Efficiency

I took a morning off of running with the GRC guys to sleep in...and sleep in I did- to 11:30. I clearly needed it. It was too late for Alex, and he had already left by the time I was ready to go, so I headed out, planning to do at least 16, hoping I was up for 18. It had been quite a while since I had eaten a meal, so I wasn't sure of how I would fare, but I turned out to be just fine.
I left on what I am dubbing the Chesterbrook loop, a more confident permutation of the run up Kirby on which I got lost in January.
My left patella was pained for a bit in the first mile, but by the time I reached the short stretch of the W&OD trail, I was loose and ready to go. I blasted Virginia Lane, just because I always do, and from then on generally pushed the pace. I wasn't timing it exactly, because I left my damned watch at work, but I feel as though I was running 6:30 pace most of the first half, which was mostly downhill until the nine mile mark.
At that point, near the Chain Bridge, I turned and ran up a pretty darn steep hill- 203 feet of climbing in a half mile. The difference between this and my last trip up this hill was that in January, I basically crawled up- this time, my form naturally got as efficient as possible. It happened automatically- my knees lifted the optimal hight, I leaned just enough and my feet climbed the hill faster than I expected- I scaled the hill like a lemur scrambling up a tree. My body just naturally found the most efficient way to move, I liked that. When I got to level ground on Old Glebe, I just started rolling. I mowed down another runner and spit him out. When I hit Chesterbrook, I continued to roll, and appreciated the ease with which I was moving ahead, more than 11 miles into my run. I felt as though I had hacked my way down to 6:00 pace or below, and I wasn't straining to do it. This feeling- motion without effort- the climate - low 40s with intermittent winds, no rain- and the scenery - Virginia light suburban with little traffic- reminded me why I love running.
When I turned onto Westmoreland, I was thrilled to see almost no traffic, so I was able to move onto the actual road and started to feel like I was in a road race. When I passed Haycock Road on Westmoreland, I slowed slightly, and once I hit the end of Lincoln Avenue, I shut things down a little more for my run up Grove and around the Metro loop.
Then I fell asleep watching the Olympic hockey final and woke up eight seconds before the tying goal in the third period.

It's all uphill from here

The weekend was pretty productive in terms of getting some work on hills, something I felt was lacking in my routine during my cooldown Wednesday.
Saturday I ran from the GRC store in Chevy Chase with Klim, Murphy, Max, Ernst and Mike. We went about five miles south almost to Dupont, then turned around. I initially wanted to do a five-mile tempo in the middle, but leaving my watch at the office on Friday complicated that. Murphy also wanted to get some up-tempo work in, so we decided to do a shorter tempo on the way back to the store. That, unfortunately, meant spending most of the workout running uphill. I handled the first 5:30 pretty well, then suddenly faded. Once I had some grass to run on, I was able to catch back up. The second interval, at six minutes, was bound to be easier and less uphill, but I still faded at 5:30. The third- three minutes, was bad enough until I let two cars make turns in front of me, effectively seperating myself from Murph and Mike. Even if I wasn't thrilled with how it turned out, I was still glad to get 19 minutes of hard running that I wasn't otherwise planning. I ended up with 75 miles for the week.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #7

Secret
I ran this loop in early April 1998. One Saturday morning, all of the juniors on the track team were taking the SAT, so our road groups were fundamentally shuffled. I wound up with Doug Mitarotona, one of the hardest working all-around people I have yet met. I was a little worried, because without a meet that weekend, Doug was going to want to hammer, because he didn't waste a second that he could be working. We left with a few others in tow, and I asked him where we were going.
"It's a secret," he told me.
I knew I was entering a world of suffering when we ran up the path to Washington Road that I had previously only walked. This guy wasn't messing around! We started running a triple loop, which is hard enough when you aren't being pulled along by an achievement-driven maniac. Down onto Mt. Lebanon Boulevard and up Hoodridge. This lunatic who maintained a hyper-competitive schedule his junior year while playing soccer and running cross country and working part time. Clearly, he was a man who had no need for leisure.
He hammered himself into a top-flight runner his senior year, who outdistanced the first finisher from our arch-rival, North Allegheny's team at the WPIAL championships. I had been spared running with him throughout my first two years until now, and I was about to find out why he improved so quickly.
At some point, Doug decided to try to break me. I, being a precocious youngster of 15, didn't want to relent. I hung on as long as I could, as he took me down hills, seemingly only because we would have to go back up. Up Connor Road, down to the Galleria, then along the path through the park to the bottom of Sunnyhill. I think at this point, the rest of the group was far enough back that we had lost them, but I just kept trying to hang. Finally, I succumbed. I started to slow to a walk, but Doug rejected my surrender. He ran back down the hill and started jogging very slowly.
"Run as slowly as you have to, but don't switch over to walking," he said. "The second you switch, you've broken your stride."
So I started running again. I wish I could say I instantly felt a surge of pride and strength return to my legs. I didn't. It was worse than before. Oh God, why? I crawled along, each step of Sunnyhill getting a little steeper. I wish I could remember the relief I felt when I got to the top of the hill, but I was just too tired at that point. We turned down Beadling and I couldn't even enjoy that, because it felt like my body was still tied up inside. I think at that point I gave up all hopes of feeling good again and just pushed to stay with Doug (#133 at right) as he accelerated up Cedar Boulevard back to the track.
When we got back to school, we checked in with Coach A, who took one look at what remained of me- a sweaty, probably bleeding mess that breathed heavily enough to terrify an infant, he chuckled. He knew the medicine that I took. I don't think he gave a thought to the other runners in our group not making it back. The rest of the day was a blur, but the message stayed in my mind, my quads and my back to this day- If you hammer, you deaden the inconvenient pains that get in the way of seeing what you are truly capable of doing. After this, how could I not be confident enough to take on some of the best runners around?
It took me a few years to put everything together so that I could make the best use of what I learned from Doug that day, but the hammering run remains a staple of my training. I subjected a few underclassmen to it in my last two years at Mt. Lebanon, but it rarely took, even if they made it up Sunnyhill. I think something was lost in the retelling when I took the lesson into my hands. Doug had no such troubles.

HALP! WIND

Friday's typically an easy day with a shorter run, but today was anything but easy. I tried to run to the Smithsonian metro station to meet Melissa for a trot around the mall, but eastward winds made my progress very slow. It was more like a jog. We didn't last long. I went back to work and pretty much felt like I had suffered a stroke.

Rebound

Towpath left some encouraging words following my perceived-as-terrible workout that, in that context, weren't very effective, yet when viewed in relation to Thursday's run were quite prescient. He said I had improved since November.
As I have every Thursday for the last two years when I am running a solid mileage, I ran 12 miles, on my Pimmit-Idylwood loop, planning to neither push the pace or take it easy. I wasn't quite sure where the mile markers were, so I took splits at varying points to check later. At the point that I found out to be 3.1 miles in, I was at 18:36. By comparison, at the Candy Cane City 5k in early November, I ran 18:31 for 5k. Thursday, I kept going for nine more miles. So, Towpath was right, I had improved.
Despite having to stop three times at traffic lights for a while, which made me cool down quite a bit, I ran the 12 miles at 6:08 pace. The only times I felt discomfort were about 7.5 miles in, when I climbed a steep hill after standing at the corner of Idylwood and Leesburg Pike for a minute or two, and the last three miles, when my stomach started to act up. Stopping for traffic was a pain, but I really enjoyed rolling on Venice toward the end. I hit 9.75 miles exactly in an hour.
So, I am feeling a bit better about myself after that display.
I could use a swift five-mile tempo on Saturday.

Feels like failure

Ever since my last mile workout more than a month ago, I have been anxious to get back on the track and keep pushing. My previous workout was interrupted by some stomach pains, so I was left with a desire to see where I could go with a longer stretch of mile repeats.
I had my chance tonight, with 5xmile on the schedule at American's track. I finally met the elusive Matias who boasted the impressive (to me) resume of running with Scott Sehon, Greg Costello and Aaron Hanlon at Bucknell. Letting Karl, Jake and Dirk go ahead for their speedy miles, Matias and Andy and I held back and I led miles at 5:14, 5:12 and 5:10, with a 400 m jog between them, which I invariably took too fast. I had planned to run 5:16, 5:12 and 5:08, and admittedly, seeing 5:10 for the third interval was deflating. Matias led the fourth mile, but after 200 meters I was toast- I wasn't breathing quite right. I jogged the rest of the lap and put a long-sleeved shirt on (extra tight) and planned to run a few 5:20s to relax and still get some work in, but judging from my 43 at the 200 mark, I was done.
I keep in mind that I was still cutting time each mile and doing them under control, but regardless, I was awash in frustration and wondered aloud if I would ever break 16:00 for 5k again. I tried to run around a bit while everyone else finished their workouts, but I didn't even want to do that- I felt frail. Things picked up when we went for a cooldown run, but then I was cut from a Russian ballet troupe and sunk into a deep depression.

Just 10 miles

Since my plan to double today was quashed by my continuing inability to wake up early, I instead just did 10 miles after work at 6:50 pace, out to Hollywood and back. Boring.

Despite the loss of feeling in my extremities, I still prefer rain to snow

I didn't wake up before work to run, so my hopes of doubling were squashed. Then Melissa canceled our evening trot because it was supposed to rain, so I set out from my office after work to get in 10 miles around the Mall and Hains Point. The drizzle didn't seem so bad as I worked my way counterclockwise around the mall, but once I got to Hains Point, the deluge was constant. I rushed the run, having little shelter from trees, no long pants and no gloves. I had a pretty solid pace for a while until I hit a red light at 14th street and had to wait for a minute to cross. I ended up averaging 6:15 for 10 miles which made sense, given the flat loop and my haste to get in from the rain.
If nothing else, the rain helped expedite the snow melting.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #8

Argonne-Natrona-Karns
When I first started working at the Valley News Dispatch in 2006, I tended to run in Schenley Park and then drive out to the office. I didn't think there was any way the Alle-Kiski Valley could be more interesting.

For a while, I was right, but just because I wasn't creative. When I would work evenings, I would have to head out there before rush hour, but I'd wind up with at least 45 minutes extra to kill, so I started running from the office, along First Avenue into Brackenridge and then Harrison, where I discovered the wonder that is Natrona.

Natrona once housed most of the workforce for the Allegheny Ludlum steel mill in adjacent Brackenridge. It had so many Catholics that at least three churches thrived. Now....not so much. Population has plummeted, houses have fallen into disrepair, crime, for a time, ran rampant, though it had since cooled. I knew, despite the slightly lower-quality air around the remaining steel mill, that I wanted to make Natrona the centerpiece of any run I did around the area. For some reason, decay fascinates me, because you never know what is left over. I'd almost rather scavenge the irregular and slightly-singed merchandise at Gabriel Brothers than shop somewhere that I know I can find what I want. In addition to the historical treasures, the spectacle is just as fun. For instance, the photo at left. I befriended three young gents one day in 2007 while writing a story about Natrona. Mike, in the middle, has a Blackberry, despite his employ as a cook at the three friends' barbecue stand. Also, why isn't that guy in the background wearing a shirt?
I start in Natrona Heights at Pennsylvania Avenue and run along Broadview Boulevard to Penn St, down to Vermont and back up to Argonne Drive. The approach to Natrona down Arragone Drive is marvelous. You can see the tightly clustered houses surrounding the ornate church, St Ladislaus.

The route travels several mostly-empty streets that get barely any traffic. Federal Street features several Civil War-era houses, though recent fires have claimed several.

Moving onto Karns Road transitions the run from slum to a more rural, rolling setting. Slum might be harsh, but it's close. Karns Road might be my favorite segment of the run. Each step brings you closer to the northeastern edge of Allegheny County and its nexus with Armstrong County.

The turn up Oak Manor Drive, however, is a quick blow to anyone who wasn't expecting to have to climb back up the hill they descended via Argonne Drive. At the top of Oak Manor, you turn onto Freeport Road, which isn't great for pedestrians, but soon enough you can turn off into neighborhoods in Natrona Heights as you approach Heights Plaza and the end of the run.

The timing of this post happened to coincide with Oscar and Beth Shutt running up Oak Manor Drive today. Wacky!

Remarkably unremarkable long run

After Saturday's overdistance run, I had a bad feeling about 15 miles on the rolling hills of Poolesville, MD, or thereabouts. A stupid reunion with Papa Johns' garlic dipping sauce the night before with dinner made my attempts to sleep well an exercise in frustration. Luckily for me, Dave Burnham picked me up on the way to the run, sparing me an earlier wakeup to ride the metro into town for a carpool.
The grave sensation followed me through the early stretch of the run, two loops based around River Road. I didn't help myself by wearing a long-sleeved shirt over another shirt, but we would be making a trip back to the cars after the first nine miles, so I could drop it off. We eventually picked up the pace, and my spirits lifted. As soon as I knew it, we reached the 12-mile mark and Pat Murphy and I headed back. Jake Marren and Karl kept going, so Dave and I drove by them a few times- Jake was going for 24, and his form remained remarkably composed for having run that much.
Oh, there was a dead goose, too.

Let's go BACK to the Mall!

My second week of 75 miles went deceptively easy, considering I worked four of the days, whereas I only worked one day of my first 75 mile week. Not that the extra five miles is terribly hard, only about 33 minutes more throughout the week, but the whole effort is worthy of pause. I went to the store looking forward to a nine-mile jaunt through Northwest, but ended up getting much more. We ended up running around the Mall and Hains Point, but despite running some of the same route the day before, it was great to have a big group Saturday morning.
In honor of the Spiders, I wore my Richmond singlet under my t-shirt, but less than a mile into the run realized I had to be more public with my support, so I put it on over my shirt. To note, Matt Llano ran 14:37 to win the 5k with splits of 457, 442, 423, and Tim Quinn nearly PRed with a similar first-mile split. Unreal. Here's an interview with Llano on my coach's blog. To think, Hannay's 15:07 outdoors was noteworthy in 2002... It was also a homage to pretty much every running movie I have ever seen- the athletes seem to train in their uniforms. Why is Mac Wilkins, a thrower, running around campus with his Oregon singlet on in Prefontaine? Karl brought up a good point- it's good marketing for the program. It reminded me that Hampden-Sydney never gave us any paraphernalia with the the team or school name on it. It was just as well, because we were kind of embarrassing and it matched the way the school felt about us. I do have a t-shirt from the Parents and Friends 5k, which was odd to have a shirt for that but not for the team in general.
Karl also gave me another idea- charging to the front at the end of the run, to be the first one back to the store and represent my school well. I was in. What I didn't realize was how far we would end up running.
After a loop around the Mall, we headed down the west side of Hains Point, and kept going to the tip, despite being at 56 minutes at the cross road. For some reason I pushed ahead with Karl, not that it was a problem. The east side was now clear, so we returned up that side, and I kept pushing into the wind. Heading back on Ohio, the pack turned left when I was headed right, so I fell back a little there, but picked up ground. Once we hit the rock creek trails and I made the unfortunate decision to end up running through a lot of snow, I was much farther behind and soon would relent and forget about the finish, until Karl reminded me to go for it. I put on about a mile-long surge to the front, took the long way around an interchange under Whitehurst Parkway and kind of overcompensated for the extra distance. It felt good to be able to put on a burst, no matter how silly, after nearly an hour and a half of running. Jake Klim sprinted to catch up to me and I eased up, but again Karl's encouragement propelled me up the icy steps and across M street to the GRC.
We ended up doing a little over 14, so I would up with 80 miles this week. Oh well.
I'm liking the shorts-worthy weather...
In other news, I am into the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, and I'm pretty pumped about it.

Let's go to the Mall!

After building up a little extra a few days, I was able to cut my run on Friday to seven miles. I did in during my lunch break around the mall and averaged 6:28. It got me thinking about an amusing This American Life that coincidentally, Jake Marren and I referenced the next day while waiting to start and a man with a large beard drove by.

Dry roads

Thanks to a lot of sun and a high above 40 during the day, a lot of the ice and snow melted and my 12-mile loop was pretty clear. After my tempo the night before, I had no need to push too hard, but I liked the chance to go out and run without having to worry so much about my footing.
It was 39 degrees when I got home, so I took the opportunity to wear shorts and man, it was worth it. I was pretty tired so the run wasn't a chucklefest, but I menadered between 6:40 and 6:49 pace.
I thought ahead to the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, and I'll admit I am getting pretty excited about it. I feel like that could be my optimal distance to race, and the opportunity to try it for the first time on a course I am familiar with is enticing. A favorable baseball schedule this year means the course can return to the north shore. We'll have a lot of flat stretches and get away from that boring out and back on Chateau and Manchester streets that the larger crowd at the race last year necessitated. I have about two and a half months to prepare for it, and given the way I feel right now, I need all of it. I'll have plenty of races along the way at which to evaluate my fitness, chief among them being Cherry Blossom in April. If I can run under 55 there, I'll feel like I'm in pretty good shape. But right now, running 5:40 pace for two three-mile tempos is a long way from 5:30 pace for 10 miles.

Slipping on my hubris

I tried my first track workout in about a month Wednesday night. It wasn't terribly taxing, a seven-mile tempo at the American University track with Jake Marren, but it was significant that I hadn't run anything much faster than six minute pace for a long time, mainly because of the condition of the ground.
The track was mostly clear, by my mind was not when I arrived. I fancied myself a young WASPy Amerigo Vespucci in trying to navigate a shortcut to the American track from the Tenleytown Metro stop. Given my lack of familiarity with the area, this was ill advised. I ended up taking a street I thought to be parallel to Nebraska, which would take me to the east end of the campus, but this proved to be incorrect- the street was actually perpendicular. As I applied my geometry skills practically, I noticed my bag smelled rather sweet. Upon opening one of the end compartments, I found my travel shampoo bottle had opened and deposited its contents into the bag, ruining a plethora of matchboxes I can ganked from the eponymous restaurant the night before and failed to remove. Suffice to say, I was flustered when I finally showed up at the track.
After a warmup when we were joined by Dirk De Heer, Jake and I switched into road flats and started on our run. Most of the track was clear, except for some snow encroaching on the inside lane on one turn. Smatterings of ice decorated the surface, but the beauty of running laps on a track is how quickly you familiarize with the landscape and adapt. We planned to start off slow, but I naturally brought myself to ruin with a 5:31 second mile, after which I lost my composure and tried to recover from a speed I had not approached in a month, with five miles left. Around the second lap, two young man walked out to the track and up into the bleachers and smoked marijuana like cigarettes. I'm not sure why they chose the track for their doobie smoking, nor did it feel like we had spectators for the workout. Dirk had talked about hearing in his head the last song he heard on the radio, but after smelling that cheeba, I kept hearing Rick James' Mary Jane while I ran.
When I realized the remaining miles were destined for disaster, I cut off the tempo at three miles- 16:56- a shade under 5:39 pace. I immediately recovered for a mile and went back into a second three mile interval, hoping to maintain an even 5:40 pace. I did so, with some company from Chuck Kacsur in the second mile. I finished with an 81- the fastest lap of the 24 I ran harder, and ran 16:55, a second faster than the first, fresh interval.
The large piles of snow on the edges of the soccer field gave the track an odd feel, similar to the cinderblock walls on the insides of the turns on indoor tracks. It did not make me wistful for Pitt's indoor track, though.
After my cooldown, I was pretty lightheaded and ravenous. I demolished an apple and wandered to Dirk's car with the other guys. Stopping for snacks, Jake said I looked pretty "sad," mainly because the line at Subway was way too long and I couldn't seem to read the menu.
In one regard, I am disappointed that I let one mile ruin my workout, and that I let that mile happen because of my unbridled enthusiasm. I was feeling great through two miles, but I hadn't been running that fast for a while and my rust caught up with me as I got in over my head. I am happy, however, that I salvaged the workout and managed to run an even-paced second three miles with just a short recovery. It's a little step, and even though my mileage is "up there," for me, I feel like I am behind my usual fitness in Pittsburgh. I haven't done any other tempos and have done limited speedwork, but at the same time I am not racing the Spring Thaw this year, in fact I won't be racing until the Monument Ave 10k in late March, so I need not compare the two schedules. I am also building a sturdier base. Either that, or I'm old, fat and over the hill (See photo, right).

Nothing to read here, folks

I planned to do the same two loops around the Mall that I did Snow Day Saturday for 10.5 miles, but the sidewalk along the reflecting pool and Constitution were ridiculously icy, so I cut that section out of my second loop and did another loop around the capitol reflecting pool for 9.5.

Favorite Defunct Races #4

Panhandle Trail 5k/10k- Yeah, believe it or not I am wistful for a Kevin Smith race. Shortly after I moved to Pittsburgh from Richmond, I was terribly bored and took to exploring new locales around the city and suburbs. I began wandering into the west, and hoped to find a race out there. It just so happened that a 5k/10k double was scheduled for mid-October on the Panhandle Trail, a frequent training ground over the previous few years. I usually started from Walker's Mill, on the eastern end of the trail, and these races started at McDonald, so it was a nice change of scenery.
I convinced my mom to come along, and on the drive to the race I saw something starling - a smoldering hole in the middle of a pedestrian mall in Carnegie. Not just any smoldering hole- the site of the former Red Hots, a wing joint frequented by my high school cross country team. It had recently become Red Onions, and even more recently -- like, a few hours before -- burned down. That's a shame.

The drive to McDonald was scenic and pleasant, and the weather, in the low 50s, was good for a race. The course wasn't a great race course, it's somewhere I'd run for free all the time, but since the fundraiser directly supported trail improvements, it gets a pass.

Unfortunately, my body at the time was not. I didn't warm up terribly well, since I had nine miles of racing ahead of me, and I basically pulled away in the last mile to beat some high school freshman in just over 17 minutes. After a quick jog, I met Hounds Leslie McIntire and Eric Wilkins at the starting line for the 10k, which simply traveled 1.5 miles farther than the 5k out-and-back course.

Warmed up, and more likely frustrated at my middling 5k time, I took the first half of the race out pretty hard, 16:40, a good 30 seconds faster than the shorter event. After hitting the four mile mark in 21:30, I started to tire and told Leslie to go for it. Wilkins finished third and the Hounds swept the race. Not that it was a terribly deep race, but it was just a nice event to have. It was cheap, raised money for the trail, and brought some active people out for a scenic run in autumn. Though Pittsburgh's weather is typically pretty cloudy, I think that city does gray better than any other. I love running in the fall no matter what the climate, even rain, though that least of all. When door prizes remained after the drawing, Smith simply threw the remainders in the air.

That was the last, and as far as I can tell, only, time this race has been run, though the annual Trot for Tots 5k/10k is run on the same or close to the same course.

I did see this notice in the Collier Township bulletin: Watch for a spring “Friends 10K/5K Run on the Panhandle Trail”. Contact Bruce Linner: 412-279-2210, linner4@verizon.net.

So maybe this race isn't defunct after all...

Saying goodbye to the old normal

Tuesday I go back to a regular work schedule, which I haven't had in 12 days. I planned to try to emulate a normal schedule, but once I woke up and saw it was 14 degrees at 7:30, I decided to embrace the freedom that a day off gave me and skip my plans to run from the Line. I slept in until 9:30 and later went off on a 6.1 mile loop, mainly a Pimmit 6, with a few modifications, at about 6:45 pace. More ice, in fact, most of the northward trip through Pimmit Hills was icy.
I took a nap and at 5 went out with Alex for a classic Park 6, though it was a little shorter today, 5.9. Alex said on the way back we were inching close to six minute pace, which I was happy with. Not much ice on that loop, except for the trail and stretch through Falls Church Park.
Back to work tomorrow, but I have 27 miles is so far this week.
No more naps...

Sunday with Ciccone

Matt Ciccone visited and is advancing in his marathon training, so I met up with him for a run Sunday. I started from his girlfriend, Amy's, place in Logan Circle, ran west on P to the Rock Creek Parkway then went an intersection too far, adding an extra .9 onto my run. With almost 6 (at 6:30 pace) in the bag when I picked Matt, who wanted to start his run with a shot of espresso (he trains like an Italian),I figured I would wind up with some extra distance. We planned for 10 miles, which would be his longest run to date, with a loop from Amy's to Hains Point and back. We headed down the west side, and upon reaching the end, we saw the road was not plowed. We turned around and headed back and only wound up getting him a little more than 9.1, but it was okay because his run scheduled for the week before was supposed to be 9 miles but he kind of fell apart at 7 and didn't finish, so, baby steps...
We grabbed some chocolate milk, met up with Amy and had brunch at First Farmers, which was a wonderful experience all around. I had fried chicken, eggs and waffles, exactly the combination I craved when we were running into the wind north on Hains Point. We averaged 8:50 the time I ran with him, and he seemed pretty happy. Considering all the ice we dealt with on the way to Ohio St, it was good. Obviously 26 miles is different than a mostly flat 9, but I have confidence in him. He is a devotee of road biking for exercise, so he has a fitness base, and he's an athletic fellow. Of course, biking and running are different, as illustrated in this video:


That video is compliments of Pat McGuire, Ragged Mountain Running, Charlottesville, Va.

Anyway, I wound up with just over 15, and with another week at 75 on the schedule, it has given me a good head start on the week- certainly better than the 12 I ran last week and gave up simply because I was so tired after running through the snow. Only four days of work, and I am definitely trying to get some morning runs in, if only three or four miles.
My left IT band was a little tight, but it eased up once I slowed down with Matt. My right hip was sore after we finished, but I attributed that to a lot of awkward running on the ice. Most of my slight maladies have fixed themselves within a day or so, and I feel pretty good. I just want to get back to running fast and confidently on dry ground. This ice, though I haven't fallen, remains a deterrent.

75 and feeling alive or something stupid along those lines

I ran a lot later than I had planned. Coming home from Patrick Murphy's excellent Olympic opening ceremonies party, I missed an orange line train by about 15 seconds. Luckily it wasn't the last train of the night, but I still had to wait 18 minutes for one. Once on the train, we got to Metro Center and proceeded to sit there for about 28 minutes, so the other last trains of the night could converge. I appreciated the forethought, but seeing as how I was exhausted from jerking my sleeping schedule out of whack for one day of work that week, I got a little irate, though I kept it to myself. Then a middle aged gentleman who wreaked of cigarettes sat next to me. Just splendid. Anyway, by the time I got home- 1:15, I had a feeling waking up for the Haiti charity run in Chevy Chase was unlikely. When I woke up at 7:45 and knew it was decision time, I was positive. I slept until 11:30, then just kind of lied around for a few more hours, had some food, and finally got going around 5. The Presidents' Loop, named for the several streets named after American presidents, was an icy mess in several places and and snowy where it wasn't icy, so what was a good pace was frequently interrupted by having to jog to enhance safety. I ended up running 6:30 for 9.8 miles, so it wasn't too bad, but I was hoping for something a little closer to 6:00 pace. Granted, I slowed down considerably in the hazardous stretches so I very well may have managed close to six minutes the rest of the time. Anyway, I made it to 75 miles this week, mostly on top of and through snow and ice, so I am pretty happy. I just can't wait to train on solid ground consistently.

Back to work

The federal government finally reopened and with it, my office, which follows the feds. We ended up getting a two-hour delay Friday, which is just as well because in addition to dealing with waking up three hours earlier than I had been, I had to run to an underground metro station, deal with various delays once I got on a train, buy a towel and shampoo at Bed, Bath and Beyond's "beyond" section and shower before I started work. I am not good at morning runs at this point. Every Saturday morning run has pretty much been a disaster, so I have to start working on that. today's was no different. I managed 6:30 pace for most of the eight miles to the Rosslyn station, but I felt awful. Maybe it is all the training- I'm up to 75 miles this week. I generally feel really good but I am just trashed today. It's probably the lack of sleep, which sounds dubious, given my surperfluous napping this week, but I kind of got my days and nights mixed up. Oh well.