Back to Basics

I got out on the road today. 50 minutes, end to end. This included warm up and cool down walks, as well as three stretch breaks. I took it gingerly, expecting to reprise some of the aches and pain from last week's Adirondack 1/2 Marathon. I finished today with a tweak in my left knee, otherwise I felt fair. The slow-n-steady approach gets credit, I am certain.

The ADK 1/2 ended up being a fine time. For a bunch of reasons -- some reasonable, some not, nearly all mental -- I ran little in preparation. I wanted to back out, but having made a commitment to Mrs. FA and some other folks, off we went.

Given the lack of training, I planned a walk/run strategy: run the first six miles, and then walk/run alternate miles. This way I could finish in 2:30 and not hurt myself.

I stuck more or less to the plan, and ran more or less at my intended pace. At mile 11, I stopped to wait for Mrs. FA so we could run the last two miles and finish together, which we did in 2:43.

There's a New York Road Runners 5 miler on Halloween, and I want to run between 9 and 9:30 minute miles. I am going to train for this alone, for myself. My recent lack of motivation re: the ADK 1/2 stemmed mainly from a promise I made to run it. There are already too many obligations in life. If I run, I have to run because I want to, obliged to no one.

It is a beatiful day in NYC, and the Park is full of runners and tourist and folks walking dogs. I ran the route that I ran over and over and over when I started running more than two years ago. I even wore the heart monitor strap, which gave me some interesting bio-feedback. I haven't used it in a long time. There's a stiff headwind along part of my route - the first crisp breeze of the Fall season. Looking forward to more of it.

Later. fellas.

ADK 1/2 Marathon

So I'll say that the ADK 1/2 went mostly as I planned it. I am very pleased with the experience, and would do it again.

I had this plan for the race: Stay at a steady 10 minute pace for the first seven miles to keep some gas in the tank for the last six, which are mainly uphill, with some flats and downs, and then run the hills as I find them. Pre-select my lines, and stay in them. (I observed the course again by car last night, before picking up my bib. I selected lines along the course that looked flat, not tilted to one side.) Take shot blocks (margarita flavored, thanks for the good steer from VTR) for miles two, four , six, and eight. Grab water at every station.

The first 5 miles or so run along Schroon Lake, one to the prettiest big lakes in the ADKs, in my view. I hit the halfway point at 1:03:27, which was right on plan, and I was psyched.

It was a gorgeous day, cold at the start and crystal clear with a beautiful blue sky. I hit mile markers seven through 10 at 10 minute intervals. But something about how I was shortening my stride on the hills was causing some bad IT band pain on the right side. I took two hills walking with long strides, which made the bands feel better. I still hit mile 11 a little past around 1:53, which was not far off my plan.

The roof sort of caved in just past mile 11. I suddenly had bad pain in my groin on the left side, and my right IT bands were getting worse. I was having trouble lifting my legs. I fell into a run/stagger for the last mile, perking up a little with the Japanese drumming at mile 13, and again when I saw the girls about 40 yards before the finish line. I must have been grimacing; there was a lot of encouragement being shouted at me by strangers in those last 40 yards. I crossed the finish in 2:15:04, ground to a halt and almost fell over. Someone handed me a gatorade, steered me towards a chair and took the chip off my sneaker. I sat there for a good 10 minutes, a little dazed, before I limped off to find Mrs. FA.

Walking around the post-race festivities was difficult and painful. I got a banana and a brownie and four bottles of water and sat in the lake for about 20 minutes, and had a massage, which was nice but not as helpful as the Alleve I swallowed in the car.

The good surely outweighed the bad. It was something, really something. It was a very friendly race on a beautiful course. I saw people I know. I am proud of the Adirondacks and of myself. And now I am going to spend some time away from running.

Talk with you later, fellas.

8 Mile Run

I got out for eight miles today. Mrs. FA drove me 8 miles from the house and dropped me off. It was a very pretty run, on a plateau high above the lake, with wonderful views for most of the first five miles. I had to walk up the four brutal hills, but I completed the course in a shade longer than 80 minutes, so maintained, on average, my comfortable race pace. I was happy about that.

One downer, as I crossed in front of my neighbor's yard, a wasp hopped out of the grass and stung me, right through my sock. I used profanity. It was an inauspicious end to an otherwise encouraging run.

Less than two weeks to the big race. I'm feeling particularly fit. Since last Sunday, I've biked 26 miles, run 18 miles, rowed steadily for three hours, and mowed the lawn. Hoo-ah.

Peace, fellas.

Two New Runs, and Some Rowing

Had a GREAT run in Central Park on Wednesday and a so-so run on the Crown Point Peninsula on Friday evening. So-so, mainly I think b/c I'd had two cups of coffee and two beers and nothing else to drink all day, and felt the dehydration as I ran, in the sun to boot. I had some unexpected cross training this afternoon, rowing around Lake Eaton fishing with my cousin for about 3 hours. The upper body feels comfrotably fatigued. Planning to act like a slug tomorrow with a long run in the pipeline for Labor Day.

Plugging Away

Gents. So the ADK 1/2 is just over two weeks away. I've been plugging away at my weekday training runs, and started feeling some of the work pay off in the last week. The longer weekend runs have been uneven and therefore not encouraging. I am aiming to go for 10 this weekend (Labor Day) and am strongly considering an out and back on the last five miles of the race course. (VTR, that would mean I park where we started out on the bikes last weekend, run the last five miles of the course backwards, then turn around and run the last five miles again, just as I'll experience them during the race.) I feel very calm about the race, though I'm not confident of a steady, consistent performance. My goals are to 1) finish; 2) finish without hurting myself; 3) stay in motion the whole distance; 4) experience the ADKs in a new way. The last is not insignificant, I am looking forward to participating in an ADK event.

I had a beaut of a run in the Park on Monday evening. The weather was dynamite, clear temps in the 70s and breezy. LOTS of runners were out there, soaking it up.

And THANK YOU to VTR for driving through the Valley to join me for a reconnoiter of the ADK half marathon course. The full course would make this marathon a significant accomplishment for any runner, I think. There were hills after hills in the first 1/2, and I was sucking wind on the bike after the first few. The second half of the course (the 1/2 marathon portion) is flat for the first 8 miles, then mildly hilly. It runs right along the lake for about the first six miles, too. It is doable, I think, and VTRs positive attitude and learned recommendations were super encouraging.

Running tonight and Friday before the long weekend run. Will update again then.

Peace, fellas.

Humidity is a Bee-atch

So here's what I've been doing:

Mrs. FA and I got down to Bermuda last Sunday for a few days alone. We got out for a run on Tuesday morning. The humidity was impressive, so we didn't go far. Spend the rest of the day kayaking and snorkeling and so redeemed the short run. We spend three very active days down there eating fish and drinking dark rum, so it was a worthwhile getaway and overall healthy interlude, but for the rum.

Friday, I ran the hilly uptown loop of the Park on another humid day in NYC.

Today in the steaming Champlain Valley I set out from church and planned to run to the lake, a distance of about 6 miles. I stopped around mile 4.5 with painful blisters in my heels. I was wearing very low cut socks, and the tops of my shoes wore down the skin on my lower achilles. I stopped, took off the shoes, walked the mile to the house, found a better pair of socks, and finished the run. When I arrived, I probably spent 45 minutes sitting still in the lake, cooling down. It is about 89 degrees up here, and humid.

Happy to hear of Agricola's solid time at Falmouth.

Peace, fellas.

Big Plans

I have not run since the almost-back-to-back races last week, but am better for the time off and looking forward to getting back on the road. I'll be in SF next week and will hit my usual route along the Bay. I am thinking VERY carefully about making a run at the Adirondack 1/2 Marathon in September. So the strategy would be, start training after Scout Camp in late June, run a shorter race around mid-way, in August, and then focus hard on the 1/2. Maybe. I'll certainly run either the 5k or 10k option, so if anyone wants to make a weekend in the ADKs, let us know. The race is not far from our place.

Run 26

After a frustrating work day I headed out last night around 7:45p, ran down the hill from the house, and then up up up Route 9 towards Westport. I was surprised by my uphill stamina. There were no flats on this route, it was either up or down the whole way. I walked some of the ups, but overall I had the heart pumping hard for 45 minutes altogether. My calf muscles ached towards the end, and my shins are sore this morning.

Next week's 10k looks like kind of a big deal. Professional male runners will be participating. I'm sure I won't see them, but that's still sort of cool. The course is the entire park loop, starting at Columbus Circle and running clockwise, up the West side, down the East side. I'm going to use the water stations on this one.

Run 53

Got out for just 2 miles yesterday (Wednesday), one mile uphill, and one mile down. I wanted to make up for lost runs last week and stay active through the holiday, with its opportunities for overeating. I'm fairly uncomfortable this morning. Don't know if it was too soon after Tuesday's late afternoon 5k, or the big hill, but I feel sore and worn out. Resting now. Enjoy your turkey boys. Peace,

Run 52

In the ADKs today. Mrs. FA dropped me 5k from home, and I ran it in 29.10. Rained lightly the whole way, temps in the low 40s, and a bit of snow and sleet still on the road from last night's freezing rain. I did not stretch before the run, and stretched only my shins and calves afterwards. We'll see how that goes.

I am aiming for a short 2.5 miler tomorrow afternoon, as the feasting will start in earnest when my folks arrive later in the day.

If I don't blog again, I hope all the big and little Agricolae, VTRs, Bennus and Phatrunners have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Run 50, 5-miler

Our church in Port Henry is five miles from home. So I ran home after church. I had never run five miles and wanted to push past that barrier. The route loses elevation overall; it is mainly long gradual downhill stretches with flats here and there and a few, very short climbs, and my right ankle hurt real good in the last mile. I ran it in 45.10.

It was a good morning for a run. Temps in the 40s, breezy, slightly overcast. There are a few points along the route where you can look down on Champlain. I stuck around after mass to stretch behind the pews. I like very much being alone in a Church, and it set my head before the run.

I feel that I should remark on run 50. There it is.

Peace, fellas.

A Great Adirondack Run, #41

It was a hard week and a late Friday and I had to prepare for an afternoon meeting and cook dinner and otherwise be ready for 10 overnight dinner guests so THE LAST THING I wanted to do on Saturday morning was get up and run. So I asked Ms. FA drop me off four miles away from the house at 7:45am. There was nowhere to go but home. And it was a beautiful fall day, crisp and breezy and the foliage was breathtaking and I was charged by a couple of dogs, which was a little scary but funny, too. I absolutely love the Adirondacks. I covered the 4 miles (mostly gradual downhill, with some rollers) in 37 minutes flat, and I felt great about that.