20 Fantasy Miles

Made it through 20 hard miles Sunday morning, although technically I should have only been running 6 miles. Why would I choose to add on 14 fun-filled miles? I’d like to say it was due to some noble, altruistic pursuit. Or perhaps a multiple-hour runner’s high. Sadly, the real answer is Fantasy Football.

Not Pictured .... Fantasy Football

I’ll explain in a bit, but first, a look back at week 6, and the painfully obvious reason that the 20 miles was a bit of a death march.

As covered in an earlier post, the week was supposed to start with an 18-mile run last Sunday. Thanks to an unfortunate bit of rain-drenched timing, this turned into 10 late-night miles on Sunday, and 8 early-morning miles on Monday. If I include the 5 miles last Saturday, then by the end of the day on Saturday I had run on 7 out of 8 days, covering 48.6 miles. Compound this with the first week of school for the kids, a heavy workload at my job, and entirely too little sleep, and I was less than optimally rested and fueled for yesterday’s run. No better time to take a nice 6 mile step-back run and turn it into 20 miles of self-flagellation. Here’s where the Fantasy Football enters the picture.

About a month back I got an email from an old high-school friend letting me know that one of the guys in their fantasy football league was dropping out, and seeing if I wanted to join. Most of the guys in the league are old high school friends, including the best man from my wedding whom I have done a terrible job of keeping in touch with. Maintaining friendships with old friends is definitely not my strong suit. I thought this would be a good chance to get back in touch with these guys, so I said yes. Never mind the fact that I haven’t followed football in years, and am completely clueless about fantasy football.

Contrary to what the name implies, this does not involve teams of gladiators waging football-battle in the heavens riding fire-breathing unicorns.  Nor does it resemble any of the ‘sweet’ airbrushed scenes one might find on the side of most any 70’s era conversion van.

Apparently this requires some fairly detailed knowledge of the teams and individual players in the NFL, and, if one wants to have some success, a great deal of time. 0 for 2 for this guy.

Draft Day is the most important day of the season. For these guys, this means coming from miles around to meet up at one house for hours upon hours of drafting, eating, drinking, and trash-talking, not necessarily in that order. Draft day is this Saturday. Per my training plan, I am scheduled to run 20 miles on Sunday. The marathoner-wannabe in me would stick to my training plan and spend Saturday drinking sports drinks while picking my team. The realist in me knows that I’ll wake up Sunday morning feeling like I had carpet installed on my tongue, and wondering why my team consists entirely of kickers with last names starting with ‘J’, most of whom retired sometime in the 80s. Not wanting to risk my 20-mile long run, I decided to swap this week’s 6 with next week’s 20. Looked like a good idea on paper.

The 20 miles actually wasn’t horrible, but I didn’t have a lot of spring in my step at the start, and I knew it wasn’t going to get better. The first 10 miles went pretty well, but the week that was caught up with me in the back 10, and I was definitely wishing it was over. At mile 17 I took a walk break to down my last gel and the last of my water, and extended the walk break to 10-minute stretch of walking as fast as I could. I picked the running back up from that point, and was pleased to see that my pace over the last 2.5 miles was around 9:30. Net result was running 8 of 9 days, covering 68.6 miles. I was pretty useless for most of the rest of Sunday, which may have been hard to distinguish from most other days. Shades of gray I suppose. My PF and ITBS seem to have weathered the 20-miles, and the excessive mileage for the week, which is very encouraging going forward. The real test will be getting out of bed tomorrow morning and going for a run. Probably need to start training my liver for Draft Day as well. This could get ugly.

Throwback Training Tunes vol. 7 – 1994 edition

Sadly, in the battle of iPod vs Thunderstorm, the thunderstorm appears to have gotten the upper hand. The iPod still plays music fine, but the backlight no longer works on the screen, so it’s a bit hard to see what it is playing, or make any selections. We’ve made it onto the LCD-transplant list, but it’s a long process and we never know when we might get the call. In the meantime, however, we’re not going to let a small thing like a dark screen get in the way of the throwback tunes search. That which does not kill our iPod, only makes our iPod stronger…

• Building a playlist with running songs from each of the last 20 years of the 20th century (1980-1999)
• None of the songs in this list can be in any of the existing playlists on my iPod. As much as I love all the blogging runners and running bloggers out there, this list is for me too
• Mainstream to alternative, well-known to abundantly obscure, anything is a potential candidate
• I’m test-driving anything I post with a listen during at least two training runs 

Prior Throwbacks:

 

‘Ceremony’ - New Order (1981)
'Don’t Change’ – INXS (1982)
‘Turn to the Sky’ - The March Violets (1986)
‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ - LL Cool J (1990)
‘Three Strange Days’ – School of Fish (1991)
‘Enter Sandman’ – Metallica (1991)
‘Rearviewmirror’ – Pearl Jam (1993)
‘A Murder of One’ - Counting Crows (1993)
‘Looking Through Patient Eyes’ - PM Dawn (1993)

 

Today’s Throwbacks:

 

She – Green Day (1994) – A song that got greatly overshadowed by the other hugely-successful and ultimately overplayed songs from the Dookie album. Starts out with a nice quiet buildup to the typical Green Day energy you would expect. Kind of a short song, but still good for passing the time while training.

Machinehead – Bush (1994) – One of several very popular songs from Bush’s most popular album, Sixteen Stone. The intro to this song is one of those sports-arena staples that you’ll hear during timeouts or breaks in the action. The driving beat in this one is great for a pick-me-up during a run. Not really sure exactly what the lyrics are supposed to mean … but sometimes it's less about the lyrics and more about the energy.

To Catch Ourselves With Quiet Grace

Perspective is a powerful thing. Sometimes it is thrust upon us, often in jarring, devastatingly painful ways. Other times we seek it out to keep ourselves calibrated in an off-center world. Whatever the source and circumstance, the inherent value of perspective can be immense.

Yesterday was one of those occasions when I sought out perspective. I knew it was coming, and knew what the effect would be, but the impact was not lessened by virtue of foresight.

Few things can stir greater sorrow in me than a sick child. Nobody likes a bully. Illness targeting a child is the cruelest of bullies. I have had the unfortunate experience of having a child spend an extended period of time in the hospital. It is a physically and emotionally numbing experience. A bitter potion of helplessness, anger, and sadness. An experience that permanently changed the way I look at the world. An experience I hope to never relive.

Yesterday, a group of co-workers and I spent the afternoon and evening at the Durham Ronald McDonald House doing maintenance and cleaning work, preparing and serving dinner for all the residents and employees, and spending some time with the families and children staying at the house. We had done this in the Spring, and everyone involved was so deeply touched by the experience that we eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to return. Any organization like this, dedicated to assisting families in times of tremendous turmoil, is truly miraculous.

In the midst of my own experience, having had the consistency of our home to maintain some sense of normalcy was immeasurably beneficial. To have to go through that while traveling and dealing with the inherent stress that brings must be excruciating. The Ronald McDonald House tackles that head-on, and is dedicated to reducing the environmental stresses, allowing families to focus on loving and healing. A truly noble cause. I start today humbled and privileged to have been able to help in that cause, if only for one night. As I watch my kids head off for the first day of school, I am grateful for their health. I am grateful that they can participate in the anxiety and excitement this day brings. I am grateful for perspective.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

After the disjointed start to training week 6, I felt it only right to dwell in the past and take a look back at last week’s efforts. Week 5 was my best training week so far in terms of sticking to the plan, not discovering any new and exotic ways to inflict pain upon myself, and generally feeling like the training is starting to click.

Highlights from the fifth training week:

*  Strong 16-mile run to start the week. My long runs so far haven’t been pretty, but this one went fully as planned, and I felt like there was still gas in the tank when I turned off the engine. HUGE difference getting underway before the heat got going.

*  Did some proactive research on hydration to try and figure out how to stay better fueled for the remainder of training. Still working on the right combination of beverage containers, but the Fuel Belt alone is not enough. Never bring a knife to a gunfight.

*  Joined the Hard CORE club and got through my first two workouts. Bicycle kicks are definitely the hardest thing for me right now. Would much rather just go in the garage and kick my bicycle.

*  First run with my new Nathan handheld. Not as obtrusive as I thought it would be. After a couple more runs with it I’ll put together a review.

*  Established my new unofficial PR for a mile during Thursday’s tempo run – 6:35. I’ll probably try an all-out mile every couple weeks to keep myself entertained and see if I can lower this. Pretty confident I can get this under 6 minutes if I continue to include speed work. I don’t want to get too fast as the sonic booms tend to make the neighbors mad. I’m thoughtful like that.

*  Quietly turned 39. One more year of the thirties before I become a masters runner. I don’t feel a day over 60. Now you kids get off my lawn.

Midnight Monsoon

Training week 6 is off to a wet, ugly start. For those who may have grown up in a military family like myself, the term SNAFU comes to mind. It all started when my wife pulled out of the driveway Friday morning for a girls’ weekend, leaving me at the mercy of my kids and the puppy. The challenge was figuring out how to do my 18-mile run on Sunday. The solution didn’t work out so well.

I knew my wife wasn’t getting back until around 5PM Sunday. 6PM Sunday was the start of a daddy/daughter dance for my little girl’s Y-Princess tribe. I figured with the dance, followed by getting the kids to bed and some stretching, best-case I’d be getting my run underway around 10PM. Not ideal, but I was pretty intent on keeping the Sunday run on Sunday. So, after a day of lawn mowing, house projects, kid wrangling, puppy chasing, and daddy/daughter dancing, I got underway just before 10PM. I was dragging right from the start. The first couple miles weren’t feeling good. Then, in the distance, the first of the lightning appeared.

By mile 5 I was dragging enough that I slowed to a walk long enough to down a Gu and a fair amount of water. At this point the wind had picked up, the lightning was getting a bit more insistent, and the first of the raindrops were wetting the pavement. By mile 6 I was feeling better, but the weather was going downhill. Just as I crossed mile 7 the dam burst, and the rain started coming down in sheets. Hard enough that the water was running in rivers down the gutters and the sidewalks. Hard enough that I could no longer see. Hard enough that the squirrels and rabbits were forming into pairs and crossing the path in search of an ark.

It looked just like this ..... at least the rain did

My run consisted of 2 times around an ~9-mile route, and although I was tempted to keep going and gut out the full 18, I ended up turning around at about 9.5 miles when my iPod was no longer lighting up, and the sound was barely audible. I also had my Garmin on, and the rain was coming down hard enough that I was worried about it as well. By the time I got home I had managed to get 9.94 miles done. After stretching, drying off, hanging up the gear to dry, and doing some Google research on wet iPods (always a gamble including the term ‘wet’ in a Google search – never quite sure where the internet is going to take you), it was almost 1AM. Set the alarm for 5:30AM to knock out the remainder of the run, which I did this morning (8.03 miles), and now I could really use some sleep.

Not sure where I’ll end up with the iPod. It still seems to play music ok, but the screen is REALLY dark. It’s currently in a container filled with uncooked rice to hopefully draw out any lingering moisture. It would appear the backlight isn’t lighting any longer. Kinda like ET, only completely different. I’ll leave it in its hyperbaric rice chamber for 24 hours, and see how it’s feeling for tomorrow’s run. That may turn out to be an expensive 10 miles.

Throwback Training Tunes vol. 6 - 1982 edition

Back to the early 80s with today’s addition to the playlist. Great song by one of my favorite bands.

Building a playlist with running songs from each of the last 20 years of the 20th century (1980-1999): 

• None of the songs in this list can be in any of the existing playlists on my iPod. As much as I love all the blogging runners and running bloggers out there, this list is for me too.
• Mainstream to alternative, well-known to abundantly obscure, anything is a potential candidate
• I’m test-driving anything I post with a listen during at least two training runs
• Trying to link to a video or audio-clip of the song

Prior Throwbacks:

 

‘Ceremony’ - New Order (1981)
‘Look to the Sky’ - The March Violets (1986)
‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ - LL Cool J (1990)
'Three Strange Days' – School of Fish (1991)
'Enter Sandman' – Metallica (1991)
'Rearviewmirror' – Pearl Jam (1993)
'A Murder of One' - Counting Crows (1993)
'Looking Through Patient Eyes' - PM Dawn (1993)

 

Today’s Throwback:

 

'Don’t Change' – INXS (1982) – I’m a big INXS fan, and have had lots of their songs in and out of playlist rotation while running over the years. Since I’m such a fan, I had to work very hard to separate putting them on my iPod because I like them versus having them there because I consider them good ‘running songs’. In a nice bit of serendipity, it turns out that probably my favorite INXS song of them all also turns out to be a great running song on its own merit. I’ve listened to this song on every run since I started this exercise, and still like it as much as the first time. Definitely gets the blood pumping.

Bannister, You Feelin' Me?

Yesterday morning was a battle between the mind and the body. When the alarm went off it was dark, grey, wet, drizzling, etc. outside …. basically all the ingredients pointing to staying in bed. However, a 6 mile tempo run was on tap. I don’t usually have much trouble with convincing myself to get out the door, so when I do I try to step up my game to make my body punish my mind. My plan had been for 1 easy mile, 3 fairly fast miles (7:30 – 8:00 pace), and 2 miles at a moderate pace between 8:30 and 9:00. Made a quick revision of the plan, and decided to speed everything up, and try to really step up the pace on the 3rd tempo mile. Basically tell my brain to shove it up its cortex, and remember this the next time it starts pondering the snooze button.

An important thing to understand about my running/racing history is that until my marathon in March, I had never competed in any type of timed running race. Thus I have no official benchmarks against which to measure my time and effort. I was never on a track team, never tried a 5K, 10K, or any K. I have no idea what my fastest mile time is. Upside is I’ve got a pretty wide-open opportunity for PRs in all kinds of events.

Got myself out in the gloomy weather and got the run underway. Knees and feet felt pretty good throughout. Worked out some kinks and soreness in my calves in the first mile, ready to step it up the tempo in the second mile:

Mile 1 – 8:51

Sped things up quickly in mile 2, and still felt pretty good. In the past, when I wanted to speed up my pace I did so by elongating my stride. In this training cycle I’m working hard on changing that philosophy, focusing more on faster turnover and maintaining form. I’m still teaching my legs to behave this way, but getting better.

Mile 2 – 7:17

Got into a nice groove in mile 3. Still focusing on rapid turnover for faster pacing, and trying to step up the pace from the last mile. Legs still generally healthy.

Mile 3 – 7:03

Game on for mile 4. Here’s where I really wanted to see what I could do for a mile without badly breaking form. The first half mile felt pretty good. The second half I was running out of steam, and spent a lot of time eyeballing my Garmin. Very pleased when the 1-mile lap timer gave me permission to step off the gas a bit.

Mile 4 – 6:35

Miles 5 and 6 felt really slow after mile 4, but they were 8:21 and 8:30 respectively. I’m pretty happy with the 6:35 mile, and now have something that I can call my ‘best mile time’ moving forward. I’m a numbers junkie, so this feeds my statistics habit nicely.

Overall a strong run, and a strong tempo run, although not really following the proper definition of a tempo run. My brain has been properly reprimanded for its resistance, and hopefully will continue to behave itself going forward.

Joined the ‘Hard CORE Club’ yesterday, and got my first core workout completed last night. Ab work has always been the last thing that I do when I go to the gym, and unfortunately it often gets bumped in the interest of time. I’m hoping that doing core work as its own monster will get me doing it more regularly, and signing up publicly for this challenge will keep me accountable.