Monotony

January 26, 2011

herb running 5 Comments

If you don’t already know, I’ve been following the 18 week 55-70 mile plan from Pfitz’s Advance Marathoning. The plan calls for a lot of miles during the week, with about 3 of those on weekdays going over 10 miles and up to 15 miles. Early in the morning at 5:00am is the only time where I can fit a run this long into my schedule. And around that time it’s still dark. But besides that, there’s been snow and ice everywhere on the paths and trails I typically go. I would take my yaktrax and run through snow if it wasn’t as high as my shins, but there’s just been so much accumulation over the past month, and with the freezing temperatures, none of it seems to be going anywhere. So, there’s really no reasonable place to run that I know of other than my development which consists of a half mile loop.

I’m quite fortunate to have this loop in my development, since it is quickly plowed after every snowfall. Not only that, there’s very little car traffic here. Anyone who comes in are either lost or their final destination is in the development. There’s no exit other than the way you come in.

It’s as if I have my own personal track, although its far from flat, not that I mind. When others have to turn to the treadmill, I can usually get away with going right outside my front door. I only have to deal with the cold, and this January has been quite a challenge so far. I’m still wondering how icicles form on my facial hair and eyelashes when running in 7 degree weather. Is it frozen sweat? I have no idea.

On top of that, the typical coughing we all get after running hard in cold weather seems to have stuck with me throughout the days recently. I decided to skip the Manhattan half in order to avoid turning the cough into a bigger problem.

But to run this loop and do lap after lap, for 20 miles becomes a serious mental challenge. But to then have to do it day after day every morning, in the dark freezing cold, I often start out asking myself why am I doing this? Running half asleep around and around has become mentally painful before even starting. I have a recovery run tomorrow of 5 miles which I will probably be doing as loops given the current snow. But 5 miles of 10 loops feels like a day off in comparison. The 11 miles, then 7 miles, then 21 miles for the rest of the week is what’s scaring me.

Throughout this all, nothing seems to change or let up. Every lap looks exactly the same. Every morning looks exactly the same. And the weather doesn’t seem to change. With a forecast like this I might find it mentally easier to run 21 miles on the treadmill this Sunday.

Looks like it's going to snow

A review of 2010

January 5, 2011

herb mindless dribble, running , , 2 Comments

With the end of the year, I’m compelled to write the obligatory post where I look back and review how it all went. In all honesty, it was a very good year for me. Better than any other so far. In terms of my race times, I’m in a place now where I couldn’t imagine being before 2010 started. Yet, nothing really feels that different.

I didn’t have any real formal goals for 2010 except for wanting to sharpen my PR in the half. I went into 2010 with a half marathon PR of 1:29:16 set back in 2007. Since then, I felt I never ran a good half and as a result, never broke 1:30 again. My hope was to break 1:29, and eventually go under 1:28 at some point.

In 2010, I raced 3 half marathons. I broke 1:30, just barely, on the first attempt in the Manhattan half with 1:29:48. I was happy with that.

I then broke my PR in May, just barely, with a poor performance at the Brooklyn Half with 1:29:05.

The Queens Half was then done in July, but I switched it to a training run due to 88 degree heat and 63% humidity.

Third was the Bronx Half where I not only broke 1:29, I also broke 1:28, and came close to breaking 1:27 with 1:27:10.

To top it off, I also ran an 18 mile race with a pace of 6:44. At that pace, there is a 1:28:16 half marathon split somewhere.

Then came the Philadelphia marathon in November where my official half marathon split was 1:29:12. That split alone broke my pre-2010 half marathon PR, and I went on to PR for the whole race itself. So, For 2010, I think I can confidently say I was successful at my goals for the half marathon.

But getting back to Philadelphia and marathons in general, my lifetime goal is to eventually go sub 3. It has been a goal since I ran my first marathon in 2006, and along the way I’ve had several doubts as to whether or not this could be a possibility. I never hurt as much as I did in 2009 when I ran the NYC marathon with 3:14:54. I questioned what it would take from me to simply run that time in the marathon again and wondered if I would even be able to do it.

In 2010, I ran two marathons with the other being Boston in April. Philadelphia was nothing but a success for me. I ran the race the way I wanted and was pretty consistent overall up until I cramped up towards the end. Leg cramps seem to be something I almost always struggle with in the marathon, and I’m still not sure why. But rather than trying to prevent them, which I’m convinced I can’t, I’m learning to run through them. At the end, I crossed the line with a net time of 3:02:25. I realized that breaking 3 hours is something I will do one day.

But what made Philadelphia even more of a success was the way I went into it. I was pretty level-headed and not a bundle of nerves relatively speaking. Which is more than I can say for any prior marathons I ran, including Boston in 2010.

In Boston, I’m not sure what happened. Recent bouts of strep throat mixed with hypochondria led me to believe I was ill and almost skipped going to the starting line. Ironically, I wound up taking more than 4 minutes from my PR, finishing with 3:10:45, and to this day, I’m not sure how I pulled it off. On a good day, I wouldn’t have thought of even coming close to my PR at the time. By the way, I never got leg cramps in Boston either. Go figure.

In between I ran two ultras. Something, I’ve always wanted to try. One was 50K, and the other was a 50 miler. They were both more training runs than races. The 50K was more of a tune-up for Boston actually with no time goals. Aside from the GI problems, I enjoyed the 50K very much and would like to do another in the near future.

With the 50 mile race, although I really wasn’t racing it, I went into it thinking a pace of 8:30 or so would be doable. I fell apart somewhere passed the 30 mile mark and walked most of the end. I was under trained and under prepared in terms of hydration, nutrition, etc. I carried nothing and naively thought the aid stations would be enough.

I learned a lot, however, including that I was not yet ready to do something like this the way I would want to do it, and wrote a somewhat controversial and incoherent post about it. I decided that I could I not focus on this type of distance without it interfering with me focusing on my goal of breaking 3 hours in the marathon. With that said, I have goals of doing another 50, but have doubts as to whether or not there will be one in 2011. The JFK 50 has a somewhat appealing allure, especially since my sub 3 hour goal aligns with guaranteed entry to that race.

Other than that, I had some loose goals regarding mileage of over 200 miles a month with around 2600 for the total year. I realized the naivety of this goal and refuse to have mileage goals like this for 2011. Illness, injury, and training plans all interfere with this. Being that I’ve done 2 marathons this year for example, both requiring a taper and a recovery period, that alone has requirements that conflict with maintaining a certain amount of mileage for the month. Therefore, my goal for 2011 will just be to stay focused as I currently am and just getting in the miles week by week when I can without making excuses.

Nonetheless, despite my lack of mileage goals, a mileage summary for the year is still appropriate for a post like this.

Monthly Mileage Totals Mileage Totals
Jan 180 Jul 201 Year to date 2417
Feb 203 Aug 205 Lifetime 11081
Mar 225 Sep 200 Highest Weekly 79
Apr 149 Oct 258 Average Weekly 46.3
May 252 Nov 152 Average Monthly 201
Jun 167 Dec 223 Yearly Goal -137.9

76 miles less than 2009, but its a minor, meaningless detail considering the success of 2010 compared to 2009.

Running goals for 2011? This will be the first year where I truly attempt to break 3 hours. I’m hoping Boston will be it. If not, I’ll try again in the Fall. And, if not in the Fall, then there’s always 2012.

I would also like to have a half marathon time with 1:25:xx. Maybe somewhat aggressive considering 1:27:10 is my current half PR, but I’ve learned the farther I reach, the farther I’ll go, even if I fail to get all the way.

Goals for this blog? None. I was unsure where I wanted this to go it when I started, and it hasn’t really taken the shape I imagined, or hoped it would. It feels it’s become something more for me than anything else, but I’m ok with that — for now. That’s not to say things can’t change in the future.

As far as “resolutions”. Well, I hate those. I don’t see why a one particular day out of the year should be one where we decide to change something about ourselves for the better. Everyday is a day I try to improve something new, or continue to work on something that I want to improve. Nonetheless, it might be appropriate to state a particular goal I’ve been focused on for a quite a time, and that is to have more patience. I feel running has helped me with that in a lot of ways. Patience, and faith.

Now, I have to learn how to apply it to the way I deal with other people.

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