Glastonbury Running

40 by 40

I'm a person who's pretty "goal-oriented" in the sense that I need challenging, quantifiable goals laid out before me, in writing, at all times.  So, ever since my goal of annihilating the Highlanders in the GMCR3 was attained on Sunday (which happened a lot sooner than expected) I've been floundering around aimlessly in my running world, desperately seeking a nice, solid goal to latch on to. 

Well, now I have one and I even came up with a catchy name: "40 by 40".  The goal is to have 40 marathon finishes under my belt by 8/10/2012 when I turn 40.  And right now my marathon count stands at 30.  So I'll need 10 more marathons in less then 3 years.

I have to say, I like this goal a lot.  There's clearly a physical and psychological challenge to it.  There's also a hefty administrative/logistical challenge with 3 young boys, a law practice and extensive soccer coaching duties to factor in. 

But, what's nice is that this goal does not create any pressure to clock earth-shattering times.   Sure, I'll give it the old college-try in every race like I always do, and if I end up with a slow time for some reason then it will still be frustrating, but the blow will be softened by the fact that it would still count toward the 40/40 goal.  Whether my finishing time is 2:40 or 5:40, it's still a marathon finish! 

One obvious issue with this goal is that it will trigger a shift in focus from "quality" to "quantity" meaning that, in all liklihood, my marathon PR of 2:43 will stay as-is for the rest of my running career.  But after plenty of meditation time, I've decided that I'm good with that.  Hey, that's a solid time.  I'll be more than happy to boast to my grandkids someday about my 2:43 at Albany, NY way back in the winter of 2008. 

Also, I guess I've decided that I'm no longer interested in spending the time and effort (physical and mental) that would be required to lower that time.  That's a huge investment when there are so many other things going on in life.

And maybe the best thing about 40/40 is that it will lay a nice foundation for my entry into the world of Masters running!  Hey, us runners look forward to hitting 40, right?

DeMar Marathon Training Log: Training Starts. Again.

The first day of fully-committed training for the Clarence DeMar Marathon (well, the first fully-committed training day since mid-July, anyway) was an encouraging one. 

This was the first time in a while that I've woken up to sub-60 degree temp's and it was a huge help; I didn't have that sluggish feeling that I get in the warm weather which takes a few miles to shake off.  Instead, I was running pretty briskly right from the get-go. 

I went straight to the GHS track where I decided to test the tendons a little by comfortably pushing the pace for 8 laps.  I ended up averaging 6:24 per mile with no achilles problems and I didn't feel wiped out afterwards, all of which are great signs.  The total mileage for the morning was 9.1 and the overall average pace was a sharp 7:09.   

Hopefully the achilles won't flare up later in the day.  In any case, it was a promising start to a shortened marathon training program.  Fully committing to the race has had a nice psychological impact.  I feel fully engaged in training for the first time in a while and it feels great!

DeMar, Here I Come!

OK, it's time to get off the fence and make a final decision as to whether or not I'm going to tackle a marathon or not this fall.  So...for better or for worse...I've decided to go ahead and run the Clarence DeMar Marathon on September 27th.  And the time goal will be sub-3:15 (7:27 pace) for my 26th sub-3:15 marathon.

The sub-3:15 will be a rather subdued goal for me.  Heck, the original plan was to break 2:43 at DeMar!  But then the achilles tendon flared up and I pretty much gave up on any big racing efforts until 2010.  However, the last three weeks of training have been encouraging with weekly mileage totals of 70, 53 and then 64 this past week.  All of which was done with no achilles problems. 

So I decided that I can certainly run a decent marathon on that kind of mileage, but if I train for anything more ambitious than 3:15 I would probably risk triggering the achilles issue again and end up right back where I started.  Still, sub-3:15 ain't so bad.  Plus, it would qualify me for Boston '11 (I'm already good for Boston '10) and it would be marathon #31 for me, leaving me just 69 marathons short of my lifetime goal!

With about a month to go I have plenty of runway left to fit in maybe two 20-milers, but I probably won't try to do more than that.  I'll also try to hit a quota of at least 60 miles per week with little if any speed work.  That should get me where I need to be.  Then I'll toe the line with two sets of crossed fingers on the 29th!

Just About There? Maybe? Please?

I logged a very encouraging workout this morning.  I ran the 3.5-mile distance to the GHS track and proceeded to run laps and pushed the pace every-other lap, which is something I haven't done in quite a while!  Then I ran back home for a total of 10 miles.  And despite a few climbs and some pretty bad humidity (worst it's been all week, which is saying something) I managed to clock an average pace of 7:00 flat.  Again, something I haven't been able to do in a while.

So that was all well and good, but the real test was how the achilles would hold up for the rest of the day.  The way this tendonitis has been operating is that it feels fine during the workout (for the most part) but then flares up a couple hours later, especially after sitting still for a while.  But here we are, 6 hours after completing the workout and the achilles is feelin' pretty good.  So a nice way to end the week!

However...someone please tackle me, because now I'm itchin' to do a fall marathon which didn't seem practical just a couple of weeks ago.  The prospect of a fall season passing by without a marathon effort (the first such occurence for me in 13 years) has been killing me.  But the successful workout this morning, as well as a week or two of other promising workouts, has partially convinced me that a fall marathon is now a possibility.  An outside possibility perhaps, but a possibility nonetheless.

The problem is that if I train for and race a marathon the way I usually do then I'm nearly guaranteed to be right back where I started with the achilles.  So I'll have to consider doing a marathon with absolutely no competitive, PR-focused mindset whatsoever.  Just a get-to-the-finish line sort of thing.  I wouldn't be thrilled with the finishing time, but I do have my insane goal of 100 marathon finishes before I die (I'm currently at 30 at age 37) so at least it would be progress in that department. 

Ah well, something to meditate on...

10's

Well, it looks like I may have turned a corner with my achilles issue.  We had our annual family vacation in Wildwood, NJ this past week where I decided to test the tendon a bit, and I'm happy to announce that it passed with flying colors. 

I managed to cover 10 miles every morning for 7 straight days.  There are no hills in the Wildwood area of Jersey, but each run consisted of 5 miles of beach running, about 1.5 miles of boardwalk running and the rest was on paved bike paths and streets.  So the achilles received a sampling of three different surfaces each day amd it held up just fine.  The average pace ranged from 7:25 to 7:48.  The tendon still doesn't feel 100%, but it's quickly getting to that point.

The testing continued this morning as I hit the Meshomasic Forest with O'Toole, Sattler and Byram.  This was the first time that the achilles has encountered hills in quite a while.  But again, it held up fine for 8.8 miles at a sluggish but trail-appropriate pace of 10:10.  Once again, we got ourselves hopelessly lost in the forest.  But it wasn't nearly as bad as last time; we weren't forced to flag down any cars on Route 2 this time, I didn't have any terrific wipe-outs and Sattler only dropped a half-dozen f-bombs this time (in stark contrast to the last time we got lost). 

It was great to run with the the guys again, although the team has very underwhelming fall racing plans.  With the great exception of Byram tackling a mind-numbing 50-mile trail race next month, none of us have any racing ambitions until the Santa's Run in December.  Ah well!  I suppose there's always next year!

Race Report: Living Well Series, Race #3 (10K)

As the race started, one guy shot out to an early lead and he looked young, gifted and fast.  Not only that, but he had a permanent tatoo of a winged foot on the back of his left ankle.  That's bad news. 

Then I noticed that he had another tatoo.  This one was three words in huge letters on his back, stretching all the way from from one shoulder to the other.  So huge that despite the fact that his singlet was blocking much of the letters it was still very easy to read..."PAIN IS TEMPORARY".  That's when I turned to Kevin Ford, the eventual race winner and series champion, and announced that we were about to be creamed.

However, Ford and I managed to catch the tatoo guy by the one mile mark.  Then the three of us worked each other for the next couple of miles with each of us taking a few turns at the lead.  It was pretty exciting to share the lead with two other fiercely competitive runners as we continued to push each other.  

At the 5K turnaround I managed to build a very modest lead over Ford.  Then, after we completed the hairpin turn, we were surprised to find that the tatoo guy was well behind us.  The post-race rumor was that he was suffering from a cold, so although the pain triggered by the cold was temporary it would apparently hold long enough to keep him out of contention for the rest of the race.

It was a nice ego-booster to be in the lead for all of the out-going runners to see, but then Ford bursted my bubble by passing me at the 4-mile mark with a decent amount of authority.  I had decided ahead-of-time that I would not, under any circumstances, push myself up the steep hill at the 5.5-mile mark or launch my usual finishing kick.  My achilles was still on the mend and there was no sense in risking a setback with the fall racing season fast approaching.  That meant that I needed to have a decent lead heading into the hill in order to pull off a win.

Alas, I didn't.  Instead, Ford had me by 10 seconds at the bottom of the hill which meant that the race was his unless he faltered big-time.  Unfortunately for me, he faltered only small-time and nipped me at the finish by 5 seconds.

So the win eluded me, but I clocked a 36:13 which meant that I managed a 5:50 pace over a challenging 10K course on a bum achilles tendon.  So I'm mostly pleased, but it's a little disheartening to think back on the race and realize that I had a very decent chance to pulling off a win if I put in the usual 110% effort near the end.  Howver, I'm trying to keep the big picture in mind and save my achilles for a fall marathon, if that's still possible. 

Goatees and Fine-Tuning...

I had an interesting long & hilly run (with all the protesting that my muscles and tendons are doing these days, anything even close to 10 miles is now "long" in my book) with Sourdough and Coach yesterday.  You know how some guys will grow beards in the winter and stay clean-shaven in the summer in light of the heat and humidity?  Well, yesterday I was flanked by two training buddies who opted to do the exact opposite.  Despite the fact that the team is apparently pursuing an image of tough and grizzled ultra-trail running veterans, I'm sticking with the traditional clean-shaven approach and I'll save the beard-growing for the winter.  Maybe.

Despite the facial hair issue, we had an enjoyable run and caught up on each other's goings-on after not running together for a few weeks.  We also had enough time to debate the existence of UFO's and aliens, although I don't recall how that discussion managed to come up.  But do not fear; by the end of the run I think it was pretty well settled that Sourdough's theory that the planet is being overrun by extraterrestrials was soundly trounced.  At least in my opinion.

After the run my full commitment to jump into Race #3 of the Living Well Summer Racing Series (10K) on Saturday was downgraded to "if-y" as the achilles tightened up a bit during the afternoon.  But then it felt 100% fine this morning and I tested it by cycling to and from the GHS track (7.7 bike miles total) and then ran 3 miles at a 6:47 average pace and it felt great.  Once again, the "mystery lady" showed up while I was there to do some intervals and blew by me at one point.  Lucky for her I was tuning up for a Saturday morning race and opted not to seek some revenge.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to racing tomorrow with a genuine lack of concern over time, place and overall performance.  I'm truly going to uncharacteristically "wing it" and see what happens!

Comeback? Maybe?

OK, so it appears that my competitive running career isn't over just yet.  I managed to successfully cover 10 miles on both Saturday and Sunday during a weekend trip to central Vermont.  These long runs were not compelled by the sense that I was truly ready for long-ish runs, but the plan was for Amy and I to tour multiple Vermont breweries and hit multiple brewpubs during the weekend (no, the kids did not join us for this trip), so I was inspired to take pre-emptive measures against the upcoming onslaught of calories. 

Anyway, the two Vermont workouts were pretty slow but I still managed to cover double-digit mileage two days in a row without debilitating myself.  Then yesterday and today I cranked it down to 7 miles each day, but sped up the pace to the 7:20 to 7:30 range and still no post-workout problems other than very mild and manageable stiffness; nothing like I was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. 

So I guess all is not lost.  In fact, as long as I continue to be problem-free for the rest of this week I plan to jump in to the third and final race of the Living Well Racing Series here in town, which is a 10K with a rather challenging hill at the very end.  Objectively speaking, this may not be a smart move.  But I'm a little antsy and this would be an opportunity to finally compete in the series that I have been co-directing for the last five years.  And it's just nice to do a race with absolutely no expectations for a change!

Clawing Back...

Saturday was a day off as I had to head over to Smith Middle School early (5am) to help out with Race #1 of the Living Well Summer Racing Series.  I reluctantly gave up the directorship of the series, but the workload at the law practice has been steadily picking up (thankfully) and running a three-race series just wasn't realistic.  But I'm happy to report that the new director, Pam Crouch ran a well-oiled, top-notch event yesterday despite never directing a road race before.  Sattler and I were both blown away by the fact that there were no administrative snags whatsoever; it was a wonderful thing to see yet somewhat frustrating at the same time since we always seemed to encounter multiple hitches with each race we've directed!

Anyway, this morning I shoved off for a bike ride and then, on a whim, decided to test the legs on the GHS track.  I'm happy to report that I managed 4 miles at a nice 7:26 pace without any problems.  The track was a perfect surface for someone trying to ease their way back into regular training with its flat, cushy surface. 

So it was 4 miles of running and 10 miles of cyclling this morning.  Not bad...I'll take it.

And tomorrow after work...kickball.  Oh boy, here we go again!

Back in the (Bike) Saddle

Well, I've managed to find a way to keep the body tuned despite my three issues: the ongoing (but gradually abating) achilles problem, the kickball-strained butt muscle and now the strained calf muscle, presumably the result of all the limping around caused by the butt muscle.

Yesterday, on a whim I dusted off the old Trek 1000 road bike, lubricated the chain and pumped up the totally-deflated tires before riding off into the sunrise.  It's probably been close to a year since I took the bike out for a spin, but I was surprised by how easy it was to get back into the rhythm.  And I was especially surprised by the fact that it didn't seem to irritate my various and sundry running injuries.  So I went on a 12.7-mile spin around Glastonbury and then hopped on the bike again this morning for 7.3 miles.

Also, since I've limited my bike workouts to 45 minutes or less (no sense in pushing my luck) I've been able to spend the extra early morning time spiffing up the yard.  I've weeded, trimmed the lawn, started cleaning out the garage, picked up hundreds of sticks & twigs and swept the driveway.  Lots of little things since I wisely decided not to use loud machines at 5am, but they've added up to a much nicer-looking yard.  And all of this while listening to NPR, and occassionally some live John Mayer on the MP3.  In fact, this morning I also climbed up on the roof (very quietly) and finally cleaned out the gutters which had gotten so bad that they actually had weeds growing in them!

So I have to say I've really been enjoying the recovery period.  I can now pull into the driveway without trying to avoid looking at the yard, I'm caught up on the news, Amy's pretty pleased AND I'm still getting in some workouts.

Hey, at 36 is it too early to retire from competitive running?!