Mike Fox's Marathon Blog

Reflection on 2011

2011-12-30T21:57:00.005-05:00

Although Mike's Marathon Blog is long retired, I feel compelled to write a reflection post for 2011 like I did for 2010 (actually, the last blog post I wrote was exactly one year ago this week!)

Last year, my goals for 2011 were:

Lose the weight. When I weighed in at the gym in January of 2011, the scale showed 182 pounds. I got that down to 166 pounds in early July and I'm now hovering in the 168-170 range. It is definitely progress - not back to the 160 pounds that I was 5 years ago...I'd love to get back to that number, but that would take some serious commitment!
Stay healthy. In 2010 I suffered from three bouts of respiratory infections/inflammation which ceased my running for 3-4 weeks at a time. In 2011, I started working with a pulmonologist and later in the year an allergist to get to the bottom of the issues. I still had the incidents, but I have decreased the amount of time I'm on the shelf when it happens. For 2012, I will be trying allergy shots to see if I can desensitize my system to the triggers of these events so they don't happen in the first place!
Run More. This is one goal that I fell short. My total mileage for the year is 552 miles - 21 miles LESS than 2010. Again, the main culprits were travel and health. Although I did have a few stretches of a few 20 mile weeks in a row. It's not marathon mileage, but it is definitely what I need to feel like a runner again.
Schedule more races. Another goal where I fell short. I ran in two races this year - both low-key races from MCRRC. A 4 mile run on Memorial Day and a 8K run earlier this month. Both were PRs (since I had not raced those distances before!!). However, the pace of these were below my PRs for longer distances, so they're really only PRs by default.
Schedule more time off from work. This is one where I excelled this year. I ended up teaching Israeli Dancing at a BBYO Leadership Camp for Teens for two weeks this summer, which got me away from my work responsibilities (and many other responsibilities) for about 17 days. I brought Sherry and the kids up for the first 8 days I was there - and it was great having some quality time with them.

Other highlights from 2011:

My big birthday - I turned 40. I still can't believe it. At times I still feel like I'm 20 and just happen to have a 9 year old and 6 year old in the house (yes...I know the math doesn't make sense there!)
My Israeli Dance group continues to grow! I am now getting between 40-50 dancers each week at the group and word of the group continues to spread. I actually just started a new blog for the Israeli Dance group at http://markidmike.wordpress.com and a Twitter account @MarkidMike
My day job at Ericsson also continues to go well. I was extremely busy this year with a huge project in 1H2011 in East TX and a bunch of smaller projects in 2H2011 in Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.

My goals for 2012 are pretty much the same as 2011. I would love to put the commitment in place to get back down to my ideal weight of 160 pounds (my doctor says 150-155 would be ideal for me, but I haven't seen numbers like that since I was 17 years old). I want to find a way to stay healthy - I'm hoping the allergy shots will help with this. If I can keep healthy, then I should be able to run more...I'm going to shoot for 750 miles for the year (14-15 miles per week if I can run every week...see not getting sick!). I would like to run a Half Marathon in the Spring and the Fall (see run more which depends on stay healthy!). Finally, I should be able to take more time from work - I will hit my 19th anniversary of working at Nortel (Ericsson bridged my service from Nortel when they purchased my division), so I will get an extra week of vacation.

One other goal - I want to try running with others more often this year. Running has been a solo venture for me most of the time, but I always enjoy when I run with other people. I'm going to try to run a race or two with my 9 year old son. I would love to run more with Sherry. I may also try to arrange some type of pub crawl / beer run with friends of mine. I don't think I'll ever be one to only run with a group, but I'm hoping more of my runs in 2012 will not be solo.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Reflection on 2010

2010-12-24T23:15:00.003-05:00

Although I officially retired the blog earlier this year, I did mention in my final post that I may still post updates to the blog.

As the end of 2010 draws near, I feel I should reflect on the past year and set some goals for the year ahead.

In 2010 I ran fewer miles than in 2009, 2008 or 2007. You need to go back to 2006 - when I first started running seriously and trained for my first half marathon - to get a lower mileage total. Right now I have logged 573 miles for the year - and it is doubtful that I will get another run in during the next week as I'm battling a sinus infection.
Ironically, although I have run fewer miles this year - I set PRs in the 10 mile (1:29:43) and half marathon (2:11:41).
I travelled more for my job this year than ever before. My project for the first three quarters of the year was based in Souther California - and I spent one week of every month in Irvine. Since September, my projects have been based in East Texas and the group is based in Atlanta - so I have been traveling to Atlanta and Dallas. Traveling messes up any rhythm that I may have for the week (especially when trying to plan for runs). And being away from home has been hard on Sherry and the boys as well (so taking 1 night trips to Atlanta or Dallas - although more difficult on me - seems to be better for the family)
With business travel comes business lunches, dinners and happy hours. Which means more food (and beer) than I would normally consume. Which is why I'm about 15 pounds heavier now than I was when I crossed the finish line of the NY Marathon in November 2009.
Another contributor to the lower mileage is health. Luckily I had no running injuries during 2010. However, I have had three nasty sinus infections - all which have taken two rounds of antibiotics to treat. Once the congestion moves into my chest, it is not a good idea to run - so I have missed 3-4 week chunks of running...and then having to spend a few weeks to ramp back up again.
In my other hobby, my Israeli Dance group has really grown in 2010 as well. I now get around 35 dancers every week and people stay later. As a result I'm out later every Tuesday night - which makes a morning run on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning a lot more difficult.
In 2010 I had some nice vacation time as well. Sherry and I got away for our 15th Anniversary - to a resort spa in the mountains of Pennsylvania for two nights. Then in October we all went on a Disney cruise with my parents and sister and her family. We also took some trips to visit family and friends for B'nai Mitzvahs and Weddings (two trips to Michigan, one to Connecticut and I extended a business trip to stay in Dallas)

As you can see, 2010 was definitely a year of great achievements coupled with some tough challenges.

I haven't set all of my goals for 2011 yet, however, here are a few main goals:

Lose the weight. Gaining 15 pounds in one year is way too much...I have to get this back to where I was in 2009.
Stay healthy. I'm going to get a CT scan of my sinuses in the next few weeks and I may go to an ENT. Three sinus infections in one year? That HAS to stop!
Run more. This will definitely help goal #1 and I'll be able to do this if I achieve goal #2. I don't necessarily need to hit 1,000 miles next year - but somewhere around 750 would be nice.
Schedule some races. I would like to schedule at least 2 half marathons and perhaps a fall full marathon (maybe Marine Corps??) I loved the 10 mile distance too. Perhaps with all the traveling I'm doing and not having as much time to run long, I should focus on running shorter races and develop more speed. Either way, I need to race a bit more in 2011 to keep my motivation up.
Schedule more time off from work. With the exception of the two main vacation I took (one for 2 work days and one for 3 work days), I really did not take much vacation time to relax and spend quality time with my family. I need to do more of this (and run more while on vacation!)

I'm sure I'll think of more as the next week goes on, but these are the main goals.

2011 will be a big year for me with a milestone birthday (ends in a zero...). Let's hope my age isn't the only milestone I have to celebrate!

Farewell To Blogging...

2010-03-14T08:12:00.002-04:00

I recently have not had much time to devote to blogging. My updates have gone from one post each day or two to one post every week or two...not enough to really keep things going from a blog perspective.

When I first started the blog in late December 2007, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to keep it going. I had started training for my first marathon and I used the blog to document my progress and to keep me honest (if others were watching/reading, I knew I couldn't skip the workouts).

However the blog became something more than just a means for documenting my training. Through the blog I have made many new friends in the running community and also re-connected with old friends that have found my blog through Google or Facebook. For people that I see on a regular basis, the blog has become a conversation starter - and many times they already know what is happening in my life based on what they have read in the blog.

Coincidentally, I have been blogging for a little bit more than 26 months and 2 weeks (26.2???). It's a rather appropriate place to end a blog named "Mike Fox's Marathon Blog".

Will I be back? Most likely I will. When work calms down a bit and/or when I train for another marathon. I may also post race reports on the blog (and cross post them in FB and RunningAhead).

However, by "shutting down" the blog I will no longer have the stress of "I haven't blogged in over a week..." hanging over me.

Thanks everyone for reading the blog and supporting me over the past 2+ years!!!

Running, Push Ups, Working A LOT, and NOT Blogging

2010-03-07T10:41:00.003-05:00

So...once again more than a full week without a blog post. I'm considering retiring the blog, but I kinda feel (or at least hope) that work will let up soon and I'll be able to get back into a nice rhythm again.

Although I haven't been blogging, I have been running. I managed to run four times this week - a Monday morning easy run outside before the sunrise, a Thursday morning tempo run also outside, a Friday morning treadmill run at the gym and then again this morning a 6.2 mile "long" run outside. The temperatures are getting warmer and the snow is finally starting to melt here. Finally.

Overall I ran 18 miles this week. This was pretty normal for me in a not-training-for-anything type of week. However, I have the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in 5 weeks. Time to ramp up!

I still am feeling a bit nasally. I think I'm getting a bit of a relapse since my 4-year old has been sneezing and coughing for the past few days. I need to hit the sack early tonight to fight this off.

I also have been doing my pushups! I completed Week 4 of the Hundred Push Up Challenge. Day 3 of Week 4 I completed 150 pushups over 5 sets. That's an average of 30 pushups each - two weeks ago I managed 31 push ups in my exhaustion test and I thought I was a rock star then! I will be doing another exhaustion test either today or tomorrow. I'm psyched to see how many I can do now.

One other thing - I just got a new cell phone which tend to be a bit more internet/data focused. I may try to blog from the phone - which will hopefully mean more frequent posts, but definitely shorter posts. We'll see how it works out.

Finally A Morning Run!

2010-02-26T22:24:00.002-05:00

As this week progressed, I have felt a lot better when waking up in the morning. It looks like this infection is finally behind me!

This morning I got up early and hit the gym for a run. It's been too long since I've been able to utter those words...and even though the clock had a 5 as the first number when I left the house, it felt wonderful!!

The run itself wasn't that wonderful. After running on the harder side on Monday and Wednesday, I felt I needed a controlled easy run. My Garmin was now working (yes...it was the USB port that I was using did not power it up properly), so I could monitor my heart rate.

I ended up having to keep my pace in the 11:30/mile range to keep my heart rate low enough to constitute an easy run. It's almost painful to go that slow, but I know it is best for me right now.

The good news about all of this - I have now run 3 times this week for a total of 9.5 miles. That's more than my totals for the last 3 weeks. And I'm planning to get one more run in some time this weekend.

Earlier this week I laid out some goals. Well, I have hit 2 out of the 3. I have run 3 times (and potentially 4 if I get a weekend run). I have started the Hundred Push-Ups program. I'm on Week 3, Column 3. I managed to do a total of 78 push-ups on Tuesday and 97 push-ups on Thursday. Again, I'll try to do one more set this weekend.

The one goal I did not get to is counting calories. I have watched what I have been eating to some extent, but I know that my portions are still way too big. At least I'm now doing something to burn off the extra calories I'm consuming. I'll see how my weight is on Monday...if it's going up still I'll probably start counting calories on Monday (yeah, right!)

Two-And-A-Half-ish Miles On a Snowy Trail

2010-02-25T20:18:00.002-05:00

The good news - I'm starting to feel much better. Finally! I'm waking up feeling almost refreshed and not continually run down.

However, I still haven't gotten up early enough for a morning run yet.

I was thinking about it on Wednesday morning and laid out my gear before going to bed on Tuesday night...but I woke up a bit too late to get the run in. So, I threw my gear in the gym bag and took it with me to the office (I worked in the Reston office on Wednesday).

The plan was to go for a run on the W&OD Trail during lunch (the trail is half a block from my office) and then go to the gym to shower (only about a mile away from the office).

I slipped out of the office around 12:30pm ready to go. Except my Garmin wasn't. Once again it wouldn't turn on. This time, I would get the "welcome screen" and then it would just disappear. UGH!!!

I had a quick decision to make - I was in my running clothes already. Do I just go for a run - no heart rate, no watch, no GPS - just to run? Or do I scrap it since I won't know how far, how fast and how hard I was running??

Of course I went for the run!

The W&OD trail near my office was mostly clear. Every so often there would be patches of the trail that still had snow on it with some tracks through the snow that I was able to use. A little over a mile into my run, though, there was more snow than pavement. And then there was a downed pine tree which had fallen completely across the path. I guess I found my turnaround point, I thought to myself.

I have no idea how far my run was. Or how long it took. Or what my heart rate was. But I still ran. I still got that great feeling of the blood pumping through my whole body during the run and that awesome high that I get about an hour after the run that you can tackle whatever life throws at you.

I sooooo needed this run...just to remind me why I do it in the first place.

As for the Garmin - I'm pretty sure that the issue is that the USB port I have been using (off of a very old USB hub) is not charging the battery well enough while it is sitting in the cradle. I have switched to another USB port and hope this clears the issue up. We'll see...I have my fingers crossed.

Google Search Oddities

2010-02-22T22:21:00.002-05:00

One of the running blogs that I read occasionally puts in a "Google Search Oddities" post every so often.

I use SiteMeter to check some stats for my blog (would I still blog if nobody at all read the thing?? I'm not sure...) and it's interesting to see how my blog is reached.

One of the oddest recurring searches is "running with ear pain". This actually brings up a post I wrote in my blog over two years ago - but I guess there are not too many people who write on this subject, so my blog jumps up in the searches.

This week's Google Search Oddity for my blog:

"treadmill 60 minute limit" and "how to go longer than 60 minutes on treadmill"

Lunchtime Run Before The Rain

2010-02-22T22:07:00.002-05:00

This scenario has been happening waaaay too often. I lay my running clothes out the night before, but then either sleep in or can't get my behind out of bed in order to get the run in.

It happened again this morning.

By a nice stroke of luck, I had some meetings cancel and saw that there was a big empty space on my calendar from noon to 2pm. I could go for a lunchtime run. And I could do it outside since it wasn't going to start raining until this afternoon (and I loathe running in the rain when it is 40 degrees or colder...)

I ended up meeting HH at our neighborhood coffee shop to run 3-4 miles around the streets of my neighborhood. I decided not to look at my heart rate during the run, but to keep up with her while ensuring the pace was slow enough that I could keep up a conversation.

It seemed to have worked. Although I was a bit winded a few times along the way, I never felt that low-energy, fatigued feeling that I have been getting while running during the past week. That in itself was a huge confidence builder that I'm finally seeing the other side of being sick.

We ended up running for a little under 3.5 miles at an average pace of 9:48/mile. I'm glad I wasn't watching my HR as I averaged 165 bpm. I would expect an 8 minute mile pace with that average HR...I guess I'm still fighting off something.

All afternoon I had that great feeling pumping through me after a good run. I had almost forgotten what it felt like. I thought to myself, "this is only after 3.5 miles...I can't wait until I've ramped up to 6 or 10 or 15 miles again!"

I Need to Finally Get Things Started

2010-02-21T19:39:00.003-05:00

February is almost over and I haven't even logged 100 miles for the year. Heck...I was logging 100-150 miles a month during marathon training and I have a measly 98 miles over the first seven weeks of 2010.

I don't want to take on more than I can chew, but this is the week I need to get things started again. I'm going to the doctor for bloodwork (i.e. my cholesterol checkup) in three weeks...so far in 2010 not only has my running been lacking, but my diet has gone out the window too.

So...starting this week I will try to: a) count calories again b) run at least 3 times (and hopefully 4 times) this week and c) start the 100 push up challenge (my initial test tonight was 31 push-ups...not too bad!)

Even if I can stick to one of the above three for more than two consecutive weeks, I should be in much better shape.

Still Running Short and Slow

2010-02-18T22:46:00.002-05:00

I've been out in SoCal again this week. It was a great opportunity to get some running in - the weather was PERFECT! The mornings were in the low 50s and clear skies...daytime highs were in the 80s. It's going to be tough going back to DC where there's still over two feet of snow on the ground everywhere.

I went out for runs both on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Both times my heart rate was elevated, I felt weak and I just didn't have "it".

I'm not sure if it is still related to the sinus infection or stress at work or lack of sleep or lack of running.

On both runs I did out-and-backs from the hotel of 2.5 miles (1.25 out and then returning). Wednesday morning's run could have gone longer but I needed to get back to the hotel room to quickly shower and participate on an early conference call.

Even though the runs were not perfect, it definitely felt great to be out there running!

I'm taking the red eye home tonight. We'll see how that goes. Hopefully I'll be recovered enough for a Saturday morning run. Maybe I'll be able to go for a longer run (like at least 4 or 5 miles!).

A Tough Run Today

2010-02-14T21:02:00.003-05:00

I finally got a run in today - the first since the storms came and the first since I started feeling icky.

Even though I'm feeling better - I have two days of Levaquin to thank for that! - I'm no where near 100%. My run stats definitely show that.

I started out nice and slow - at 5.0 mph (a 12:00 mile). My heart rate climbed into the low-to-mid 150s within the first quarter mile and stayed there. Basically, since I didn't want to overdo it, I needed my heart rate to be in the low 150s (OK...it really should have been in the 140s, but I really did not want to go any slower than I was going).

I planned to go 3 miles but after 2.5 miles my right leg - hamstring and calf - started to get a bit sore. I was a bit nervous given the fact that the pharmacist told me one of the (very rare) side effects for Levaquin is a ruptured tendon...I wasn't taking any chances today.

Final stats - 2.5 miles, 30:08. 151 average HR.

It's gotta get better than that. And soon!

Sinus Infection

2010-02-13T14:52:00.002-05:00

I went to the doctor yesterday morning after feeling yucky for almost a full week.

It's official. I have a sinus infection. I got me some antibiotics to try and kick this thing out of my system - and at least get rid of some of the congestion before I travel to California on Monday morning.

Who knows, if I feel better enough by tomorrow, perhaps I'll even go for a run...

I Need To Get Healthy!

2010-02-12T08:46:00.002-05:00

I'm still feeling rather blah and congested. That along with the fact that half the sidewalks in the 'hood are still not shoveled, I have not been running.

What is making the not running part hurt so much more is reading about other running friends of mine who are going out for 20 mile runs this weekend. Not that I love a 20 miler (to me it is a necessary evil of marathon training...) but it's that I haven't even had a 20 mile week yet in 2010.

I really need to get running back into my routine.

Once I feel better, that is.

Snow, Snow - Go Away!

2010-02-10T10:14:00.002-05:00

It's been another 10 days since I have blogged. As I remarked during my last post, the busy-ness was not going to let up any time soon. Add about 50" of snow on top of that - and feeling icky on top of all that - there has been very little running and no blogging.

I managed to squeeze in a run on Friday morning. I went to the gym in anticipation of doing a treadmill interval run. I set the treadmill to a jog speed of 5.5 mph and a run speed of 7.5, but when I started that first quarter mile interval I just didn't have it. I felt weak. At first I thought that I was tired since it was early in the morning. However, when interval two - bumped down to 7.2 mph - also felt too much I knew two things - 1) there was no way I could continue this as speedwork...back to an easy run for me, and 2) I was likely coming down with a cold.

By the next morning, I was starting to sniffle and cough a bit. Definitely not a good time for this - as 30 inches of snow fell on my town between Friday night and Saturday night.

So, my exercise (not of choice, but of necessity) over the weekend was shoveling snow.

And - when I finally got everything shoveled out, we're getting an additional 20 inches of snow from last night through tonight. I woke up this morning and shoveled the back of my house - to my home office and also the driveway. About an hour later you wouldn't even know I shoveled.

All of this, and my head feels heavy and congested. Ick.

The good news - I'm heading to Southern California for work again next week. I'm hoping the weather improves there as it has been raining a bunch this week over there. But I'll definitely take rain over snow right now...

Yes...I'm Still Here!

2010-02-01T11:47:00.003-05:00

It has been 10 days since my last blog post. Wow! I don't think I have gone that long without posting to the blog since I started at the end of December 2007.

Things have just been really busy - my current project is based in SoCal so I feel like I'm working both in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and I'm trying to balance this along with family time, Israeli Dance commitments and prepping our taxes.

I haven't been running as much - this can be attributed as much to the weather as it can to being busy. Since I came back from SoCal last Thursday night, I have run 5 times - 4 of them on the treadmill. And each of those runs have been "squeezed" in.

For example - this morning my younger son woke up at 3:45am (and woke us up too). He fell back asleep shortly afterwards, but I was still tossing and turning. By 5am I still wasn't asleep, so I decided to head to the gym (it was 10 degrees outside with many parts of the sidewalks not shoveled from Saturday's snow...). I'm glad I got a run in at that time as I don't see any other spot in my schedule today where I could run.

But at least I'm running a little. Which is more than I can say about blogging! No posts for 10 days? What gives? Additionally, I just checked my Google Reader of the blogs that I follow - I have 134 unread posts - YIKES! How will I ever catch up???

The worst part (or best part - depending on how you look at it)...I don't see it letting up anytime soon. This project will keep me busy through April at least, and my customer is discussing adding a Phase 2 that will go through July or August. I can't really complain about that - I like my job and it's great to have work - but it's also nice to run, keep this blog updated and read other blogs (and it will return in that order, of course!)

Miscellaneous Musings From A Road Warrior...

2010-01-21T23:48:00.003-05:00

It looks like my current project will have me on the road - traveling to Southern California - once a month for the next few months. I have never traveled this often in the 16+ years that I have been working....

When I was in my late 20s, my job at the time had me traveling once every 6-8 weeks or so for 2-3 nights at a time. I was living in Dallas and I had the opportunity to travel to New Jersey a lot for a project with AT&T. I would burn the midnight oil by driving into New York City and hang out with my sister or go Israeli Dancing, staying out until well past midnight, going to work the next day and crashing when I got back home to Dallas. For some reason, I'm following a similar pattern even now. I was in Irvine for four nights - two of those nights I drove up to Los Angeles (about an hour each way) to go Israeli dancing. On Monday night I left LA at 11pm and got to the hotel a little after midnight. Last night I stayed in LA until midnight and arrived at my hotel at about 1:15am. I was still in the office by 8am the next morning. The problem in all of this...my kids are early birds so I will not get to crash and catch up on the sleep that I didn't get this week....

Talking about going back to being in my 20s, one of the nice folks I met at Israeli Dancing last night asked me how long I have been dancing. I stopped to think about this for a few seconds and then said that I guess I have been dancing for close to 20 years. She shook her head in disbelief - she said that I looked way to young...she thought I was in my 20s! Later in our conversation I told her that I don't know too many of the recent dances since I haven't been dancing as much since I had kids. Again a surprised look from her - you're too young to have kids!!! Maybe acting like a 20-something this past week made me look a little younger....

For those of you who don't believe in the power of Social Networking and the internet, this one is for you. My blog is fed over to my Facebook profile, and after I posted about my soaked run on Monday morning a high-school friend of mine wrote me a note that he was also in Irvine, CA for business this week. Whoa! We haven't seen each other in 18 or 19 years. We met for dinner on Tuesday night and it was great to reconnect with him. This reunion never would have happened without social networking apps....

Oh, yeah. This is my running blog. Right. While in rain-soaked Southern California this week I got two runs in. One on Monday morning in the dark and in the rain, and one on Tuesday afternoon. After the rain stopped - and tornado warnings lifted - the sun came out. My project schedule for that night's activities had been sent out already, so I slipped out of the office and went for a run on the Mountains to Sea trail - running towards the ocean. This trail is built on the creek bed that is used as a drainage system. Last month when I ran on this path it was totall dry. On Tuesday afternoon it looked like I was running on the bank of the Potomac River near Great Falls! The trail has underpasses under the roads so runners and cyclists don't have to dodge traffic. However, on Tuesday many of these underpasses were flooded so I had to cross the streets. Except for one which I could not cross - Interstate 405. I ended up having to trudge through a wet mud/sand mixture under the I-405 underpass. It wasn't all that bad, though - there was a Great Blue Heron perched on the bank by the underpass and I ran right near him. What an amazing creature....

Before I was a runner, I don't think I ever saw a Great Blue Heron. I now have seen them on many runs - on my community's lake, running along the C&O canal, while I was running in Boynton Beach, FL and now while running in Irvine, CA. I didn't know what I was missing before I started running....

Splashing In The Dark

2010-01-18T21:26:00.003-05:00

I'm in Irvine, CA for business this week. Being that my body is still on East Coast time, I was up early this morning and ready for a run. But it was raining...and dark.

I waited a bit - until 6am here - until I finally left my hotel room, but the sun was no where in sight. Oh well...

I headed out in the direction of the Mountain to Sea Trail, but there was no sidewalk on the side of the street I started on. I crossed to the other side of the street and there was no sidewalk there either, but there was a dirt and gravel path. As I started down the road, though, there was less gravel and more dirt - or should I say mud. Each step felt like the ground was trying to suck my shoes off of my feet. I looked over to the opposite side of the street and found that a sidewalk had started there - nice! I jumped off the dirt path to cross the street and landed in a deep puddle - I also felt mud sling off my shoe and onto my calves.

Luckily I don't take myself too seriously all the time, because the first 1/3 of a mile on this run was a train wreck!

After I finally got onto the sidewalk I got into a groove. About a mile in I passed by someone huddled up in a hooded sweatshirt under an umbrella - probably walking to work. "On your left!" I exclaimed in a joyful tone to let him know I wanted to pass him. He took one look at me - in my shorts, t-shirt and reflective vest - and probably thought I was insane. He did manage a "Good morning" to greet me back.

About 1.5 miles from the hotel is an entrance onto the Mountain to Sea trail. This looked very much like the other bike trails I ran on the last time I was in Irvine (but instead of a dry creek bed there was a good amount of water flowing this time because of the rain). I must admit, I was a little bit nervous running here alone in the dark. I was not afraid of being attacked or mugged by another person - however, I was a bit unsure whether there were any nocturnal critters living near the creek bed that would like to eat a runner as a midnight snack. I've come across foxes and coyotes on the routes near my home in the dawn hours...I wasn't sure if there were similar dangers here.

I ran on the trail for a little over a mile. I then turned back towards the hotel so my full run would be in the 4.5 mile range.

Along the way there were plenty more deep puddles to (accidentally) run through. By the time I got back to my hotel I was soaked from head to toe - and still had a bit of mud over my legs. I'm it was quite a sight!

Run stats were 4.68 miles at a 9:51/mile pace. Avg HR of 153. And probably one of my wettest runs to date.

...And Sometimes You Have To Put Work Aside And Go Run

2010-01-15T21:00:00.002-05:00

Today, the mercury hit the mid-50s in the DC area. That's pretty much a heat-wave compared to the bitterness that we've been experiencing. I soooooo wanted to run today.

However, my work-day looked slammed...my Outlook calendar showed meeting after meeting after meeting. Basically, there was no free time between 10am and 6pm.

Or maybe there was...

I took a closer look and saw that between 11am and 12noon the only thing on my calendar was a daily conference call in which I present my project status for about 5 minutes. Since my project is not related to most of the other ones being presented, I usually present first. That would mean I would have from 11:10am until 12 noon open. Just enough time for a 3 mile run around the lake, a quick shower and to grab something from the kitchen for lunch to eat at my desk during the conference call that starts at 12 noon (which I needed to be on for the duration, but in a "listen-only" mode). SCORE!

I decided since this needed to be fast - and since I was having a tough time running slowly outside anyhow, that I would do some type of speedwork on this 3 miler. As I was heading out the door I thought about gradually upping the pace throughout the run...how about starting at 10min pace, then doing a 9min pace for mile 2 and an 8min pace for mile 3. Sounds like fun!

The first mile I was just so excited to be outside that I was running a bit too fast. I had to slow myself down many times as I worked my way to the perimeter of the neighborhood and towards the lake. Mile 1 came in at 9:43.

Mile 2 was nice and comfortable. I was running strong but not taxing myself. Again I needed to slow myself down as to not get carried away, but ended up a lot closer to my goal pace here. Mile 2 - 8:51.

Time to turn on the burners! I looked down at RedG a few times during this mile to see that I was running in the 7:30 to 7:40 pace. No wonder this felt so darn uncomfortable! I slowed down a bit - especially since the last quarter mile was uphill - but still ended up with a 7:41 mile 3 split.

As soon as I hit mile 3, I brought the pace down nice and slow, jogging easy back to the house. Overall it was a 3.19 mile run in 28:21. It was the fastest I have ever run this route (OK...I normally use it for a short easy run and not for speedwork). A far cry from my first entry on this route in my running log - July 14, 2005 when I ran this route in 42 minutes. What a difference four and a half years - and a few thousand miles - makes.

Cold, Dark....and DELIGHTFUL!

2010-01-14T15:55:00.002-05:00

After yesterday's frustrating day of not running, I NEEDED to run today. I learned my lesson from yesterday and planned to run first thing in the morning.

I looked up the weather forecast. Overnight low - 20 degrees (YIKES!). Winds - calm (HOORAY!)

I stepped out the front door at around 6:15am. It was dark and cold....but I was so excited to be doing this again. It had been a full month since I got my behind out the door to run outside pre-dawn. First it was the snow, then it was the ice that never melted, then it was the wind (and all of this is underscored with a big dose of wimpyness!)

The plan was an easy paced run, but who am I kidding...when it's 20 degrees outside you run like hell until you warm up! I kept Mile 1 slow enough to maintain an average HR of 149 bpm my pace was 9:35. I managed to slow myself down a little bit and ended up the 4.5 mile run in a 9:49/mile pace with an average HR of 156.

The weather is warming up here - in the mid-40s today! - and I'll be in SoCal next week, so I should be able to keep my easy runs at a bit of an easier pace over the next 10 days.

On this morning's run I listened to some early Joe Jackson. I had my iPod in the car last night and decided to spin the wheel and listen to an album I hadn't heard in a while. I ended up on Look Sharp! Nice. I love how his early stuff is so simple and did not go overboard in the recording production. I can just imagine him and his band jamming in the studio together to make the songs - not laying down tracks to be pieced together later. This morning I was still in that kind of mood so I put I'm The Man and Look Sharp! in the iPod shuffle.

Ahhhh. Good tunes, fresh air and the stress release of a morning run. Today will be a much better day!

I Hate It When Work Gets In The Way Of My Run!!!

2010-01-13T14:38:00.003-05:00

I planned to run during my lunch break today. I'm working at my new office in Reston - two blocks away from my gym and right on the W&OD Trail. The weather is a bit warmer today, so I was hoping for a lunchtime run in sunny 40 degree weather!

Then reality set in. A few small issues at work spiraled into endless conference calls of reiteration. Time slipped away until finally I was able to peel my tush off my desk chair - at 1:45pm.

GRRRRRRRRRRRR....

No run. Just a quick lunch before heading back to the office.

I'm starting to remember why I like to run first thing in the morning...

Two Cold Outdoor Runs And Too Many Indoors

2010-01-11T15:32:00.002-05:00

In the 11 days so far in 2010, I have run 7 times - all but 2 have been inside on the treadmill. Have I become a gym rat??? (or perhaps a hamster in a wheel???)

My two outdoor runs came on Tuesday during lunchtime and on Saturday afternoon. Both days the temperatures climbed above freezing to 35 degrees - and on both days the wind chills were about 24 degrees. Hard to believe that this was during the warmest part of the day!

I think the hardest part of these runs was getting out the door. The first mile is always difficult - running faster than I should just to warm up - but once I get going I don't feel so cold.

Tuesday's lunchtime run quickly became a tempo run. Mile 1 was in 9:05 and since I was relatively warm at that point I had no interest in slowing down. There were a few points during the run where gusts of wind made me feel like I was running in place, but overall I was able to cut through the wind and finish my 4.5 miles in a 9:16/mile pace.

My plan for Saturday's run was to be 7 to 8 miles so I could hit 20 miles for the week. I was reading torah at synagogue that morning (and had to be there on time...) so I decided to run afterward. Good thing as it was much colder and windier in the morning when I was walking the quarter mile to synagogue.

Again, my first mile was faster to warm up - a 9:32 pace - but then brought it closer to a 10:00/mile pace. After about 4 miles of pretty clear sidewalks and roads, I started to hit stretches of snowy, icy sidewalks and heavier gusts of wind. On top of all of that, my nasal passages were starting to rebel a bit.

On my community-perimeter route of a little over 7 miles, there are a few "drop out" points to cut the run short to 5.5 miles or 6.25 miles. I nearly took the 5.5 mile drop out, but I pushed forward. As I approached the 6.25 drop out point, I decided that this was the way to go. I finished the 6.25 miles at a 9:50/mile pace. My weekly run total was 18.7 miles...not yet 20 miles, but close.

I actually had another chance to push my weekly total over 20 miles as I ended up at the gym on Sunday morning with the rest of the family (the kids actually love going to the babysitting room as they get to play Mario Kart!). However, I used this as a cross-training day instead of running. I did a bunch of stretching and core exercises and used two pieces of equipment that were new to me - the TechnoGym Wave and the Nautilus Stairmaster machine.

WOW! These machines KILLED me! I was only on the Wave for 8 minutes and my quads and glutes were burning. I could not get myself to move very smoothly on that thing and I was tired of the herky-jerky movement, so I decided to get off and move on. I went over to the Stairmaster. This machine looks like an escalator - an endless escalator. I stayed on that machine for 22 minutes and I was dripping with sweat....I actually felt like I was melting! It's pretty ironic that I can run for over an hour and never get that sweaty, yet 20 minutes on the Stairmaster and I was done for. I guess if I do these machines more often, my body will get used to this type of movement and it will get easier.

One other item from the gym. After running on the treadmill, I normally go to one of the sets of pull up bars and hang from them for a few seconds. I get a nice stretch and release in my shoulders and neck (I think "release" is chiropractor speak for snap, crackle and pop!). Well, the other day after my stretch I decided to try to do a pull up (I have NEVER been able to do these). On my first try last week I got about 3/4 of the way up - not bad! Today I made it all the way up and did my first unassisted pull up! I'm hoping there will be many more to come...having a goal like this makes going to the gym a little more palatable.

First Post Of 2010!

2010-01-04T17:23:00.004-05:00

Last week I reflected on 2009 - and what a great year it was! I hope that 2010 can prove to be as successful as last year...but even if I accomplish half of what I did last year it will still be a wonderful year.

My final mileage count for 2009 was 1,047 miles. Of course I take a look at that and say to myself, "Why couldn't I just go for a short 3 miler on Dec 31 to get it to 1,050???"

Another accomplishment from 2009 came in the form of weight management. I started out the year at 172 pounds. On Jan 1 of 2010 I weighed in at 168. I'm still not where my doctor wants me to be (between 155 and 160), but it's nice to see the downward trend - especially AFTER the holidays are over!

I really have no motivation right now to get those last 10 pounds off. I know how to do it (I was very successful using this approach), it's just that I have no interest in counting calories right now. Anyone have some spare motivation for me out there????

Despite the yucky, cold, windy, icy conditions so far this year, I have been running. It's just that I have only been running inside so far. I have logged 16 miles in 2010 - a 4.5 miler on Jan 1, a 7.5 miler on Jan 2 (yes...7.5 miles on the treadmill - UGH!) and a 4 miler this morning. One of these days I'll toughen up and run outside...probably when the wind isn't gusting over 20 mph.

I still haven't set my goals for the new year yet. I'd like to log over 1,000 miles again, but with no full marathon I'm not sure I'll be able to do it. I'm going to have to be super consistent to get there. As soon as I get my goals together I will definitely share...

Reflecting On 2009

2009-12-28T20:02:00.003-05:00

Most of the blogs I read have already done a "reflecting on the past year" post... 'Tis the season, right?

I took a look back at last year's entry on Dec 31. I had just finished quite an amazing year with many feats in running - both in conquering the marathon distance for the first time along with setting some new PRs. But as amazing as 2008 was, 2009 really blew it out of the water:

I finally surpassed the 1,000 mile marker for the year. Last year I fell 30 miles short and couldn't make it up during December due to falling ill with bronchitis during the last two weeks.
Actually, 2009 was quite a healthy year for me. No real injuries (some hamstring pain after the NY Marathon, but I dealt with that much better this year). I had a few colds, but nothing longer than a week.
I ran my second marathon - the NY Marathon on November 1. I ran this as part of Team Run To Remember, in memory of my Nana. I raised close to $6,000 (there's still time to donate here so you can rack up those charitable donations and reduce your tax burden!!!) and met some really great people in the process.
For the first time, I started running with other people on a more regular basis. I started by going up to New York for a few of the team runs and then found a few running friends in the area to do some long runs with. Although 80-90% of my runs are still solo, I do enjoy running with others when we can schedule it.
I ran my first race with my wife Sherry - the Rockville Twilight 8K. Again, going with the running with other people theme, I hope to continue to run a few races with Sherry!
I set new PRs in the marathon, half marathon and 10K (alright...maybe 6 miles), and during the 10K I also ran a faster 5K and mile splits than my previous PRs in those distances.
In blogging, I have expanded my audience by linking my blog feed and my RunningAhead log to Facebook. I love having more people reading the blog and following my progress, however, sometimes it's a bit cumbersome to read comments in two places.
At work, I launched my largest project to date and started another project that will last at least 4 to 5 months. Oh...my company filed for bankruptcy in January, my division was bought out in August and I am now working for a new company.

There may be other accomplishments in 2009 that I may not have mentioned...I guess I have a few more days to remember them and throw them in the blog :-)

I also need to start thinking about goals for 2010. There are two things that I'm pretty sure about: a) NO FULL MARATHON in 2010 and b) I will be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as I received a spot in their lottery.

Long-ish Run On The Treadmill

2009-12-27T20:26:00.003-05:00

I again was a wimp and did not want to run outside this morning. The temps were a bit below freezing and with the rain and melting snow from Saturday there were going to be some icy patches - but truth be told I just didn't want to run in the cold today.

I got to the gym when it opened at 7am and after a little stretching got started on one of the TechnoGym treadmills.

Over the summer when I was in marathon training craziness, there were a few mid-week "longer" runs which I ran during my lunch break - and since it was summertime (and HOT) I ran them on the treadmill. However, most of the treadmills at my gym have a 60 minute limit programmed in. So I would have to stop after 60 minutes and then re-start the treadmill. I complained to the manager to see if he could "un-program" the treadmills and remove the 60 minute limit.

After a few weeks of asking he finally told me that they were able to remove the limit on the TechnoGym treadmills - but not the LifeFitness ones. Ironically, by this time it was already late September and I never ran a long session on the treadmill after they were changed.

Today - nearly 4 months later - was the first time I actually ran more than 60 minutes on the treadmill. As I neared 60 minutes I was watching the clock and the screen to see if the 'mill was going to stop me, but the clock kept on going past 60:01. Hooray!

I ended up going 7 miles in 77:17 - a nice, easy 11:03/mile pace. I kept the incline at 1% and the speed between 5.3 and 5.5 mph throughout the entire run.

At the beginning of the run I had thought that the heart rate monitor was giving me some high false readings. My heart rate was in the low 160s - and at this pace it is usually about 15 bpm lower. After the first mile - and the readings not changing - I figured it out...I had donated blood on Wednesday! It usually takes me a good 2 weeks to get my HR down to my "normal" training level after giving blood.

Later in the run, though, I realized that the HRM WAS giving me false readings. At around 4.5 miles, the HRM on the treadmill was showing in the low 140s / high 130s. Then it would jump to the 160s. Then it wouldn't show up at all for about 30 seconds.

I finally had enough of this nonsense and took the heart rate strap off. If I wasn't going to get an accurate reading, why should I wear the darn thing! To top off the nonsense - every 2 minutes or so, the treadmill's HRM would pick up a signal from the heart rate strap and display a really low HR (in the 100s or 90s) for about a minute.

Bottom line - I really need to get a new Polar heart rate strap to run with at the gym.

I normally would be bored to tears running a steady pace on the treadmill for over an hour and 15 minutes. However, this morning I ran to some new tunes. Yes, I have been a faithful viewer of Glee since the pilot over the summer (I was in my High School's chamber choir and the UofM Glee Club) and I finally broke down and bought the music (both albums) on iTunes. I knew I would need something to get me through this run!

Demoted To The Treadmill

2009-12-23T23:20:00.002-05:00

With the 20" of snow that hit our area this past weekend, I have not been able to run outside. I guess I could run in the street - most of the sidewalks are still a mess - but since I normally run early in the morning (which is still dark nowadays) I don't want to be running in the street.

I have made it to the gym though. Monday morning I ran 4.5 easy miles and this morning I did some speedwork on the treadmill - 5 x 1/2 mile intervals with 1/4 mile recoveries.

I'm glad I got the running in this morning, since I decided to give blood during my lunch break. It had been a while since I donated, so I'm glad I had a chance to go today.

With some freezing rain coming on Christmas Eve, it looks like I'll be running on the treadmill for at least another few days. UGH!!!

Four Days In A Row!

2009-12-18T19:22:00.003-05:00

A few years ago when I started running, I made it a habit to always take a day off after a run. I felt my body needed a rest and that I didn't want to over train. (I was already almost 35 years old when I took up this habit) I was running three days a week - twice during the week and once on the weekend.

I remember that last year when I started training for my first marathon and my training plan dictated four runs per week, one of my biggest concerns was whether my body would be able to adjust to the times where I ran on consecutive days. After about two weeks of the four-day-a-week regimen, my body was fine. No injuries. I didn't get sick from overdoing it. Consecutive days - no problem!

I still only run four days a week on average. Some weeks I'll throw an extra run in to make it five days. However, I still have two or three rest days each week. So far, so good - no injuries and I still do not get sick very often.

This week has been quite an anomaly though. I have run on four consecutive days! (and the wheels aren't falling off!).

Tuesday morning I got out of the house early enough for a morning run. I ran one of my 3 mile neighborhood loops. I started out a bit fast and didn't want to slow down, so I threw in a few fartleks and made it a speedwork run.

Wednesday afternoon I was able to get to the gym on my lunch break and hit the treadmill for a recovery run. 3.5 miles at a treacherously slow pace to keep my heart rate in the low 140s.

On Thursday, I had a bunch of afternoon meetings cancel on me - so I went for another run at the gym. This time I did more speedwork. Pyramid intervals of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 mile with 1/4 mile recoveries.

I was set with my weekday runs and planning to go long on Saturday or Sunday. Except that I started looking at the weather report. They are calling for 7-15 inches of snow starting Friday night and not ending until Sunday morning. Did I mention that the Washington, DC area freaks out at 7-15 millimeters of snow!

So I realized that I was not going to run this weekend. Karma came through and my 11:30am conference call got cancelled and my next call was at 2pm. Just enough time for a run, a shower and to shovel down something for lunch at my desk :-) I got dressed in my cold weather gear and went for a 4.5 mile run in 32 degree overcast afternoon.

After my last post complaining that I have not been running much lately, it was great to get four consecutive days of running in!

Not Much Running = Not Much Blogging

2009-12-15T17:37:00.002-05:00

Partially due to hectic scheduling and partially due to the fact that I've been really tired lately - I have not run much over the past week. I managed to get to the gym for a 4 mile easy run on the treadmill on Saturday morning and I got my behind out of the house this morning for a 3+ mile tempo/fartlek run.

7 miles in 7 days? That's all????

Of course, this is the WORST time of year to reduce my mileage. Between holiday cookies, donuts and latkes I'm afraid to even approach the scale.

I'm not sure what the whole fatigue factor is either. Perhaps it's poor diet? (see above paragraph...) Perhaps I really am fighting off some kind of bug? Or maybe the lack of sleep has accumulated and finally caught up to me. I won't have an opportunity to catch up on sleep over the next few days either due to Israeli Dance responsibilities which will keep me out later than usual. Perhaps I can hit the sack early on Thursday??? (and then an early morning run on Friday!!)

No Running :-(

2009-12-10T08:23:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling a bit run down and I know I need more sleep so this doesn't become a full-out cold. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to bed early the past two nights so my body compensated with sleeping in.

I was planning to run this morning. I got my gym bag together last night (the overnight forecast called for strong winds...not great weather to run in outside), but when I finally woke up this morning my clock said 7:15! Yikes! Time for the morning scramble...on overdrive this time!!!

Anyhow, there's no way I'll get a run in during the day today since my schedule is packed. I'll try to get to sleep earlier tonight and go for a run tomorrow morning. Overnight lows are supposed to be 19 degrees...I'll likely try the gym in the morning rather than brave the elements.

1,000 Miles! I DID IT!!!!

2009-12-07T15:50:00.003-05:00

I finally hit 1,000 miles for the year during today's run! Hooray!!!

I actually intended to hit the milestone on Saturday morning. The forecast was calling for snow that morning and I was thinking I would go out for a little over a 7 mile run (I was at 992.7 miles for the year before that run). I was looking forward to a winter wonderland run - powdery snow lightly falling down with the Nutcracker Suite playing on my iPod.

When I woke up, it was not snowing yet - just cold rain...yuck! I switched the tunes on my iPod from the Nutcracker to some mellow classic rock before heading out into the gray, rainy morning. I threw on my microfiber pullover also, to protect me from the rain and wind.

Somewhere in the first mile of my run, the rain started turning to snow. Not a light, powdery snow, though. It was a wet snow with huge flakes. And at times during my run, it was snowing pretty heavily.

So, by mid-run my pullover was soaked from the initial rain plus the temperatures were starting to drop with the snow. I decided to cut the run short and I'd have to hit 1,000 another day.

That day was today. I hit the gym at lunch for an easy run on the treadmill. It was nothing too exciting - except seeing those numbers after posting the workout in my training log.

2009: 1,001.9 miles

A Week Of Contrasts

2009-12-04T11:03:00.003-05:00

As I got off the plane last night in BWI Airport, it was quiet. Deserted. What a contrast from when I left on Sunday afternoon - the hustle, bustle of Thanksgiving weekend travel (really...what was I thinking agreeing to go on a business trip the weekend after Thanksgiving???).

However, it was not the only contrast that I had observed this past week.

First of all, the contrast of being alone in a hotel room versus being at home. In some ways, it was nice not having household responsibilities to worry about. My time was my own - I didn't have to juggle my time between the schedules of my wife and kids. In some ways it was very nice, but on the other hand gets lonely quick. Whenever I'm on a business trip I try to spend the least amount of time that I can in the actual hotel room.

Most of the time I'm out of town, I try to go to an Israeli Dance group - and this week was no exception! I met up with a few people that I knew - and met some other dancers as well. Israeli Dancing in a different city is always a great experience - the familiar music, everyone moving together as one large group and the social aspect of meeting people with a similar interest definitely makes me feel more at home while on the road. On my hour-drive back from dancing in LA to my hotel in Irvine, I reflected on the contrasts between my two current hobbies - Israeli dancing and running. Israeli dance groups are almost always at night (and many groups go until midnight or later) while I usually run early in the mornings (it's hard to dance one night and run the next morning...). Israeli dancing is an activity that involves interacting with lots of people while I'm usually running alone or with one other person. Apart from the fact that both are physical activities (dancing is more anaerobic - normally there's a good 30 second break between the time one dance ends and the next one starts - where running is continuous aerobic exercise for a long period of time), these two hobbies seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum from one another.

There is also a big contrast between the project I'll be working on in SoCal vs the one I recently completed in the DC area. My current project is all dealing with live equipment - so all activities must be done at night (I'm hoping I won't need to be working at night with our crews most of the time!). Also, since it is established equipment in our customer's network, they already have their way of doing things. I felt my role this week was more to find out what the current processes are so I don't step on too many toes while starting out. My last project was a completely new build. Work was done during the day and I could create the way of doing things with my team. This new project will be different, but I'm up for the challenge!

Finding My Way Through Irvine

2009-12-02T03:53:00.003-05:00

I'm in Irvine, CA for business. I'm kicking off a new project with one of our largest customers. It's a great opportunity for me, even if I am only "on loan" to this other group for the time being.

I have mixed feelings about business trips - I don't mind the travel and I love being in new places. However, I also like having my routine...and business trips really messes that up.

I finally arrived at my hotel on Sunday night at 11:30pm Pacific (that's 2:30am in my home Eastern time zone). My cellphone rang at 2am Pacific with issues at one of the maintenance window activities I was managing. By the time I "woke up" in the morning, I was really tired and in no mood for a run.

After the workday, I decided to head out for dinner and watch Monday Night Football - which starts at 6pm out here. Wow! I walked over to an awesome place called the Yard House and had some very good food (seared tuna and hot spinach and cheese dip) and excellent beer (Young's Chocolate Stout and Maredsous 8). On the way back from the restaurant, I found that there was a bike path behind my hotel - and I had seen the path on my walk to the restaurant - so I knew what I was going to do for my run the next morning!

One of the benefits to running with a Garmin Forerunner (305), is that I no longer need to meticulously map out my runs beforehand to see where I'm going to go and how long it is going to take. I can just get up and go - RedG maps everything out and tells me how far I have gone. As long as I remember where I'm going - so I can get back to point A - I don't have to think too much about my route anymore.

I ended up waking up a little before 5am (this Pacific time zone stuff is killing me!). It was still dark outside so I waited about an hour until the sun started coming up. It was a crisp 50 degrees, and although there was a chill in the air it felt great running in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt again. I guess 50 degrees is cold for California since everyone else who was out on the bike path that morning was bundled up!

The path ran against a wide creek bed that was completely dry. I suppose that when it rains here, this probably flows like a river - there were lots of signs warning about flooding conditions. The trail was very nice - a wide asphalt path that went under the major streets. No worrying about stopping for traffic or watching for cars - awesome!

I ran for about a mile and a quarter, and then the path stopped at a street that it did not go under. When I got up to the road, there was no crosswalk and there was a median in the middle of the road. I guess it was time to turn back towards the hotel and then continue on past the hotel. After passing the hotel, I was able to go another mile before the path ended in that direction. So my out-and-back one way and out-and-back the other way route was a bit over 4.5 miles. I had run nice and easy at a 10:15/mile average pace.

Later today, I took a look at Google maps to figure out if this path goes further than that street where I stopped on my way out. It ends up that if I go up to the street, turn right and go about a tenth of a mile, I'll be able to pick up the path to go under the road and continue on. And there's a long network of paths after that. So...it looks like I'll be good for a longer run tomorrow and/or on Thursday. Woo hoo!

Back To The 20 Mile Week

2009-11-30T11:11:00.003-05:00

My normal "base training" while not focusing on a particular race has been a 20 mile week. I usually run 4 times a week - 3 weekday runs of 3-5 miles and a longer weekend run in the 6-10 mile range.

Since the marathon, I haven't had a 20 mile week yet. First it was due to recovery and then it was due to time constraints.

This past week had its fair share of time constraint issues, but I was able to squeeze in runs where I could and I logged 21 miles over five runs. Hooray!

These runs included slipping out for a 4.5 mile run on Thanksgiving morning after the turkey was in the oven, meeting up with a friend that I went to high school and UofM with (neither of us were runners back then and we only reconnected when he searched for descriptions of the Turkey Chase and found my blog!), and a short Sunday morning run.

Sunday's run was chilly - about 31 degrees. It was my first sub-freezing run of the season. I wore running tights, a heavier long sleeve shirt and a beanie...winter is a-coming! I didn't want to run long because I traveled later that afternoon to Irvine, CA for work. I left my house at around 12:30pm Eastern and finally arrived at my hotel around 11:30pm Pacific - 14 hours door to door. Yuck.

However, when I walked out of my hotel this morning I saw how beautiful the weather was. I am so psyched to run out here!!!

BTW...if you take a look over on my training log, I have now logged 978.9 miles for the year. If I repeat last week's 21.1 miles, I will hit my 1,000 mile goal! Woo hoo!!!

A Few Cold And Rainy Runs

2009-11-26T07:42:00.003-05:00

Work has been really busy this week - trying to pack almost 5 days of work into 3 days. Even though I have Friday off, I'll likely work a little. I'm starting a new project - and traveling out to Irvine, CA next week to meet with the internal and customer teams and get the whole thing kicked-off. It's very exciting...yet it is tough to get to everything in my normal routine. (and it will be nice to run in some warmer weather...)

Luckily, I haven't totally abandoned running (blogging, reading other's blogs and spending time on Facebook have all been put by the wayside).

On Monday - the day after my 6 mile (not 10K) race - I slipped out at lunchtime for a easy recovery run. It was a cold and misty afternoon, so of course I started out a bit too fast in order to get warm quicker. A bit after my 8:59 first mile, it started to rain...and I started to run faster. When a mostly uphill Mile 2 came in at 9:17, and the rain started to come down harder, I decided that this was not going to be an "easy recovery run" anymore. I started to haul it back home. Last mile was in an 8:22 pace, and last third of a mile in an 8:04 pace. 3.3 miles in 29:06...not exactly a recovery run for me.

On Wednesday morning I took my wife's car into the shop and decided to run while waiting. I headed out for an easy run - again in the cold rain. This time I was able to keep the going a bit slower. I ran 3.5 miles at a 9:43/mile pace. The best was coming back and looking at all of the aggravated people waiting for their cars at the shop...I was able to avoid that annoying wait by using the time wisely and getting a run in!

Today is Turkey Day! Unfortunately, no Turkey Chase 10K. But if I get my act together, I may be able to go for a short run while the turkey is in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

My Decision On The How To Count Yesterday's Race

2009-11-23T23:04:00.002-05:00

After some discussions on Facebook and RunningAhead, I have decided to change my running log entry for yesterday's race and use the Garmin mileage instead of calling it a 10K.

So, yesterday WAS a PR. It was just not for 10K, but for 6.01 miles.

And along the way, I smoked my PRs for the 5K and 1 mile as well. I guess I'll need to find some more races.

2009 Cold Turkey 10K Race Report

2009-11-22T16:41:00.005-05:00

The Cold Turkey 10K is a small race (448 runners this year) held by the Annapolis Striders. Since I was not able to run some of the other local Thanksgiving races - and I wanted to test my post-marathon conditioning with a 10K - I signed up for this race.

I must say, this race was a great value. The pre-registration cost of the race for non-club members was $18 which included a long-sleeved moisture-wicking shirt and a great food spread after the race. For frugal runners like me, this was a great race!

However, there was one small problem - I think that this 10K race was shorter than 10K. RedG measured it at 6.01 miles - and he normally measures races long. There were some other Garmin wearers that also measured the course short.

Normally, having a short course on a small race wouldn't concern me much....but today I was a bit upset since I ran a PR. A significant PR.

My previous 10K PR - set in 2006 - was 56:14...a 9:03/mile pace. Today, I finished the race in 49:04 - a seven minute PR. If the course was a true 10K, that would put me at a 7:54/mile pace. If I go by Garmin's pacing, I ran the course in a 8:07/mile pace - equivalent to a 50:27 overall time or a near six minute PR.

Either way, it's a big PR. However, I have no idea how to log this one. With the "official time" although the course distance is short? Or with the extrapolated time - which really isn't what I ran.

One other note about this PR - my 5K PR is 25:17 - or a 8:09/mile pace. Which means I blew by THAT PR during today's race as well. WOW!

All of this talk about PRs is a bit surprising given the way the race started for me. It's a small race with no pace groups, no chip times or anything like that. People lined up where they thought they would need to be - I chose the middle of the pack. The starting siren went off and everyone started to run. Or jog. Or walk. Which meant I was trying to weave in and out of runners - and trying not to bowl anyone down - during the first mile.

When I crossed the line the official clock was at 12 seconds - not too bad given what I am now used to with larger races. After the first turn there were a few puddles I avoided, but then I realized my left shoelace had come untied. I had forgotten to double-knot my shoes before the race...what an idiot! I got off to the side to re-tie my shoes and I probably lost about 45 seconds.

I got back up and started to run strong. I totally missed the Mile 1 marker, but this is the marker that most people said came too soon (and the rest of the mile markers were correctly 1 mile apart). RedG chirped in when he measured his first mile and it displayed 8:44. Given that I had lost time tying my shoes, I could not believe I was going that fast.

Mile 2 was on an uphill slope. Still feeling really good I attacked the hill and passed many runners. Also, since this was an out-and-back course, it felt good to know that mile 5 would be mostly downhill. When the Mile 2 marker came up, RedG measured 1.85. This continued at all of the mile markers - Garmin measured them at .15 miles shorter. My Mile 2 split (according to RedG) was 8:40. Still on pace for a PR!

A little after Mile 2, the course turned left onto a residential street with some rolling hills. The hills were not long, but they were a bit on the steep side. This was out-and-back as well, so I knew some of the steeper uphills would be downhills on the way back. I was still feeling strong and kept pushing - attacking the uphills and coasting on the downhills. Mile 3 split - 7:59. Mile 4 split - 8:25. I had this PR!!!

Now I was heading back towards the High School where the race finished. This stretch was downhill and I still had a lot left in the tank so I started to turn on the burners. When I passed the mile 5 marker on the course, I took a look at my watch and saw that I was at 40 minutes. Wow! Even though my watch showed 4.85, I knew that I was a shoe in for a PR. Mile 5 split - 7:44.

One mile (or 1.2 miles) left. I had no idea if the extra distance would be tacked on at the end or not. Either way, I started to go for it even more. I continued to pass other runners up to the 6 mile marker on the course. Come to think of it, after I tied my shoes about 1/3 mile into the course, I passed by tons of runners, but I don't think I had a runner pass me.

With the last .2 left, I started to fatigue. I pushed myself to keep going, but I wasn't accelerating like I was since the mile 4 marker. I made the final turn, dug in deep and then saw the clock - 48:58, 48:59, 49:00... I passed the finish line in 49:04 - a huge 7 minute PR. RedG displayed the final distance as 6.01 - and my final mile 6 split of 7:19!!! My previous mile PR was 7:25 set last year...

I checked the results page and it looks like I came in 127th of 448 runners - in the top 30%! In five years of running I have moved from the back-of-the-pack to the front of the middle-of-the-pack runners. I set PRs in the 10K, 5K and mile - although the only one that I have a non-extrapolated time for is the mile :-)

I may need to find another 5K or 10K soon, though. Just so I can have some more "official" times.

Pre-Race Thoughts - Cold Turkey 10K

2009-11-21T17:20:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow morning I am running the Cold Turkey 10K near Annapolis. I normally run the Bethesda Turkey Chase on Thanksgiving Day, but we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year stuffing and roasting turkey.

What's strange is that I'm normally a bit more excited for a race than I am for this one. I've put very little thought into running this race and I have no idea what the course is like (hilly? crowd support? loop or out-and-back?). All I know is that I'm pre-registered (bib number is 93! I don't think I have ever had a bib number that low!!!).

Once I started thinking about the race earlier today, I became a bit nervous. With the marathon training I know that I can run better than my previous 10K race PR of 56:14. However, with my recent training of fewer miles (15 miles last week and with the 10K race I'll have 15 miles this week), I'm not sure whether all of that conditioning is still there. What a letdown it would be to NOT get a PR when a month ago it would have been a sure thing.

My strategy will be to try and run around a 9 minute mile pace for the full race and if I feel good in the second half start to pick up the pace. Worst case is that I run out of steam, need to slow down and I don't get the PR. Either way, I think I'll do better than my last few 10Ks - all Turkey Case races of over one hour.

Two Treadmill Runs

2009-11-20T17:13:00.002-05:00

My younger son had no nursery school Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week due to some conference that the teachers were attending. I guess it is nice that the teachers are getting some "continuing education" opportunities, but it just makes all of the non-Stay-at-Home-Parents need to scramble.

Our scramble was this - I took Wednesday and Friday morning off and all day Thursday off. I have some vacation to burn before the end of the year, so it was not a big deal for me.

On Thursday, I took my son on a road trip to the Statue of Liberty! I did the same thing with my older son 3 years ago when he was 4 years old and had the same situation. Although, on that trip we actually visited family afterwards and stayed in New York for a night. This time I just went up in the morning and back home in the evening.

With the scramble - the only way I was going to manage to get some runs in was to wake up early or take my son to the gym. So on Wednesday and Friday morning I went to the gym (for some reason I have not been able to wake up early lately...). My son played in the babysitting room which he loves. He plays SuperMario, watches television and runs around with other kids his age. What's not to like?

I focused on moderate intensity runs on the treadmill - based on Heart Rate. Wednesday's run was 4.5 miles at an average heart rate of 143 and an 11:00/mile pace. Today's run was a little higher on the heart rate - I started at 145 and bumped it up 2 bpm every mile until I hit 4.5 miles and then cooled down for half a mile. I ended up running at a 10:22/mile pace with an average heart rate of 147.

All said, I have 9.5 miles in this week which is pretty low. I have a 5K this weekend on Sunday, so the total weekly mileage will barely be over 15 miles. I used to run 15 miles before 9am!

Starting next week I need to get my behind in gear and get more miles in. Especially since we're in the Halloween to Thanksgiving to Channukah/Christmas/New Year's prime eating season...

No Running = No Blogging

2009-11-17T16:31:00.003-05:00

I haven't run in a few days and I'm starting to feel a bit lethargic. I just haven't been able to drag my lazy behind out of bed in the mornings (OK...we had a 4 year old visitor in the middle of the night twice last night) and I have been a bit too busy during the day to cram in a run.

The rest of the week is a strange schedule for me - my younger son's nursery school is off and since I have some vacation days to burn I'm taking half days on Wednesday and Friday and the full day off on Thursday.

I intend on going to the gym on Wednesday and Friday mornings and having my son play in the child care room while I run on the treadmill. Not ideal, but it will do.

Thursday, I'm going to take him to see the Statue of Liberty! I took my older son there when he was 4 years old and had a day off from his nursery school, so I decided to do the same thing with the little guy. Should be fun!

Sunday is the Cold Turkey 10K. A few weeks ago, I thought I would be going for a new 10K PR, but my training has been pretty on and off since the marathon. We'll see how I feel and if I still have kept that marathon conditioning!

Long Run - Sans Watch

2009-11-15T19:55:00.003-05:00

I woke up Saturday morning ready to get in a long run before heading to synagogue with the family - like I normally do. I was planning to do somewhere in the 7-8 mile range and decided to run to the Rio center and either around one half of the lake (for about 7.6 miles) or around the lake one and a half times (for 8.3 miles).

The weather was still a bit on the chilly side - about 50 degrees - and overcast and misty with a few drizzles. Not beautiful, but not too bad for a run either.

I had laid out all of my clothes and gear the night before, but when I went to turn RedG on, he wouldn't wake up! This had happened once before - at the Rockville Twilight 8K race during the summer - but since then he has been trouble free. I decided I would just grab my old Polar HRM watch since I knew the total distance of the route and I wasn't so concerned about mile splits. I found the Polar watch and it was totally blank - the battery had died.

So off I went on my run - no watch and no heart rate monitor. I can't remember the last time I ran without a watch....I mean I'm so addicted to my running log that I NEED to have at least my distance and time, right?

The only piece of technology I had with me was my iPod shuffle. I had loaded some Idan Raichel albums onto the shuffle - good tunes to get lost in while going on a nice, long easy run.

I must tell you, the first mile or so was really strange. I'm always checking my HRM feedback every few minutes just to make sure I'm not overtraining or if I can pick up the pace a bit. I got to where I normally check my mile 1 split and there was nothing to check. Really. Strange.

However, I finally got into a groove. I was free to run - and I ran hard. There were a few hills that I decided to attack - and there was nothing telling me to slow down - so I never stopped.

When I got to the lake at Rio, I decided to go for the extra lap around the lake. Why not? I had no idea what time it was. I had no idea how fast I was running. It was just me, the drizzle and my tunes. What's not to love about that!

It's still a bit strange that my RunningAhead running log only has a distance for my run - no time, no pace, no average heart rate. However, I must say that after the first two miles or so, I really didn't mind running without the watch. Perhaps I'll do it more often when I'm not training for a goal race.

Ch, Ch, Ch, Ch - CHANGES!

2009-11-13T16:30:00.004-05:00

Well...the sale of Nortel's CDMA unit to Ericsson completed today, so I will be an Ericsson employee as of Monday. I'll have the same job, reporting to the same boss and working with the same customers and products - so the change is not too drastic. However, I've been working for Nortel for 16 years now - they were my first employer out of college - so switching to a new company will be somewhat of an adjustment.

Hopefully the learning curve of new systems (ordering, financial, telephone, email, expense reports, etc.) and the new corporate culture will not be too steep.

In other "changes" news, I'm always amazed to see when there is a shift in technology in how people communicate with one another. I get to see this pretty often within the Israeli Dance troupe for teens that I co-direct. When I started with the group about 7 years ago, the teens all had AIM screen names - and this seemed to be the main source of communication for them. If I needed to ask someone a question as to whether they could attend a particular performance, I would see if they were on AIM and IM them. A few years later, we started to do all of our performance scheduling on Evite. Last year, I saw that the Evite system wasn't working so well (many of the Evites got stuck in spam folders) and I realized that I needed to use Facebook.

In the span of 7 years I have been through 3 separate systems of communications. I wonder what next year will bring??

And one more thing about Facebook. I have been writing this blog since last January - it is almost two years old now! However, about a month ago I linked the blog into Facebook and I must have at least quadrupled my readership. This week I have bumped into so many people who have told me that they have been following my marathon training on Facebook. Nice!

Sneaky Speed Run

2009-11-12T23:44:00.002-05:00

I'm working a lot of nights this week for work. I knew that last night was going to be an all-nighter given the scope of what needed to be done...it ends up that I did not get into bed until 5:45am! I have woken up earlier for a normal weekday run!!

I somehow was able to sleep until noon. I'm usually not a good daytime sleeper but I guess I really needed the sleep (OK...Benadryl definitely helped!)

I decided to go for a quick run before getting to work. 4 easy miles was the plan.

I looked out the window and it seemed like the rain had stopped. However, it was still a bit chilly and windy, so I wore my microfiber pullover. This was a good call as it definitely helped with the wind and it started to rain a bit mid run.

Since it was chilly, my body wanted to move to warm up. I looked down at RedG to get my first mile split - 9:26. I wanted to slow down after that, but I kept up the pace to keep myself warm. Mile 2 split - 9:51.

At this point I decided that if I was already running sub-10 minute miles, this wasn't going to be an "easy" run. I may as well start running and a good clip, attack the hills, etc. Mile 3 - 9:15.

As I worked my way back into the neighborhood, I must have turned on the burners a bit. I know I wasn't going full out - I would have remembered pushing it hard if I was - but my pace over the last mile sped up to 8:49.

Overall, I ran close to 4.2 miles at a 9:19 pace. So much for a "nice and easy" run around the neighborhood.

Upcoming Races

2009-11-12T01:58:00.004-05:00

Now that the marathon is behind me - and that I'm running again (unlike after my first marathon) - I'd like to take advantage of my marathon conditioning and run some races...and perhaps earn some more new PRs.

My 10K PR was set in 2006, when I was training for my first Half Marathon. It was in the Pike's Peek race which is net downhill and a pretty fast course. My time was 56:14 - a 9:03/mile pace. Based on some of my training runs, I'm pretty sure I can go sub-9:00/mile.

I would normally run the Turkey Chase on Thanksgiving Day, but it looks like we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, so I'll be busy with the turkey and getting the house ready. So I found another 10K the Sunday before Thanksgiving that is held by the Annapolis Striders. I know nothing about the course - I hope it is not too hilly!

Following up after that, I may try running the Gar Williams Half Marathon on December 5. My Half Marathon PR was set earlier this year at the Run For The Shelter Half Marathon in 2:13:22 - a 10:11/mile pace. I'm pretty sure I can run a Half Marathon in a sub-10:00/mile pace - again, if it is not too hilly.

I hope I can stay healthy and injury-free to get to the starting line of these races - and kick some behind!!!

Morning Run DENIED!

2009-11-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

With the procurement of my seasonal GU flavors, I was actually really psyched to wake up early and run with a shot of Vanilla Gingerbread GU.

I was winding down around 9:30pm last night - I was going to hit the sack early so I could get up early to run. Or so I thought...

It was about then that I remembered that I had to open up a conference bridge at 11pm for another maintenance window activity at work. If everything went right, I could open the bridge, see that everything had started up nicely and then hang up by 11:20pm. Of course, if this happened often, there would be little need for Project Managers.

You guessed it - things did not go as planned. "Luckily", I got to bed at 1:30am. However, that meant no morning run.

I did carve out some time in the late morning after a few conference calls to go for a 3 mile run. Even though I didn't exactly need the GU to run a 3 miler a few hours after breakfast, I decided to try the Vanilla Gingerbread flavor anyhow.

This tasted a lot like the Starbucks Gingerbread Latte. It tasted a little more ginger-y and not as sweet as the Starbucks drink, but overall I was pretty impressed. I'm not usually one for strong GU flavors - especially mid-run - but to start off your morning with a shot of this (or the mint chocolate) before an early morning run will be enough of a treat to make those "dark o'clock" runs worth it.

I hit my 3-mile neighborhood lake loop. I took it easy the first two miles - 10:37 and 10:40 - and then somehow I tore it up in mile 3 with a 9:52. Avg HR was 152, but this included some elevated readings in the first mile (second mile's avg HR was 149 and third mile was 151).

I'm not sure what the rest of the week will hold for me in terms of running. I may have some more late nights ahead, so I may need to rest up a bit.

Seasonal GUs Are Here!! (a new motivation for a morning run...)

2009-11-09T14:52:00.002-05:00

I'm working in Reston, VA today so on my lunch break I walked around Reston Town Center and walked into Potomac River Running (to my friends at Fleet Feet...I'm sorry - I'll be back by you very soon!).

I was looking around and saw that the seasonal GUs are in. Hooray!!!

Last year I bought a box of the Mint Chocolate GU in the spring when it was on sale, and I loved this flavor. It was like downing a peppermint patty before my run...yum!

The store had both the Mint Chocolate and a new flavor (at least to me) - Vanilla Gingerbread.

I bought a box of both.

I now can't wait for my run tomorrow.

First Post-Marathon "Long" Run

2009-11-09T12:26:00.006-05:00

It's kind of funny to be calling a 6 miler a "long" run now :-)

However, now that I'm not training for a marathon - or really anything right now - a 6-10 mile run is what I'll likely be doing on the weekend as a "long" run to compliment my 3-5 mile weekly morning runs.

The weather yesterday was beautiful - sunny and 70 degrees. Definitely not what you normally expect from early November in the DC area.

I had to drop my older son off at an afternoon birthday party which was conveniently located at the North end of the Rock Creek Trail. I said to hell with watching football (the Redskins are horrible this year anyhow...) and decided to go for my run on the trail. I parked the car near the trail, headed south on the trail for 3 miles and then headed back up to my car.

I brought my iPod shuffle along loaded with a playlist that I used during my speedwork runs - Lose Yourself, Pump It, Kashmir, Fire and some other tunes that get me going. This was good and bad - I found myself moving a bit too fast for a nice, easy run. My splits were 10:10, 10:11, 9:57, 10:11 and 10:08 before I slowed myself down for a final 10:40 mile.

The good news - I was able to run the six miles pain free! The bad news - later that evening and today, I have some soreness in my hip-flexor muscle. I'm already stretching it out as part of some of the stretches my chiro gave to me, so perhaps the focus on this area is also contributing to the pain.

I was a bit bummed out that I was sore today since the weather is beautiful again. I would have loved to jump out for a run before it gets cold again tomorrow, but I know my body would not appreciate it. I'd rather run healthy in the cold than with pain on a beautiful day. I guess I'll just have to find something else to do outside today!

Getting Back On Track

2009-11-07T18:04:00.005-05:00

The post-marathon soreness in my legs was virtually gone by Thursday morning - I'm sure the massage helped tremendously!!! So Friday morning I headed out for a morning run. I wanted to get a few miles in before my chiro appointment to see if my hamstring issue flared up again.

It was still dark outside at 6am when I left the house Friday morning. Hey...wasn't changing the clocks supposed to help with this morning darkness thing??? Also, it seemed really cold. I found out later it was only 37 degrees - so my choice of a long-sleeve NikePro crew (which retains heat) may have been a bit too much...but it sure made the first mile a bit more bearable.

I headed out on a route that I could make 2 miles or more - depending when I re-entered the community. It's a bit hillier than my normal route, but I didn't want to go 4.5 miles - just in case the pain came back. Luckily, the hamstring didn't bother me.

I ran 2.5 miles - at a 10:42/mile pace. Nice and easy.

I did not run this morning - I think another day of rest is probably a good thing right now. However, resting didn't mean that I sat on my behind all day. This afternoon, I took my 7 year old to Seneca Creek Park for a little hiking. We hiked all the way around Clopper Lake. It was about 4 miles of walking for the two of us. My son did start to complain about 3/4 of the way around the lake, but otherwise he was a real trooper.

At the very end of the hike, we started to hear a sound that was like a hyena or monkey, however, we realized it was coming from the sky. We stopped and looked up and saw a bird stop at a nearby tree. When we got a better look at it, we saw it was a woodpecker! The bird stopped "laughing", pecked the tree once and then entered a hole in the tree. It was really cool. A little bit after that we started to see lots of deer. Seeing all of the wildlife definitely took my son's mind off of the fact that we had just walked 4 miles.

I'm planning to go for another run tomorrow morning - hopefully in the 5-6 mile range. We'll see how that goes and then decide on next week's plans for running...

The 2009 New York Marathon - Race Report

2009-11-04T16:01:00.015-05:00

I've already blogged about the day before and the morning of the 2009 New York Marathon. I'm now lined up in the corral and ready to go!

My goal for this race was to first to run as close to an even split as possible. Last year at the Frederick Marathon, I ran a 2:13 first half and a 2:46 second half (where I started to fall apart around mile 16). This year, I was shooting for a 4:40 finishing time - which equates to a 10:40/mile pace. My strategy was to break up the race into three chunks - 10-10-10: the first 10 miles at a sub-150 heart rate, the next 10 miles by feel and the last 10K in smaller chunks to take me to the finish line.

The corral was pretty chaotic when I entered. I was in corral "G" - which was the last one. I saw one of the pace team signs about 20 yards ahead of me that read "5:00". I mentioned to ZF that we should try to line up a little ahead of that pace group since we were both shooting for 4:40-ish finishes, however, there was no way to navigate through the mass of humanity. I had already disposed of my sweatshirt and left it in a pile to be donated, but many people waited until they were in the corrals to take off their "throw-away" layers. Sweatshirts and sweatpants were strewn upon the chain link fence to our right and hanging off the top of porta-potties to our left...and some pieces just left on the ground for everyone to step on (and hopefully not trip over).

Finally, we heard the cannon go off (I guess they shoot it off multiple times for the different wave starts) and we started to slowly move forward. In a few minutes I was able to see the bridge again and all of the runners ahead of us starting out their race. At this point I saw two crazy costumes - one guy had a huge inner-tube looking thing with an ostrich coming up from it...another person in the adjacent corral had a tall Eiffel Tower costume. I don't know how they can run a full marathon with those things...

We finally crossed the starting line at around 10:30am and started to climb up the Verrazano Bridge. What an awesome way to start the marathon! I was lucky to be on the left side of the bridge as I got a good view of the NY skyline. It was definitely windy on the bridge - part of me wished that I would have kept an outer layer for this portion of the run, but I knew I would warm up very soon. I had to keep telling myself to slow down - I had tons of adrenaline running through me and easily could have tried to attack the bridge, but I knew it would be better to have a slow mile up and a faster mile down. I was able to hold to this strategy:

Mile 1 - 11:18 / avg HR 163 (false HR readings? adrenaline?? all uphill???)
Mile 2 - 9:51 / avg HR 145 (more like it!)

Immediately coming off the bridge, we were met by hundreds of screaming spectators in the first block welcoming us to Brooklyn! It seemed like entire communities were out - kids lining the streets with hands out for high-fives, bands playing every few blocks, people with signs encouraging their friends and family members - and encouraging strangers with the names that they had on their shirts (or in my case, since I had "FOR NANA" on my shirt, I had many people encouraging me to run for Nana!) It was truly AMAZING. What was absolutely insane, however, was that this continued for the majority of Brooklyn. All 11 miles of it - with the exception of about 1/2 mile through the ultra-religious chassidic Williamsburgh area.

I asked ZF, who had recently run the Rock-n-Roll Seattle Marathon, if that race had as many bands playing. She laughed and said that there was no comparison...in Seattle there was either a band or a cheerleading squad (and mostly cheerleaders - not bands) every mile or so, but what we were seeing in Brooklyn was some kind of music playing (rock band, DJs, bongo players, bagpipes, marching bands, chiors, etc.) every few blocks.

Mile 3 - 10:40 / avg HR 151
Mile 4 - 10:34 / avg HR 152

Around this time the three color groups converged. I looked to the other side of the road and saw Coach Jeff and his wife running. I called out and ran over to him. We wished each other good luck - I thanked him again for all of the coaching support! - he snapped a picture and we were off again.

It was also around this time that my left foot started to have little spasms. Kind of odd, since my foot wasn't hurting at all leading up to the race and this didn't happen during training. I let ZF know that I had to stretch it out. She went ahead and I went to the side of the road to stretch for a bit.

Mile 5 - 10:52 / avg HR 150 (included stretching my foot, so I must have run the other parts pretty fast...)
Mile 6 - 10:33 / avg HR 147
Mile 7 - 10:46 / avg HR 149

At this point I was running completely solo - and I would for the rest of the race. Every so often I would start talking to other people on the course. There were two guys who live in Florida who saw my shirt and asked me about my connection with the Alzheimer's Association. I told them my Nana's story - arriving in Ellis Island 100 years ago in November of 1909, living in Brooklyn most of her life (we were close to her 'hood while I was telling the story...whoa!) - and then we started talking about the other marathons we had all run.

Later on I met two women who were running for the charity The Lunch Box Fund which provides lunches to school children in South Africa. I asked how big their charity team was and they told me that I was looking at the team! I don't know if they had tried to register an "official" charity team or not...but either way, they had a cause that they wanted to run for and made it happen. It definitely puts things in perspective - if you want to do something, you don't have to wait for it to happen...just make it happen!

Mile 8 - 10:43 / avg HR 152
Mile 9 - 10:55 / avg HR 151
Mile 10 - 10:44 / avg HR 149

I was now done with the first third of my 10-10-10 marathon strategy. My average HR was in the low 150s and my pace was right around 10:41. Pretty much where I wanted to be. Since my HR was a little on the high side, I decided to try to keep to this pace until the 59th Street Bridge and then see if I could ride the excitement of First Avenue up to the Bronx.

Mile 11 - 10:54 / avg HR 155
Mile 12 - 10:41 / avg HR 153
Mile 13 - 10:37 / avg HR 158
Half Marathon Split - 2:21:30

My Half Marathon split was pretty spot on - about 90 seconds slower than the 2:20 I was shooting for, but so far I wasn't over-taxing myself and I had plenty left in the tank for the second half. I was taking a GU every 45 minutes and drinking plenty of water. Well, perhaps a little too much water, as I really had to pee by this time; however, all of the porta-potties that I ran past had lines - and this was New York City so there were no trees to go behind to take care of business.

At this point, we were entering Queens. I was looking for fellow running-blogger TK who lives in Queens and whose normal running route is over the 59th Street Bridge. I didn't look at my emails since I had left Maryland, so I did not know exactly where she would be. It ends up that I had missed her since I was in the last wave of runners. However, looking for her in Queens gave me more purpose at this part of the run which helped. Also, at this point of the race I heard my phone go off - I had a text message from my sister. She had arrived in the city and was waiting for me at 71st Street and 1st Ave in Manhattan.

Mile 14 - 10:51 / avg HR 159

At around this time, I started to feel a little pain in my right calf. I was telling myself to run through it and the pain will go away - just like it did with the pain in my left foot a few miles earlier. We were about to ascend onto the 59th Street Bridge - which meant I was very familiar with the remainder of the course as I had run it two weeks earlier. I tried to take it easy going up the bridge - just like with the first mile of the course - I could run a slower mile up the bridge and then take the downhill a bit faster to make up for it. For some reason, I ended up getting boxed in a lot while on the bridge - perhaps the course is a bit narrower here as they only use one side of the lower deck of the bridge for the marathon (the other side of the street is empty - likely for emergency personnel to get through...just in case).

For me, there wasn't too much that was memorable on this bridge. However, for teammates JM and TA, this bridge - and this point on the course - will be a lifetime memory and the start of a new chapter of their lives. As they were on the bridge looking at the Manhattan skyline, he proposed to her! Congratulations guys!!!

Coming off the bridge I was anticipating the "wall of sound" of cheering spectators lining the ramp onto First Avenue in Manhattan. I saw the people there, but the cheers were not as loud as I was expecting. Perhaps the cheering was louder earlier and the spectators were just tired by then? I'm not sure what happened, but I have to say that the folks in Brooklyn did a better job greeting runners off their bridge. Manhattan - you have a bit of work to do to catch up with Brooklyn for next year...

One thing that did excite me coming off of the bridge was a long row of porta-potties - many of which showing the lock "on green" meaning they were vacant. Score!

Mile 15 - 11:27 / avg HR 162 (up the bridge)

Mile 16 - 12:27 / avg HR 161 (includes the porta-potty break and a brief stretch of my right calf)

I was now on First Avenue in Manhattan which was lined with spectators on both sides of the street. The throngs of fans rarely thinned out over the four mile stretch of 1st Ave - it seemed that there were people cheering you on constantly from the 59th Street Bridge to the Willis Avenue bridge 70 streets later. The best "pick-me-up" for me was seeing my sister at 71st Street. She had made a big sign - which I had spotted a block and a half away - and was cheering for me like crazy! She brought some extra GU, Larabars and socks - none of which I needed at the time, but I was very appreciative that she brought things for me. Actually, the one thing I really wanted to eat at that point was a banana and she didn't have one with her. We took a picture together and decided we would meet again on 5th Ave and 98th Street.

I continued up First Avenue with some more spring in my step after seeing my sister and with the encouragement of the cheering crowds. My fastest mile of the day was right here on First Ave - Mile 18 in 9:41. When I saw how fast I ran that mile, I decided I needed to slow it back down. I also decided it was time to eat the Larabar that I had on me to get some more calories in my system for my body to burn. My calf muscle - and lower hamstring - was really starting to hurt by this time, so I convinced myself to stretch it out after I finished with mile 19. After a quick calf stretch on a lamp post, I continued up to the Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx.

Mile 17 - 11:45 / avg HR 161 (stopped to visit with my sister!)

Mile 18 - 9:41 / avg HR 169 (my fastest mile on the day)

Mile 19 - 10:53 / avg HR 168 (while eating a Larabar)

Mile 20 - 11:26 / avg HR 168 (with stretching my calf muscle)

I knew that the distance spent in the Bronx was a little over a mile. I had just stretched and felt pretty good so I felt I could get through this stretch pretty well. The problem was that after entering into Manhattan again, the pain in my calf and hamstring started to get a lot stronger.

Mile 21 - 10:27 / avg HR 172

Upon entering Manhattan from the Bronx, I stopped at the first water station to walk and stretch again. Once I was walking, though, I didn't want to start running. I decided that from now on I would try to walk for a minute and then run for 10 minutes. This strategy worked and got me running again. In this stretch I saw two more teammates of mine - first LC and then a few minutes later AE. Again it was nice to speak to someone while running to help get our minds off of how much our bodies were hurting at the time.

The other thing that kept me going here was that I knew my sister was waiting for me at 98th Street and Fifth Avenue. I had reached my 10 minutes of running when I hit 101st Street, so I kept going until I reached my sister. Somehow, I still had a smile on my face!

She started to run with me up Fifth Avenue towards the park. I wanted to save some energy for Central Park and the last two miles (and plus, it was time for me to walk anyway, right?) so I had her walk with me for a few blocks. She now had a banana for me and started to peel it, however, at that point I thought I would hurl if I ate a banana. My sister asked the runners near us if anyone wanted the banana and someone immediately yelled "ME!". I was not the only runner my sister helped out on the course that day!

Mile 22 - 11:59 / avg HR 165

Mile 23 - 11:55 / avg HR 158

Mile 24 - 11:56 / avg HR 164

I started to run again as I entered Central Park. I knew there were two miles left to go, but whenever I ran my hamstring really hurt. I was going to try to run as much as I could here, but walk up some of the hills if I needed to. I loved running in Central Park during my training, but now I could not soak in the beauty of the park and the magnificent crowds that were there to cheer on the runners. I had to focus on the task at hand - finishing.

By this time I knew that my 4:40 goal was gone. However, as long as I didn't injure myself I would likely be able to finish with a new PR. I crossed the mile 25 marker and RedG showed somewhere in the 4:37 range. If I could manage a 10:00/mile pace over the final 1.2 miles I could still finish in the 4:40s.

Mile 25 - 11:12 / avg HR 165

I started to push myself as I exited the park onto Central Park South. The crowds were amazing and the energy was electrifying. However, I could only run with the pain for so long - about half way up Central Park South I needed to walk for a block or two. The spectators in the crowd were yelling for me, "Do it FOR NANA!", "Don't Let Nana Down!", etc. With encouragement like that, how could I walk? Of course I got started again and turned the corner into the park.

Once I re-entered the park, I knew there was not much left to the course - and that the ending was uphill. My sister told me that my parents were waiting at the finish line - in the bleachers at Tavern On The Green (I have no idea how my mom finagled her way into the bleachers, however, it did not surprise me one bit that she did...).

I turned on whatever "burners" I had left and booked it to the finish line. I saw my parents in the bleachers on the left side of the course and waved and blew a kiss their way - and then crossed the finish line.

Final Chip Time - 4:51:25

I walked around immediately after the finish to catch my breath and calm down. I then went to get my finisher's medal. The medal was a bit disappointing to me. I was hoping it would have the NY Skyline or the NY Road Runner's logo of a runner in front of a big apple. Instead there was a big 40, since this is the 40th running of the New York Marathon. I'm sure this is not an issue for most people, but given that I just turned 38 this summer and for the first time had some difficulty with my birthday (facing the fact that I'm getting OLD), I'm just a bit sensitive to someone draping a big 40 around my neck. Come on, I'm not 40 yet...get that thing away from me!!! OK, I do love my medal. But this was definitely my first reaction to seeing it.

My plan now was to exit the park, get to my friend's apartment on 70th and Broadway to shower, get my bag and take a cab down to the post-race party at Columbus Circle where my family would be waiting for me. The New York Road Runners had a different plan for me though. I couldn't just "exit the park". I had to walk past tons of baggage trucks with the other hundreds (thousands?) of runners who had just crossed the finish line. Runners were herded like cattle all the way to 77th Street. At least they gave us a bag of food to eat - a PowerBar, an apple, a Gatorade, water, almonds and a bagel.

Exiting the park and getting to my friend's apartment took close to an hour. I spoke to Sherry and she let me know that my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins from New Jersey would not be able to stay much longer at the post-race party so I would not be able to see them :-( I felt bad that they made such an effort - especially with the kids - and that I did not get to see them and thank them for coming to cheer me on.

The next hurdle was that there were NO empty cabs going southbound from my friend's apartment. I thought about taking the bus - but I had asked some of the people waiting at the stop and they mentioned that the last bus did not show yet. I was only 12 blocks away from Columbus Circle - so I decided to walk to the party, bag in tow. I finally made it and celebrated with family members and teammates!

Overall, I really enjoyed my New York Marathon experience. The marathon itself was wonderful - such energy from the screaming fans along the entire course and it was amazing to see how many volunteers they had working the race. The scope of this event is so huge and everything seemed to go smoothly. It was a bit of a bummer to have to wait in the starting area for so long and to have such a slow march to leave the park, but I guess that's what needs to happen to get so many runners staged to start the race and exit the park without much chaos.

I also felt that this race was extra special given that I ran for a cause and with Team Run To Remember. In addition to making the training runs easier by running with a team, I felt that I wasn't out on the course by myself and every time I saw one of my teammates I got a lift. Running with a charity team is definitely something I will consider doing again.

However, I'm not sure when I will run another full marathon again. This distance is really brutal for me. I definitely ran a better race this year than last year, but I still fell apart during the later miles of the race. For now, I think my limit is about 18 miles or 30K. Half marathons, here I come!!!

Massage Therapy!

2009-11-04T13:57:00.003-05:00

I don't have time to do the full race report blog post yet, it will come soon...

I have been spending a good amount of time getting back to "normal". I went to the chiro on Monday evening to get adjustments (i.e. back cracking) and to have electro-stim and massage on my right calf / lower hamstring. Yesterday, I had to lead Israeli Dancing in the evening...it was good to move around, but I did not over do it. I also iced my quads a bit as they were still feeling very sore.

By this morning I felt almost 100% - no more wincing while going up and down the stairs, although there was still some soreness in my quads. I had an appointment for a massage which I was totally looking forward to. Except, I forgot that my massage therapist really gets into those tight muscles - which can be more painful in the moment than the soreness I have been experiencing for the past few days.

The massage therapist started with my neck and shoulders for about 5 minutes, and then spent the rest of the hour on my legs. Quads, shins, feet, calves and hamstrings. There was so much going on in the major muscle groups there, that she almost forgot about the little muscle in the back of my right knee - in between the calf and hamstring - which was one of the main reasons I was there in the first place!

I reminded her about it, and she started to dig in...OWWWWW! Perhaps I should have just kept my mouth shut...

The massage therapist has a theory about what happened on Sunday - and during last year's marathon. She noticed that my psoas muscles are really tight and that my right leg is twisted/tilted inward just a tad. She's thinking that the muscles in my right leg that were in pain are probably working extra hard normally to make up for this deficiency - and when I decide to go out and run 26 miles, the muscles are in overload which causes the pain that I'm experiencing. This theory seems to jive with the pelvic instability issue that I was told at the Stride Clinic earlier in the year.

I'll review this assessment with the chiro later this week and see if he agrees. If so, I think I may have a new set of objectives and goals forming right before my eyes...

2009 New York Marathon - The Morning of the Race

2009-11-03T12:41:00.009-05:00

I have a few moments this afternoon to blog about the morning of the race...the actual race report will have to wait (sorry folks!). However, more time elapsed from the time I woke up marathon morning to the time I lined up in the gate than during my running of the marathon itself...so there is plenty to talk about!

As I mentioned before, I woke up before my alarm. I had set my watch alarm for 5:35am - which was actually 4:35am due to the switch from Daylight Savings Time. When I woke up, I looked at the time on my friend's cable box and it said 4:25 - I wasn't sure if that was with "falling back" or not...I took a look at my watch which showed 5:25 so I realized that the cable box automatically turned the clock back.

I had laid everything out the night before - running clothes (shirt, shorts, socks, sleeves and hat), RedG and the HRM strap, my water belt, bodyglide, nipple tape, tissues (for both the porta potties and the sinuses), GUs and a Larabar, pre-race food (a bagel, a banana and a single serving container of peanut butter), my throw away sweatshirt (vintage 1990 UofM Greek Week sweatshirt which I probably have not worn in over 15 years - why it was still in my closet I did not know...). I decided not to wear the throw away sweatpants that I had - my friend's apartment was really warm and it had seemed warm enough the night before so I did not think I needed them. I had put my subway card and a few bucks in my RoadID pouch on my shoe also so I would not forget these essentials. As a result, getting ready in the morning was very quick...I had enough time to strip the linen from my friend's sofa bed and fold it back up before leaving.

I walked out to the subway where I was going to meet teammate LG at 5:15am. As I was crossing the street to the station, a car pulled up beside me, "Are you going to the marathon start?" (umm - it's pretty obvious, don'tcha think?) "Do you want a lift?" he asked me. The driver did not look like he was about to run the marathon, and I was wondering what the guy was up to. A bit sketchy if you ask me...even on the Upper West Side. I politely told him that I was meeting other people - thanks, but no thanks.

I met up with LG and we did the subway thing. It was nice to be underground as it was drizzling a bit outside. There were two types of people on the subway and walking around New York at that time. Those in running gear who were getting to their assigned spots to travel to the starting line of the marathon, and those in Halloween costumes who were traveling back home after a night full of partying. Even though the marathoners outnumbered the party revelers at that time, it was still quite a scene.

We made it to Union Square and boarded the team bus. I had met about half of the Team Run To Remember members over the past four months during the various training runs and meetings I came up to New York for, but there wasn't anyone in particular I was planning to sit with on the bus ride. As I boarded the bus, someone from the back yells, "Go BLUE!" upon seeing the big maize and blue M on my sweatshirt - so I went to speak to this fellow UofM runner, BE. He is another out-of-town team member - from Cincinnati - and graduated UofM last year. Also in the back of the bus at that point was teammate JR who I had not met before but immediately started discussing the various iPods we had used - and needed to replace - due to our running madness! A few minutes later another teammate that I had only briefly met before on a training run, CW, sat down next to me and we congratulated each other on our fundraising achievements (she raised over $20K!!) and started to discuss the nerves and adrenaline that were pumping through us at that moment.

The bus took the long way around to Fort Wadsworth - out the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey and then to the Bayonne Bridge into Staten Island. I guess the Verrazano Bridge closed at 7am and the bus driver didn't want to chance not getting over the bridge in time.

Once we arrived at Fort Wadsworth, there was a small sea of people being dropped off of busses and waiting in line to enter the "runner's village". It must have taken us about 20 minutes to get through this line and enter. Most of the team stayed together and gathered in the common area before dispersing to our different color start areas. We posed for a group picture - there were 3 or 4 people taking photos with everyone's cameras...one of the "photographers" was a foreigner who would say "PERRRRRFECT" each time he took a photo. It got a laugh from the entire team every time!

A few of us went to get some food and coffee - unfortunately, we trekked through a muddy patch of field instead of following the non-muddy streets...we knew which way NOT to take back to the team site! While looking for bagels, teammate TA met Tara from last season's The Biggest Loser and took a picture with her to show to the rest of the team...very cool!

We all got back to the group and ate, schmoozed and tried to keep warm. About half an hour later, the group started to break up to head toward their different color areas - and some of the runners in the earlier waves needed to hit their starting corrals. It was definitely a bittersweet moment - we were all about to embark on this awesome event that we all had spent the last four to five months preparing for. However, this also marked the end of the team being together.

As someone who was a bit of an "outsider" at the beginning - I'm not from New York and I am not active in the NY Alzheimer's Association chapter - I found that this team gelled very well. I think it was a perfect size - large enough to raise a sum of money that justifies the hard work needed to organize the team and also large enough to sustain all of the training runs/meetings of the team, but small enough that all the members get an opportunity to meet everyone in the group and that the team could take on its own identity without having sub-teams or cliques. I really enjoyed every moment that I had with this team - from my Central Park training runs in August and September, to the meeting I attended when Liz Robbins spoke about her book, to the training run over the last 10 miles of the marathon course, to all of the time spent in the hours leading up to the race. I will really miss the members of this team, and I hope to keep in touch with many of them (and perhaps run with them again!).

I went to the orange runners area and met up with my college friend ZF. She immediately recognized the UofM Greek Week sweatshirt (and was pretty amazed that I still had it!). She had been hanging out in one of the tents with another friend of hers for hours - they had arrived at Fort Wadsworth at 6:30am and it was now about 9:30. About 10 minutes later we heard the cannon go off and we were able to see the runners on the bridge. WOW!

We took a quick Brightroom photo with the Verrazano Bridge in the background. I'm not sure why I did this - I definitely will want the memories, but Brightroom charges so much for the photos it's ridiculous! If they charged something reasonable I would consider purchasing the prints or buying the downloads...but until then it's going to be screen captures with the "Copyright" message going across...

Then it was one last trip to the porta-potty (and thank goodness I brought my own tissues...too much information???) before heading to the corrals and lining up for the start of the New York Marathon!

The Hours Leading Up To The NY Marathon...

2009-11-02T20:37:00.004-05:00

I'm still collecting my thoughts from the marathon, so I'm not going to post my race report yet. However, since I did not have a computer with me in New York, I never got a chance to post about what happened leading up to the marathon.

The Cranky Knee

The main event in the 36 hours leading up to the big race was....a cranky knee.

Yes - a few hours after my last run on Friday afternoon, my left knee started to hurt. UGH! The more I walked, the worse it felt. Unfortunately, I wasn't getting much rest since I was going up and down stairs trying to pack and get ready to go up to New York. I iced my knee for a bit on Friday night before going to bed, but it was still cranky on Saturday.

Saturday started out with not too much moving around - I was driving up to Wayne, NJ for four hours, and then taking the bus in from Wayne to NYC. However, after that there was lots of walking - from the bus to the subway, from the subway to my friend's apartment, then back to the subway and to the expo, to and from the pre-race feast at Carmines, etc. All through the walking around the city on Saturday afternoon, my knee had this cranky pain. I iced it again on Saturday evening, hoping that it would feel better by Sunday morning. I knew that I would just have to run through it on Sunday if it was still there - but I didn't know how long it would be before the pain would get really bad.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, the first thing I checked when getting out of bed was my left knee. It felt fine. The ice had done its job. Thank goodness!

Expo Anxiety

Every email that I had received in the past week mentioned that we needed to have a printed copy of our Runner's Registration Form to get into the expo. I printed mine immediately and ensured it was in my duffel when I packed for New York. I decided to take the subway from my friend's apartment to the Javits Center - which meant walking about 4 blocks over and 3 blocks up (with that cranky knee...). As I stood directly across the street from the Javits Center, it hit me...I had left the darn Registration Form in my duffel bag at my friend's apartment. Oh NO!!!! I called up my friend to see if he could find an internet cafe or Kinko's near the Javits Center so I could go in, pull up the email and print it out. All the Kinko's in the area were closed on Saturdays and no luck on Internet Cafes. He suggested some of the hotels near Penn Station, so off I went, walking back towards 34th Street and 7th Ave. After a block of walking, I decided to call Coach Brian - did I really need the Registration Form? He informed me that there was a special services desk at the expo that would look up my information and print the form for me. No need to go back and get the form. Saved! Thanks Coach Brian!!!

The expo was definitely a lot more impressive than the expo at the Frederick Marathon :-) However, I didn't get all jazzed up about it. Perhaps it was because I was there so late in the game (I arrived about 3:30pm on Saturday - it has already been open on Thursday and Friday and was closing in less than 2 more hours) so there were no speakers or "events" happening at the time I was there. I was interested in purchasing a Mizuno Breath Thermo top, but by that time there were no more in my size (I'll have to pay full price at Fleet Feet sometime soon...). I did purchase a hat for Sherry and a pair of running gloves that had the names of all five boroughs on each of the five fingers - I know I'm going to love running in those this winter!

Pre-Race Dinner

Team Run To Remember held their pre-race dinner at Carmine's. It was a great chance for the team to celebrate our accomplishments - over $325K raised and 75% of the team running their first marathon - and to give our appreciation to our wonderful coaches. There were some speeches at the beginning from board members of the NY City Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and also a special appearance from David Hyde Pierce who is a big supporter of the Alzheimer's Association. David Hyde Pierce started off his speech with a comment like, "you all are the only skinny people at Carmine's..."

I soon would understand what he meant. There was a three-course meal - first course was garlic bread and three types of salads, second course was four types of pasta dishes and the last course was dessert. All of the family-style portions were ENORMOUS! At a normal dinner I likely could have stopped after the salads. But of course I loaded up on pasta too. And had a little bit of the desserts. I was stuffed.

Since I was so uncomfortably full, I wanted to walk a bit to help digest. I started walking with teammate LG and a few of her running friends who were all going to the Upper West Side. We were going to walk to the subway station on 50th and then all go uptown. However, when we got to the station, we found out it was closed. Back to the 42nd Street station we went (and yes, my knee was still cranky at the time). Except at that point it started to rain.

Party Pooper

I finally got back to my friend's apartment and was quite wet from the rain outside. They were having a little Halloween party with friends that night - their apartment is a few blocks from Central Park and you can see the pre-Marathon fireworks from their window, so they invited some friends over to celebrate. It was nice to meet their friends and schmooze. I would have loved to join them in their wine, beer and other drinks, but I stuck to water. At around 10:15pm I reminded my friend that I needed to get some sleep and would appreciate if they would continue the party elsewhere around 11pm. It wasn't a problem with him - or with the guests - but it just felt odd to be kicking my friend out of his own place so I could get some sleep.

I was really tired by then and crashed pretty quickly. I had set my watch to go off at 4:35am so I could get to the subway by 5:15am. The team bus was meeting at Union Square at 6am. As usual with my anxious anticipation, I woke up before my alarm went off.

To be continued soon with the marathon day experience....

New Marathon PR!!!

2009-11-01T20:59:00.002-05:00

I finished the NY Marathon today in:

4:51:32 (Garmin time)

It's a new PR for me!!! It was a little over 10 minutes slower than my goal time, but I started having the same upper calf/lower hamstring issue that I had in my first marathon.

I'll try to get a full race report out by mid-week...

All Packed And Ready To Go!

2009-10-30T22:07:00.002-04:00

I have packed up my duffel - with likely a bit too much and also likely something missing (I almost ALWAYS forget something when I go out of town!).

The plan is to head out as early as we can tomorrow and drive up to our friend's place in Wayne, NJ. Sherry and the kids will stay there on Saturday while I take a bus into the city. Once I'm in the city I will drop my bag off at my friend's apartment and then hit the Expo to get my bib and timing chip!!!

I'll have an hour or so to hang out before the Team Run To Remember carbo-loading fest at Carmine's.

Then back to my friend's place to get my stuff ready for the morning and to crash.

I don't know if I'll be able to post a blog update before the marathon...I'll try to post a quick one after the marathon with my time and then hopefully by Monday night with a full race report.

Now it's time to hit the sack!

The Final Run Before The Big Day!

2009-10-30T15:23:00.002-04:00

I was feeling a bit antsy today (ummm - taper!) so I went out for a 3 mile run at lunchtime. I did my usual 3 mile lake loop - which was the same route that I used for my first run in the training program for this marathon on June 29. It's a nice close to my marathon training with "bookends" of the same route.

I ran with RedG but without the heart rate monitor. It was just me, my footfalls and the breeze of a cool, overcast autumn afternoon.

3.21 miles in 32:17 - a 10:04/mile pace (for those scoring at home...June 29 was run in a 10:40/mile pace).

I thought a bit more about strategy for the marathon. I'm thinking of using the 10-10-10 breakdown. For the first 10 miles I will try to keep my heart rate under 150 - and hopefully closer to 145. I know this will be pretty difficult after mile 5, but the more I can keep my heart rate low during this part of the race, the better I'll be later. The next 10 miles will take me to the Bronx, and with the exception of the 59th Street Bridge, this should be a sea of cheering spectators. I intend to "let go" of the HRM monitoring here and just run by feel - still not trying to over do it.

The last 10K I have broken into smaller chunks: the Bronx, from the Madison Ave Bridge to where Central Park starts, along 5th Ave until the entrance to Central Park (uphill), entering Central Park to exiting the park at Central Park South, along Central Park South to Columbus Circle, and finally Columbus Circle to the Finish Line! At this point I will likely focus on these six pieces and try to get through each one with a countdown.

If I can hold to my strategy, I should do well and feel good after the race.

Who Me? Obsessed With The Weather???

2009-10-30T07:01:00.002-04:00

In pure taper madness, I've been checking the NY weather ten times a day.

Now there is a 30% chance of rain before noon...i.e. while we're sitting still and waiting at Fort Wadsworth to start. Lovely.

Don't Go Out Too Fast...

2009-10-29T16:53:00.002-04:00

My concern over the past 3 weeks has been my "faster" pace on my runs and how I want to run slow and controlled on marathon day.

It looks like I'm not the only one who is concerned about going out too fast...

Awesome Run In The Sun and CRAZY EIGHTS!

2009-10-29T15:24:00.003-04:00

It had rained all Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning. However, there was a brief break around lunchtime on Wednesday...and I took full advantage of it!

My goal was to take it easy (this IS taper week, right?), not to worry about pace but just to follow whatever my heart rate was telling me.

Well, I started to get those false (i.e. HIGH) readings in the first half mile again. How is my heart rate 171 bpm when I'm doing a light jog??? I decided to stop at a light pole and do some calf stretches...within 20 seconds my HRM was showing 108 bpm. I started up again and never saw the high readings for the remainder of my run!

The workout was spectacular! A sunny afternoon day, 65 degrees with a little breeze, leaves in all shades of red, orange and yellow falling from the trees...can I order this exact weather for Sunday in NY??

Splits were:
Mile 1: 10:31 / Avg HR 145 (that's with the false readings during the first half mile)
Mile 2: 10:26 / Avg HR 142
Mile 3: 9:40 / Avg HR 145
Mile 4: 10:14 / Avg HR 148
Last half mile 10:50 pace with avg HR of 150.

Overall a 10:17/mile pace with average HR of 146. If I can do this for the first 15 miles on Sunday I will be in such awesome shape to finish nice and STRONG!

When I logged my run in RunningAhead, I saw something very cool:

My yearly mileage is 888.8 miles! CRAZY EIGHTS! (OK...I have to think about something crazy, I'm in marathon taper mode...)

Getting Ready - Where/When/How To Find Me On The Course

2009-10-28T14:39:00.004-04:00

The Alzheimer's Association team coaches sent out a spreadsheet where you enter your predicted finishing time and your start time and it calculates when you'll arrive at each mile on the course (OK, I will NOT be running an even paced marathon, but it is a good guideline to family and friends who want to see me).

So, if you want to cheer for me this weekend, this is likely what I'll be wearing (with bib 56258):

And here is where I'll be when (approximately):

You can also get email notifications of when I cross the timing mats by signing up here (and I'm bib number 56258!).

Taper Craziness - Obsessing About The Weather

2009-10-28T08:38:00.002-04:00

As running mileage decreases to almost nothing during taper week, you end up obsessing on things to fill the time.

When I'm not getting anxious about what I'm going to forget when I go up to New York, it seems I'm thinking about what the weather will be on Sunday in New York.

I just looked at the 5-day forecast this morning, and it looks pretty good:

I Was Reminded Today That I Don't Like Running On The Treadmill

2009-10-27T23:25:00.002-04:00

I had time to run during lunch. An easy 4 miler.

I got into my running clothes and out the front door and....it was really yucky outside. Rain. Cool temperatures. Ick.

Normally I would run in this, but with the marathon this weekend I really didn't feel like hitting the elements. I would definitely run in this stuff on Sunday if I needed to - but no need to do it today.

I hopped in my car to go to the gym.

I had totally forgotten how boring the treadmill is. It had been a good 5 to 6 weeks since I ran on the treadmill, and now I see why. I kept on longing to be outside. I know where I'll be running most of the winter...

The run was decent - 4 miles in 41:05 - a 10:17/mile pace with average HR of 150.

Only one or two more short runs before the marathon. Whoa!

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!

2009-10-27T07:51:00.002-04:00

Last night I did not have to work during the maintenance window - and I took full advantage of it. I was in bed by 9:30pm!

I had laid out clothes to run this morning - thinking that I would likely wake up after six hours of sleep and then toss and turn until it was a reasonable hour to run (5:15am??? 5:30am???)

Instead, I woke up at 6:10 when I heard the kids starting to argue.

I can't remember the last time I slept close to 9 hours straight. I must have needed it!

The downside to sleeping in past 6am is that I did not get my run in this morning. I'll see what my schedule is this afternoon and see if I can squeeze it in...

For Those Wacky Parents Out There

2009-10-26T20:14:00.003-04:00

Here's an excerpt of the book my seven-year-old son was reading before bed tonight. It got a big laugh out of both of us...and unfortunately, this is soooo true:

It's been said that adults spend the first two years of their children's lives trying to make them walk and talk...

...and the next sixteen years trying to get them to sit down and shut up.

Tapering And Weight Management - Update

2009-10-26T13:05:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post where I said I would be counting calories to ensure that I did not gain any weight during the taper. Last year I had gained a few pounds while I decreased the mileage in the weeks leading to the marathon, and I didn't want to repeat that.

Here's an update...

The good news - I have actually dropped two pounds! I am now one pound away from my marathon weight of last year. I'll take it, even though it was not my intent.

The not-so-good news (I guess?) - all last week I did not count calories at all. My schedule was all messed up due to working nights and I had no idea how to count calories consumed in the midnight to 6am shift. If I work Sunday night, do I count these against Sunday's total or Monday's total? When I wake up at 11:30am (after going to bed at 7am), do I eat breakfast food or lunch food?

Another issue is how do I count the amount of sleep I get? Last night I slept from 10pm to 11:30pm before working and then from 7am to 11am this morning after work. Does that count as five and a half hours of sleep? Or is this four hours? How much sleep do I need to make up at the end of the week to be well rested for the race???

Luckily, it looks like tonight may be the last of the late nights for me. It will be good to be back on a normal sleeping - and eating - schedule soon!

The Last Long Run Before The Race

2009-10-25T14:35:00.005-04:00

This morning was the last long run of my taper - and the last long run before next week's New York Marathon. Whoa!

I was really excited to get out there and run long today. I had run a 6, 5 and 3 miler this week and I longed for something a bit more substantial. Since it is still the taper, I couldn't overdo it, however, I decided that something in between 8 and 10 miles would do.

I settled on my 9-mile Olde Town Gaithersburg loop. I also decided to wear the outfit which I will likely wear next Sunday for the marathon - my Alzheimer's Association Run To Remember white t-shirt and white arm-warmer sleeves along with my water belt. This was the first time I ran with the sleeves - they are definitely more snug on the arms than a long-sleeve shirt, but I like the fact that if I get hot during the race that I can take the sleeves off and run in a short-sleeve shirt. I'm not sure if I'm going to wear my water belt for the marathon or not. I know there are water stations almost every mile on the course, but if I have my belt then I can drink when I want to.

It was a great morning to run - clear skies and temperatures in the upper 40s. If the start of the marathon is like this I will be very happy!

Also, if I run the first 9 miles of the marathon like I ran this morning I should be in pretty good shape to finish strong. My heart rate was a little higher than I wanted it to be - my average HR on this morning's run was 153...I would like it to be under 150 for the first 10-13 miles next week. My pace was also a bit faster than I want it to be next week - 10:26/mile. I will really try to keep it nice and slow at that beginning next weekend.

Now it's waiting time. I'll do a few short runs this week - 2 or 3 milers - but the next big run will be marathon Sunday!!!

Fundraising Update - I Reached My Goal!!!

2009-10-23T20:08:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I finally reached my goal of $5,000 raised for the Alzheimer's Association!!!

Donations are still trickling in - and I hope that they will continue up until the date of the marathon. At this pace I'll probably be close to $6,000 by the time it is all said and done.

BTW, I had set a second goal of having 100 separate donors and I am very close to that too with 96 right now!!!!

If you haven't donated yet, please visit here to be my 97th, 98th, 99th or 100th donor!!!! :-)

I Got Some Sleep! Finally!!!

2009-10-23T13:39:00.002-04:00

During last night's work activities, there was another person from my group supporting the upgrade. At around 2am I called him up and asked if we really needed both of us. I had been up all night without him the night before so I asked him if he would continue and allow me to get some sleep. He agreed to this (thank goodness!)

I ended up sleeping from about 2:30am until 10am - with a bit of interruption in the 7am to 7:30am timeframe as Sherry and the kids were getting ready for school. That's seven hours of sleep! Hooray!!!

I woke at 10am and figured I had time for a quick run before an 11am conference call. I wanted to do 4 miles, but I decided that I wouldn't be able to fit it in so I did my 3 mile lake loop instead.

I got off to a peppy start - probably due to the tunes I had blasting on my iPod. As I got to my first uphill portion, I started to attack the hill - so this went from an easy run to a hill-attacking run pretty quickly. I was hoping to use the downhills and level portions of the run as recovery stretches, but that never really happened.

3.13 miles at a 9:44/mile pace. Average HR 155. This was definitely right in the middle between an easy run and a tempo run...kind of a "no-man's land" of running terminology.

I made it to my desk in plenty of time for my 11am conference call...back to work!

New Battery For My HRM and Marathon Pace Run

2009-10-22T15:50:00.003-04:00

I've been complaining about the fact that RedG's heart rate monitor has been giving me some crazy readings for the past few weeks. Mostly on the first mile or mile and a half and then it's fine - but I'm afraid that this is when I will need to use my HRM to control my pace the most on November 1.

I finally decided to get a new battery yesterday. Installing it was very easy - just turn the cover with a coin, pop the old battery out, put the new one in and put the cover back on...or so I thought.

I was all ready to go out for my run today (at lunchtime which was first thing in the morning for me today...) - I looked down at RedG and the Heart Rate field was blank. The little heart icon on the top was alternating flashing with an "X".

Now I felt like crap. Why do I always have to go toying with things to make them "better" and I end up breaking something and having to spend more time and/or money to fix them!

I had no MacGyver moment for this one. I ran upstairs to get the Owner's Manual (I know...very unlike me. I'm used to tinkering with things for a good 10 hours before resorting to the manual). A quick search of the manual and I was looking at the HRM troubleshooting section and it mentioned something about "pairing" devices. Got it - when I swapped the battery, somehow RedG thinks the HRM strap is a new device. I navigated through the Garmin menu to re-scan for the heart rate monitor strap, and now the heart rate field was no longer blank. HOORAY!

The new battery seems to work, too. Mile 1 of today's run (mostly uphill) I had an average heart rate of 144 and max of 157. No more readings in the 180s while I'm doing a slow jog :-)

My goal today was a 6 mile marathon pace run. I'm shooting for a 4:40 marathon which is a 10:40/mile pace. Most of my runs lately have been a lot faster than this, so the goal today was to SLOW DOWN.

I got into a nice rhythm during the first mile. I chose to do my normal 6 mile loop in reverse so I could go uphill for most of this mile - just like going uphill on the Verrazano Bridge during the first mile. However, my rhythm was just a tad too fast as RedG chirped a 10:20 at me. Mile 2 was mostly downhill, and although I felt like I slowed down, I ran another 10:19.

I decided that I had to make an effort on the next mile to really slow down and get my pace in the 10:40 range. The next two miles were 11:05 and 11:10 - and I was now on pace! And my average HR was still in the 140s. Woo hoo!

One thing toward the end of the run did concern me a bit. Mile 6 which is pretty much all uphill, I ran in 10:35, but my average HR was 165 (max of 179). I'm all for attacking the hills, but I'm hoping that something like this in the middle of the NY Marathon (i.e. the 59th Street Bridge) doesn't gas me for later on.

Overall, I ran the 6.25 miles at a 10:37/mile pace. My average HR was 151. Not too shabby, but I was hoping for a lower heart rate with this pace. Perhaps it was the warm weather (72 degrees at noon when I ran) or perhaps it was the lack of sleep this week.

To put myself at ease, I took a look in my running log at the last time I ran this route. In late June I ran this as a long run. The temperature that day was also 72 degrees. My pace was 11:25/mile and my average HR was 154. It is nice to see how far I have come in 4 months of training... even on a "bad" day!

Time To Make The Donuts...

2009-10-22T05:43:00.003-04:00

OK...it's 5:45am and I'm still at my desk monitoring a software upgrade. I'm normally just waking up about now to go out for a run.

In my delirious state, I'm thinking I may bump into myself on the way back into the house to go to sleep (my office is over the garage which is detached from the house...I actually have to go outside the back door to get to the office) as my "other" self is leaving the house for a run.

Just like in this classic commercial

Lack Of Sleep

2009-10-21T16:26:00.002-04:00

As I wrote earlier in the week, I have been working on some upgrades this week which means maintenance window work. There have been a few issues that need to be resolved during the upgrades, so activities keep on being scheduled for subsequent nights - and I'll be working again tonight.

The most amount of consecutive hours of sleep I've gotten since Saturday night has been four. However, it has mostly been two hours of sleep here - two hours of sleep there. All at strange hours that my body is not used to (9pm to 11pm, 5am to 7am, 10am to noon, etc.).

There's a possibility that I could go for a run this afternoon - when I take my older son to his tennis lesson I could just run during the lesson (and then quickly shower when I get home before going to rehearsal for the Israeli Dance Troupe that I co-direct).

However, I've decided not to do it today. I'm starting to feel a bit run down.

I've lined up for my folks to take my younger one to nursery school tomorrow morning - that should allow me a few extra hours of sleep since I won't be "on duty" from 7am to 9:30am. I may even get a normal amount of sleep! (even if the hours are shifted...)

If I can get some good sleep, I hope to get a run in at some point tomorrow.

HRM Needs New Battery, Or Lack Of Sleep?

2009-10-20T15:37:00.002-04:00

I finally got out for a run today after missing yesterday.

As I started, I felt really "rusty". It seemed like a long time since my last run. I thought about this more and my last run was on Saturday morning. I had missed two days of running and I'm feeling rusty. Yikes! What am I going to do post-marathon???

My goal for today's run - take it easy. Try to hit a 10:40 pace. Slow down.

I kind of succeeded. My pace was slower than most of my recent runs - a 10:15/mile pace over 5.5 miles. My first two mile splits were 10:26 and 10:42. Mile 3 has a good amount of downhill in it and I ran a 9:53. Then a 10:27 and 10:20.

The weird part, though, is that my heart rate stayed above 150 bpm for most of the run. Even when I was running the slower miles.

Either I really need to change the battery in the chest strap (I have been saying this for about 2 weeks, so hopefully I'll get to it before my next run...) or the lack of sleep due to maintenance window activities at work has run me down a bit.

Since I'm still working nights at least through tonight and maybe tomorrow night too, I think we'll have to check the battery issue out first.

No Run Today - Life On Overload

2009-10-19T16:08:00.002-04:00

Maintenance window activities went until close to 5am last night. I slept from 5am to 7am thinking that I would be able to go back to bed around 9:30 once my little one was at pre-school. WRONG!

He wasn't feeling well. Was going to the bathroom all morning. I stayed home to watch him (I had one conference call that I needed to be on, otherwise I checked email when I could). When Sherry got home and took his temperature, he had 102 (why didn't I think of taking his temperature while I was with him all morning?).

I finally got two more hours of sleep from 1pm to 3pm, until I was woken up by a customer call.

In less than an hour I have my fundraiser at Noodles & Co (hooray!) and then I'm back to work for maintenance window activities again tonight.

I was thinking that I could possible run in between the fundraiser and going back to work...however, I may want to get 2 more hours of sleep instead. Sleep will most likely win out in this case.

Needing To Change My Running Schedule Due To Work

2009-10-19T00:05:00.003-04:00

For the past two years in my job I was working on building a new wireless network for one of our customers. It definitely had its headaches along the way, but the great thing about working on a new network is that almost all work can be done during the day.

My current projects involve live networks. So whenever anything needs to be upgraded or changed, it needs to be done at night...just in case something goes down, there will be fewer subscribers that are impacted.

So tonight I get to start a conference bridge at midnight and start my Monday activities. Ick.

I'm still on duty to drive my younger one to nursery school in the morning too. So I'll either get a few hours of sleep before that - if the nighttime activities go quickly - or I'll go to bed around 10am.

So the big question is - when do I run?

I doubt it will be at my normal 5:30am or 6am. Perhaps after I wake up later today - around 2pm or so??

What Defines A PR???

2009-10-18T08:18:00.003-04:00

We runners love numbers. Many of us keep meticulous training logs - in mine I track mileage, pace, average and maximum heart rate, which courses, which shoes (and accumulated mileage on my shoes) and weather - and I may have missed one or two pieces of data.

One thing that stands in the foreground of most runner's running logs is their list of Personal Records, or PRs, from races they have run.

Currently my list is:

Distance	Time	Pace	Event	Date
5 km	25:17	8:09	Kentlands 5K Race - New Course	8/30/2008
10 km	56:14	9:03	Pike's Peek	4/23/2006
Half Marathon	2:13:22.79	10:11	Run For The Shelter Half Marathon	4/19/2009
Marathon	4:59:06	11:25	Frederick Marathon	5/4/2008

However, during a few of my training runs, I have run faster than my PRs at the 10K and Half Marathon distances.

Do these become new PRs? Or should PRs only be for races or time trials dedicated to seeing how fast you can run a certain distance?

What's your thought?

One Last Run In New York Before The Marathon

2009-10-17T22:39:00.007-04:00

When I first received my materials for Team Run To Remember, I was a little bummed out that I would not be able to participate in most of the "team" activities. There were weekly training runs and periodic meetings throughout the four months and since I was an out-of-towner I would be missing out on these.

I decided to try to come up for at least a few of these events and planned to get to a group run in August, a meeting in September (which I went up a day early to hit another group run) and then today's group run in October - where the team would be running the last 10 miles of the marathon course together.

I wanted to get 30 miles in this week - and so far I had about 16.5, so I was hoping for a little over 13 miles. Since the group was running 10, I decided to get there a bit early and run the 59th Street Bridge into Queens and then back into Manhattan. Coach Brian was more than willing to do this with me :-)

One thing about the bridge - it was windy. It was a 42 degree morning, but with the breeze up there made it feel about 10 degrees colder. I'm glad I wore my Frederick Marathon pullover - since the temperatures were still in the 40s I almost didn't wear it, but with the wind on the bridges I'm glad I had it on.

After the bridge, Coach Brian and I saw the Alzheimer's group. There was actually another group running the last 10 miles of the marathon route as well this morning...it was a much larger group with coaches, pace setters and each of the participants wore bib numbers. A little over the top for a training run, but they were out there for the same reason we were - to get familiarity with the course and gain some confidence.

First of all, I must say that running with others really makes the time go by quickly. It did not seem like I ran for over 2 hours this morning. Hopefully during the race I'll be able to find other people around me to chat with...or maybe even try to run with other team members.

I really like the members of the team that I have met. Today I ran with Coach Brian, JM, LJ and MC and in the past runs I have run with Coach Jeff, EE and MM. Everyone I have met on the team is very friendly, wonderful to run with and talk to. It will be sad to not have the team after the marathon in a few weeks...although I can definitely see keeping in touch with some of my teammates.

As for the run, for me it was very worthwhile. I think on marathon day I will be breaking down the last 10 miles into four parts - 1) 1st Ave, 2) The Bronx, 3) Getting to Central Park and 4) Central Park...the home stretch. The first part - going up 1st Ave - is a little over 3 miles. I hear that the crowd support during this stretch is amazing, so this portion should go relatively well. The Bronx is pretty short - a little over a mile...maybe a mile and a half - and I hear the crowds will not be as good here. This will be mile 20 in the race so this will be tough. However, the bridges are not steep and I actually like to run near water and over bridges...since there are two of these in about a 1 mile span I think I should do OK in the Bronx.

Part 3 is getting to Central Park. This is only about a mile, but today it seemed to be the part that dragged on for me. Maybe there will be crowd support on race day...I'm not sure. If not, then 5th Ave from 138th St to 110th St will be a tough mile and a half.

The home stretch and last three and a half miles is Central Park. The first mile or so is down 5th Ave - or should I say UP 5th Ave?? There is a pretty constant incline at this point - the race's elevation chart shows about a 100 ft rise over about a half a mile. Soon after that you enter the park. Once I enter the park I know that I'll be running on adrenaline. For today's run, this was mile 12 and 13 for me and these miles were run at 9:27 and 9:33. I don't expect to run that fast when this is mile 25 and 26, but I know it will be a "pick-me-up" to be in the park and nearing the end.

The stats for me - 13.7 miles in 2:16:32, a 9:59/mile pace. My PR for a Half Marathon was run in a 10:11/mile pace...so in the span of a week I have beat my 10K PR and HM PR during training runs. Wow!

One thing I may mention - the second and third toe on my right foot has some pain when I try to bend them. I felt this last week after my long run and it hasn't really gone away. The pain isn't bad - I can still run on it - but whenever I try to bend those toes it definitely hurts a bit and they are tender to the touch. I'll continue to monitor them and have them checked out after the marathon if it doesn't get better.

Taking Time To Remember

2009-10-16T08:15:00.003-04:00

One of the main reasons I'm running the NY Marathon - and raising money for the Alzheimer's Association - is in memory of my Nana.

When I started this journey over four months ago, I wanted to do three things leading up to the race - 1) train for the race, 2) raise money for the Alzheimer's Association and 3) do some activities which will help me to remember my Nana.

I have been very diligent on items 1 and 2 so far. Unfortunately, I have not taken the time for item 3. Last night I finally started.

The other day I saw that HBO Family was airing a show called "The Alzheimer's Project: Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?" so I had my DVR record it. I was about to cue up "Glee" for Sherry and me to watch last night when I saw this show in the list. Since Sherry was not ready yet, I decided to watch it.

The 30 minute show interviews a bunch of children ranging in age from 6 to 15 who have grandparents with Alzheimer's disease. Some of the grandparents are in early stages - grandpa forgets the grandkid's names or names of places, but he is still getting around fine and understands what is going on around him...it's just that the words to describe these people or places seem to have "disappeared". Other grandparents are in much later stages - confined to wheelchairs, barely speaking, not even recognizing their loved ones. It was a powerful show and a great way for tweens and teens to understand what the disease is and why their grandparents are acting the way that they are.

The show opened up a pandora's box of emotions for me. I saw my Nana in all of those stages. I was a bit too young to remember the early stages of the disease, but I do have distinct memories of her at that time....I just had no idea that her memory was going and that she was becoming very paranoid.

I have too many memories of the later stages of the disease. I remember visiting Nana at the nursing home. I remember when we would have funny conversations (I once tried to explain to her about my new Atari video game and she was really confused as to how the players got inside the television!). Unfortunately, I remember as a tween and then as a teen it got to the point where she was too confused to carry on a conversation - and then to the point where she couldn't talk much at all.

Tonight I may have a chance to continue to evoke memories of my Nana. I am driving up to the NY area and staying with my cousin tonight. He was the oldest of my Nana's grandparents so he probably has the most vivid memories of her before the disease took hold. I'm hoping we can spend some time (between innings of the Yankees game?) reminiscing of times we had with our Nana.

Running In The Cold Rain

2009-10-15T15:55:00.003-04:00

This morning it was cold and rainy. Yuck! This is my least favorite weather to run in.

I had contemplated running on the treadmill at the gym. However, I know that I'll be running in the same stuff on Saturday morning. And I better get used to this just in case this is the weather on November 1, right? I can't go to Mary Whittenburg and ask if she can move the NY Marathon indoors on a treadmill because it is 40 degrees and raining!

The one nice thing about my run this morning - I did it after the sunrise! The reason for this - not so good. My younger son still had a fever last night and came into our room at 3:30am. He still had a 101.4 temperature. At that point my wife made the decision that she was not going to go to work - so I was able to sleep in a bit, get my older son off to school in his carpool and then go out for a run!

I threw on my Frederick marathon runners premium - a microfiber pull-over - over my long sleeve running t-shirt and shorts, along with a hat to keep my head a bit warmer. I also brought music with me for the first time in a while - I loaded a bunch of Indigo Girls albums on my iPod shuffle...good mellow music for an easy run.

I started the run out easy - average HR was 141 for the first mile (perhaps the HRM issue has cleared itself up?) and RedG chirped a 9:54 split. I slowed down a bit for the second mile and came in with a 10:12 split. All this time I had my hands inside the sleeves of the pullover to keep them warm. It's amazing how damp, cold air just penetrates you and chills you to the bone.

After that, my route goes downhill and I started to warm up. Hands came out of the pullover's sleeves and I guess my legs decided to push the pace on me. I still kept RegG covered so he didn't get too wet, but as a result I was not watching my heart rate go up into the high 150s/low 160s. Next two splits were 9:12 and 9:18. So much for an easy run!

I finished out my 5.5 mile loop in 53:27 - a 9:36/mile pace with an average HR of 154. I looked back in RunningAhead at my training log and with the exception of a tempo run I did on this route last year, this is the fastest I have every run this route.

The good news - I'm in great shape right now...probably even better shape than I was before I ran the Frederick Marathon last year!

The bad news - OK...not so bad, but I have been running way too fast lately. Over the next two weeks I need to devote at least two workouts at marathon pace - which for me this time around will be a 10:40/mile pace. If I try running "by feel" like I have been the last week, I'm going to fall apart at mile 16.

Speedwork Or No Speedwork?

2009-10-14T15:25:00.002-04:00

I wasn't feeling like I could handle a speedwork workout today.

I don't know if it was the lack of sleep (went to bed late last night after Israeli Dancing and woke up early as my little one has a fever), the fact that I got my flu shot on Monday and my body is adjusting to that, or if it just because it is a cold, gray, blah type of day.

I was ready for a lunchtime run outside, but I didn't want to go to the track for an interval workout and I didn't want to put it all out on the line like last week's tempo run.

So I decided to make it an easy run. The plan - start at Fitness First, go across Quince Orchard Rd to Great Seneca Hwy, down Great Seneca to Muddy Branch, across to Rt 28 and back up to Fitness First. I was thinking it was somewhere in the 6-7 mile range...in the end Garmin told me it was 5.4.

BTW...I think I have come up for a name for my Garmin. I will now refer to him as RedG (pronounced Reggie, right?) in the blog instead of "my Garmin", "the Garmin", "Garmin Forerunner 305", etc. Not as cute as some of the other bloggers' pet names (Little G, Garmy, etc.) but the name definitely fits.

As I have been finding out too often, sometimes plans go by the wayside.

I thought I was taking it easy during mile 1. The heart rate monitor is still a little messed up at the beginning of my runs (note to self - change that battery already!) so I couldn't judge how I was doing by heart rate...so I was just going by feel. Well, that easy pace that I felt was 9:38.

OK...well, I'll slow down during mile 2, right? The heart rate monitor is now working and I'm in the low 140s / high 130s for a good part of it. Yes, it is downhill but I'm sure I'm going a bit slower.

RedG chirps out 9:05. Same thing for mile 3 (also mostly downhill) - 9:10.

I guess this is a tempo run, boys and girls!

So I started hoofing out miles 4 and 5. Both of these are mostly UP-hill (for those who live in the area - Route 28 from Muddy Branch to Quince Orchard). Splits were 8:41 and 8:39.

The final (up-hill) 0.4 was run at a 8:47 pace.

So much for an easy run... I'll try again tomorrow morning!

Fundraising Milestones

2009-10-14T15:10:00.003-04:00

As a group, Team Run To Remember has now raised over $200,000 for the Alzheimer's Association!

I am 85% to my goal - with $4,270 (this includes a few checks that are in the mail).

What is amazing is that I just received a donation from a 75th person!

So...I have set a new goal for myself. Not only will I try to hit $5,000 in total donations, but I will also try to receive donations from at least 100 donors.

The marathon is in less than three weeks. For those of you reading this and have not donated yet - please visit my fundraising page and help me get to 100 donors and $5,000!

Tapering and Weight Management

2009-10-13T12:23:00.002-04:00

One thing that I have not worried too much about in training for this marathon has been weight management.

Last year when I started training for the Frederick marathon, I was also trying to lose 10 pounds at the beginning of my training program. I counted my calories - and posted them in my blog to keep myself accountable - and I ripped off 8 pounds in about 5 or 6 weeks. However, as my mileage started to increase I had a week where I felt weak, lethargic and my runs were getting tough at the end. I dropped the calorie counting and let my body dictate how much I needed to eat - I started feeling better and I pretty much maintained my weight.

Until the taper.

You see, during the taper period my weekly mileage decreased substantially...but my appetite did not. I ended up gaining a few of those pounds back in those last 3 weeks. It didn't help for the big run.

Fast forward to this year's training. I paid no attention to my calories at all. I have dropped about three pounds since I started training 15 weeks ago (and I'm still about three pounds heavier than when I ran Frederick last year).

However, I'm going to start the calorie counting this week and try to continue through the taper period. My goal is to hit somewhere around 2,000 net calories a day - this should allow me to maintain my current weight and not gain additional weight before marathon day.

Days like yesterday - where my 5.5 mile run had me burning over 700 calories - are much easier. It is much easier for me to consume 2,700 calories than 2,000 calories :-) There will be days that will likely go over - like this Sunday which is a non-running day for me and it is my younger son's 4th birthday party.

However, by avoiding the nightly "pantry raid" while watching a game on TV, I think this strategy will get me to the starting line feeling less lethargic - and maybe even a little lighter!

Time To Taper

2009-10-12T11:04:00.003-04:00

It's taper time!

Last week was my final 40 mile week of the marathon training calendar. Now the weekly mileage totals will decrease until the marathon itself.

The training plan that I have been following shows the next two weeks' mileage as 28 miles and 19 miles. I find that much of a decrease a bit too drastic. My normal training base was 20-25 miles a week before I started marathon training, so going below this level may not be the best thing. Plus, before last year's marathon the taper left me feeling sluggish - plus I put on a few pounds during the taper.

My plan is to have a 30-32 mile week this week and a 25 mile week next week. I also am going to start counting calories so I don't add extra weight this time around. The calorie counting will give me something else to obsess about rather than "why am I not running???"
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This morning's 5 miler was almost scratched. My older son had some bad dreams and came into our room a little after 3am and 4am (no more Halloween-type shows for the next few weeks!). I didn't think I would wake up in time to get out the door by 6am given how I felt when I brought my son back to his room. But my younger son woke up around 5:40am and woke us up as well, so I got my running clothes on and headed out the door.

Another cool, dark morning. I laid out a long sleeve shirt and shorts - which was perfect. I had a bit of uncertainty as I started given how my last run went. To add some fuel to that fire, the HRM part of my Garmin has been giving me really high readings during the first mile of my runs...this started happening last week. Luckily, after the first mile or so, the heart rate readings go back down to normal. I'm going to see about changing the battery in the chest strap and see if that will help.

This morning's stats - 5.5 miles in a 10:01/mile pace with a 149 average HR (with the first mile overstated, so my average HR was really a bit lower).

I Got My Bib Number!

2009-10-11T20:22:00.002-04:00

I checked the NY Marathon page and I have been assigned bib number

56258.

This means I'm in Wave Start #3 (10:20am), in the Orange group and in Corral G.

I'm not surprised I'm in wave start #3, as I believe the starts are staggered by projected finishing time. I'm also excited to be in the Orange group as I'll be running on the top deck of the Verrazano Bridge.

However, I'm a bit surprised that I'm in corral G. The last corral. Not that I'm all that fast or anything, but I'm thinking there are going to be plenty of runners with times in the 5+ and 6+ hour finishing times. If I'm planning to finish in around 4:40, I'm going to have to do a lot of weaving through traffic...

Bonking In The Sun

2009-10-09T19:56:00.003-04:00

The title says it all. I didn't complete my 22 mile run today. I stopped at 20 miles. Actually, I pretty much stopped at 18.5 and walked most of the rest to 20 miles.

So...what happened?

First of all, weather was a big contributor. It was 70 degrees when I started, and 86 degrees when I called it quits.

I think nutrition/hydration had a bit of a factor too. I was so concerned about how to handle the morning of the run and during the run that I forgot to eat extra carbs and drink extra water yesterday and the day before. I felt depleted around mile 14...way too early.

A few other contributors - my first two miles were a bit fast - 10:19 and 10:09. The Garmin also has mile 10 at 8:06...I'm pretty sure the Garmin messed up somewhere - part of this mile was in the Air Rights Tunnel in Bethesda...I would assume that Garmin would extrapolate distance when the satellites were back in range, but perhaps it didn't extrapolate so well?

Elevation was also a factor. The first 9 miles were net uphill 400 ft. This may have tired me out a bit. My route started at Dupont Circle Metro station, went towards Georgetown where I got onto the CCT trail, into Bethesda and over to Chevy Chase where I got onto the Rock Creek Trail and then to Veirs Mill Road. My car was parked on Veirs Mill Road near the Rockville Metro - about 2 miles from the trail. Of course I did not run those last two miles - I hopped on a Metro Bus and took it to my car. Here's a link to the route.

I won't go through all of the details of the run, but here are a few highlights (and lowlights):

The time of day of this morning's run - I started at 10:25am by the time I got downtown - is almost exactly the time I'll be starting to run in NY for the marathon. I ate my pre-run fuel at 8am and this seemed to work as well. I also wore my Alzheimer's Association singlet which I'm hoping to wear for the race!
I fueled up this morning with a cup of coffee - black with sugar - and a big piece of injera - an Ethiopian bread. I picked up the injera yesterday at a nearby Ethiopian restaurant. The idea of injera came to me yesterday afternoon. I was thinking what the elites probably fuel up with before their long runs, and I remembered that many of the elites are from East Africa, so I decided to try it out. I think this worked out well - it filled me up, digested easily and I did not have any stomach pains during my run.
There were three times that I had to "double back" due to going the wrong way. The first time was when I needed to leave the CCT trail and get onto the Rock Creek Trail. I accidentally continued on the CCT trail because I knew the Rock Creek Trail was straight ahead - except for the fact that that part of the CCT trail was on a bridge/overpass a good 50 feet above Rock Creek and the trail. Oops!
The other two times I had to double back was in the 18th and 19th mile. It was very frustrating. I'm not sure whether there was bad signage or if I was just to out of it to realize there was signage.
As part of my fueling strategy during the run, I decided to bring some food to go along with my GU. I brought a Cherry Pie Larabar. I like Larabars because most of them have less than 6 ingredients - and I can recognize all of the ingredients. It seems more like "real food" than many of the engineered energy bars. The Cherry Pie Larabar's ingredients are Dates, Almonds and Unsweetened Cherries. That's all. I opened the bar at mile 15 - it was a welcome distraction for almost the entire mile....and it probably got me through miles 16 and 17.

I'm going to try to not let this failed attempt at 22 miles get me down about New York. I felt pretty good after my 20 miler - in much cooler weather. I'm hoping the temperatures in NY will be cooler than today and that will likely give me a few more miles (8 more hopefully!) to run.

Preparing for THE Long Run

2009-10-08T15:19:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I am doing THE long run of my marathon training.

22 miles.

More planning has been put into this training run than many of the races I have run!

First of all, it will take me close to 4 hours to run this distance. Finding 4 consecutive hours on my schedule during the next few days has been tough. This weekend there are special holidays (Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah) so I'm going to synagogue both Saturday and Sunday. It is my 20th High School reunion on Saturday night - so I really did not want to run this on Saturday morning and then be dead tired on Saturday night.

I have some vacation days to burn at work, so I decided to take tomorrow off. Excellent! I can run on my day off, right? Well...my older son has a half day due to the holidays - which means there is less than 3 hours between the time I drop my younger son off at school at 9:15am and when I would need to pick my older son up at noon. UGH!!! I coordinated to have my older son go home with a friend until my wife can pick him up later so I can get my run in. Go figure, I'm taking the day off and don't have time to pick up the kids. Did I mention how much I love my wife....

Next I needed to find a route. 22 miles is a lot of ground to cover. I also want some change of scenery so I'm not bored to tears. I have decided to connect the CCT trail to the Rock Creek Park trail route that the Parks Half Marathon is run on. I'll park at or near the Rockville Metro, take the Metro downtown to either Dupont Circle or Farragut North, and start running from there towards Georgetown to pick up the CCT trail (hopefully about a mile). I think it is about 8 miles up the trail to Bethesda and then another 13 miles to the Rockville Metro station if I follow the Parks Half Marathon route. There's 22 miles for ya!

Another cool thing about this training run is that I'll be running it at about the same time of day that I'll be running the NY Marathon. Since I need to drop my son off at nursery school, I probably won't get downtown until a little after 10am. This will be good for me since I'm so used to running at 6am...I need some more practice running later in the day.

This run will also give me a good chance to practice nutrition and hydration. Since I'm running at the same time of day, I can simulate what I will eat on race day before the run and during the run. I need to give this a little more thought this afternoon and evening so I have a plan tomorrow morning.

I'm usually not nervous or anxious for a training run, but this had so much planning going into it that I'm a bit jittery. Perhaps that's also good practice???

Lunchtime Run On A Really Windy Day

2009-10-07T16:29:00.002-04:00

Today was my scheduled lunchtime run (unlike yesterday where I ran on my lunch hour because I overslept).

On the plan was 5 miles. I was really dreading the thought of doing the same 5.5 mile loop that I always do. I wanted to find some new trails. I wanted to explore. Then reality set in...I need to run 5 miles, shower and shovel some food down my gullet in the 90 minutes that I have set aside. I need to start and end my run from my home office and that's final!

However, instead of doing the normal loop, I decided to just meander around the neighborhood. There are a few walking trails through the woods and around the lakes, so I would just focus on hitting these and running some of the streets between them.

I ended up running 4.9 hilly miles. Near the lakes there were some pretty strong headwinds. The rest of the time, it was just a constant whirling wind to carry the autumn leaves across the sky. I love fall :-)

Stats: 4.9 miles in 50:57. A 10:25/mile pace with an average HR of 147.

800 Miles!

2009-10-06T16:01:00.002-04:00

After today's tempo run, I now have hit 800 miles for the year! (801.1 to be exact...)

I'm about 35 miles ahead of pace for 1,000 miles for the year. Even with the upcoming taper and rest period after the marathon, I think I still may be able to achieve the goal this year that I was not able to hit last year...

The Day The Music Died...

2009-10-06T15:31:00.003-04:00

My iPod died this morning :-(

It was old. It had a black and white screen. No pictures. No videos. And now, no juice.

I used to run with the brick. It would be good for about 3 miles and then it would start skipping. I purchased an iPod shuffle a little over a year ago to run with since it is a flash memory player instead of a hard drive player. No skipping!

However, I still used my iPod in the car and at the office.

It's the end of an era. I'll now be jumping into the age of color screens and support for video. Stay tuned...
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UPDATE!!!

I was able to resuscitate my iPod this evening! I had tried holding the Menu and Play buttons together a few times today, but I guess I didn't hold them down long enough. I tried one more desperate attempt at doing this and held them for about 10 long seconds. Finally, the Apple appeared and my iPod came back to life!!!

Managing Your Boss To Get A Run In

2009-10-06T15:06:00.003-04:00

I overslept this morning. My wife woke me at 6:05am asking me if I was going to run. I really did not have time since she leaves with my older son to drive carpool around 7:15am. So I was stuck - either run at lunch or no run today.

As soon as I logged into my work computer, I saw a large empty chunk of time from 12 noon to 2pm. Hooray! I'm running at lunchtime!

However, as I was going through my emails, I received one from my boss who decided to move a meeting from 10am to 1pm. Oh man!

I started thinking about this meeting. The other PM on the project was not in the office today and was returning tomorrow. Also, there hasn't been much going on from my end with this project. It sounded like a waste of 30 minutes to me - plus it would stop me from my lunchtime run.

So...I replied to my boss giving him and update with my portion of the project, explaining that the other PM is not in the office and that it would be much better to meet tomorrow morning.

A few hours later I received the notice moving the meeting to tomorrow. YES!

My 11am meeting finished a little early and I was out the door by 11:45am. My plan - do my 7.4 mile neighborhood loop as a tempo run. One easy, warm-up mile; six miles at a "10K pace", cooldown for the rest.

My 10K PR is at a 9:03/mile pace. Since I feel I'm likely in the best shape of my life (except for about 10 more pounds that I should lose), I decided I would try to do the tempo portion at a 9 minute mile. Either I would crash and burn, or I would know that I could go for a 10K PR after the marathon :-)

I ran my warm-up mile in 9:45. I have no idea what my HR really was for that mile as I was getting false readings in the 190s and 200s. However, I pretty much knew my heart was not working that hard so I ignored heart rate on this run.

As I started to push the pace at the start of mile 2, I started to get a side stitch - probably from my mid-morning granola bar. Grrrr. I thought there that I would do one mile at tempo and then see if I could continue.

The side stitch disappeared at some point during mile 2. At the end of that mile is a monster hill - I hoofed it up and hit my first tempo split at 8:59.

That would be the closest I would get to a 9 minute mile. I found another gear somewhere and hit splits of 8:31, 8:29, 8:54, 8:16 and 8:40. Holy cow!!!!

To put this into perspective, the last 10K I ran was the Turkey Chase on Thanksgiving morning. I had a time of 1:00:30 for 6.2 miles. I ran the first 7 miles of my run today in 1:01:35...and this included a "warm-up" mile.

As long as I stay healthy after the marathon, I should be able to bring my 10K PR down on Thanksgiving morning. Watch out turkeys!

Getting Out The Long Sleeves

2009-10-05T16:34:00.003-04:00

The overnight lows last night were supposed to be in the mid to upper 40s, so I laid out a long-sleeved running shirt for this morning's run. It definitely wasn't as cold as last Thursday morning (42 degrees in short sleeves...), but I did not regret wearing long sleeves today.

On a whim, I decided to run my 5.5 mile loop in the opposite direction this morning. I've been running this loop a lot lately - there are a lot of 5 mile runs on my training plan - so running it in the opposite direction was just what I needed. With the elevation changes occurring at different mile markers, it seemed like a totally different route!

I logged another sub-10:00/mile pace, this time with my average HR at 150. The pace would have been around 10:00 and my average HR would have been lower if I didn't attack the long hill during mile 5 (normally my long downhill recovery during mile 2). It ends up that mile 5 was my fastest split at 9:33.

I'm hoping that having my fastest splits during the more difficult parts of my training runs will help me on my mental/emotional part of the marathon training.

I think I'll find out a little bit more on Friday morning when I do my 22 mile - and final really long - training run. I haven't definitely picked out a route yet, however, I'm thinking of parking at the Rockville or Shady Grove Metro stations, taking the Metro downtown and then running from there back out to the 'burbs. I can run a bit in the city, over to the CCT trail, up into Bethesda and over to the Rock Creek Trail, up to Viers Mill Road and then over to Rockville Pike where I'll either take the Metro a few stops back to my car or run to my car (I'll see how many miles I would have run already and how tired I am...). I know that the CCT trail is about 8 miles from downtown to Bethesda, and that from that point to the Rockville Metro via the Rock Creek Trail and Viers Mill Road is 13 miles (this is pretty much the Parks Half Marathon course run in the opposite direction). Sounds pretty good, right??

Busy Weekend and Four More Weeks!

2009-10-04T20:13:00.004-04:00

This weekend was the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. I finished building our sukkah on Friday morning before taking my younger son to school - Sherry decorated it after her school day and we were able to eat our Shabbat dinner in the sukkah on Friday evening. Actually, we have eaten most of our meals this weekend in the sukkah - it's so nice to be outside this time of year!

The weekend was pretty much jam packed with Sukkot stuff - going to synagogue and to meals in other sukkahs - so I scheduled my long run on Saturday morning. My college friend ZF was in town this weekend. She is also running the NY Marathon, so our training schedules were pretty similar - her plan was to run 10 miles and my plan was to run 12 miles - so we split the difference and planned to run 11 miles.

I found an 11 mile loop on RunningAhead starting at NIH and going down Wisconsin Ave to the National Cathedral, then taking Mass Ave to the CCT Trail and back into Bethesda. Looked pretty interesting, so we decided to meet up at the Medical Center Metro Stop at 6:30am Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the parking lot at the Medical Center Metro had signs that all parking was 30 minutes only - and there were no Saturday restrictions on the signs. So instead of risking it we drove into the Woodmont triangle of downtown Bethesda and parked at meters that did not go into effect until 9am (we would be done by then!). This would ultimately cut our run from 11 miles to 10 miles, but in the long run I don't think the extra mile or two on this run will make too much of a difference.

Finally we were off! ZF and I met in Ann Arbor our freshman year at UofM - 19 years ago! We haven't seen each other in about 6 years, however, we have communicated a lot over the past 3 years as she started to get into running.

It was hard to believe it had been so long since we actually saw each other. Just like old friends, it didn't matter how long it had been and we just started talking. For the next hour and 48 minutes conversation weaved from work, to running stories, to our families and our college friends. I swear it was hard to believe that close to 2 hours went by - our legs only making a periodic stop for a red light at a busy intersection. Actually, as we approached the National Cathedral, I was admiring the beauty of such a wonderful building and I don't even know if ZF noticed we were passing it!

We ended up running a little over 10 miles when all was said and done. We averaged a comfortable 10:44 pace - my average HR over the near two-hour run was 151 bpm. I guess chatting the entire way made my heart work a little harder, but still this was within a good, easy range. Here's the map of our run:

After this run I really started thinking of how wonderful this was. Normally, when I get together with someone I haven't seen in a while it is over a meal or a drink or coffee. Why not meet for a run? It's definitely healthier. And although not everyone is going to be able to run 10 miles, the conversation definitely makes the run seem shorter than it actually is.

Watch out friends and/or family members. The next time you come to town, I may invite you for a run instead of for a meal :-)
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The marathon is four weeks from today! Our weekend plans are starting to come together now. I'm almost halfway through the book "A Race Like No Other" and I am getting really psyched!

I have one more super-long run - a 22 miler this weekend - and about $1,300 left to raise (if you are in a giving mood, please donate here). It's hard to believe it is getting so close.

When Do I Switch To Long Sleeves?

2009-10-02T20:22:00.002-04:00

So, Thursday morning I stepped out the door for my run and it felt mighty chilly. The past few mornings had been in the low 50s, so I had laid out a short-sleeved technical t-shirt and running shorts the night before. However, when I opened the front door that morning it seems a bit more crisp than usual.

I decided that it was no problem - I would warm up mid-run and be thankful I was in short sleeves.

A few other runners that I saw had on tights or pants, some with a running jacket. Of course the dog walkers that morning were nice and bundled up.

For the most part I felt comfortable. A bit on the cold side - but after the heat and humidity of the summer I was thankful to not have to deal with that yucky mucky air.

When I got back home, I check the computer to see just how chilly it was.

42 degrees!

Perhaps long sleeves would have been a good idea?

So...at what point will the cold mornings really be cold enough to wear long sleeves, or tights or a jacket and beanie?

One Month To The Big Race!

2009-10-02T11:07:00.003-04:00

It is one month from the NY Marathon. WOW!

I feel really good on almost all fronts. My training is going really well. I have been healthy and not even much soreness. My pace is getting faster each week at similar heart rate. I feel good during and after my runs. I can't really ask for much more here!

Fundraising is going well too. I had been sitting around $3,400 for a while - which has surpassed the $3,000 minimum, but not yet up to my $5,000 goal. Yesterday I sent a email to my colleagues at work and started to receive some more donations. I'm now close to $3,700. I'm also going to do another fundraiser - on October 19 at the Kentlands Noodles & Co. I'll be spreading the news starting next week.

The one thing that I haven't done enough of is exploring my Nana's life and Alzheimer's disease. I was hoping to speak to my father and aunt about my Nana, and get together with my cousins to remember stories we all had about her...unfortunately, this has not happened. I'll try to get on this over the next few weeks, but even if it doesn't happen before the marathon, it will likely happen afterwards.

Back To The Track

2009-09-30T16:10:00.005-04:00

It's speedwork Wednesday today. I decided to hit the track instead of the treadmill - since I have been working a lot on pacing, I wanted to be cognizant of my own pace instead of having a rubber mat set the pace for me like I did all summer.

Actually, it has been more than just "the summer". My training log tells me that the last time I was at the oval was in August of LAST YEAR. YIKES! I guess it kind of makes sense as I have been hesitant to go to the track with my Garmin as I felt that it would be really inaccurate in distance. Well, Garmin was a bit inaccurate - I ran 8.45 miles and Garmin had me at about 8.7 - but who cares! I'm able to go into my log and put in the exact distances anyhow since I hit the lap button when I finish a particular interval or recovery. Plus, Garmin did pretty well mapping my run :-) No more avoiding the track on account of the Garmin...

The weather was a bit on the chilly side for lunchtime (65 degrees) and there was some wind as well, but I can't say I minded a bit. It was nice to be in the cool air while I was heating up in my workout.

My plan for today - Yasso 800s - 10 x 800m with 400m recoveries, targeting a 4:40 for the 800m (a 9:20/mile pace). The Yasso 800 wisdom is that if I can do this workout, I should be able to run a 4:40 marathon - which is my goal for New York.

After my warm-up, I started out a bit faster than 4:40, and my first interval was 4:36. I slowed it down a bit for the second interval and came in at 4:39. Nice! However, that was the closest I would get to 4:40 today. The next intervals were 4:35, 4:29, 4:28, 4:27 and 4:18!

I had three more intervals to go and I was still feeling pretty good. I decided to try and slow down the next two and get closer to 4:40 and then go as fast as I could on interval number 10. Interval 8 was 4:33. On interval 9, my first split around the track was 2:08 - too fast. I tried to slow myself down, but I guess halfway around the track I got my groove again and ended up with another 2:08 for a 4:16 800m split.

Interval 10 was all guts. I started out really fast, but then reminded myself it's 800m - not 200 or 400! My first 400 split was 2:03. Could I beat an 8:00/mile pace? I got a bit faster as I started my second loop, rounded the turn and tried to pick up the pace even more down the straightaway. As I was rounding the last turn the wind picked up - I was charging into a strong headwind as I dug in and crossed the line. Garmin flashed my lap time of 3:51! My last 400m was a 1:47 (a 7:11/mile pace).

I really amazed myself on that last interval. Not that I was able to hit a 1:47 for 400m or a 3:51 for 800m. I know that I can do that if needed. I just didn't think I could do it after already running 7.5 miles.

The average time for my 800m intervals was 4:25. I know that this does not mean that I should be shooting for a 4:25 marathon time. I'm afraid that if I try to raise the bar too much on my goal that I will tire myself out and bonk like I did last year. So, I'll still be shooting for a steady 4:40 in New York.

Training runs like this and my 20 miler this past weekend are giving me some good confidence in reaching that goal!

Yom Kippor "Marathon" & A Crisp Morning Run

2009-09-29T10:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippor. One of the traditions of Yom Kippor is to fast from dusk the night before until it is dark the next day. It ends up being about a 26 hour time period of not eating.

Sometimes the fast is really difficult, however, this year it wasn't so bad. First of all, I slept a lot more than normal (I was asleep by 9:30pm and stayed in bed until around 8am!). The worst time for me was around 1pm or 2pm as we were finishing the morning prayer service - 19 to 20 hours in. Sound familiar?

I started speaking to a congregant who has run a few marathons and we were discussing how this was "the wall" and once we break through the next hour or so we should have smooth sailing to the end. Perhaps this is the time when the body finishes burning the calories of the last meal before the fast and starts burning stored energy (just like "the wall" during the marathon).

I'm not sure about this, but I tried to convince myself that this was good psychological training for the marathon. Get over "the wall" of feeling totally ravenous - and then after that feeling just focus on getting to the finish line.

We had a bunch of neighbors/congregants over to our house to break the fast last night. I think we may have had about 40 people in and out of our house between 7:30pm and 9:30pm - eating bagels, blintzes, kugels and deserts. I likely ate a full day's worth of calories in that meal (which I guess was fine as I hadn't eaten the rest of the day).

What I really needed after that was a run this morning!

What a great morning for a run. When I opened the front door to place my Garmin 305 on the stoop to search for satellites, I felt the crisp chill of an autumn morning. I started to rethink my choice of clothing - shorts and a running t-shirt. Should I go with long-sleeves??? I decided to stay in what I had on and just be a bit cool...after all of those runs in the summer, I must say I was ecstatic to not feel hot while running.

I ended up pushing the pace just a bit since the temperatures were cooling me down. My average HR was 151, which for an easy run is a bit on the high side - although not so high that this would constitute speedwork. It was nice to see my average pace also at a much faster level - 9:51/mile - to go with the higher HR.

I took a look back at the beginning of my training and saw I ran this same route on June 30 - avg pace of 10:36/mile and avg HR of 157. Whoa! This marathon training stuff has really kicked me into shape!

One other random observation from my run - over the summer I saw a house on my route with a big dumpster on the lawn (it was under renovation), and one of the people that was working on the house was sleeping in the back seat of his car just up the street from the house. The dumpster and the guy sleeping in the car had disappeared for a few weeks, but they were back this morning. Poor guy. I'm really close to knocking on his car door the next time I run by the house and offer him a bed in our house to sleep in. I'm not sure if Sherry will go for it, but I just don't feel right having this guy sleeping in his car.

20 Miles - And An Improvement Over Last Year!

2009-09-26T17:53:00.003-04:00

Today was my penultimate really long run before the NY Marathon.

I remember from last year that I didn't feel too bad after my 20 mile run - it was the 18 miler (and the penultimate really long run) that had me almost limping around that day. Today, I don't feel that bad. Yes, I'm sore - but I'm not gimpy.

My legs actually started to feel a bit sore after mile 9. At mile 18 I the back pain that I got earlier in the week came back (luckily, this pain disappeared when I stopped running). Even with this, I ran strong to the end - my last two mile splits were 10:14 and 10:28. Compare this to my first two splits of 11:04 and 11:17...how nice to get faster at the end of such a long run!

And while we're on the subject of comparisons, since I ran the same route in preparing for the Frederick Marathon, I actually have a good gauge as to how I am doing compared to last year. Today, I ran the route in 3:35:05 (avg pace of 10:33 with avg HR of 152). Last year I ran the same route in 3:46:42 (avg pace of 11:19 with avg HR of 157).

I was thinking perhaps the weather may be more favorable this year - this morning was 60 degrees and overcast. However, last year was 57 degrees and also cloudy. No...I can't attribute the improvement to the weather.

Here's the route:

Rest day tomorrow. Then Yom Kippor on Monday, so I'll need to squeeze my weekly runs in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

My Attempt To Get On To The 59th Street Bridge - From A Garmin's Perspective

2009-09-24T19:37:00.001-04:00

It took me three tries to actually find the pedestrian path of the 59th Street Bridge this morning - I took two paths on the 59th Street side (which I found very quickly to be wrong) and then finally went over to the 60th Street side and found it.

Here's how my frantic antics looked from the Garmin satellites:

Team R2R Meeting and 59th Street Bridge Run

2009-09-24T11:00:00.002-04:00

Continuing where I left off with my quick trip up to New York...

I had planned to meet up with two friends from my High School trip to Israel in the late afternoon. LH was going to be in the Chelsea area of town, BS was on Houston Street and I was in midtown. Hmm... It looked like Chelsea was the most centrally located, so I picked a coffee shop for us to meet at and let them know where to meet (interestingly enough, neither of the locals wanted to pick the spot to meet...so leave it to the guy who has never lived in NYC to pick the place??? thank goodness for Google Maps!).

I got there about 3:45pm, but I had a conference call at 4:30pm. I had hoped that the two of them would get there around 4 or so, we would all hang out together, I would take my call outside and then come back in and join them. What ended up happening was that both of them let me know that they would be late, I took my 4:30 call in the coffee shop and once it finished around 5pm they both showed up.

The three of us hadn't been together in over 21 years (it makes me feel really old saying that). However, there was no awkwardness to us being together again - it seemed so natural hanging out. Unfortunately, we only had an hour to spend together and it went really quickly. I hope to see them again the next time I'm in the city!

I head crosstown on the subway to get to the Alzheimer's Association meeting. I get on the train, and sitting there is my cousin's husband - what are the odds! (luckily I told my cousin that I was coming into town for a quick visit but was not going to have time to get out to Long Island to see them...otherwise I would have been busted!)

I made it to the Alzheimer's Association's office in time for the meeting. On the agenda was a guest speaker - Liz Robbins a NY Times journalist who wrote the book A Race Like No Other about the NY Marathon. I decided to go buy the book on my lunch break, and I started to read the Prologue and Chapter 1 after work. I haven't been this excited to read a book in a while - even though I have tons of things going on right now, I should be able to find some time to read this and get through it quickly (or at least quickly for me!).

Liz Robbins was great! You could tell that she really enjoyed covering the marathon, going to the neighborhoods and meeting many of the special spectators that make the crowds so amazing for this race, and diving into the stories of both the elite runners and also the everyday runners with not-so-everyday stories behind why they were running the NY Marathon. I had her sign my copy of the book and she seemed genuinely interested in why I was running (actually, it seemed like she took the time to speak to everyone who was there). She was also VERY excited to hear that I went to Barnes and Noble that afternoon to buy the book!

I was expecting there to be a bit more to the meeting - details on the pre-race pasta dinner? the bus to pick us up marathon morning? the post-race party? They gave us some of the information, but I guess not everything is finalized yet. We'll be getting more information in the next week. Since this is the first year the Alzheimer's Association has a team, I guess they are working through all of the details.

After the meeting, I went up to the 92nd Street Y for Israeli Dancing. This meant that I was getting even more exercise, but also meant that I would be going to sleep much later. Ends up that I got back to my friend's apartment at 11:30pm. I quickly crashed.

This morning, I was up before the sun. Not sure why my body thinks 5:30am is a suitable time to wake up - I guess my kids and my running schedule have trained me to be an early bird. If I'm up at that time, I might as well run, right?

I headed out on 69th to Central Park West, down Central Park West to 59th Street and then across 59th Street to the Queensborough (59th Street) Bridge.

I had told a few people that I intended to run over this bridge and back - it is on the marathon route at about mile 16 - so why did no one tell me how to get onto the pedestrian path???? I saw a sidewalk leading up from 59th street onto the bridge, but that became a dead-end. Then further down I saw what looked to be a little ramp, but that lead to the shoulder of the lower-deck of the bridge. I decided to go back up 2nd Ave to the 60th Street side. I asked a policewoman there and she pointed me to where the path starts down on 1st Ave. Finally!!!

I'm glad I ran the bridge. I've heard "The NY Marathon is flat except for the bridges and a few hills in Central Park". Well, now I know what to expect on the bridges - and it's a pretty significant hill. Maybe not the steepest of hills, but it's constant uphill for a good 1/2 to 3/4 mile. Of course the good thing about going uphill on the bridge is the coasting downhill after the crest of the bridge. Nice!

After going over the bridge and back I headed up 1st Avenue, trying to imagine this street lined with crowds cheering the runners as they exit the bridge. Up to 69th and back west to Central Park, through Central Park and finally stopped at Columbus Avenue. I looked at my clothes and they were drenched. What a great way to start the morning :-)

I'm now on the Tripper Bus back home. The WiFi on the bus is great - I've participated in three conference calls for work - and of course I have been able to blog!

It was great being in New York, but it will be really nice to be home with Sherry and the boys. Next trip to NYC is October 16-17 to run the last 10 miles of the marathon with Team Run To Remember!

Show Me The Money!!!

2009-09-23T13:24:00.002-04:00

OK...not me. The Alzheimer's Association!

According to the Team Run To Remember Fundraiser page, the team has raised over $120,000 now. Woo hoo!

I have raised a little over $3,400 of that total. (if you would like to add to that, please donate on line here) I had set my goal at $5,000 and I'm pretty much on pace to get there.

Where has the money come from? Well, the math nerd in me decided to break it down. The categories with the most - 26% has come from my Immediate Family (parents, siblings, in-laws, aunts and uncles, etc.), 12% came from my Star Diner fundraiser, and 10% have come from college friends, from synagogue friends and from Israeli dancing friends.

I decided to crunch it down a little further into three categories - Family (both immediate and extended), Communities I Am Active In (Shaare Torah, Israeli Dance, Work, Running Community, etc.) and Social Networking Contacts (friends from High School, BBYO, when we lived in Dallas, etc. - most of whom I only speak to a few times a year or just recently got back in touch with them via Facebook or LinkedIn)

It wasn't so easy to do this, as some people are part of multiple categories - friends at synagogue who also go Israeli Dancing, friends from High School that are also neighbors, etc. In cases like these, I just chose the category that I though fit best.

Here's the results:

Active Community	Fundraiser	12%
	Shaare Torah	10%
	Israeli Dancing	10%
	Work	9%
	Neighbors	3%
	Running Community	2%
	Community At-Large	2%
Active Community Total		48%
Family	Immediate Family	26%
	Extended Family	7%
Family Total		33%
Social Networking	Friend - UofM	10%
	Friend - Dallas	4%
	Friend - BBYO	3%
	Friend - High School	2%
Social Networking Total		19%
Grand Total		100%

The bottom line - all of the time "invested" in being active in the community - going to synagogue on a weekly basis, leading Israeli Dancing, speaking to my neighbors and other runners, etc. - and all of the "lost time" keeping up with Facebook has actually helped me significantly in my fundraising efforts.

Central Park Loop and Late Night In New York

2009-09-23T10:33:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I got into New York City around 2:30pm and immediately went to the Regus day office that I had reserved at 11 Park Plaza. It's nice to have the flexibility to work from anywhere most of the time!

My last conference call of the day ended a little after 5:30pm, and then off I went - with bags in tow - to the subway and up to my friend's apartment on 70th and Broadway. I was surprised at how quickly it took - I was in his apartment before 6pm.

I quickly changed into running clothes and then I walked over to Columbus Circle for the group run. It took much longer than usual for Garmin to pick up a satellite...it wasn't until I got to Central Park West and stopped to stretch that it finally locked in.

I was surprised to see so many people congregating into different running groups. There were even more running groups (some which were probably 50-70 people!) that we encountered while running the loop.

The Alzheimer's Association team had about 15 runners. Immediately from the get go (and without any prompting), the group split up into three groups running at different paces. I hung back with MM - who I ran with the last time I was in Central Park. We ran together for close to 2 miles when we stopped for water. Uur pace was somewhere in the 10:00 to 10:20/mile range which was an OK pace for me but a bit fast for her. At that point she decided to walk a bit and then slow down.

I decided to pick up the pace since this was my mid-week run where I sometimes do my speedwork. At first I was trying to do a fast 1/2 mile and then slow down for a 1/4 mile - like the Yasso workouts. However, I wasn't timing my 1/2 mile intervals...I was just going on feel. In the middle of my 2nd "interval" I saw the second pack of runners from my team. I caught up with them and decided to run the rest of the way with them. At that point they were doing closer to a 9:15 - 9:30/mile, which is about the pace I was running my Yasso intervals at. Except that I still had about 3 miles to go!

I ended up doing fine with this group. I think the last two miles we ran closer to a 9:00/mile pace (mile 6 may have been sub-9). The entire run was a little over 6 miles and for me a little over 57 minutes. I thought to myself that I should be able to kick some major behind in this year's Turkey Chase. Even though it's a hilly course, I'll definitely be able to aim for a course PR (current course PR is 1:00:33) and perhaps even a new 10K PR (current 10K PR is 56:14).

After the run, I went back to my friend's apartment for a quick shower and then met a high school friend for dinner. (I spoke to Sherry on the way and her remark was "it's almost 9:00 at night - you haven't eaten dinner yet???") I hadn't seen him in a few years and we had a lot of catching up to do. Things went much later than I had planned and I didn't get back to the apartment until close to midnight - whoa!

Today, I reserved an office at the Chrysler Building. I thought it would be really cool to work there - plus, the Alzheimer's Association office is a few blocks down Lexington Avenue - and I have a team meeting there later this evening. As I went to subway station, I was told that there was a track fire on that line so none of the trains were moving. Great! I decided to walk cross-town - through Central Park - and then take the subway on the East side. It's kind of ironic - at home, I never would consider walking a mile and a half to get to public transportation to get to an office...but in New York City it seemed extremely appropriate!

New York City - Here I Come!!!

2009-09-22T11:56:00.003-04:00

I'm on the Tripper Bus right now - we're crossing over the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the way to New York City! There is wifi on the bus, so I've already finished one conference call and listened in on an internal webcast on the Nortel-Ericsson transition. Ain't technology grand!

My back is still sore, but feeling better this morning. We'll see how it goes this evening when I run in Central Park with the folks on Team Run 2 Remember. I can't wait!!!

Back Pain :-(

2009-09-21T14:16:00.002-04:00

I went out for a 5 mile run this morning - 5:30am and all is dark. It was a cool and comfortable morning, but I felt a bit tight trying to start up.

At around mile 3 or so, I felt a twinge in my mid-back on the left side. Sometimes this will happen and then go away, but this one stayed...and it continued to get worse.

I made a chiro appointment at lunch today - ends up the muscles between the last two ribs had "locked up". After some cracking, massaging and electro stim, it's still hurting me - especially when I do any type of twisting action. The chiro told me to ice it this evening and by tomorrow it should feel better.

I hope so, since tomorrow I'll be on a bus for 4-5 hours on my way to New York! And tomorrow evening is a group run in Central Park with Team Run To Remember!!!

13 Miles - And On Pace For 1,000!

2009-09-19T17:16:00.003-04:00

Today's run was a 13 miler. I had planned to run with HH - meeting at a nearby coffee house at 6am. I ran up there with a few minutes to spare and started waiting. A few minutes after 6, she pulls up and comes out of her car in jeans and a sweatshirt - oh no! She had been up all night with a stomach issue and couldn't run (I told her she didn't need to drive over to tell me, but she said that she was already up and wanted to get out of the house anyway).

So my run was solo. And since it was supposed to be with someone, I didn't bring my iPod. I guess it's good practice for the big day, right?

I hadn't run this route since training for the Frederick Marathon. It was a bit odd running it again, as I was used to running it in the winter - with tights, gloves, beanie and jacket. This morning had a slight chill in the air - but the welcome kind that comes just as autumn arrives.

I felt really tight at the beginning of this run, so I took it nice and easy. Luckily, my body got into the groove eventually. Since there was no music, I was able to concentrate on me and how my body felt - 7 of the first 10 miles had average HRs under 150 (the other three were 151s and a 152). Mile 11 and 12 were quite hilly (I didn't remember this route being so hilly, but it definitely was!).

During my last mile, a neighbor who is a lot faster than me came up behind me. I decided to be neighborly and strike up some conversation for a bit....which meant I needed to go a bit faster! I took a look at my Garmin stats and found that I was doing around an 8:00/mile pace at that point - and I lasted a little more than 1/4 mile, that's it (OK...I already had 12.5 miles in the tank at that time).

All and all it was a nice run - 13.25 miles in 2:21:19 with an average HR of 149. If I can run the first half of NY in that (and keeping my average HR in the first half under 150), I should be in very good shape.

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When I put my run in my RunningAhead log, I found that I am now ahead of the Pace Bunny for 1,000 miles for 2009!!! With the marathon training I'll definitely surge ahead for a few weeks. I just hope that I can stay consistent with my running (and not get sick) through the end of the year and hit 1,000 this year. I just missed it last year.