an upward trend

Paul and I went for a short run near the beginning of this year, during one of those unseasonably warm winter days. I'm not sure how far we went (it couldn't have been much more than 3 miles) or even what month it was.

Other than that one instance, I have been logging my daily mileage on an 8.5 x 11 calendar at work. Assuming the numbers for April are correct (I didn't start keeping track until May and had to try and piece April together), my mileage by month is as follows:







Or in graphical form:















This is no longer a game. August is going to be rough.

the right equipment

I am targeting tomorrow as a shopping day to purchase some helpful items for the remainder of my training, the idea being I'd like the Saturday runs to start approximating the marathon itself.

The first thing that means is that I'll be wearing shirts during the long runs. It's more enjoyable to run without one, but I don't think that would fly with the Bank of America people. I received my official shirt from World Vision a couple of weeks ago (silky smooth and oh so light) and I'd like to get one more high-performance shirt to pair with it since laundry happens every two weeks.

With shirts comes the need for some sort of anti-chafing agent. I've worn the World Vision shirt during my last two long runs, and on Saturday my nipples registered their first complaints of the season. Nothing serious, but I'm not going to push my luck. Hello, Body Glide!

The transition to my new shoes has gone fairly well, aside from a blister on the side of my left foot. I think the worst is over, but I'll probably try to find some substance that will prevent it from re-blistering. In a related story, I'm also planning on picking up the best socks I can find.

Finally, since the granola bar didn't work so well, I will move on to the infamous gels that I have heard so much about.

Better running through science! Stimulating the economy! Tomorrow is going to be awesome.

the longest run of my life

Yesterday's long run was 12 miles, the first 10+ distance on the schedule and actually the first time in my life I had ever gone much past ten. I felt nervous about it during the week because the final mile of last weekend's seven-miler was a real struggle. I could not have lasted much longer. What would happen when I had to tack on an additional five miles?

As it turned out, besides being the longest run of my life, it was probably one of the best. For my route I decided to go from my front door to my parents' front door in Bay Village. My folks were planning on going to the West Side Market that day and could drop me back off on their way.

Beyond the distance itself, the morning featured some other firsts. I brought along a small granola bar with the expectation of enjoying a mid-workout snack, something I had never tried. I figured I should start getting acclimated to eating while I run since I will need the nourishment during the marathon. I unwrapped the bar just before my water break at seven miles (at the Remein house). Part of it may have been that I wasn't very hungry, but it felt very unnatural to try to chew and swallow food mid-run. I could only manage half before calling off the experiment.

I also decided this time out to listen to full albums on my iPod instead of leaving things up to shuffle mode. I chose the Black and White Album by the Hives and Coldplay's Viva La Vida, which both worked well despite being very different LPs.

Going with the full albums was mostly a good thing. As my marathon preparations have become more of a grind, it's been tougher to keep things fun. I think it helped yesterday to go through a couple of albums that I really enjoy. Instead of wondering what would come over my headphones next, I had specific songs and "album moments" to look forward to. The main disadvantage was that, as opposed to an endless expanse of shuffled tunes, records have a beginning, middle, and end. I always had some sense of how far along I was (and conversely, how far I had left to go), and there were a couple of times it was discouraging. The toughest part of the run may have been when the Hives finished up and I knew I had to keep running through another entire LP. So I may try this again, I may switch back to shuffling, we'll see. And yes, the fact that the workouts are so long that I am even making these decisions is frightening.

Other than what I've already written about, it seemed like a pretty standard run, just longer. Though I hadn't planned the timing out at all beforehand, I got to my parents' driveway just as the final strains of Death and All His Friends faded away. My destination, the distance (12 miles on the nose), and the conclusion of the music all met in one contented moment, and if I happened to let out a celebratory whoop, can you really blame me?

things i have learned so far

With week 6 about to wrap up, it seems like a good time to relay some lessons learned thus far during my training. Here are three that come to mind.

1) Things can improve mid-run.

One of my best runs of the year occurred in early May before official training had begun. I hadn't gone much further than five miles up to that point and I wanted to get a six-miler under my belt just to get a little more acclimated to longer distances. However, once I started I came to the quick realization that my legs were very tired and figured I'd have to cut things short. I kept going though, and by the end of the run I had covered almost seven miles and was feeling good enough to run the last mile at a sub-7:00 pace.

In short, each run is a dynamic experience. Things change from mile to mile and this will be important to remember during the ebb and flow of a 26 mile race.

2) It is stupid to not hydrate.

This is something I should know by now, as drinking water was a favorite topic of Bay High CC coach Dennis Sheppard. I always suspected that if one of us had lost a limb, Shep's prescription would have been, "drink plenty of water".

Water intake has been less of a concern with my mileage ranging from "low" to "microscopic" since high school, but in this marathon summer I am again convinced of its importance. Venturing out unprepared and telling yourself that you will drink up after your run is all well and good, until afterwards when your stomach is full of liquid and you are still thirsty. Bad times.

3) I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am not attempting to tout my body as some sort of wonderland. I more than anyone am aware that it is a relatively quirky assemblage of parts (webbed toes as Exhibit A). But you know, I like it, and it's served me well over the course of 27 years (and notably these last two months).

I don't have an extensive knowledge about 50 or 100 mile ultramarathons, but I get the sense that the general public dismisses the folks who run them as not right in the head. This may be true, but I admire them regardless. They themselves may not think this way, but these runners strike me as fascinating athlete/scientist hybrids, constantly searching for the limits of human endurance. And though I will never try it myself, I see a strange, stark beauty in that. They are living proof of the amazing capabilities of the human body.

I like to think that my regimen is allowing me to connect firsthand with this same thing, only on a miniature scale. I am plumbing the depths of my personal endurance. No matter the distance I run, my body is more than ready to stop by the time I get home. On short 3 mile days, this naturally leads me to wonder how things will turn out during the Saturday long run. But so far, it's almost as if my legs are short order cooks, all too happy (generally) to comply with whatever mileage is ordered. My body has consistently allowed me to run whatever distance is on the daily menu, and that's been one of the most rewarding parts of the process. There is real satisfaction in coming to the end of a task (be it a training run or anything else) and thinking, "you know, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that". The nine and ten mile distances that seemed so intimidating a couple of months ago are now little more than launching pads for even longer (but still intimidating) runs. I guess the incremental nature of the training is doing the trick.

Lead on, Novice 1 training schedule!

double digits

I stayed at my folks' place overnight this past Friday since we were leaving the next day for a family wedding in Mansfield. This made Saturday's long run a morning trek across Bay Village and back. And Bay Village is long.

It was an extremely humid day which made things a little tougher. When I made the turn at Clague Road, home base felt very far away and I started hoping that either Mr. Remein or Mr. Manas would happen to be out on their lawn with a garden hose. They were not, but I kept moving and eventually completed the ten miles, after which I proceeded to transform into my alter-ego, Slippery Man. Could I have gone eleven? No, probably not.

The highlight of the run occurred about a mile in, when I caught sight of and called out to Mr. Knap, one of my old cross country coaches. He slowed his Jeep down enough for us to hold a brief conversation while traveling down the road. I told him I was training for Chicago, which brought a smile to his face. He called it a fun race and told me to take it slow, advice that is quickly becoming the "shoot your eye out" refrain of my training experience. I do think it is good advice though. I also need to start making sure I pass by water fountains during these long runs. Water is fantastic.

In other news, I learned today that I have reawakened the dormant (for me) ability to touch my toes. Things are going to start happening to me now!

hello city

I thought I'd write a short post to report out on yesterday's nine-miler, my first early morning run of the season. I will not include my time here so as to avoid a lecture from Dylana.

In order to make sure I get enough mileage in, I have been using the handy Gmaps pedometer to plan my longer routes in advance. Yesterday's run was a trip downtown and back. It was a beautiful day and everything seemed very serene since it was 9:00 AM on the Fifth of July. I always loved running through the city during my two years downtown and it was nice to return for a visit. One advantage (or silver lining) of these longer runs is that they will afford me the opportunity to go places on foot that were previously too remote for me to consider.

Though I had shadows of the pre-race butterflies before I set out (it'd been almost ten years since I had run this far), overall it was less of an event than I thought it would be. I don't want to minimize the challenge, because there were periods of fatigue and times when the running felt trance-like, but my body seems to put up with whatever I ask of it on any given day, and that is encouraging. I was predictably tired as I neared home, but didn't feel all that bad when I stopped. Could I have gone ten? Probably, but that's really a question for next Saturday. It's most likely a good thing that nine miles came and went without much fanfare, because the training schedule seems to indicate that these numbers will keep getting bigger.

raindrops on roses

My Thursday runs usually take place at lunchtime in the Metroparks near Moen HQ. A bunch of employees run together in what has been loosely termed the Moen running club. Yesterday's rain combined with it being the day before a holiday reduced our number to just myself and a co-worker named Ray, who convinced me to run outside despite the threat of heavy precipitation.

It didn't take long for me to become exceedingly pleased with this decision. The rain held off until about halfway through our run, but after we turned around to head back, le deluge. We got back to Moen pretty well soaked.

It's funny that I generally try to wait out bad weather patterns when contemplating a jog, because rainy day runs are totally excellent. When it's really coming down cats and dogs, running is a truly exuberant experience. During our summer cross country workouts, the team always looked forward to coming across an active sprinkler in someone's yard. In all actuality though, sprinklers are disappointing. You're past the thing in less than a second and actual interaction with water is minimal. A rainstorm actually delivers on this promise of refreshment. It's like sweating, except clean and multiplied a hundredfold. Plus, because the elements are making their presence felt constantly, the water becomes one's main focus. During these times, I find it easier to ignore my pace and wholly concentrate on having fun. Fatigue is almost nonexistent when I run through the rain. Soggy socks are the main drawback of traveling amongst the puddles, but I'd say it's a fair exchange.

I always wonder about the motorists I see while running on a rainy day. If they pity me for getting caught in the rain or think I'm crazy when I can't suppress a grin. They really don't know what they're missing.

eugoogly

For the last four years, I have run in a pair of Saucony Grid Aura TRs. They have been trusty chariots to say the least but have shown a lot of wear in the last year or so. At the end of 2007 I was entering the market for a new pair of running shoes and knew that updated kicks would be a prerequisite if I were to run a marathon.

Several months ago I picked up a pair of Asics 2120s on sale at DSW. They sat in my closet biding their time until last week. With training ramping up, I figured it was time to transition to the new shoes.

So this post is a goodbye of sorts to my beloved Saucs. I will continue to use them for the rest of this summer's Sunday frisbee games, but their days as running shoes have come to an end.

I'm not sure that I can speak for runners in general, but to me there is something special about a good pair of shoes. The relationship does not have a Wilson-the-volleyball level of intensity, but the shoes carry a lot of associated memories. For almost half a decade I entrusted the protection of my feet and the health of my shins and knees to these fellows and they never let me down. They've been with me for a lot of miles and I think that is at least worth a post in the runblog.

The question now becomes what to do with the Sauconys, and I have already entertained some different ideas. Greg suggested a viking funeral. A couple of coworkers were in favor of looping them over a telephone line for all to see. In all honesty, I may take them to Chicago with me so that like Moses, they can at least enjoy a glimpse of the running shoe promised land.

As for the new shoes, I definitely noticed a difference in weight when I laced them up and took to the streets last Wednesday. This is partly because Sauconys are relatively light shoes and partly because my particular pair was mostly worn away. The Asics felt significantly heavier, but also more smooth and padded. Like velvet tanks. They still seem a bit cold and impersonal, but hey, every relationship takes time.