8k

Mid-2015 will mark five years since I left New York. Lots has changed since then -- some bad, some good, and now I find myself in Toronto (TO) living with my significant other.

One thing that changed was my running, and I struggle all the time now with trying to get back the passion that I once had for the sport. My obsession has all but dropped away and now it takes a great amount of self-persuasion to get out the door. When I do, the running is slow, plodding, and often I can't find the energy no matter how deep I dig down. I feel like the weight will never come off -- there's not that much, I admit, but this spare tire is definitely inflating. I long for those days when my music inspired me, I was light on my feet, and was surrounded by an encouraging, supportive group similar to myself.

Today I got out for 8k, and it wasn't bad. Listened to some U2, and reflected on things. It was a very casual run and I was just happy that I was able to finish without walking. during my jog I considered the prospect of doing another marathon. I need to make a schedule; do some planning.

It's supposed to be a very cold week here, so it's probably a good time to start up again and look at just going out every second or third day. Fingers crossed that I have it in me.

Changing Moods

Good day today.

However, it started off crappy. I should've got more work done (Ahem... should have got any work done) this weekend, but instead I was in a foul mood all weekend, and sat on my grumpy ass at home for most of it. Saturday night I went out to a Flyers' party, which was a fun time, and I really had hoped that this was going to snap me back to my jolly ol' self, but it did not.

And so the workweek started with a heightened stress level, feeling very far behind on my upcoming deadlines. Fortunately, the day evolved productively, and I made headway on one of my projects. The turning point was really my run later when I ran with JM for the first third and then the usuals, CD and BH, later. I felt like I turned into quite a chatterbox tonight. I usually do, but more so this evening, although I couldn't tell you for the life of me what I talked about. Anyway, the run put me in a good mood and I finished with a little over 7 easy miles under my belt. I had hoped that my run on Saturday would have had a similar result, but with no luck. Funny how sometimes it helps and sometimes not.

Back at home, I changed into workout gear and headed over to the gym, just an avenue away. I was quite pleased by this. Going to the gym was a New Year's resolution that so far I've been able to keep. (OK, I know, we're only 11 days into the new year... but still.) It was a short workout, as they usually are, but it still felt good, and made it all that much more enjoyable when I ended up back home eating chocolate ice cream for dinner.

And if ice cream doesn't appropriately cap off a good day, I don't know what does.

Resolutions 2009

In the last five or ten years, I've been pretty big on New Year's resolutions. I normally come up with 3-5 solid ones. Sometimes they pertain to my diet, sometimes running, and sometimes they just involve one single action that I've put off for a long time.

This year has been a toughie. I've asked people for opinions about resolutions and nothing's ringing my bell. Oh, and by the way, I'm not a stickler for resolutions starting at the stroke of midnight January 1st. I figure even if you come up with one within the first few days after that it's still in the spirit of the point of making a resolution, and a good start to the year in general.

Most of my friends' suggestions involved running: more mileage, setting personal records, etc. But those seem redundant now. I guess the idea behind making a resolution is really to change things for the better, and I made many of those types of resolutions in the past... having been pretty successful, it doesn't make sense to say "more PRs" when I'm always striving for more PRs. I guess a similar comparison would be someone resolving to lose 40 lbs, succeeding, and then the next year resolving to keep the weight off. It's sort of taken for granted.

Anyway, I did resolve to go to the gym at least twice a week. I bought a membership at NYSC at the end of September, and in the following 3 months I only went about 6-8 times, I think. So that was one. Any other ones I tried to make, seemed pretty weak.

Then Friday happened.

I can't really say what happened, but suffice to say I made a promise to someone to do something very important and I didn't follow through. I can't really say it because it's just too embarrassing, and if I did, none of you would ever trust me with anything ever again. I wish I could characterize it as just a slip up or a minor mistake, but it was a doozy, and I'm still trying to think of ways that I might make it up to the friend(s) that I let down so terribly.

The thing is, though, I've been beating myself up over this since Friday. It really ruined my weekend. I know that the punishment should probably fit the crime, but maybe I'm taking it a bit too far.

Most people who know me well say I'm too hard on myself. This seems to apply a great many things including dating, personal abilities and talents, and in this case, mistakes I've made. Some of my closest friends through the years, MM, NF, AR, and DM, have told me that a lot. This includes running, too. I was so disappointed with my Philadelphia Marathon time at the end of November, and it took a friend of mine to open my eyes by saying, "A bad day for you is still a Boston qualifier." I realized that I was going overboard on my high expectations for myself.

So my resolution this year is going to be to take it a little easier on myself. This sort of goes against my whole "quantifiable" rule, but too bad. I just need to relax a little, and maybe the quantifiable rule needs to go in this case. If nothing else, this is at least a starting point for me, and maybe I'll figure out how to quantify it as I go on.

Don't get me wrong - I'm still going to try to make up for my wrong-doing. These are good friends and I'd hate to lose them over doing one stupid thing, so I need to work at reinvesting in that relationship to regain their trust. However, there's definitely no reason to beat myself up over it. What's done is done and it's better to move ahead with the experience and hopefully never do it again.

And for my own personal sanity, I'll try to take it easy on the running expectations. And then maybe I'll try to get a date... someday.

But first, it's off to the gym...

War !!!

So last week there was an article in NY Mag about the conflicts in Central Park. I thought the piece was an exceptional example of contemporary media practices... it was truly an overblown, sensationalized article about how people don't get along. It's hard to take something seriously when it's subtitle contains the word "battleground", especially while we're living in a country currently at war with another country. Seems a little extreme, right? That same night that I read the article, I was running in the park thinking that it's actually amazing that there aren't a lot more collisions, accidents, and acts of aggression than there are. There are a lot of people in the park, doing a lot of different activities.

Just a few days later in the New York Times, Central Park is referred to as a "runner's paradise", which still seems a tad embellished to me. A refuge from the city? Sure. But "paradise"? Come on. What about all those cyclists, dog-walkers, tourist, and cars that we're busy doing battle with?

Both articles made some good points, but of course, as with any story there are always two sides and then the truth. Central Park is a great place to run, but has some drawbacks, too.

Over the last year, I myself have seen many collisions and acts of aggression between park users. Most of these are between runners and cyclists, but sometimes between others, too. About a month ago I almost ran into a pedestrian. He stopped while crossing the recreation lane and abruptly turned around to go back in the direction he was coming from. I was trekking along at a pretty good clip, and anticipating his forward motion, maneuvered to go behind him. When he spun around, I veered the other direction and had to do this weird, three-step skip-hop-jump thing so that I wouldn't plow right into him. I still brushed up against him, and even though I apologized as I continued ahead running, he had some colourful language for me as I left. It was strange, his reaction.

My own pet peeve is the dog runners in the rec lane. Walk your dog, then go for a run. Or go for a run with them when there are few people in the park. When you run with a dog on a leash in the rec lane during rush hour, you're risking some severe injuries to your pet. I love dogs, and don't like the idea of stepping on them.

But all that said, this past Sunday I was leaving the top end of the Park after running the Lesbian and Gay Pride Race when I saw another argument break out between a cyclist wearing Terrier Tri gear and a runner, who was with someone else and they were now walking. What I understood was that the cyclist had at one point just about ran down the other guy, but the actual argument was one I had never seen before and it went something like this:


(Cyclist, past the Runner, abruptly wheels around and pedals back toward runner.)

Cyclist: Hey, I'm really sorry about that.

Runner: No, that was my fault.

Cyclist: No, really, I came up on you too fast. I shouldn't have done that.

Runner: No, I was outside the rec lane, in your path, my fault. Sorry.



Wow. Kinda gives you hope for us all, doesn't it?

Best. Race. Ever. Infinity.

A good friend and the Flyers' Vice President, LG, had e-mailed me while I was still in Winnipeg to see if I wanted to join her and a couple of other friends to do the Shelter Island 10K this past weekend. In my vacationing bliss, I promptly agreed, even despite my knowing that I'd still be in marathon recovery mode with no hopes of setting a personal record. Plus, had she asked me two days prior to the race while in stress-related work overload, I'd have definitely hesitated in my agreement. I also had no idea where or how far away Shelter Island was, except that it was off of Long Island somewhere. But she said there was a nice BBQ after the race, so why not?

The race was at 5:30 PM on Saturday, so I met up with DL, SR, and LG, who had rented a car, at 12:30 in Queens, and off we went.

The Island, as it turns out, is located between the north and south forks of L.I. Our route took us out on the Long Island Expressway to Route 27 through the Hamptons. From there it was up through Sag Harbor and across to Shelter Island via a very short ferry ride (we only got lost once. Long Island isn't very well signed). The trip took about three hours but was shortened by our witty conversation and enjoyable pit stops for gas and to buy some strawberries along the way.

We got there early, but not obscenely so. The start line was in front of a school, and the registration pickup was in the gymnasium. It was well organized and everything went smoothly. We got our bibs, chips, t-shirts and goody bags. Back at the car we changed into running gear, and went to hang out on the lawn in the shade, while listening to the band playing jazz on the stage nearby. We ran into and chatted with a few other Flyers: MD, JAM, KK (apparently not doing a marathon for a change) and a few others pre-race.

As this was still marathon recovery, I had no intention of pushing myself too hard. DL also had no intention of running hard -- he wasn't planning to race until the Club Champs Race in August. As well, SR was also just getting back into the racing stuff again and wasn't sure how she'd perform, pace-wise. So the three of us agreed to run together at an easy steady pace, while LG wanted to race on her own. We placed ourselves mid-pack amongst the field of about 1200 runners, and the horn went off.

It's a beautiful course that takes runners along a shaded, tree-lined route, and along the waterfront. There are some hills to begin with, but then the course starts on a series of downhills. In fact, after the second mile, DL expressed concern that we must eventually hit a really steep hill later to make up for the amount of descent we were on. But the downhill continued and by 3.5 miles, I joked that maybe we were running in an Escher drawing that would somehow strangely take us back to the start without actually going back uphill at all. And there was more downhill and more downhill. We were running 7:30s and 7:40s without even pushing too hard. By the fifth mile, I finally mentioned the possibility that the course didn't end where it started.

And indeed it didn't. With more downhill to mile six, we then turned onto a sports field, and rounded the home plates of two baseball diamonds before heading to the finish line. We would scale a mildly steep hill to get back to the start area later.

So it's definitely a PR course, and we all loved it, vowing to return next year to race hard. But that's not where the fun ended...

We collected our finisher's medal (!) and headed to the big tent nearby. The post-race goodies out on the ballfields put the NYRR's apples and bagels to shame. There were mountains of granola bars, bottled water, blue chip potato chips, bananas, orange wedges, boxes of raisins, soda, and probably some other stuff I can't recall. We stuffed our faces with many crunchy granola bars and talked about how awesome this whole event was. We met up with some other Flyers and talked to them about how awesome the event was. After a while we headed uphill to the starting area and the car.

There, we grabbed a change of clothes and went to the school where we could shower (!!) and change. Yep, that's right, I said shower. After cleaning ourselves up and talking some more about just how awesome this event was, we loaded up the car to head to the post race BBQ...

...Which was held at the local country club (!!!)...

We got there early enough to not have to wait in line. This is what they served: Caesar salad, coleslaw, potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, stuffed clams, pulled pork, beans, corn on the cob, kielbasa, macaroni and cheese, and a bunch of other stuff I know I'm forgetting, as well as a free drink for runners. I had a Stella to go with my heeeaping plate of food.

We sat inside, ate, and listened to the band play while chatting about just how awesome this event was. I said that this was the only race I've ever done where I'd actually gained weight. We stuffed ourselves again and hoped the day would never end. But even the longest day of the year finally has its dusk, and we packed it in at sunset and headed off to NYC again (of course, not without getting lost again). Back in Queens, before descending into the subway, we parted ways and vowed to each other to not tell a soul about this race. It would forever be our little secret... uh... er... um...

Oops.





Oh yeah, my net time in the race was 47:40, which is a 7:41 pace... As if anyone could care about such a thing after a day like that.

Manitoba: My Second Fastest Marathon

"The course is flat - really flat. In fact, it's really, really flat. The organizers say that there are 3 places with an elevation rise of about 10 feet. I will take their word for it but I only noticed one place (at about 7 miles) where I think there might have been that much of an elevation change."

That's a description I read of the Manitoba Marathon from a comment on marathonguide.com. And yes, it is a really flat course, but I was surprised that it wasn't quite as flat as NJ.

Still, by all accounts based on my most recent half marathon, I should have set a new marathon PR. I didn't, and I have no good explanation for it. The temperature was a perfectly cool 50-ish degrees Fahrenheit (about 9 Celsius) at the start. I hadn't slept well for a few nights before the race, and there was a bit of a headwind, but I really should have beaten my previous 3:15. I might have gone out just a tad too fast, too, but not much. Could have even been the change in altitude. I also might even be able to blame a bit of my performance on not recovering enough from my sweltering Need For Speed Relay the week before, but whatever (Runner26 has a great N4S recap, by the way. We did the same leg, and she wrote a better review of it than I ever could). Frankly, I think I just didn't push myself hard enough. Maybe It was all of the above combined. Or maybe I can always find a new excuse.

I ended up with a 3:20:15 (7:39 pace), finishing 58th out of about 780 marathon finishers, and that is a respectable marathon time for me so even though I'm a bit disappointed I can't complain too much.

Besides, it was great running my hometown marathon. Winnipeg is a place I know like the back of my hand, and I was very familiar with almost every road along the way. And it was sooo great to be back in in the city for summery weather for a change, instead of Christmastime. Everything is so green and lush, and it's so clean, especially compared to dirty dirty dirty NYC. I got to do some gardening at my parents' home while I was there. Yay for gardening!

I even got out to my parents' farm for a visit. I grew up there, and hadn't been back in at least 7 or 8 years. The farmhouse has taken on a kind of abandoned feel, as my parents are only out there sporadically, and don't keep it up much. Interesting being back in my old room again, and leafing through the sketchbooks, drawings, and junk I left behind there years ago. Lots of memories.

Now hopefully I can make my poor marathon performance a memory and move toward a 3:10 like I should be.

This weekend is the Shelter Island 10K, and some friends and I are planning a trip out to partake. I won't kill myself in the race, as this is recovery week from the marathon. I'm more looking forward to a scenic run without the pressures of marathon training. At least for another week or two when training for NYC begins.

Running Goals

One of the questions I answered on the Flyers June Spotlight questionnaire was about goals for the year.

Unfortunately, I discovered that the Flyers' Spotlight page doesn't really have much in the way of space to elaborate on the goals that I have. So here's the uncut version of my goals for 2008. (OK, so I know we're already halfway done with the year, but you'll need to trust me that most of these are in fact what I thought up in January.)

1. To avoid a major injury. This of course takes precedent over all the following goals. I was smart enough to postpone Boston earlier this year with a minor injury in order to prevent it from becoming a major one - that's the kind of good sense I'm talking about here.

2. To run two thousand miles this year. That's an average of 38.46 miles per week. I'm on track to do it, and expect to hit about 975 by the end of June.

3. To set ten new PRs, whatever the distance. So far I've got five, and I think a few more are reasonable: 5k, 10M, and 1M, and possibly another 10k, or Half Marathon.

4. To requalify for Boston with another sub-3:16 marathon. This would also likely be a marathon PR, but even if it's a 3:15:59, I'd be happy.

5. To run a marathon in Canada. More recently I had decided that this would be my home town marathon, the Manitoba Marathon, in Winnipeg.

So there they are in all their glory. And I intend to knock off at least one of those this weekend. Maybe even two or three, if I'm really lucky. Off I go...

NYRR's 50th Anniversary Run

I never ran it.

I'm really not sorry about this. When I sign up for races these days, I really feel no sense of obligation, especially when they're free. So when I woke up today at 4:50 AM and saw that it was raining, I merely checked the forecast and saw that it was going to clear up later in the day. I'd rather run in dry weather than the rain, so at 5:30, I headed to the office early and got some productive work done. I checked the results, and looks like a lot of folks, including Flyers, made it out for the race. I was really psyched about the idea of this early-morning race, I just never thought too much about the weather. Oh well.

Later in the day, I ran six in the park. Interestingly enough, I attempted to duplicate my Boston-qualifying marathon pace from NJ last year... a 7:27 pace. I came close, about 7:30, but it felt like I had to really push myself. Clearly, I'm not in the top condition I thought I was. Or maybe it was just a bad day.

On a somewhat related note, I'm doing the Need for Speed(N4S) Relay on Sunday, and, if not for being part of a team, I would probably also bail on that, too. It's supposed to be some bad weather... nearly 90 degrees and Thunderstorms. Ugh.

I'm on team White. I never liked the idea of naming the teams after the Flyers' colours - it only works if there are three teams, and even then, it's kinda boring and uncreative. This year I hear we have four teams. I don't know what the fourth team is called, though. Maybe Rainbow or Diamond or Rotated Square or some silly such thing. I was thinking of offering up a team slogan for white. I though "We are supreme" would be funny, but probably only to me.

OK, enough out of me. I'm going to bed. I think I like this "getting up early" thing, and may try it again tomorrow.

A Bad, Bad Run

It's unusual for me to have a bad run. Very unusual, in fact. But Saturday was one of those days. I had planned to do a long run that morning. my normal plan for a Saturday long run is to get out of the apartment and head into the park to do a 6-mile loop at just after 8 AM, and then meet up with the Flyers group run at 9 AM for another loop. If I really want to get in some distance, I'll do a third loop after the group run. It's normally pretty automatic and I don't think about it much. I basically roll out of bed, throw some running gear on, and out the door I go.

But Saturday didn't work that way. My head was elsewhere, and I couldn't get myself out the door quickly. I kept questioning whether I should bring a gel with me, what to listen to on my iPod, whether it was too hot, and I'm not used to the heat, so should I even do a long run? or whether I should wear a singlet or a light t-shirt. My head was clouded with details.

Finally, reluctantly, I got myself out the door. But as I was now a bit later than I should have been, I mentally adjusted my running route, took the subway one stop to 59th street and started out from Columbus Circle.

It was horrible. I ran and walked. I ran and walked. I couldn't get on pace at all. I was averaging ten-minute miles. I cut the first loop back to 4 miles and barely made it to the start of the run on time. I thought that if I got running with the group, things might be better.

They weren't. My pace picked up a bit, sure, but I still laboured, and I knew going long wasn't in the cards for me. Just over two miles in, on the West Drive at the bottom of the reservoir, I bid farewell to my fellow Flyers, and made for the subway home. A measly 6.2 miles in all.

But it reminds me that we all can just have bad days sometimes. The last time I remember having a bad day like that was at Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon last fall, where I took a DNF. Sometimes we just can't get going. Hopefully those days don't come on marathon day, but we all have to recognize that sometimes they do.

HK 10k Recap, and upcoming races

I ran the healthy Kidney 10k yesterday. I can't even remember the last time I ran a 10k. My PR is a 42:42 from the Scotland Run two years ago, and I thought there was a solid chance that I would improve greatly on that time this year given my recent track record.

I hopped the subway Saturday morning and got to the start with plenty of time to spare. I jogged two warmup miles and then found my coral. Saw our club president and said hello. At the horn we took off, and of course I took off way too fast. My first mile was something like a 6:20. I had not choice but to ease up for the next two on the west side hills. I managed the great hill, but by the time I hit three miles, I was starting to fade. Heading up the northeast hill at the 5k mark, I actually wondered if I was going to have to stop running (jb24 told me later that he felt the same way). Shortly after that I got a side stitch, saw myself start to slow down some more, and it was a real fight until the mile 5 marker. I didn't exactly get a second wind, but I felt stronger and held a steady pace for the final 1.2. I did manage a PR, but only by one second per mile, finishing with a 42:36. I grabbed some water and went for a cool-down run, which turned into another ten miles. I finished the day with 18.1 miles -- god only knows why.

I ran part of my cool-down with JR, our top finisher. He ran a blistering 36:10 (sub-6 minute pace)! I found it interesting to hear his frustration with the hills and the sun and struggling to settle into a pace along the rolling 10k course of Central Park. I guess even the fast guys have a hard time...

I'm glad I got a PR, but I really thought I could finish in about 42:00 even. Running 11+ miles Thursday night, and then staying out late with JD for beers Friday night probably didn't aid me in reaching my goal. I'll need to look for another 10k this year.

I'm shooting for 10 PRs this year. That was my fifth.

On to other races, the other night night I signed up on for the NYRR's 50th anniversary run, on June 4th. I had heard that NYRR was planning something "different" for their 50th anniversary, and I think this is brilliant: a 5 mile race on a Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m., for free. And it's a marathon qualifier. I'm actually excited about it! I really wonder how many people will come out for it at 5:30 a.m., though. That should be interesting. I know it's going to piss off a lot of cyclists in the park that morning!

The other race I have coming up is the Wall Street Run. In previous years this was a 5k, but the course always ended up short, so it's now a 3 mile race. Very weird distance, and I won't be counting it in my PRs, even if I get a fantastic time. My intent is to just substitute this race for speedwork on Tuesday and then run home from there, which should amount to about 10 miles total. It's a marathon qualifier, too.

Registration Man

Back on April 27th, I took the leap - I signed up for my fifth marathon; my third NYC marathon.

However, keep in mind when you read that, out of the last four marathons that I've registered for, I've only done one. After Vermont, I got injured and couldn't do Chicago in '06. I did New Jersey the next spring, and then got injured again and couldn't do Chicago the following year either. Then a minor foot injury a few weeks ago set me back in my Boston training, so I bailed on that one, too. Granted, I just lost about three weeks of training for Boston, and could have probably finished the race, but I don't value being under-prepared for that kind of distance. It just wouldn't have been enjoyable at all.

So all this registering and not running hasn't gotten me very excited about training. Still, I'm putting a clock on the blog to countdown to NYC '08.

I've been running well these days. I've set four new PRs in three distances: the Ten Mile, the Four Mile and the Half. I sort of get a kick out of my new PR for the Half Marathon: I did 13.1 miles in 1:31:13. This only beat my Queens PR by 2 seconds, but I'll take it.

Actually, despite the PRs, I do think I was running better/stronger two years ago up until the Queens Half. I was putting in more mileage and my runs just seemed to be of better quality in general. However, now I'm being more careful about injuries, taking time off (well, usually) when things start to really hurt. I might not be running as strong as I was, but at least this approach keeps me running instead of on the DL. Better to be on the roads running carefully than to not be running at all.

So as it is, I'll just keep registering for these things. And hopefully I'll get to do one once in a while.

Go -- No Tokens

One thing that I’ve always had a difficult time with is “completion”. Nothing is permanent in the world, and more specifically, nothing is permanent in my life. And nothing seems to last very long, either. It’s always annoyed me that chores are so repetitive; that some things you can’t just do really well once and then let it go at that. How I wish I could get my apartment really, really clean and be done with it forever. Unfortunately, whenever I’m not paying attention, it gets messy and I’ve got to invest in the work to clean it up again. Some people say life is a trip, but really it's more cyclical than that... In a way, life is a trip you take over and over again.

As it is with running. It requires persistence, constant training, and continuous reassessment. It would be great if running were like compounding interest, where you could just invest early and watch yourself grow and get faster without a lot of effort later on - but it’s not; when you don’t keep at it, you lose it. I find this especially true after an injury or taking time off after racing. I get lazy and don’t want to put the effort in. Starting up again later is so much harder.

Most days I love running, but some days I hate it. Even on days I hate it, I still drag myself out, because I know it’s going to be harder to do tomorrow or the day after. It’s a constant battle for a routine that allows me to arrange my life and well-being properly. Running keeps my mind tidy and my body fit. Otherwise, like my apartment, things get messy.

And the worst mess that you can get stuck with cleaning up is you.


Moving on...

The past week

Last week was busy. Had a job interview (it kind of fell into my lap but turned out to be something I wasn't interested in anyway), I lost my wallet and got it back the next day, but not before canceling all my credit cards and my ATM card. Had my first day off of work in a month. Cleaned the apartment and went grocery shopping (normally these aren't special events, but they are with work the way it's been lately). Went to some wineries in Long Island with a few friends, as well as strawberry picking, and I still can't say that with a straight face. Went out with my buddy Ted for beers on Friday. Watched two more movies on Netflix (Hotel Rwanda: good not great, and Team America: somewhat funny but not hysterical).
I even ran the five mile race on Sunday. I ran it as just a training run, stopping and walking for a bit at each mile.
But the biggest laugh of the week was seeing this during the race:
I thought I was pushing myself. Not compared to this girl who was running while carrying her dog! It actually took me some time to pass her to get a better picture...

I wondered if there was an awards category for this, and thought there should be.

Anyway, I was glad I raced, and for a change, I stuck around and socialized for a while, and took some more pictures. It was a selfish effort on my part - during the last couple of months quality photos on the Flyers site have been scarce, particularly if you're the newsletter editor trying to fill the pages with eye candy. Happily, my fellow Flyer, Trakmaniak brought out his fancy new camera, so hopefully I won't have to in the future.

It's Party Time!

Yep, miracle of miracles - I have the weekend off, including at least half a day on Friday! What to do with all the time?! It'll be my first day off in over a month!

Things actually significantly lightened up yesterday when I passed off our Staten Island job to our sub-consultant. I went home on time, actually got a short run in, and watched a Netflix movie (V for Vendetta. It was pretty crappy, but I really dig Natalie Portman. With or without hair, she's awesome). I also got eight hours of sleep last night. Eight hours! Oh, the decadence!

Anyway, despite that fact that I don't have to come in this weekend, there's still a lot of work I need to do. I have no groceries... so I need to spend a day at Pathmark. I also need to clean my apartment: yesterday I thought to myself "hmmm, when did I get carpeting?" and then realized that the cat has just been shedding a lot. Plus I have a bunch of Flyers stuff to attend to... posting meeting minutes, and starting the July issue.

I'm supposed to go out to Long Island with some friends on Saturday, something I committed to some time back, just to force myself to get the day off work. Earlier this week, when it looked like I might not get these drawings out, I though I'd have to cancel it, but I can have some fun after all. Friday night brings me, likely, to an event at Bohemian Hall. Alternatively, there's a Flyer event, but considering that the Beer Garden is one of my favourite NYC hangs, and the Central Park Boathouse is... not, then there isn't much of a contest.

And -- as amazing as it is -- I'm running again! Granted, I've only gone twice this week for a total of 8 whole miles, but it's still running... It came to my attention earlier this week that Chicago is only 17 weeks away, and I went into a mini-panic and did a 4 miler on Tuesday morning. It felt terrible, like I hadn't run in a month (I hadn't). I still intend to do the marathon though, and even if I don't need a Boston Qualifier anymore, I need to start building mileage again... I'm also planning on doing the Father's day race Sunday, but only as a training run (not by choice, given the shape I'm in). The downside to all of this is that I'm still going to PT, and my left hip and back are still bugging me, although minimally compared to how they were. Fingers are crossed.

Okay, need to remind myself that I am still employed, and blogging is not part of my job description...

More boring talk about work...

Things have lightened up somewhat. But just barely.

It's Saturday and I'm at the office working again. I've moved on from the big (Brooklyn) project that I was working on, which I got out the door on Wednesday to a small Staten Island design that technically was supposed to go out yesterday. Realistically, it only needs to be sitting in our sub-consultant's inbox when she come in Monday morning. Tomorrow, I'll still be back at the office, but it'll be a whole lot of personal junk that I need to get done and have entirely neglected during the past few weeks.

I've been so out of it lately. I was planning to get out and cheer on our Flyers chicks in the Mini... tomorrow, until I looked at NYRR's site today and saw the results up. Sheesh!

I did manage to get a 4-mile run in on Thursday, and I plan to do the same tomorrow morning. I've also been doing my PT exercises for a change, and getting enough sleep. I even managed to go out on Thursday and Friday nights. Thursday I went to another event at the Boat Basin and Friday I went to the roof garden on the Met for the first time. It's nice up there, but of course, pricey to drink.

Anyway, tonight I'll work late on Staten Island, and take it as far as I can before sending it off. What I'm working on isn't inherently difficult, but I'm finding it extremely so, if only because I haven't had a day off in over a month. It's just so hard to keep focused.

I am not coming in next weekend. No sirree!

Return to Running

Today was my first run since last Sunday's marathon. I had thought about joining the group run yesterday, but decided against it, thinking that an extra recuperation day would do me some good.

I only did 5.2 miles, and it was a tough slog. The joints are stiff, my muscles feel old and weak, and I can tell that I'm still genuinely just tired. My hip still hurts, too, although not a lot once I got going.

The 5-Borough Bike Tour was flowing through the park from West Drive up to 7th Ave. I wanted to do the ride years ago, but once I learned how crowded the event is, I quickly lost interest. Too many of my friends who have participated in the event either have had accidents or expressed frustration at how slowly the tour progressed. Too many starts and stops - although I'm sure this depends on where you're placed within the field. I'd rather run the five boroughs anyway.

The rest of the weekend has been busy. I saw Spider-Man 3 during the day on Friday. The movie isn't quite as good as it's predecessors, but a good flick nonetheless. Friday night took me our to see a friend and fellow Flyer for a few beers in Hell's Kitchen. We hadn't chatted much in a while, and it was great to catch up. Last night saw me at a friend's place in the Bronx, meeting up with another group that I hadn't seen in some time. Today, I'll see my oldest Manhattan friend and former roommate and we'll walk over from his place to the Yankee game at one. I really hope they don't lose again, but I'm not holding my breath.

Other than that, I've been interspersing work in between the play, trying to catch up on things that I've fallen behind with. Hopefully by the end of this week, I'll feel like I'm back on top of them. And maybe I can get a few good runs in there as well.

Rain

Despite the good time I had at the 5K on Saturday, the harsh reality of Sunday's storm loomed: I needed to get a long run in. Luckily it's my taper, so I was thinking 12 to 15 max. But nor'easter or not, I needed to run. And so I did.

I woke up at 4:45 AM, when the hourly forecast still said Rain as opposed to Heavy Rain/Wind. I was out the door running by 4:59, in forty-one degrees, which according to the forecast felt like 37. In shorts. Then it was 1.2 miles to the part. two loops, and back, for a total of 14.4 miles in, in 1 hr 57 minutes, in the terribly cold rain. I saw four other runners (all dress much more warmly than I), a guy playing fetch with his dog (Buddy, It's 5:45 AM and pouring rain... the dog can probably wait), and a bunch of people packing up the stuff for a canceled bike race before I was done. Back inside, it took me about twenty minutes to stop shivering, and about 45 minutes before I actually felt warm again. Apparently that qualifies as mild hypothermia. Once my core temperature returned, I went back to bed for three more hours.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Oh yeah - because we love it.

It's here!

Yay, finally!

Happy Easter.

It's also my mom's birthday today. Happy birthday, Mom! My mom doesn't read my blog, but it's the thought that counts, right?

I had a pre-Easter dinner at a friend's place in Greenpoint last night. A good time with good people, but I have to say I always feel like a bit of a freak when people are talking about fine wine, restaurants, and theatre - topics I generally know nothing about - and all I want to talk about is running. Runners are freaks. Well, I speak for myself, anyway. I need to go to a museum or something, sometime soon.

That aside, today I'm up for my last 20 miler before the NJ marathon. Actually, 20.65, by my calculations, which I hope to be more accurate than last week. Three and a half park loops, and then home for dinner. Normally, I'd have done this in the morning, but I have lots of work to do today, and I'd be too brain-fried after such a long run to be productive, so better to leave it for later in the day. Plus it's so freakin' cold out that I'm waiting for the high to go above 40 before I get out there.

I'm at work, trying to get some fairly monotonous drafting done. There are too many people (three of us) here in the office for an Easter Sunday. Aside from the blog break, I'm getting stuff done, but not enough. And I gave up caffeine a few days ago, so that's impacted production in a negative way. I actually had my last cup o'joe on Thursday morning, so I'm doing pretty well, but the real test will be tomorrow morning when I get into the office. I'm dreading it already. I did inadvertently cheat a bit this weekend, when I unknowingly consumed caffeine in a cup of green tea. I thought green tea was intrinsically decaf. Apparently not. I really don't like tea, whether green, black, blue, or turquoise.

No Brooklyn Half for me next weekend. It's my favourite Half, so I'm kind of bummed about it. I was originally thinking that I'd do it as a long run, but one of the reasons it's my favourite is that I always set a PR in it, so the temptation to race will be way too high. I'll save the long run for Sunday instead. Would've been nice to get in on the post-race Flyers' Brunch, but I figured someone running the race would be more deserving, so I unRSVPed today. If you're going, have fun.

Anyway, that's all for now. Need to get back on MicroStation again.

More than I intended.

Today, I ran into the Flyers's Scottish bagpiper in Central Park as he was cycling away from the Scotland Run 10K. He rode along as I ran my long run and we talked about our training, as we both plan to tackle the NJ Marathon at the end of the month. I told him as I hit the 102nd St. transverse that I was on mile 20, and that I was planning to do 2 more miles back down the East Drive to finish with 22. Then I'd grab a bagel at the finish area and take the train home.

"So you're heading back to the start?" he asked, and I clarified that I wasn't going to run quite that far but I'd eventually end up in the vicinity. We split off and I continued the run, and by the time I came back to 72nd St., I was still feeling good, so I thought, Hell, why not just run all the way to the start? That left me with 23 miles. At least, so I thought. A little sore at the end, but I finished my run feeling strong. I snagged a cup of water, a couple apples, a few bagels and caught the D-train from Columbus Circle home.

When I went to my running log online (at CoolRunning.com, if you're interested) I decided to verify my mileage. Headed over to Gmaps pedometer, and tracked my route. I did it again to double check. And again.

Turns out I ran 25 miles today. Somehow, between doing a loop of 6, a loop of 4, the 6.2 mile race, and a loop of 5, plus the overlapping miles getting from my place to the race, I did many more miles than I intended. Undoubtedly an unwise training tactic, but then, I seem to be King of Overtraining, so I guess it's in character for me. Why change now?

A minor sub-point about this is that it means I ran the 10K from mile 14 to 20 of my long run, and still managed an 8:01 average pace. That's a pretty good pace after so many miles, although probably also equally stupid. I came in behind Runner26, who set a 10K PR, and I congratulated her on that. I like the Scotland Run, not only because I get to hear lots of Scottish accents, but I also like racing in the park in a clockwise direction. I find that heading up the gentler slopes of the Great Hill and Cat Hill in particular make it easier to get a PR in Central Park. It's another reason, aside from the time of year, that I prefer Grete's Half Marathon over the Manhattan Half.

Back on topic, I'm now left with one more long run to do next weekend, before I start tapering. I think I may cap it at 18, since I was so heavy on the miles this weekend. Tomorrow's a recovery run day, so maybe just five or six.

I'm looking forward to Jersey. If the weather's good, I'm sure to set a PR on what I've heard to be a nice, flat course. But then, I have yet to run a marathon in "good" weather, so typhoon conditions are fully expected.