We've Moved

With Oprah (kind of) beaten, I'm moving this to a new home. Please visit my ramblings at http://get-ready-to-run.blogspot.com/.

Chicago Marathon 2007

There has been so much said about this run, so I'm not going to go into much of the details, instead, here are some YouTube videos that convey my view of things:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uQ8Dj5F00ig - Local TV Coverage
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qbZTI7Cw0rM - Fiasco Video from on Course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCRyQBCz5eg&NR=1 - Chicago Tribune

I went into this run a bit travel weary. Over a two week period I had slept in six different beds in four different states; an accomplishment, I suppose, if I had female companionship, but as it were, it was more so a burden on my back as it is accustomed to "the pit" I've wallowed in my bedroom mattress. Honestly though, other than the general lack of running leading up to the race, I felt fairly good come race morning. Food-wise, things had gone well the days leading up to the run. Bathroom-wise (not table talk, but we all know it's important), things were stellar as I prepared to start my run. The one issue was the heat; 88 or so degrees would be the high, with no cloud cover, and reflective asphalt under foot.

As is clear from my times, I didn't finish the whole 26.2 miles; I was diverted and completed 18.4 miles in about 4:24. So, in some respects, I guess I beat Oprah! Ironically, that's not what I will take from this race:

• I'll always remember that the race certainly ran out of Gatorade, exhausted their cup supply at one aide stop, and might as well have been out of water given their distribution problems. While each runner has to take his or her health into their own hands, we need a little help out there. I will not run in heat if you say I have no help; the Chicago Marathon promised to help.
• It's important to remember that we're all in a good place if we get to travel around running. Good that we have such a healthy habit, good that we're fond of a sport that promotes such healthy friendships, and good that we don't have more serious things to take up our day! As Boston Rob put it, marathons are about good stories and medals; I got both at this race.
• A squad of poorly dressed drag queens yelling "You bitches are hot!" will lift your spirits even when you feel like crap.
• It's also important to remember that nothing is guaranteed, as we all found out when that poor fellow died during the run. I really can't imagine that he died of mitral valve prolapse, as the coroner is saying (an interesting revelation for me, since it was believed that I had MVP about 15 years ago), but it really doesn't matter. Could be a car, could be your heart giving out, could your roommate going on a killing spree; live good and live it up while you can.
• Trips with friends are fun. Take them when possible.
• The running scrotum, complete with pubes. I tend be fairly decisive on a race course, but I was stricken with doubt about if it was appropriate to pat the guy (may have been a girl) in the nads suit on the back as I ran buy (I didn't; I gave the berries a wide berth). Certainly a creative way to raise money for men's cancer research (as the tag on the back of the scrotum claimed), and something I'll remember if I ever do my "Race for Your Junk 5K" testicular cancer run.
• I saw Felix give a TV interview. He pulled off the course to the camera like a moth to flame! He gave the flock good advice at our Sat. night dinner; forget PR'ing, just be safe in the weather.
• I thought, at some point on the course, that I was running my last marathon. For right now at least, I never won't to tempt global warming and face such a warm run, or really, such a warm training season.

Most vividly, I will remember the good people of Chicago. In particular, I'll remember ....

• The sprinklers hooked to house fences and the runners timing their stride, and sometimes even pushing one another, to make sure they got their full share of that glorious gift from the on-lookers.
• The restaurant that was pouring water into a cup if you had one, and the fact that I had kept my last cup since they were running out.
• The never-ending crowds. They were were their the whole day, and they were raising hell, in a very positive way!
• The people who had set up their own little water bottle station; one woman was giving out 20 oz. bottles, while two other people ran back and forth from the house, ferrying what remaining supply they had left to the race course.
• The five or so year old girl who was over-joyed to be using her parents water hose to strategically spray water into the face of any runner that came within range. The runners loved the game as much as she did!

In the wake of the race, I've been asked many times, "Did you finish?". As a runner, a marathoner, I don't really understand that question. I think the challenge of a marathon is getting out there, and giving it a shot. If you train smart, and make it to the start line, then you've accomplished all you really have any control over. One of the things that makes marathoning exciting is that months of training come down to how you feel, the weather, the crowds, etc., etc., on one very early morning! Would I have expected to finish, sure, but only on a day more so made for me to finish. I have problems with heat; always will, there's no fixing that. So the course gave me conditions that were tailor made for me to run a slow time, I thusly targeted an appropriately slow time after a few miles of running and the problems on the course forced the race to end. I ran the best Chicago Marathon that I could, and I'm fully content with that. Did I finish my fourth marathon, no, not technically, but I certainly did run it.

As an aside, I'm happy to report that the American Cancer Society set a record with the Chicago Marathon, raising in excess of $1.5 million dollars through their Charity Runner program. I was glad to be a part of it, but a little bummed when I think about the much smaller amount of money that they will make next year. Executing the Chicago Marathon is about much more than just putting on an elite run, as some would have you believe, or even a run for the masses. It is an event that, in some ways, effects most of the world, and I'm sad to see it be ran so poorly. I'm glad I stepped up to run an out of town marathon though, and I hope I'll have enough desire to run, once I've healed up, to keep traveling to fun events around the world.

Here's my post in response to the horrible article (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cs-071008downey,0,7184430.column?page=1&coll=chi_tab01_layout) posted by a Mike Downey from the Chicago Tribue:

What Mr. Downey fails to realize, or at least note, is that most people who
don't show for a marathon do so because they are either injured come race day,
or realize they have bitten off more than they can chew when attempting to
tackle this challenging distance. For those that show up, they have
literally entered into a contract with the race; I train for your run, you
support me on race day. This contract, worded in more complex legalese, is
forced upon every entrant into the race. The organizers and sponsors of
this race simply didn't uphold their end of the contract. Since the
contingency plan of a short run was put into place on Tuesday, the race
organizers had time to add extra provisions to uphold their end of the
agreement; for some incomprehensible reason, they simply failed to do
that. The people of Chicago were great during the run, as they stepped up
to fill the shortfall presented by the poorly organized race committee.
The people of Chicago should not be marred by this shortfall, but unfortunately,
one of the four greatest world-wide marathons (Chicago, New York, Boston, and
London) will have a black eye for many years to come. Perhaps the new
sponsor (I can't imagine LaSalle would continue it's association with the run)
will ensure a better event next year. Again, as a runner, my thanks to the
good people of Chicago.

If I stick to running the full Houston Marathon, somethine I hope to do, I anticipate a much better event; history proves I'll be correct in that anticipation!

As for the future of this blog, I think it will end, but I will continue to blog at a new, more long term location. I'll link that location into my next post.

Next Stop - ChiTown

And here we are; Chicago is upon me! As for the big day, I think I'm going to have some pain to deal with. My left leg is still not healthy; foot and hamstring are quite fickle at the moment. I'm also a bit concerned with the weather, as it looks like the temp will be above 70 at the start, with it climbing above 80 by the finish. None-the-less, my plan stays the same: run with the 4:30 pace group. This speed should allow me to function with minimal irritation to my leg and should give me a chance at finishing below my PW (personal worst) in the marathon. As for nutrition, I'll have around five GUs with me, and probably a few Endurolytes as it looks like they might come in handy due to the weather. Most importantly, I plan to have as good a time as possible. Chicago should be quite the experience, and perhaps I'll never run it again, so I want to live it.

For exercise this week, I've basically went with a couple of sessions on the elliptical machine, some push-ups one night, and a lot of stretching. Also, as is common while at college, I have walked A LOT! I didn't run my miles, but I walked them none-the-less. As I have a lot of travel to do tomorrow (starts at around 8AM, ends around 4PM), my game plan is to stretch when possible. My legs do not like to be folded up, so I hope to move around, stretch, and keep the knees from locking up. No running or other such exercise from here on out. I think you need to let the muscles rest before a run and soak up as much glycogen as possible.

Chicago has been interesting and fun to train for. I distinctly remember thinking people training in Houston for a Fall marathon were crazy, but now it's Fall, and look what I did; I trained for a marathon. I look forward to the next few weeks, as I need to rest my legs and try to get healthy. Though I don't think a doctor can do much to help, I may go to Sokolow anyway, just to make sure rest is all that I should be getting.

I hope that I come out of this run healthy and with a continued commitment to running. Between signing up for Hood To Coast, the warm-up races, Sunmart (maybe, though probably not), Houston, and maybe London, there's a lot of running to potentially do. I have been afraid that if I were hurt, and Chicago went poorly, that I would want to take an extended break from running, or who knows, go back to just half-marathons. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but I feel the time for that move isn't quite upon me. The last three years were my "train and run one" era. I feel like I'm moving into a "continuously train and run many" era (aka, the "Many Medals" era). I would like that era to end of my own accord and not do to injury or a bad experience.

The original purpose of this blog was to raise money for the ACS (which I've completed) and to chronicle my training as I get ready to tackle Oprah in her home town (looking grim, but you never know). As for the future of this blog, I'm not sure. I like blogging, but as this one had a very special purpose, perhaps it's time to end it and start anew with a more long term blog topic. I have a limited readership, but perhaps that, along with the therapeutic value of getting the little man out of my head and onto the screen, is worth the time. There will certainly be a race wrap up, and hopefully, much rejoicing.

Bye for now.

Snake Right!

On Saturday morning, I headed to Ozark, Alabama's Sam Dale Lake Pedestrian Trail for my 8 mile taper run. The lake has a 3.1 mile trail, with the two heads of the trail connected by a parking lot and the lake's main information center. The left trail head (where I always start) is paved for two miles, where it gives way to a hilly clay course through the woods; the first mile has quarter-mile markers, with the remainder of the course having half-mile markers up to 2.5 miles. With the markers ending at 2.5 miles, I decided I would do a 2.5 miles out and back, a stop for a stowed water bottle, then a 1.5 miles out and back to finish my mileage. I started at around 9:30; the temperature was surprisingly high for that time of day, but there was a nice breeze.

At about mile, 1.25 it happened. As my right leg was coming off the ground I noticed something on the right hand side of the trail was moving; it was a 2.5 foot long snake! When my right leg landed next to the snake, it began to move it head, with more haste, towards the water and tree cover. Still though, shocked by such a finding, I gave a rockette-esque leg kick and uttered what I thought would be Parselmouth, but was probably more like "OH SHIT!". The "little fella" was all green with a white belly and was doing a good job blending in with the grass .... until it moved. I suspect it was just trying to sun itself, as it had been a fairly cool night. It's markings were inconsistent with a rattlesnake, moccasin, or copper head, so it was probably a King Snake; a non-venomous snake that is known to eat other snakes in addition to usual snake fair. Needless to say, I was much more focused on the trail for the remainder of the run, and as the area is heavily wooded, I saw at least 10 other snakes. Thankfully, all those snakes turned out to be some variety of stick, moss, or shadow, and I ran upon nothing more ferocious than a very inquisitive squirrel that seemed willing to pace me for about 100 yards.



I had some nasty stomach issues over the final 1.5 miles of the run (I think Golden Corral the night before, along with chugging 20 ounces of water at my water stop, did me in), but other than that things went well. In the aftermath my foot felt angry as usual, and unfortunately my hamstring was particularly gimpy. Thankfully, as the past two days have progressed, I seem to be healing up. I don't think I will run again; some elliptical machine tomorrow, and maybe just a touch on Thursday.



I did answer a key question during this trip home; not even Verizon works in Skipperville, Alabama. Though my phone would say it had some kind of weak DX, EX, or FX signal, it couldn't make a call or send a text. I know this because I was trying WITH ALL MY MIGHT to taunt Florida people after the game on Saturday (we don't have cable in Skipperville either, but thankfully my mother has ponied up for a dish). While "in town" for dinner on Sunday, I blasted a quick "War Eagle" to Yuriy, but turned my phone off quickly. When I reached civilization today, I turned on my phone and it went off like CRAZY!!! About five texts running the gamut of "War Tiger", "War Eagle, We're going to roll Toomers", to a "Auburn will still suck" from the Florida faithful. Oh, and a couple of voice messages to boot!



Tradition was that after beating Alabama, Auburn students would toilet paper the corner of the University next to Toomer's Drugs (i.e., Toomer's Corner). Over time, this morphed in a rolling upon any decent excuse (even the Swim team got some TP love for their National Title), but big football wins still bring out the best TP Auburn has to offer. Here's a view of Toomer's come Sunday morning. War Eagle!

Wonder-Kid, Chicken Boy

It's a yearly ritual of mine, or so it would seem. Coming to Auburn to recruit, you ask? Well yes, but no, that's a given. Every year, I run into Chik-Fil-A Guy. Many years ago (four?), I interviewed the creme-del-a creme of Auburn Software Engineering. This kid had a 4.0 GPA, was an Eagle Scout, had all other kinds of leadership, and was talked highly of by faculty. And best of all, he wasn't a pompous ass. My interview with this kid lasted about five minutes, after which I told him he was going to Houston, and I wanted to give him the rest of our time to interview me. He said, "Well, I do have a few questions", and flipped to the second sheet of his notepad; it was covered, every line, with questions for me!

So I passed my interview and the wonder-kid came to Houston and was offered a job with UTC. UTC has traditionally had high standards for our new hires, and this was the first candidate that I knew, without a doubt, would get an offer. For some reason, I really wanted this kid to come work for us, I guess he was someone I thought I would like to work with. He had interned at Chik-Fil-A (gotta program those chicken fryers you know) and had family near Atlanta, so even though it was a long shot, he seemed torn up about whether to accept our offer or that of the chicken people. He could have been stringing us along, acting like he was interested in us while secretly knowing he was destined for chicken, but this kid didn't strike me as being that way. After some time he informed UTC that he would not be taking the offer. He was a breast man, a chicken breast man, and our offers of riches via Texas Tea just wasn't enough.

I've interviewed a lot of people over the years. There are no doubt people that I interviewed, that we ended up hiring, who I wouldn't know if they walked into me. For some reason though, the ordeal of Chicken Boy kind of seared his image into my brain, just like Chik-fil-A sears the juices into their tasty, tasty breasts. And like clock work, every year at recruiting, I come across the Wonder Kid, Chicken Boy. As I was parking on Tuesday, I looked up and what did I see, not five feet from my car, than a flock of three chicken people, with one being, you guessed it, the Wonder Kid! I just kind of laughed. This is strange, weird, bizarre, aligning of the planets kind of thing, but seriously, every year, the Wonder Kid is there. I'm sure he doesn't remember me; I, after all, don't really remember the people I interview and subsequently spurned on campus, so that just kind of makes it all the more funny. Had I not parked at that moment, the streak would have ended, because I saw no Chicken People the rest of the time. Did fate intervene? Was it coincidence that I had eaten Chik-fil-A that very afternoon?!?! Who knows. Weird stuff.

What does this have to do with running? Nothing. Deep moral story? Nope. Philosophical comment, as this blog is found of, coming any moment? Nope. Just the story of the Wonder Kid, the man they called Chicken Boy.

So with that out for all of posterity to remember, a quick run down. A little bit of exercise yesterday, a good bit of walking today, and lots of stretching and sticking of my foot into the hotel ice bucket. All in all I think the foot is healing, but it is slow business. I'll run Saturday morning, and perhaps Tuesday, then that might just be it.

Other than recruiting and doing stuff for my main job, I brought several things to pass the time. I have my personal laptop (for fantasy football) and I purchased five magazines to read. Runner's World (of course), the Economist (excellent news/economy/politics magazine, but certainly not light reading), and three personal finance kind of magazines. I also brought along my unfinished Michael Chabon novel and a GRE study guide. What? Scandal! GRE study guide? Well yes. I've talked about maybe possibly one-day soon going back, so after looking at UofH's web site, it's pretty clear I'd have to take the GRE. It's been a while since the noodle had to do school work, so I thought I'd get a study guide just to see how hard it would be. I haven't started it yet, but I might get to it this weekend.

The part of me that might like to teach one day is making strange waves while being back at my college campus with a GRE book in tow. We'll see where this goes, but for now, it literally goes to Skipperville for a few days before returning. I might want to get on that GRE guide though, because if my real job depends on my recruiting success, I might be fired. Right now, we've only got two or three people to talk to next week! Last year was our best year ever, but this year, the famine is upon us.

Later. I'm going to go wee some sweet tea now; way too much at the BBQ place today!

Recruit - Join Up

Greeting from Auburn, AL, the lovliest village on the plains! I flew out this morning for four days of recruiting, two days in Skipperville, five more days of recruiting, and then the Chicago Marathon; obviously, I'm loaded down with luggage. The trip is a bit of a boondoggle in that we don't have enough activity to consume all those days, but with Career Fair and interviews so close together, it's better to just stay here and work when not recruiting. Or just sleep in!

At the end of last week I was battling away with my Plantar thanks to softball and a day of caring for the kids of Conroe via the United Way. I decided though that I should run Saturday morning as it would be my last Chicago HoustonFIT group run and if I'm destined to hurt during Chicago, I should get used to it now!

Saturday morning's weather was nothing short of wonderful; cool and low humidity. Our eleven mile route was an out and back to Coach Patty's rest stop (the Patty Wagon) in the scenic Rose Garden area of River Oaks. I have come to judge my speed by how how long I stay up with Larry, who usually runs these things a bit faster than me. By the time we came to the Wagon, he was only about 50 yards ahead, so I felt like I was making good time; the weather certainly helped. Interestingly, my heart rate, despite this seeming increase in speed, hung out in the high 150s and low 160s, which is a bit low for most Saturday runs. My pace to the Wagon was 10:17/mile.

I didn't stop while going to the Wagon, and only planned to stay there for a couple of minutes. However, a certina captivating canine prevented that. An escaped Jack Russel Terrier had taken a liking to the Wagon and its food (ummmm, peanut butter!), and there was consensus to hold the little pooch and give it's owner a call. There was much milling about of runners in an effort to offer help to Patty; much dog was being talked (oogggy, booggy, booo; that's a gooooood lil' doggy, yezzz it izzzz!). There were getting to be too many cooks in the kitchen, so after a total stop time of about six minutes, off I went. Turns out the dog's owner showed up, but apparently wasn't too happy about being roused at 6:30AM.

On the return trip my heart rate monitor strap came off (user error), so I don't know how high the ticker got. As with last week, I decided to step up the last bit, and ended up running in with an older fellow who introduced himself as Maurice (I'm not sure, but let's assume he's Italian, it will help your inner voice speak the next bit). After cursory discussions of running, Maurice and I did what men do in such lulls in conversation, we discussed the weather. I commented how it was "about time" we had some good weather. Maurice countered with "No my friend, the hot weather makes us stronger and makes us better appreciate days like today." I suppose "about time" is a past looking statement, somewhat pessimistic maybe, while Maurice was simply letting the hot days drift away while welcoming the coming cool. I think Maurice was right and had a healthy perspective; you've got to let past injuries, hot days, and other such maladies pass, and enjoy what's to come. If you stop doing that, then you'll probably stop running.

Days like Saturday, where you feel good, the weather is good, and the group dynamic is good, serve as a kind of vindication of sorts; it really makes it worth it. Actually, on the run back from the Wagon, I thought to myself that the day was so good that those people unwilling to give up a little bit of Friday and Saturday, and who miss runs like this, they are really missing out. A good group run on the weekend is honest exercise; simple, effective, and fun. It was a great way to wrap up the training season, and begin my taper.

This is getting long, and I suspect I'll have time to blog daily over the next couple of weeks, so bye for now. Next time -> What does Hags bring with him to kill down time while recruiting!

Run Down

Back in early July, I posted a list of seven things I wanted to do "differently" during this training season; here's a link -> http://beating-oprah.blogspot.com/2007/07/sympathetic-leg.html

In short the list, and the outcomes, are as follows:

1. Accelerade - I tried this during runs on the premise of improved endurance via nutrition. I didn't notice much (any) of a gain, and the stuff was really a bit sweet for my taste. I did turn on to Honey Stinger as an energy source at one point, but after trying GU again, I don't think my body has much of a preference. Though Accelerade doesn't sit well with me during runs, I do use it as my recovery beverage.


2. Endurolytes - Tried them early on then largely stopped. I still try to take them before and after a long run, but it's a chore to take them during. As I've never had big cramping problems, this was largely to keep my stomach and axillary systems that rely on electrolytes happy. I plan to take a few along the way at Chicago.


3. Glucosamine - No excuse here. I just haven't gotten them into my daily pill regiment. I will start though.


4. Increase my mileage - HA! As if! Too broken up, though one week I did get into the low 30's with four runs; probably one of the more "full" weeks of my running life.


5. Run at a heavier weight so I'll have more strength - This one's easy, though I am about four pounds heavier than I wanted to be. Surprisingly, some studies have shown that if your aerobic capacity stays the same, but you put on a little heft, you don't lose any endurance. Maybe the added muscle will help my legs stay stronger? Regardless, being at a slightly heavier weight definitely makes me happier (more of a running/regular life balance) as I had to be very precise to get down to my traditional running weight.


6. New shoes to help my knee - Done. Mizuno have completely silenced the knee pain, though not without me wondering if the shoes have shifted the burden elsewhere, thus the foot and hammy pain. This shouldn't happen, as stability shoes should help plantar fasciitis. Also, my left heel has always been apt to hurt some, and the hammy was hurting prior to the shoes, so I give the shoes a pass, and credit for doing good things.


7. Tag along with the 4:15 pace group on race day - I meant to write 4:30 I think! I might consider starting with the 4:15 and falling back to 4:30 if need be, but from my past experience I don't think that will work well. Anyway, I have never ran with a pace group, but I will this time.

So there you go, the run down on the seven things I said I would try this training season. Other than the glucosamine, I think I gave everything a game try. The mileage one could have been better, but the injuries have sabotaged that one. I would like to get healthier so I could give three to four weekly runs a good try, but the running cycle is nothing if not busy in the future; may be hard to get well. More later. Chao.

One Week To Go

Key Words: Thamus, Boot, Wrap It Up
Word Count: 638

My foot felt OK come Sunday morning, so I went with the usual bike "Tour de Bayou" (a 45 minute trek around Buffalo Bayou) complete with a set of jumps on some speed hills (they are not speed bumps, much too big) just to give the legs a final challenge. Then, back and biceps workout at the apartment, and my prescribed day of cross training was complete.

On Monday morning I went to the apartment gym to ride the bike for a while; all was well. After work, I debated whether to run, but seeing as we had softball, I opted for another stint on the bike. Things went pretty foul at that point, as my left hammy (the leg with the foot problem) was not happy. Much stretching ensued, and off I went to softball.

It was a big night for the softball team. We lost a game last week (gasp!), and would had a chance to restate our normal dominance over the league. Unlike week one, I had a couple of Shiners before the game, and thus pretty much pitched lights out. I had three or four strikeouts (most against girls, but hey, better than last week), but unfortunately the shortstop from game two, Thamus (who names there kid that?), ripped three doubles in three at bats (the kid can run; most were singles he made into doubles). Our defense was stellar again, but the bats struggled. This week, unlike last week, my bat was amongst the dead; I went 1-3 with a walk. We won the first game 10-0, but in the second game I came to bat with the bases loaded twice, and went o-2, with one double play, one infield pop-out, but did at least manage to let a run score during a squirrelly play where the Ump's though the other team got a triple play. My team picked me up though, and batted in three runs in the final inning for a one run victory; 3-1 on the season.

My health after those games is simply put, pretty bad. My leg went all haywire, with all kinds of foot/hammy pain. Jon mentioned using a frozen water bottle on the foot so I've been administering ice to the sole of my foot since Monday night (including work; screw it, I gotta get healthy). I have a foot brace on order (should be here tomorrow) to help my plantar fascia stay limber while I sleep. Why the brace you ask? People sleep with their foot pointed down, thus allowing the Achilles and plantar fascia to tighten as they have no tension on them. In the morning, you walk on the tense fascia and they get very irritated (thus the traditional "morning pain" of plantar fasciitis). This is a problem not due to the pain, but since this irritation guarantees a daily irritation of the fascia, thus slowing/preventing healing. The boot is a commonly prescribed treatment for the problem, so hopefully I am being proactive in a positive way.

I'm not sure how much more running or cross training I will be doing before Chicago. Better to be healthy and untrained than trained and unhealthy; eight days of rest helped, but didn't alleviate the problem. After Chicago, I'm going to my doctor to make sure I don't have a heel spur on the foot, which would probably mean a more extended break from running.

Believe it or not it is almost time to wrap up this blog! I leave for Auburn then Chicago in a week! Over the next few posts I'll wrap things up, discuss what I've learned, and where we go from here.

Keep those fascia loose people!

Diet Coke During a Run

Key Words: 10.7 miles, Keith Rant, Alaska Picture
Word Count: 790

This is very cool. A quick, real time slideshow of the photos people are uploading to blogs; make sure you check it out: http://play.blogger.com/

Today was the 21 miler for Chicago Marathoners. As I'm a bit more hurt than normal, 21 was not to be, so I started my day with the Yellow Fever. Lot's of familiar faces, talked to a few, and made it through the run in 1:26:30. About 10:45 pace, which is good, though my heart was humming along in the low 170s. I thought about trying to bring that down, but as it was a day of moderate distance, I didn't bother. With those eight miles complete, I took a left turn for the Memorial Loop, as I wanted to get into double digits. The only noteworthy part was the last mile; I decided to pick up the pace and ran it in 9:40. Considering the distance I had ran, I was pleased. My heart was thumping along above 180 though, so I was clearly working in a place I could not have stayed for long. Total of about 10.7 or so miles today.

As for my plantar fasciitis, my foot kind of felt like jell-o at the start, not good. I suppose the fascia were stretching out, and at some point, the foot quieted down. I drank my post run recovery drink, took my ice bath, had my breakfast jack an hour after I left the park ... hopefully I am doing the right things to recover well (and the Shiner for the football games, key).

Now, the part you love, a good old fashioned Keith Rant!!!

When I got back to my car, the seminar had started. I limped over in search of Yellows (are we going to Ottos? was the question on my mind), and caught a bit of the nutrition topic of the day. If I had to go back to school for something completely different, I would choose nutrition. I truly geek off the stuff; I can't get enough! There's so much we can learn about what we stick in our faces, but yet there's so much the average person doesn't even know.

Anyway, two things came up. The first was recovery nutrition. The speaker said you need something right after the run, and I totally agree. Only in training for Chicago have I bought into this idea, but those first 30 minutes after the run are key. You need a carb to protein ratio of 4:1, and you can certainly get that, like I do, from Accelerade. You can also get it from chocolate milk if you freeze it, leave it in your car, and have it right after the run. If you don't do this post run, then start. You then need more food about an hour later. With that in you, you've set your body up with the nuts and bolts to heal.

Then, she did it. She stumbled upon a topic that I put into the "Why don't people have common sense" bin of nutritional misinformation. She said how it was important to hydrate during the week (true), and how you should avoid caffeine in doing so. Good lord, can we please kill this now! Truly, caffeine is a diuretic, but it is a mild one. People see "diuretic" and think they should stay away. If you spend juuuuust a bit of common sense time on this (or read anything reputable about it), you'll realize that you gain much more water than you wee out as a result of such a mild diuretic. Also, if you're immune to caffeine like your's truly (Diet Coke, you have numbed me to the world!), the effect is even less. This is a horrible thing to perpetuate because some people just don't like to drink plain old, tasteless water. They don't have too. Drink black tea, drink Coke (Diet, even better), green tea, drink coffee for goodness sake; it all helps to hydrate you. There's certainly nothing wrong with scarfing down 20 oz. of water the night before a run to make sure your tank is topped off, but water need not be the linchpin in your hydration plans.

There. I let the anger out! I feel better now. Auburn plays Miss. State today. As the Bulldogs are, shall we say, the laughing stock of the SEC West, we need a win. Then the Florida game. Lot's 'o football today!

Real quick. Race poster from Alaska, and a certain orange clad runner that appears a couple of times ...

Orange and Blue

Key Words: Overslept, IT Guy, War Mizuno
Word Count: 464

With Humble Humberto churning to our East, today was a good day. 89 degrees or so in the afternoon, but either Humberto or the front that passed seem to have cleared the humidity from the air. I came home with intentions to run with Felix. If you're wondering whether you can wake up at 6:16 for Felix's 6:30 Finish Strong run, and still make from my apt, I found out the answer is yes; I overslept my afterwork nap just a bit!

Small group, with Felix at the store but not running (I think he's prepping for a 50 miler in addition to Chicago). So Coach Robert led a group of about eight of us for a tempo run. Larry was talking about "running easy", and the notion was infectious; I quickly thought "two easy, at most one hard, then finish easy". When we got to the track, Larry got confused and initially went right instead of left, and we were separated. Dave, the older gent of the Thursday crew, came trotting up. Though I thought he would just head off, we started talking, comparing injuries, talked computers (he used to be some kind of IT guy), and next thing I knew I had ran the next two miles fairly hard; 9:03 and 8:45, with both miles feeling pretty comfortable. We both stopped for water, and Dave headed out for one more loop, while I headed back to the store. Total time for the 3.9 miles was 36:59. The plantar fasciitis afflicted heel felt OK, but it's still not healthy. I have resigned myself to trying to control the problem until after Chicago, when I will give it time to heal. My left hammy was a bit angry, but physically, things went better than I expected.

I ran in my new shoes today; the orange and blue, War Eagle inspired Mizuno Wave 7. They felt nothing short of wonderful. They strike me as the bastard lovechild of a New Balance 767 and a Mizuno Wave 6; stable and firm, yet springy and forgiving. Perhaps my old shoes were just getting to many miles (202), perhaps Mizuno wear out fast, or perhaps these are just more supple. Regardless, they felt much better than my current Wave 6s. As these shoes will carry me through Chicago, I've written a song to honor them:

War Mizuno, fly down the road,
ever to conquer, never to yield
War Mizuno, fearless and true,
run on you orange and blue
GO! GO! GO!
On to vict'ry, strike a winning pose,
give 'em hell, give 'em hell,
finish strong and yell, HEY
War Mizuno, beat Oprah,
power of 26.2!

:)

Repetition

As softball is concerned, normally, I pitch. Here's how I ply my trade:

The Backspin Pitch – Unlike most pitchers, I choose to pitch with my hand on top of the ball, imparting backspin instead of topspin. My reasoning is it makes the pitch look different to the batter, in spin and flight, and thus makes the batter a little uncomfortable. As I have good control of this pitch, I use it about 85% of the time.

The Severe Backspin Pitch (aka, The Nasty) – This pitch is identical in grip to the Backspin, but instead of simply letting the ball come out of my hand, I snap my wrist towards home plate, imparting vicious backspin to the ball. This creates a different visual effect, and it encourages the ball to fall straight down at the end of its flight. If I'm not pitching a standard backspin, I'm most likely throwing the Nasty.

The Knuckleball – Here, I put my hand in a traditional, under-the-ball position, but unlike most such pitches, I hold the ball with the tips of my fingers, pushing the ball off the tips at the end of the pitching motion. The value of this pitch is it has little or no spin, thus it looks quite different from the backspin variety. A knuckleball preceded by two to three backspin pitches will look quite bizarre, and again, hopefully make the batter uncomfortable.

The Curveball – Here, you make a circle with your thumb and index finger, placing the circle on the outside of the ball, with your remaining fingers underneath. Pitch with a normal, underhanded toss, but at the end of your arm swing, roll your hand such that the ring moves towards the top of the ball. This produces, a cool visual effect, with the ball screwing through the air, and moving right to left. Used rarely, and then only in Men's leagues against lefties.

The Standard – This pitch, you guessed, is the standard underhanded toss. Used rarely, and then usually in men's leagues. If you want more fly balls, pitch this. If you want more ground balls, use backspin.

All these pitches, and for what? The value of a pitcher in softball is indeed questioned by many. While it is true that most athletic people will have some aptitude for tossing a ball, there are many cases where a batter will willingly walk if given the opportunity. Particularly in Co-Ed, where men get two bases for a walk, pitching strikes is key. But is there any value to using different pitches, or is my job simply to be an "accuracy monkey"?

While this is a question for the ages, and somewhat rhetorical, it is clear that I wasn't even an accuracy monkey on Monday when our new Co-Ed league kicked off. I walked the first batter (both men) of the first and second inning, and was rarely comfortable pitching in that first game. In the last inning, I realized I wasn't holding the ball correct, made an adjustment, and Yahtzee!, I could pitch again. This being my first league in four months, the lack of repetition had made me quite pedestrian.

Does the same hold for running? I think not, in many respects. I think long runs, particularly for experienced runners, are mental exercises, not physical. While you need your brain to get a fresh reminder of the challenge of distance running, your body has long since wired itself to be up to the task. Although tou need to work your aerobic and lactic acid thresholds, these can be maintained with shorter runs or other activities.

This is good because I haven't ran since last Wednesday! I've real biked, fake biked, worked out, and played softball, but no running. I would have ran speed work yesterday, but the imminent threat of rain (which never materialized) scared me off. Today was more threat of rain (thanks Humberto!); more biking and lifting was all I could do.

My fascia are at least getting a rest, and I've been eating good for the last few days with some surprisingly quick and positive results; maybe I won't be as tubby as I thought when it comes time to run Chicago. The dress shoe inserts, though causing some initial awkwardness and back pain, do help the fascia as well; hopefully they will be fully healed when it next comes time to run.

About Fascia

Key Words: Fascia, Ice Baths, The Little Pains
Word Count: 422


My angry left heel and hamstring continued from Wednesday into Thursday. I decided that unless it improved considerably, I would not run on Saturday. In short, no improvement, so I didn't run.

My problem is, I'm fairly certain, plantar fasciitis. I've mentioned this heel pain before, and it's been with me, at least after long runs, for most of the Spring/Summer. I'm sure I could have ran through the pain, but I decided instead of limping through 13 miles and then next week's training, I would rest up and go hard after next week's workouts. Next weekend calls for the famous HoustonFIT 21 miler, which I will not do, but I do plan to give 13-15 miles a shot.

So instead of running, I spent a decent amount of time on the stationary bike, and even dodged the rain today for long enough to get my real bike out (though, the last five minutes were in a decent downpour). I also did a back/bicep workout routine today, and have committed to trying to eat better for the next two weeks so I can drop a few pounds (I'm about five pounds heftier than I wanted to be for Chicago, and hey, those pounds do weigh on the old plantar fascia).

I hope my surprising fascia flare up will ultimately be a good thing. After years of post run knee pain, I switched to stability shoes and seem to have control of that problem now. I'm hoping to be able to say the same about this foot problem in the near future. I've purchased some inserts for my dress shoes, and have noted that this foot pain started the week after I DID NOT take my now usual ice bath after a long run; me thinks I'll start that tradition up again, just in case. In short, I've started to notice that doing the little things (improved shoes, ice baths, foot inserts, protein powder) could stop some minor, but cumulative injuries. The tough part is being dedicated enough to stick to the little things that stop the little pains.

For this coming week, I'm toying with running tomorrow morning, but I may opt for the bike instead. I certainly want to do some kind of interval run (Tuesday's speed work) and a tempo run, before Saturday's long run. After Saturday, I'll be on the downhill slope.

Chicago Marathon, four weeks from today!

Felix vs Felix

Key Words: Sore Heel, Sore Hamstring, Marine-like Barking
Word Count: 361

My left heel is sore. My left hamstring is sore. Sigh, I'm a left-sided wreck. The heel pain has been with me for many months, but the hammy joining in is frustrating. Still, today was the last day to run before Saturday morning, and I needed three miles to make the weekly mendoza line of 20 miles. So off I went to Memorial for a 1 mile easy, 1 mile hard, 1 mile easy tempo run. As I remembered, tempo runs after speed work is rough, but I ground out the hard mile in 8:50. The painful bits held up OK, but I can certainly use the next two days off. As I was coming back to my car, I was surrounded by the pitter-pat of rain .... three runs in a row with precipitation!

The coach of my main, Houston Marathon running group, the Yellow Fever, is Felix Lugo. Lately, a certain Felix the hurricane has been making the news. Though hurricane Felix has left us now, I though I would do a comparison, and declare a winner:

• Coach Felix is famous for running marathons with the US flag. Hurricane Felix is famous for ravaging Central America. Global warming makes hurricanes a dime a dozen, it makes running with a flag a chore, advantage Coach Felix.
  


• Coach Felix is known to blow up if you don't run with water. Hurricane Felix is famous because it blew up over warm water. I've ran in rain too much lately, water sucks, it's a draw.
  


• Coach Felix is a portly fellow. Hurricane Felix was a portly hurricane. Girth doesn't help runners, it helps a hurricane wreak havoc, advantage Hurricane Felix.
  


• Coach Felix scares newbie runners with his Marine-like barking. Hurricane Felix scared Nicaraguans to run for their lives. Run for fun, not for need, advantage Coach Felix.

So there you have it, the winner of Felix vs Felix is Coach Felix. Besides, Hurricane Felix probably wasn't even nasty enough to have it's name retired (the Hall of Fame for hurricanes). Molinas for margs tomorrow, I'll have one for you!

Calculations

Key Words: Yasso, McMillan, Magic Mile
Word Count: 601

The rain let up just enough to start speed work today. Four repeats of 1200m hard with 400m wasy. With my heart rate monitor strapped on, I arrived (albeit late; stupid work) to start the fun. My times were 5:48, 5:43, 5:55, and 3:55. Wow! 3:55, in 1200m?!? Not exactly, try, 800m. As I was about to start the last repeat, it started raining lightly. By the middle of the second lap, it was raining with impunity. After Saturday's drenching, I was in no mental shape to continue in the precipitation, so I speed up and completed a final 800. Lazy, sure. Bad excuse, yep. Does it matter, naw, I don't think so. On the heart rate front, my watch dutifully recorded my ticker topping out at 186. It's looking more and more like somewhere around 190 is my limit. There's a Fall Marathon group social Thursday after work, so I have to try and find time to still do a tempo run with those festivities. If it ain't a Friday, 'tis best to put socializing over running. On to predictions for the future!

There are three main ways to predict your time in an event (without including past performance, which is so lame and like 1990's to do). I thought I would cover those, and how they say I should be running the upcoming marathon.

Yasso 800s - As I've stated, do 10 repeats of 400m hard followed by 400m easy. I think I can easily crank out ten of these bad boys in under 4:15 per hard repeat (4 minutes, 15 seconds), so, the theory goes, I should be able to run a marathon in around 4 hours and 15 minutes. I break this one, as I've clearly been able to do this before, but have never come close to its prediction.

McMillan Running - This online resource is frequently talked about, and perhaps it's speed calculator is the most frequently used by runners: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm. My recent times at distance are as follows: 5k, 24:40, 1/2 marathon, 2:05. Those times lead to marathon predictions of 4:00 and 4:24 respectively. Nope, broke both of them, though the 4:24 is getting in the ballpark.

Jeff Galloway's Magic Mile - Simple, take your best time in the mile, multiply that by 1.3, and that should give you your per mile pace in a hard ran marathon. If I assume my best mile is 7:45 (conservative, but I rarely run a mile for all out speed), I get a marathon time of 4:24. If I take my most recent mile best (8:03 from a few days ago), I get 4:34. This one is simple, and it's half-marathon version (1.2 times your mile best) seems reasonably accurate.

I'll admit I have a great, deep seeded fear of not breaking 5 hours in a marathon. The truth is, if I'm honest with myself, that will happen on day; I'm only a calf cramp away after all! I suppose though, that 800 lb gorilla in the room gives me motivation, and keeps me honest with my training. These calculations really don't tell me anything I don't know. If I run good, and am smart, I should be able to keep things under 5 hours. If I run the race of my life, I just might be able to break 4:30!

Stay dry, drink good beer, and set your fantasy teams early; NFL starts in two days!

Labor Report

Key Words: State of the Union
Word Count: 'Bout 900

Happy Labor Day! Naturally, it's raining here, so no running so far today). As it has has been many moons since I had a non-running topic, here's a quasi-state of the union address on this lazy Labor Day.

Automobile
My car turned two last week, celebrating it's birthday on the same day as Andy. Only 22,500 miles and that's with two trips home (3000) and one "run from the 'cane" (2500), so on a weekly basis, I don't put many miles on the car. I suspect my car pooling situation will hold at least through the end of this year, so no reason to think I won't make it to the four year mark with my warranty intact (4y/50000m). I suppose I should start thinking about whether to extend the warranty, as I think I can get that cheaper if I do it earlier ....

Stock Market
The stock market is a mess, but I think it might be stabilizing a bit. George W's statement that the government should come up with ways to bail out people unable to pay their mortgages has/will make the markets happy. Also, the Fed said they are ready to jump in and save the economy if the housing market drags us into a recession. This housing woe scares Wall Street because they are afraid it will make people be unable to, or scared to spend money. "Buying stuff" is about 70% of our economy, so it's smart for them to be scared. My personal opinion is that the market will go sideways, up and down but ending near where it is, until we figure out just how bad this mortgage problem is. I've taken my "play money" out of the market and put it into my money market account at GMAC Bank.

Work
I'm a bit angered by work at the moment. The basic reason I didn't go somewhere this weekend is because it is bad for planners (that's what I am!) to be out this time of year, because next week we start presenting out budgets to the Upstream presidents (they find oil, they're important). Though I think it's a bad time to be out, my boss was in training the first three days of the week and on vacation the last two! Another guy I work with, who is key to this process, was on vacation Thursday and Friday. I don't begrudge either of them personally; I'm glad they took the days off. This comes down to my HATING when work interferes with my right to take vacation. It angers me when people say "I couldn't take vacation at this or that time because I was too busy", but yet I've let that happen here. For a good part of today, I actually need to log in to work and finish up some stuff ... and then get to bed early so I can be at work for my 7AM meeting! I'm glad to have a good job, still, "Me Keith Mad!" is the mantra of the moment for work.

Literary Fulfillment
I purchased Michael Chabon's new novel, "The Yiddish Policeman's Union", and need to start it soon. Chabon is one hell of a writer and the first one whose work I always get and read.

Cell Phone Service
I'm disappointed with Verizon. The call quality is, in my opinion, inferior to Cingular. Also, though they were quick to fix this, they've already charged me a late fee! And I can't tell what features I do/don't have from the bill. Chaos. Nice phone though (it's got like, the longest battery ever made in it, it won't die), and I am saving a little bit over Cingular.

Money in the Bank
I was on a "cash quest" to save $62.50 out of my monthly, fixed expenses. I failed, but I'm happy all in all. Storage unit, NetFlix, and Comcast saved me $44.50 plus whatever monthly savings I get from Verizon (maybe up to $8) over Cingular. I never made the switch from cable internet to DSL, and now that fantasy football has started, I doubt I will.

My Next Job
I've been thinking I might like to try my hand at teaching one day. I think I have the disposition to teach, and I think I would get a certain amount of fulfillment from it. The question becomes where, when, and how. Ultimately, I would need a Master's degree to do any teaching. With a Masters, I could teach at most any Junior College, and could be an adjunct (aka, temporary) professor for certain classes at a four year joint. With a PhD, I could actually teach for real! While at the XOM I could get the Masters and potentially then go on (outside of the XOM, I would think) and get the doctorate. Going back to school would certainly be a distraction, and while that might be good, it causes a bit of caution. I would won't to make sure I'm doing this because I want to, and not just as a way to shake things up. Going to school while working would be a "helluva shake up", so I had best want to do it if I pursue it.

Well, there you have it, a mental dump on this most rainy of Labor Days. The marathon is just over one month away, and while I can make no predictions as to my finishing time, I am slowly starting to think that I'm rounding into running shape (still need to lose about four pounds ... BEEFCAKE!). Later.

Maasten Up

Key Words: Keith FIT, Sponge Bob Singlets, Maastened
Word Count: 995

Today was, per the schedule, an 11 miler for Chicago and a 12 miler for other HoustonFIT Fall groups, so Patty (she was absent, no Patty Wagon with oranges and water!) setup a 11.88 mile route that we could all run. Small group, as it's a holiday weekend.

I wanted to run this from the heart! No, not with passion, but with a beats per minute limit. The 18 miler seems to have exposed that if my heart is working at 166 or so BPM, that I'm probably working too hard for long distance (13+) mile running. Also, using my recent numbers (see my last post), 80% of my max working heart rate would be around 157 to 166. So I set out to keep the ticker at or under 160.

The goal of my heart rate training is to fine a zone that I can work aerobically in for a long time. The point of long running is, after all, aerobic workout. Successful runners spend about 80% of their miles at a slow speed; that's about the closest thing to universal advice you find in running. So it makes sense that these long runs should be in this slow, aerobic zone. Unfortunately, in the current weather conditions this means running reeeal slow miles. Here's where you buy in or take a pass: minutes per mile are fairly pointless. If I take my best runs from this Summer, even short ones, it seems likely that I will not break five hours in Chicago. Though that would be fine, I don't really believe that, because (hopefully) the conditions in Chicago will be more conducive to easier running. So instead of fixating on pace, I am choosing to fixate on improving my bodies aerobic capacity. I'm buying in that if I make my heart and lungs stronger, that when I get better weather, I'll be able to run faster.

Of course, there is more to running than aerobic capacity. There are two more things really: lactic acid threshold, and VO2 Max. If you only trained in this slow, aerobic zone, guess what, you'd turn into a real slow runner! You have to do more than that; tempo and speed work come in there. Tempo runs push you body into it a zone where it is producing lactic acid at a rate close or in excess of its ability to remove it. This is, perhaps, the greatest threat to distance runners. Your muscles will shut down if drenched in acid; you have to work below this threshold. Therefore, by putting your body at this limit, you hope to improve the limit over time, and thus be able to run faster without a deluge of acid. Speed running makes your body use copious amounts of oxygen because you are going very fast over a decent distance (not a sprint though, because when you truly sprint, your body doesn't use oxygen for running). Your VO2 Max (the amount of oxygen you can use) is, unfortunately, limited by genetics :( However, "they" say you can improve your base level, even if you fit, by about 5 - 10%. Speed training does this.

The above, slow runs in the aerobic zone, speed work at a quick pace, and tempo work is, not surprisingly given its success, the basic USA FIT workout plan. The one thing that I think it lacks is running at marathon pace. That pace is between tempo and aerobic (I call it a fast aerobic), and I think you need some miles in at this speed, not for physiological reasons, but for psychological ones; you need to know what it feels like. That's why I think the recovery runs should be run at marathon pace. There you have it, Keith FIT. My Yellow Group will wear Sponge Bob singlets.

So I'm buying in. After two years of "running", I'm going to start training. Jon and I got into a discussion about this after this mornings run. I think I'm a successful distacne runner in that I'm speedy at short distance, a lil' better than average in the half, and, well, at least I've finished three marathons. However, I may have done that in spite of my training. Well, that's obviously not fully true, but what I mean to convey is that if I train "better", I might have more success. It's easy to keep doing the same old things, but as I've said many times, if you want different results, you have to train differently. It may be as simple as running a little slower on Saturday, and making sure I am religious about tempo, speed, and recovery runs.

As for this morning's run, it was fine. I kept the heart rate where I wanted, and ran about 10:45 - 11:00 minutes miles, maybe a bit faster. It's worth noting that in today's cooler weather, I was able to run about as fast as the 18 miler, but my heart stayed lower. This makes sense, but I wanted to see it happen! A first though, it rained on this run. A lot! As some folks in the South say, I was quite "maastened". Hydration over the last four miles was as simple as looking up and opening your mouth over the last four miles. I cannot remember a run prior to this one where it really rained like this. Other than my shoes getting full of water, it wasn't so bad really. Thankfully the lightening stayed away until I got near the park. Who knows where I would have holed up had that started, and I'm not sure how Jon would have found me (I think I'll start running with a cell phone!).

Adios. Have a good Labor Day!

Thumpity Thump Thump

Key Word: Resting, Maximum, Are you OK?
Word Count: 552

First run of the week today! (stupid rain) I was in need of some heart rate data after finding that my resting heart rate is 44bpm (maybe a lil' slower), so I went for a Felix Run from Finish Strong. Coach said, due to the heat, we shouldn't do the two mile hard tempo, opting instead for alternating half-mile hard, with half-mile easy. Naturally, as I was trying to find my maximum heart rate, I opted for something different. After a mile real easy, I took off for a mile hard.

That mile went faster than I thought it would; 8:03! Pretty good since I wasn't in an all out blaze (though I was sprinting at the end). My heart rate got up to a noticeably fast 184 bpm at the end. Half mile with a walk and easy run (Meghan came back by asking "Are you all right?", yes, just resting up to BLAZE a mile). The second fast mile was a bit more of a challenge, and though I didn't notice my exact time at the finish, I think it was 8:20 (this watch makes checking split times difficult or maybe impossible, it's more into heart rate stats). My heart rate trumped itself by topping out at 185 during this interval. Quick break for a wee (believe it or not, I actually didn't get that in before the run ... unlike me), and I met up with Leon for the run back.

185 is probably not my max heart rate, but it's close. I probably need an honest to goodness sprint workout to nail down the max. A supposedly very reliable formula for max heart rate goes like this: 210 minus half your age minus 5% of your body weight plus 4. Sure, why not. That yields a max of 191. Wikipedia claims that 205.8 - (0.685*age) was deemed by some study to be the best formula, though they say there really is no acceptable formula (this one had a standard deviation of about 6 bpm). This would yield a max of 185.

With this info, RunnersWorld UK lists how you come up with running zones (http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=176). They use your "working heart rate", or your max minus your resting, as the key for the computations. As they put it, long runs (aka, Saturday morning runs) should be between 60%-70% of your max. To compute that, you take 70% of your working heart rate (here I use 185 as max and 44 as resting), and I get 143 as my heart rate. I would have to run HELLA SLOW to get my HR that low on Saturday morning. If I assume my max heart rate is around 197 (one formula said it should be), 70% lands me at 151 (possible, though still slow pimpin'). Regardless of my exact max, 166 (my cruising HR on Saturday) seems fast, close if not over 80% which is more so a tempo or long fartlek rate. I may try to slow it down, and maintain the slowness and see how I feel. 12 miles on Saturday. Sounds long, but after 18, it should be awesome!

18 miler - PUKE UP!

Key Words: 18 miler, Puke on the 59 Overpass, 166 BPM
Word Count: 1400 or so (come on, it was a long run, give it a read .. esp if you have opinions on heart rate)

So last Saturday was the HoustonFIT Chicago Marathon training program 18 mile run. As it has taken me three days to write this, it was clearly a rough event. First, as I'm not sure of the tone I am going to write this in, in case its overly negative, let me say I'm glad to be healthy enough to be able to run 18 miles in Houston's August heat. Lord knows I don't take care of my body or health the way I should (damn those vices!), but thankfully, I'm still up to the task. So there, onward to 18.

The Friday before the run was our fantasy football draft, and for that reason, I should not have been as sleep deprived as I was. After football drafts my mind is so busy racing with what could-a, should-a, that I have a hard time enumerating sheep. So it was with maybe five hours of sleep on Friday night, and 10 over the past two days, that I toed the line at 4:30AM for our run.

This was my first run with the new heart rate monitor. My goal was simply to learn about my body: what rate did my heart like when I was cruising, did it spike up during the painful parts, could I use it to force myself to run through difficult stretches of asphalt? As Larry and I (my running partner at the start of runs of late) headed to Luke's Locker my heart rate steadily climbed, settling in at a game 166 or so per minute. Much to my pleasure I noticed that I could foretell when my HR had climbed or fallen more than a couple of beats. Once I suddenly felt cool, calm, collected ... I looked down and my HR was a mellow 150! 3.5 miles to Lukes, somewhere around 10:20 or so a mile.

After Lukes we were to run to the Rice loop (6 total miles) and do one Rice Loop (3 miles), one Herman Park Loop (3 miles) and return to Memorial (18 total). Note therefore, that this could easily be a 12, 15, or 18 mile course. The big secret from our last 15 mile run was that I didn't do 15 miles; I only did 14! (scandal!) So I was committed to doing 15, and really wanted 18. I have been more and more vocal about the silliness of our 21 mile training run three weeks prior to Chicago and I will certainly not run it. This, if I made it to 18, would surely be my longest training run.

Things went well to Rice, with my HR staying pegged at 166. Some of Felix's crew (including his wife Sylvia) were running with us. It turns out that Felix is apparently running Chicago!?!? I had no idea. Anywho, I jockeyed with them a bit, and after they left the aide station at mile six ahead of me, I chased them around Rice. This is where the heart rate monitor came in handy. Right before mile nine, I had an urge to go ahead and decide to only run 15. I looked at me HR; 165, nope, doing 18. I had an urge to walk; HR was 166, nope keep on trucking. After a few more "urges", I calmed down and pulled into the nine mile stop under decent control. I had either just fended off a silly desire to run less, or fended off a smart desire to cut things short on a day when I wasn't at my best.

Then things went horribly wrong.

The HRM strap was irritating me a bit, so I took it off. This made my watch very angry. That made me very angry. My stomach got angry! ME HAGS MAD!!!! Suddenly I didn't feel well. My ears throbbed, my stomach churned, my head was buzzing. I figure the stress (which was silly) over the HRM was not what my body wanted while being so taxed, and it revolted accordingly. I grudgingly reset the watch, strapped back up, and headed out for my Hermann Park loop.

I could no longer resist the urge to walk during this part. I started jockeying with some fast 5/1 runners, and came across a walking Larry; people around me walking makes me want to walk, so I did. Somewhere around Hermann I realized that I probably should have only did 15, but as I was committed, I hobbled on into the 12 mile stop. My HR, though my speed was starting to drop, was hanging at 166 or so while running. In a sign of decent aerobic fitness, my HR would drop the required 20 beats or so during the first minutes of a break (I believe that's a traditional measure of fitness :).

From 12 back to the park was an exercise of triage; running when I could. I ran with Larry some, Alaina's Greg some, and Alaina herself worked the Lukes aide station and ran Greg in. I was generally doing 5/1 (five minutes running, 1 minute walking), though I certainly took liberty with the lowering the 5 and increasing the 1. Then came the puke. Thankfully not mine, nor that of another running, but as I was coming to the 59 overpass, I realized I was about to step in a puddle ... of puke! I quickly realized the puddle likely came from the guy passed out in the car next to said puddle! Hopefully he was alive. I say that out of concern, and because I, as best I could in my state, laughed my ass off! With a fleeting smile, the run continued. Somewhere after Lukes, probably around mile 16, I was weary of some of the pain coming from my right achilles. As this was the one that troubled me before this year's Houston Marathon, I simply hoped to get back in one piece. It twas truly a slow march down Blossom!

I made it back to the park in about four hours. The HoustonFIT seminar was over, the tent was being broken down, but the Fall Group aide station was still up, serving those us of limping back to our starting point after a long 18 miles.

For only the second time I can recall, I got a wee bit faint after this run. Not as bad as the infamous "Hotter Than Hell 25K" from 2005, but my head was buzzing, my ears felt full of blood, I had an undeniable urge to sit down. I quickly gave Larry his promised sample of Endurolytes and headed back to my car. The "Party in the Park" was on Sat. morning, but get this, I was too tired to go get free St. Arnolds beer! Yep. You read right. I was blasted.

So what does this mean? Well, I'll go into Chicago with a clear conscience. I made it 18 miles. Some running, some walking, some jumping of puke puddles, but I made it. Forgiving myself the runs missed due to injury, and assuming I make the remaining long runs, I'll be as ready as I can be. As for the heart rate monitor, I'm glad I got it. I still need to do lot's of runs with it, particularly in colder weather, and see what it turns up.

The biggest head scratcher of all this is how my heart rate stayed steady during the miles when I suffered so much. Does this mean there is no tie to heat and heart rate? Why didn't my heart rate drop? Was my cardiac system just blasted, so it was running fast? It could be that the "aerobic" part of my heart rate was lower, and the extra beats were a futile attempt to get blood to my skin where it could be cooled. With some tempo and speed runs under my belt, I hope to verify that the high 160s is where my heart wants to be (lower if possible, of course). With some cold runs, I can start to verify if there is a link between my heart rate and performance (i.e., the heat will be out of the equation). If there does prove to a link, I could us the HRM on race day to stay in a cardiac "happy place" and hopefully keep the engine purring for longer than I have in the past. Heart rate is, they say, the only true measure of how hard you are working. But "they" have been known to be wrong!

No speed workout today; thunderstorms. Probably good though, the legs have been a little tired. Jumping puke puddles at mile 14 is hard work!

Tempo Time

Last Thursday was the third run of the week and my return to Felix's Finish Strong Thursday tempo runs. One mile easy, two miles hard, one mile easy. I wanted to the fast miles to be around 9 min/mile, and they ended up 8:56 and 8:45, so they went well.

I ran most of the fast miles with a gent I knew by face, but learned to be Dave. Dave is an older fellow who runs with HoustonFIT's main Yellow group and somewhat suprisingly, I seemed to wonder why I ran with HoustonFIT as much as I did. When I told him I was going to run Chicago and rejoin the main Yellow group afterwards, he simply responded with, "Why would you do that?". Ahhhh, well, cause it's my group and they are training for the Houston Marathon like will then be doing? Of course, the truth is people get kind of attached to the people and routine of their running groups. Dave suggested that I run with Houston Striders or similar year round group since they would be running mileage (~15 or so) that I was trained for post-Chicago. Felix and the Yellows will be more so be in the lower double digits at that time. It turns out that Dave has ran with many other running groups, so he probably doesn't feel obligated to stick with HoustonFIT. I suppose I could run with others and keep my post-Chicago mileage higher, but as I say, running isn't always about running. I enjoy the Yellows, so back I'll go a few weeks post-Chicago.

This Saturday was our 18 mile run. It was a chore, and as it was my first run with my new heart rate monitor, I've got lot's to say! I'm still stewing over what I learned during that run, so I'll have more to say shortly.

Last week was the first week, other than a marathon week, where I ran more than 30 miles in seven days time. For that reason, I'll probably just shoot for a couple of runs during the week; I'll probably skip Monday's easy run.

Almost time to try out my new, Auburn colored (War Eagle!) Mizuno Wave 7's. Perhaps I'll try Thursday's run with the new kicks.

Seven and a Winner!

Key Words: Yasso, 90 degrees and loving it, Marshmallow Peep
Word Count: 371

I was expecting poor things of today's speed run. I had a mean bout of insomnia Monday night, and felt pretty weary as I was warming up at Lamar. The good thing was the temperature was a balmy 90 or so (I'll take it, 'twas around 100 last week), so I hoped my body would stop protesting somewhere along the way; off I went.

Surprisingly, to me at least, this was by far my best of the three Yasso sessions. My times were fast, though I wasn't going absolutely all out, and they didn't suffer through the repeats. The seven times were: 4:03, 4:05, 4:03, 4:01, 4:02, 4:03, 3:58. Officially, Chicago runners were to do 8 repeats this week, but I skipped seven last week in favor of the 1200x400. I certainly could have banged out another, but out of respect for the 18 miler this weekend, I stuck to my plan.

As far as my future and Yasso's, I'll probably do 10 repeats one of these days, but I don't see (weather permitting) it being hard to do 10 under my goal pace of 4:30. As I've said before, Yasso is a good workout, and it means you might be able to do your marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes, but not that you will. I'm certain that before my second marathon, when I PR'd in the 5k the weekend before the run, I could have smoked out some nice Yasso times; I still only managed 4:39 in the marathon.

On a nutritional note, I tried more honey today, completely forgoing my normal Accelerade prior to the run. This is clearly the source of my speed :) I'm not that much of a believer, but it at least seems like something I should keep trying. Intense though .... very crunchy! I feel as if there's a violated bee somewhere simmering with anger as I eat her prized possession. Perhaps I should be on the lookout for insect retribution on my long runs.

Finally, thanks to Jon, I now know what my outfit will be in next year's centipede race.

Be My Honey

Key Words: Stinger, Heart Rate Monitor, Tie Rack
Word Count: 500

35 minutes easy today. I was a bit of an anti-social runner, as I let know one know I was running, but the mood struck for a Bayou run, so off I went. I had previously laid out a route for three miles (staying on the path from Montrose and AP, all the way around the small end and back), so I added a couple passes over the Jackson Hill bridge and pretty much hit the time dead on. The run went well, no problems (I did step in a huge bat poo pile, but the homeless man was diligently sweeping up the poo slick as I came back by ... very considerate).

I tried the new hotness, Honey Stinger, before this run. This stuff is basically pure honey (first ingredient, honey, second ingredient, water; add a little salt and B vitamin for good measure). To that end, the stuff can, and does, crystallize in the packet; I had to crunch my way through the contents of the packet! It was basically two tablespoons of honey, so it was kind of intense, and obviously sweet! More calories than GU, and equivalent electrolytes, so it really comes down to simple (honey) versus complex (GU) sugars. The stuff didn't upset my stomach, so I think I'm clear to try it on a long run. Perhaps I'll regret forgoing slow release sugar (GU) for instant satisfaction (honey) .... 18 miles on Saturday seems like a good way to try it out!

I have a heart rate monitor in the mail. The Polar RS200. It is just a heart rate monitor, but it can bond with the Polar foot pod if I want to go that way in the future. Most important at this point is to know if I'm getting the most out of my runs. Heart rate is the only real-time measure of that, so I suppose I'm going to start down the path of heart rate training. I've never tried it before, but after a conversation with Pam on Saturday night, I'm convinced it is at least worth a shot. I should have it in time for Saturday ... should be interesting!

On a side note, I think I've planned out my next seven medals. This is important since that will complete my "tie rack of medals" enabling me to then retire a content little distance runner. Here we go:

• Chicago Marathon
• Houston 30k
• Houston Marathon
• Austin Half-Marathon
• Seabrook Saturday Half-Marathon
• Seabrook Sunday Half-Marathon (two medals for this one!)

A full tie rack by the end of March ... who would have thunk it? It is actually time to start considering the 2008 Hood to Coast and the 2008 London Marathon. Both take some serious advance planning, so I have to see if I really want to commit to either/both. Perhaps I should look into getting a new tie rack?

Houston, Get a Clue

Key Words: Rice Block Party, Cups of Tap Water, This Might Save Your Life
Word Count: 893
Likely Next Topic: Cross Training Sunday

Much to say, so a quick recap of this morning run. 13.1 miles for the Chicago marathoners, so I toed the line with Larry at 5AM; off we went to Lukes for the first 3.5 miles of the run. This leg went well, with my averaging about 10:15/mile. I lost Larry at this point, but picked up a trio of female runners for the trek to Rice Loop and our second aide station. The triumvirate lost a member, and then I passed up the remaining duo before a return to the aide station. There were lots of people piling up at the aide station; about 50! It was like a block party on the Rice campus!! After milling about for a bit, and eating an orange slice, off I went back to Lukes. I chased down Pink Headphones Girl, and rounded onto Lukes in just over 11 min/mile total pace. Since that time include three long breaks, I was pleased with the time. Much of the remaining two miles were solo, and thus my mind got away from me a bit during that stretch; my time suffered accordingly, but I was pleased with the overall time (esp. considering I grazed at Lukes for 5 min on the way back!). I finished in just under 2:29.

Nutrition: Post-run, Jon taunted me viciously for pointing out that after I had an orange slice at the Rice Block Party and at Lukes stop #2, I felt full of energy! And that was only after one slice, had I ate the whole orange ... cartwheels down McDuffie, no doubt about it! This was the first time EVER I've eaten food during a run. Maybe I've found that my body likes "au natural" sugar? Maybe I just had a good day?!? It demands a test, so in addition to buying new shoes (Mizuno Wave 7s) and socks today, I purchased some Honey Stinger from Lukes. This stuff is basically pure honey, so I'm wondering if it will have the same impact as the orange? Whatever caused the orange effect, I want it again ... I felt extremely good after the citrus infusion.

Hurricane's coming. Well, not really. Dean is almost certainly not going to hit Houston, but yet people are going ape sh!t. First off, you don't need to buy every bottle of water in Kroger people. If you plan to stay (and most will), fill your cups with tap water, cover them with saran wrap (they had plenty of that) and viola, you're ready for a natural disaster. The city has also erected "Fill Your Tank With Gas" billboards ... too much, too early. Disappointing.

BUT, here's what you should check with Dean roiling up the Caribbean; you're get out of town bag. After Katrina/Rita I realized that I could need (probably due to terrorism, unfortunately) to get out of town quickly. To that end, in my car and in a book bag in my apartment, I stored a gallon of water, a big bottle of Gatorade, a huge container of peanuts, and a huge bag of M&Ms. Don't scoff, just continue. As these emergency instruments are almost two years old, I checked dates and most are indeed expiring; time to restock. I went to Kroger and purchased two of each of the following: family sized Planter Peanuts (those adverse to peanuts should go for almonds), a family sized bag of M&Ms, and a small container of Gatorade mix. The beauty is the peanuts and M&Ms have 8,720 calories, and all in a very small space! Better yet, a serving of peanuts has 14g of fat, 7g of protein, and 5g of carbs ... a reasonably balanced meal. The M&Ms will make up for the somewhat low carbs in the nuts, and both will fill you up as they have lots of fat. The Gatorade is just another small way to carry lots of calories (1,850), and keep the electrolytes balanced by mixing it with my water. That number of calories could easily keep me feed for a week, so that, with my water, makes me ready to go on quick notice. Oh, and it takes a while for this stuff to go bad, so set it, and forget it!

For the water, you need to buy Ozarka or some good name brand. Those Kroger milk jugs full of water are not air tight; I have had all the water evaporate from those. In two years, my Ozarka jugs (including the one in my hot car) are still filled to the brim.

MOST IMPORTANTLY AND EASILY FORGOTTEN, write down your insurance numbers and key bank account numbers and put that in your pack. If you have to stay gone for a while, you'll need that stuff.

So go get an old back pack or sturdy Target bag, and make the $15 or so investment in at least one get out of town pack. Not likely that you'll likely need it, but you could save your life, and probably those of several friends and/or family.

New Kids On The Block

Key Words: Kenyan Way, Universum, Millinea
Word Count: 861
Likely Next Topic: Tax Free Weekend Shopping Report

First running. Wednesday, in reckless disregard for the fairly hard speed workout Tuesday, I decided to do a 4 mile tempo run; 1 easy, 2 hard, 1 easy. The first easy mile, 10:40, went swell. Then, my legs started hurting. My quads actually, they felt tired, they burned more than they should have. 9:05 to the mile marker, and at that point, I decided to listen to papa HoustonFIT, and just do the scheduled 30 minutes tempo run. After a short rest, I picked it back up to tempo speed, but then braked it back recovery speed for the final half mile; just over 30 minutes total. Kenyan Way was out at Memorial, jamming up part of the track ... not sure what they were doing ... many cones setup along the trail ... speed work I suppose.

Now, for some thought provocation. Wednesday was the kick off for ExxonMobil's US recruiting (USR) efforts. Over lunch, the USR folks brought in a rep from Universum, the supposed leader in knowing what young'ins think of your company. They showed data from Engineering (a main focus on XOM) and business (another focus). Differences between the two were as expected, and really, the groups were fairly identical (notable exception, the business folks reeealy wanted to work in New York; Wall Street I suppose).

The interesting part, and I admit I kind of geek out on this stuff, is the effect of "the Millineas", as the Italian lady from Universum called them. In her nomenclature, Gen X'ers are people born between 1968 and 1977 (which would include the author and probably the two or three people who read this blog!). Millineas are people born from 1978 onward; they were, I suppose in high school or college at the turn of the millinea (Universum only interviews near term or recent grads). These are the kids who had the soccer parents, who always received a trophy for participation, and are the future leaders of tomorrow. She showed a slide that compared the differences between the responses of the two groups. Most telling were (X followed by M): We seek jobs with work life balance, while we don't since we assume it is a given; we think the American Dream is dead, while we believe you can still make it happen; and a job is simply for money, while we believe it has to be a blend of money and social consequence. What's interesting is that the effect of the Millineas caused The Peace Corps and Teach American to vault from unlisted amongst the 250 ranked companies to the top ten on this years list! Also, Google, the company that would at least appear set to appeal to the Millineas, has, over the last four years, went from unranked, to 150, to 2, to a resounding #1 on this years list.

Another telling aspect of this was general categorizations of the two groups. In a nutshell, she said the Millineas demanded structure, group work, and would most likely not risk the status quo for financial wealth. Put another way, and she did put it this way, employers will be disappointed with their ingenuity, their resiliency, and their ability to work outside a group setting. I'm starting to believe that I can tell a difference in the kids that work for us now, and those that I see on campus. I thought it was just me getting older (that option is still a horse in this race), but perhaps it is that they really are changing. I think this change away from solo ability and ingenuity, if it's true, will probably be the most impactful thing to happen to our society in a long time.

One final nugget: Millineas are now expected to have 11 jobs in their careers, and more importantly, any stigma attached to that is gone. Many companies have accepted this change, and those above, and modified their work environment and expectations to maximize this new breed of worker. They understand that the Millinea will only be there for a while, but they try to make the relationship mutually beneficial, and there's certainly the chance to come back at a later date. 11 jobs; the chance to come back?!? ExxonMobil is certainly not like that, and ultimately, I think we will suffer for it. We still preach that we hire for a career, but do we and should we? More importantly, on a personal note, is what it will be like for me if the day comes when I quit the XOM. When I changed majors in college for the first time, I would do so again a mere four weeks late! It was like a burden had been released once I washed the stigma away from the change. I wonder if I get away from the stigma of quitting the XOM if that would lead to a Millinea like career path?

13 miles this weekend. I suppose I'll have time to consider the answer to that self directed question.

A Quickie

Not much time. Tired, did much room rearranging (the karma is palpably better), and I have a big day at work tomorrow (well, a long day, 8-5 mtg).

Speed workout today, and as the temp was 100, and I didn't need to advance in the Yasso workouts, so I did the prescribed workout of 3x1200x400. My 1200 times were 5:38, 6:02, and 6:19. Needless to say, the heat started wearing on me. Almost five miles, and I'm glad I did the 1200's, as I think variety helps, and week on week of Yasso 800 would make me a great 800 runner, but I question the value of the repetition for my marathoning.

Tomorrow I hope to do a tempo run of some kind. Thursday, an easy run, though I'll gladly cancel it if the legs feel beat. If I do all those runs, I could top 30 miles for the week, which would probably be a first for a seven day stretch without a marathon in it. It's requiring some sacrifices, but as I'm finally healthy, I want to give it a try.

Running Rhythm

Inches of rain, the forecast for July
Gave way to August, and a lofty high
100 degrees, maybe in spots more
No one was outside, not even the Rankin Road whore
Four days of sloth, an Indiana wedding
If not drinking, I was slumbering in the Marriott bedding
A run a run, was desperately needed
35 minutes easy, HoustonFIT Chicago runners heeded
Brenda was to run, Chris Sowers too
I'll hook up with them, a Monday running party anew
To Memorial Picnic Loop, that was our place to meet
But find them I didn't, my failure was bittersweet
At the park at least, I could get in a run
But a solo after promise of a party, not very fun
Off I went, by the soccer players' cheer
Surprisingly I ran up there back, Brenda, Chris, and Samone were near
Memorial we crossed, picking our way with caution
Then Brenda kicked out, using quick motion
"She always runs ahead", Chris said while waning
"I hope I can keep up", I thought while gaining
I got on Brenda's hip, around the loop we went
Hey, there's Felix, by the Finish Strong tent!
9:49, the first measurable mile
An easy run?, I questioned with a smile
Go ahead if you need, Brenda said with a huff
I could run no faster, her claim of an easy run, clearly a bluff
8:37, came nine tenths of a mile
Starting at the corner, the markers are full of guile
9:24, the last mile did come
Brenda said I'm done, water, I need some
I said a quarter mile more, no farther shall I go
Then turn around we did, joining the opposite flow
Water was had, hydration was a plenty
Then to the corner we came, departure such a pity
On Brenda went, a little more to cover
Then Claire appeared, from her bad back she did recover
Meeting Astros, while she convalesced
Though famous, I thought, their team is quite a mess
Goodbyes were said, hope to see you later
Saved by the Bell, the most famous is AC Slater
Random thoughts, were clearly in my head
Maybe I needed rest, make an early trip to bed
Four miles I covered, and I did so with relative ease
The heat not so bad, but wait for the sunset please
Four more days, five days total of running
That's my goal this week, it's the goal for which I'm gunning
Thanks for reading my poem, I wrote it with a smile
Blogging can be boring, so I went the extra mile
This is a different, an old kind of view
A running poets musings, I bid you adieu

Night Three - Tempo

Last night's third night of back to back to back running this week brought a tempo night. The idea became a 45 minute tempo run (10 easy, 25 hard, 10 easy), as this was a small step up over last week's tempo run. Leon and I tried to run with Jon and Lynette (I have grown weary of solo runs), but a meeting time could not be established, so off we went to the Rice football field. Simple route, start running the loop, and keep moving. Things went OK, but late in the 25 I was certainly aware I was working. Though I'm not aware of mile markers at Rice (2.9 miles around), I'm confident my speed, much like last week, was sub nine minute miles. Four more miles in the books, bringing me to 13 for the week. Saturday morning the plan is still to run with HoosierFIT while in Indy; this will be my first week with four runs in quite a while. I thought I knew, but maybe wasn't sure, that the entire USA FIT network started with HoustonFIT; something I learned from the HoosierFIT web page. Anyway, my fuel belt is packed, I've got my GU, I'm ready to run amongst the soybean!

Smoking Hot and Fast

Key Words: Chicago/Indy, Head Band Man, Whose Ear?
Word Count: 425
Likely Next Topic: Do they make a dri-fit suit?

As for my promise of Chicago travel plans, I'm still not sure what's going to happen. I will be in Auburn until the Friday before the run, which means I either need to get a Houston, Atlanta, to Chicago/Indy, to Houston set of flights, or fly back to Houston on Friday, only to hop on another plane to head to the Windy City. Details, details .... will hopefully know soon.

Today was speed work. Our coach, Head Band Man (I don't know his name, and I don't mean this moniker disparagingly; he's actually an excellent coach), said last week that we probably wouldn't be doing sprints this week, so I think that (and folks getting over the 15 miles) dulled attendance. Leon joined Jon and I though, and did some side running while we did 6 Yassos (6x800mx400m). Last week I tried to nail 4:15 over each 800, this week, I just wanted to run hard and accepted that my time would slow. The times were 3:56, 4:01, 4:01, 4:10, 4:17, 4:12. I got water after each hard part and allowed myself 30 seconds of walking at the start of each easy 400. I was pleased with my performance; I felt a lil' queasy at the end (I was running hard to pass some smuck in a red shirt who was cooling down), so I think I gave a good effort.

I'm trying to be brief(er) than yesterday, but I'll still leave you with a philosophical comment on the mental side of running. It's worth noting that at the start of the fifth repeat, which was more than last week, things suddenly got harder. Of course, they didn't, it was just in my head. When I misread my watch in repeat six and thought I had ran a very slow 39 second first 100m, I suddenly felt very winded; again, the brain working against the body. The way I broke down on last Saturday, and all this ill mental energy at the speed work has me thinking that I really need to spend some time getting my running head back on straight. Getting out there three or four times every week will help, and sprints, which give you many chances to doubt your ability to finish, should help too. I hope to run tomorrow, and I'm running with HoosierFIT on Saturday morning (Whose ear? Whose ear??) while in Indy. Back in the saddle again! Now, time for some glutamine :o)

Job 38:11

Key Words: God, Cauterization, Glutamine
Word Count: 998 ... worth it, I hope
Likely Next Topic: Chicago Travel?!?!?!!!

".... Hitherto shall thou come, but no further...." Job, Chapter 38, Verse 11

This passage from the King James version of the good book was made famous, well, by God, but our modern, sometimes agnostic and secular world, was reaquanted with it by Dan Brown in The Da Vince Code (Silas, that giver of a bad name to albinos everywhere, found a flagstone with this verse under the Rose Line, then clubbed that poor nun with it ... as a pale person, I assure you, you need not fear me).

This verse summed up week nine of Houston FIT, particularly mile 12 of 15. I don't know if it was the heat, the lack of training (I've missed four of the nine weeks), or the solitary nature of the run, but I was utterly beaten on Saturday morning. I bemoned "Why won't it just end" shortly after the Luke's Locker aid station; I normally reserve such cheery outbursts for mile 22 of the marathon! I will say no more about the run, other than I had time committments to keep, and had some hard decisions to make to keep them. I'm happy to say I finished the run healthy, and kept my time committments; I had just put on my dry t-shirt when the seminar started. As for my nagging hamstring injury, I am ready to declare myself healthy enough to run with reckless abandon, though admit that I am behind when it comes to the training schedule.

Tonight I ran three miles at Memorial. More of those pesky time committments kept me from running more miles, but as I was shooting for a marathon pace run (10 min/mile), it was just about the right length according to our training schedule.

Now the important part .. I really hope you make it this far. If you don't F YOU :) Kidding. Jokes. Here's the secret to staying healthy when marathoning; I knew it all along and have reconfirmed it with my speedy recovery from the hammy injury (speedy since I started treating it, as I'll detail below). First, a little back story ...

Many years ago I had to have an abscess cut out. Abscesses are nasty little puss wads that your body walls up simply because it doesn't know what to do with them. Many times, if you don't leave an abscess open, it will fill back up with puss, so I was left with a nice open wound on a part of my body post-op (just don't ask me to show you the scar :o). For about four weeks, the wound healed very slowly. My doctor cauterized the wound twice in the name of reminding my body to heal, but the progress remained slow. So I did what I do, I read .. a lot. I learned that every cellular division is driven by an amino acid known as Glutamine or L-Glutamine depending on your nomenclature. This amino is traditionally known as "non-essential" because your body can produce it. Europeans, being crafty and European and all, realized much ealier than the American medical establishment that there are times when the body cannot produce enough; thus it's current clasification as a "conditionally essential" amino acid. So I said, "Maybe I don't have enough Glutamine in me to heal this wound."

Now friends, I admit, I could be falling into the trap of causality. That trap being, "I want something to happen, so I'll do X, that something happened, so X must have worked!" Wrong, voodoo logic. Regardless, after about one week of glutamine supplementation, the wound was healed. It had barely made any progress through four weeks of normal healing, but then sealed up in only a week's time of glutamine supplementation! I am convinced that the glutamine was the source of my healing.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I know running puts your body under huge stress, and I had a hamstring injury; why couldn't a lack of glutamine be slowing the healing? I started taking 500mg of straight glutamine supplemant after long runs, and took a protein supplemant everyday that has about 3000mg of the stuff. I can say that my problems seem to have gone away, and my legs feel about as good as they have in quite a while.

Causality? Could be. A deficiency in Keith body that other's might not have? Could be. The point though is there is little downside to glutamine supplementation, and big potential upside. My PhD friends might point out that there is fear that glutamine supplementation could cause an undiagnosed cancer to spread like wildfire (remember, every cellular division, including cancerous ones, need glutamine). The only study I've ever seen on the topic (a well constructred breast cancer study) showed no increase in metastasisation due to glutamine supplementation, so the fear seems, at least, somewhat overstated. Again, we're not talking about lots ... let's just top off the tank to make sure that, as you tax your body, you are getting enough of this critical amino acid.

GNC 100% Whey Protein supplement has a good amount of glutamine in it, or you can simply buy the supplement at the same place.

I encourage all you marathoners to consider trying it. Start slow, of course, making sure you have no ill effects. Perhaps you just consider taking it after long runs? Maybe, if you already take protein containing glutamine, you just make sure you take it daily, and maybe hit it extra hard after high milage. You just might find yourself healing faster and feeling better than you have in a long while!