Wednesday Commute

Scenic bipedal commute this morning. Legs heavy and a bit creaky, but picked up momentum even on the final uphill stretch into Bethesda. Was dive-bombed by an angry mother bird on the canal tow path. 10.4 miles, 1:22:09.

Tuesday Repeats

1600m repeats on the menu today. Last Tuesday I strung together 4 of them (miles), albeit somewhat sloppily, on the Capital Crescent Trail outside my office. This morning I was determined to do them on a track.

I've been to Cardozo Senior High School before, but when I showed up around 6:40 this morning the gates to the athletic field hadn't been opened yet. Two other runners waited there with me for 5 or 6 minutes until it became clear that no one was going to let us in (a security guard normally unlocks the gates at 6:30).

After the two other runners took off, I stood there for a minute, contemplating what to do. I could just go home. I could improvise a tempo run on the roads somewhere. I knew of a 1/4-mile stretch of trail down in Rock Creek Park that I could use for some repeats. I decided on none of the above and just began running north, hoping I'd stumble upon either Banneker or Roosevelt High School. I wasn't exactly sure where either school was, but eventually I came across Roosevelt (corner of Georgia and Upshur) and saw runners on the track. Yes!

Once I found the entrance I stretched out for a minute and started the first repeat. Last week told me I could reasonably expect to run 6:15s or so, so I aimed for 93-4 seconds per lap.

Things went smoothly and I felt pretty great out there. Only trouble is some right forefoot soreness (flared up on Sunday) that felt better once I started running faster. I'll keep an eye on it. Since I'd run further than I'd planned during track reconnaissance, I bargained myself down to 3 repeats. They went 6:11-6:13-6:10, with 400m recoveries in 2:30ish. For each repeat I crossed the 1200m mark in exactly 4:40, so the variation was in the final lap. Aerobically the fast efforts were not much of a stretch, and my legs got more fatigued than my lungs. This is where I think these efforts should be, and I'm happy with the way this morning turned out. Wrapped up the repeats with some barefoot laps and strides.

Not measured, but I'll call it a 9 mile effort, 1:10:08. Now that I know where Roosevelt is I'll probably head there from now on.

Streaking

At some point toward the end of last week I decided it would be prudent to back off a bit after the weekend. Last time I had a day off was August 15, and even at that point I felt I'd been pushing the envelope a little bit. It was somewhat unexpected that I'd get 120 miles in the 13 days following. Part of the increase has come as life at the office has mellowed out. It's been about 2 years since I started work here in DC and I'm really just catching my breath as of this month. Band life has also calmed down, as The Family Hammer pushed through the spring and early summer to record an album and its members went on sabbatical shortly following the release party.

So I've had a streak of great running. I've gone from feeling the post-marathon staleness to watching it melt away, only to have some skeletons come back and haunt me (plantar fasciitis). But in general I'm making great progress, and I intend to reward myself this week with a little less work, and hopefully some more play.

Having said this, I still convinced myself that I needed to run this morning, even though I'd previously jotted down a big "zero" on the calendar for today. This can be a good or bad habit, depending on how you look at it. Good in that running more is better if you want to be good at running. But it can also be self-destructive, just as any habit can be. I've already made comparisons between running and other addictive lifestyles on this blog and elsewhere.

When it came down to the wire, I decided to negotiate with those sprites that I chase out the door so often and mix it up with some gym work. I did run a slow TM mile in my Vibrams, which I don't expect to make me a faster runner. But I wasn't looking to make aerobic gains today, and now I can continue my streak and feel a little relief from the pressure to take it easy.

Good Night

Not looking to spend a whole lot of time here tonight as it's getting late. Surprisingly pleasant morning today after the hurricane passed through, but logistics forced me to put off my run until the evening. Gentle cruise through Rock Creek Park, headed north, as the sun faded into night. Hard to keep the pace down, although I did get a cramp in my right foot (comes and goes lately) that caused me to stop and stretch a couple times. I'm thinking it's related to some tightness higher up in my calf, so I'll be monitoring and adding in some extra stretching. 8.4 miles, 1:05:51.

Nice way to end the week, which sums up to 63ish miles. Good night!

Beat the Storm

Although I slept in this morning after a late night (for me), I told myself I'd get my long run in even if it meant getting a little wet. A quick check of the radar map had me prepared for the worst. At 9:30 skies were a bit overcast but it hadn't started raining so I decided to go for it.

Shot south to the Mall, where I picked up the Rock Creek Trail and headed back north. Traversing Petworth/Brightwood back to North Capital street always elicits strange looks from porch sitters, even more-so today as folks gathered up on their stoops to watch the storm blow up (which I'll add has been somewhat slow so far). I guess there's not a whole lot of running traffic down Missouri Ave.

It didn't start raining until I had about 30 min left to run. Even then it was more of a relief than a nuisance, as it tended to be a light mist rather than a steady rain. The commencement of rainfall coincided with the timeframe I began to feel the long run in a way that slowed me down a bit on some of the uphills later in the route.

Somehow I rallied for the final 3 miles or so and finished stronger than I started. This is a great feeling and it jives with the general increase in strength I've been sensing of late. Even my feet felt better throughout the run and haven't bothered me afterward, a trend that has been increasing over the past week. I feel good about today's effort in that I tried to hold myself back in the beginning, found a groove that was slightly upset by some late-stage fatigue, and overcame it with a second wind. 15.1 miles, 1:56:51.

Yesterday was 5 boring miles on the treadmill (41 min) followed by some strength work.

Looking forward to what promises to be a low key weekend filled with card games and good company.

Wednesday morning I stretched my morning commute out to 10 miles. Gave me 1:23:18 worth of run, the pace of which tended to increase as the minutes passed by. Started out pretty slow though, and this was mentally a pretty tough run just because I hadn't had much of a rest after Tuesday night. By the end I was feeling a little beat up, especially my feet.

Today I met Rob in the park well before dawn for a loop I've done once or twice with him in the past. I can never remember the route when I try to map it because it's so dark when we've run it, but I'm guessing it's about 7.5 miles. Today it went by in 57:42. Feet felt OK during and even better after the run.

I have the rare opportunity to play hooky from work tomorrow, and I'll be looking to catch up on a bit of downtime that I seem to be lacking lately. Catch you later!

Earthquake Mile Repeats

Decided in light of my tiredness yesterday evening and my tardiness to bed that I would run after work today and sleep in a little bit.

The quake today shook things up on many levels besides literally. I'm sure others were mentally derailed afterward as well, but I went into the day with some work-related baggage and the afternoon rumbling only left me even less focused.

I've been wanting to get back to some speedwork, and today I decided on 3-4 mile repeats. Not sure where there's a reliable track in Bethesda, so I found a one-mile stretch of trail near the office to walk to after leaving the office. The anticipation of some faster miles actually made me a little anxious for the few hours leading up to them. Some mental hurdles to overcome I suppose.

Began with a 15 minute warmup that included a few strides. Did some light stretching at the head of the mile stretch and then I was off. The trail heads downhill at a gentle grade until the turnaround point, so I expected a slight disparity between the downhill and uphill splits. Just over 6 minutes seemed like a reasonable target. I would jog for 2 minutes between reps.

When I looked at my watch within sight of the turnaround on the first repeat I already knew I'd overdone it. First split came in at 5:51. Maybe with some practice I can nail 4 miles at that pace, but that was a stretch today.

This realization stuck with me during the second mile, now uphill. I started struggling with a minute or so remaining and eventually my insides protested and I was forced to slow down to prevent a GI disaster. This has happened more than once this summer, particularly on hot days, but today I guess the intensity upset things. I probably could have paid more attention to what I'd eaten throughout the day as well. Noted. Second mile 6:17.

Luckily there was a coffee shop within a few blocks at this point. I walked a bit and took an extended recovery between repeats 2 and 3. I knew I had to redeem myself, but my already heavy legs suggested I wouldn't get back down to my goal pace. I revised my plan and my only goal was to run the next two miles within a few seconds of each other.

They went 6:24 and 6:24. I was happy to be done and wrapped up with a short warm down. Total for the day is 7 miles in about 50 minutes. Clock stopped for the bathroom break.

In the end it wasn't the workout I'd hoped or imagined it would be but I'm happy I was able to bring things back under control for the latter half. I expect my pace to come down over the next few weeks but it's all in how much practice I get in. Next time I'll check my enthusiasm and make sure I run more reservedly to start and hopefully come out with some more consistent splits. Today's average split was 6:14.

"Turtle Ahead!"

Some dude yelled out as I passed him in the other direction on the Rock Creek trail headed south the other day. I spent a few seconds trying to figure out what he meant: someone walking, or a slower runner, a la rabbit and the hare? A pile of poo?

Turned out to be a turtle crossing the trail. Ha. Hope he made it across safely.

Got a nice note from Seebo, who appears to be doing pretty well despite some setbacks earlier this year. Oh, how I've come to know those setbacks. But I'm pretty sure he's the one who convinced me that they always pass.

The weather was pretty ideal this morning (for this time of year, anyway). Picked up about 6.4 miles on the way to work via the route I've been biking and running from Glover Park (think north Georgetown), where I've been housesitting for the past couple weeks. When I hit the Capital Crescent trail I crossed paths with a woman running behind a stroller. I lagged behind her a bit and it was as if my presence made her push harder. I love this, not sure if it's out of a competitive drive or what, but the same thing tends to happen to me when someone hops on my tail. She was quite a badass, and I couldn't quite keep up with her today. Stretched it out to the gym, where I finished up with about 30 min of core/weights. 50:30 running.

I suspected the run home would be sluggish, and it was. I've been covering the roughly 4-mile stretch in about 30 min flat, but today it lasted over 31. This was part design, part tiredness. Hit a lot of traffic lights, just not a very enjoyable run.

But now it's getting late, and I've got an early morning. Ciao!

Update

Running off to a BBQ here in a minute, but just wanted to lay down how the rest of the week turned out. I'm still trying to get back in the habit of tracking daily mileage, but I'm not quite there yet. So, from memory:

Wed: 6 mi/48 min to work, 4 mi/30 min back home - tired and feeling sluggish for both

Thurs: 7 or 8 miles, 58 min (unmapped) in the very early AM with Rob, RCP - very hilly, tough run but decent energy and the hill repeats seem to be helping

Fri: 5 miles easy on the treadmill, 41 min, with 10x20 sec pickups (~5:40 pace) over the last 15 min - refreshing run, followed by some core/weights

Today I met Rob in RCP earlyish for an anticipated 15 miles or about 2 hours. Wound up with over 17 in about 2:10. Energy was great for the entire run. Was worried that I hadn't brought anything to eat but I turned out not to need it. Rob's great about injecting some higher intensity every now and then, and we ended up taking the 4 uphill miles along the CCT toward Bethesda at a low-7s clip. This felt fine but unfortunately Rob ran out of gas as a result and we slowed to high 8's for the traverse back to Rock Creek Park. Had some sore heels for the final few miles (as they've been in general these days) but nothing serious.

That puts me at about 57 for the week which is probably one of the highest volume weeks I've had in a few years. I feel less beat up than I have after some 20-30 mile weeks I've had in the past year, so I'm not sure what I'm doing differently (maybe the two-a-days??) but whatever it is I'll take it.

Well I'll Be

Funny that after posting yesterday about a change in format it seems that gmap-pedometer.com has indeed done exactly that. That's a site I use for mapping distance and have found it pretty handy for the past several years. There are now options to save routes and workouts to a profile, with the ability to generate graphs and tallies. Awesome. So I'll mooch off that until I get bored with it. Then what?

7.6 in 55:39 along the CCT in Bethesda. Looking for an hour but I ran quicker than anticipated so I finished up just shy. After some initial right heel soreness dissipated (the intitial 15 min or so) I couldn't help but dial the pace down. Felt very smooth and got the sense that I'm now past any residual marathon fatigue. Rode the bike in today so no evening run.

Weekly Update

This is becoming a weekly thing at best. I'm contemplating whether I want to keep it in its current format or move on to something leaner. I've enjoyed sites like the Daily Mile and others that exclude the narrative and tally mileage automatically. There's also the thought of venturing down the wrist computer path again, since most of them seem to minimize the time needed to keep track of things. All for the sake of time. Blerg.

Anyhow, happy to be running as much as I am, and feeling pretty good about how things have been going. The plantar fasciitis has lingered but not really limited me in any way. Got my fingers crossed that it'll pass like it did last time.

Haven't set any concrete goals for the season and I guess it's for the best. Apparently I may be jumping in Marine Corps in October, but it's yet to be confirmed. For now just building up the weekend longer runs. Saturday's was about 13, the upcoming weekend or two will be closer to 15 or 16.

Today, 6@8:00 0n the way to work, 4@7:30 on the way home.

Tallies

There. Uphill, averaging about 8:00s.

Back. Downhill, still averaging 8:00s.

Did the run commute today. First time I've ever run both ways in a day. Pretty tuckered on the way home but all things considered, not too bad. That gives me about 14 on the day and over 20 already for the week, not that I'm keeping track. Did the last 1/2-mile in the AM barefoot on the CCT. I'd love to do this 2-3 times a week, but I figure it'll take some time to build to that. Tomorrow will be low key and then perhaps another Thursday hill repeat session.

Tell Him I'm Flyin'

If he asks you, was I runnin'

Tell him I'm flyin'

- Traditional

Can't seem to keep up with this blog these days. I spent 10 days in Canada and got engaged. Maia and I will marry next year sometime. I proposed in a canoe on Lake Huron. We didn't capsize.

Running is going well. Out of the 10 days in Canada, I ran 8.

Today was about 9.5 miles. 6 in the morning, 3.5 after work. Looking forward to some hill repeats tomorrow. See you soon!