I first learned about the Obama-Biden ticket at 10:30 yesterday morning. As I ran south on East 9th Street, a scrolling marquee on the Key building reported the news. Though I would have seen this had I turned on a television or computer before my run, it was still nice to have the information delivered so conveniently.
Yesterday's run:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2199021
It was a long run and it felt very long. Traveling from the west side to the east side probably contributed a lot to this, downtown acting as a sort of mental wall. The most challenging times were leaving downtown and traveling the improved but desolate Euclid Corridor, and scaling the Mayfield hill after a water break at Joe and Sheila's. And the last mile. The last mile was rough. I didn't have much left in the tank, and for the second straight Saturday my left hip and right knee proved bothersome. My hip is feeling fine today, but the knee is still tender.
These day-to-day aches and pains may just be minor annoyances that end up resolving themselves, but even so I think they are indicative of the challenges inherent to this phase of the experience. At this point, not much is easy. Having finished 11 of 18 weeks, my official training is now over 60% complete. As I mentioned to Evan on Friday, that seems to be the toughest part of the Saturday runs as well. You're past the halfway point, but the novelty has worn off and it's too early to start considering yourself "almost done". That's sort of how this whole thing feels right now.
In previous entries I have alluded to the factor music plays in my running, but it deserves an exclusive post. Since getting a nano a few years ago, I have in general brought it along on my runs when I am out on my own. I have noticed that the music provides a discernible boost, and in the past this has been a wholly good thing. But this year, when I am worried not only about going too slow, but also too fast, I am finding that running with tunes sometimes makes it hard to take it easy.
This point was driven home on last Saturday's run. I was a couple miles from finishing, pretty near the end of my rope and probably needing to coast in, when the arrival of Ben Kweller's This Is War quickened my stride almost involuntarily. Crazy.
I do still think music is more of a help than a hindrance right now. It gives my mind something to ponder besides fatigue, and going at a fast clip has not hurt me thus far (fingers crossed). I won't have music during the marathon, but the presence of so many other runners, spectators, skyscrapers, and adrenaline should more than compensate.
Beyond speed, music often promotes some other funny extracurriculars. The right song can often induce in the author one or more of the following:
-snapping
-grinning or tongue wagging-breathless backing vocals
-air guitar or air drums
-air conducting or other forms of "beat punctuation"
-stutter stepping to match the song's rhythm or a particularly satisfying fill
These things surely look goofy, and I can recall at least one instance of being laughed at by passing bikers. Furthermore, these behaviors do nothing to conserve energy or preserve a proper running form. They have little purpose, but they are fun and generally feel like natural expressions of an exuberant spirit. On the good days, running feels a lot like worship, and music is a part of that.
Now would be a good time to list some songs I like running to, but because songs are so suited for different reasons, I'll categorize the tunes a little.
Some are just examples of solid, straightforward, upbeat rock. Good driving rhythm:
The Walkmen - Little House of Savages
Radiohead - Airbag
Spoon - Don't You Evah
Some have a beat that really correlates with my stride, helping me to either hold steady or recalibrate:
The Shins - Sea Legs
The Stills - The Mountain
Other songs are simply joyous and inspiring. It would be near impossible for me to stop running during one of these:
Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Feel the Illinoise!
Maps - So Low, So High
A select few infuse my pace with a sense of purpose, as if the safety of the world's schnauzer population depends on my not slowing down:
Snow Patrol - Run
Arcade Fire - Intervention
Finally, some songs have a section that sort of "blooms", delivering a jolt of euphoria that inspires some of the activities mentioned above:
Menomena - Muscle'n Flo
U2 - Zooropa
Guster - Parachute
If these selections were assembled into a playlist and looped, I could probably run the 26 miles in less than three hours, then collapse in a gelatinous heap.
Week 10 is in the books. I was slated to run 15 miles yesterday, but ended up going 16 because I wanted to get as far west as Clague Park in Westlake, where I was reasonably sure I'd be able to find water.
In my previous four workouts I had been running with others, which helped rein in my pace. But on my own yesterday, I was back to running a little too fast. A nice run though, overall. I was feeling really great at the halfway point and it wasn't until the last two or three miles that the going got tougher. Once I finished, my knees and ankles staged a delayed revolt, and it was a little while before I was walking normally again. Even now my legs feel a bit achy, but I expect they'll be back to their old selves once Tuesday's short run rolls around.
It is kind of fun to be constantly raising the bar of distances that I have gone, but I am also finding that the satisfaction is accompanied by what I guess could best be described as a sense of isolation. As the training progresses and nears its peak, I am feeling acutely the difference between my Saturdays and those of a typical person. While other folks may be enjoying a leisurely breakfast, I am applying Body Glide and suntan lotion to protect my skin and making sure I have a charged iPod and Gatorade cooling in the fridge. I travel on foot to far off locales, and when I turn around to head back home I am invariably in a spot that, had I been dropped there at random, I would consider myself more or less stranded. I used to be able to casually describe what I was doing as "going out for a run", but this is a less accurate label when the runs are two hours in length.
Now, though it is challenging, I am not saying that the way I spend my Saturday mornings is inherently better or worse than eating pancakes. I hope it is a good use of my time and energy, but sometimes it just feels like a weird choice. I have developed a freakish ability that has little real-world application, unless I were being chased by a determined but slow creature that could not exceed 8 mph.
If these last few paragraphs have a point, I suppose it's to say that it's harder to describe my weekend to others when my Saturday workouts are 16 miles long instead of more rational 6 mile jaunts. I don't expect them to understand and I'm not sure that I do fully. The whole "training for a marathon" line is a good cover, but hopefully I can arrive at a better sense of what exactly I'm doing before this is finished.
Last Wednesday, as I approached the Whippoorwill playground a couple of miles from my apartment, I noticed a guy probably in his twenties who appeared to be at the beginning of his personal mohawk journey. He struck me as a serious looking fellow, so I was surprised when, as I got closer, he stoically extended his arm over the short chain-link fence to give me five. I was more than happy to oblige. I don't know why he felt the need to offer a hand slap, but it struck me as oddly meaningful.
I wanted to post that story so that I would have a record of the event and also to highlight the fact that encouragement in my training has come from a lot of different sources.
One of the more obvious ones has been my fundraising page. As of a week ago (and only about two weeks after sending out my fundraising e-mail), I (or rather, my donors) had surpassed my goal for World Vision. The speed at which this happened, everyone's generosity, and their well wishes were all both inspiring and humbling. It's nice to know that I have so many people in my corner, even if some of them think I'm nuts. My intent is to put together more of a concerted "thank you" effort, but for now I would like give a quick shout out to my donors. Your donations and kind words are very much appreciated and I will do my best to honor them as I train and race.
If you have not yet donated but would still like to, please feel free. I have fulfilled my obligation to World Vision, but additional dollars will help just as much to provide clean water to those in Africa.
Cheers.
Dylana was finally able to get me to slow down this week. All it took was her coming to Cleveland and jogging next to me during the Saturday run.
D was in town to play in a wedding on Saturday afternoon, so we were able to meet up in the morning and run our ten-miler together. She had planned a route earlier in the week that included a bunch of familiar streets in the Cleveland Heights / Shaker Lakes neighborhood. So after a delicious smoothie and Crispix breakfast, I took the Rapid to the University Circle area where our run began.
This was probably my most casual Saturday workout thus far. We had a small map of D's serpentine route, but road closings and a couple of wrong turns rendered it sort of inaccurate as things progressed. We also made a couple of quick stops, including a water/conversation break at Wayne's apartment. Because of all this, it is difficult to say exactly how far we ran or how long it took, but running with a friend really helped to pass the time and soak up the miles. As a bonus, Dylana's alertness probably saved me from being hit by an oncoming truck. Nothing like running with a buddy.
The new addition this week was a fuel belt, which Dylana had me tote so that we could hydrate during the run. It's basically a stretchy Velcro belt with a couple of stretchy pockets that hold streamlined water bottles. The whole thing was less cumbersome than I thought it would be, though it seemed to need regular adjusting on my waist and significantly altered my butt's moment of inertia. Coworkers have offered to let me borrow their belts for the remainder of training (I have a choice between black and pink). I'd really prefer to run without one, but it's probably the best way to carry water if fountains are scarce along some of my longer routes.
I'm not sure if Dylana would agree, but I thought the run was a rousing success. I never really found myself thinking about the clock and was able to just enjoy covering the miles. I want to make a good showing in the marathon, but at the same time there will be so much going on that I want to fully absorb. Saturday was good absorption practice. It was also nice to finish up week 9 with the person who got me into this whole mess (and who has also been a great encouragement throughout). It felt like a fitting way to mark the halfway point of our training (weeks, not miles). See you in nine weeks, D.
MacHrubik, using cheap Wilson wristbands instead of Apple accessories...
I shifted my normal routine this past week to one day earlier, in order to run my 13 miler on Friday instead of Saturday. This was because a couple of months ago I signed up at work to participate in the Cleveland Corporate Challenge 10K relay. This meant that I would have to run an all-out mile on Saturday morning, and I didn't want run the week's main workout afterwards. This was a mental aversion as much as a physical one.
So, after work on Friday I ate a Snickers marathon bar during the drive home and then a banana at the apartment while I assembled my gear. My preparations for this run were more extensive than any previous trek. I was trying out one of my new pairs of technologically advanced socks (see below), as well as one of the shirts I picked up during the week. I applied Body Glide and wore wristbands. And to top it all off, I brought along a package of Clif Shot Bloks, these weird, bite-sized energy "bloks" that Dylana had recommended and compared to gummi bears.
I planned a route that would take me past some different spots in Lakewood with water access, most notably Lakewood Park, where I would stop for some water after about five miles and a couple of Shot Bloks.
So how did things turn out? Well, I finished the run. Thirteen miles and 101 minutes. I can report that Body Glide seems to work and that the Shot Bloks are really not anything like gummi bears (not as rubbery), though they probably did give me some sort of boost. Eating while running is still a foreign concept, I hope eventually I can get to the point of not wanting to gag. Overall, it was a tough run. I may give the general impression in this blog that my workouts are completed with ease, and while that is sometimes true, this one was not easy. There were several highs and lows, but "hanging on by my fingernails" would be a good way to describe the last couple of miles. There is usually a moment during a long run when I get the sense that I've caught the tiger by its tail, when I know I am going to be able to finish. Last week this happened with around three miles to go. On Friday, if I truly felt it, it couldn't have been much further than a half-mile from my driveway. I was wholly exhausted by the time I got home, but there was comfort in the fact that I had completed a half-marathon distance.
The next day I woke up early to run in the 9:00 relay, which was conveniently being held at Edgewater. I don't think the beautifulness of the morning can be overstated. The lake was a deep blue and the areas past the main city skyline still looked a bit misty. I wasn't looking forward to the race but felt that it was worth it to see the city looking so lovely.
I met up with my coworkers and generally enjoyed the carnival-like pre-race atmosphere. There were six runners per team, with each participant going a mile to make up the 10K distance. I was running the second leg and about a quarter-mile in was regretting the whole thing. But halfway through it felt as though my legs just said, "go ahead, man." And boy, it did feel nice to cut loose. Moen didn't end up placing, but I was happy with my time and for the chance to race. My pistons may have been good for nothing the rest of the day, but it was the best kind of tired there is.
