one rabbit this morning. There has been a rabbit population boom this year, I suspect last year's rains provided more green fodder for the populations. They will be challenged this summer. It is becoming clear that this one will be more hot and more dry.

I spent most of the day doing my mid-term.

Time, again

6.6 miles, with 3 miles embedded at a tempo pace. Tempo pace is still around 8:20 mpm, so its not fast compared to many. However, whereas my mind and body used to rebel at the greater intensity running, now I find it refreshing. As I have gotten older, my body has gotten more tough from the training. Zipping along my neighborhood roads while people in cars drive by with almost astonished looks is emotionally empowering.

Trades, again

I passed up 2 morning's runs to work on my  comp sci projects. Turned it in last night, not in the state I would have preferred. Now, back to body.

3 miles today. 69F, 91% humidity. Mixed in with my workout, specially the lunges, I really felt the 3 miles in the wetness. Now...its off to work.

Solstice

Its the longest day of the year. Its ironic that I'm not running today, as I strongly prefer running in daylight. Today is a quick barbell strength training session before rushing off to the dentist.

Tomorrow, a shorter day.

Threshold

I started running at 5:15 AM today to beat the forecast 94F heat. 6 miles in the neighborhood. After that, Denise and I went to the Anacostia Trail System for another 13 miles. I'm moderating my efforts because of the heat. An easy 21 to 24 miles in 45 F can translate into a difficult 19 when its 80F. Additionally, the heat is destroying my usual 10 mpm pace.....for now.

We had to an opportunity to do our Karmic good deed for the day: a large black racer was laying on the path sunning itself. Given the propensity of people to indiscriminately kill snakes, I shepherded it to the nearby stream.

I find I psychologically need a run of 20 or so miles on Sunday to legitimize my view of myself. After missing that long run last Sunday in an effort to get caught up in my computer organization course in grad school, being out there pounding the miles through the heavily wooded trails made me whole again.

Trades

I had hoped to do 4 or so today, maybe later in the day just to prod my body into adapting to the heat. Summer semester at Johns Hopkins means 2 classes and 2 projects in each week, vice one. I tried unsuccessfully to get both projects done today.

We spent the day in our daughter and son-in-law's new condo in DC. While Denise hemmed curtains and Phil built the closet organizers we have bought them as a house warming gift, I coded MIPS assembler. I wasn't able to complete the second of the two projects due this week.

So, no run today, which means I'm shy of my preferred 23-28 miles going into Sunday's long run. Life is trade-offs.

Wildlife

5.1 miles today. I had to cut it short versus my planned 8.1 because we got off to a late start. Beautiful weather, 58 F. I opened all the windows in our home to bring in the cool morning air before the daytime heat.

We had a serendipitous moment in the last mile. Crossing a clearing we came upon a small fox. While I've seen foxes on several occasions this summer, never have I seen one run in the open for such a distance. Today's fox was smaller and not as red as some of the others. It seemed in no great rush as it loped across the grass unlike the others which seemed very shy.

Another reason why we run.

3 miles today at 6 AM. It was in the mid 60's again, but the hollows harboured pockets of coolness. There was a low mist hanging over the grassy commons which caught the sunlight as it filtered through the trees. The tendrils of light shone through, glistening in the dewy grass.

I gambled yesterday doing the run before my project was error-free. I hoped that a close inspection of the assembler code after class would yield my mistake. The gamble was rewarded. I had my 8.1 miler and submitted a bug-free project at 8 PM last night. This particular effort was fulfilling on two counts: it was well designed and error free.

To cap this morning's exercise off, I did my dumbbell work out too.

Back Again

Gratifyingly, I did 8.1 miles today, in the muggy predawn 65F. Tonight's project is almost done. I'm pleased with it. If it is possible for assembler to be elegant, I think my MIPS work for this assignment actually achieves it. Too bad it doesn't quite work completely correctly.

My legs are fresh from the time off, my last 3 miles were nearly at a 9 mpm pace. It really felt good to go out and just let the run happen.

Saw one of the biggest robins ever this morning..

Priorities

I hate to skip runs. Today, in an effort to get caught up on my second MIPS assembler project of the semester due tomorrow, I spent the morning at my desk coding. The first project was turned in last night on time.

I got behind on my school work last week. Monday, a Hummer ran over the front end of my SL-class Mercedes just before I was leaving work for class. Missing class was to hurt my coding efforts over the weekend.Tuesday I lost focus as I struggled with sinusitis. The cumulative effect of all these was to put me behind on the 2 projects due this week.

Tomorrow morning, hopefully, if I can get my project done tonight, I will go out for 5 to 8 miles.

Nature

We did an easy run in cool drizzly mists at the north branch of the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge this morning. Three miles into the run we came across a bird claw in the road. Its talons, if spread, would have stretched to the size of the palm of my hand. I surmised that a hawk must have become unintentional prey to its dinner.

When we returned to the location after our run with a ranger, he made a different conclusion. The bird's leg - a red shouldered hawk - had been cleanly severed. He reasoned that the only animal that could have done this was a great horned owl. It must have made the kill in the woods and dropped the leg in flight as it bit it off.

My supposed predator wasn't that night.

Semper Fi

I ran 4 today in Greenbelt Park with Prince Georges Runners. It is a friendly local running club composed of runners and walkers of all ages and levels of fitness. We seem to be capped by a cluster of very fast Boomers, reflecting a national trend as that cohort ages.

I ran briefly with a veteran of the 101st Airborne. He has lost one leg below the knee and ran using a prosthetic. I can't say he was disabled. At 29, he shares with me the same concerns with middle-aged spread and I suspect he will be more successful at controlling it than I was as I entered my thirties. Yet, he did inspire me to finish my Semper Fi Fund profile and create the donation web site. The link is in the right-most column on my running blog.

Adaptation

We ran in 54F this morning, under a bright, cloudless, pre-dawn sky. I reminded Denise how we shivered at the 2005 MCM Runner's Village when it was 50F. The years of running through the winter have changed our perspectives on what is cold. Today we ran in shorts and light tops, sweating mildly as we worked up the neighborhood hills. The running evolves our minds and bodies, we exchange glances of mutual incomprehension. Bundled, fat, and warm, they speed by in their cocoons of glass, steel, and plastic as we, as endurance athletes, pursue a higher perfection of mind and body.

Marines

I get uncomfortable associations with the movie Gallipoli when I run Marine Corps events. Yet, I was a Marine, a good one. I gravitate towards the Marine running events. That nexus of fitness, pride, discipline, and precisely organized race management appeals to me at a visceral level.

Denise and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon Run to Register 10K. Runners completing the 10K have an automatic entry to the MCM should they chose to register.

Here's Butler Stadium at dawn, just before most of the runners arrive:

Snow flowers

The pear trees in the neighborhood are covered in blooms so they look snow-laden. Years ago, coming up to this area to interview with IBM in April, I saw the springtime flowers and mistook them for snow.

Six easy miles today. Denise bought me a book on birds of the eastern United States. I can finally start learning about, and recognizing the calls of, the birds that surround me each morning.

Single Digits

I adjusted the settings on our weight and body fat scale after a winter's neglect. For the first time since my early 30's, my body fat read in single digits as a percentage of total body weight. The months of marathon mileage, strength training, and careful, balanced dinning has brought me to one of the fittest points in my life. The emotional reward is infinite, bringing personal meaning to the expression "55....Be all you once were.".

Eagles and Beavers

I did not run my weekly extra-20 miler today. The mental edge just wasn't there.

Instead, I escorted Denise through her 6.25 mile run. To mix it up, I took her on a route she'd never run before. The heart of the Beltsville USDA Agricultural Research Station is roughly 3 miles from our home. It is bisected by a hilly, rough country road: Beaver Dam Road. The road glances its namesake, Beaver Dam Lake, nesting site of a pair of eagles. The actual approach to the lake is via Research Road, usually closed to non-federal traffic on weekends. While we've driven Beaver Dam Road many times as stress relief, Denise had never seen Beaver Lake and the eagles' nest.

Today we parked in a small parking lot along Beaver Dam Road and ran through its gnarly woods and open fields. Coming upon Research Drive, we followed it down to the swampy lake. Today, no eagles were to be seen, though we tarried by the prehistoric lake setting in the gray gloom of a budding Maryland spring. Then we continued our run.

Our run took us to a little "M25" painted in the road. It marks the beginning of mile 25 of the George Washington's Birthday Marathon and the beginning of a 250 foot sadistic rise to the end of the race. Denise and I jog easily up the slope that seemed so impossible to race 12 months ago in the closing moments of a full effort marathon.

We turned around at 3.13 miles, just after entering old Greenbelt and threaded our way back into the woods and glens away from development.

Spring

The first stirrings of spring are making themselves felt, despite the 2 feet of snow on lawns. Our Japanese peonies, sheltered in the garage each winter, are beginning their annual early season bud. Peanut, the adopted chihuahua, is getting independent and frisky, a far cry from his usual vernal lethargic state. During my 22-miler this morning, the mockingbirds were taking posts at the very tops of trees to announce their respective territories. As an outdoor runner, I welcome relief from bone-crunching -3F wind chills. I know that, in only the third week of February, announcing the arrival of spring is setting oneself up for chilly dissappointment.

Sunshine

We got 5 feet of snow 2 weeks ago. That was 60 treadmill miles ago. Today, the snow had receded sufficiently from the roads' centers to allow us to run reasonably safely in daylight. Running under the open, blue sky was an emotional relief despite the 27 F windchill.

I am an all-weather outdoor runner. However, I will not run in the dark on roads narrowed in many places to one lane for safety reasons. I believe that spending as much time outdoors in the ebb and flow of the days and seasons makes you not only a tougher runner but a better person. Studies suggest that lack of exposure to early morning blue light throws human circadian rhythm. Vitamin D deficiency and depression are likewise associated with insufficient sunlight exposure. We understand the life-giving properties of the sun, and even moon, from a physiological perspective.

I suspect cutting the umbilical cord to nature's rhythms causes a litany of other issues too long to enumerate. The list of medical, psychological, and social ills associated with substituting sun, moon, and star with glowing LCD screens grows with each year. The act of performing moderately intense physical effort, despite the weather conditions, not only cleanses and toughens. It recalls human genetic past and thus fulfills a basic human prerequisite for quality of life.

Vause Vignette

Its 7:00. Denise is on the treadmill, at 2.8 miles. She's watching our DVD of Nova's "Marathon Challenge" documentary. I've been down in the gym since 4:45 AM. I ran 1 mile warm up and did a barbell workout.

The Marine Corps Run to Register, the Chicago Half Marathon, the Wineglass Marathon, and the 35th MCM all loom before us, motivating us.

She's just finished another 3 miles on the treadmill. This is very challenging to her: she hates running indoors. The roads are still narrowed by snow and unsafe for pre-dawn running.

The documentary has reached the point where the participants are lining up to their journeys of self discovery running from Hopkinton to Boston, my obsession. To her credit, she supports my conviction in the absolute necessity for me to one day qualify and run that famous race.

Our gym is treadmill, weights, running-related DVDs, an MCM space blanket posing as a poster, completion certificates, and finisher medals hanging from the squatting cage. Some years ago, Denise made a little sign with the image of a winged running shoe and the words "Caution! You are entering.... the Brain Wash Zone!"

Soon our workdays begin, but only after our morning devotional to health and sanity.

Respect

In my last marathons, hitting my limit has meant leg muscle cramping rather than the exhaustion of the Wall. I was beginning to think that all the miles and the training at lower carbohydrate replenishment levels had made me immune to this famous marathon malady. It was this hubris that let me to insufficiently prepare on Saturday for my 20 miler the next day. Admittedly, 20 miles on a treadmill is going to have its own effects on the mind. The roads are still treacherous and, with traffic, an open invitation to an accident. So I loaded up my iPod Classic with 7.7 hours of music and pounded the treadmill. Around mile 16, I began to smell my family's breakfast cooking in the kitchen, wafted down through the heating vents.

At mile 18, I pretty much hit the Wall. It is becoming so tired that any and every movement is exhausting. I clawed through the last two miles, grateful that I had not planned a 21-miler for that day. I managed to hold pace and finished at the 'easy pace' I had planned for the entire run.

I don't mind hitting the Wall. It is extremely unpleasant, but it is the ultimate instruction to the body to conserve carbohydrates and use as much fat reserves as early as possible in the run to survive the distance. This is all part of the long evolution over the years of training to become a faster distance athlete.

01/10:

Denise and I did 5.5 past Lake Artemesia and north into the UM campus today. Artemesia is about 80% frozen over, thick enough for a snow goose to walk across it. They have a preference for the water, though. I remarked to Denise that so far this winter, we've run on more frozen water than in all our previous winters.

1/8/10: more miles

6 miles. 27F. no wind. NB tights, Nike base, Nike pullover, ears, polartec gloves. Hands got really cold on second 3 miles.

1/7/10: just some miles

3 miles. 24F/17F windchill. Shorts, Nike base, full sweats, ears, polartec gloves.

01/03/2010: Back in the Saddle Redux

A few days ago, I posted with title "Back in the Saddle". A marathon runner isn't really 'back in the saddle' until his long runs meet or exceed 17 miles, in my opinion. As a beginning runner, I remember being put off by a celebrated coach at his definition of long run as anything at or longer than 17 miles. I've come to understand why this threshold distance is important: it is roughly the point where the runner has burned more calories than the body can store as glycogen. This training encourages the body to use a higher ratio of fat to carbohydrate earlier in the run in order to conserve the latter for longer distances. This is crucial in the marathon.

Today, I ran 18 miles, my first long run since the 2009 MCM. Life events have converged to preclude the focus running such a distance until today. Somewhat unfortunately, the weather did not totally contribute. I started at 14F (-3F windchill) and finished at 20F (4F windchill). The physical challenge of running in the windy cold took more energy than a usual 18-miler and I was somewhat burned out for the rest of the day. Furthermore, I felt a touch of strain behind my right knee cap, probably an indication that its time to retire my cushioning shoes at 360 miles and maybe even consider going back to stability shoes which invariably lasted to 400 miles with no issues.

Apparel: Full face hood, heavy mitts, Mizuno gloves, N. base layer, Prajna pullover, Sugoi vest, heavy RRS tights, UA briefs. Was comfortable.
146.6/14.7%
31:19, 33:23, 31:29, 31:38, 31:13, 30:49

01/01/2010: New Year, Full Moon

I've run every New Year's day since I returned to running in 2004. This year the need to log miles was heightened: the 37F, 31F windchill, is the best weather we expect in several days. During the 9 miles, I watched the sun set on 2010's first day and the temps drop from 37/31 to 32/27F. Denise ran the first 3 with me, then I ran the next 6 alone, a bit too fast. It was just nice to run far and fast, despite a little occasional discomfort in my right knee.

An hour later, in the blustery wind, I took Peanut out to see a full moon coming up in a windy, cold night.

This will be a long cold winter. I feel the weight of new beginnings, opportunity bracketed by challenge, and the need to do this year what did last year, only better.

(NB tights, N pullover, UA tee, RC gloves)
(34:37; 30:36; 29:28)