On the Seventh Day I Ran Alone

The week began after what would normally be

The last long week of marathon training for me.

But I planned to run sixty miles this week, with a long one,

While seeing just how many smiles for other runners

I could manage.

On the first four days,

I ran with a different person each day.

Listening to four unique stories.

Sharing some parts of my life multiple times.

Sharing some parts of my life specifically relevant to each fellow runner.

I’ve known them for as many as seven years

Or as few as two.

On the fifth day I ran with the runners from days two and three

And had a good run by the boat in the harbor for fleet week

Noting that there was more security than in past years.

On the sixth day I was on the local rail trail

For the first time in months

With the running partner with whom I’ve been running longest.

She joined me for more than thirteen of the twenty

I ran that morning.

We had a long talk,

Reflecting on many things we have talked about before

And adding some things that were new that day.

I made her laugh while running south,

And it was good.

On the seventh day I was able to reach sixty miles.

On that seventh day, I ran alone.

The alone time gave me a chance to barely speak,

And to appreciate the runs earlier in the week.

One time running alone makes me appreciate

All the time on runs with my running family.

For time is the most precious thing I can share

And sharing time running builds lasting friendships

As we exercise, struggle and share together

Over and over,

With one thing that keeps us together,

A desire to share uninterrupted time

Over and over.

That means something.

That means family.

When Running is Just RIght

Today I ran what people training for marathons refer to as Yasso 800's.  This involves ten 800m (just short of a half-mile) intervals.  Between each, I run a 400m (one lap around the track).  In an ideal mythical world the one laps active rests would take the same amount of time as the 800m intervals.  I usually run the active rest periods a little fast. The idea is to remain as consistent as possible. And, as a wise running mentor once reminded me, the idea of the Yasso 800 workout is not to run the 800's as fast as I possibly can and feel dead at the end but to run them consistently and feeling like my boy is stressed but in a good way and that I am under control the whole time.

I've run this workout very fast in a few cases since working on my first marathon training season back in the fall of 2010.  In those cases, I think I was a little beyond the point of being under control the whole time.

Today, I went to a local private school track by myself.  There were two other people who were on the track at some point during the near an hour that I was there.  So, I was pretty much on my own the entire time.  And it was hot.  And it was humid.  And I had some PowerAde with me.

I ran the ten intervals in a pretty tight range.  The fastest was 3:03.  The slowest was 3:08.  I ran one at each end of the range--meaning that 8 were within a three second range.  That is not the ultimate in consistency, but doing that on my own felt like quite an accomplishment.

In addition, there were times when I pushed a little or made sure that I absolutely held my pace running all the way through the finish line.

I did stop for hydration breaks after numbers 4 and 7.  Those added maybe 10-20 seconds to my total rest time.  And helped me to stabilize my body temperature.

But it just felt good.  I did have to concentrate a bit but it really wasn't any effort that was extreme to do what I did.

That is a really cool place to be.

It reflects the value of nearly 6500 miles I've accumulated since May 2012.

It reflects the value of the the 1330 miles I've put in so far today, including  today's workout.

And it reflects the nearly 500 miles that I've put in during the last two months.

On top of that, it reflects that I have finally learned that I don't need to do the really fast 800m intervals but I really need to try to keep a pace.  The pace may result in faster intervals over time, but the goal for any given day is to hold pace.  Build up. And eventually be ready for more.  And use the constance and consistent an appropriate and controlled training to help me to perform better but not to try to get all if my improvements in one workout.

This type of building up one step at a time, can be used in business and education as well.  Each of us needs to think about how to improve ourselves over time.

The lessons from running (and most of all that the volume of activity matters) can be applied elsewhere in life.

And some might ask, "Did I feel the runner's high?"  No, but I felt a great sense of satisfaction and I felt like everything was just right.  With a little over five weeks to go until the next marathon I'll run my body is in some of the best shape it has ever been in.  

Getting Back to Marathon Form--The Occasional Runner's High

I am preparing for my seventh marathon this fall--Freedom's Run. It will be on October 10.  I had thought I would avoid a marathon in 2015 at the start of the year.  But as I got through April and it had been five months that I was running without a training program, I longed for structure.  And I longed for getting back to the marathon distances--both for the eventual run and for training.  The book, Born to Run, provides an interesting perspective that informs me--in the sense that I seem to no longer be able to escape the desire that the author thinks is just part of who we, as humans, are.  I realize not everyone shares that desire.  But I can't escape it.  And when an opportunity to run an ultra after a business trip next year presented itself, and I need to run an marathon this fall to qualify and I have a friend who is looking to do one marathon in every state and this will count as her West Virginia marathon, it all fit together.

What I had forgotten, however, is the feeling that comes with the higher level of training.  That wonderful feeling.  That feeling of being able to run forever.

I had run sixteen miles alone Thursday a week ago.  That was great.  But it was a couple days earlier than I would have run it if I had not had a Father's Day race, it was alone, and it was on a work day so I felt a different sort of time pressure.  It felt like a chore rather than something that brought me joy.

Today, I ran with my long time training partner, Joselyn, and here is a link to the course we ran.  We began from the Starbucks on Boston Street in the Canton neighborhood, proceeded up to Fleet Street, crossed President and made our way to the Inner Harbor area, up St. Paul out of downtown, past Mercy, staying on the "high side" and passing what used to be the Tremont Suites, all the way up through Mt Vernon, and to Lanvale.  Across to Falls.  (I'll return to the run along falls in a bit.)  Past the Streetcar Museum with what looked like brand new signs.  Up the switchbacks on the Jones Falls Trail.  Into Druid Hill Park up the hill.  Around the reservoir (dealing with gnats).  To the zoo entrance and past the gate at boat lake.  Back through the park to a second lap around the reservoir (the gnats were still there but had moved).  Back down to Lanvale.  Across to Calvert.  Down to Centre.  Across to Fallsway.  Down to Fayette.  Over to Central.  Down to Baltimore.  Along the north side of Patterson Park to Linwood.  Down to Boston.  And just far enough past the Starbucks to get to 17.  (We were at about 16.85 when we reached the Starbucks.)  It was an amazing run for a couple of reasons.

First, the power of the Jones Falls after a huge rain is amazing.  The water was the color of the run off that it was carrying to the harbor.  And while I did not see the water in the Inner Harbor today, I know what it generally looks like from working near the Inner Harbor.  But the rushing of the water.  The sound it makes.  The pure power.  The fact that if anyone were in it, he or she could be carried away.  It is truly amazing.

And that power--the power to just keep going, is the power that I felt today during the run.  My strength is not for the day.  (As the Jones Falls was and it will be back to its normal depths and power of a much slower trickle tomorrow.)  No, the power of a marathon runner's legs and the power of a marathon runner's body and mind come from weeks, months, and eventually years.  Years of challenging the body.  My own body.  Running with training partners who challenge their bodies.  And even the spirit of a runner--knowing that at least some of those I train with have faith in the same idea of God I do and all of the marathon runners I know understand that to complete a marathon one almost has to be a part of something bigger.  Something spiritual.  Something that goes beyond oneself and provides support.

The splits were 8:33, 7:59, 7:57, 7:59, 8:03, 7:57, 7:54, 7:52, 7:58, 7:41, 7:46, 7:58. 7:59. 7:54, 7:57, 7:53, 8:00.  It is amazing because other than the first mile (just a shake out) and the two miles coming out of Druid Hill Park (more downhill than anywhere else), we were running consistently between 7:52 and 8:03 despite many ups and downs.  Despite the tendency that we have developed to go faster and faster the last six miles were six of the most consistent.  And the joy of running stride for stride with someone was clear as we didn't chat as much as usual but just enjoyed the essence of the run.  Keeping a pace.  Running under clouds.  Hearing the water of the Jones Falls.  Seeing the reservoir.  And taking the hills as they came.  And while we gave each other a high five at the end as we always do and each knew the muscles would be sore from the work they were not used to, it felt like a day when I (for one) could have gone on forever.  That feeling--being in that zone--is what long distance running is all about.  It doesn't come every time.  In fact, it doesn't come often.  But, when it does, it is a reminder of what I love so much about the process.  And, I'd even like to change the name.  Runner's high is a term I don't care for.  I'll call it, "runner's joy".  When the run ends in joy--then I have achieved something.  And today was one of those lucky days.  

Taper and Abundance

Weekend blog entry—All Souls Day, 2014.

I could write about the 24 miles I ran yesterday and the 7:48 pace overall.  There are a few things worth mentioning but I do not want to spend a lot of time on that.  I’d prefer to spend my time talking about the start of the taper.  The taper can be a challenge for some runners as they switch from high levels of activity to lower levels while waiting for the race.  In today's entrym I will explore why I do not think I will have any problem with a lack of things to keep me occupied while I am in the taper stage.  

But let me write a few observations from the 24 mile run first.  Running at that pace put my total time at 3:07:03.  If I continued for 26.2 and allowed for the fact that my Garmin invariably say 26.3 or more at the end, it would have been on pace for a sub-3:30 marathon.  It was not intended to be at race speed.  It was, according to plan, supposed to take the same amount of time as the amount of time in the race I will run.  It did that—almost.  I’ve been thinking 3:10.  We’ll see how I perform on race day.

It has been an amazing training season.  Yesterday was my fifth run of 20 miles or more.  That is the total number of 20+ mile runs I did for my first three marathons combined.  Moreover, I ran 20 at 7:30 pace, a more difficult 20 after the weather had gotten cooler but then warmer again, a great 20 with a partner, a great 22, and then yesterday’s 24.  The 24 was nice—7:48 pace.  Just three seconds behind my planned pace.  A comfortable start.  An unplanned rest stop at 8.3 miles.  Started up again just fine.  Ran 5 laps around Lake Montebello.  That was mentally challenging.  Then climbed up Greenmount and York to get home.  The last few miles were slow.  I had a good overall pace because of the pace I ran around the Lake.  I stated focused to try to meet my ambition as I’d mentioned in a social media post on Friday after I left work.  

Lessons learned.  One—while I had some workouts go better than planned, not every workout goes as planned.  Accept it and move on.  Two—since I don’t care for the fruity gels from one company what ever made me think I’d like the fruity gels from another?  I don’t know but while I have a few fruity gels remaining I don’t use them before the marathon in Philadelphia.  Three—for a workout of 3 hours or more I probably should carb load. 

Good lessons to learn and happy to move ahead. 

So, today was the beginning of my taper.  #WhatMakesYouSoar: My answer today is an easy seven miles run a running partner to chat with and not worry about the pace.   The plan gave no particular time—run them as slow as 9:00/mile or even more slowly.  My running partner and I decided to meet in part so that each of us would be accountable and get our miles in.  I don’t usually need to have someone else to guarantee I’ll get a run in, but after running 72 miles in seven days accountability helped.  We ended up running an 8:07 pace.  It was comfortable.  It was simple.  It was not pushed.  That was despite the wind blowing pretty hard.  And it all felt right.

So what else have I learned?  My body has been trained to be incredibly resilient.  How long will it last?  I can’t say.  What I can say, however, is that I have really enjoyed this training season.  It has pushed me to limits that I didn’t know I could push through—miles per week, miles in a year, times that I have only dreamed of.  Now there is just the goal of the Philadelphia marathon during which I hope to have a friend by my side most, if not all, of the way. 

We will see how I do.  There are 59 days left in the year, and I am at 1895.4 miles.  The only question is whether I will run the last 105 before marathon day or whether I will hit the 2000 mile mark during the Philadelphia marathon. 

I may never have another race during which I shoot for a 3:10.  I may never run another 72 mile week.  I may never run another 24 mile workout.  I may never follow such a workout with a seven mile run that I do easily on the day after a 24 mile workout.

Recently I have been asking myself, what comes next?  I’ve been thinking just some easy runs for a while, then I’ll come up with an answer after that.  But that will be hard.  I haven’t run like this since I was 17.  I do not want to waste what I have achieved.  But there are so many other things in life. 

And that is what I have to sort out. 

I know I’ve got the support of family, lots of friends who like to run and run with me, and lots of life ahead of me.  I have an abundance of choices. 

How to sort out a life of abundance is a lucky “problem” to have.  Taking the idea of a life of abundance into my taper will mean that, as I pointed out at the start of this entry, I am not going to be at a loss for things to keep me occupied during the taper.

Ten Meaningful Miles

This is today's answer to #WhatMakesYouSoar.

It is another Thursday night and I am sitting in the ice rink.  This has become a Thursday evening habit as my middle son skates during the free style session with the Baltimore Figure Skating Club.  It is a great time to chill out.  (No pun intended as I usually sit in the lobby rather than going into the rink.)  I chill after dinner.  I chill after a hard day at work.  And I get to chill after a hard workout.  The other habit during this marathon training season has been hard workouts on Thursday.  I have run a combination of track workouts and progression runs on Thursday.  This week was a progression run.  A ten mile progression run.  One that I had done well on but not executed exactly in my multiple attempts to do so.

The plan for today was to start at an 8:15/mile pace.  Then to speed up at each mile marker so that my pace would get faster by 0:15 per mile until reaching 7:15.  Hold the 7:15 for a second mile.  Then work my way down to a 6:30 before cooling down with an 8:00.  And I planned to meet a training partner who had paced the Marine Corps Marathon this past weekend. She was going to help me keep up the pace, despite what she had more or less just run.

So, I left early enough to put gas in my car and be at the Dunbar track in downtown Baltimore shortly after 5:15.  The officer had already opened the gate, so I knew we would be able to use the track later in our workout  My partner arrived shortly after that and we began our run just after 5:20.  I was in shorts and a t-shirt.  She was in longer running tights and a thin long-sleeved layer.  We each know what to expect of our bodies when it is about 45 degrees.  (At least that is what my Garmin report told me the starting temperature was.)  

We planned to run on a course that we had run nine days earlier.  On that day we had run 7 miles.  a 6.5 mile course on the streets of Baltimore followed by a half mile on the track.  Today we were going to go 14 laps or 3.5 miles on the track.  So, not all 40 laps or 10 miles, but a lot more than the 0.5.  That was fine.  We headed north along Ensor, turned left to go west on Madison, and chatted.  It had been about nine days since the last time we had run together with another partner.  So we had things to catch up on including running plans, work, and her experience at the Philadelphia Back on My Feet Bash and the Marine Corps Marathon.  As we headed past the prison facilities on Madison and then turned south on Fallsway we were at a comfortable pace.  We hit mile 1 just about at St Vincent de Paul church at President and Fayette with an 8:04.  Nice start.  A little fast but not crazy.

So, we had to pull up at Fayette for traffic, the continued down President Street, hung a left on Baltimore St, south on Exeter, and west on Aliceanna.  Always love the smell of the H&S Bakery, especially on cool, pre-dawn mornings.  Second mile--7:38.  A little overzealous so we decided to be careful on the third mile.  

We continued onto Boston Street.  Chugging along the street by the harbor.  Not too many runners or others on the street that morning, but what seemed like lots of cars.  Third mile 7:45.  Right on target.

As we headed into mile 4, we turned up Ellwood.  We reached a point at which we were not talking that much.  It was time for the hard work to begin.  Ellwood crests before the south side of Patterson Park.  I do know that one comment during mile 4 was the observation that mile 5 would involve the run uphill on Baltimore Street.  That was yet to come.  Mile 4 was run in 7:22--8 seconds below the target but not out of control.

We picked it up as we ran downhill a bit to Baltimore Street and turned west to run along the north side of Patterson Park.  The climb really begins at Linwood.  We have run this a lot of times.  Today, we ran it in 7:12 as we reached Patterson Park Avenue.  Doing pretty well.

As we moved into mile 6--the last one that would be completely on the road, began by finishing going up on Baltimore Street, then headed down toward Central Ave.  The mile did not end until we had turned north and headed across Fayette and toward Orleans.  We had to stop at traffic lights a couple times.  The downhill added speed and we ran a 7:04.

We continued north on Central and turned left on Monument to run along the south side of the Dunbar High School athletic facilities outside the iron fence.  We went back up along Ensor to the entrance to the entrance to the track and ran just under 2 laps on the track.  As we had entered the track area, we were running a 7:08/mile pace.  Over the course of the two laps we sped up a little at a time and pulled some time off the pace.  As we reached the near end of the bench (in the direction you run) on the north side of the track, we found we had run a 7:01.  That was the first time we had a "slow" mile but it was slow only by 1 second.  So, no stressing over that one.

We had been running side by side throughout.  During mile 8 an ever so slight gap opened up.  We train with partners to benefit from each other.  But we also train with partners who understand when we need to meet a goal.  My watch signaled the end of mile 8 slightly before I returned to exactly four laps from where I'd begun.  So, I hit the lap button again when I reached the exact lap point, and when I added up the times later had a 6:45. Right on schedule.  Now was the real test.  I had never gotten much lower than this all summer and fall thus far, except on a treadmill.  No treadmill today.  Just the need to keep pushing.

So, with four laps at pace, I picked it up some more.  Each lap went by easily.  I don't know where all the energy came from.  But I watched the average mile time go down.  My watched beeped at a 6:20 but that was a little early.  I was running faster than in mile 8, but even if it had taken me the same nine seconds extra as in the eighth mile, I would have still run a 6:30.  That was a crowning achievement in my marathon preparation.  

Final mile at what seemed like a really slow pace was still below 8:00.  The total time was 1:13:09.  That is exactly the same time in which I ran my first 10 mile race back in June 2011.  What a long way I have come.  

So, I had finally executed a progression run with the goal of finishing at a 6:30 not on a treadmill at the proper time.  That combined with my excellent 22 miler 12 days earlier really gives me a shot of confidence about the Philadelphia Marathon in 24 days that I didn't have before.  

My training partner is quite confident I can run a sub-3:10.  The person who developed my training plan says maybe even 3:07ish.  Either would be amazing.  But I take nothing for granted.

I have to earn a marathon finish.  I have to earn an PR--even just running a 3:14:24.  I have to earn that 7:20 pace (an improvement to 3:12-something.)  I have to earn the 3:10.  And I would have to earn the 3:07.  These will be earned (or not) on race day. But they are also earned every day when I take a series of steps on the road or on the track or on a treadmill.  They are earned by missing some sleep and awakening at crazy hours and sacrificing other things that could be done.  They are earned through focus, strength, ambition, perseverance, and love.  They are earned by being me.

And if I complete it will show, once again, that I can complete something I begin.

I am looking forward to this marathon more than I ever would have imagined.

I am now at 1864.3 miles.  Somewhere on County Road A020 in Corona, NM.    

First Step Toward My Next (and possibly last) Marathon

Today, I did the first six miles as part of the official training for the Philadelphia marathon this fall.  20 weeks from yesterday.  Six miles at an easy 8:20ish pace.  Was supposed to run within 10 seconds of 8:30.  The first two miles were overlay fast.  First one wanted to make sure not to go too slowly.  Second one was mostly downhill and I got way ahead of myself but pulled back.  Then, the last four were run all within 2 seconds of 8:25 (plus or minus).  So, I once again have reached a point at which I find that I can settle in.  That is good.  Hopefully I'll be able to settle into a 7:20 pace by the time of the Philadelphia marathon.  Today--easy run.  Good start.  Nothing certain given that I am 20 weeks out.  But for day one it is just fine.

That puts me up to 1090 total miles for the year.  That puts me near Nevada, Missouri.  In that city there is a church called St. Mary's.  Once again, it simply fascinates me that so many churches are named to honor the Mother of Jesus.  

Today's observation.  The first day of training is the beginning of an evolution.  An evolution from someone who, no matter how much I love running and no mater how many marathons I have done before (five), I go from being a runner to a marathoner.  Planning to earn that title one more time.  Perhaps for the last time although none of my running friends believe that.

The evolution is not a revolution.  Marathon readiness does not occur all at once.  

What does Mary tell me about evolution?  Mary's trasnformation from a young woman engaged but not married to the Mother of Jesus was a revolution.  She accepted God's presence.  She accepted God's word.  While surprised, she just went with what the angel Gabriel said and followed God's will.

I shared a prayer with a friend that is my expansion of the Serenity Prayer.  The standard Serenity Prayer is "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."  As someone who recited the Lord's prayer each weekend, I thought it would be interesting to adapt to a more specifically Christian context.  Not for everyone.  Not everyone is Chrisian.  But it works for me:

God,
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
the faith to follow Thy will in all things,
and the wisdom to sort it all out.

I have blogged about the Serenity Prayer before.  This is a new version for me.  I'll see whehter I still like it in a few months.  But the key is that it forces me not only to ask God for gifts, but also to remind myself to follow His will.  Combining these two things is a powerful guide for me to live my life and evolve over time to being all that I can be and all that God has intended for me to be.  

Warmth and Hope

Today, I ran yet another workout on the treadmill.  Today's workout was a simple 7.2 miles in 1 hour.  As far as workouts go, an average 8:20 mile on the treadmill is a pretty easy workout.  I enjoyed it even though I was back at the gym to start my workout less than 12 hours after I had finished my last one.  Not quite a "two-a-day" type of workout as those are usually beginning and end of the same day rather than end of one day and start of the next.  

Where does this next 7 miles put me? Well, it puts me 259.2 miles from where I began.  And being that far from St. Pius X on the virtual walking path to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, this puts me on a street called Lava Ave in Wheeling, West Virginia.

I've only been to West Virginia a handful of times, although I've been though West Virginia many times driving along I-81 to our vacation spot in Virginia.  And I don't think I have ever been through Wheeling.  In any case, when I saw the street name, I wondered (although I haven't tried to find any information on this) why there would be a street named "Lava" in West Virginia.  When I think of lava I think of volcanoes.  And I don't think there are or have been any active volcanoes in West Virginia for quite some time.  But I could be wrong.

In any case, lava brings a number of images to my mind.  The first is heat.  Heat is something that a lot of people in the mid-Atlantic have been longing for a lot lately given the cold and snow we have faced.  And I thought it was interesting that on a day when I ended up on Lava Ave on my virtual pilgrimage, at the ice rink where my son played his game this morning in Laurel, MD, the Baltimore parents managed to find a heat source to sit near.  Between finally remembering to dress in the right number of layers (including longjohns and three layers up top under my jacket) and sitting near a heat source, I felt very comfortable.  So much so, that I didn't even need my gloves.  And now that there have finally been a series of Saturday morning games that I could attend, I know the other parents better and felt the warmth of the team spirit and the excitement of the game.  

The other image that comes to my mind when I think of lava (beyond heat) is speed and slow/deliberate movement.  Speed--because sometimes the lava flow is amazingly fast.  Slow and deliberate movement because sometimes the lava just seems to creep but it is unstoppable.  This is interesting to ponder this week, a week during which we saw snow that sometimes came very quickly and at other times came slowly and deliberately but could not be stopped.

Snow (which Wheeling has had plenty of) and lava (a street in town) make an interesting contrast of ideas with overlapping concepts.  And the concepts of speed at times but deliberate, slow, but inexorable movement at other times, are concepts that I can relate to for my running.  There are fast track workouts.  There are tempos.  And there are both long and shorter workouts during which I simply go and go and go and go.   

So, I end with a Haiku:

Lava and some snow
Sometimes fast but others slow
That is how I train