Lehigh Valley Half

This past Sunday (April 29th) was the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon. I ran it last year with Amy and had a really good time. Sadly, she had to visit Pittsburgh (yuck!) for work and couldn't do the race this year. Fortunately, Seebo was able to join in the fun. Since I had such a great time (literally and race time, too) last year, I figured I'd try to replicate the experience. So, I booked our room at the same place as last year and made a dinner reservation at the same restaurant the night before the race. Everything went to plan, for the most part, with getting up there and getting our race stuff - though the expo sucked and was set up really poorly. We had a nice dinner at Carmine's - though we were sad to learn that the accordion player was on an extended "vacation". We weren't sure what that meant, but just hoped that it didn't mean he had died, or was gravely ill. Of course, I had a cannoli.... yum.

The race began promptly at 8am. Seebo and I wished each other well before splitting up to find our places in the prerace line up - he... with toes on the starting line, me.... a bit farther back. Now, last year I ran the course in just under 1hr 56 minutes, but I don't know how I did that, since it was only my second half marathon and the first on I ran six months prior (on an easier course) was about seven minutes slower. I was pretty sure I wouldn't beat last years time, and, really, my goal was to just stay under 2 hours.

The weather was nice, a bit warmer than last year, but still cool enough. It wasn't until after the turn around (after mile 4) that I realized I had been running with a slight tail wind, because when I did turn around, I was cursing the steady head wind. But I felt pretty good and was maintaining about an 8:50 pace for the first six or so miles, which was right about or just under where I wanted to be. Perfect. I figured that if I could keep that up for a few more miles, then I could maybe even pick it up for the last mile or two and, who knows, maybe tie last year or be close. And then came the hills, and mile 9. At this point, my ass was feeling rather kicked. I was tired and the series of rolling hills definitely challenged me. I was cursing myself (yes, again), for not really running hills (at all) lately. Shortly after mile 9 marker passed, I heard the 2hour pace leader calling out to her minions. Shit... she was on my heels and I was feeling not so strong. All I needed to do was to try to hold onto her. My hopes for matching or besting last year had been left in the dust. Now, I was just hoping that I wouldn't finish in over 2 hours. I had thoughts of stopping. Really, I did. I was that tired. But I didn't... I kept on... I let the 2 hour pacer ahead of me slightly (and at this point I had heard her say that they were a little ahead of the 2 hour pace). I hung on for what seemed like forever and the headwind only seemed to get stronger the closer we got to J. Birney Crumb stadium.

Seebo was waiting to cheer me on just prior to the 12 mile mark. I knew that I had but a mile and change left to go and though I was really beat, I knew I'd be sub two hours and that brightened my spirits a little. I just wanted to enter that damn stadium and have this thing over and done with. One of the cruel tricks of this race is that after you've raced 12.93 miles, you have to climb this very steep, but short hill to get into the stadium. This is not so nice. It's close... you can almost taste the finish line, but damn, you gotta get up that hill first. Just prior to said hill, I saw Seebo again... waiting for me... I could see him scanning the stream of runners looking for me... and I could also see that he had not spotted me. Poor Seebo, he has a hard time picking his girlfriend out of a pack. So, I figured I'd give the guy a break and call out to him and just as I did, he turned his head and !sneezed!, missing my call and missing me entirely. The moment passed and I was on my way up the hill and into the stadium. I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed when they did not call my name over the P.A. system when I entered the stadium (as they had last year... to shouts of exultation, of course). I wound my way around the track and was happy to finish just under 1 hour 58 minutes. Yeah, yeah... two minutes slower than last year, but I'll take it. I really don't think I could have run it any faster.

We didn't plan very well and had a bit of a time finding each other after the race, but eventually, I found Seebo with some grub, sitting off to the side. He did well, of course - finishing first in the master's division and 11th overall.... which is good enough for me to not have to cancel those Buddakan reservations I had made even prior to the race (a testament to my confidence in Seebo's ability to bring home the prize money... and my ability to spend it)... which he learned of on the way back to the car.

And because we didn't feel like we had enough exercise that day, we danced for quite a while to Lil' Ed at the Blues Festival in Bucks County... especially when he played my song.... something about Icicles in the Meatloaf. I'm sure that's a euphemism for something, but I haven't figured it out quite yet.

Rush Hour

It's pretty hard for me to get up on Wednesday mornings. My salsa class doesn't end until 10:30pm, which means I don't get settled into the pumpkin patch (my bed) until after 11pm... way past my bedtime on a school night. When the alarm went off this morning, I didn't want to get up. I had slept with the windows open and that crisp morning air and the chirp of the birds made me want to stay in my warm bed and continue sleeping. "This is perfect sleeping weather", I thought as I rolled over and tasted the pillow with my grin. However, I was also thinking, "This is perfect running weather", so after not too much to do, I got out of bed and laced up.

This being my taper week, I knew it would be a fairly quick jaunt. I wanted to go out to Tinicum, however, and see what was doing there. I haven't run there many early(ish) mornings, but from what Steve says, its a hoppin' place with all the wildlife scurrying about looking for breakfast. Of course, it's a good mile plus from my doorstep before I really get to the 'good' part of Tinicum and given that I was only planning to do a total of about 4 miles today, which it worked out to be (Ha! That was my first link... I am getting pretty fancy here), I knew I wouldn't get to much of the good stuff - and I wouldn't be running the first loop... I'd be doing an out and back instead.

Running along the roadway/highway to the Tinicum entrance is always somewhat interesting. One can take note of the new road kill along with how Mr. Dead Possum is doing in his decomposition process. It's amazing that he can still stink so badly even though his corporeal being is almost but a memory. Oh yeah, and I got two honks too.

So, to make it a little interesting, I picked a notable stick early on in the trail and looked at my watch - the idea being that I'd run for fifteen minutes and then turn around and try to make it back to said stick in under fifteen minutes. Overall, my legs felt a little stiff today. I know this is because I had too much sugar yesterday and not enough water. That might sound crazy, but I know after running for this many years, that if I eat badly the day before (and when I say badly, I mean, someone brought in 3/4 of a large cake left over from his son's birthday party. I can resist everything but temptation, especially when it comes in the form of a sheet cake.) So the legs were tight, but not too bad - I've had worse (after a night with lots of M&Ms). At the turn around, I picked it up and tried to concentrate a little on getting my legs to turn over more quickly. Well, I made it back to the stick in 14:05, so I was pretty darn happy. Of course, it's not an exact science, but I know that I came back faster than I went out, and really, that was the goal.

Since I didn't get too far into Tinicum, the wildlife wasn't too abundant. About a quarter mile before my turn around, I encountered two none-shall-pass Canada geese... I was worried that we'd rumble, but I managed to get by with little more than some honking and dirty looks (on their part, not mine, I swear). I also saw four deer, springing away from me - big white tails held aloft... as I was running along the roadway just prior to the entrance for Tinicum.

Friday, I'll do another short run... and then Sunday is Allentown. I'm excited for the race, but not really feeling too great about my running. The ole' stress fracture is complaining pretty loudly in the past week plus. Just gimme another three weeks, leg, that's all I ask, then I'll slow down and (hopefully) get thee to a doctor.

LBBR?... plus four+

So the acronym stands for Long Boring Race Report.... something I have picked up since hanging around more runners. I don't know if this post will qualify. I doubt it since my report will contain less information about splits and more about, oh... I don't know... Penguins.

Today was the Clean Air 5k down by the Art Museum - kicking off my spring race trifecta. I ran this race mainly because my friend Justin has been training to run a 5k and picked this one as his first ever. So, Team Justin (me, Justin, and sort-of-Steve.... more on that later), made its inaugural debut. We met Justin and his friend, Kate, in front of the Art Museum and chatted for a bit. Kate - the official support crew for Team Justin - carried the duffel bag and was nice enough to allow us to stow our stuff in the bag while we ran.

Due to last minute personal issues on the part of the better looking half of Team Justin, we missed the 'gun' and had to play a little catch up at the beginning of the race. No biggie - we had our 'chips' and our watches to faithfully record our race time. I don't know if Justin will agree, but he seemed like he was doing pretty well for the first mile. Our pace was steady and we weaved our way through some of the slower paced folks. I could tell that as we approached the turn around, Justin was gettin' a bit fatigued, but he hung tough and we maintained our pace through mile two. At this point I could tell that Justin was tired. This put me in a position I have never been in before and I didn't know exactly how to react. Do I try to talk him through it? Say encouraging things? Shut up and try to just keep him on pace? Make jokes? Hmm. I am more accustomed to being in his shoes - being the one struggling and encouraged by the other. And I know that for me, the best way to deal with me in that situation is to not say a whole lot... because if you do say a whole lot, I know that you're really having an easy time of it and I really don't need to hear you flappin' your gums while I can hardly breathe. So I tried the more stoic approach, and I think it boded well in the situation. Somewhere towards the end of mile two, we passed the Penguin (whom we had spotted coming back out way just after the turn around)- some poor sot dressed in a penguin outfit - not sure why, but it makes for good race ju-ju. It's good not to get beaten by the Penguin.

As we approached the three mile mark, I asked Justin how he wanted to do the finish - maintain pace or pick it up. He opted to pick it up and I told him I'd follow his lead. Um... Justin then started practically sprinting. I was impressed that he had so much 'juice' left and I know that means he'll be back for more! Mwahhaahaahaha... another burgeoning runner.

We finished together and met up with Team Justin's support crew/cheering section. I was, of course, curious to learn how the honorary member of Team Justin fared. Steve has been working towards a sub 16 minute 5k for this spring. His first attempt was a few weeks ago and he had felt ready. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards that day and he finished at 16:12. Steve wasn't too confident about doing it today, but figured he'd give it a shot - thinking he had maintained the level of fitness he had been working so hard at for the last few months. And, well.... 15:52. Damn - 20 seconds faster than his prior attempt and well below the 16 minute mark. I was ecstatic for him. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be able to do that. All I can do is shake my head and de-fog the speed goggles. (In the interest of posterity, let the record reflect that it was later learned that the Clean Air 5k was actually a 4.9k. While this news was disheartening to more than just a few, it had no effect on the condensation of steam on the speed goggles.)

As I had planned, I got in a few more miles after the race - to make this my 'long' run for the week and, thus, officially kicking off the taper for Allentown. I ran about twenty minutes up Kelly Drive and then turned around and came back. I felt good and decided that in between the 3/4 mile mark and 1/4 mile mark, I'd pick it up a bit. I wasn't going all out, but I wanted to push it a bit to see how I'd do. As I got close to the 1/4 mile mark, I heard footsteps behind me. I could feel this person closing in. "Nope", I thought to myself, "you're not passing me before I reach that marker". I held steady, even picked it up slightly, and successfully held off my pursuer. Curiosity being what it is, I slowed down a bit (and because I was tired) to let the person pass so I could see who I had disappointed in their failed attempt to pass me before the 1/4 mile marker. And wouldn't you know... this little girl, couldn't have been more than nine, comes zipping past, maintaining pace until she was well up the path. I couldn't help but laugh to myself... yeah, I'm such a bad-ass.. holding off the eight and a half year old. Good for her.

Bad decision

Yesterday I delayed my workout until the afternoon... or, should I say, early evening. That was partly due to the fact that Steve, Kevin, and I were out late at the Rodrigo y Gabriel concert Wednesday night and also that I wanted to stay in bed a little while longer this morning. So I packed my stuff for running and headed to work. I wasn't sure if I was going to run down on the drives or if I'd go to the gym. The weather continued to be on and off crappy - with rain coming down steadily at regular intervals. As I left work, the rain was coming down and I decided to hit the gym... I think I'm still traumatized from my Soggy Sunday run. Nothing much to report on this run -- it was a hamster wheel workout. I did change it up a little in that I varied when and how long I did the inclines... ooohhh... really walking (or runnin') on the wild side, I know. But I also ran a bit faster than I usually do and felt pretty good about it. Unfortunately, it wasn't until about mile 5.5 that I realized I should be paying better attention to what I'm doing since I now have a blog to update. Hmm. Oh well. Overall, I think I ran just over 6 miles (6.1) in about 54 minutes. If that's right, then its under a nine minute pace, which for me, is pretty darn good. I'll take it. Clean Air 5k is this Saturday with Justin. I'll run a few more miles after that and then the real tapering begins for Allentown!!! Oh yeah... so the reason for the title of the post... no big deal, really, but when I came out of the gym, the weather was perfect, cool but not cold, no rain and no real wind... so I guess I should have run outside.

Draggin' but gotterdone

So I figured out somewhere along the way yesterday that I really shouldn't be tapering all that much this week - at least during my weekday runs. I'll do that next week - the week just prior to the half. I also realized that since I'm doing the 5k on Saturday, I'll need to change up my usual running schedule - from Weds, Fri, Sun to Tues, Thurs, Sat. This, given the fact that I did my long, miserable, rainy run late in the day on Sunday (approx 5pm to 7pm) meant that I had under a 36 hour recovery time from that run to this morning's run. And, yes, I was feeling a bit worn out still from Sunday's run. In talking with Steve last night, he advised that I do around 4 and not more than 6... which sounded about what I had in mind anyway. My calves were sore this morning - which is pretty rare for me.

A note on the stress fracture, before I forget - it's been pretty okay the last few days... not giving me too much trouble. Still tender to pressure, but not killing me when I start off a run.

Okay... back to the issue at hand... went to the gym and jumped on the hamster wheel. Started off at my usual 6.2 did a little incline then went to 6.3 and 6.4. Stayed at 6.5 for a while before going incrementally up to where I topped out, which I think was at 6.8. It was a bit of a labor today. I could feel that my body was still tired. Thanks to the girl on the treadmill next to me for giving me motivation (just by being there and running too). I ran 4.85... not sure why I stopped there and didn't go all the way to 5. Really, I was just beat and had pretty much decided just to go about 4 or 4.5 (well, 4.66 really, since that was what the other woman next to me was at when I began my workout... seemed like as good of a random distance as any.) After I was finished with the run, I went upstairs and stretched and was planning on doing some arm stuff. As I was stretching, I was keenly aware of being sweatier than usual and also of feeling kind of achy, especially in my lats and triceps. I'm not really sure why. Anyway, I did the assisted pull-up/dip maching - three sets of each before calling it a morning.

Brought in the strawberry rhubarb cake (sort-of) that I baked after fight club last night. What can I say... there was rhubarb at the grocery store... and that's pretty rare, so I couldn't really resist. Had a piece for breakfast... pretty darn good... and am hoping the rest will be scarfed up by my coworkers.

My first... and who knows, maybe my last

I don't know that I can maintain a running blog, but I think I'm going to try to make this that. It's not going to be fancy and really, it's for no one else but me... to help me keep track of what I'm running. Right now the only gauge I have for my running is how I did in a particular race the year before. Okay, so here goes...

Yesterday, I ran this 13.26 mile loop http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=865084 .. starting and ending in Lansdowne near my beloved tree. The weather was awful... rained all f-ing day and fairly windy too. I didn't want to do it, but this was my last long run before the half and I needed to do it for psychological reasons just as much as physiological ones. I couldn't have gotten more wet if I tried... if I had dived into a lake. It was insane. But I did it. I don't remember my exact time... something around 2hrs 10min which is a good bit slower than I would like, but hey... that takes into account getting hung up at a few traffic lights, a considerable head wind, and of course about seven pounds of rain sodden clothing. Yuck. I kept thinking about just getting through it. Along the way, I considered taking short cuts off my originally planned route because it was miserable and I was miserable, but somehow I persuaded myself to stay the course (pun intended). I was arguing with myself back and forth - Oh, no one will know but you if you shave off this little section..... Yeah... that's just like you... cheat your way and then you'll feel like crap for having done it and you'll put a sour note to an otherwise considerable accomplishment. So I'm glad I listened to my 'don't puss out side'. Still, the last mile and a half, two miles was pretty rough. When I got home, I made myself a delicious meal - parsley encrusted tilapia and a miniravioli veggie thing. Sadly, I was too chilled to the bone and nauseous to eat it. I took a number of labored bites, but I felt like I was going to ralph, so I wrapped it up and went to bed (at 9pm). I slept on and off until about quarter of 7am this morning. I'm just glad I feel better today and didn't need the trash can I had strategically placed next to my bed.

So, as Seebo says, the hay is in the barn! Yippe. Let the taper begin. Ahhhhh!!!!