First day off in three months

I took Monday off, my first day off since June 12, and even though I felt like I was putting a perfectly good day to waste -- it was in the low 80s and much drier than the night before -- I really didn't have the motivation to go out. I hope by not forcing it I gave myself time to physically and mentally recover.

Tuesday morning I almost let that malaise continue, but I forced myself to step out onto my porch to see just how nice the weather was. About 62 degrees. I'd be an idiot not to run, so I did- 6:30 for 10.3 miles on an extended Oak loop. Thirsty, of course, but better than most times I have run that loop--I have usually had enough when I cross over 66 on Virginia.

That afternoon I planned to go out and run an easy seven miles on a new loop, but missed a turn and ended up going nine. It was refreshing, though- close to 80 degrees, the sun setting in the middle of the run, hills everywhere. If I didn't have a workout the next day, I could have kept going. I had never run on the segment of Powhatan between Kirby and Orland and good God, it's steep. Rock Spring Park was also new to me and although it was short, it was pleasant.

I slept in again on Wednesday and was, again, feeling pretty cruddy on my way to practice- it was much muggier than usual. I decided to forgo the 800 workout to do 400s with Tex- he planned to do 20 with 35 seconds recovery, which at some point was communicated to me at 30 seconds recovery. I led the first two, 70.00 and 69, he led two more, 69,69, and as we started the fifth I realized these half minute breaks were not doing it for me, so I started alternating the quarters to give Tex a break from going alone. I ran six more in 69 until he had enough, then joined some guys doing 800s for their first lap (66) and then did a 66 on my own. It ended up not being a terribly long workout, but I needed turnover and I think I got a good handle on it there.

I had a much improved Thursday morning from last week. I did the same first seven or so miles as before- Williamsburg and Military Road to the trail and up to Marymount, but this time I took George Mason to Lee Highway and back to Great Falls. I also took a squeeze bottle with me and drank a little bit throughout. Also, no passing out on the way to work. I did an easy 6 after work on the Seaton loop in weather that was perfect for distance running- chilly enough that I had to keep moving to stay warm. This is the kind of weather in which I feel like I can competently run.

I planned to do the 6x mile workout Friday morning that I had been unable to finish last week, thanks to my breathing episode. I reserved a Zipcar a three minute walk from my apartment for 5:30, which would give me time to drive to McLean High School's track with my flats and water and warm up in time to start the workout at 6, which I could finish and cool down for by 7:15, then get the car back by 7:30. I woke up at 5 to drink some water and get my bearings before the workout, and headed out. I saw no car. I waited a while, nobody showed up with it. I went back to my apartment to ascertain what happened, and after calling the support line, it appeared a Zipcar employee took the cars to be cleaned or something, and just never put them back. Even if they had a car there, I wouldn't have had time to do my workout before heading to the office, so I gave up there. With 45 minutes of being awake under my belt, I was hard pressed to be able to fall asleep again, so I went out and ran a Park Plus for a morning 7- not the way I wanted to split the mileage today, I was hoping to be able to relax after work.

For the workout, I ended up going to the Gallaudette track, not far from my office, which Breezy recommended. Unfortunately the football team was practicing, so I would have to deal with obstacles on lane one and carpets spanning the track in three places. Luckily, the team moved most of the crud off of the first lane and was happy to let me coexist there. A few guys even called out arbitrary splits as I ran by.

The workout itself did not go too well. I didn't have a good handle on my pace early and opened with a 70, about seven seconds fast for the first lap, and I was expecting to be 10 seconds slower-- a reversal of the impeccable internal clock I had recently. I slowed down, but still ended up running 5:03. The next one went a bit better, opening in 2:30 and finishing in 5:02. During the third, the 5:00 mile, two players started rolling up one of the carpets on the far stretch, so I swung into lane 5 to avoid them, which worked, but tired me out. I ended up running 4:59 but feeling in control.

The fourth, however, was just a disaster. I lost whatever sense of pace I had, came through the 200 in 35 when I thought I was going to be slow, and I just called it off. This was a situation where I really could have used some help pacing, but at the same time, I had been up for 12.5 hours by this point and felt like it. I did a long cool down, to the Metropolitan Branch Trail and up to Brookland and back, and I was depleted when I finished that. After I showered, I felt like doing nothing but sitting at my desk in my office, at 7:30 on a Friday evening.

Unbridled enthusiasm

I was tired throughout the day Friday and thought about cutting my recovery run completely, then I remembered the next three days' plans and figured I needed some buffer, so I went out for a Fineview Park loop and ended up feeling great, running 12.5 at 6:35 pace without feeling any effort.

The "p word" run Saturday didn't go well, mainly because it went too well early on. I ran 5.5 miles out on the CCT and headed back to Georgetown. My plan was to run 10 minutes moderate (5:40 pace), 10 medium (5:25-5:30) and 10 hard (5:10-5:15). Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the workout bled right through and soaked me, because I missed the half mile marker and by the time I saw the second half marker,I had run a 5:10 mile. I slowed down, or so I thought, and came through the next half in 2:45, still fast. The first measurable mile of the second 10 minutes was 5:20, so again, too fast. By the time I got to the third 10 minutes I had only 90 seconds left in the tank. My calves were still tight from Wednesday and I had no spring in my step. That said, 30 minutes of pretty hard running, on top of the two five-mile medium runs, was a lot. After an easy 3.25 Fisherman's loop, I had my fifth straight 90 mile week.

"P word" runs = "exciting conclusion" runs

Thursday night I tried out the new Lewinsville loop, getting a little lost, but ending up running the same distance by cutting off an extra loop. It was 11 miles at 6:45 pace.

Friday after work, I ran an 6.5 miles around the Mall and Hains Point at 6:15 pace, then hit two miles hard on the Mall, taking quarter-mile splits but not looking, so I would focus more on maintaining a hard effort regardless of the splits and keeping it from becoming a time trial. I was hurting the first half mile, but got into a groove after that. I finished in 10:18- 5:07/5:11. About the same dropoff from mile one to two as last week(I used Henry Park again, so the second "half" was a little longer to make up for the slightly short loop), but that doesn't worry me too much. It's a 15-second improvement from last week, which, again, I a trying to avoid putting too much credence in, but I have to feel great. I ran 15 seconds per mile faster for 1.5 more miles before starting, and it was a good bit colder than the week before.

That's three workouts this week that went exceedingly well. I improved markedly in each, and am pretty confident a week before my first test- the By George 5k. It won't be a hard race, it's certainly getting the least focus, but it will be telling to see where I am and will help me calibrate my workout paces. I am shooting for breaking 16:30, then after a 10 minute recovery, I'll run a hard mile back on the course, jog around while I wait for the 10k guys to come back, and finish a hard mile with them. I'll do a medium interval workout on Tuesday, miles or 1ks, then do more turnover on Thursday.

Saturday I was feeling a little sick, so I slept in, skipped the store run again and did 5.5 in some substantial wind, and wrapped up the week at 75 miles. Given three hard workouts and my cough, it didn't seem prudent to push the mileage this week to 80. It seems better to do that as I increase long run distance, anyway.

Running again

Things are going much better. I returned to work on Thursday and saw my doctors, who said things were healing pretty well and everything I felt was normal. The overwhelming social atmosphere at the office was delightful, though it later proved to be too much of a jump for me. Also, the aromas of everybody's lunches were too much for me, after sequestering myself from all but Alex's stray cooking fumes. I needed something, and sorbet wasn't doing it anymore. On the way to my appointment I grabbed a cup of Eyetalian wedding soup at Au Bon Pain in Union Station, opened my throat and just poured it in, meatballs and all. It was glorious.

My official weight loss from my pre-op visit was 17 pounds, I'm now down to a more efficient 164. The doctors did want me to drink Ensure and other such nutrition drinks, so I am doing so for a few days to get some protein. I spent the rest of the day planning to try running when I got home, but when I fell asleep on the metro ride, I figured going to work and the doctor's office was pushing myself enough for one day.

When I got home, I scrambled four eggs, on the advice of Dan Ruef, and managed to get most of it down. The smaller pieces got lost in the jumble of my numb mouth, but the big ones were great. If that isn't a better source of protein than Ensure, then I don't want to talk to you.

I woke up Friday morning feeling like someone hit me in the head with a bat. I stayed in bed most of the day.

Saturday I woke up and tried to run. I planned to go about a half hour, and as I ran around my apartment parking lot, I felt pretty good- the extra air making it into my lungs was a nice bonus. I decided on a Fisherman++ with potential add-ons around the metro loop. I hit my first (downhill) mile in 6:45, then around 1.75 started to feel like I was in over my head. The second mile was 7;15, and as I climbed up Fisher, I was definitely struggling, my lungs crying like I hadn't felt in a while. Clearly 12 days off with barely any exercise was deleterious. I had just enough strength to make it back to my apartment, for a 3.5-mile run in 26:10- a 7:30 average. I hadn't run that slowly since the ridiculous late July temperatures abated.

The next morning I tried to push the distance and start out slower. I ran to the Greenwhich mile loop and ran it three times and finished with a loop around the parking lot for 4.4 miles in 31:00- 7:03 per mile pace, and I ran it pretty evenly.

I took Monday off of running, but I noticed big gains in my throat recovery. The pain has been reduced to the feeling of a bummer of a sore throat, in that it bothers just a small area. I had my lip stitches removed, so eating is a lot easier and less painful. I had my first serious solid food -- chicken quesadillas and a smattering of fries, incredible tater tots and chicken wings that were a little too spicy at Churchkey. Hung out with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Murphy, Snow and Nips Murray.

Tuesday I realized just how sensitive my throat remains to seasoning when I tried to eat a steak sandwich from Quiznos for lunch. It was too much. I came home and ran a Giant-Park, it ended up 6.1 miles and I ran 41:00, 6:43 pace. Longer and faster than my last run. I like the way this is going.

Tonight I will run along with the warmup and some easy miles on the track while the GRC dudes run a workout. I feel like I at least won't die during the WPIAL alumni run on Friday, though it will be hillier than anything I'm ready for. I doubt we'll be running under 7:00 pace. A week of training in Pittsburgh in the cold will toughen me up really quickly.

I am hungry

At about five calories a cup, chicken broth isn't exactly what I need right now, but it's a good placebo. And it gets something into my stomach.

Yesterday seemed like a step back. I could barely swallow. I tried to eat pudding, but it never got much past the top of my throat. It wasn't going anywhere. I am getting bored and hungry. Netflix streaming isn't working well to sync up the audio and video of some movies and shows I'd like to watch, including 30 Rock.

My trip to Georgetown for a meeting ended with me sitting on a cushion on the floor in the corner, legs up on a bench next to Wilson, passing out during a presentation.

After a trip to the Giant to return some movies, I tried some new foods. Sorbet is saving my life.

I let it sit at room temperature and melt a bit, and it cruised right down my swollen throat, relieving the whole way down. Sadly, this did not go for the raspberry sorbetto, that was too bitter for me to enjoy. After the sorbet, though, I felt better for a while.

I am obsessing about food. When I mused that this episode might change my relationship with food, I think I mean that I will be more respectful of what food can do to my body, and what is in it. Alex caught me in a somewhat lucid state Monday evening and we talked about my weight loss- I was down to 167 today. Granted, a lot of those 14+ pounds will come back when I start eating and living a normal life, but he postulated that I could have a Lance Armstrong effect- waste away the excess upper body weight and be ready to go as a lighter competitor. I can only hope. I also hope my stomach shrunk. My scale at home put me at 166 today. I'll get official numbers at the doctor's office on Thursday.

Even lower-quality foods are starting to look good. This article about menu design brought the Huddle House chain to mind, and when I checked the chain's website to look at the menu, the enlarged photo of country-fried steak transfixed me. It's culinary pornography. Right now I would eat a Grand Slam at Denny's, even though I am pretty sure it features bacon or sausage prominently. I just want to eat something, chew it around, savor it. I am friggin dying here.

A cake. I want a cake. Toast. Grilled cheese with vodka sauce for dipping.

My childhood family friend Katie Ferguson and her husband Rob ran their first half marathon this weekend in Kiawah as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. They survived and evidently had a blast. A few weeks before the race she said she was getting to the point where she is craving running during her off day. That just puts a smile right on my face.

I've watched a bunch of movies-

School Ties- enjoyable if for no other reason than to watch some actors when they were younger

Date Night- An amusing vehicle for the stars, but the only thing that kept me watching was the sunk cost of renting the movie.

Greenberg- Too pretentious for its own good. Totally unsympathetic characters. Though it was made well, one of the worst stories.

Hot Tub Time Machine- Good for all the reasons Greenberg was bad. Likeable characters. Delightfully lowbrow. Glosses over the right parts of the story to make it a tale.

The Brothers Solomon- bought it for $1 in Cumberland last December- Easily the fourth worst movie I have ever seen. I had no idea Will Arnett could not be funny, but Will Forte, who I have thought was a bit of a hack, managed to write a movie that was bad enough for that to happen.

The Naked Gun- A classic of 1980s film. Good God I'm hungry.

The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down- I hate hipsters, but somewhat enjoyed this blunt mockumentary.

Most of season 3 of 24- Kim's bangs don't do it for me. I really liked Ramon Salazar, but that guy at the end was far too fashionable to be truly threatening

first seven episodes of season three of The Wire. Wow, I love this show.

Jesus Christ, look at me...

I went out for my last run for a while Sunday afternoon. I started with a New Virginia Manor loop, but then wandered over to the Tuckahoe Elementary area to pick up my race t-shirt from the director's house, ten headed home. Exactly 7.5 miles- 6:40 pace. No matter how out of shape I was, I still managed to run that pace. Hopefully I won't lose too much of that basic fitness during this time off.

I haven't eaten solid food in six days. I can't feel the front of my chin, and it looks like someone has taken up residence in my neck. Swallowing even a bit of water, or ever-present saliva initiates a wince of pain in the top of my mouth and my throat. I haven't been outdoors for an appreciable length of time since before my last solid meal. My feet are freezing and almost numb.

It's all going to be worth it.

Monday evening I finally put what I hope to be an end to years of sleeping misanthropy. A series of surgeries hopefully corrected what was so wrong with my mouth and throat:

• Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty- removing my tonsils, adnoids (already done, back in 1985) and part of my soft palate, including my uvula.
• Hyoid suspension- lift a bone in my throat, going through my neck to get there
• Genioglossal advancement- drill a hole in my jaw, pull my tongue muscles through it to move my tongue father ahead in my mouth
• Base of tongue coblation- cut out the back of my friggin' tongue, right out of my throat

I came to after surgery on Monday night, right around midnight, and instantly felt the difference. I could now breathe without the effort to which I had become accustomed. It was amazing. So were the painkillers. The next day in the hospital ran together a lot, and the big problem was that they didn't give me painkillers before I headed home, and a prescription snafu delayed delivery even more, so that night I went eight hours without drugs. Swallowing them when I finally got them was the most excruciating thing I had ever done, because I had to initiate the pain. Staying on a strict medication schedule was easy because I knew the consequences of messing up.

My swollen face, neck and chin about 72 hours after surgery, which means this was actually an improvement...

In the days since, I have pretty much just passed the time watching movies or napping. I am disappointed that I haven't been able to focus more. I would have liked to have used a lot of this time to read, but my attention span has been off as a side effect of the drugs. I am carrying on a torrid love affair with my Kindle, and my inability to perform has frustrated me. I wanted to be productive. Talking has been hazardous, because the threshold between comfort and pain comes very suddenly and frequently when I am making an important point. I do feel productive when my head reveals a defunct blood clot- not only does it clear up space in my noggin, but I feel like it shows progress in the recovery.

My mom stayed with me from Sunday night until Wednesday afternoon, and all of that companionship was crucial. She supplied me well with soft foods and most importantly, was a second set of eyes as I finally decorated part of my apartment, having lived here for 14 months already. A simple series of three photos of Pittsburgh I took in 2008 on a narrow wall has made a dramatic difference in how my place looks and feels, and makes it a lot more comforting when I am stuck here for days on end.

My chin is still numb, but it is regaining feeling by the hour. It's better I not look too closely at what is holding my mouth together, because I am not sure I could fully handle it. Obviously, I can't eat solid foods, so my desire for them has only increased. I am able to eat pudding, jello, ice cream (though it doesn't taste good). A little bit my of sense of taste is altered, but the doctors assure me it will come back.

I badly want the following:

• pizza- primarily from Pomodoro or Cheff Geoff's- particularly the meatball pizza I had the day after NCAAs
• chicken kiev from the Eleventh Street Lounge in Arlington
• basilo linguini from Matchbox. I had this with Nora and Nadir the Friday before surgery, and I devoured it.
• chicken Parmesan
• a chicken sandwich and fries from Pizza Perfectta (spelling correct) in Pittsburgh with Craig
• my dad's chicken chili and my ex-girlfriend's stellar cornbread. Alex made chili one of my first nights back and I was so jealous I couldn't stand it.
• The Pad See Ew and the Australian strawberry liqourice Anne-Marie and I had a month ago or so

I do wonder if my relationship with food will change, though. So frequently I would eat something just to get some energy that I should have gotten from my faulty sleep. I can't go into it too much now because I am too hungry, but I wonder how it will change...

I can't wait to get back to running, hopefully by the end of next week. Eating again, however, will be my next goal. I'm definitely wasting away. I wish I knew some exercises I could safely do, but I'm better off resting completely, I guess. It kills me not to be able to line up with the GRC guys in Charlotte, or even at the Jingle all the Way 10k. I can't even yell loud enough to go and cheer for Dickson and Jimmy. As for USATF nationals, to paraphrase former Pitt (and current Chiefs) quarterback Tyler Palko, "I'm so proud of my motherfucking cross country team!" Big races from Wiggy and Predator. We beat Ragged Mountain, which might only matter to me, but it is pretty cool.

I am eyeing a return to work on Wednesday, but I'll go out into the world later today (Sunday) to go to a meeting. I can't wait to see how I enjoy normal life as a regular sleeper. Wiggy described his pre-tonsillectomy breathing aptly-- it was like someone had a hand around his throat. If I do indeed sleep better- every second of my life is going to improve. Waking up won't be as traumatic, I won't need a nap just to get started on something, the time I spend sleeping will be efficient. Running- man, I can't even begin to expect what I will feel. I survived 100+ mile weeks this summer feeling like crap. How much more will I enjoy it now that my body will recover when I sleep? There were times I would be running and spending more than enough physical and mental energy getting the air around those bulbous tonsils. To take a deep breath- I just don't know what to expect.

Saturday evening. The swelling has fallen dramatically, but I still look oafish. I need a shave, but with stitches in my chin, I am not risking using a razor, especially if the skin isn't taut.

Ouch! My friggin' back hurts!

The problem with running as long of a workout as I did on Sunday is that I ran 88 percent of a marathon in the mountains and then had to deal with the consequences. Even with the cooldown figured in, I was on pace for a 2:41, an eight minute "PR." It didn't help that the climbing and dropping added to the wear on my body and that soon after finishing the run we jumped in the car for the trip home to Richmond and shortly after that I rode a bus for 2.5 hours. Would it have killed me to take an ice bath when I got back? So now I feel like I would if I ran most of a hilly marathon a few days ago...

Back in northern Virginia, I woke up at 6:45 Monday to take the Metro to Alexandria for a run with Laura O'Hara. We ran a simple 8.5 mile loop, but my tight back and sore rest of my body made it a rough effort. After a few miles, I loosened up and felt better. Also, I came across a bathroom. We ran about 8:00 pace, and that was fine with me, it was rough, I tell 'ya.

I tried an evening run to get another eight miles in, but five steps in I figured it was more trouble than it was worth.

I slept in Tuesday, my first day of work this week, as is my custom, and waited until I got home to run. I managed to coax Alex out for a part of my 12 miles. We ran north of 8:00 miles for the first four miles, which was fine with me because I was still sore. After he headed home after four miles, I cut down to 7:20s and finished a Fineview Park, which I extended to South and Broad. It was hot, I was thirsty.

Wednesday's morning run was over before I got across Haycock. I'm only doing one workout this week, so I guess I will save my effort today for it and go after these 1000s or two miles or whatever we're doing.

"Cool weather gives me magical powers"

That is the assessment from my friend Pokey Litten after last week's cold wave. I certainly identify with it- I'm a different runner in cool weather, so I am hoping for a cool marathon- I might not survive an honest effort in the 70 degree range.

It seemed appropriate to take it a little easy after a 127-mile week, but it makes a lot more sense in theory. I woke up and ran five miles in McConnells Mill State Park on Sunday, but the terrain was a lot more dramatic and I was beaten up from the long run the day before. When I got back to the campsite, Max Louik, his lovely wife Kate and Ian Glinka were driving around in a golf cart, and they challenged me to a race, about 600 meters long. I totally destroyed them!

After a long drive back to Virginia, I contemplated going out for an evening run. I went from lying on the couch to standing outside in shorts and my running shoes four times, but in the end I saw no point to running eight or so miles.

I slept in on Monday, as it my now practice, and took my spikes back to the Lemon Road School yard for another fartlek workout, but my feet remembered the blisters all too well and after my first 25 seconds I felt like I was straining too much to run fast. I ended up running some strides with the spikes on and heading back home, for five miles.

I slept in again on Tuesday, possibly could have gotten three miles in, but opted to lie around the house before work. In the evening I set off for an altered Fineview Park, totaling 10.6 and averaging 6:56 pace. A decent pace, considering the heat, about 87-90 degrees. I felt myself slip into a pretty fast clip in the middle few miles. Afterward I felt good for the first time since Saturday.

The alumni race will not be quite the tour de force that once seemed potential. The big guns are all sitting out, on both sides- only the freshmen and Levi will be racing for the Richmond team and Molz is sitting out. He just ran 1:08 on Saturday for the Patrick Henry Half Marathon in Ashland, so I suppose he needs a little rest. Emily Ward won her race too, in a PR time. I had been planning to run that until Joe’s wedding conflicted. William and Mary will send some athletes, perhaps Rad will run, but I doubt it. At least without Llano, Benford, Quinn, Wilson and the like running, I won’t be buried behind guys who will make me feel like I’m standing still on those soft fields. I think I should be able to break 16:00, just the drop in mileage alone will be a relief for my legs. About 40 fewer miles will certainly help.

I am certainly ready for a break from this traveling- Aside from the weekend of the Crystal City Twilighter and Riley’s Rumble, I have been out of town for at least part of the weekend since early July- Reno, Rockville, Pittsburgh, Pembroke, Cumberland, Lancaster/Wyomissing, Portersville and now Richmond. I’m not sure if I should go to Philly to watch the half marathon, but if I can somehow be of help to the guys, I might as well go and enjoy it.

I’ll be taking a side trip, while in Richmond, to Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a long run. As far as I know, it’s just Molz, but I hope Lauder will be coming along on his bike. No matter the temperature, it will be dryer there. We’ll be running 12 normal miles, eight at marathon pace (5:40 for me, I hope) and three easy. I hope we’ll drive part of it first and drop off some water bottles, I don’t want a dehydrated nightmare like last weekend (it wasn’t a nightmare, but it certainly wasn’t ideal.)

I ran a relaxed 3.5 mile Fisherman morning run at 7:25 pace, half of my usual Wednesday morning fare. It's currently 97 degrees as I get ready to head to Bethesda for a repeat of the workout from two weeks ago- six alternating miles on the CCT. I'm really going to be putting my momentum on the line from the last few workouts, but I won't assign too much to the outcome if things don't go well. If they do, well, then I'll be surprised! I can take solace in my pattern of following bad workouts with good races and unfortunately, vice versa. The looming alumni race reminds me too much of my early-season struggles in college to adjust to the heat and humidity.

Relief

Wednesday morning I woke up more excited than I had been in a while- the temperature was in the 60s and the humidity was imperceptible. I ran an easy 6.8 extended Park in the morning and a 6.3 Pimmit Hills in the evening, neither of which were taxing.
I still slept in on Thursday and only got a 4.25 morning run, but reversing the Fisherman's loop made me realize just how hilly Fisher Road is. I complemented that with a 5.75 afternoon run around Capitol Hill.
I will take it very easy for my morning run Friday before the road race at George Mason.
The reprieve from the heat and humidity came at just the right time to refresh my enthusiasm for running high (to me) mileage. I'm on pace to hit 90 this week, and though it isn't the best course of action before a 5k, the fact that it won't be sweltering makes it a good chance for a hard effort.
It's going to get hot and humid again early next week, and I am not sure if I will opt to move my long run to Saturday to dodge it, or at least hit it on the early side. I would like to double on Saturday, because I would like to stay home that evening and relax.

This week's going to be a scortcher

It was 71 degrees when I got out the door at 7 this morning. I wanted to get up a little earlier and do a formal hill workout (the Run for Roch is just five weeks away!) but my 16-hour day Sunday wore me down. I ended up doing a little more than 4.5- an out-and-back heading west on the W&OD. I was struggling, just dead legged and beat.

I switched the hill workout to the afternoon- to the Capitol. I'll run hard up and down the hills on the northern and southern sides and jog the flat stretched to the east and west. Six of those and the run to and from the office will be about six miles, giving me 11 for the day.

The forecast looks pretty intimidating this week- highs of 91, 94, 97, 96, 92 and 91. It's fair to assume it will be humid.

Pretty good week, 6/7 through...

I'm closing in on 85 for the week, my highest total in memory, perhaps ever. It started horribly- running myself into the ground Sunday morning with mess less hydration than I needed,and gradually cooled off Thursday and Friday.

Friday morning I got up and did an amended Park loop to get seven before work, then a new loop going west on Idylwood, Virginia to Fairwood and back on Buckelew and the W&OD. Cool but very humid in the morning and pretty sunny in the evening.

I'm going to do my long run tomorrow morning, early, because I am staying in tonight to get a good night's sleep- I've been dragging the past few days. If I can get going by 6, I can get 18 in before it gets too hot.

Hi there, Hound

I woke up at some point Monday morning (around 3 am) and got up to eat something. My legs promptly failed me and I fell to the ground. Turns out the 18 miles in the heat got to me...
I woke up at ran a Park loop, but it was still blazingly hot and stiflingly humid. I averaged 7:30s, I think. I had to stop halfway up Highland and collect myself.

In the evening, I met up with the Lululemon RUN CLUB and did a very easy six with them, mainly staying with Will and Elyse. I struggled there, too. In the end I was just happy to be done, with 12 for the day. While staggering around after the run on P Street wearing a Pharaoh Hounds t-shirt, I heard my name, looked up and saw Jim, Melanie and Mae Hommes! They were in town while Jim does some research into the correspondence of a 19th century missionary. Sadly our schedules did not match up so that we could get in a run together, but it was a great surprise to see them, just an hour after I saw my colleague Bill walking by on his way home from the gym.

As much as I absolutely love DC, I miss the Hounds. That group that got me involved in 2004- Jim, Hack, Hans, Rich, Paul, Shafer, Ryan and Dan were, although older and more family-centric than I, great training partners.

Time to catch up on about two weeks of half-written posts.

Time to go

It's time. The weather might be a little warm, but that will just keep me from feeling too spry at the start. If I going to feel good, I'll need it 40 minutes in.

When I see this church ahead of me, I'd better be feeling like I'm running too slowly. My last 5:17, 5:13, 5:05. I don't want to be anywhere near those times. 5:30. 5:25 at the fastest.

I took Thursday off, I was toast. I ran an easy 9.5 Friday afternoon, to get adjusted to running in warmer weather. An easy three on the Mt. Lebanon track and cross country course followed by some drills within an earshot of Coach Wentzel instructing some high school hurdling girls on their form. That man's voice always makes me chuckle...

I'm excited by some early results at the Atlantic 10 track championships. Matt Llano won the 10k in 29:43, Tim Quinn earned his first medal in the 10k with a third place in 30:23 (who PRs at a conference meet?) and Chris York earned a point with a 31:26. Julie Rechel finished second in the women's 10k in 36:00 after a long battle with balance issues and Erin Lunny snuck under 37 to finish fifth. Garrett Graham hit 9:35 in the steeple, which I didn't realize he even did, and he'll be rarin' to go for the 1500 tomorrow. It's a good day to be a Spider, I'm ready to make tomorrow one, too.

Run fast, now slow down

I have a problem slowing down on my recovery days. This doesn't bother me so much in my base building, but with a little over two weeks until the Pittsburgh Half, I am worrying more about an actual taper.
It's hard for me to just go out and run easily.

I thought it would help to run with a bunch of girls, so I went to the Lululemon running club Monday, the day after Cherry Blossom. Technically, it's the "run club" but I absolutely detest their resistance to using the gerund form of run. It's obnoxious and I hate it. Every time I see it in use, besides in its pure root intransitive form, I want to break something. Not focefully, by punching, smashing or crushing it, but by removing a few vital pieces so it's structurally deficient. Anyway, I didn't count on this dude Eric pushing the pace. Every time someone asked him if he ran the day before, in reference to Cherry Blossom, he said, "no, but I did go running." Dear Eric, nobody cares. After he decided to run ahead, I joined up with a nice fellow named Josh and ran with him for a bit until we gathered the rest of the group at the base of the Capitol. We had a more relaxed pace on the way back. That, and with a few miles I did beforehand, made nine miles.

Tuesday evening it rained a bit and I was reticent to go outside, but since nobody else would be outside I decided to see just how small a medium pair of shorts was. As it turned out, way too small, though they weren't constrictive. I ran a pretty easy 10 miles out and back on the W&OD trail, keeping the pace at about 7:00.

Wednesday, I gathered at the track with Dirk, Dickson, Mike C. and Jimmy for some repeat miles. I was hoping to do 5-6 between 5:10-5:15. My legs were tight for the first few laps of the first one, but I broke out of that rhythm with a 76 third lap to bring it to 5:12. The second mile's fast lap came in the second- 75, though I slowed it down to run 5:13. Mike took the third one, out in 75, and we slowed it down to 5:11. I then had to go to the bathroom, which is a trip up the stadium to the school, and I told the others to not wait for me. They heard me only say "wait for me," and when I came back they were still jogging around. Knowing that they had been waiting, I rushed into the next interval, which I split 80 for the first quarter, though I felt I was pushing as hard as I could. I rushed back after the bathroom- bad move. After that I jogged about and watched the other guys finish up their workouts.

Thursday morning was great for running the 12-mile route to work, which I averaged about 7:10.

After sleeping in Friday, I took the day off, because my travel plans for Boston are a little complex. I will take a 1:15 Greyhound bus, which is scheduled to arrive around 11:30 am. I will be heading to sleep for a few hours, shortly, and then will get up and take the metro to DC to catch the bus.

I have been hatching my plan to try to view one of the most spectator unfriendly metropolitan marathon courses. Sometime after running the BAA 5k on Sunday, I will rent a bicycle, take it with me as I do whatever for the rest of the day, then Monday morning get up in Brookline, take the subway out to Riverside then bike the 17 or so miles to Hopkinton to see my friends before they start the race- mainly to see Jake Marren's Goodwill warmup outfit, then see the race from selected spots parallel to the course until I get back to Shara's house in Brookline for omlettes and smoothies. Absolutely foolproof.

A sudden drop in mileage

After Sunday's accidental overdistance, I was going to be running much less- just six miles after work. I tried running with the Lululemon running club in Logan Circle. It was alright- we had to deal with traffic lights heading down to the Mall, so that was a pain. There were also two fellows who insisted on racing each other every block, but stopping at the intersections regardless of whether they had the right of way from the light, on the way back. I surged once and got ahead of them with ease and I think that cooled them down a little bit. My legs were a little sore, expecially my right upper quad, so hopefully the easy six was light enough to get them ready for two workouts this week- 3x2 mile Tuesday and 16x400 Thursday.

In other news, Matt Llano ran 28:51 at Stanford last Friday:

Getting used to it

Tuesday's workout was a little different than what I had been doing. Since I am racing on Saturday, I moved my workout up a day and met with a few GRC guys at American's track. Murphy and Marren ran 2xmile 2x800, and I planned on something a little longer. Dylan joined me for 4x mile. It was raining and cold, so I kept my long-sleeved shirt and hat on but ran in flats. I am shooting for 5:20 pace at the Monument Ave 10k Saturday, so I wanted to practice running a little faster and having it feel pretty relaxed. Given the chilly rain, my legs never really warmed up, and were totally devoid of any springyness. While this totally blew, I welcomed the chance to practice running hard feeling awful. I stuck a little close to Murph and Marren on the first lap, they went 4:55 and 5;03, respectively for the mile, and so I came through in 75. I cooled it down from there and just took is easy, finishing in 5:13. For the next one, I let everyone go ahead and I chased Dylan down halfway through and ran another 5:13. The same followed for the third and fourth, with 5:14s, but between the third and fourth I had to take a quick bathroom break.

Wednesday morning I ran an easy six on Park at 7:17 pace, then went to Georgetown to run a flatter 6 out and back on the Towpath. I listened to Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World, which was fascinating. I stopped at the turnaround and stretched and immediately felt better, which was also fascinating.

I am starting to be affected by seasonal allergies, which is really a pain in the throat. I didn't sleep well Wednesday night after feeling awful during the day. I gave up on the mouthpiece at 1 am and have just about had it with that thing. I just want to have my tonsils cut out as soon as is feasible.

Whole buncha' raindrops

I'm combining Friday and Saturday's runs because they are pretty much the same in my mind and I really don't think anyone cares if I don't have separate titles for each day.
Friday I waited until after work to run and make a whole production of it, with a two-mile stationary bike warmup in the gym in my office basement, then a 6:55-pace 10 miles around the Mall and Hains Point in the driving rain. It stung the eyes. Then I did some backwards walking on the treadmill to loosen my calves and more stretching.
Saturday, after 10 hours of sleep, I joined Alex for part of his run, a Park 6, though I finished up Grove to avoid the hill on Highland. after trying to give my legs some semblance of a massage, I took a 3.5 hour nap, then ran 3.5 miles around Falls Church. I tried to keep the whole thing easy before my race, despite totaling 80 for the second straight week.

I just realized how recently I ran hard

Tim Aldinger (known to some as Tom Aldridge) is in DC for the week, and has some time to hang out tonight, so I decided to get my run out of the way by running to work. The 12-mile route is gradually downhill, so I figured gravity would do a lot of work while I tried to wake up. A half mile in, my left patella started hurting like crazy, so I stretched out a little more and took it easier. I realized three miles in that since it was just about 7:50, I was pretty much just finishing my workout 12 hours prior. My fatigue started to make sense.
It wasn't a terribly interesting run, just along the W&OD and Custis trails and through the city. I averaged exactly 7:00 pace.

Relaxing is hard

I gave easy running a try on Monday, and found I didn't much like it. I had hoped to wake early and double, but fatigue from my afternoon long run carried over and made it hard to get up. I ran a Presidents' loop in the afternoon, which I erroneously thought to be 10 miles. It was 10.7, turning what I thought to be a 7:20 pace into 6:50.

Tuesday I got out of work early and arrived home at about 4:30, but was exhausted, so I laid down to take a quick nap. When I woke a few minutes later, I set off to run 5 miles west on the W&OD trail and then come back. I was at 6:30 pace at 2.6 miles, so I did as much as I could to hit the brakes. The number of bikers and walkers on the trail helped, as did my general feeling of awfulness that increased as I forced myself to slow down. I finally met my goal when it was over of 7:13 pace. It's not quite 7:20 or 7:30, but hopefully it was good enough.

THAT's what they're talking about

Like Dirk a few days before me, I finally saw an elusive red fox while running around Hains Point on Wednesday. The absence of snow provoked me to run on the grass during my 10 mile easy run and as I headed up the east side, I looked up and saw this odd combination of a dog and a cat, traipsing toward me on the sidewalk on the edge of the river. I naturally did not handle this with quiet appreciation. I yelled "HEY FOX! RUN WITH ME!" and turned to run parallel with it for a while. It kept looking over at me for a few seconds, then scurried off. I went about my way and then managed to show up late for the free showing of Food Inc. at the Archives.

I looked through several pages of Google images for "running fox" and chose this one????