It's been a good run (har)...

But I'm Tweeting now.

Buncha workouts

Thursday: Ran Montgomery (=8mi).

Friday: Ran 4mi on the treadmill and spun for 30min.

Saturday: Ran Girard with S from her house (so more than 5?)

Sunday: Biked Gladwyne with S (~30mi)

Monday: Biked to Baltimore from Wilmington (~80mi). The ride is quite a bit easier when (a) you don't run a marathon the day before and (b) don't ride it on a heavy steel bike.

Threes

I blog in spurts these days.

Monday: biked Narberth and ran 3, lifted upper body @ Pottruck.

Tuesday: met S for a mid-day run (Black loop). I think this is around 7?

Wednesday: ran 4 treadmiles, 30 min spin.

Really hoping to ride tomorrow. But it's so cold!

Weekend

Friday: Ran 3.5mi at Pottruck, lifted legs.

Saturday: biked BCP 65mi loop with S.

Sunday: legs very sore (from lifting + two days). Just did 30min elliptical at Pottruck, lifted upper body.

Vacation!

Have been up in Williamstown helping to pick next year's Herchel Smith fellows.

• Friday: biked Gladwyne with S. Returned via a hilly route on the west side instead of taking the bike path.
• Saturday: Interviewing smart kids all day. Nothing!
• Sunday: biked a 50 mile loop recommended by Joe Cruz. Finished with the climb up Whitcomb Hill and back via the hairpin turn on Route 2.
• Monday: Hiked around the Hopper in Williamstown
• Tuesday: Ran 8+ miles in Randolph, VT. Then hiked Camel's Hump with S.
• Wednesday: Did a short hike with S around Brandon Pass. Ran Montgomery Bridge back in Philly.
• Thursday: Early AM Gladwyne loop on the bike with S.

Strawberry Mansion

Up and over. I think this is 8-9 miles. It certainly took me that long (1h8m). I's slow these days.

Narberth

Did another double: Narberth ride with La Collina hill (it's a big one!), ran 2.5mi at Pottruck.

Gladwyne

A slow-ish, wet-ish ride.

Nine

Ran the St George's Hill Loop. 9 miles, something around 1h10m.

Weekend

Saturday: biked to Princeton. Something around 3hrs.

Sunday: biked Trenton to the city line. Something around 1hr. Ran 5k.

Week's End

Thursday: Narberth Loop with S, something over 1hr.

Friday: reverse Gladwyne Loop, met S at Balligomingo, turned around and came back to Manayunk with her, then reverse Narberth. About 2hrs.

Double

Ran 2.5mi warmup at Pottruck and lifted.

Also rode Gladwyne Loop with a random triathlete dude.

Getting cold...

Monday: snuck in a Narberth loop before the truncated World Series game with Johann and S at South Philly Tap Room.

Tuesday: cold! Went to Pottruck late. Tried to run twice but kept getting bloaty cramps. Ended up just doing 2.5mi. Then hopped on a bike (I'm not a big fan of spinning but...): 30min warmup random, 20min intervals.

Weekend

Thursday: ran Sweetbriar (5-6mi?)

Friday: rode to Wiss with S, ran to Valley Green (5.5mi), then the reverse.

Saturday: ran Montgomery Loop (around 8mi?)

Sunday: rode Villanova Loop with S (3hrs+)

These is my rodes

• Saturday: wanted to ride with S and Amanda again down to Granogue but stayed to work the morning instead. Then went to a Penn coached clinic where we rode up and down W River Dr slowly. Finished by riding out to Bala with Erica, then a Gladwyne Loop.
• Sunday: started on a Narberth loop with S and Amanda but we ran into Ross so I split off to go a farther... except I broke a spoke on my new DA wheel so shortened by coming back via Manayunk. Ran a 5k and lifted at Pottruck that night
• Monday: ran 4mi on the treadmill and spinned (spun?)
• Tuesday: biked with S on the Narberth loop, then went to Conshy via BFV / Gladwyne route. Back via North Lane and River Rd.
• Today: biked for 2.5 hours. Got lost but eventually ended up going past Bryn Mawr and Villanova, then backtracked and found Mt Pleasant so finished with Gladwyne loop. Cold, but the AmFIB shoecovers S gave me are sweet.

Hanging out with a girl who shares your hobbies (obsessions) is pretty OK.

Gladwyne

(Where else?)

With S and her friend Amanda. Sped home from Umbria to get a crisp in the oven for PLClub.

Gladwyne

And again!

Awesome Dura-Ace shifters have loosened up with the ~160-170 miles I've put on the new bike in the last few days... need to find time to adjust them.

Gladwyne

Did the full loop (minus the Boligomingo Rd bit). Second half in the dark. Boo.

Ambler

Did the Ambler ride with Maria from Penn Cycling (whose brother is hoping to postdoc with my adviser--random?!)

Gladwyne

Was planning to bake bread and work this AM, but S, Molly, and Pat were going riding so I decided to tag along. Started out on the Gladwyne loop but Pat broke his chain mashing up a little hill in some diagonal gear combination just before Mt Pleasant.. so he and Molly had to bail and wait for a pickup... finished the loop with S.

Catching up

I got a new bike! From the Rite Aid pro team's booth at the Trexlertown bike swap. It's amazing (full carbon frameset, DA group, DA wheels... fork is cut a bit short, but that's fixable.)

Some bike rides:

• Thursday: Gladwyne. Balligomingo was torn up and all bumpy.
• Friday: Around Narbeth, Ardmore, then reverse Freedom Valley, then Rock Creek Rd to Manayunk. Around 20mi?
• Saturday: Conshy Ave, Bala, Rock Creek Loop with new vélo.
• Gladwynne -> Gypsy Lane -> Valley Forge -> River Path with S and Max from Penn Cycling. I'd guess around 45mi?

Pottruck

Easy day: 5k on the treadmill in 21:4x, lifted upper body.

Broomall

Rode out to Teagan's 17th Century dinner at Massey House. Just over 20mi (getting lost a few times).

Gladwyne

Met Erica from Penn Cycling for a loop through Gladwyne to Conshy. Took the Waverly cutoff, which was probably smart because it was getting pretty dark.

Felt unusually strong today: was holding 25mph+ on Ridge and down the Kelly Dr bike path.

Sunday

Did another long-ish ride, not quite 3hrs out towards KOP and Valley Forge. Was trying to get there via Gladwyne and almost succeeded but missed the last turn so came back by sub-optimal roads to Conshy, then the bike path. Still, a nice ride. Around 45mi.

Week-end-start

Friday: did a Conshy Loop with S and 2 of her HZ teammates.

Saturday: rode to Ambler with S. Caught Bruce Springsteen on the Parkway on the way home.

Hills

Did some hill repeats on Conshy Ave with Penn kids. Those were fun, but the recoveries were a mess--riding on W River Dr during rush hour is just not worth the trouble. Had fun pacelining back with Ross and Matt until we realized we'd dropped Jimmy (?) who didn't bring lights.

Gladwyne

Biked a shortened, wet Gladwyne loop (Waverly shortcut back to Conshy St Rd).

Need to clean my bike. Chain is sounding pretty unawesome.

Alaska

Spent the last few days visiting Clare in Eagle River.

• Friday: did a ~45min trail run on the path behind her school. The colors were amazing--a wall of yellow birches--and the hills were ridiculous.
• Saturday: went hiking for a few hours at Hatcher Pass.
• Sunday: did a hike in the Chugach (which I ♥)
• Monday: biked up Baldy and got a great view of Denali and the lake Clare lives on
• Yesterday: back in Philly, biked S's Gladwyne loop. About 35 in under 2hrs.

Alaska is an amazing place. I want to go back next summer, bike / camp up to the park, and then do the Park road.

Romeo Uncle November November India November Golf

Delta Victor[ia] reminded me of all the fun Clare, Mike, and I had writing everything in NATO phonetic alphabet over the holidays last year.

Yesterday: did a ~40 minute run with Steve Z and Mike Hicks. Running with other people rocks.

Today: ran the 5k bay out-and-back, then lifted legs in the hotel gym.

Delta Victoria

Did the same ~5k run to the west bay this morning, lifted after in the hotel gym.

Victoria!

Ran maybe 5k with Pilki before dinner along the waterfront. It's great to see him (and many other old friends).

PDR

1h34m57s by my (crappy) Polar watch. It didn't feel great.

Now back to my regularly scheduled bike riding.

Ready, by default

Ran a sunset AM loop. Legs felt fresh. Not quite the can't-hold-em-back fresh that one usually gets during a taper, but fresh enough to give a mental boost for Sunday. I guess I'm ready. (I guess I'll find out if I'm really ready in a couple of days.)

Ride + Run

S is back from AK! Met her for a mid-afternoon spin. About an hour (burbs, then Rock Creek Rd [?], which I love, then Manayunk).

I know I should be tapering, but I have all this extra energy... so I ran an AM loop. I figure there can't be any harm in that. I'll do something light tomorrow and just strides on Saturday.

A Ride

Slept in way too late so only had time for about an hour of riding. Rode over Strawberry Mansion, then up Bryn Mawr Ave, made the turn off to Rock Creek and came back via Manayunk. 19.x miles in 1h4m.

Workouts of an old man

Birthday evening: snuck in 3mi @ Pottruck and lifted before dinner at Prive.

Today morning: played a couple of games of squash with fellow Eph and new PLClub member Brent.

Today evening: was gonna bike S's Gladwyne route, but fell asleep for 2hrs when I got home and when I woke up it was dark. Ran an AM loop instead (probably better--I told Max I'd lead a Gladwyne ride tomorrow morning, so I should save my legs). Found some new gears on the way home. Maybe PDR won't be a disaster after all.

Birthday

Started the day right with a 6.15am spin with Penn boys. Around 1h45m of fast riding in/around W Fairmount Park. Just over 30 miles.

Ambler

Rode out beyond Ambler. There are farms! And cows! A lovely ride, even on a hot, sticky day. 50 miles on the nose in something a little under 3hrs. Feeling stronger every day...

Gladwynne

Rode S's fun, hilly route (Balligomingo goodness). Back from Conshy on the bike path. Under 2hrs, 34mi.

Conshy

Rode with Penn boys in the pouring rain (which tapered off) on Freedom Valley, roughly. I wanted to GO today but there was a slow dude and we kept having to stop to regroup. Met a friend of Dai's who just started PennMed (and had a sweet[!] LOOK 595. So jealous. That is my dream bike.) It's really a small world.

Oh, and I crashed on the turn down into Manayunk. Was talking with a guy about the soap box at 20mph and not paying attention and my front wheel went out on the turn off Umbria. It was a slow slide to the ground so I didn't bang myself hard, but I got a little road rash on my hip and elbow. I'm a little embarrassed that I can't seem to ride with Penn w/o some sort of incident. Sigh.

Montgomery Loop

Did a hilly (for Philly), roughly hour-long run. Felt surprisingly good (my quads were aching from lifting two days ago).

Conshy

Rode the Freedom Valley Loop, roughly.

Pottruck

I was not going to buy a gym membership, but I caved. 4mi treadmill run, then lifted legs. I have not done this in a while: my hamstrings are much stronger than they used to be (surprise!) but my quads and glutes... not so much.

End-week, Week-end

Friday: Ran Black Rd, back via Lansdowne / Lemon Hill. I think this is around 7.

Saturday: Hungover from parties at Kuzman's and S's. Just ran an AM loop.

Sunday: Rode ~65mi down below Ridley Creek Park to meet S. Was running late on the way out and forgot to bring food... and experienced one of the worst bonks of my life on MLK (I got all dizzy and lightheaded... don't remember much after Strawberry Mansion.)

Monday: Frantically getting ready for Wadler's visit and thesis proposal defense. Wanted to run a Strawberry Mansion loop but only had time for Sweetbriar / Lemon Hill.

Note the lack of a long run. Probability of me doing NYC gets smaller each week... and I really don't care. Riding my bike is too much fun.

Mid-week

Wednesday: did a nice hard Montgomery Loop. Legs felt fresh after not running for a few days.

Thursday: Rode this morning with a few Penn boys (and got another flat! time for new tires, I think). Ran this evening to the Art Museum and back.

Conshy

It ended up being a solo spin to Conshy. Really nice to ride on legs that were not aching from a 20 miler.

Valley Forge

Rode with a mixture of Philly college teams out to Valley Forge. Got a flat about 3 miles in, but a couple of nice kids from Temple waited for me and then paced (dragged?) me back to the group just past Manayunk. Tried to hang with the big boys on the way home, but dropped back after a few miles -- legs had zero pop (I am not used to riding so fast, especially on a 20 miler the day before). That kind of sucked, but it was still the most fun I've had in a while. Something around 48 miles all together?

I'm going biking with S tomorrow instead of running. Make of that what you will (among several things you could infer: my NYC bib is in serious jeopardy.)

20 miler number II

Did the usual out-and-back up to and along Forbidden Drive in the Wissahickon. I felt great until around Strawberry Mansion (on the return) and then I think I started to bonk, and hard. I muscled through to Lloyd Hall, then suffered through to South St. It kind of felt like the end of a marathon, even though it was only 20 miles. I think it was probably just the heat and lack of food (hungover yesterday = didn't have an appetite and didn't eat as much as I should have).

Catching up

This has been a whirlwind week.

I finally submitted my thesis proposal on Tuesday; something that I have been talking about for a long time, but which kept getting delayed because there was too much fun research to do. I wasn't thrilled with the last few sections, which were highly speculative, but I hope the committee will find it sufficient.

After finishing the proposal, I had to immediately turn around and start preparing my talk for IBM PLDay on Thursday. I don't think I've every designed slides start to finish so quickly, but the talk went great.

Running had to take a backseat this week:

• Wednesday I had a late meeting, then early dinner at S's place, so I only had time to squeeze in 2 quick-ish (something just under 13:30) treadmiles. Figured it was better than nothing.
• Thursday was impossible to run--was up at 5am and didn't get down to Brooklyn until 8pm.
• Friday I did two loops of Prospect Park with JeRM, so around 7mi?
• Then today I was still a bit tired from last night in the city: I met Amish and Hank for dinner, then drinks with a bunch of Cambridge-Oxford alums, then dancing with Columbia residents in alphabet city. S happened to be in NYC for the US Open so came by with her brothers to the bar / club thing... The night ended with the surreal experience of playing RockBand and jumping in the ball pit at Google's NY offices at 4am. Good times. Anyway, I am well tired and only did a US Grant out-and-back.

St Georges Hill

Yesterday: Didn't run at all. I was worn down from 70mi and 65 mile back-to-back weeks, and several nights with very little sleep. Went for a really nice evening ride with S up to Northern Liberties for dinner and rode through the 5th St tunnel. So much fun.

Today: Ran a St George's Hill loop. I love this run and I felt fast today. 9 miles, untimed (the HRM watch is on the fritz too... time for another green Timex?) Rested legs are awesome.

Wissahickon

I did it. That's about all there is to write. This run was hard--far too hard for a step-back week.

I think I need a rest day, or maybe just a nap.

Strawberry Mansion

As Blitzer used to say: Strawberry mansion, up and over.

I didn't exactly feel awesome today--I am slogging through the last 48 hours of thesis proposing--but these runs are getting easy. It's kind of weird when a run just shy of 10 miles feels totally unremarkable. I do feel like I'm getting some fitness back. Not sure I am getting faster, but I feel able to run for miles and miles at 7:30 pace and not feel like I'm working hard. So at least I have that going for me.

Easy Eight

Did an out-and-back to the 2 mile mark between the RR Bridge and Strawberry Mansion. I think this is 8 miles exactly. Tried to run totally easy and mostly succeeded. 1h1m.

Nother Niner

Now see, this is why I am not fast. I should have done 6 or 7 800s today around 5k pace. What did I actually do? A 2mi warmup, 3 of the 800s (@ 6:10 pace with 400 jogging around 9:00 pace). And then I just got sick of being on a treadmill and busted outside for Lemon Hill loop. 9 miles total, but not enough fast ones.

NINER

A Montgomery / Memorial Hall loop with a George's Hill extension. 9 miles and they felt easy. (I am well aware that writing that pretty much ensures I will be slow or hurting tomorrow. It never fails, and I never stop tempting fate.) Saw a runner about 1/4 a mile ahead before Girard and reeled her in over the next mile, catching her just at the AM. Then kicked a bit down the river path. Took the last mile up Chestnut / Walnut easy (this was supposed to be an easy day). Something around 70 minutes all told?

Tuesday 8

Ted and I have been talking about running together forever. We finally did it today: from the department up to the AM, then he looped back and I did a Montgomery / Memorial Hall loop, extended with the Zoo loop to make 8 miles on the nose. Unknown time.

I am trying to put the thought of deferring my NYC bib out of my head. It was a good spring and this training cycle is going well. But lately all I can think about is riding my bike.

Pottruck

I think accidentally signed up for the Kenyan version of this training plan. Who puts a 5 miler in the normal rest day after a 70 mile week? (Conversely, what kind of person decides to ride right after a long run?) It's hard to trust the training when you think the trainer may be insane.

Actually, I felt fine today. Legs were a little heavy at the start but after the first mile, they picked up. I did my workout on the treadmill (unremarkable--progression run from 7:30 pace down to 6:40 and a .5 mi cooldown) because I'm thinking of letting my gym membership lapse (not worth it--Penn is raising prices again! It's been a glorified locker most of this year... I prefer to be outside, even in rain/snow/etc.) and because I wanted to lift a little.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

I did the first 20 miler of this training cycle today. It started a bit too fast--the first 4mi in 29 something and 8mi in just a few ticks more than an hour. Turned around after 20 minutes on Forbidden Drive. I kept waiting for my muscles to get tired but except for a few miles where I was coveting every biker's water bottle (I don't know of any water between miles 5 1/2 and 16 1/2 on this run and hate carrying) it was totally fine. I fixed the thirsty problem by stopping at the BP station at Falls Bridge to buy a water and a Gatorade, which helped a lot. The last few miles down Kelly Dr were uneventful except for this: I passed a high school kid around Strawberry Mansion. He asked who I ran for (Huh? I'm flattered, but not a runner, kid. I think I muttered something like "exercise?") Anyway, he must have been doing a long run for a XC workout or something and was maybe ticked at getting passed? He got right on my tail and stayed with me the last 3 miles back to the AM. I was feeling cheeky so decided to oblige in a tiny bit of testosterone-fueled whatever and kicked as much as I could in the last miles of a ~2h40m run. Fun times.

I normally don't plan on doing anything after a long run (besides eat meals of Phelpsian proportions) but I'd promised Darren's wife Jen I'd meet her for a spin out to Conshy. I didn't have high hopes for this ride since I'd only been able to get a smoothie and a bagel down... and was kind of hoping we'd just do an easy Manayunk loop. But she said she was up for Conshy and I hate being the "boat Nate" (old joke = killjoy, Debbie downer, etc.) I tried to follow the Gladwynne loop S likes and was doing well until I missed a turn near the school and we ended up on Conshy State Rd. It's ugly, but traffic wasn't so bad so we just took it up to the top of the ridge and back down to the river... Unfortunately we missed the really fun hills, the giant McMansions, the log cabin, and Balligomingo Rd (say what you will about the aesthetics of English words, Mr Tolkein... I think "Balligomingo Road" gives "cellar door" a run for its money; and you can't bike down a cellar door.) Too bad. Anyway, my legs, obviously didn't feel great, although they got better as the ride progressed. I don't know how triathletes do it (in the other order, I guess.)

I am beyond pooped now and am definitely giving my legs a rest tomorrow.

Oh, also: 70 miles this week!

Montgomery

As I get deeper into training, I find that my runs always start slow but I get stronger as they progress. I mean, the first 5 minutes of every run suck (and when they don't, for me, it means I haven't been able to exercise and/or am on a sugar high), but in training it sometimes takes 20-30 minutes before I feel warm. I guess it makes sense--putting your body through hell (this week I've done just under 50, plus that ride out to Conshy, and another 20 planned for tomorrow)... you're going to be a little tired.

Today was definitely like that: the first mile and a little I was huffing, and really not going fast at all. Then I got to the little rise after JFK and some bikes passed me and bang! my legs were like: OK! you're going to make us run again? might as well go! I slipped in behind the bikers and kept pace up the hill to MLK, then ran hard down to Montgomery, stopped for water, found a new gear going up to Belmont, and just felt stronger and stronger as I went across the Concourse, up to Girard, across the river to Lemon Hill, and back via that river path.

Hoping I don't pay the price for this exuberance tomorrow.

G-Ho, Columbia Bridge

Today I ran to the real G-Ho, then continued up 19th and 20th to the Parkway, up around the AM and on the trail to Columbia bridge. Stopped to stretch it out, and came back via trail, Locust, 25th, etc. This really had better be more than 8mi. I didn't try to push the pace at all, just tried to run strong and easy.

Part II

Evening run to the rowing shell. Went down like this: 2mi warmup to Lloyd Hall, then 1.5mi hard to rowing shell, 1.5mi back, stopped for water on the way home, then went hard on the 1.5mi to Locust tracks, easy last .5mi back to South St. I didn't have the legs today to do anything resembling a tempo workout but tried to push as best I could for the middle three ~10 min segments.

Random thought: I'm not sure how to combine biking with running. When my quads are sore, my running form (as it were) falls apart.

Random observation: The rain and lightning started when I got past Girard and really picked up on the way home. A few blinding whiteouts over CC. Very cool.

Part I

OK! Maybe I really will do a double today.

Ran an AM (i.e., morning) AM (i.e., Art Museum) loop.

Slacker (who biked for two hours)

So I didn't run at all today. S and I didn't meet up to ride until around 2.30 then were gone for a good two hours. I didn't feel like suiting up and running another 7 miles right then and there, so I decided to just take a goose egg for the day. Maybe a double tomorrow (something I always write at night, and and almost never do.)

Penn Loop

Philly is so flat, and NYC is not, so I've been trying to work more hills into my "normal" runs. Today I did a South St Bridge (small hill) / 34th (long, but not steep hill) / Lansdowne (medium hill) / Black St (short, steep downhill) / MLK (flat) / River Trail (flat) loop. I haven't measured this, but I suspect it's around 8 miles?

I've lost my beloved green Timex, so I am stuck with my ugly Polar HRM for now. I didn't time the whole loop (it was something a little longer than an hour) but decided to do the last measured mile on MLK at what felt like 5k effort... it came out to 6:40. Boo. I suppose it's not too bad on the heels of a 16 miler yesterday and 6 hilly miles into this workout... and after having a guy to chase in the first quarter, I kind of lost focus in the second quarter... and I haven't been doing much speedwork... so many excuses... but I was hoping it'd be around 6:30. Oh well, a high water mark at least.

Another double planned for tomorrow: going to try for Columbia bridge in the morning (or maybe just US Grant if I'm achy), then a ride with S after lunch. My legs will have about 30 miles on them in 48 hours. I hope she doesn't say let's do Ambler.



Update: OK. I mapped it and it's a lot closer to 7 than 8. That's fine, but I'm very confused about the time. I was estimating based on having left at ten to seven, but it must have been a bit later: I ran that one mile at 6.40 pace and there's no way it took me more than 50 minutes to run the other 6 and whatever miles. I wasn't jogging.

Also, I did not run this morning. Seemed like a sure way to get my butt kicked on this ride.

Wissahickon

Yesterday I wrote that not running long was the right choice. Well, the storms blew out the hot, sticky weather we'd been having and left a glorious, almost fall-like day in their wake. It was the perfect day to run long. I did the 16 (?) miler up to Forbidden Dr and back in a few ticks more than two hours. I'm pleased: this run is getting easy.

Rained Out

Set out to do 2hrs+ but by the time I got to the Art Museum, some menacing-looking clouds + lightning turned me back. Made an on-the-spot decision to swap today and tomorrow. Was also a bit hungover so was happy to make the switch. As I got to South St on the way home, the skies opened. It was the right choice.

My Run

Yesterday's route was Xtie's standby, but this loop is all mine. I knew about W Fairmount Park--I remember taking Mom and Mollie on a bike ride to Manayunk and having lunch around Memorial Hall during their trip here four summers ago--but I never really ran there until the early 2007. (Kelly drive is fine, and I think I run faster sometimes with people to pass, but (a) it is dead flat and (b) there aren't very many variations you can do.) I ran variants of this loop last winter and I think it probably contribute to a break-through spring: BSR, where I broke every PR between 5k and 10mi, and the 5k in Alaska, which wasn't so impressive for the time (19m4Xs I think--they never posted the final results online) but where I actually got to race: the first mile went by in just under 7 and I found myself in the leading pack. Things spread out in the second mile and I caught a military-looking dude around mile 2 for third, then worked up to the very young high schooler (and hometown favorite--everyone was yelling "come on Gil! Don't let him beat you) just before the final hill, before easing up and letting him have 2nd place. (I had it in my legs to pass him, but not my heart.)

This week has been a tough one. Sunday's 18mi+, Tuesday's ride with S followed by a slog of an evening 8, and Thursday's 9+ hill run have left me unsure if I'll get out there and have legs that feel like running or ones that never stop whining. This morning they were up to run. I tried to hold back, but ended up just starting hard and fast all the way to the Montgomery Bridge. Then up the hill to Belmont, scooted across the Concourse (and by the Monument to PA's Civil War generals), back down Lansdowne to Sweetbriar, and back via MLK. Took it easy again for the last river trail portion trying to cool down a bit for tomorrow's long run. I think this is almost exactly 9 miles.

US Grant

I will always think of this as Xtie's run, especially on a cold day in (not-quite) July. Three summers ago I had what was--in hindsight--a truly delightful month: mornings with toast and eggs and coffee and yogurt and TdF, days working in coffee shops or Van Pelt, bike rides and picnics up in the Wissahickon, dinners with gazpacho, fish, or risotto, always a good salad. Nights driving my housemates crazy watching all nine hours of Ken Burns (good ol' Ed Bearss, the awful! Barbara Fields, and... my favorite... Shelby Foote) with Ben & Jerry's, tea, + Bordeaux. But, alas, the month did not seem happy at the time. In fact, I was f%#@ing miserable. Lolo's death at the start of May hit me hard and I'd only just started to process it. They found his tumor in January and I'd spent that winter and spring schlepping down to DC/Balto every weekend I could to be with him, Tita, and Lola as he did chemo at Hopkins. The last two weeks, when he was supposed to be recovering, I was cramming for my prelims ... and then bang, bang, bang he fell, broke his hip, and his heart couldn't cope. It turned out that the last time I saw him was on Easter Monday when I wheeled him over to the hospital before running to catch the train back to Philly. Lolo dying also triggered what ended up being long journey coming to (non)-terms with Dad's family 2.0. And a difficult first year of grad school didn't help either, I'm sure. The end result of all this stuff was that, for the first time in my adult life, I felt real unhappiness. For a boy who had lived a charmed and silly-crazy-happy life until then, it was bewildering. I wish I'd had someone to talk to. But I didn't. And not understanding or knowing how to deal with all these new feelings, I took it out on the one thing in my life that was actually constant but I thought had changed... Aww, sad.

Oof. That was a little more introspective and melancholy than I expected. Don't get me wrong: every one is very happy now and stronger for it, and agrees that it was definitely for the best and all that. If I feel still feel bad, it is only for not understanding myself and for having pushed a good friend away.

Anyway, running! That summer I was obsessed with trying to regain some hops, so I used to run the mile and a half up to AM and do plyo stuff and Xtie would always continue up to US Grant and catch me on the way home. A few times I joined for a "long run" and to see the statue of the great (drunk) Union man. I paid him another visit today.

Hills!

Finally got my legs back under me, just in time for my hard Thursday workout. Ran up to Landsdowne and did 6 reps of the hill. Then came back via Black / MLK / river trail / Chestnut. I think this is safely more than 9 miles?

Warning: shoe nerdery and graphic story follows. The last time I did this workout I was breaking in the same pair of 2130s I wore today. These are still fast and my favorites by far. I try to save them for days like today (the Gel Empire IIs kinda sucked in the end.)

OK, on to the graphic story. The most remarkable thing about this run was what happened to my torso. Evidently I should tape 'em up because when I got back to Pottruck, I discovered two bright, baseball-sized red spots on my shirt. I guess I'd been bleeding for a while. I hadn't noticed. I guess that's why everyone was giving me weird looks as I ran up Chestnut and Walnut. For what it's worth, nipple bleeding sounds worse than it actually is. I'd take it over a banged up toe, or a chaffed groin any day.

Achy Breaky Nate

Quads still hurting from yesterday.

Did a South St bridge / 34th / Girard / Lemon Hill loop, returning by 22nd St. I think this is a shade under 6, it took me a shade over 40.

Tired boy

It's over.

Morning: went for a 30mi+ ride out towards Gladwyne / Conshy with S. It was really nice to ride with someone who knows all the good roads (I'd actually been on most of the route before, during various solo explorations, but my usual MO has always been to get lost and wander until stumbling on Conshy St Rd). I could have done without the complaining about my leg hair, but what can you do?

Evening: ran the Montgomery Loop. This was a survival run--I was majorly sore from Sunday and riding a few hours earlier. I ran it thusly: run 2mi to the zoo, stop and stretch; run 2mi to the water fountain at RR bridge, stop, drink, and stretch; run 2mi to the AM, stop, wring about 500mL of sweat from t-shirt, stretch; run 2mi to Pottruck, touch blue light, stretch. So I guess I should log this as 4x3200m. I strongly considered shortening this workout (thinking they'd just be junk miles) so I was kind of glad to just have finished it. I expected this run to be very slow, but even with all the stopping, it was still around 8min pace. Weird.

I was still swollen when I got back so I did the old ice bath trick. It felt great and seems to have helped get me back to normal.

Day #Whatever

OK, I am discontinuing the counting of days. It was cute when days since I started this training cycle coincided with the day of the month, but I'm not going to do the higher math anymore.

My legs are all kinds of swollen. Don't get me wrong, getting up above 50 miles per week (last week was 60!) with some regularity is making them all nasty and veiny and sinewy (and lovely). But I noticed that my feet and ankles are a bit puffy. And my thigh was jutting out all weird today. I think they (my legs) may still be a little shocked from yesterday. I asked them to do a not-entirely-slow 3mi treadmill run and they weren't unhappy. Unfortunately, my iPod pooped out and sketchy guy (he's back!) got on the machine next to me and started weirding me out so I went home.

I have a wonderful, but potentially stupid-hard day planned for tomorrow: morning spin with S (who races Cat 2? I am prepared to get my butt kicked) then 9 miles to run in the evening.

Day #34 - Forbidden No Longer...

I ran up Forbidden Drive today. I did about a mile and a half after the turnoff, which is 8 miles out, so I think this is between 18-19 miles. It took me just under 2h30m.

I had all these things to write, but then I went out with S and they had Bell's Oberon and now those thoughts are gone. Sigh.

Day #33 - Difficult Six

Dude. Today was weirdly difficult. I set out to run another seven but by Sweetbriar (Sweetbriar!) I was dragging. I stopped to catch my breath, and settle my stomach a bit, but just returned via Lemon Hill. This may not even be six. But I did not want to compromise tomorrow's long run and I felt like absolute crap. Maybe I ate something weird. Poo.

Day #32 - Easy Seven

Runs like this one are what make marathon training so great. Friday's schedule called for an easy seven, and even though my legs were still a little sore from Thursday's speedwork, after a month of training I knew it would be easy. I think most of this is mental: when you've been doing 1hr+ runs every other day, you know that a cruise up to John B Kelly with no plan to push the pace is going to be a piece of cake. Anyways, cake--7mi, and untimed--it was.

I'm going to invert my long run yet again. If I did it Saturday, I'd have done 70 miles in the last 7 days. So 7 today and 20 tomorrow!

Day #31 - Speedwork. If it can be called that.

As the end of the last post indicates, I was not especially looking forward to today's workout. I slogged through a 2.5mi warmup, then 5x800m at around 5k pace (so, around 3:10 per) then a South St / Walnut loop from Pottruck. I think this is over 8mi, and it was a hard workout for the shape I'm in, but I really should have done a 6th. Poo.

Day #30 - Split Run

3mi on the treadmill, then an AM loop. Something like 54min all together, should be at least 7mi.

Oh I really don't want to run intervals tomorrow. Whine whine whine.

Day #29 - Strawberry Mansion

The schedule only called for 8, but as I came down off the Plateau 4 miles into my run, I felt good. So instead of turning right and heading back to Center City, I made a left and ran to my favorite bridge. Went up and over, as Blitzer would say, and while I was waiting for a break in the Kelly Dr traffic, I saw a fast woman running about 1/8 of a mile ahead. Caught her at the parking lot just before John B Kelly and sped up a little so we wouldn't be in that awkward slow-pass two-step. Then, even though my legs were still the tiniest bit achy, I felt stronger with each marked quarter... by the time I came round the bend at Girard I was in a full-on kick. Ran hard down the last bit of Kelly Dr and Boathouse Row to Lloyd Hall, then grabbed water and ran easy back via Spring Garden and 34th.

I think this run is between 9.5 and 10. My watch said 1h9m, but I turned it off while I walked down the stairs coming off the bridge and forgot to turn it on again until halfway between St Joe's boathouse and John B Kelly, so time essentially unknown. But, on the whole, a good run!

Day #28 - bye bye rest days

Ok. The honeymoon is over and the hardcore begins tomorrow. I have a little over two months until taper begins. This plan is a little insane: 7x20+ mi runs and tops out with a few 70mi weeks. I may scale that back a bit, especially if I develop knee and hip trouble like I did when I first did 60mi weeks training for Philly two years ago. But my legs have a lotmore miles on them now, so I am hoping that my body will be able to take it.

Today was an easy day: 3mi treadmill run (.25 cooldown), then upper body circuits.

Day #27 - NCRT bliss.

Happiness is... doing my long run on the NCRT. 15mi in 2hrs on the nose (1h59m26s--just barely negative split! I think it's also a slight downhill.) This was just a lovely run. Perhaps I'll write a few more lines about it tomorrow.

Day #25, Day #26

Friday I took a goose egg. Drove down to DC with K8 and Em-ill-ee and got stuck in horrible traffic... I didn't catch up with Tita and Ahmad until 9.30. I actually considered heading out for an Inner Harbor run, but thought it would have been rude. So I did not run.

Today I ran the Dru Hill / Hampden / JHU loop. I felt a lot stronger than the last time I ran this (when I stabbed my hand on some glass in the last half mile) and finished about 5 minutes faster. It's a bit more than 8mi.

Day #24 - Loop it, loop it good.

Training is so weird. I know that each individual day in a cycle doesn't much matter. I know that what's important is the cumulative effect of 18 weeks of hard work. But it's hard not to be disappointed after a day like yesterday. When I step on the mill not wanting to do it and bail after 20 minutes. The whole reason that I lock myself into a training plan is to impose some structure on the madness; to not have to worry about listening to my body and wondering when I should push hard and when I should take it easy. No, I lock myself in, and just ask my body to dial up whatever numbers the calendar calls for. In this framework, deviating from The Plan is failure. But yesterday revealed the bogosity of the fiction: sometimes you do need to listen to your body and you can't let your schedule dictate the effort. Sometimes a day off is exactly what's needed.

I've been whining all week. Chris saw me come home on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday all tight and sore and crabby after struggling through my workouts. And yesterday was a ridiculously easy run. Not even 3 miles. But it was exactly what my legs needed. If I'd kept up with the numbers on the calendar, my workouts would have gotten poorer and poorer. Instead, when I tied up my shoes and hit the path today, suddenly running was fun again. My legs had pep and I felt like myself. Part of it was the weather, I'm sure, but the bulk was finally giving my body a proper rest.

Anyway, I ran the Loop from Pottruck today. Call it a 12mi run, with a middle 4 miles at close to tempo pace on the Kelly Drive backstretch.

Hooray.

Day #23 - Unscheduled Downtime

Working late, a hailstorm, and still-tired legs led to me taking 'er easy today. Did a 20 min treadmill run, but my legs and heart both weren't in it... so I stopped. I'll try to squeeze a double in tomorrow.

Day #22 - Eight and done.

Ran my 8 in 1h3m. Still sore from Sunday and never really got past that first-few-minutes-of-the-run feeling. Hoping tomorrow is better.

Day #21 - Jaysus!

Shit. I didn't look at my training plan. I just assumed that yesterday was a rest day. Instead, I was supposed to do 4. Oops.

I did get an easy workout in (legs were still tight from Sunday): 30min on the stationary bike, then lifted upper body.

This week goes down as: (4) 8 8 8 7 15 7 = 57.

Day #19, Day #20

Saturday was almost an exact repeat of last week: I was hoping to get the long run out of the way, but I ate a too-salty snack too close to heading out, and my mouth and stomach were both whining the whole time. I turned around just after Sweetbriar for a something-more-than-6-but-less-than-7mi run. Must remember not to eat those rice cracker snacky things before trying to run long!

Sunday was a monster day. In the morning I met K8 for a spin out Manayunk-ish, and then some puttering around in Fairmount Park. Total time was around 1h40 minutes. (I forgot to reset my cyclocomputer so mileage unknown.) In the evening, I did my long run. The weather, which had been hot and sticky all weekend finally started to turn around 8pm, so I was actually pretty comfortable (but still sweat gallons). I ran out to East Falls, made the left turn to Manayunk at Ridge, and continued past the spot where the Philly Marathon mile 20 and turnaround is... until the watch said 1:05. Stopped at the BP station at East Falls for a Gatorade on the way home and felt revived. Finished in, well... as the photo shows, 2:10:17 (running time; I stopped the clock while refluiding). I haven't GMap'd this, but I think this is between 16 and 17 miles. The time was right in the range that I wanted to do, so I'm happy.

With almost 4hrs of cardio... I slept well last night!

Update: I GMap'd it; it's actually a little under 16. Poo!

Day # 18 - Easy Seven

Ran out to John B Kelley and back via the river path. It was hot today, and is staying hot all weekend (we may not go below 70, even at night). I have a very long run to do this weekend so I just did the first half of this run nice and slow (I have my watch again! around 7:50 pace). Hit the turn around and ran the return about a minute faster than the out, but still at a nice, easy pace. 7mi and change in 55:xx.

This was a good run. I'd been feeling a little battered by this week's workouts, so it was good to just go out and do an easy run and have it be really easy, even with the heat. I ran without my iPod, which I should do more often. Being out in the quiet as the sun set into the Schyullkill made for a very peaceful evening.

Day #17 - Bikram Tempo Run

I realized that I forgot to post the plan for this week. It is/was: 8 7 8 7 18 7 for 55 total. Of those, I decided that Tuesday would be at whatever pace I felt like, Wednesday easy, Thursday hill or tempo, Friday easy, Saturday Long, Sunday pace. Despite what I wrote yesterday, so far so good.

Today I set out from Pottruck for an 8mi run and planned to do 3 at tempo pace. I ran the Montgomery Loop, and basically did that, although with the heat (low 90s) I was dealing with at the start of the run, it may have been more of a tempo effort than tempo pace (I keep forgetting my watch! Must remember to bring). Even so, I felt pretty good about this workout. After an easy (hilly) warmup from Pottruck, I felt locked in for the mile from the Concourse down the hill from Belmont, and the two on MLK. Took it easy down the river path and back on Chestnut.

Day #16 - What doesn't kill me...

...sometimes just makes me slow. Um, yeah. Starting to dread the endless days with a real run. It's weird: 7 on the easy days isn't so much more than what I did all winter (4), but mentally it is taking some getting used to.

I was all toight today and really, really, really didn't feel like running. I dragged my sorry, whining legs to Pottruck, did 4 and change on the treadmill in 30, then went outside and ran--no scratch that, jogged--a Spring Garden Loop. I think this makes just a bit under 8mi (so I definitely covered the day's seven.) Hoping that taking her easy means I have energy for a tempo or some hills tomorrow.

Day #15 - Pottruck, Mantua

Ran a 10k on the 'mill, then up the hill to Mantua and back for a little over 8mi.

Day #14

If the number of the training day is evenly divisible by seven, then I don't run. Not that I could have run today anyways. I think I may have had a mild heat stroke yesterday. I ended up bailing out at Race St, running a bit to around Chestnut, and finally giving up and walking the last half mile home (it's very unusual for me not to be able to finish a run... the boy is stubborn.) Then I got home, ate some food, and took a two hour nap. And then ate some more. And then napped some more. I was really wiped out for 3-4 hours. The only other time I've been like that in recent memory was after Chicago last year, when I was seriously zonked out for most of the afternoon.

Anyways, yes, I did not run today. But I felt like getting outside so I went for an easy spin on the bike. Went up the river path to Sweetbriar, and up to the Concourse. Then instead of going up St George's Hill, I took Parkside and started exploring. I'm not really sure where I went after that, but I'm pretty sure I was in Haverford, I definitely crossed over Cobbs Creek a few times, and I came back from 75th all the way to 22nd on Spruce. A little over an hour, probably closer to 17 or 18 than 20. But I feel refreshed, and (unlike the hokey-pokey) that is what this workout was all about.

Day #12, Day #13

Ugh. I should know that if I make a post like the last one that I need to be prepared for some comeuppance.

I set out for my long run on Saturday, but too soon after an afternoon snack. It was hot, my mouth was all salty, and I was dragging. So when I got to the 3.5mi mark, I decided to invert Saturday and Sunday's runs and turned around to come home. Call it almost 7 in 49.

Sunday I woke up early and it was actually kind of cool. It's always tough to follow an evening run by a morning run, but I figured this was as good a time as any. So I slathered on the sunscreen, tossed on my shoes and still-damp shorts, and headed for the Wissahickon. Made it to the Forbidden Dr parking lot in one piece, but the run home was a slog. I was basically darting from water fountain to water fountain as my legs got tighter and tighter and the day hotter and hotter. I guess this is why the long run is important. Anyways, an unknown distance (around 15 though) in 2hrs.

Day #11 - Bounce

Unlike the training plans I've used before, this one assumes that you've been doing around 40mpw. So there are a few weeks around 50, and then it ramps up fairly quickly. It's good that, despite easy days going from 3-4mi to 6-7mi, I am feeling a little antsy for more, not battered. With one exception (week 12), this is the last week that has both an off day and a long run of <= 2hrs. Live it up now I guess!

Ran out W River Dr at sunset. The weather was cool and breezy (if a little sticky... but hey, it's Philly in summer... whatta you expect?!) and the sky all pink and pretty. I had some pep in my legs today: to the AM in under 12, W River Dr in 19 something, and mile 3 at Sweetbriar right at 21. Went a little under a mile more to Black, then up to the Concourse and back down the hill I was running on yesterday. Back via the Parkway and 22nd. 52min total, I'm calling it 7.

Day #10 - 8 for effort

I ran hills today. Nothing huge, just four repeats of the large-ish one up Lansdowne from Sweetbriar to where the Concourse starts. I didn't GMap it, but going by my watch (68min running time) and estimating a 3mi warmup up the river path and MLK plus a return across Girard and Lemon Hill, I think it should have been at least 8 for the day.

Day #9 - A good run...

...is one that's done!

The last 24hrs were a little bit crazier than I expected them to be. There was one claim that we really wanted to be able to make in our ICFP paper (for those in the know: essentially that a really, really simple type system was all that you needed for doing anything with q-lenses; in particular, that we'd used to it check the 1000s of lines of Boomerang code we have.) I'd ported a bunch of code and thought I was done, but then discovered a bug in the Makefiles of all things, that was hiding two errors. I was still confident that we could get things to work with our type system, but I was running on fumes and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to get it done by the time the paper was due (and so, was afraid we'd have to weaken the claim.) Happily, I was able to get it done and check really truly all of our examples, but it was a slog to the finish. It's one of those things that's kind of silly--probably nobody who ever really reads the paper will take much notice--but as a scholar, it was really important to get right.

Whew! That's more computer science than this blog has ever seen, I think. OK, what about running? As yesterday's post indicated, I wasn't able to do my full workout yesterday. Today I came home around 2.30, ate a crapload of food and promptly fell asleep until 7.30. Got up at 8 and ran a Strawberry Mansion (really a St Joe's boathouse, which is at the 2 1/4 mile marker, about 1/8 of a mile short of the bridge) out and back on Kelly Dr. I think this is just under 9 miles, so I'm actually only 2 and whatever miles "in the hole" for the week.

Day #8 - In the hole...

This always happens with marathon training... a day gets busy and something has to give. We are preparing the camera-ready for our ICFP paper, and I could only find time to sneak in a 3mi treadmill run at Pottruck. I may try to do a double today and make it up, or maybe I'll just call it a bust and move on.

Day #7

And on the seventh day, he did rest. Or rather, he didn't run, but biked. Did a couple of Sweetbriar / St George's Hill / Chamounix / Strawberry Mansion / Reservoir / Girard loops. Just over 20mi in a little with the to/from from home in around an hour (hooray!) I love biking.

Last week was 53mi in 7 workouts over 7 days. This week goes down like this: 8, 7, 8, 7, 15, 7 for a total of 52mi in 6 days. I am hoping that today's spin will give me legs new pep, but if not, I may split Wednesday's 7 into morning/evening runs. Hills on Thursday.

Day #6

And on the sixth day he (did not rest but) ran a Montgomery Loop, and saw that it was good.

Day #4, Day #5

Friday: ran a Sweetbriar / Lemon Hill loop (46min, should be at least 6mi).

Saturday: ran a SuperLoop (1h41min; should be a little under 13?)

Day #3

Another 8 (maybe .2mi less). I had to start earlier than I wanted (so it was still really hot) so I started with 4mi on the treadmill--quick warmup, then some 800m repeats--and finished with a Spring Garden Loop.

Today's 6 will be a nice break.

Day #2

I did another 8 miles today. Or, at least, I ran for over an hour, which is usually at least 8. I did 2.5mi on the treadmill, then ran outside for something around 45min.

Day #1

Ran an 8mi Montgomery Loop without my watch. Today I'll do another.

Here we go...

Sunday's 13 didn't happen. MCF and AMS didn't feel like going to Gunpowder Falls, so we went to their swanky MAC gym at Harbor East. I was planning to run for an hour, then run back to Bolton hill, but the skies opened (and the lightning closed the pool, canceling AMS's swim) so I took a ride home when they left. Ran a good hard 10k, but that was it.

Monday: did 5k at Pottruck, lifted upper body.

The rest of this week goes 8,8,8,6,12,8 for a total of 53.

Stabbing victim...

I ran my usual Zoo / Hampden / JHU / Chaz St loop, which is something around 9 miles if I'm remembering correctly. It was hot, and I wrung what felt like cups of water out of my shirt coming up Keswick. Yick.

I also cut myself pretty badly on my hand. Coming back into Bolton Hill off North Ave, I stepped on a piece of broken glass. It was wedged pretty deep in the sole of my shoe, so I grabbed at my shoe to flick it away and somehow pushed the glass right into the palm of my hand. I immediately started bleeding all over the place... I left a trail of blood the last two blocks back to the house. Dr. Ahmad (pictured, from when I stabbed myself with a gift Leatherman at Christmas two years ago) cleaned me up and helped me pull the ~1in shard from my shoe with some pliers.

Planning to run a half marathon at Gunpowder Falls this afternoon if heat allows.

Thursday

I wasn't up for hills after all, so I started with 3mi on the treadmill (2mi slow warmup--legs a little tight after lifting--then last mile in around 6:45), then a Spring Garden Loop (=3.75mi). I finished the workout feeling better than when I started.

The next 1000 miles...

Last winter, I mentioned to a friend that I was going to start training for BSR, and she said something to the effect of: "start training? but you run every day." I had to explain the difference between running 'cause I like it and training.

The time off (essentially since May) has been great, but I'm chomping at the bit to get going. Happily, the next cycle begins on Monday. I'm going to try a new training plan for this race. Here's the weekly mileage it calls for: 52, 55, 57, 57, 60, 60, 55, 62, 65, 65, 68, 70, 70, 70, 70, 60, 45, 15 (+ 26.2). Just over 1050 miles to the starting line.

I'm so ready. My body feels sturdy (the result of two races last fall + better dedication to lifting this winter?)... hoping it will be up to the task.

Pottruck 5

Forgot to mention yesterday that my run up Sweetbriar was interrupted by the ... Tour of PA! I was happy to stop my run for a minute as le peloton wooshed by.

Ran 5mi at Pottruck in 36 minutes and a few seconds (can't remember.) Did this one as a slow-start progression run (AKA an iFartlek). I started at 7:30 pace and went up .1mph every 7 minutes through 21. Then for the last two miles I hit the up button every time I changed the song on my iPod, finishing around 6:20 pace. It's amazing how 5mi on the mill feels like a good workout but a run up the drives to Girard would not.

Finished with leg lifting circuits minus calf raises.

Tomorrow... Fairmount Park hills? Weekend... Gunpowder Falls!!

Tuesday

A hard Strawberry Mansion run. I think this is a bit under 10. Kicked it from US Grant to Lloyd hall and felt great. Then, suddenly did not feel great, so jogged the last few back to Pottruck.

Monday

5k run at Pottruck, lifted upper body.

T-Minus 19 weeks

Friday: 3mi run, upper body @ Pottruck.

Saturday: The Loop, in maximum heat. Around 1h20m.

Sunday: Rode out to Conshy and back with Alan. Was going to run Strawberry Mansion, but I was too pooped. Ended up just doing a truncated (by a trip to TJ's) AM loop.

One more week until Real Training begins!

AM, Montgomery Loops

Yesterday: AM Loop (about 30 minutes.)

Today: Montgomery Loop (1 hr on the nose.)

Sweetbriar

This week is busy with Alan visiting. Ran a little more than 6 in around 45 minutes.

Pottruck

4mi on the treadmill up the ladder from 7:30 down to 6:30 pace., .35mi cooldown.

T-minus 20 weeks: Acclima-SHUN!

Apologies for the silence. There was no wireless at SIGMOD/PODS, so I found it difficult to blog. I did run though: 3x that 7mi (?) loop of Stanley Park, one shorter (25min) run in the park, and a 6am trail run with Karl from UCSC up Grouse Mountain. The last one kicked my butt: Karl is a regular trail runner and aspiring ultramarathoner and I'm used to running in flat-as-a-pancake Philly. It was a really fun run--we made it up over the snowline and into a cool Pacific NW rainforesty type bit near the top. The view of Vancouver from the peak, normally spectacular, was a whiteout with all the fog, but it was still great to reach the peak.

It's been a rude awakening returning to Philly (high 80s, muggy) after Vancouver's perfect running weather (mid 60s.) Made it out for a Strawberry Mansion loop (1h17m) and a Montgomery Loop (1h5m) this weekend. I am still acclimating to the heat, so took both runs at an easy pace and enjoyed my last weekend before real training begins. T-Minus 20 weeks to NYC!

Stanley Park II

Monday's run was another Stanley Park Loop. Call it between 6.5 and 7mi.

Stanley Park

My day: red-eye to Seattle, Amtrak to Vancouver, check in to wonderful Westin Bayshore, run the Stanley Park Loop. The weather (cool, 50s) made me grateful to be here in the Pacific Northwest vs. Philly's heat wave; the length of this city's standard loop (10k) vs. Philly's did not. Still, it is a start and I felt strong today. It really feels great to have a marathon to train for!!

Back!

Not back to Philly, but back online... Alaska was amazing. Not much to report on the running side of things (for the sake of logging: 45min on Sunday, 1hr on Wednesday, 25min on Friday, and a warmup + 5k race today) but kayaked the first half, and hiked the second.

Two exciting pieces of news:

• My lottery number came up for NYC! My training is now organized around November 2.
• I ran a little 5k this morning here in Anchorage and placed third overall and won my age bracket! More on that later--it involves kicking in the last mile to beat a military-looking guy, then letting up in the last quarter to let a local middle-schooler ("Gil") have second. By my watch my time was just under 20min, but I'll wait for the official results.

Running for a plane...

But snuck 5.25 in. Those may be the last miles for this low-mileage in.

Treadmill Speedwork

2mi warmup, 4x800m with .2mi jog between, 1mi cooldown. Total was just under 6mi.

Pottruck

Did an evening workout at Pottruck. 3.5mi on the 'mill (up the ladder from 8mph to 9.5mph). Then full leg lifting circuit.

Catching up

• Monday: Drank beer, ate BBQ'd veggie burgers, did not run (first off day in 20!)
• Tuesday: Sweetbriar Loop from Pottruck. 5mi, untimed.
• Wednesday AM: South Philly Loop with Jeff. 5.88mi.

Most of a SuperLoop®, Bonky weirdness.

Ran the SuperLoop (extension out to Ridge) which, if I'd finished, would have been around 13. But on the return leg on Kelly Dr, I felt my gut starting to cramp up. I *just* made it to the toilets at Lloyd Hall in time, and even after clearing out the old system, twice, when I started running the last bit, I started cramping up again.

I'm not going to read much into this (i.e., really strange to have been hit so hard by a truncated 12 miler). Obviously, for whatever reason, I found my limit today. I think I may have been starting to bonk? I didn't eat a whole lot today and I felt progressively weirder until getting something in me. I'll just take it as a sign that I got a good, hard workout in. Meh.

Montgomery Loop

Did my usual Tuesday loop in reverse. This takes one up to the Belmont Plateau and is about as hilly as one can get in a run of this distance from my house (i.e., without going up to East Falls or Manayunk.) Total was 8.65mi in a few ticks over 1hr.

Sweetbriar, Lemon Hill

BCP gave his talk in the morning, and I sent off the ICFP rebuttal in the afternoon. After another long week I was tired, but really, really wanted to get a good workout in. I came home, lay down and read some New Yorker fictions, which got my energy level back up... and did a Sweetbriar / Lemon Hill loop. It started slowly--I think I was around 13 minutes to W River Dr, but I felt better once I was on the river and, by the time I hit the back side of Lemon hill, felt great.

Repeat

Same thing as yesterday.

Oof

I woke up early today and worked pretty much continuously from 6.30am until 8.30pm (with only a few short breaks--coffee with DV at Good Karma Cafe in the morning, a trip to the Magic Carpet food truck to grab lunch, and the usual water/bathroom breaks.) Megh. Got home around 9 and did a brisk AM Loop in 28m; I think this is a little under 4mi.

I am very much looking forward to beer o'clock on Friday, and running long this weekend.

Sweetbriar / Lemon Hill

Another day of meetings. Woot.

Finally got home a little after 8, and was out the door a few minutes later. I didn't even have time to make a plan, but as I made my way through Fitler Square, I settled on warmout out to Sweetbriar, then a few Lemon Hill repeats. I wasn't sure I was up to run hard--I feel tired--but as it turned out it was one of those days when every stride feels bouncy and your lungs feel bottomless. Everything felt easy for the first three. I picked up the pace for the bit around the waterfall opposite Boathouse Row and was doing just under 6.30 pace (for .5mi at least) and it felt easy. Threw in another pick-me-up just before Sweetbriar, and then did 4xLemon Hill repeats. These are short--only ~1/8 mi--but very steep and enough to get your heart going. Came down the backside and came home via the Parkway and 22nd. Total was around 7.25 in 56min. A good run.

Monday

Pottruck is closed all week, which puts an odd hole in my usual routine (even when I run outside, I like to do it from campus; also gives the chance to do some weights after).

Came home after another marathon day of BCP meetings (we may have finally gotten to the bottom of the blame game: it seems to be a type algebra with two kinds of arrows!) and ran an AM Loop via Rittenhouse. 32 minutes which I'm estimating was 4.25 miles (may be closer to 5, but I'm too tired to GMap it, and they're junk miles, so really who cares what the pace was.)

These long days are wearing me down and when I got back from running, I really felt like doing something non-academic. I did my latest obsessions for dinner--tofu / bok choy / scallion / red pepper pepper spring rolls with Braggs liquid aminos, natch, and spinach salad--then made hummus and baked bread for the week, then made a double batch of Cara2's almond / cranberry biscotti. Yum.

The Loop

I woke up (at 9.30! I've been rising with the sun--5.45ish or so--sans alarm clock all week, so it was good to sleep in a bit) to a grey, gloomy day. The rain was coming in and out, which made for a nice morning with coffee, a crossword, and music. Fueled up for an early afternoon run, but the ran started coming heavier, so I went to Good Karma and worked for a while. Then went to BCP's for yet another meeting on The Meaning Of Blame (if Hinze is right, then contracted functions are the arrows in the Kleisli category of a comonad--woah categories!) We finally finished around 6 and by then the high-carb fuel I'd put in my belly was gone so I loaded it up again, gave it an hour to settle, and finally hit the trail a little after 8.

It was a gorgeous time to run: everything all wet and green, dogwalkers (including Darren), birds, and worms all out enjoying the first clear skies of the day. Ran a sunset East Falls Loop and came back via the river path for 11.75mi in unknown time. 45 miles for the week. No speedwork, but some tempoish shorter runs during the week. I'll have to taper down for my next race which is ... in ALASKA!! Yeah, I finally got my act together and bought my ticket last week! I'm so psyched: 8 days in Anchorage / Denali. Unfortunately I won't be able to stick around until the solstice half marathon, but Clare and I are going to run a 5k in Anchorage on my last day. ALASKA!!

Pottruck, Strawberry Mansion

Did a 3mi run at the gym last night, and 9.75 today.

Leif Statue

A long (13hr) day today: the first half spent compiler hacking and the second half spent in BCP's office trying to figure out what "well typed programs can't be blamed" means, if anything.

I stepped onto the treadmill at the gym, thinking I'd do a speed workout, but as soon as I tied my shoes and stretched, I realized there was no way in hell I'd be doing a hard workout. My legs feel fine, but my head is really, really tired, and therefore not in it. I decided to take (another) easy day and just did the 5mi+ out to the Leif statue. Sigh. Total time was 36 even. Finished with a 12min bike cooldown.

So many easy days! Perhaps I'll do that hill workout I like tomorrow, or sneak into Franklin Field (if it's not closed for graduation.)

Pottruck

3mi and change in 22 flat. Then full upper body circuit.

Tuesday 8

Back to my usual Tuesday workout: the Montgomery Bridge loop via Mantua and the Concourse. The total time was 58min and sumthin', but really there is only one number I care about: the split for miles 5-6. When I do this workout well, I warm up to Civil War memorial (about 18min), then pick it up a bit across the Concorse and down the hill from Belmont to the river, and then work the measured mile on MLK Drive at a good pace. This time the split came in at 6:34.

I want to get faster, and for that I need to train with specificity--easy workouts easy and hard workouts hard. Too often, like most recreational runners, I just run at the upper end of comfortable (for me, 7-7:15 pace.) I'm still not very good at pushing myself on hard days, but I'm learning...

Morning AM Loop

Met Jeff for a morning Art Museum Loop. 4.62mi in unknown time.

Wissahickon

Ran for 1h47m up into the Wissahickon. Didn't get all the way to Forbidden drive, but that had really better be 14mi.

Strawberry Mansion

I was supposed to meet up with KT and another Jeff resident, but they got delayed and told me to go ahead, so I ran Strawberry Mansion solo. My legs were pretty sore after lifting two days ago, but it ended up being a solid run. I guess the low mileage this week helped. Total was 9.5mi in 1h13m (not actually so slow: I stopped at Good Karma to say hey to Aaron).

Pottruck

Weather is meh, legs are meh, workout was... meh. 3mi in about 22, upper body circuit.

It's been an easy week, and that's OK. But I really want to put some tall blue bars on it the next few days.

Pottruck

It was a gloomy, humid day, a reminder that Philly's sticky summer weather will be here all too soon. I hit the gym and did a tempo-ish workout: 2mi warmup then up the ladder to sub-6:30 pace, increasing .1mph every 1min. Finished with a .5mi cooldown at 7:15. Total was 4.25mi in 30 for the tempo, and 4.75 total. I finished with a full (including hip abductors; usually I just do squat, lunge, quad and hamstrings curls, calf raises) leg lifting circuit.

Today was yet more evidence that biking and running workouts can be stacked up against each other. I was mad sore when I woke up today, and each trip up and down the stairs to the 5th floor reminded me that I did a long (for what kind of biking shape I'm in) ride yesterday. Then I hopped on the 'mill and felt great. I love that I can get a hard workout in riding, and when I run the next day, it feels like I just rested.

First BSR photos posted. Evidently I have awful running form. What is this? A race? Or the Funky Chicken dance?

KoP

Oh man, I'm tired.

I felt like biking so I did this loop, which turned out to be 45 miles. No energy for blogging the details, but it's a great little loop. I had a ton of fun.

Sweetbriar / Pottruck

I first felt the wonderful feeling of legs truly exercised, as well as the awful feeling of chafed nipples after a long run Xtie and I did in Cordoba, Spain way back on spring break 2k. My legs are used to lots of miles now, so the first feeling is harder to come by, but the nipple problem still pops up every now and again. I wore a singlet for Saturday's race--something I hadn't done all winter--and both yesterday and today I noticed some painful chafing a few minutes in. Perhaps I need to take up taping. Or develop callouses. Hmpf. Silly.

Was planning a Strawberry Mansion Loop, but when I got to Sweetbriar the problem from above and legs still a bit tired from Sunday, convinced me to loop back to the gym. Call it a (very) conservative 5 miles in 40. Finished with 20 minutes on the bike to round out an hour of cardio. I think I will bike tomorrow.

Broad Street Run

My story (and it is long) starts on Saturday. Long-time readers of this blog will remember that last year I crashed my bike hard and, instead of getting a good night's sleep Saturday night, I woke up every 90 minutes to talk to a very sweet almost-Dr CAC (who was home in Palo Alto for the weekend, but got up through the night to call and make sure I hadn't gone unconscious from subdural bleeding.) I was still thinking of racing, and woke up at 5 to see how I felt, but with the chorus of "don't runs!" coming from friends and family ringing in my ears and the bruises puffing up overnight... for once, the Stubborn Boy listened and did not run (and then stubbornly snuck in a 7 miler later that day.)

I rehash this story (yet again) because, well, bike crashes are sort of traumatic by definition, and because this past Saturday started out as a Groundhog Day-esque replay of last year: I hopped on my bike, peddaled over to the Linc, locked my bike to the same pole, picked up my bib and shirt, went to the same market (Reading) and bought dinner supplies, and then started back. The whole ride home I kept reminding myself that lightning couldn't possibly strike twice but, even so, I was extra paranoid/careful/defensive... and, thankfully, made it home in one piece this year (last year, I literally did not come home in one piece: a large chunk of molar ended up somewhere on Spruce Street.) I cleaned the kitchen, which was still all nasty from our house party on Friday night, got dinner going, and then rushed over to Darren and Jen's excellent Derby Party. Watched the greatest/fastest two minutes in sports, hurried back home to finish cooking (vegan sausage, sauteed veggies with a light farfelle pesto, salad, and blueberry crumble) and had a nice pre-race meal with fellow first-time BSRer Jeff. Capped over the evening with a prickly pear vodka tonic, brought by our weekend houseguest from AZ, which knocked me out.

Sunday morning I was up at 5 for yogurt, banana, and coffee, then ran over to Jeff's place and caught the subway up to the start. I wanted to get a good warmup in, but figured I might as well get to the start wicked early and run around up there. Did a ~20min easy jog with Jeff down past the 1mi marker and back, got some water and stretched out, and then did another ~10 min loop with some short strides. I hadn't run in 3 days, and had managed my food prep perfectly (ate like a pig for the previous 36 hours, but emptied everything out shortly after waking up in the morning... sorry that's probably TMI, but GI stuff can be important!) Lined up in the middle of the 6-min mile pace section and waited for the start.

Mayor Nutter gave a little speech and fired off the horn and about 20 seconds later I was going over the chip mats. The race bunched up, predictably, but since we had both sides of Broad Street, and I was close-ish to the front of the pack, it wasn't too bad. The first mile is a gentle but steady downhill, so I just let it carry me down, and didn't worry about wasting any energy making silly surges. The first mile passes in 6:4x and feels easy, so I feel good. The second and third miles have some gentle rolls (can't quite call them hills) but I'm in a pack of people running at around the same pace, so we glide up over them and speed up on the downhills. I miss the second mile marker, but the split at mile 3 is 13:31, so I'm right on 6:4x pace. Mile 4 goes by Temple and I slow a bit to 6:51, but then I see City Hall through the fog and the 5th mile goes in 6:45 again, putting my halfway split at 33:57. We wind around City Hall and through the crowds in Center City. I've heard that this is often a fast mile, but my stomach is starting to feel heavy (maybe I didn't plan that eating so well after all) and it goes in 6:50. My legs feel a little heavy, and I wonder if I'll have anything left for the last three. I hook onto a father-son East African looking team. The dad is clearly an experienced runner, the son is really young (14? 15?). They are gliding along and making it look easy. The dad keeps talking about focusing on staying strong and running easy, and that the race starts at 8, and I try to follow his instructions (relax my breathing, pull my shoulders down, let my stride glide along strong). At mile 8, the dad says something about now let's do sixes, and I assume they'll take off, but after an initial surge they slow again and soon I'm with them again. My stomach worries have gone and I feel strong now, so I make a move. I'm picking people off slow but steady and the the miles between Oregon and the stadiums, which are often long and boring, don't even register. The marker for mile 9 goes by and I kick it up some more. We pass the gate to the Navy yard and I pick a guy in front of me a few dozen yards in front of me and take off in a full on kick. I pass him, he catches up, and we're the only two kicking as we zoom by what feels like a bunch of people. I actually can't remember who finished in front, but we both surged through the chute together and I click my watch stop and see 1:07:37!! (The :32 I wrote below was just me reading my watch wrong.)

This post is already getting way too long; I promise I won't drag it out much more. But I'm so happy. I haven't raced anything this short in a while (5k a few weeks ago was a tuneup for this), but also have not felt like I've been in good enough shape to really go at the distances I've been doing. My new plan (after a short break of just running whatever I feel like) is to keep focused on BQ-equivalent training. That means a 5k at sub-19m26s, a 10k at sub 40m21s, and a half at sub-1h29m48s. I'm probably just delusional after a good race, but they feel doable.

The rest of my Sunday consisted of a long trek around the hood trying to find brunch with Jeff, Heidi and the cute vet surgery residents, then taking our AZ visitor for a spin out to Conshy via Lower Merion and back by the Schuylkill River Trail, Manayunk, and Kelly Dr.

Today I just did an easy 3mi and a short upper body lift at Pottruck.

BSR SBRR

I'll write up a full-blown LBRR (long, boring race report) from yesterday morning, and a description of our 30+ mile spin to Conshy on the bike yesterday afternoon, as soon as I can find some time. But for now, let me just say that I am thrilled. Hitting a goal, even a somewhat modest one, feels great.

For now, here are the splits from my watch. I am really pleased with these numbers. Each mile went by right in the 6.45-6.50 range, until the last half mile, when I kicked a bit and saved ~15 seconds.

1	2-3	4	5	5	7	6	9	10
6:48.7	13:31.2	6.51.5	6:44.8	6:45.1	6:50.9	6:48.6	6:44.2	6:31.5

Also hit a secondary goal--running the second half faster than the first. The split for the first 5 was 33:57 and for the second second was 33:35.

Unofficially...

67m32s!!!

Ready...

Two days of total rest and a whole lot of eating had me practically bouncing as I walked down to the Brey's for their Derby party tonight. Can't wait for tomorrow!!

AM Loop

I went to Pottruck this evening, changed, stretched out, and climbed up on the treadmill, and then realized I didn't want to do a treadmill run at all. I went outside instead and found an absolutely perfect late spring evening. Ran the Art Museum Loop, back by Spring Garden; call it 4mi in something a little under 30. I ran easy for most of today, thinking about form more than speed. Did a few strides in the second half to get the heart going a bit and cooled down with 15min on the stationary bike.

I am locked into the taper routine: my diet, sleep, workouts are all on autopilot now. It feels familiar. Sunday is only 10 miles, so much of this is not needed, but I have a routine that works and I don't want to mess with it. Here's how it goes: a last longish run on Sunday, two days of what amounts to the Atkins diet, break a sweat with my run on Tuesday, switch to carbs on Wednesday, then eat, eat, eat on Thursday and Friday. No running on Friday, but continue with bagels, pasta, yogurt etc. A short run with some strides on Sunday, and a good night's sleep, then up early for yogurt, banana, and coffee, then off to the start.

I am trying to figure out if I should just run to Temple. I don't want to waste energy, but I think I need 3-4mi of warmup and unlike a longer race, I can't just use the first few miles for that... Perhaps a compromise is run to City Hall, hop on the subway, and finish warmup on the track?

Pottruck

Hit the gym again for a brisk 3mi treadmill run, then more upper body lifting (no way I'm lifting legs this week, but I wanted to do *something* more than 21min.)

Strawberry Mansion

Just a hair under 10mi (9.89 according to GMap) in 1h15min. This is not really a good taper workout, but I felt strong today. I felt like I had many more gears, but I kept it reined in until the last mile from the AM to the Chestnut Bridge, where it was too fun not to kick a little. Cooled down with a short (7min) bike.

I'm so ready for Sunday. I'm not in 65 minutes shape, but maybe I can do 68 minutes (=BQ pace according to McMillian's calculator) if things come together. A realistic goal is under 70.

Pottruck

Did an easy Monday workout: 3mi (about 1.5mi easy warmup, then 1.5mi up the ladder) which felt snappy and easy, then full upper body circuit.

I am not going nuts.

I took an unexpected goose egg this week (Wednesday) and didn't run as long as planned on my hard day (Thursday). But even though I just wrote in the last post that I'm happy with a high-quality, low-mileage week, I've been sitting here scratching my head wondering how I'd ended up with only 37 miles! It didn't seem right...

... and it wasn't. I forgot to map and log yesterday's workout. It was indeed more than 6 (6 1/3 miles), which puts the week at a somehow more respectable 43 miles.

The Loop

Last Night: Rode my bike a little under 20mi in a little under an hour up a new route towards Chestnut Hill. Up Lemon Hill to 33rd to Strawberry Mansion to Chamounix to East Falls to Henry to Schoolhouse. Back via Lincoln Drive (huge mistake! Even though I was riding consistently above the 25mph speed limit, cars were whizzing by at 45-50 and honking! Oops) to Kelly Drive.

Then hit the Orchestra for a somewhat restrained performance of my favorite violin concerto (Sibelius). I'll miss Eschenbach.

Today: Last long run before BSR next Sunday. I know I can't do anything for my fitness between now and then, but this run was a nice confidence booster. I didn't push hard, but all my splits came faster than usual. I hit the East Falls Bridge in 40:30 (vs. 42:xx usually) and, the fairy / US Grant statues in just a few ticks over an hour (vs 1:03-1:04), and the end of Boat House Row in 1:08 (vs 1:12ish.) Total was 11.5mi in 1:23:4x.

My mileage this week was less than I would have liked, but I'm OK with that. I got my quality workouts in, lifted twice, and got a good bike ride in yesterday. I'll take a week like that over one with gaudy mileage numbers anytime.

Sweetbriar

I was hoping to get up early and ride, and then run late, but I slept in and there are T-storms forecast, so I figured I'd better get the running in.

Did a slightly extended Sweetbriar Loop, just to even with US Grant on the W River Dr side. 46:00 even. That better %#@$ing be 6 miles.

I'm spending $151 on race entries between yesterday and today: BSR of course, and bought a lottery ticket for the New York Marathon. I'll know if I get a spot or not in mid-June.