Heart and Soles

Closing up shop...moving to new digs

There are many stories to tell as I continue my life as a runner. But the time has come for me to move on from this location: RunningLikeAnAntelope.blogspot.com

The truth is this: I was asked five years ago by the internet folks at my company to create blog about running to help enhance the new, fledgling website. I guess their standards were pretty low and they were looking for input from any old schmo to add content. Eventually, the company's website got huge, developed tons of content and added more blogs. Somehow, amidst all this, they forgot about me. My blog was suddently no longer listed on the website and they stopped promoting it. I wasn't told anything nor did I say anything.

The strange thing was that the blog didn't disappear. So I kept writing in it, hoping maybe somebody, somewhere might be reading it and enjoying it (thanks, Eric!), especially because it was still free for me. But I no longer want to write in the blog with a big "northjersey.com" banner and an "njmg" URL. If I'm doing it for myself, then why not do it in my own space? The only reason this still exists is that they don't even remember it exists. So I'm going to pack it up and move to my own location; a place that's mine where I can share my experiences with you and whomever happens upon it, even if no one ever does.

So come on over and check me out at RunningLikeAnAntelope.blogspot.com. "Heart and Soles" was already taken by a blog about shoes. And since I will probably be talking a lot more about my Phish phandom over there, the play on the Phish song title seemed appropriate.

13 miles in the rain

I have done long runs in the rain in the past with varied results. Since I avoided stepping in any big puddles until the 12th mile, even the downpours that soaked me did not..ahem..dampen my experience. If nothing else, I felt stronger than usual. With no sun beating down and temps in the low 70s, I felt downright good.

Since I do not bring my iPod on the rainy runs, I not only had no music, but no stopwatch either. It was liberating in a way, but I am curious of my time. 

And I realized why I prefer to have music on my runs. It is not because I need it. Rather, it is because I am going to having music in my head anyway, so why not have it played for me? For almost the whole time on Sunday, I had a strange mental playlist going that included "Shandi" by Kiss, "Legs Forever" by His Name Is Alive and "Sugar Shack" by Phish. Only occasionally was I able to turn my brain off completely, and I found myself jealous of the people that can do that on every run.

Perspective from Eric

Saturday night, I saw an old friend who told me that he has been reading my blog through all these years in which we have not much been able to see each other. He knew of all my running adventures - from the blizzard before the Nittany Valley Half Marathon two years ago to my Missoula Marathon experience last month.

Of my marathons and miles he said to me, "I don't know how you do it."

The answer is simple. You go outside and put one foot in front of the other. Almost anyone can run, but it takes a special kind of person to raise two young boys in this crazy world (and crazier state), putting their needs ahead of his own and still managing to be the same guy everyone knows and loves.

"I don't know how YOU do it," was my response. I hope he starts his own blog.

My fast is slow and my slow is fast

Wednesday's dismal speed work (6:15 miles when I should have been doing 5:58 miles) was followed by a surprising fast short run Thursday.

Physically and mentally hurting from the previous day, I vowed to keep it slow for my five miler. Okay, not "slow", but comfortable - putting in some effort but not pushing it. The outer part of my left leg was in a bit of pain or discomfort. Was it ITB related? A ligament? A tendon? Didn't know, didn't care. I was going to go easy and that was that.

Thinking I was doing a 7:30 pace, I was surprised to see that I finished with a 35:25. That's a 7:05 pace, right around marathon speed.

Clearly, I am way out of tune with my body and have lost ability to know how fast I'm going simply by the amount of effort I put in.

Post-marathon weight gain

After spending weeks watching everything I ate and limiting my calorie intake (1500 plus 100 for every mile run each day), I had brought my weight down to a lean, lithe 145 pounds for the Missoula Marathon. At 5 feet, 10 inches, that is a great fighting weight, but tough to maintain for a guy who loves to eat. So, for the month following the race, I've have been treating myself. I don't go overboard, but I have definitely been eating more for pleasure than for fuel. As such, I have gained seven pounds and I can feel it when I am out there running. Take, for instance, my attempt at a tempo run on Saturday. It was a humid day on Long Island, where I was visiting my parents for my mom's birthday, but that was no excuse for not being able to sustain my target 10K pace for a mere nine minutes. Or how about my long run, the following morning. It was raining a bit, so didn't bring my iPod, which also meant I had no stopwatch. And since I was still away from home, I didn't have any planned routes. So I had to estimate 90 minutes. Turns out I ran an extra 10 minutes or so, but only managed to make it 14 miles, if that. And yesterday's speed work? Pathetic. The three one-mile intervals that were supposed to be at 5K pace were instead only slightly faster than 10K pace. I hope to run the first 5K of my short-race season soon (that Fab Four 5K still looks good). That will be the end of the gorging and the reinstatement of the strict dieting. It's the only way to have a competitive and successful September.

...or not

After trying my darnedest to push out mile repeats at 5:58 on Tuesday and not succeeding, I still figured that the work would still pay off as it had been and I would run a speedy five miles on Wednesday. And so, I pushed the pace, figuring I'd surprise myself with how quickly I'd run with the extra effort that was missing from all of my slower, more measured marathon training runs.

The result was definitely a faster five than in recent memory, but nothing about which to crow: 33:23, which amounts to a 6:41 pace. Great, compared to the 35+ minute five-milers I ran all year long while training for the Missoula Marathon; but pathetic next to the Long Branch Half Marathon I ran at that pace four years ago for more than 2.5 times the distance.

Looks like I've got a lot more work to do.

A little speed work goes a long way

The Hal Higdon marathon recovery training program introduces (or re-introduces) speed workouts as part of the training process and culminates five weeks after the marathon with a 5K race. The speed work is once a week (Wednesdays, in my case) for three of the weeks in the program.

The first consists of three one-mile intervals at marathon pace, each separated by a half-mile jog, plus a mile warmup and a mile cooldown. Easy enough. I plowed through it with no problem. And it was a fun way to rack up a mid-week six-mile run.

The second is the same format, but those one-mile intervals are now at 10K pace. What Hal doesn't explain is whether to run at the pace of my last 10K (6:21), my best 10K (6:20) or my goal 10K (6:17). Because I like to push myself, I shot for the goal 10K - a pace I've never actually achieved at a 10K race, despite my best efforts. Nailed it or beat it every time, even managing an astonishing 5:57 on the first interval, which is even faster than my best 5K pace!

The third, which I did Tuesday because I'm stupid and thought it was Wednesday, was again the same deal, but this time with the mile intervals at 5K pace. This time I decided to go with my best 5K pace (5:58) because I can't imagine I'll ever beat it. I came close once (6:02) but got progressively worse (6:10, 6:11).

In addition, each Saturday, I'm doing tempo runs of 30 to 45 minutes - starting and ending slowly, but building in the middle to that elusive 10K pace. Unlike the interval runs, I don't do these on the track, so I use my internal sense of pace to decide what that is. Some days it might be faster, some slower, but I gauge it by the amount of effort I'm putting into it.

The upshot of all of this is that my regular runs have gotten faster. Last week, I flew through my four mile route - a route that usually takes at least 27 minutes due to some tough hills - in 26:33.

I am going to try again this autumn to finally break the 10K personal best that I set more than four years ago, but I've got to get a couple of decent 5Ks under my belt, too. But there aren't any that close to me until September in Verona. I'm intrigued by the Fab Four 5K on Aug. 13 in Roselle, during which the "PA system blasts music of the Beatles", but I'm not yet sure I want to travel that far for a 5K.

Happy birthday

Happy birthday to the person that inspired me to start running: my mother.

I love you, Mom!

Face plant!

Using Hal Higdon's Intermediate post-marathon training plan, my first Sunday long run after the race was measured in time rather than distance. This makes sense, since you can never quite be sure how you will feel at this stage. So the instruction was to run at a comfortable pace for an hour.

For the most part, I felt good. It was 88 degrees and humid, but because I did not push the pace, it never got unbearable. Because there was no set distance, the fun of this run was to explore some trails I had recently discovered in Cedar Grove and a new pedestrian path in a Little Falls.

The trails in Cedar Grove included some rough terrain, though, and about a half hour into the run I tripped and landed face down in the dirt. It has been a long time since my early, klutzy days, when I would eat pavement on a fairly regular basis. But it had been years, so when my knees, hands and head were suddenly slamming the ground, it was more surprising than painful. I did manage to scrape up my knees but I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I was on a road. Then again, had I been on a road I probably would not have tripped at all.

Nonetheless, I completed the hour with eight miles under my belt. It should be a good recovery period.

Recovery runs

After four days of rest, I ran an easy 5K run.  As a matter of tradition, I listened to "2112" by Rush in doing so, not because it's so great (though it is enjoyable), but because at approximately 21 minutes, it's the perfect length for a comfortable but efforted 3.1 miles. I know I've felt much more sore on my first post-marathon run, so the fact that I managed to run it at around marathon pace and feel good was a positive sign for my next season of running, which will focus on speed and some short races in the fall.

So it went through the next week - runs of four to eight miles, all with paces between 6:45 and 7:15. Tomorrow will be the return of speed work. Nothing too heavy, since it's been almost a year since I've done it. I am following Hal Higdon's Post-Marathon training program and it calls for three miles at 10K pace will a half mile between each interval, a mile warmup and a mile cooldown.