5k from Saturday

Hey peeps. Just a quickie to update. I ran a 5k this weekend. It's called the Harbor Hustle 5k. From the Tennis Center in Rock creek park, down 45 meters in elevation to Beach Dr., then back up. A toughie, no doubt. I came in 5th, which sounds good until you consider a few things: a) there were only 175 finishers, b) last year I came in 3rd, and c) I ran 30 seconds slower than last year at 19:06. I was very disappointed at first. But then I plugged that number into the race equivalent calculator (these things are remarkably accurate) and it came up with a Marathon equiv of 3:06. Now, I surely would not be confident running the marathon right now and hoping for a 3:06. But if you consider that a) I have 17 full weeks of training until my real marathon, and (more importantly) b) I have done exactly ZERO speed or hill workouts at all, then the picture becomes a little more positive. So, to recap, I am not ready to either run a fast 5k OR run my goal marathon, but the race was a very positive indication that I have good fitness and that I am ready to begin speedwork and hill training so that I will be ready to run my goal marathon in 17 weeks. Check out the Garmin output from the race.

$#!++y...

A week, ladies and gentlemen, a week. Normally, breaks in training for me have been caused by overtraining. I train too hard just one time too many and get whistled into the penalty box until my body can catch up. During these times, when I am good, I can cross train. Abdominal work, some biking, swimming, etc. But last week I was introduced to a whole new world of hiatus. No running. No training. No walking. No sort of exertion at all.
Salmonella.
I don't know for sure where it came from. But it made its presence known quickly and painfully. It started with my run last week. For the first time I can remember, I was forced into an unceremonious pit-stop. Thank Jeebus the merciful Park Rangers had opened the facilities at Haines Point. I'll spare you all the most gory details. But a 104 degree temperature, several pints of blood, and an entire week of no-training later, I was finally able to run this morning. For the (almost) 2 months of training before this past week, I kept wondering when I'd be writing my first had-to-take-a-day-off blog post. Everything had just been going so well. I hadn't missed a single workout. The good news though, is that I still haven't missed one due to injury. I've got my fingers crossed that the week off also gave my muscles and connective tissues time to do some repairing of their own. Although I am sure that most of my body's resouces were occupied with repairing my woebegone intestinal tract. I was tentative this morning. But once the rust got busted, the legs felt great and a quicker pace felt easy. I am very interested to see how both my legs and my gut react to running a full-effort 5k this coming Saturday. I'm a little behind schedule miles-wise but I'm gonna tell myself not to worry about that. It's beyond my control and I can't go and try to play catch-up and turn this into an injury. I'm just gonna be a week behind. Who cares? I'm already in great shape (unless I've lost a lot over the last week - I don't think so). It actually looks like I should be able to hop right back in on pace for correct mileage. We'll see. Later, Kids.

From the Horses Mouth...

Two posts ago, I said that I had a post brewing. I wasn't referring to the the last post (the quickie) but, rather, to this one. It has been brewing for a few weeks now. As I begin to write, I imagine this post being less polished, less pithy, and more ...stream-of-consciousness. We'll see. I wanna address the issue of socialization - or lack thereof - during training.
Let's rewind a few years. In high school, I could be found out and about at least 3-4 nights a week. Bed time was somewhere in the Midnight-1am range during the week and the 3-4 range on the weekends. In college, the concept of time pretty much went out the window. I was livin' it up 4-5 times a week and it really didn't matter what time it was - save for when I was at work, school, or rehearsal. My friends got used to this. When I graduated and found a steady full-time job, a lot of that subsided, but there was still tons of the partying. I would go out and drink at least 2-3 times a week. Anything less would be a disappointment. To whom? I don't know.
And then I started running...
About 4 years ago, after admiring my Uncle Bobby and cousins and my Dad (he ran when he was younger) for running local races and wishing that I could be a part of it, I let them convince me that I could do the same. I registered for the 2004 St Patty's Day 10k in DC and started to run with more regularity to get myself ready. To make a long story short (too late), it was nothing short of an amazing experience. I was hooked. Shortly after, I made it a goal to run a marathon. Not just any marathon. The Boston Marathon. So that fall I started training. It never occurred to me to limit bar time to better my training but, as a matter of course, I would skip a trip out here or there as a result of a long run or as a result of being tired. Over the course of 8 marathon training cycles prior to the present one, I have had varying degrees of social-ness. I've tried completely leading the lifestyle of my choosing and seeing how that affected my running. I've tried restricting myself as best I could from any sort of alcohol or staying out. And everything in between.
And I've caught varying degrees of shit from friends and family. Mostly I get "Dave, it's ok, we want you to achieve your goal." This is usually followed by 15 not-so-veiled quips about how it would be better if I broke my leg so that they could have their friend/sibling/cousin back. I have, in a sense, abandoned some very important people in my life. I am sure that this is how it seems to them. I am not sure how I feel about this opinion.
2004 Olympic Silver Medal Winner in the Marathon, Deena Kastor, once said (please pardon the slight paraphrase) "I don't believe in sacrifices. I don't make sacrifices. There are choices I have to make. I make those choices everyday. If I had to make sacrifices, there's no way I could do this for this long. I do what I love to do."
Training takes a lot of energy. I am regularly tired. I am regularly sore. I am regularly hobbled. I am regularly lazy. I go through patches during which I lose all motivation to be productive in any other way but running. I choose to run, though. I really do love it. It has given me so much. I have taken so much. And all it asks in return is patience and commitment. This time around, I really feel like I am starting to give it just that. It helps that my friends and family have been subjected to this 8 times before. I haven't really gone out at all since I started training. I have barely had a sip of anything with alcohol. But this time it's not because I'm consciously making a restriction on myself. Each time I have been confronted with the choice, I have made the decision against. Because I want to do well. Because I want to be able to do what it is that I love. And to do that, I know that it's an "either/or"... not a "both." I wake up every morning at 6 for my run because, in the summer, that is the coolest part of the 24-hour day. When I'm training, I need TONS of sleep every night. So that means being in bed by 9 or so. It seems that, at this time, most of my peoples are just settling in for a few hours of the tube and a snack before even thinking about bed. Or just getting ready to go out! But I know that, if I don't get all the sleep I need, I will either get sick or get injured... or both. Again, though, it's a choice. It doesn't feel like a sacrifice to go to bed that early.
There are repercussions, though. As I've already said, my relationships with my loved ones suffer. They are strained. Sometimes to the point of total estrangement. This is tough. But I have faith that the ones who really know me, who really care for me, know that it's not because of them, but rather, they understand that it's because I'm doing what I love. That I'm working towards my goal. That I'm working towards a source of happiness all the while reaping happiness from the journey. But even beyond those relationships that already exist in my world, I am deferring on those that could be. Next year, I will be 30 years old. THIRTY. 30. When my parents were thirty, they were married and had three kids. Both of my siblings are married with children. I am to the point in my life at which I am one of the only single people I know! When I was a teenager, I figured that, by 30, the only thoughts on my mind would be how I would be paying for my kids' college tuition and what I was gonna do once I retired. If running prohibits me from even maintaining the relationships I have with those I love - with whom everything is easy and comfortable- how in the world would I have energy to meet new people?! I haven't yet figured out the answer to that rhetorical question. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I very much miss going out and getting blindly drunk, making poor decisions, and feeling horrible the next day. And, I know that I have missed out on some awesome events and games and parties. I have missed out on meeting some great people. On meeting people that might have one day been my lifelong companion. I don't know if I have really been making some choices that have prohibited me from other lifelong goals such as finding a wonderful woman with whom I can settle down and make beautiful pale babies.
But I don't think I have. I think things will come when they come. Right now, this is my focus. This is what brings me joy. It is healthy. It keeps me from unhealthy things. And I can only do this now. My body will only be young for so long. My mind will be with me until I'm gone. I know this is getting WAY too long to remain interesting. My apologies. Brevity is not my forte. I'll stop this one for now, but I would LOVE to hear your reactions, criticism, advice, arguments, compliments ;), or whatever else you'd like to say after reading this record of thoughts. You can use the "Comments" link below if you don't mind it being part of a discussion, or you can always email or IM/Txt me directly. Really, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Quickie

First I just wanted to say that this is the 11th Blog post. This is only important because now the oldest posts start falling off. They are still available, but they no longer remain on the home page. So Happy 11th, everyone! To celebrate, I will make this one a quickie. I don't want everyone to think I'm going all fatalist on you, but I have made some realizations over the past couple of days. When I spoke before about the importance of Phase 1, I wasn't speaking from a place of experience but, rather, from a place of researched knowledge. As my own Phase 1 is coming to a close, however, things have changed. My whole perspective on training has changed. I am pretty confident that, barring freak accidents between now and October 27th, that I will be able to achieve my goal. But, should I not be able to do so, I now know what I will need to do in the future with 100% certainty. If I had 10 more weeks, I would add all ten to Phase 1. Running in this manner has allowed me to sustain mileage totals never before achieved without injuring myself. I am healthier now than I have ever been 6 weeks into a training cycle. I have literally not missed a single workout. This is crazy. I feel that, if I had another 6 weeks, I could add another 15-20 miles per week to my totals.
I am content, elated really, with the success so far in my training and, as a result of the respect I have for the new process, I am not going to push it or deviate from the plan one bit. Next time around, though, I feel like I can really break through some barriers and elevate above some of the plateaus that I have hit. Phase 1 will encompass all of the available time between the end of my recovery from this marathon and 18 weeks out from my next marathon. 135 days, 19 hours, 19 minutes to go...

June

So, regardless of the fact that Summer doesn't officially start for a further 10 days, Summer is here. The heat index got above 103F for the past 4 days. That's Summer to me. A mysterious thing happens though when we get the first heat wave of the summer. More people run. What the hell, people? It's above 90F at 6:30am. Stay indoors. Crank the air conditioner. Cover yourself in ice. For Pete's sake, what would make you want to run in this?! Hands down, I would rather run when the wind chill brings the temps below 0F. It only takes about 5 minutes before your body is creating enough heat to keep you cozy. But you can only take off so many layers in the heat. I must be a sight to see. I've heard children gasp. "EWWW, that hairy man was all wet." I'm not kidding. "Did you see that?! Ewwww!" Honestly, I couldn't care less. When the mercury rises above 70, I just can't be comfortable running with a top on. On Saturday, we broke the records for that particular day in June. National Airport officially reported 98 degrees, but everyone knows it was closer to 151. And the humidity is the worst part. There was just no escaping it. I soaked completely through my shorts with sweat, and completely through my socks and shoes. After the run, my shoes couldn't even dry out because there was too much moisture in the air for anything to evaporate. Yikes. By Tuesday, my body was just starting to adapt. I was able to run without wanting to cry. Great. Just in time for the heat wave to abate. When I woke up this morning, it was a chilly 75! A week ago, I would have absolutely bemoaned a morning temp of 75 degrees. The high for today was forecast to be only 88! 88?! A week ago, 88 would have been blistering. With my new perspective, I was wondering if I should don long sleeves this morning. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm done bitching about the hot weather. It's another element of training to which my body must learn to adapt. If the heat continued all summer, it would just be that much easier to run my fastest race in cool cloudy Dublin. So BRING IT ON. (Just kidding. I also like the lower temps :) )

I guess the only other updates are the boring ones. Still on schedule. Still running 6 days. Still healthy. 43 Miles last week. Time is flying for me at this point. Only the rest of this week and next week to close out Phase 1. Jaysus. That is a scary thought. I've got my fingers crossed that my body will be able to adapt to the new stimuli. Phase 2 will introduce strength work and a bit of speed and get my legs ready for the peak mileage and long tempo stuff of the ever important Phase 3. I've got a 5k scheduled for the 28th of June. I ran the inaugural Harbor Hustle race last year and I had my first (and only) podium finish (I sneaked in with a bronze). The 5k doesn't necessarily fit into the training but the siren call of another possible high finish is just too alluring to avoid. How stereotypically male.

Soooo... Not much substance in this post. My apologies. I've got one brewing though, I hope to have that to you within a few days. Until next time...

Dave Runs Manhattan!

First things first. I just received notice that I made it through the lottery system for entry into the New York City Half Marathon! This is not a big deal in that I had to qualify or anything - it's purely random - but tons of people apply for this race, and only a small percentage get in. The reason so many apply is that it's not every day you get to shut down a city of 8 million people to run around central park, down Broadway/7th Ave through Times Square to 42nd Street and then all along the waters of the Hudson to the very tip of the island at Battery Park. Yeah, you heard me right :)
Almost as importantly, as you may or may not know, this is the last season for both Shea Stadium and Yankee's Stadium. There is a lot of history in both of those parks. So I'm going. And, as if the fates knew something I didn't, Major League Baseball happened to schedule the Yanks at home that weekend against none other than our beloved Baltimore Orioles! My buddy Sean is comin' up with me. We're biting the bullet and staying at the Marriott on the Upper East Side. Just 6 blocks from Central Park. The New York Road Runners (NYRR - who turn 50 this year), who are putting on this race, arranged for discounts at hotels in Manhattan and it turns out this is actually one of the best deals I could find. Short of staying in a hostel, of course.
Lots of other news, I'll try to be brief. I checked this morning after receiving an email from the Dublin folks: 145 days 23 hours 5 minutes and 45 seconds until the marathon. Yikes! I ride - daily, it seems - a roller coaster of sentiment. Sometimes I want this thing to be upon me, that I'm ready. Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time! Sometimes I feel like I'm in great shape. Sometimes I wish I had another month to get in shape. (Right now I feel great, btw).
150 Miles in the first calendar month of training (May). This is not a high, by any means, but it's certainly a high for a first month. I owe it all to consistency. I've only had one other complete 31 day month of consistent training and that was during a 4-day-a-week training cycle. I was doing the math on my run yesterday. If I stay completely on schedule for June, I will set a personal high at 190-ish miles. July and August would both be significantly above 200, which is uncharted territory for me. But I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself. One day at a time. One run at a time. One recovery at a time.
The Men's and Women's Olympic Marathons are both set: Aug 24th and August 17th, respectively. If you didn't already know, I am ridiculously zealously over-enthused about this year's Olympic Games and, of course, the Marathons are the centerpieces. These two people are legitimate shots at medaling or even gold in the marathons this year. Seriously. If you need motivation to get pumped to watch the Olympics this year, watch the VISA "Go World." videos. They are insane. I am more excited about 8.8.08 than I am about... well... I dunno, anything. Ever.
Corre, Mundo. Corre.