Category Archives: Running

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Running Quandary

As some of you may have already figured out by now, I plan out my longer races in advance. Far in advance. And one thing I’ve been thinking about for a while now is tackling the Walt Disney World Marathon’s Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, in which you run the Half Marathon on Saturday and the full Marathon on Sunday.

Now obviously, were I to do such a thing I wouldn’t be going for a PR. Or even close. I’d be doing it for the experience and fun of it, and taking it slower. But it would be a neat thing to do, and my original thought was that I’d run it in January 2009.

However, this morning it hit me that doing so would make it my ninth full marathon. And perhaps a better idea might be to postpone it until January 2010 and make it the big 10th marathon extravaganza. (Before anyone gets any bright ideas: whatever I run this fall will be #8. I am not going to squeeze another marathon into 2008 so that I can make January 2009 the big 1-0.)

Of course, doing so means that I run the risk of not doing it at all, that perhaps by then I will have decided my time would be better spent doing things like playing Legend of Zelda and Trauma Center and Cooking Mama on the Wii. And I was looking forward to the idea of running it next January. But perhaps postponing would not be such a bad idea.

(Meanwhile, I still need to figure out a fall marathon. I’m probably going to try the NYC Marathon lottery again, but cannot count on that happening. And Julie and Laura have requested that we all run the same marathon this year, which makes NYC even more difficult. Philadelphia and Richmond are on the radar, so far. Hmmmmm.)

Decisions, decisions! Really, I should be worrying about the three races I’ve signed up for this spring (an 8K, a 10-miler, and a half-marathon) but that would be far too easy. Let’s not get silly, now.

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Sleepy Season

If there’s one thing that somehow takes me by surprise every year around this time, it’s my lack of willpower to exercise once it gets dark out. My plan for this evening was to run a quick 4-miler on the lit portion of the W&OD Trail (or if I was feeling really ambitious, finally go run with Pacers in Old Town Alexandria again) as soon as I got off from work. And until about an hour ago, I was firmly on board with this decision.

But as it’s started to get dim outside, my energy level has been dropping rapidly. With it, my excitement level abot going running. And this is hardly the first time this has happened this month. There’s just something about gearing up to go running after dark that saps my motivation, big time. If it was dark but warm, that’s somehow doable. But dark and cold? Forget it. So plans to knock out 4-to-6 miles tonight are rapidly falling by the wayside. (I would’ve run this morning but schedule-wise, it just wasn’t in the cards for a variety of reasons.) It doesn’t help that my gym has an indoor track instead of a treadmill; as much as I am not a fan of a treadmill, an eighth-of-a-mile track means anything more than five miles or so runs the risk of me getting dizzy and throwing up all over the place. (Not that this has happened yet. And I have knocked out six miles on it just last week. But that doesn’t mean I will like it.)

I’m not going to say it’s some sort of seasonal mood disorder, but I can’t help but note that come spring this little motivation problem will be mostly gone. Of course, by that point three months of eating with minimal exercise may have also taken their toll. *sigh* We’ll see if I can rev up a bit of energy in the next hour or so to get myself moving or not.

(Maybe I’ll just hang pictures of fat that’s been liposuctioned off of people all over my office with a note, “Do you want this all over your belly?” written underneath it. Fear as a motivator is a strong one.)

If I don’t go running tonight, though, I will make myself get up early tomorrow to hit the gym then. Honest.

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Should We Talk About the Weather?

Well, we sure aren’t going to talk about the government. (Sorry, iTunes randomly kicked up Pop Song ’89 from R.E.M. a minute ago and its lyrics are jumping through my head.)

Anyway, this has been a nice weekend. It was off to a bad start—really bad stomach cramps kept me up most of Thursday night/Friday morning, which was unpleasant and exhausting. I ended up staying home from work, although I did polish off some revisions to a course for Julie before going back to sleep for a couple of hours. Had a nice night on the town out with a bunch of the guys; saw some old friends I haven’t run into for ages, made some new ones as well. My pretty bad alcohol tolerance (which has been getting worse and worse since mid-2001 when marathon training started and I stopped drinking on Friday nights, and then even moreso after dropping all that weight in 2004) wasn’t helped by having almost no food in my stomach thanks to the earlier-mentioned cramps, and I can only imagine that I made a blithering fool of myself. Still, if you’re going to do so, being in a bar with friends who are also drinking is absolutely the way to do it.

(When the dust settled, I walked over to Charlie’s to see how painting an accent wall in his condo was coming along; he drove me home although by that point it’d been long enough I was stone-cold sober, but why risk an accident?)

Saturday was primarily a couple of errands in the morning (the Home Depot paint counter at 11am can best be described as chaos, hold the theory) and Chip’s tree-decorating party in the evening, which was fun. It also reminds me that I need to get my own Christmas tree, now that everything is re-arranged so I have room once more. Hopefully later this week.

Then today was the start of my winter running program, which is using “explosive running” (sounds like a different kind of stomach ailment if you ask me) and focuses on shorter distances. It was a low-key but good start to the program; I’m really excited about future weekend installments. (And in the future I will make sure to remember that it starts at 8:30am and not 8:00am. Oops.) Add in a brunch, and finally carting the old bookcases out of my place, and life is pretty good.

It is, however, clearly winter in the DC area. This morning for my running program I had on long running pants (which I bought at the OBX Marathon expo and are fantastic; they’re tapered so they stay much closer to the legs and keep you warmer, while not ever turning into tights), a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt over it, and then a jacket over that. (Plus gloves and a hat.) The jacket came off once we got warmed up, but towards the end of our cool-down stretching it had to come back on. It’s just the right kind of winter weather, too; cold but not frigid, just that sort of snap on your face that lets you know you’re alive and the seasons have shifted again.

(If I need an extra barometer of the weather changing, it would be my calves itching this morning. If I have to start applying the lotion to the arms and legs, it is definitely winter.)

Oh, last but not least? Apparently, you better all lock up your Christmas tree stands if you have them, because otherwise I will come in and steal them out of your houses. Even if the stand is in fact mine and has my name on it. I learn something new every day, myself. Christmas tree stands, here I come!

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Two Hours, Two Races (or, Things I’ll Never Do Again)

Before you run a race, there will at some point come that moment where (despite the amount of nervousness before and after), you believe you can do anything. Climb Mount Everest? No problem. Bench press 3000 pounds? Piece of cake. Fortunately, said moment passes pretty quickly. The problem, I’ve discovered, is when you are given something much more sane but still slightly nuts, because then later on you might still want to do it. Like, oh, run two Thanksgiving Trot races the morning of Thanksgiving, two hours apart, a mere 11 days after your marathon.

8:00am brought the first race, the Arlington Turkey Trot 5K. This is a new race, in its second year, that runs through the neighborhood streets of Clarendon. The combination of it being Arlington (we love our running) and a gorgeous, 70-degree day meant a huge turn-out, probably over 800 people (last year was around 400) and general chaos. I got to walk to the start from my apartment, and the area was festive and exciting. Of course, what I was forgetting was that since this race is in Clarendon, that means it is a race full of hills.

I’d set out to beat my 5K PR from two years ago (a 26:23), which was on a nice flat course and where I was much more rested. Still, anything was possible. I actually ran into my cousin Ann about a mile into the race; she’d caught up with me, but then quickly dropped back. When two miles in I was at 16:15 total, I knew that barring disaster it wouldn’t be a problem to PR. About half a mile later, I also knew that I was suddenly and without warning out of energy. This was a problem. Gasping and dying on those hills, I did the only thing I could; much to my shame, I walked for about 30 seconds until I got to the top of another colossal hill before I carried on. I finished in a 25:40 (meaning the last 1.1 miles were at an 8:34 average), which while not the finishing time I was hoping for (heck, I ran my 3-mile training run in May at a 23:46) was still good enough.

Afterwards I hung out with Ann, ran into no less than two different acquaintances through running (Ted and then Deborah), and decided that running the other Turkey Trot was crazy. Completely ludicrous. I was still a little sore from the marathon, it seemed, I should just stay home. But one more race meant an extra helping of Thanksgiving dinner.

And so…

Continue reading Two Hours, Two Races (or, Things I’ll Never Do Again)→

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Outer Banks Marathon — The Photologue

Giving credit where credit is due, the photographers at TriDuo.com did a fantastic job with photographing the OBX Marathon. I liked my pictures enough that I actually ordered a CD-ROM with high-res images, but in the meantime, here’s some amusement for everyone. (Sadly nothing quite hits the, “Help me I am lost and have amnesia” photo’s level of hilarity from the Firenze Marathon last year, but still, good stuff.)

This is my absolute favorite picture from the marathon; we’re exiting Nags Head Preserve Woods and I just love how you can see the varied terrain of the marathon here as well as the big grin on my face. Don’t get me wrong, the last mile of the woods was true trail-running, straight up and down, and it was hard as hell and I was thrilled to escape it, but at the same time? I really enjoyed it.
The secret to getting your picture taken? When you see the photographer, do something to pay up to the camera. This year my strategy was “pump the fist in the air.” A nice sort of victory stance. And it worked well.

Continue reading Outer Banks Marathon — The Photologue→

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Greg vs. the Outer Banks Marathon

Well, this morning I went up against the Outer Banks Marathon… and emerged mostly triumphant!

My plan was to break the race down into three segments; a slower 10 miles, a faster 10 miles, and then an even faster final 10k (aka 6.2 miles). And up through mile 14, things went great.

Then, two things happened in rapid succession. First, someone decided they were going to drive across the course without checking for runners first, and stopped about a foot and a half from me (and only because I screamed, “Whatareyoudoing?” really loudly and with a real edge of panic in my voice). Then, about 45 seconds later, my right calf muscle tightened up and never really let go. I stretched it out as best I could and kept going.

I finally briefly crashed and burned in the 25th mile; my knees were starting to kill me (they’d begun to ache around mile 20) and I ended up walking the majority of that mile. Once I only had 1.2 miles left to go, though, I forced myself to keep running again and finished in 4:29:06 — a new personal record. (My previous best in November 2006 was a 4:46:48.)

It was a beautiful course (or at least the first half was, the second half was primarily highways) and I’m delighted with my finishing time considering the physical pains I was going through.

Phew! It was a tough, but good day.

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Finish Line Predictions: OBX 2007 Edition

Ok everyone, it’s time for the fourth iteration of the fabulous game show that gives out prizes1: Guess Greg’s Finishing Time!

Here are the details/rules:

Guesses must be made no later than 11:59pm (Eastern Time) on Saturday night. No waiting until it’s over to guess! It doesn’t matter if you are “over” or “under” the time, but in the impossible case of a tiebreaker, the more flattering option is the winner.

You don’t have to include seconds in your guess, but that can very well make the difference between winning and losing. I’ll also reveal that this year I’ve been training at a 9:00min/mile pace, while last year was a 9:30min/mile pace. You can even look at all my past race times if you think that will help.

Guessing that I won’t finish the marathon is not only an immediate disqualification, but will also earn you a punch in the stomach the next time I see you. Hard. You have been warned that I find such predictions intensely unfunny.

Good luck on your predictions! You too many soon join the ranks of Neil, Krista, and Rick (winners for MCM 2005, National Half 2006, and Firenze 2006)…

1 And by prizes, I mean none. But you get to bask in the glory of winning, that’s exciting, right?

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Spectator Sport

Waking up this Sunday felt odd to me, as it should have—it was the first time in six years where on the day of the Marine Corps Marathon, I slept in. I’d run the race four years in a row, 2002 through 2005, with varying results. And while I’d gotten my best performance yet in 2005, I’d decided that with the chaos of the newly expanded field that year (upping the number of registrations from 22,000 to 30,000) that until things were under control, I’d find other races to run. In 2006, working for AIDS Marathon meant that I was out on the field from 5am to 5pm; hardly a restful break from MCM. So this year, everything would be a little different.

I’d remembered last year that the Metro was an utter madhouse even an hour and a half after the race began; Pam, Brent, and I had set up a cheering station at mile 2.5 before heading into Crystal City to establish our new base camp there, and that was negotiating with a pair of bicycles to boot. Oof. So when Laura and I made plans to meet at Crystal City, I decided that three hours would be plenty of time to get to our spot and avoid the chaos.

Oh, stop laughing. Yes, I was still being naive. The Metro was crushed full of people, well beyond capacity as every last millimeter was taken up by human flesh. Saying it was an uncomfortable ride was an understatement, but eventually we arrived and began to watch for our friends—in our pace group, Andreas, Dave, Dvora, Erika, and Paul were all running, plus I was planning to keep my eyes open for good friends (and fellow trainees) Carla and Karen.

Marathon GlimpseEven as a spectator, the large numbers of runners meant that watching was nothing short of chaotic. The one half-decent picture I managed to snap was actually pretty late into the day, if only because earlier the throngs of people meant you couldn’t get a good shot of the scene; just a mess of limbs and technical fabrics moving by in a blur. It also meant it was hard trying to see our friends. I don’t think it’s a small coincidence that the two we never saw (Dave and Erika) weren’t wearing their old AIDS Marathon singlets; being able to pick out that bright yellow made life much easier.

Being at the point on the course where miles 22 and 23.5 (or so) intersected meant it was interesting to see the different form that runners were in. Some people blasted through both parts of the course with the greatest of ease, while others were clearly out of fuel, stumbling along as best they could. One poor runner got a sudden, massive cramp right in front of us and came to an immediate stop with a look of pain on his face. After a minute of massaging it, he moved on, slowly and awkwardly at first but then some small amount of grace returning with time.

In addition to seeing most of whom I’d hoped to (Andreas, Dvora, Paul, Carla, Karen) there were a couple of nice surprises as well; Karen Kelly, whom I’d worked with at AIDS Marathon, was trucking along with such ease you’d have thought she did a marathon every day. Seeing Beechy (an AIDS Marathon staffer who transferred to the Chicago office earlier in the year after the DC office closed) was another nice surprise; the glee on his face as he gave me a big hug was heartening.

It was a fun, if more than a little tiring day. I’m jazzed about the Outer Banks Marathon on November 11th, now, especially with another trip to the podiatrist under my belt yesterday. Fingers crossed, this could be a good one.

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Life’s (Not-Welcome) Little Surprises

My Monday morning had started out well enough. I’d gotten up early so I could go to the gym and knock out an easy 4-miler, then use the weight machines. I’d made it out my apartment’s front door and down the five steps to the exit to my building—and that’s when I saw glass all over the ground.

Violation

Some jerk had broken two of the panes of glass in our building’s front door. I couldn’t help but notice that they were the two closest to the building’s doorknob; the insinuation is certainly that someone did this in order to get inside. Now, that might not be it at all. It could just be some kid being a jerk, or a complete and utter accident. But none the less, it’s hard to not draw that sort of conclusion.

I’ve been fortunate enough to never end up getting robbed. I was attacked (blatantly) by pickpockets in Italy twice back in 1999, but I’ve never come home to find that someone’s been in my home and taking all of my prized possessions. I hope to keep things that way, to be honest. My first response was to just stare at the destruction, shocked that someone would do that. Then I got a little pissed off and angry at whatever jerk did this.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand, then I ran for my camera. I am, if nothing else, slightly predictable. (When I got back from the gym I then took a second set of pictures that turned out much better. Probably because I was thinking a little clearer.)

By the time I got home in the evening, the rental office had already stripped all the glass out of the door (they were sweeping up the stuff on the floor before I even returned from the gym) and temporarily nailed a big sheet plexiglass over the window in the door. All that mess and destruction and 18 hours later, it’s already gone. And don’t get me wrong, I’m still irritated at whomever did that, but I wasn’t hurt and to the best of my knowledge neither was anyone else in the building. So all’s well that ends well, right? A minorly distressing event, but I’m past it. Onwards, right?

In a tangential piece of news, I also received news yesterday that neither Julie nor I got into the New York City Marathon. It’s funny, I’d assumed that either both of us would get in, or one of us would and the other wouldn’t and we’d have to figure out a new strategy. It honestly hadn’t struck me that neither one of us would make it in. That was pretty unexpected. And having to scratch our plans for the marathon sucks, perhaps because I already had to scratch one other race earlier this year that I’d really been looking forward to.

Still, at least we didn’t end up with the “one person made it in and the other did not” dilemma. We’d promised that we would both run the same marathon this year but I suspect that had that situation actually happened, the person who didn’t make it in would have pushed the other to do so. So both of us not getting it is better than just one. We’re eyeing another couple of options now and will probably decide in the next week or two what we’re going to tackle.

Life is full of little surprises.

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People Really Do Win on MTV!

I try, whenever I can, to participate with a local running group on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Pacers holds “fun runs” on those evenings and it’s a nice chance to see some fellow runners and friends and tackle things like the horrors of the Custis Trail (and its 900 hills), or wonder how long until a car tries to run us over as we hoof it through Old Town Alexandria.

The Clarendon location of Pacers, as part of their gearing up for the inaugural Battle of the Boulevard 10K, has gotten sponsorship from Brooks for their Thursday night runs. I’ve missed those runs up until this week, but was happy to finally get to participate last night. The theme of the evening was a scavenger hunt, where everyone was given a little laminated sheet of paper with 11 questions on it about the evening’s running route. And just like that, we were off.

Chris S. and I realized a fatal flaw in the evening’s plan almost instantly. Namely, ballpoint pens and laminated paper don’t often mix well. Doubly so while you’re running just under five and a half miles of nasty hills. Oops. Still, that didn’t stop us as we tried to look for the answers to each question while continuing to keep a steady pace. (Just under 9min/miles, which for this hard-as-nails course is a major victory in my book. Oh, how I hate the hills in my neighborhood. Especially those along the Custis Trail.) Once the ludicrousness of the situation had sunk in, we ended up laughing our heads off at the idea of even trying to puzzle through the 11 questions and enjoyed the run.

Well, enjoyed the run while still keeping an eye cocked for the answers. After all, the first place prize was a $125 gift certificate for Brooks shoes and gear, and I’m not going to say no to that, right?

When we finished, sheets of paper were handed out that you could actually write your answers on, and then everyone adjourned around the corner to Mr. Days where appetizers plus one round of beers were provided courtesy Brooks as well. Chris had to leave early but I stuck around (and ran into Elvis from last year’s AIDS Marathon program, which was a nice surprise) and had a lite beer (which bizarrely actually tasted good) and one or two small munches of food. Finally, the results were in, with the organizers first reading off the answers before then saying who won what. When I realized I had gotten nine of the eleven answers correct and the fifth-place winner had gotten much less, I knew things were looking very promising indeed.

Victory!
And, sure enough, I claimed myself a second-place finish, which was a whopping $100 gift certificate. As someone who wears Brooks shoes to begin with, I’m quite happy with my firm decision to memorize as many answers as I could. And to think, earlier in the day I was even telling myself how lucky I felt and I actually bought a lottery ticket. Who knows? Right now I just feel like the sky’s the limit. Here’s to a great time.