Welcome Back, Me

So, it's been like 11 days since my last run. That's awful. I've got too many races coming up to be a slacker. I got in a nice weekend of skiing last weekend, but it's not great for running training. I'm taking the kids back skiing this weekend to lock down the lessons they took last week. So, this is it for skiing this year -- three times in 8 days. I'll get in a longer run Sunday and it's time to get down to brass tacks.

I was a beast before my run, and even today's lousy run (hey, it was 11 days off) was still good. It was pouring rain and windy, but it wasn't the weather that made it bad, it was the runner. Back on it.

Weekend

I got out for a quick 4+ on Friday evening while at my parents' house. I hadn't run the route in a long time, so it was fun to run it. While the run didn't feel as awesome as Thursday's it was still pretty nice. I covered the ground quickly and was back fast enough that my father said, that was a short run. That felt goo.

We'd intended to go out on Saturday but ended up vegetating.

Sunday I ran with BR on his Birthday -- the families got together and I dragged him out for a 4.5. I'd been planning on doing a tenner, but wasn't in the mood. It was windy and cold and gray and blah: classic February. We had a great run and it was really great to run with a friend.

Race Report: Super Sunday 10K

I headed out on a beautiful bluebird of a day to run the Marathon Sports Super Sunday 5k/10K race. Held along the Boston waterfront this race is only it's third year and it is well attended, and, like Marathon Sports other races very well run. This years course was very similar to last years except that we started at 390 Congress St which was much more roomy and comfortable for the large field. Last year we started from in front of the Harpoon Brewery and it was a little crowded -- so that was a good move. This year's race also went off on time which was appreciated because it was only about 20F with a stiff breeze.

The course wound its way through the rapidly changing Boston waterfront, down Congress St and back, around the new courthouse, by ICA etc. The course was pancake flat as is to be expected on harbor roads and quite fast. The filed was quick -- lots of Boston trainers I think -- and trending young. One of my favorite sites on the course is the tiny Our Lady of Safe Passage Chapel -- located between two huge parking lots and across from some very new, sleek glass office buildings (the thought of the value of that property is astounding -- it's diagonally across the street from 56).


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I ran a nice first half, 23:43 or something and felt pretty good coming into the second half (the race was a couple of loops of the same course). Out to mile four was a nice tail wind, but mile 4-5 was right back into a stilff headwind, and I sort of flagged on this leg and recorded what was probably my slowest mile ~7:55 (39:35). The buildings broke the wind around this point and I dug down and worked a bit harder. I crossed 6 miles at just about 46 even and finished around 46:43, I think, it was definitely below 47 which was cool but the official results will be posted and I'll know for sure tonight. I had a nice kick through the last .2 and was working hard down the home stretch and trying to catch a guy who was in front of me. He picked it up too and held me off by a step. After we crossed the finish line he turned to me with a huge grin and said "thanks for pushing me!" and shook my hand -- that was cool. I had a huge rush at the end of this and totally felt that ever elusive runner's high, It was fun. I remembered why I love to run. Bennu did a nice 5 K as well,it was good to see him.

February Begins

February is here. I got out today after a meeting north of Boston. I headed out for 4 miles at 3:30 this afternoon. It was brisk, in the low-30s but that's hot compared to what we've been experiencing. There was a stiff head wind on the way out, and a nice tail wind on the way back. It wasn't a great run, but it will do: a solid 4 miles, covered briskly. On the way back my hands actually got too warm in my warmer gloves and I removed them. The days are getting longer -- the sun wasn't plummeting at 3:30, it was still bright out when I got home, I'm noticing some buds appearing on trees. I'm feeling positive, feeling good. Today's run left me energized and focused. I'll get out tomorrow too.

Yay!

Frigid air mass. Fierce headwind. Yay!
I love January. Really. Yay!

I haven't had a good run it seems in about two weeks. I don't if it's becuase I'm getting older, or what but this winter is a grinder. January has been awful. Cold, wet, icy, windy, really cold, busy at the job... I mean, really, who throws a shoe?

Today I ground it out into a headwind that at times just about stopped me in my tracks. It was like running uphill, a big hill, for like the middle 1.3 miles of my run today. I'd considered heading out for five. Knocked it to 4.2 and when I got to a point where I could turn and just do my 3.3, took the opportunity and went short. It was yet another unpleasant run, and the unpleasantness stems largely from the conditions -- seriously, the headwind gassed me, I was whipped. I kept telling myself as I ran "this is not a run on which to judge fitness. You are running into a 15-20 MPH steady wind with gusts to 35 and you are laboring because of that. It's the headwind, this is actually a good, tough workout, in a condensed period of time. finish it, get back to the house and mark it as done." I'm done with winter. Done.

Unsatisfying and Cold

Got dropped off about 4.5 -4.75 miles from home this AM while Mrs. A dropped off Child Two. It was cold. I needed an extra layer on my legs, but didn't have it. My legs froze up. My lungs were not working at max capacity given the cold dry air and I ground out just about every step on this AM's trot. Like I always say "somedays you eat the miles, somedays the miles eat you." Consider me chewed up and spit out today. It was a character builder for sure. Glad it's over.

A Pair

I've gotten in a couple this week. A solid handful on Sunday and another solid handful today. The Sunday I enjoyed it and modulated my pace to keep it interesting and spent some time thinking things over. It was a good and fun run. I was scheduled for yesterday but the weather was Nasty (note the capital "N") so I bailed. I got out today though it was pretty good. Footing was crummy, lots of crud, rhime, water and poor footing. I enjoyed it though, and it was good to get out in the middle of the day.

I signed up for the Timberman Tri. That should be fun. Weekend at PR's place in August!

Wages of Sin

I did a strong 5 this afternoon even though the run was sluggish and crummy . I bailed yesterdy when I couldn't find the gear I needed to run in the cold and got really frustrated. Footing was tough, and afterward my calves got all tight and lousy feeling. It could be the footing, it could be some dehydration, not sure. My pace was all over the place, and I'm attributing it to the major league meal we prepped for my parents as their Christmas gift and the two Negronis and the wine. You reap what you sow, and the wages of sin are steep. It was good to get one in early this week, I'm feeling consistency building. I'm two weeks from the start of the Vermont City Marathon training , and therefore 20 weeks from race day. I'm about 4 weeks from the Super Sunday 10K; 8 weeks from NooBeffid Half, and 12 weeks from the Cherry Blossom Ten. Spring is shaping up nicely which is good because I'm sick of January.

Dissocisation

I thought a lot about disociation tonight while I ran.
It was dark and cold and snowing lightly. I got in a solid four and felt pretty good.

I thought about a woman who counts her steps/mile (British marathoner, world class, her name escapes me). I tried it and it nearly blew up my run -- it was awful, by the time I got to 70 I was bored and getting increasingly tired. I stopped counting and walked a few steps to shake off the negativity of that experience. Counting steps is not a dissociative trick for me, anyway.

What did work well for me was creating a running haiku, this one is sort of the best one:

Running in the dark
Snow falls upon the pathway
A Fire burns inside

I also posted it to the cherry blossom training site. Actually, it's all I posted over there.

Planetary Alignment

So, just because I've got a Posterous account with other folks doesn't mean I'm abandoning this -- you are my boys and this is our blog. The Posterous move was an experiment to see what it's like to do a team blog over there -- it's smooth and easy and provides an alternative forum for people to share training stories.

I've been goofing with running this past year and it's time to get serious. I did 5.2 today, and including cool down walk it was all done in ~50 minutes. I felt good. It was cold and dark and the footing uneven in places but it was nice to get out and 5.2 is the furthest I've done in a while. I need to go in the mornings and that's a goal for the new year return to AM trots.

The stars were out and Mars & Jupiter were in the sky, so it was cool to be out. I did two 40 minute yoga workouts with Mrs. A this past weekend and we might try and do another tonight. It felt good and it was tough. I'm looking to work more of that sort of stuff too this year, focus on the whole body. One 20 minute session did lower body, and the other did upper -- I enjoyed and felt better the next day though the lower body workout made my legs sore which was totally unexpected.

All Is Quiet

"All is Quiet on New Year's Day..." except for the 170 or so crazies running in my town's New Year's Day 5K. I was not anticipating any land speed records, and don't know how I did though I think I was in the top third or so of finishers, which is respectable. I was strong throughout the run and maintained a good pace. I was familiar with the course since I've run most of it a hundred times -- with the exception of one funny little part of the course which I've never done though I've run by those streets a hundred times. The course was sort of slick with snow and ice, but nothing unmanageable.

I Saw a woman I knew from my last corporate employer and I caught her around 1.5 and ran a bit with her. She told her husband she was tired and I dropped the hammer, as much as I could, and broke away from them. I finished with a good kick and beat her by about 45 seconds.... no reason for the animus except that she's worked 10-plus years for the worst company I ever worked for, goes on the road for long stretches and has no children, so, somewhere, deep down inside, we have fundamentally different value systems. She beat me a couple of years ago during the town's 4th of July race, so now it's onto this year's 7/4 RR and the rubber match. Nothing really to report, beyond this except that I'm happy with this run and it's a good confidence builder.

Happy New Year. Here's a to a year of running and fun.

Slacker!

So, it appears we've all been a bit hamstrung over the holidays. It's tough, very tough. I got out today. It was cold (ice in full sun is not melting) and I't'd been a while since I'd run. Not sure how far I went but felt OK through the first 3/4s then lousy the last 1/4. Wine, beer, cocktails (manhattans, egg nog, things on rocks), cookies, chocolate take their toll, that's for sure. I'll go again tomorrow. I'm contemplating the local New Year's Day 5K on Friday. I'm not anticipating any land speed records for that one -- I'm ending 2009 slower than I started it, that's for sure -- but it will be good to get out and run.

Catch up

I got in a quick one on Friday afternoon/evening.It was dark and cold. I felt pretty good until the end when my legs weren't quite working right due to the cold -- they were tight and not turning over all that easily. I should have worn one more layer on my legs I guess.

Yesterday I shoveled out our house and cleaned cars for a couple of hours. Hoping to get out today, but it's going to be hectic.

Couple to report

Got a nice 4.75 mile run last Sunday. I felt good and had fun and beat the rain. I didn't get out again until Wednesday and did my bread run to Trader Joe's. I felt better on the way back than on the way out -- total head-wind on the way out and a lovely tail-wind on the way home. It's cold today, but I hope to get out today for a quick one. Should be doable.

Clarifying

Of all of the things I like about being my own boss what I don't like is the never-off nature of starting our own thing. It interferes sometimes with my life which is really much more important than my work (and always has been). I tend to get short lately and have little patience. Running helps me deal with that -- a reality hammered home when I'm not running as much as I should. I got out yesterday afternoon in the dark. It was cold and windy. There were no other runners out. The Christmas lights were on in folks' houses. I went 3.3. It was beautiful and clarifying both physically and metaphysically. I was strong and quick (I can run!). I pondered some stuff and settled on a course of action. It was good. I then got home, showered, hydrated & drank a beer. I yelled at my kids about something stupid. I've still got a ways to go. Embrace the process. Find the center.

More Like It

I went out late today, around 4:15 PM. I didn't run over the weekend. I worked hard on Saturday to finish my yard work. Today was the first run of the 09-10 winter running season as far as I'm concerned: sub-40 F, dark, snow on the ground, badly shoveled sidewalks in places, hat gloves tights, shell & reflector. I had no real route in mind, I just went out and did my thing and ended up having a beaut of a run in the 4 mile neighborhood. I even threw in my end of 10K hills and did well. Last week may have been an anomaly, it may have been the week off, too much food at Thanksgiving, I don't know. My body reacted well and I enjoyed tonight. I felt quick, I liked my tempo, my CV felt good, my legs were solid. Mrs. A is happy to see us back on the blog.

Short Friday Run

Went out for 3.3 today. Nothing major, but I felt better than yesterday so that's heartening.
IT was chilly but I got out in shorts, gloves, hat not pulled all the way down technical-t and poly pro undershirt (long sleeved). My shorts kept riding up in my crotch and as I ran by this little gas station and Dunkins these morons across the street in an SUV told me to pull down my shorts. If there hadn't been 4 guys with hockey sticks (Aluminum sticks were visible in the back seat, running along the top of the door on the driver's side) I would have stopped, flipped them the bird and asked why they were looking at my shorts and crotch any way... but I rose above and carried on. I've never been hassled around here before (but have in rural Michigan) and think that people in cars who hassle runners are compensating for something.

I entered my name in the lottery for the Cherry Blosson 10-miler on 4/11/10 in D.C.. If you're interested let me know and I'll give you some inside scoop -- there is some HC momentum and we're trying to get in as a group, one from NE one from the Mid-Atlantic.

I also just signed up for the Vermont City Marathon.....here we go.

Wake Up Call

Beautiful day (sunny and 70 F), horrible run. This run was a wake up call for me. I need to be more conisstent in my runing, my diet, my hydration, my sleep habits. I need to structure my day better and remember to take time for myself and focus on running. I did about 4ish and it was one of the worst runs I've had in years. I raked and worked in my yard but haven't run since Thursday. The frustrating thing about consistency is that it's all in my control -- I just need to plan my days better.

OK, done venting. Thanks.

Hingham Turkey Trot 2009

BR and I ran in Hngham yesterday. It was moderately warm, but damp and gray. We started in abot the middle of the pack and headed out together on the run. The first mile was a slow 8:58 -- tack on the lag at the start. I ran the middle mile in 7:33 crossing mile 2 at 16:30. I finished the last 1.1 miles in a declining time of about 8:28 it seems. Now the official time on the site says 25:19.22 but I looked up as I crossed the line and the clock said something like 24:53 - 58, not entirely sure.

BR's watch said something like 24:30 elapsed time. There were no chips and no mats for this race so it's all gun time or self timed. They even use the old capture the tag from the bottom of your number and sort it that way. I'm not sure of the accuracy of that method, though it can be accurate, my run felt faster than 25:19.22 though that may just mean that I'm in worse shape than I thought. I think it was somewhere low 24s high 23s, to be honest. Anyway, whatever. It was fun. BR is doing great and much improved this year since we raced together in February. Way to go. Sorry you guys missed the race, VTR. Next year.

Hope you guys all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This is a good driver to get better and more consistent. See you around.

Kind of Running

So, I threw down the gauntlet and it worked! Nice job guys way to get out and go. I then got buried under work and fell off the wagon. I had a great week three weeks ago 4 runs capped by a beaut on Cape Cod in which I felt strong fast and very alive. then I ran once the next two weeks. I'm seeking consistency and balance, something hard to do these days.

I've gotten in 2 runs this week with the Hingham Turkey Trot this Thursday. Looking forward to running the BR, VTR and Mrs. VTR. It will be fun. See you soon.