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From ER to PR: A Sasquatch Takes Vegas

Ah, Las Vegas … Sin City … the City of Lights … a crossroads of human peculiarity closely resembling a cracked out, urban format version of ‘True Blood’ where the abs are replaced by copious amounts of cowboy hats. Apparently marathon weekend also featured the rodeo and professional bull riding, so, needless to say too much more, this was a truly colorful and shapely people-watching weekend! Regardless, Vegas was my A-race, the one that I sunk more blood, sweat and miles into than I have for any other race in nearly four years. This was my fourth attempt at the sub-3-hour marathon, which has eluded by as little as 59-seconds and as much as 18-minutes. But this time it was going to be different, right? The work was done, conditions were prime, there was nothing standing in the way of my success, was there?

Four years ago I set my marathon PR during the Boston marathon, racing against my buddy Justin in a friendly bit of competition, I ran a 3:00:58, which was fantastic! Why did I fall short then? I calorie crashed late in the race, the timing of my nutrition was a bit off. After that I flopped two more attempts, the next at the 2010 Chicago marathon, where I flopped horribly thanks to an extremely syrupy Gatorade mix that prompted an untimely, repetitious bout of regurgitation from miles 16 to 22 … finish time, 3:10:49. My third strike came at the 2011 Boston marathon where, once again, errors in nutrition culminated in a less than spectacular finish time (3:16:18), but a fantastic story and finishing photo. The most important thing for me to take away from all of these races was what I learned from my mistakes, right? Of course!! And you can bet your ass I did, but the learning curve was obviously quite a bit flatter than I would have hoped for … apparently I’m a little slow. Now with all that fine learning and raceducation, what could possibly go wrong on attempt ole lucky number 4?!

Picture it, Massachusetts, Thanksgiving weekend, second week of taper and my eyes squarely focused on Las Vegas. Strong. Fit. Fast. Healthy. Oh no … wait just one second … yah, about that last one, yaaaaaaaah, not so much. While home with my entire family for the holiday weekend, my darling sister was sick with the black plague of upper respiratory infections, which I apparently contracted out of pure brotherly love. As a result, I spent the bulk of that weekend just trying to sweat the damn thing out, laboring with a 102+ fever and looking like a mere shade of the healthy self that ran the Turkey Trot that Thursday morning bright and early. Now, you may ask, “Did I still run that weekend?” Ha! Please, you know I did, but it was a seriously cut down version of what I had planned on doing. I mean seriously, you’d think that with my ridiculously congested lungs and lovely fever that that would be enough of an obstacle heading into race week for me to deal with, but I had no such luck, and this was soooooo far from over.

Tuesday morning rolls around, still battling this upper respiratory crap, and I wake up looking like friggin’ Eddie Murphy in ‘The Nutty Professor’ with a lower lip the size of a banana boat! I really, really wish I was making this stuff up, but there it is!!! After trying a few different ways of dealing with this apparent allergic reaction, to what I am still uncertain, I went to the ER where I was given steroids for the allergic reaction and then a potpourri of other drugs to deal with the chowder in my lungs and the lingering fever that just didn’t feel like leaving. In the span of a week my body had gone from being primed for greatness to a pharmaceutical waste dump that could barely run half a mile without coughing up a pound or twos worth of globular mucous masses. I was a hot mess and starting to FREAK out about race day.

Fast forward a few days and I’m staring to be on the mend, but the lungs are still pretty shoddy. I get to Vegas on Friday night and it’s colder there than it is on the East Coast! What the hell is that all about? To be fair, the weather conditions when I got there were pretty perfect, mid to high 50s with a light wind, that is until the following morning. I get up for my shakeout run with an few 100m pick ups thrown in the mix and I end up running in a nippy 37-degree sunny morning with a 20-25 mph wind kicking around, just what I always wanted!!!! Regardless, my legs felt good and I was looking forward to meeting up with some Twitter folk for dinner that evening (@SkibbaDoo, @SugarMagnolia70, @CoachKristieLV, @Moonkinrunning, @_SilverGirl_, @SnowVols) and just having a chill night, which I did. It really was pretty sweet.

Race day morning, just to add to the pressure of the weekend, my coach for this race, the White She-Devil (@le_diable), arrived to come and lay witness to her handiwork in person, or, in her words, “make sure you don’t f*ck up.” We go grab breakfast at Einstein’s Bagels and review our race plan one more time. While there she tells me about one of her friends that ran that morning, went out a smidge too fast, pushed their limits, buckled a bit in the last 10k, but threw everything she had at her race. The story stuck with me and reaffirmed the validity of our plan for the day: don’t go out too fast, be patient through the first half, and make the second half of the race my bitch!! Shortly after breakfast we went and met up with Jamie (@lucky7runner), a fellow Team Sasquatcher, and picked up a pair of arm sleeves from her, which I had asked her to grab while at the expo since it seemed like it was going to be a bit colder than I had prepared for (I will forever be in your debt Jamie). I grabbed the sleeves, wished Jamie good luck in the half, and went upstairs to put my feet up until go time.

Time marched along quickly and it was soon time to get ready to rumble. I got changed, threw on some SERIOUS metal to get my head in the right brain space, did a few down and up dogs to stretch out my hips, calves and hamstrings, and then it was out onto Las Vegas Boulevard to get loose with WSD. For those who know me, as serious as I do get pre-race I am still a goof, so imagining me skipping down the street doing my plyo-metric leg looseners, followed by a nice easy jog, is not all that odd. After hitting the bathroom it was off to corral #2, which was a joke, because they didn’t check bibs or segregate the waves at all, and I saw my friend Jennifer (@jnnnln) all ready to go. We not-so-stealthily edged our way forward and claimed our place in what then appeared to be the lead pack? You really couldn’t tell at all and, in the end, who cared.?! They weren’t really paying attention to anything going on in the corrals.

BOOM! The gun sounded and the time for wondering was over, it was time to see what I could do.

The first section of the marathon course randomly wove and braided through some weird “neighborhoods” and industrial park-like areas that were quiet, isolated, and with very little if any crowd support. To be honest, I didn’t care at all, because I was on a mission and there wasn’t anything that was going to distract me from my objective. Every once in a while on the course I saw the WSD running in the opposite direction, keeping me on task. I kept the pace comfortable, smooth, and right in the vicinity we had talked about (6:40ish) through the first half, basically hanging with a small cluster of wily gentlemen that kept me in check. Once I hit the half-marathon mark EVERYTHING changed and the gloves came off …

… and apparently so did the wheels for the race organizers as the Full marathoners collided with the Half runners, like a sweat swelled tsunami. Interestingly enough, the half-marathon was supposed to start about 90-minutes AFTER the full, with the two merging and sharing Las Vegas Boulevard, etc., for the rest of the race. Only problem was that the half started a little early and when I got to the merge, which was a sharp left, I literally slammed right into three or four people from the half running 8 or 9-minute miles that were pushing into the single lane delineated for the full. I felt like the Blues Brothers driving through the city streets of Chicago the way people were slamming into each other all running down the finish line; it’s 13.1 miles to the finish line, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of endurolytes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Some choice words were issued for me regarding my fore-checking skills, which I dutifully disregarded, and the race continued, albeit with a slight change in tone. Honestly, I got so pissed off at the fact that the half was now greedily usurping the ENTIRE road that my nice 6:30ish pace I’d been holding erupted to more like a 6:10ish pace. If I could have laid waste to all the people that had forced their way into the marathon lane, which was no larger than the Central Park bike lane, I would have. I’m sorry, I’m usually not so aggressive about such things, but I was not going to let this logistical snafu jeopardize everything I worked for.

When I first signed up for this race I honestly thought running the strip would have been more fun, enjoying the pretty lights and interesting people, but I got in such a zone that everything else just disappeared and I just kept pushing. For a time I had no idea where I was on the course, because there were at least 3-4 mile markers that were missing, but once I figured out where I was my thoughts returned to the story of the runner from that morning. All I kept thinking about was that last 10k, “there is no way I am slowing down. Whatever I have left is going to be left on this course and slowing down is NOT an option.”

In the last 10k, I did slow a little, but not a lot. The head wind that had picked up with about 7-miles to go was starting to wear on me, as was the long false flat that I had been staring at. Within 2-miles of the finish everything was on fire, but I could see the Mandalay Bay was close and that meant the finish was not far from my grasp. Those last 2-miles seemed to last FOREVER regardless of how hard I kept pushing, and, to be fair, I spoke with 3 people later on that had the course measured out a little more than a half-mile too long, based on their Garmins. The last few turns to the finish line were horrible, but I was there and the clock read 2:50!!!!

As I crossed the finish line I tried catching my breath, but my lungs just wouldn’t allow it thanks to all the sludge and congestion and all I could do was cough. Every step or two another violent cough, which started to worry me cause I was starting to feel a little light headed. I took a second to gather myself and decided to go into the medical tent to warm my lungs up for a minute and see if that would help at all, which it did. Sitting there in the empty tent it hadn’t even fully set in yet, I hadn’t even looked at my watch to see my time!!!

Victory NEVER felt so sweet!! Official finish time 2:50:29 (10:29 PR), 27^th Overall Finisher, 25^th Male, 7^th in AG, and, a negative split on the back half that also was a half-marathon PR (1:26:08 first half, 1:24:21 second half). The plan, the training, and the weather was pretty much perfect even if my health wasn’t and the night was mine to revel in!!

December 9, 2011 Category: 2011, Blog, marathon, nutrition, sasquatch No Comments

Blossoming for Boston

Last year when I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler it was the last gasp of my running season. I had already injured my left foot with an undiagnosed ailment, which to this day baffles my sports medicine physio, and had pulled myself out of the Boston Marathon. I figured at that point, and my doc agreed, that there wasn�t much more damage I could do so I might as well go and try and enjoy it since I had already dropped the money on it.

So, I ran the race like I would any other, except this time I did it with a few aspirin coursing through me to take the edge off the pain. Oh yah, by the way, it was freezing goddam cold, raining and completely miserable! Regardless, I go out and run the 10 miles with one of my favorite and most admired runners, Erin Strout, and the two of us pretty much gripe through the whole thing, pleading for it to end so we can go get warm and have some brunch. When it was all said and done and the aspirin wore off, the misery continued and had a nice piercing pain shooting through my left foot and leg for the rest of the day and night, just for good measure. The very next day I hung up the running shoes for two months or so.

Fast forward to April 2009, same race, but completely different set of circumstances. This year, Boston is on, but I once again found myself in a precarious physical condition, this time fighting off Overtraining Syndrome for, give or take, three weeks. My legs had been feeling drained, my lungs tapped and psychologically I was burnt out. During those three weeks or so I had shelved my original schedule and reduced myself to 3 runs (1 maintenance, 1 hill/speed, 1 long), 2 swims and 2 full rest days a week. The plan, albeit difficult to adhere to given my masochistic, gung ho mentality and desire to crush Boston, worked wonders.

Bill Risch and I took Bolt Bus on down to DC on Saturday morning under a dismal sky, but with glowing weather reports on all the weather stations for the race. When we hit DC the sky was blue, the sun was shining gleefully upon us and the wind was slapping us in the face telling us to go the hell back where we came from. I instantly thought, �Great! Last year all over again, minus the rain!� We exited the parking lot and proceeded to walk directly to the Expo and just get it done. We were also hoping to Tweetup with new compatriot IronmanBobby at the expo, but we got our wires all crossed and it didn�t really happen.

That afternoon we met up with my old assistant soccer coach, Bailey, whose father I was training for a short time in the fall, and my cousin Cyndi. We ended up going to Kramerbooks and having pie � a lot of pie � and there was much rejoicing! While we were sitting the woman next to us started asking if we were running the race and where were from etc., exchanging introductory pleasantries. As it turns out she is an author by the name of Kimi Puntillo who was signing her new book �Great Races, Incredible Places.� She told us how she had run a marathon on every continent, including the Antarctic and one on the Great Wall of China, which just sounded arduous and painful on all that stone!

Later that evening, after dinner with running super star Erin Strout, Bill Risch and his entire family, and a few of his cronies (a story in itself for another day), the Tweetup with IronmanBobby resurfaced and became a reality. We met at Starbucks in Dupont Circle, which provided us with a nice backdrop of local color that included, but was not limited to, a roaming Bachelorette party with the bride-to-be wearing an illuminated sash and tiara, and a gaggle of shirtless, frat pledges doing circuits of the rotary. This rendez-vous turned out to be a meeting of the minds and a podcast ambush as IronmanBobby explained that he wanted to interview me for the next installment of a series he has been developing about newbie triathletes transitioning to the sport from a background heavily in one of the disciplines. Apparently I am a representative from the runners� side of the equation � who knew? It was a lot of fun talking shop and really discussing some of my concerns going into tri training and who is or when one can be considered an �athlete�? It�s an interesting question and one that I will let go until the podcast is released.

Getting back to the task at hand, the race, you really couldn�t have asked for a more perfect morning. There was just the slightest taste of a chill in the air. The sky was clear and azure blue as daybreak crested the Nation�s capitol. Bill and I jogged over to the start to warm-up and we had just enough time drop off our bag and get into our corrals to stretch a little before the starting gun.

My mentality heading into the weekend was simple: this is a test. I really needed to find out how much my body had recuperated over the last several weeks and see what I could do. To be fair and honest, I was really nervous about doing this race, simply because of the psychological blow I could possibly receive if I wasn�t anywhere near where I felt like I needed to be. I was bracing myself for that possibility; while at the same time reminding myself that if there is nothing risked there is nothing to be gained.

When the gun went and it was time to go to work I immediately went into game face mode and just went to work. As is the start with all of these massive races that sell out in a day or two, getting through the first mile takes a while and I reminded myself of that fact when I checked out my first split. I don�t know how there is always a few 60 year old runners in the first corral, who quite obviously can�t hold the pace that those in that group will drive out, but, as per usual, there was and getting around them was a bit of a chore.

After the first couple of miles, I believe, I ran up behind Strouter and bid her a good morning as I continued on past her. My pace was good, my stride was well balanced and even and it felt really good. Cruising through the course I focused on being steady, maintaining a good breath:stride ratio/rhythm, and smooth, efficient form. It must have worked, because my splits throughout the race were pretty much spot on, except where I took on water, where I lost a few seconds.

At one point during the last third of the race I noticed that my legs felt kind of funny, almost like they weren�t there, almost phantom-like. It was the strangest thing and I later found out that Strouter said she was feeling something similar. I mean, I was cruising and feeling pretty good and to be honest I was a little surprised at how good I was feeling based upon the last race I really ran. This was Worlds apart from that, thankfully in a much more positive light!

Mile 7-8 was really funny, because it was completely miss-marked and EVERYONE all of sudden clicked there watches at the 8-mile marker and instantly started talking, �Wow, either we�re really hauling ass or they have no idea how far a mile is?� It was true though, I checked my split and it was like a 5:47 mile by their markers and that would really have been something!

As we hit the last mile marker I did some assessment and acknowledged the fact that I was intact, holding steady, comfortable and actually could feel it in my legs and lungs that I could have pushed harder and still had kick for the finish. With a half-mile to go I came along side a Tri-guy, not sure what team he was with, looked at him and said, �Half-mile to go. It�s time to close the show. Me and you, let�s push this out.� And with that said he started to match me stride-for-stride, but it didn�t last. For those who know me, the sight of a hill climb in a race peppered with runners is like a shark smelling a flailing wounded seal in the water; I just start to crush it. Within 20-yards of starting the miniscule climb my finishing partner was dying and had faded. When I crested the hill and started to press through the decline I noticed that I was alone. It was really weird, there wasn�t a soul within 25-yards of me, in front or behind. I held steady and finished strong.

My official finishing time was 1:05:02 (6:31 pace). This was exactly what I needed heading into the final two weeks before the Boston Marathon, physically, emotionally and psychologically. To go out and blow out a nice run like that and KNOW that there was more in the tank for the entire race and still have that little bit of spring and kick at the finish that had been missing for weeks was fantastic.

I�ve been waiting two years for this race and this year I almost let it slip out from under me, but I�m not going to let that happen. The new plan has been working. My eye is still on the prize and only 10 days left.

April 11, 2009 Category: Blog, boston, boston marathon, marathon, Navigation, Rockefeller Park, running, training, Twitter 4 Comments

WTF is with this OTS nonsense!

It�s been a while since I have posted anything and perhaps that is indicative of one of the symptoms that I have been exhibiting over the few weeks. Now, there is some debate as to whether I have actually fallen victim to OTS, so I suppose I will leave it up to, my audience and peers, to be the final judge and jury regarding me having Overtraining Syndrome.

Over the last several weeks I have experienced diminished performance the likes of which I would not wish upon any runner. My legs have lacked pick-up and pace, I�ve been fatigued, my body unresponsive to any sort of finishing kick, what appeared to be diminished lung capacity, and, for those who know me this may be the worst indicator of them all, I have had nothing in the tank for crunching hills. It�s tragic really, I love hitting hills and pushing hard with a strong quick turnover and cadence, but not right now. Furthermore, I have NEVER just dropped out of a training run unless I was injured, but I almost, so very nearly, did that very thing recently and even toyed with the idea of throwing the towel in on Boston and running for a long while. Once those thoughts shot through my mind all I could think was, �YIKES!�

This is not a pity party, although it may seem like it a bit. This is more of an assessment of the situation and bringing to light the elements and symptoms of overtraining that I didn�t even know existed in a list format. This is an education at my own expense.

So what is overtraining syndrome? Paraphrasing here, it is when an athlete trains beyond the body�s ability to rest and recover. Ostensibly, it�s an imbalance in your training:resting ratio – you train so hard and so often that you don�t provide your body the time it needs to rest, recover and repair itself. The symptoms read like an athlete�s bad dream, but here is a list of them that seem to be agreed upon by a variety of sources:

Sudden drop in performance
Loss of motivation
Persistent fatigue, even with rest
Difficulty sleeping
Irritability and an inability to concentrate
Persistent mild leg soreness, fatigue and/or aches and pains
Loss of enthusiasm for the sport and/or depression
Decreased immunity
A compulsive need to exercise (this one wasn�t across the board but fit)

I�m not a hypochondriac or anything, but when I started to research this possibility I was like a freshman in their first psychology class and thinking they are schizophrenic, all signs pointed towards a diagnosis I did not want to hear. So, I went outside my own head and sent my grocery list of symptoms to my coach and awaited a response. His answer was simple, to the point and in five words or less, �You are overtrained.� There I was, creeping closer and closer to Boston, the race I have been waiting for two years now, and I am now hearing that I am overtrained! My response: �NNNOoooooooo! That�s impossible!!� a la Luke Skywalker�s finding out Darth Vader is his father in �The Empire Strikes Back.�

After the initial shock, irritation, aggravation and outright rage dissipated it was then time to reassess the situation and see what I could do to salvage my �A� race. First thing�s first, training was stepped down and more rest was added to the mix. In lieu of tempo runs I inserted swimming into the mix, which is something that I have not done in a lap format ever in my life. In fact, the only way I know how to swim at all really is from watching my Dad, beyond that I am just winging it.

The addition of the swimming has been welcomed and wonderful and I never thought that I would ever really like hitting the pool and doing laps, and yet, here I am doing it three days a week and thinking about adding a fourth. Swimming is amazing in how my running form and rhythm can be so easily translated and transferred into this other medium. When I run I am constantly taking into account the sound and count of my feet in conjunction with my breathing, which in the water translates into my hands entering the water with each stroke and my breathing. It�s amazing.

Now, with my weekly mileage reduced to just core workouts that I approach with purpose and focus, pushing myself and my body to recall why I am doing this and how it is going to feel when race day comes. Just a couple of these a week with a longer run at a reasonably comfortable pace should bring my mind and body back into alignment and I hope that this approach will illustrate what the pool work has meant to my cardio and lungs.

The time has come to test out the theoretical and see if I can bring myself back in reality and run a quality race that I can be happy with!

March 26, 2009 Category: Blog, boston, Dirty, future, marathon, OTS, overtraining, Rockefeller Park, running, snow, training, Twitter 6 Comments

I Love LSD

Going into this weekend I had a very specific plan in mind, one that required strict adherence. The plan was simple: 25 miles from Friday through Sunday (5 easy miles Friday, push through a 5K race Saturday, 18 easy miles Sunday) . Not too difficult, right? Pretty straight forward. But, there is always that game of degrees that we runners like to play where we are constantly redefining and altering our own perception of “easy” or “light” or “comfortable.” It is a glorious game with very few rules, but a lot of penalties that can be accrued during its practice. Personally, I am a vicious offender when playing this game, but I am recovering. What are the steps to recovery, you may ask? Well, there aren’t steps per se, but I have found a great way to curb this behavior without causing any irreparable damage, which, in the end, helped me actually stick to my game plan.

Friday night, after another glorious work day I was looking forward to getting out and relieving myself of some unwanted stress, but because of my experience during speed work earlier in the week – uh, I had no speed and couldn’t push myself at all – I knew that I really needed to tone down all of my recovery and maintenance runs and bring the speed way down. I have been a little gung ho about my training this Winter and it has taken its toll on my body and the time has come to be much more shrewd about my approach. So, how did I manage that for this particular run? 1) I kept reminding myself that I would be racing a 5K in approximately 15 hours and that any sort of pace tonight would adversely affect my performance. 2) I set my Polar watch, which I have the foot pod for, to beep at me whenever I went faster than an 8:20 pace – Ah, the beauty of technology! 3) Selected a nice slow jam to get stuck in my head and just let my feet synch with the beat – this is something that is not as easy to find and apply as you may think. That’s quite a bit, huh? It really is, but for whatever my mind works in mysterious ways and this appeared to work.

Saturday morning was perhaps as frustrating a race as I have run over this past year. For this one I had to trek to Brooklyn, which wasn’t too terrible on the train this particular morning as I was thoroughly entertained by my book, “Fool” by Christopher Moore, and was wearing enough layers that I wasn’t instantly frost bitten by the arctic gusts of wind that seemed to follow me wherever I went.The exciting part of this race was that I was reunited with my running partner from last year, Speedy Elf, which was excellent, because I haven’t run with him in a long, long time. Anyway, the two of us were shooting for a sub-6 pace, but were unsuccessful by a mere 5 seconds! Honestly though, it was a race I hope to erase from memory rather quickly. What I came to understand during this race was that ALL of my fast twitch muscles are on strike, or have committed suicide, and that my legs are now honed in on longer distance runs and my finishing kick is now about as impressive as an Ewok running the 100-year dash … Pathetic, yes! Cute, fuzzy and amusing, Yes, but Pathethic! It was a completely humbling experience, one that knocked me down a few pegs and reminded me that I need to start to have shorter more specific workouts to aid in the development of that speed and to take it easy on maintenance, recovery and longer runs that don’t have a race specific purpose.

So, in continuing with the nice ebb and flow of things we’ve reached Sunday, where I planned on doing 18-miles (from my UWS apartment on 107th, down the West Side Highway via Riverside Park, over the Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect Park and then two loops of the park). Now, for those unfamiliar with Race With Purpose from last Fall, this run is also known as the “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” run. What made this run in particular so effective was that I met up with two fellow RwPers along the way and they helped make this rather lengthy journey simply outstanding. When you run the majority of your training runs solo you forget how wonderful it is to run in a group and it has been one of the things that I have missed most this Winter, but when I do have the company it does make everything so much simpler and more enjoyable. I take my time, my pace is never an issue, I relax more, and when it comes time to turn on the jets I can and with greater confidence. All in all, the workout benefit is so much greater when with a group and I hope to either be racing or with a group for the rest of my long runs this season. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, I was unable to resist the temptation to go beyond my prescribed distance, only by 1.65 miles, thanks to another friend I bumped into in Prospect Park who convinced me to keep going, but I can’t be too upset because I did prove to myself that I have the endurance for this while hitting a nice 6:40 pace for the last couple of miles. You can only imagine the big smile on my face after that!

What have we learned? I’m slow over short distances, so muggers and pick pockets should be fine. Recovery and maintenance runs NEED to be just that and the pace needs to take a back seat for nothing more than the health of your body. Lastly, LSD is best done in good company!

February 23, 2009 Category: Blog, boston, marathon, Rockefeller Park, running, snow, speed, testing, training, Twitter 1 Comment

Are You Mental? (Part 2)

Last year, at about this time, I injured my left foot in the most bizarre way and was forced to hang up my shoes and defer out of the Boston Marathon. Then last week, I was jumping out of the shower after a decent training run, slipped and kicked the side of the tub. Within a half an hour after that most graceful of stumbles I felt the pain and discomfort that I felt a year ago – same spot, same persistent pain – and started to panic. At that point I wasn’t sure if it was just a stinger or if this was the exact injury that knocked me out of Boston last year. With a race to run on Sunday, a day or so later, I decided to ice and rest on Saturday and really just try and figure it out a bit.

Saturday afternoon and evening were unnerving, because whenever my foot wasn’t wrapped it was ungodly sore and made it really difficult to walk, let alone run. I became increasingly agitated, irritable and unpleasant as I was working myself up to a full-blown panic attack. Eventually I managed to mellow out enough to get some rest and still consider the 20k Boston Build-up in Southport, CT.

Race Day AM, I went through my usual routine, got on the train and wrapped my foot just like I usually do. Everything seemed to be pretty much in order and I started getting a little excited, because it was finally warm enough to wear shorts for a race. The course was challenging and fun and I really went out and tried to test myself, my foot and get a fair assessment of where the hell I was physically. As it turns out, I was doing pretty well. I finished in 1:22:42 (6:39 pace), which was good enough for 29th overall in the 170+ field.

After the race, I went home and finally took off the wrap and that is when I knew that I needed to take some time off to be safe. As soon as the wrap released and my foot was free from its bonds I was sore. I stretched, iced and rested for the remainder of the evening and while I was enjoying English Premier League Review Show that night I made the decision to keep the foot wrapped and shelf running for the majority of the week … something that is much easier said than done. For me, this was a “practice what you preach” moment, listening to my body and being patient with an injury that could potentially set me back quite a bit.

I really struggled reading the emails, tweets and messages from other runners and triathletes about their training, doing the things they love, and then not going out and joining in myself. Throughout the week I had to remind myself that I have a goal to achieve at the end of all of this and that going out before I have nipped this injury would jeopardize my ability to reach my goal. It was incredibly humbling, and at times more painful than the injury itself, to break from the tightly regimented routine that I had developed over the proceeding couple of months. In an effort to pacify my urges I started doing two-a-day core workouts so that, in my mind, I would still be building and working towards my goal even if I wasn’t running.

The days went by painfully slow, but then it was TGIF and it was time to lace’em up and get back out in the park and check on the status of my foot. As soon as the clock struck 6 p.m. I flew out of work and was jogging back to the park, all the while my mind hyper-focused on my left foot, honing in on any discomfort or pain with ridiculous sensitivity, but there was none. It felt just like I had before I had gone ahead and kicked the tub.

About half-way through the run I realized how good I felt, like I was gliding, strong and effortless, for about 5-miles. It was exactly what I needed and all the tension, irritability and unpleasantness that had festered throughout the week just sweated free from my body, it was perfect. I felt better than I have in a while, probably due to overtraining, but we live and learn.

I followed this run up with another on Sunday with Coach Adam, Javier, Javier’s dog Simba and Bill Risch up in Rockefeller Park. It was a nice 14-miles or so and, as per usual, Adam threw a couple curves in there by having us do hill repeats at one point, then he decided we needed to do as many hills as we could find along the park’s trails. How sweet of him! It was a great trail run and I was incredibly relieved to complete it pain free!!

You may be asking why I have included this video clip of a not-so-pleasant injury to this entry and my reasoning is this: the Arsenal FC player featured, Eduardo da Silva, was told that he may never play the game again due to the severity of the injury and the amount of rehab that he would require. Well, this past Monday Eduardo returned to the pitch for the first time in nearly a year and not only scored, but inked the score sheet twice. He looked lively, comfortable and so unbelievably happy to be doing what he loved that I felt like I had to share. The amount of patience and mental toughness it must have taken to go through his recovery period and then to set foot on the field again, all the while worrying about getting hurt again, is remarkable.

February 11, 2009 Category: fuel survey, marathon, Rockefeller Park, running, snow, training 1 Comment

Dead Leg Tempo Test

After a week of relative consistency it came time to give my body a little test to see where it is and what could be more perfect than to execute this test at the first race of the Boston Build-Up series in CT. So, on a cold, crisp sunny Sunday morning I ventured out to Scarsdale to meet Coach Adam and to catch a ride out to the race. I was pretty excited about this race since I have not lined up for a race since the ING New York City Marathon in November and going out with a good-sized group working towards the same goal would definitely keep me honest while out on the course.

The plan heading into this 10K was to do what I call a “Dead Leg” tempo run. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a tempo run done on legs that I fried the day prior. In this particular case, I wore them down doing a 13.5-mile run in Central Park broken into three segments (4 easy miles @ 8-minute pace, 8 moderate miles @ 7-7:20 pace, 1.5 easy cool down miles @ 8-minute pace). I know that these are not my true paces, but because of my recent bout with inconsistency and illness I didn’t want to overdo it and risk any sort of injury.

We arrived at the high school in Rowayton nice and early to grab our numbers, etc., but weren’t too happy with the 28-degrees with a bit of wind for good measure. With our registration task and bathroom visitations completed we went back out to the car and sat comfortably with the heated seats cranking. Coach Adam, who typically jabs at me about wearing tights and warm clothes in such weather, broke down and stated, “I’m not going back out there till five minutes before the race starts.” It was a refreshing change in tune, but he still showed me up running in shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt, the cheeky bastard!

The biggest challenge for me in a race like this, without a pace partner around, is not getting caught up in the moment and completely disregarding my plan. This is the mental discipline part of running that I have really had to learn and ingrain in myself over the last two years and I think I am finally getting the hang of it, because I did what I set out to do.

My self-prescribed plan involved starting out in the back of the pack and working my way forward for the duration of the race. I wanted to feel that little mental edge and motivation that is inherent in passing people on the course. That little added confidence that keeps the spring in your stride, something that I have not felt since New York. Honestly, I’m completely fascinated by all of the subtle psychological nuances that influence a runner and how they race. I am always trying to keep a clear, focused mind so I can hear and feel how my body reacts to everything while on the course – wind, body temperature, hills, false flats, icy spots, other runners, my own footfall, annoying people with headphones who can’t hear you when you are trying to pass them on a trail, etc. It is a constant and perpetual learning experience.

From the starting gun, which I never even heard, I quickly settled into my pace (roughly 6:30s) and never lost it. I was within +/- 5 seconds from start to finish. My legs felt pretty good despite the previous day’s miles, but my breathing rhythm was a little erratic during miles 5 and 6, thanks to a couple of well placed hills. The frustrating part in all of that was I knew they were coming and tried to prepare myself for them, but still ended up all over the place with my breathing. At least I didn’t get to the top of that last hill and have to stop so I could dry heave, like I did the previous year. This race last year was the only time I have EVER had to stop in a race, because I thought I was going to puke.

For the last three-quarters of a mile I had a little fun catching up to this big triathlon guy who every time I got level with him would start sprinting a bit. These bursts were nice and he looked really fast while doing them, but I kept the same pace and with each one the separation he created decreased until he really just had nothing left. The last time we came level I said to him, “come on, big man, only 400 meters to go push’em out,” and then proceeded to pass him. That was the last I saw of him, but I heard him trying to get his wind back to catch me all the way through the finish.

The last 100 meters of this race was the BEST! You came into the high school’s parking lot and the road that leads up to the front door, which also happened to be our finish, was like running on a Slip’N Slide that someone left out for the winter. It was nothing but densely packed ice that scared the crap out of me! Earlier, when I walked across it to go inside and get my bib I nearly bought it and sprawled out on the ice like Jason Priestley playing a figure skater on SNL and that was just walking. It also drummed up memories of my college days running in the winter and that one fatal slip on a sidewalk in PA that resulted in a torn hamstring and the end of my running days for a great many moons.

I ended up finishing 40th overall at a 6:39 pace according to them and a 6:30 pace according to my watch. It was a good test for my legs and lungs. I maintained my pace throughout, was disciplined and finished with energy to burn. It was a great run, some good fun and I am looking forward to the second Build-Up race in two weeks, which has even more meaning since it was the last race I participated in last year before I deferred my Boston entry due to my injured left foot. It will be time for some revenge!

January 6, 2009 Category: boston, build-up, marathon, Rockefeller Park, running, snow, training, Twitter, Videos 3 Comments

Revenge of the Dread-Mill

I never thought I would have such a hard time getting my first entry together or even come up with a topic to discuss, but then it came to me, as most of my good thoughts do, during a run, over the Holidays back in Massachusetts.

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my training through the 2009 Boston Marathon and to discuss the many issues that will in all likelihood arise during those frigid morning and evening runs in the cold, biting air of New York and Connecticut, with lungs burning, heart racing and my thoughts squarely focused on a 2h50m time goal. It is during the first few weeks of my training that I came upon one aspect of cold weather/winter training that I absolutely cannot stand at all: the Dreadmill.

Reason #1: Recycled Air � The indoor conditions of any gym does nothing to prepare your body for the affects of the cold winter air on your lungs and if you train indoors and race outdoors that first race is nothing but hell and a slap in the face. Besides, where�s the fun in heavily breathing recycled air?

Reason #2: Funky Footfalls � Yes, �funky� is a technical term in this case. There is no substitution for your natural footfall outdoors. On the mill I find that my form and impact point are completely different and when I race outside I feel like I run like a duck. Not to mention the ridiculous bounce the platform provides � too much give.

Reason #3: Boredom � I consider myself a little bit of a running purist in that I will NOT run with headphones, iPod or anything else that distracts me from everything that is going on with my body and the World around me. If I am forced indoors onto the treadmill, long miles get really, really boring � correction, ALL miles are really, really boring. The closest way for me to replicate my outdoor focus is to wear a shirt with some image in the center of the chest so I have something to focus on reflecting back at me on the TV monitor, which is turned off.

�It�s a means to an end,� you say, well I have a little story to put the final nail in the Dreadmill discussion so we can all enjoy the rest of these Winter months.

On one particularly brisk, windy and vicious New England morning after what seemed like neverending snowfall I had an itch that needed to be scratched, having skipped three days of training. Yes, I was being a HUGE slacker and, to be completely honest, since the end of Fall marathon training I have had a particularly difficult time regaining the discipline I found so comforting. After listening to an excessive amount of bitching, moaning and an absolute magnum opus of whining, my mother told me to just take a 7-day pass for the local gym and go get it out of my system so they might have some peace and quiet from my laudable misery.

Taking her advice I grabbed the pass, slip-and-slided my way to Latitudes, formerly the Gold�s Gym where I played basketball in my youth, and took to the treadmill. Now, just to clarify things a little further, I HATE the Dread-mill with a passion comparable to my affection for the Dentist and all their little toys and this particular run brought my last reason into the forefront of my memory. Approximately two to three years ago I had the distinct privilege of being �that guy� at the 96th Street NYSC (New York Sports Club) when I oh-so gracefully fell and was shot from the treadmill I was rather pacily enjoying and spilled onto the floor. Oh yes, it was quite a scene.

Picture it, a post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas run indoors on a chilly Sunday around 1:30 or so. A full compliment of millers, stairmasters and elipticizers are on hand and the Patriots are on their way to the Playoffs on the TV. Now, mind you, this is still in the days prior to individual monitors for each machine, so there were only a handful of TVs around for our viewing pleasure and, much to my dismay, I was stuck at machine that possessed a slightly obstructed view and made it difficult to catch the score.

I�m hard at work and am maybe 2-miles into my run when I start to lean to my left to try and see the score. It is not the most comfortable feeling to lean on the treadmill while holding a 7:30 pace, so I am constantly trying to balance myself out, straightening my back and trying to maintain good posture, but in doing so I start drifting. Little by little I improve my viewing lie when it happens � my left foot steps on the stationary edge and my right foot falls in the center of the mill, spins my whole body and shoots me flying into the gap between my row and the row directly behind me.

�Oh God! My ass hurts! What do I do now? Get up like nothing happened? Are people looking at me? Do I act as if I tripped on nothing on the sidewalk and look at the treadmill like there was something wrong with it? Some magic impediment there that caused this spill of corporeal humiliation? How long have I been on the ground?�

With all that running through my head I think my reaction was perfectly appropriate � I started laughing, as I crawled to my knees, until a small volume of tears could be seen and my core was tired and sore. It was absolutely hilarious. Even more amusing was the number of people who laid witness to my majestic tumble and didn�t even break stride or smile but I know that as soon as I was gone or they bumped into someone they knew that this would be the first thing to come out of their mouths. I had achieved greatness and was now the topic of conversation for literally twenty or so people � Hot!

Please, for your own sanity and love of running, really hear my reasoning and consider what you are doing before you board a Dreadmill. I�m just trying to help you save your body and some face!

January 2, 2009 Category: marathon, Rockefeller Park, running, sasquatch, shoes, snow, training, treadmill, winter 7 Comments

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