Just Another Day in Studville...

Horse Sense

11:00 AM  In preperation for The Bluff 50K, I went for an awesome three hour run in the Meshomasic forest toady. Exploring dry stream beds and various trails. Ran quite a bit on the Shenipsit blue blaze trail also, and followed it out to route 2 and back. Only twisted ankle 1 time. Did not have GPS so the distance is estimated, but I was able to get going on some of the flatter areas. All of this running in the forest is allowing me to get to know it a bit better.  But to make sure I don't get to lost, I always draw arrows on the trails pointing the way home. This trail running stuff is awesome. In addition to training my legs to run up hills, I feel like I am programming my brain to handle the rough terrain. It reminds me of mountain biking or mogul skiing, as it is important to pick your fall line. I am noticing that I am getting better at it. The brain is an amazing thing. After I get warmed up, it seems that I just focus 15 feet ahead and my brain figures out where to step without me having to look down anymore for foot placement. Kind of like a horse does, except they have to deal with placing 4 feet on the ground. I guess horses are pretty smart in that way.

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K-Law in NJ: 127

Phew! I pulled it off somehow and then some. 14 miles on my own on the beach this morning at a 7:55 pace (not bad for the beach) and then 3.4 with Owen and my 2 year-old nephew in the double baby jogger on the boardwalk. So that's about 127 for the week, which is quite a record for me. Despite the fact that it was one of the shorter runs for the week I was totally spent at the end. My legs and I are looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

K-Law in NJ: 8.15.08

My quota this morning was 16.2 miles, but with a herculean effort I logged 18.5, which sets up a magic number of merely 14 miles tomorrow (which I can do in my sleep at this point) to hit the big 125-mile mark for the week. I'm not at Sattler's level yet, but I've become quite the "numbers guy" this week. Anyway, there's a great deal of muscle soreness and not an insignificant amount of mental fatigue. But no sharp pain anywhere, so 14 should be manageable tomorrow before we start the trek back to G'bury.

K-Law in NJ: 8.14.08

Another big mileage day. 18.5 miles on my own at a nice 7:17 average pace. Then I tossed Owen in the baby jogger for another 3.25 miles on a bike path and the beach (for a little reisitance training). That's 92.15 miles for the week with 2 days left. Now I have to average "just" 16.4 miles for each of the next 2 days to hit 125. Since all the joints and muscles still feel fine I think that's squarely in the "do-able" category. We'll see...

K-Law in NJ: 8.13.08

A warm morning but I managed 14 miles on my own into North Cape May and back, followed by 3 slower miles with Owen in the baby jogger which gives me 70.4 miles so far this week and the body's holding up just fine. Yo-Yo Ma and NPR on the MP3 were a big help this morning. Anyway, in order to hit the magic number of 125 miles for the week I'll need to average 18.2 for each of the next 3 days. A tall order, but I'll give is a shot.

K-Law in NJ: 8.12.08

The irrationally high-mileage week continues here on the southern tip of NJ. Yesterday morning was a trip out to the old Cape May Lighthouse and back followed by a couple more baby-jogger miles for a grand total of 19 miles for the day. This was the day after a 22-mile day. This morning was a mere 12.4 miles, but the entire run was done on sandy beach terrain, which is easier on the legs but the sinking feet definitely slows you down. The cool-down was 8 miles of cycling while towing my 5 year-old in one of those kid trailers. That's nearly 53.5 miles in 3 days, so my original goal of covering 100 miles this week, which was an inspiring goal at the beginning of the week, now seems a little underwhelming. So the goal has been re-adjusted to 125 miles. It's one of those goals that would be great to achieve, but I'm a little terrified of what might happen to me if I do. Footnote: since I'm staying with a large Italian family this week, I haven't lost an ounce of body weight yet.

Is isolation my kryptonite?

With teammates either away on vacation with their families (at secret training camps?) or nursing a mysterious injury I was left to do my long run yesterday alone. Woe is me. But an interesting thing happened on that 20 miler that deserves a little discussion. With neither a running partner to talk with nor an iPod to listen to you would expect it to be quiet. But afterwards I realized that it was too quiet. Something was missing from my run but I couldn't quite figure it out right away.
Now normally when we run as a group I can voice my opinions on matters in more than one way. Sometimes its with choice words, sometimes through grunts. Butt sometimes my backside offers a burst of insight. A rebuttal, some might say. Since this backfire may catch some off guard I try to warn them with a little "Fire in the hole!" Sometimes you'd swear I could singlehandedly perform the entire 1812 Overture! Anyway, its a gift. And I think the others are jealous. Lately I've noticed Art getting in on the act and feeling comfortable expressing himself in our group setting. And why not? His first name conveniently rhymes with the act. Good for him. Personally I think its great to get it out there in the open. Share with the world, I say.
And that is what was missing from my solo run yesterday. One would think that with the dinner I had the night before there would have been something. Nada. I failed to entertain myself with a single for 2.5 hrs. You don't think... Could it be? Perhaps I can only perform for an audience? Do those guys actually bring out the best in me? Is the secret to my superpowers really the COMPANIONSHIP after all?
Hurry back guys, the sounds of silence are killing me. I have some things to share with you.

K-Law in NJ: 8.10.08

Blogging remotely from Wildwood, NJ where I'll be stationed for the week. I celebrated my 36th birthday this morning with a 20-mile run at a solid 7:23 pace, with some help from DMB on the MP3 (I had enough time to listen to the entire "Live at Folsom Field" 2-disk set!) thereby confirming my suspicion that I'm actually in pretty decent shape right now. I need a race! I feel like I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go! I also tacked on another 1.7 miles pushing two 5 year-olds in the double baby jogger to the playground and back. Yup, we're lookin' at a high-mileage week this week...

Dogs Gone Wild

So what’s with all the dogs? First there was the campaign to have the new local running club named "G-Dogs". Although it was close, they decided the name "Glastonbury River Runners" was more appropriate. Then there was that wacky mind expanding free association piece referencing "Black Dog". Now its time to run the Dog Day Five Mile Race, in Harvey Cedars New Jersey.

Harvey Cedars is located on beautiful Long Beach Island and is host to the 30^th Annual Dog Day Race on August 17th. Scientifically speaking the race is now actually 210 dog years old.

The course is pancake flat, but the weather can be brutally humid. The run is a real hoot as many families give it a go, as well as quite a few competitive runners. As always results may vary depending upon who shows up. Last year I was able to place third out of 99 in my age group.

After hammering three races in three weekends, this old dog is looking forward to a weekend where I can just go out for a long run.

Black Dog Fight

Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove. Bang we are off. Not too fast too soon. Round the school, already going down the hill. Stay in control, not too fast. All right this is just too damn slow. Gonna start the game early. ONE. 5:46 Run the last part hard and make him work. Hang it out. Don’t take water at first, it is a sign of weakness, surge every down hill you can. Why am I passing Orange at this point,  This is too much. TWO 6:05. Hang behind Orange. Is Doom stalking me? Or is he being drawn out? Up ahead J-Dog runs strong, all is well. Home turf. Run down fast. This is great. THREE 6:15 ? Turn Around. Rhythm flows. The forests echo with laughter. More surges, still, footsteps behind me. The apples turn to brown and black. Faster still, no more footsteps. FOUR. Why the heck was I working so hard so far from home? To make him work. He hurts as bad as I do. Maybe even worse. Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting. Much harder now, red alert, system warning, J-Dog down ahead? Orange moved on, stuck in no man’s land between Orange and Doom. Footsteps of Doom on my back, surge, cramp, latch on, hang on, keep on. Stay with him and bide time. FIVE. 0:00? Losing power, losing touch. Doom has triumphed. All is lost today. Where am I? Can I come back. How far? Bogged down no fuel. Make the assault. Wiped out and exposed as an easy target. Attacked and, completely defenseless, got rolled and rolled. Rally now! It is painless, and meaningless for I stopped feeling at mile five, when my blood dried up and my brain shut down. The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath, The drums will shake the castle wall, the ringwraiths ride in black, five more trample me. Ride on. SIX. Harvest myself over the line. I was running well in the valley, could almost taste the celebration. Now my pale gray carcass is being dragged to a shady bench. The pictures I viewed are not me nor do I remember them, however I was there. I was, because pictures don’t lie or do they?

Reflect, recover, rebuild.