Big Valley Strider

Another race

2011-07-31T11:44:00.002-04:00

I ran a cross country race on Saturday. The race was 5k, and I'd never run it before. I wanted to get there early enough that I could jog the course before the race, so that I'd know the course a little bit better when it came time to race. Unfortunately, I was only there about 30 minutes early, so I could only get in a look at the first mile.

There is a good-sized hill on the course, which you run up twice, once in the first mile and once in the third.

I went out too fast. I was training through this race, using it as a workout, and I wanted to run the first mile in about 6:40, which is entirely possible. I went through the first mile in 6:18 -- too fast. I had pressed the wrong button on my watch, so it didn't start. So, I do not have a 2 mile or 3 mile split. I slowed down after the first mile, both because I went out too fast and because the second and third miles were entirely unfamiliar to me. Instead of concentrating on my pace, I had to pay attention to the course as well. I finished in around 22 minutes.

Next year, I will have a better race there.

An exciting thing that was announced there has to do with the 2012 Masters 5k Cross Country Championships. The host club will be having Joan Benoit Samuelson giving a talk and going for a run the day before the race and 1984 Olympian John Tuttle will join her at the talk. Tuttle has won the race in the past, so I imagine he will be competing in the race again this year.

Yes.

2011-07-26T05:18:00.004-04:00

As a person who was bullied when I was young, and as a cyclist who has been bullied on the road, I can only say that this video hits the nail on the head.

We're havin' a heat wave

2011-07-23T13:08:00.003-04:00

I wish it was only 93. Temps have been in the upper 90s lately, at least in our neck of the woods. Officially, the temps have been in the low 90s, but there is some variation from one area to another. The sensor for our thermometer is on my back porch, sheltered from the sun and in a place where rain and snow can't get in and distort the readings, so I'm pretty sure it's fairly accurate.

The heat, combined with my wife's concern and a wedding and all its related activity, has made t difficult for me to run. I don't run in the morning any more, because that's when I take most of my meds. I don't want to start running before they have had a chance to start working. On the other hand, the temp at 5:30 or 6:00 pm are still very high; lately they've been in the 90s. So, I run in the heat of the day or I don't run. The last two days, with the temp around 99°, I haven't gone out to run. This is playing havoc with my training schedule. I don't even know the rules to Havoc, so there's no way I can win this game.

Anyway, I got out this morning for an easy 4 miles and finished without incident. That's about all I can ask for these days.

Once more, with feeling

2011-07-17T07:35:00.002-04:00

Here I am again, with RICE and Vitamin I. While out taking a nice, easy five miles, about three-quarters of a mile into the run, suddenly it felt as if an elastic band around my left calf had snapped. The initial sensation was not painful, but after that, each time my left foot came off the ground, my left calf felt tight and painful. No permanent damage, it seems, but my calf is extremely tight and there is a slight pulling sensation with each step. This happened just over a week ago, on 8 July. Since then, I've run only once, about 2 3/4 miles, nice and easy. It isn't easy going slow and easy when you've been off for a week, but I kept my pace above 8:30the whole way, with most of it being over 9:00.

It felt pretty good, and I iced down my calf afterward, so I think I'll be going out again today, once again, very easy. Any pain or tightness, and I stop and walk.

The funny thing about this injury is, when I was limping back home, a car pulled over, and the woman driving offered me a ride. She said that she was an orthopedic nurse, and I looked like I would be in her clinic the next day.

It seems that whenever I need a nurse, one with the right specialty shows up.

Ouch.

2011-07-10T19:08:00.002-04:00

While running an easy 5 miles, I felt something that felt like elastic snapping on the back of my left calf. this was followed by pain in my calf every time I stepped on my left foot. Of course, I stopped. As I started back to my house, a car pulled over, and an orthopedic nurse offered me a ride.

It seems every time I need a nurse, one shows up.

Several days of no running now.

At least I can get on the bike, though.

Carbohydrates and Hydration

2011-07-07T05:40:00.004-04:00

The Globe and Mail carried some information a few years ago about sports drinks. It appears that, although carbohydrate-containing sports drinks shouldn't help your performance in short periods of exercise (under an hour), swishing one around in your mouth will help your performance. Carbohydrate receptors in your tongue?

Cold Weather running

2011-07-06T20:44:00.002-04:00

Not right now. But there is a study linked over at Sweat Science about athletes acclimatizing to cold-weather exercise. apparently the athletes were tested after acclimatizing in workouts at 5C. My question is, why didn't they acclimatize the athletes to cold weather?

Race Report #2 -- A Post-Heart Attack PR

2011-07-05T05:32:00.003-04:00

Another race day. July 4th, races all over town. I chose the one which starts and finishes in front of my house. A 5k, almost perfectly flat. I was planning to go out in about 7:00, in an attempt to keep my heart rate down below 150. I did manage to keep my heart rate below 150 for the first mile, but my mile split was not 7:00. I crossed the mile marker in 6:36 and immediately began to slow down. I did go up over 150 for a brief period during the second mile, but slowing down to a bit above 7:00 pace got my heart rate back to where it's supposed to be. My 2 mile split was a little bit below 14:00 (not sure exactly what it was, because the 2 mile mark caught me by surprise). For the third mile, I felt good, so I picked it up again. My pace overall was 6:52, with a final time of 21:16.

I was 8th in my age group, and a little bit over two minutes behind the age group winner. I think I can improve on that. By the end of the summer, I think I could be a minute faster over 5k.

Race Report

2011-07-03T11:15:00.002-04:00

Yes, a race report. I ran in the Temple Beth El 5k, which is run at the temple of the same name, about a mile and a half from my house. I had a visit with my cardiologist a short time before the race, and he said that I should be OK, as long as I "don't try to win." I told my youngest brother about his advice. He didn't believe that I could run in the race without trying to win. He was at least partly right.

Since the race was so close to my house, I jogged up to the start for my warmup. As it was my first race since my "event," I was more than a little bit nervous about racing.

On the advice of my cardiologist, I was keeping my heart rate below 150, during training runs and now during the race. As I approached the half mile point, my wife, who was standing near the road, called out "Don't win!" I imagine this caused some amusement and confusion among the people around me. First because I was not that close to the front; the winner finished the race in 5:04 pace, while my pace was closer to 7:30. Second, because who cheers for someone not to win?

The whole course is on roads, in the area around the temple, with the finish line in the temple parking lot. About the first half mile is a gradual uphill, then it's downhill to just about the mile point. When I reached the mile point, I got my mile split of just under 7:00 and realised that I was going too fast. Just then, as if to confirm what I was thinking, my heart rate monitor's alarm started going off. I looked down, and my heart rate, just as I was beginning another half-mile climb (this time on a larger, steeper hill) was 154. So, I had to take it easy on the way up the hill. When I reached the two mile point, my heart rate has settled down into the high high 130s, and my split was around 8:30.

Because my heart rate had dropped, I felt confident that I could pick up the pace a bit. From about 1.5 to almost three miles was downhill, so it had been a bit of a rest for my heart and I felt that I could easily take a bit more. I watched my heart rate more closely, checking every few seconds to see how I was doing. I kept it in the 140s, and finished the race in 23:09. An excellent showing for my first race back.

I've been increasing my mileage since then, and I think I can do better than 7:30 pace, and still keep my heart rate at a reasonable level. My doctor and my wife both want me to get a training partner. I joke about not being able to find someone at my level who is CPR certified. The difficulty is actually finding someone who is at my level who is also on my schedule. At the moment, I can't run in the morning. I take four of my five medications in the morning, including the two which keep my heart rate regulated. I suppose I should ask my cardiologist about running first thing in the morning. That might make it easier to find someone who could be there to at least call 911 if something should happen.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be running in my second race since my "event". I'm going to try to update a bit quicker than a month after the fact this time.

I'm not going to show anyone my scar.

2011-04-09T19:42:00.001-04:00

I have a hard time getting to the computer now that I have my second kid in middle school. He’s on here more than ever, and it takes the jaws of life to get him to leave. My daughter uses her computer, but shelling out for another computer is just not in the budget these days. Why is it that as soon as I start getting ahead financially, the economy tanks? This has happened before. Is this some kind of conspiracy to keep me from getting ahead?

I’ve been running at night lately. I take a a Beta Blocker, an ACE Inhibitor, a Platelet Inhibitor and an aspirin (an antiplatelet) in the morning. The beta blocker, as I understand it, interferes with my heart’s ability to speed up in response to stresses. This is intended to help prevent a second heart attack. Excuse me, “cardiac event.” I didn’t have a heart attack, I had a cardiac event. Next time I have an event, I want balloons, elephants, celebrities.

Anyway, I take this medication first thing in the morning (I also take a statin at night -- statins work best at night because, again as I understand it, that’s when liver function is its highest). I figure that that’s probably not the best time of day to go for a run, since the medication hasn’t really kicked in, yet. At 5:30, my resting heart rate is around 49 to 52. My exercising heart rate is around 130-145. I’m not sure what those rates would be in the morning. In addition, my wife would rather that I be on the road at a time of day that other people are also out on the road. So, I go out after I get home at 5:30 PM. I’d still like to be going out at 3:00 or 3:30 in the afternoon, but I’m at work until 5 and even if I could arrange to take my lunch then, I would’t have anywhere to shower. I’m still thinking about trying to rearrange my day so that I could run then, and I’ve been dropping subtle hints with my bosses about the best time of day to run.

All this antiplatelet medication has had some interesting effects. I bruise easily -- small bruises have appeared on my arms when I can’t remember anything unusual or traumatic happening -- and I bleed a lot. If I cut myself shaving (and I do that a lot now), I end up with a large scab, no matter what the cut looks like. I used to heal quickly, now things take a bit longer. Of course, that was happening anyway, since I’m now over 50 and that kind of slows down at this age anyway.

I posted an ad on the local running message board for a running partner. So far, no responses. My wife would like there to be someone to call 911 if something should happen to me. I think I’ll add something to my initial ad making it clear that I don’t actually need anyone with any CPR or medical training, just a willingness to call for help.

My running has actually been getting better. Not like it was seven months ago, but I am improving. My times are down around 8:30 pace over the course of 4 to 5 miles. I think that I can improve some more, maybe get back down below 7:00 pace. I think that a large part of the reason I’m not back at 100% is mental. I think I’m slower because I’m careful. When your heart rate monitor is set to give you a warning when your heart rate exceeds 141, it does limit your ability to run fast. I'll have to discuss things with my cardiologist.

On another note, I can tell you one really effective way to lose weight. I don’t recommend it, since it involves being in a coma, but I did lose some weight while I was unconscious.

Regular Schedule

2011-03-01T05:34:00.003-05:00

I'm on a regular schedule now, running (or at least jogging) on Sundays and Thursdays, rehab on Tuesdays. I've been getting a lot of ads for this outfit lately. Of course, it immediately caught my eye. A sponsor? That would be great. I'd love to not have to worry about the ever-increasing cost of running shoes, and if I could afford an actual coach, I might see some real improvement in my times (still thinking about my times, even after cardiac arrest).

I'm just not sure about the "system". Whether I have to buy their product would be a consideration. Between medical bills and college tuition, I don't have disposable income any more. Strength training without a gym membership would be just fine with me, but their equipment isn't free. I'll have to think about it and find out more before I decide what to do.

Milestone

2011-02-23T19:02:00.003-05:00

I passed a milestone in rehab. I am down to only one session a week now, and I'm getting some exercise outdoors. Well, a little bit of exercise outside. I ran around the block twice (half a mile each time). My wife wants me to do my outdoor running where she can keep an eye on me. At least I don't have to run around a quarter-mile again and again -- I will have to run only half as many laps.

The temperature was up in the 30s, and I was very comfortable. Wearing the jacket made it hard to see my heart monitor watch, so I had to take off the watch and carry it. I'll have to wear the jackets with elastic in the wrists, so I can keep the sleeves above the watch.

I'm hoping it warms up a little, so I can go out without a jacket. Unfortunately, here in upstate New York, we have 10 more weeks of winter.

I'm a Celebrity

2011-01-13T13:55:00.003-05:00

My story was published in the local newspaper. The reporter, a columnist in the weekly in the small town where I almost died(!), did a very nice story on my "event."

This story ran in November, and a followup ran in December.

Since my "event," I've been very emotional -- or more likely, I don't have the ability any more to suppress my emotions. I get choked up whenever I read this story.

What?

2011-01-12T20:56:00.001-05:00

what is the logo on the side of this shoe supposed to be?

I am the luckiest man alive

2011-01-04T20:07:00.003-05:00

In the summer of 2010, I decided to run my first multi-sport event. Since my bicycle is a hybrid on- and off-road bike, I chose an off-road duathlon with a running course in a local park and a cycling course on adjacent unused railroad beds.

I’d been commuting on my bike for about a year, and I had been extending the distance and increasing the difficulty of my rides since the weather allowed me to ride again.

I don’t remember anything about the day of the race. I don’t remember getting up, whether I ate breakfast, or any of my morning preparation for the race. The race was 2 miles running, 10 miles biking, then another 2 miles running. At some time during the second running portion of the race (I’m not sure how far I’d gone), a small piece of cholesterol, around which a clot had formed, blocked the circumflex artery in my heart, and I went onto cardiac arrest.

As I lay on the ground, other runners stopped to help me. One of the first people to stop was Sarah, a Registered Nurse, who had worked in the Cardiology at a local hospital. She and Jamie, another runner who was trained in CPR, began working on me. A third competitor, a Physician’s Assistant (also named Sarah), assisted in the CPR. Another runner was carrying his cell phone, and called 911. Sarah called for an Automatic External Defibrillator, and shortly, a Sheriff’s Deputy arrived on a small vehicle with one. I wasloaded onto the vehicle and taken to an ambulance.

At the hospital, I was taken into the Cardiac Cath Lab. My ID had been removed at some point, the emergency personnel handed it over to the Emergency Department staff. My identity had to be confirmed and my family contacted.

The social worker in the ED noticed that my shoes had mud caked on their soles, so she immediately began checking trail races in the area. She confirmed that I had been entered in the race and called my house. My wife was not home at first, and my son decided not to answer the phone. The hospital staff tried several times to contact my wife, and when they were about ready to send a police car to my house (which would have absolutely terrified my son), my wife came home and answered the call.

At the Cardiac Cath Lab, my body temperature was cooled to 32 degrees Celsius, and two stents were inserted into my artery. Two days later, I woke up, with no memory of anything that had happened. I'm in cardiac rehab now, working my way back to where I was. I'm currently the healthiest person in rehab. Also the luckiest.

Spammers

2010-06-06T14:17:00.002-04:00

I hate spammers. I didn't want to moderate comments on this, but I'm glad I did. The latest one was by someone purporting to be the "Association of University Lecturers and Researchers - Iraq", and they left the comment "thank you for your wonderful efforts." along with a link.

I don't allow any comments with a link, unless the comment has actual content and the link is to something that pertains to the comment.

What a bunch of idiots.

Trail Run

2010-06-05T16:43:00.003-04:00

I went down to a local park today for a trail race.There were three races today; a 12 miler starting at 8:30 and a 4-miler and 8-miler both starting together at 9:00.

I wasn't sure until Wednesday that I would be able to run today; and by that I mean physically able to run, at all. I showed up and signed up to run the 4 miler. I was not ready for an 8 miler today. Anyone in the 4 and 8 could switch to the other race if they wanted to, since the race was over a 4 mile loop. At 4 miles, either the course marshals misunderstood me, or I misunderstood them, and I went around again. About half a mile into the second loop, I realized what I'd done.

I've never DNFed a race, ever, so I went around again. Long story short, I finished in 21st place overall and 6th in my age group. there were 9 in my age group and 42 in the 8 mile race. So I guess I did OK, for someone not ready to race 8 miles.

Seriously, this is the longest run I've done since my pneumonia I contracted during a half marathon in April. You're not supposed to race a longer distance than you run in training.

back on the bicycle

2010-05-30T14:44:00.002-04:00

So I'm back on the bicycle for now. I'm treating the PF with a frozen water bottle, some stretching exercises and massage. Yesterday, I rode for around 22 miles. A good portion of those miles were on trails (the majority, though were road miles). I was hoping to get to the hamlet of Fishers. there's a former railroad bed which runs right through the hamlet, and on a part of which there's an off-road duathlon. I'm hoping to be able to run in the off-road duathlon in October, assuming that I'll be able to run.

Halfway down the railroad bed, there was a fence. A fence across the trail. I thought it was a public trail. I had to turn around (I had gone just over 11 miles) and ride straight back up the trail the way I came.

Anyway, I looked into another route to get there, and I'm going to try again, maybe next weekend.

So far...

2010-05-29T08:09:00.003-04:00

So far, this has been a pretty bad year. This is my first year of serious training since my surgery. I was doing pretty well as of mid-April. I'd run in a few races, the longest of which was a 15K at the beginning of April. I signed up to run the Flower City Half Marathon, and felt pretty good about my chances in the race. the week of the race, I came down with a cold, which evolved into pneumonia on race day. I ran the race, not knowing that my simple cold was going to make it difficult to breathe. I took a little over a week off from running, and shortly after I started again, I developed Plantar Fasciitis, just in time for the Lilac 10k. the Lilac 10k, for the first time, included Dick Beardsley. I would have loved to run a race with Dick Beardsley, but I couldn't run at all.

I am now riding my bike as frequently as I can, and treating my PF. I hope to be back on the road (on my feet) before too long.

Been gone so long...

2010-05-08T07:37:00.002-04:00

I haven't been updating very often, mainly due to a lack of time on the computer. Lets see, where to start...I had surgery on my ankle in December, 2008. 2009 was a recovery year for me. I gradually ramped up the mileage in 2009 and ran my first race on Thanksgiving Day, 2009. Since then, I've been in a few races and shown some improvement. I'm still wearing a brace on my ankle which prevents me from bending my ankle when I run. Obviously, this prevents me from running naturally. I'm gradually increasing the amount of running I can do without the brace

Recently, I ran in the Flower City Challenge Half Marathon. The race was on a Sunday. Friday at work, I developed a slight cough, which by Saturday morning was more severe. Sunday morning, the weather was cool and rainy. Perfect distance weather, around 50 degrees, a very light, misty rain, more hanging in the air than falling.

At around 4 miles, right in front of the George Eastman House (and International Museum of Photography) my cough began to get worse. My chest felt full and tight, and breathing became difficult. Naturally, I was forced to slow down, and it lasted until about 10 or 10.5. For the first time, I was forced to stop and walk in a race. Afterward, I felt terrible, and inside the lobby of the War Memorial Arena, I was waiting to see some of my friends and I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. After a short time, I decided to get home and try to warm up.

The next morning, I went in to work. I felt like crap and left around 9 am. Tuesday, I tried to get back in to work, and again left by 10 am. After leaving, I went to the doctor and found out that I had come down with pneumonia. Of course, I was out of work Wednesday, and I gave running a bit of a rest. Yesterday, after almost two weeks of not running, I went out for about 4.5 miles. Thursday of this week, I got out the bike and rode home from work.

I'm starting again to run, and I hope to be racing in the Phelps, N.Y. Sauerkraut 20K this summer.

Oh sht Oh sht Oh sht Oh sht Oh sh*t

2009-10-06T18:40:00.002-04:00

This morning, at around 5 am, I went out for a run. A quarter-mile into the run, I stepped on a rock. A round rock. I rolled my ankle over a little bit. The arch of my foot is now sore, so maybe I haven't re-injured my ankle. I will take it easy for a few days and see how it goes.

Almost Killed

2009-10-04T13:59:00.001-04:00

I almost got killed (or seriously injured) today. Crossing a side street, with the light, in the crosswalk, never suspecting that a driver wouldn't stop for a red light. He barely slowed down, intending to roll through the light, making a right on red, until I yelled at him to stop. Of course, no turn signal, so I had no idea that he was turning.

I've come to believe that the right on red after stop is the worst law that this state has passed in connection with driving/cars/traffic.

Most people skip the "after stop" part, and a majority don't seem to understand that they don't have the right-of-way over other cars, much less that they have to look for pedestrians, too.

I felt pretty good today, made a 3.5 in 7:50 pace the whole way. I will probably go out again around 4:30 or 5:00 for another 3.5 to 4.

2009-07-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

Since I got the OK from my doctor, I've been commuting on my bicycle. That is, in the morning, I ride the bus in and I ride my bike home.

There's no way I could ride the bike in, because I'd get too competitive. I'd arrive at work with sweat pouring off me (even though the commute is roughly three miles straight line), and I have no shower facilities at work. I think my co-workers* probably appreciate my not working up a sweat on the way in.

I think I'll be commuting with the bike as long as I can – that is, I'll probably stop when the snow forces me to, but as long as I have traction, I will be riding home.

Occasionally, I get irritated with the drivers while I'm riding – for instance, when I was riding along the right-hand edge of the road, as close to the curb as I could, at about 15 mph, when a car, traveling in the same direction as me, turned in front of me. As if that wasn't bad enough, the driver came to a complete stop partway through the turn, blocking me from going through the intersection, and looked straight out the window at me with a somewhat stunned look on her face. I had to come to a complete stop, because of the other cars in the road (actually a bridge). So, I'm almost going over my handlebars, and this driver is staring out the window of her car at me. And don't get me started about the guy texting and starting to roll forward through the intersection. I had to scream at him to stop, and he's lucky I did, because he'd have been T-boned if he'd kept rolling forward.

On the other hand, I see some pretty unusual stuff from my bike. The other day, I was stopped at an intersection, and next to me, a young woman rides up on a red Vespa, wearing a red helmet, red and white dress, and red high heels. My first thought was that I'd been transported to a movie about post-World War II Italy. After that, I thought "I've got to start bringing a camera with me."

scar

2009-07-15T21:59:00.001-04:00

scar
Originally uploaded by bigvalleystrider

Here's my scar from my surgery. There were no stiches at all.

Back on.

2009-07-12T19:53:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I posted anything at all here, even longer since I posted anything of substance.

Let's see, what's happened. December 16th of last year, I went in for surgery to repair the posterior tibial tendon in my right ankle. the surgery went well, and I spent about two weeks in a cast, taking Vicodin. We just found the log I kept of when and how much I took. After I got out of the cast, I was in a boot, and on crutches for a few weeks. Of course, the winter was snowy and icy, and I spent January and February slipping and sliding around, fighting the snowbanks and icy sidewalks.

I spent a few weeks in physical therapy, regaining strength and mobility in my ankle and foot. After that, the doctor gave me the OK to ride a bike. Since March, I've been taking the bus into work and riding home. About two weeks ago, I got the OK to start running again. I've been going about a mile at a time, once or twice a week. I still have to wear an ankle brace, but I won't be in that forever.

The last race I ran was the 2007 July 4th race that starts and finishes in front of my house. I finished in 20:39 (6:40 pace), wearing an ankle brace, and with an undiagnosed tendon tear. Not too shabby, I was 53rd overall and 6th in my age group. I'm hoping htat next year I will be racing that race again.

Bad News

2008-11-13T19:04:00.002-05:00

I got the bad news today. I've been hurting for almost two years now. Today I saw the orthopedic surgeon, and it appears that my right posterior tibial tendon is torn. I may need surgery on it, which would mean no weight-bearing for four to six weeks after the surgery. there would be PT for some time after that, and there would be no running for quite a while.

Taking it easy

2008-02-04T19:41:00.000-05:00

I'm back up to 3 to 4 miles at a time, now, after having injured just about everything I could injure below the waist. The weather hasn't been too bad, letting me get out as often as I want to.

In the last few days, I've started running in shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt, and had the temperature drop while I was out, enough for it to snow. You know you're in upstate New York when you've worn shorts and a parka within hours of each other.

I couldn't resist

2008-01-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I got out and ran today. I only went about a mile, since I am still recovering from my latest injury. I couldn't stop myself, though -- the temperature was about 62° -- In January! It's usually more like 5° around here this time of year. It was literally a record high temperature for the area. I took it easy through the mile and didn't push it at all. My tendon is feeling OK.

Year-end reflection

2007-12-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well, this year has been a complete suckfest, and I don't mean that in the good way. In February, I twisted my ankle over hard, and have been in an ankle brace ever since. At various points during the year, I have injured my gastrocnemius, my hamstrings, my quads, my back, and a groin muscle (this last one was the most tragic, coming as it did less than two weeks before my anniversary).

The most recent injury was to the tendon that comes out of the back of my knee into the gastrocnemius. The injury happened at work – I was stepping down off a step, and felt something snap just below the back of my knee. As it turns out, it was just a hyperextension of the tendon, and I'm off running for a couple of weeks.

Now, I'm just sitting around gaining weight while I wait to be able to start running again. I'm doing stretching and some heat treatment, while taking Tylenol. I can't take ibuprofen any more, due to the unfortunate effect it has on my stomach.

Sometime after the first of the year, I'm going to start running again. Meanwhile, I'll just reflect on the past year and try to think of ways to avoid injuries.

Maybe I'm ready

2007-08-30T05:44:00.000-04:00

Maybe I'm ready to start running again. Yesterday morning, I went out out the bus on my way to work (I live almost across the street from the first stop on the route, so the bus pulls in and waits a few minutes). I was about one bus-length behind the bus when the driver pulled away. Without really thinking about it, I took off after it. The next stop is about a quarter-mile away, and the driver has to go around an intersection of three roads -- a right turn, then a quick left. I was less than a hundred yards away from the stop when he went through. If he'd had a red light, I would have caught him. My back didn't give me any trouble all day after that.

Today, I'm going to get out to the bus a little earlier.

More ouch

2007-08-16T16:28:00.000-04:00

You never really realize how much your back does until it can't anymore.

It's been a few weeks without running, and I'm frustrated. I was doing well, probably on track to have one of the better (age-weighted) years of my career, despite an ankle sprain, when my back injury sidelined me completely. I've tried to gt out and run a couple of times, but shortly after starting, I realized that it wouldn't be a good idea. I missed my favorite races--the summer cross-country series at Cobb's Hill, my high school home course.

Winter will be my base-building season again. As soon as I can, I'm back on the road.

Ouch.

2007-07-18T06:02:00.000-04:00

Well, chalk another one up to old age. Over the weekend, I hurt my back. I was standing for several hours, and the muscles in my lower back did not like that. Now I am having a little bit of trouble with them. I'm taking it fairly easy rght now, since backs are easy to injure seriously, and I don't want that. This just isn';t my year, I guess.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

2007-07-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

Actually, how I came to have a several-month-long layoff from running.

It was over the winter, and there was just a little bit of snow falling. About an inch had already accumulated, and we were expecting a little more during the day. I had just finished my morning run and was about a quarter-mile from home. As I began my cooldown jog, I stepped on the edge of the sidewalk, with the outer half of my foot unsupported by the concrete. The ankle twisted over, hard, and I went down onto the ground. I jumped back up, quickly, to test the ankle, because it already hurt quite a bit, and this was the ankle I'd injured in College Cross-Country. It wasn't up to the task of supporting any weight at all--I had to hold on to a street sign in order to remain upright. A snowplow driver, working in the school parking lot across the street spotted me and drove over, to offer me a ride back home. I thanked him as he dropped me off and I hobbled up the driveway to my door. Later on, I wished (and I still do) that I'd done something for him, or at least offered him something--even a cup of coffee, but at the time, my ankle, in which the pain had ebbed from white-hot knives to only red-hot knives, was causing me so much difficulty, that all I could think about was getting into the house and getting some ice on it. Rest, Ice, Elevation, Ibuprofen. Well, when you work at a desk 8 to 5, 5 days a week the first three are difficult to maintain. When your wife works from 7:30 to 10:30 every night (we need her orthodontic insurance) it makes it difficult to maintain the regimen of rest, ice and elevation while you are making sure the kids are dong their homework and washing the dishes. If I had, say, a servant, who could do these things for me, I might have been back up and around in a few weeks. But as it was, I have had a great deal of difficulty healing.

On another note, I didn't run today. I got up at 4:40 and started to get dressed, and then I noticed that I was feeling a little bit lightheaded. I remembered going to see a movie with my wife the night before (date night!) and realized that we'd gotten home right around midnight. I was operating on 4 hours of sleep. Now, when I was in my 20s, I used to do that regularly, but now I'm an old man, and I hate everything but Matlock.

I couldn't get out for a run this afternoon, because Declan had a soccer game, and I had to get him to it. Only nine kids on his team made it for the beginning of the game, with a tenth showing up partway through the game. The other team had a full complement, with a couple of substitutions available. Declan's team (the Lancers) lost 2-1, but they put up a good fight. I did get in a little bit of running, as I had to be the linesman. So, maybe 4 or 5 hundred yards today, varying between a sprint and a lope.

(Obviously, I've fixed my margin problems)

Happy

2007-07-07T12:39:00.000-04:00

I've heard lots of people disparaging running (and exercise in general for that matter) saying that they've "never seen a runner who looked happy."

Here's one:

OK, not everybody is a winner of the World Cross-Country Championships, but we can all know the feeling of triumph at the end of a particularly good run. Here's a picture of me back in college at the end of a particularly good race:

I don't think I look particularly happy, but in the immortal words of David Byrne: "People in ecstasy look stupid."

Hot weather

2007-07-07T10:17:00.001-04:00

When I left on my run this morning, the temperature was about 68°. It was nice, not too much humidity, and the sun was shining. but not too intense.

By the time I finished, the sun was intense and the temperature was almost 75°. It took only 36 minutes for that to happen.

I'll have to get up earlier tomorrow and see if I can get out before the heat starts. Lots of people out today, including a contingent from the local high school cross-country team. About 5 or 6 of them were finishing up at the same time I was.

My ankle feels good today, no pain, even after the run. The swelling has gone down (although I've always had puffy feet).

I was almost killed out there. Well, maybe not almost killed, but there was a bit of a hazard. I was crossing an intersection, the light was green for me, and some guy turning right on red didn't bother looking right, or even coming to a complete stop, before going. I had to dodge his car and I yelled "Watch out!" at which point he slammed on the brakes and apologized.

A race

2007-07-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

I entered a race this morning. I couldn't help it--the start was 200m from my house, and the finish was across the street. I strapped on the ankle brace and lined up with the others.

I had a pretty good day -- I finished in 20:39 for a 5k, which is around 6:40 pace. I still think I can take off a minute or a minute and a half this year from that 5k time. I finished 53rd overall, out of what looked to be around 250 or 300 entrants, and I was the 6th in my age group. The 5th finished just about :30 ahead of me.

At about 2 miles, I had a college flashback. I was passed by a young man whose form was identical to my friend Andy's. He was also built like Andy, tall and thin. He edged me in the last 100 meters.

The ankle felt pretty good, no paid during the race and only a little bit before and after. I think I'm on the road to recovery.

I hate indoor workouts

2007-07-02T06:28:00.000-04:00

I'd rather be outside in subzero weather than doing what I did today. I spent 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer. My gym doesn't have any fans on the workout floor. When you're outside, you create a nice breeze blowing past you simply due to the fact that you're moving. In the gym, the air is dead calm. I was sweating like crazy --it was like the Robert Hays sweating scene in Airplane. The room is also pretty warm, probably warmer than it should be--I'd say around 70-72 degrees. It would be much more comfortable if the room was about 60-65°, with the exercise serving to warm up the execricers.

Cross Training

2007-06-25T06:31:00.000-04:00

To take it easy on my ankle, I'm using an elliptical these days, and only running about once or twice a week. Today I went in and stayed on the elliptical for about 40 minutes.

I work up an incredible sweat on those machines. I know that you sweat a lot more on the machines than you do when running, but I sweat a lot more than most people do anyway--I prefer cool temperatures, and the temp in the gym was around 75°.

I was dripping before I'd been on for 20 minutes.

Accounts of my demise are greatly exaggerated

2007-06-24T13:42:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in quite some time. Several months ago, I hurt my right ankle while running. I was unable to run at all for some time. After seeing my doctor, and a few visits to an orthopedic surgeon, and spending some time on the elliptical trainer, I'm back on the road. I do spend some time on the treadmill, and a certain amount of time on the elliptical, but much prefer getting out on the road--or on the abandoned railroad beds in the area. The Erie Canal Towpath is also a nice run, as long as the sun is up.

My racing season for this summer is probably shot, but I'm looking ahead to next year. Specifically, the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. My younger brother (he's 12 years younger than I am) lives in Charleston, and has challenged me to race him at the Cooper River run. Loser buys a case of beer for the winner, and if I win, the winner gets to brag that at 47 he beat a 35 year old in a race.

Busy, busy, busy

2006-11-28T05:11:00.000-05:00

The weather has been great, temps in the 40s at 5 am. I've been getting out early most mornings (later in the day on weekends) for a run, feeling pretty good while I'm out there. I'm in the long-term, base mileage phase right now, looking ahead to next summer/fall.

I've been pretty busy lately, a lot of work, lots going on at home. My wife is now working a split shift, which makes it easier for her to put in a full 8 hours, and gives her some time during the day to go to doctor's appointments, take care of her father etc. She works 9-2 and 7:30-10:30 now. She asked if she could work the split shift three days a week, but was told that it was every day, take it or leave it. So Friday nights are now shot.

My daughter's report card came home last week. Entirely Bs and As, with the comment "late work hinders performance." In other words, if she would hand in the homework on time, she would have better grades. Arrrgh. Just like her father.

My siblings and I will soon have to start "helping" my parents clean out their cellar. They've lived in the same house for 40 years, and have accumulated quite a bit of crap during that time. In the past, attempts to clean the cellar have been dismal failures which resulted only in moving the crap around. Now my mother's eyesight is failing, and she soon will be unable to drive. She wants to be able to walk to the grocery store and to Mass, both of which would be difficult, if not impossible, in their present location. In addition, at their present location, they have almost half an acre of grass which needs to be tended from April to October, and my father isn't getting any younger. A smaller lot and a smaller house would probably be best for them both. They're looking in their area and also in our neighborhood. There are some areas in our town where they would be able to walk to Mass and to the store. If they wanted to go to a Kosher grocery, there's one just around the corner from the church, about a quarter mile away.

Nice Morning

2006-11-16T06:13:00.000-05:00

It was beautiful this morning--about 55 degrees, although a little damp. I broke out the tights last week, and I was wearing them today, but I should have been in shorts, it was so nice. There's a group run at the local Fleet Feet next Friday (the 24th) at 7 am --they're calling it the Black Friday Fun Run. It's a day off from work for me, but 7 am on a day off may be difficult, and it will be my 24th wedding anniversary. I don't know what we'll be doing that night.

Whoops, gotta go. I have to catch my bus before too long. Maybe I'll be able to get some computer time later.

been gone

2006-11-14T05:56:00.000-05:00

I've been away quite a while—it's been almost a month since I last signed on. Between my wife's recovery, a nagging Achilles Tendon injury and several other things that have been happening over the last month, my running has tapered off, but not stopped completely. Now comes the long winter training season. This (November-December) is actually the toughest part of the year for me. The sun comes up after I get to work, the sun goes down before I get home. The darkness combined with the almost constant overcast makes me tired all the time. I'm considering running in a new year's day race this year (or next year) I've never done that, and it would be a good way to start the year.

I saw my doctor recently. My migraine came back three times over the summer, when I usually get one every 18 months or two years. I thought that with the sudden increase in the frequency, it might be a good thing to see a doctor about it. There's nothing unusual, probably just stress. On the other hand, I did test high for cholesterol. Just a little bit high in the LDL.

Whenever my kids have schoolwork troubles—problems doing their homework or whatever, I call my parents and apologize for what I did to them. Over the summer, when I was putting in 30 miles in a bad week, I've got high blood cholesterol. It must be hereditary. I think maybe somebody owes me an apology now.

A little bit better

2006-10-18T06:56:00.000-04:00

A nicer morning today, temp in the high 50s and the rain stopped before I got up. It's very dark out now, a result of my not running in the city any more, I guess. I haven't been using my light, but I have been using a reflective vest--according to the manufacturer, it reflects 150x the light that a road sign does.

I passed a small herd of deer this morning while I was running past Temple B'rith Kodesh. The other day, I literally almost ran into a deer, probably from the same herd. The road I was on has a hedge that comes down to about 5 feet from the curb. I ran up onto the sidewalk to make the turn onto the busier road, and the deer was at the edge of the sidewalk, browsing on the hedge. It was dark enough that I didn't see the deer until I was about 4 feet away. It heard me coming at about the same time and leapt off into the yard, startling the other 4 deer in the yard.

Today, the deer just watched me from about 30 feet away, turning their heads slowly to follow me as I went past, and returning to their feeding as soon as I was gone.

Starting to get cold

2006-10-17T10:41:00.000-04:00

Cold and rainy today.

The surgery went well, my wife is home and recovering. I spent the weekend doing whatever she needed me to do, but I did get out for a few miles on Sunday. Today I'm home--it's a little slow at work these days, and she has an appointment to take out the surgical drain today, so I took the day off. I got out for a few again today, and it's around 45° and rainy. It's actually pretty nice running at 10:30 am; there's almost no traffic and very few pedestrians, including other runners, out there.

I'm now heading into my winter training phase--putting in the distance and preparing for the spring.

Rainy morning

2006-10-11T06:04:00.000-04:00

I was out at the usual hour this morning, a little bit before 5am, running a long loop. When I got to 3 miles, a point which was a minimum of 2 miles from home, the lightning started. Since my run was in flat, open former farmland, with almost no shelter (I guess could have hid under a bridge), I decided to head for home immediately, giving me a total run this morning of 5 miles. I'm thinking I'll get out again later today. Oh, we may get snow tonight or tomorrow. That'll be fun.

Early morning

2006-10-09T06:01:00.000-04:00

It took me a few minutes to get going this morning--I had trouble finding a key and my light's batteries chose this morning to give out. I hadn't realized that they were so low. I got out on Friday with the local group at Fleet Feet for the 5.3 mile Happy Hour run--an easy, relaxing run at a "conversational" pace to end the week. I live about five minutes (running) from the store, so I have a warmup and cooldown built into the day.

I'll have to miss the run this Friday, because my wife is going in for gallbladder surgery this Friday. I'll be spending the day with her and with the kids, I think.

I'm back

2006-10-04T05:48:00.000-04:00

I decided to run from home again, even though I have about a month left on my gym membership. It's actually more difficult to get out and run from the gym, when you factor in commute time (I ride the bus). The bus leaves at 5:45 am (I get up between 4:45 and 5:00 for my morning runs), it takes about 15 minutes to get downtown--I've already lost an hour before I even get to the gym.

It was dark this morning at 4:55 when I stepped out the door. Dark enough that I had my strobe light for the first time since winter. That was one advantage at the gym--the routes I ran were well-lit and I could see well even at 6am. The temperature was pleasant this morning, around 50°F. I passed about 10 people out running, mostly in pairs except one person who was running with a dog.

I almost recycled the Megazord.

2006-09-28T18:45:00.000-04:00

How many people can say that?

My daughter is doing a skit for homecoming tonight (in about an hour--good thing we live across the street) and it somehow involves the Power Rangers. Apparently the Power Rangers have something called the Megazord, which my daughter and her classmates constructed out of cardboard boxes. Well, today was garbage day, and it was dark outside when I took the garbage and recycling out to the curb this morning. The Megazord just looked like cardboard boxes to me. When my wife spotted it out at the curb, she told my daughter. That must have been the fastest anyone has ever woken up a teenager.

I've been running on and off, a little stiffness in the lower legs making me sit out a day here and there.

We're still up for the race on October 14th.

With a group

2006-09-14T20:01:00.000-04:00

I've started running with a group on Friday evenings. Everyone gathers at a running store after work and stes off for a nice, easy, 4± miles at a relaxed pace. I understand that the crowd was a bit small last week because of an upcoming race. I live about 5 minutes (jogging) from the store, so I can take the bus home, change and get over there in plenty of time.

It's been a long time since I ran with a group, and I'd forgotten what it's like. It's a nice group of people, I enjoyed the run and I'm planning on going back tomorrow.

My next race will be a benefit for a Hospice, and Oed will be running in the kids' race. We're planning on getting matching shirts to run in for the race.

Oak Tree Half

2006-09-04T18:47:00.000-04:00

First off, I have to give credit where it's due. Electra, my teenage daughter, took the pictures of the cross-country race below.

Sunday morning, I ran in the Oak Tree Half Marathon in Geneseo. I started the race running with my friend Andy, figuring that I've been running even with him for a while. When I saw that he ran the first 3 miles in just over 22 minutes, I decided that he was in better condition than I was and dropped off the pace a bit. I ran the rest of the race I took it much easier. I finished 91st, out of 188 finishers, so I was at just about the halfway mark in the race, and Andy finished about 6 minutes ahead of me.

The turkey vultures circling over the halfway point were kind of unnerving, though. I wonder how the race directors managed that.

I took today off, still kind of sore, and went to a baseball game with Oed. The Red Wings lost the game, but it was still a good time.

Cross-Country Race

2006-08-25T05:46:00.000-04:00

The last cross-country race of the season was last night. I declined to run in the Tour de Pain, because I just wasn't ready for it. I do plan on running next year, though.

Oed ran in the kids' race with me this time. He almost backed out at the last minute, but between his mom and me, we managed to talk him into coming.

We warmed up together before the race.

Here's a picture of him with about 200 meters to go in the kids' race:

He was very happy to have run in the race, and his ribbon is going into the box with my race ribbons. I still have the first ribbon I ever got in a race--it's just a finisher's ribbon, from a high school invitational meet in central New York, and it says "Proven Harrier" on it. Nothing about my place or time. The ribbons and medals for the faster runners were of a higher quality, and gave the finish place on the front. I've has that ribbon for 32 years. I won a lot of ribbons over the years, and a few medals and trophies as well, but I think that one is the most important. It gave me the taste for racing.

My race didn't go as well as I would have liked. My time was a bit slower than all three previous outings in the series. I think that was because I did not get a chance to have anything to eat after lunch yesterday, so I was running the race on a mostly empty stomach. For the previous races, I got a chance to have an afternoon snack.

The hill really took it out of me.

The mile point is just a few yards from the bottom of the hill, and the race goes all the way to the top, so after a nice, fairly flat, fast course of about nine tenths of a mile, you start up this hill. But hey, at least nobody moved the course markers this time!

Posting rarely

2006-08-21T23:36:00.000-04:00

I hardly ever get to post anymore--I go to the gym in the morning before work, and so I can't post in the morning, but I have to compete for computer time with three other people in the afternoon, so it's difficult to post then, too.

I ran in the third cross-country race of the series on Thursday. I ran a 23:10, but I think I was actually faster than that. Smeone had moved some of the markers on the trail, and a large number of us--most of us, I think--took a detour in the woods. I ran into my friend Andy at the race (not literally), and he's talked me into running the Oak Tree Half Marathon down in Geneseo, with beer afterwards. It happens the Sunday before Labor Day (the Monday following the first Sunday in September). We both went to college in Geneseo, so we'll be revisiting old haunts.

Back on the road

2006-08-15T17:54:00.000-04:00

My ankle is feeling better now, so I'm back on the road. The third cross-country race of the series is this Thursday, so I can't slack off now. I'm expecting to do better this week--hopefully I won't be falling this time!

MC Lars put on a great show, and I wasn't the oldest person there! At least, I wasn't the oldest-looking person there (when I'm clean-shaven, I'm told that I look younger than I am).

Boy, Kevin Beck really hates Florida.

Off today

2006-08-11T06:16:00.000-04:00

I won't be running today. I ran in the second cross-country race of the series last night. Around two miles, I stepped on a root and went down. Nothing serious, but I twisted my ankle before I went down, and I don't want to run on it today. It's not swollen, but it is a bit sore.

I finished the race (5033 meters) in 23:10 -- just 9 seconds slower than last week. When you figure that last week I didn't fall, I'd say that I should have been a few seconds faster than last week.

I was still tasting dirt after I got home last night. It's been a long time since I last fell during a race--probably 1981 or so.

This weekend I'll be taking Electra and a few of her friends to an MC Lars show.

2006-08-07T20:10:00.000-04:00

I ran in a race on Thursday--it was part of the Genesee Valley Harriers Thursday Night Cross Country series. The races, four in all, are approximately 5033 meters, cross-country style, at Cobb's Hill. The races have one large hill and one smaller one, about a mile of trails, and only a very short stretch of roads.

I ran a 23:01 in the race, which is pretty good. I was also the 4th masters finisher at the race.

The "Tour de Pain had to be moved, due to construction at my former high school. Instead, the track events will be held at the high school across the street from me. The cross-country portion of the event will be held at Cobb's Hill. I'm planning to run in all of the cross-country races, and possibly in the tour de pain as well.

It's been a long time

2006-08-02T07:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't been able to post for a while, for several reasons, one of which is that I don't have the necessary permits for the explosives it would require to remove my 15-year old daughter from the computer.

I have been running most of the summer, though. The weather is making it difficult right now--when the low temperature is 76°, and the high is in the upper 90s, it's difficult to get out and do a workout. I've been running at 5 am, which is just before dawn, so the day is coolest. The weather is supposed to break soon, and temps should be back down into the 80s, with lows down into the 60s.

I started at a gym today. I bid on a 3-month membership at a downtown gym at a benefit dinner/auction, and ended up winning, so I signed up on the 31st of July, and started working out today.

2006-06-18T08:54:00.000-04:00

OK, so windows is being annoying, and not accepting any ascii characters. If I try to use an ascii character, I am sent to a previous page.

It was 80 degrees outside today, at 8 am when I started running. It looks like it will be very hot today, since it was 82 by the time I got back. Running in the heat will (hopefully) make me more acclimated ot the heat, so I can run in the cross-country series in August. Several 5k races at Cobb's Hill Park, culminating in the Tour de Pain; a 5k cross-country race, followed an hour later by a 400 meter run on the track, followed an hour later by a mile race on the track. It all sounds very painful, and a lot of fun.

Almost didn't make it

2006-06-13T05:59:00.000-04:00

I dragged myself out of bed this morning and almost got right back in. I'm glad I didn't, though--it was one of my better mornings. Once I got warmed up, I felt pretty good, running lightly and easily--one of those mornings where you can feel why you like to run.

The next race I'm looking at is a 4th of July race, a 5 miler in the town where I grew up. I've actually been running this race since 1977. Not every year, but I've seen several courses for this race.

The race starts and finishes around the same place as the race back in April. This one, however, runs in a different direction, and is quite a bit hillier. The race is followed by an independence day parade and picnic in the park.

Last year's winner was also the winner of the July 4th race held in the town where I now live. On the same day. He won a 10k in Brighton, jumped in his car, rushed out to Fairport, and won the 5 miler.

Trail run

2006-06-10T15:03:00.000-04:00

I ran in my second Trail Race today--my first one was last year at this same race. There were two races, the short course (4.5 miles) and the long (9 miles). Since I didn't really feel ready for a 9 mile race, I decided to go for the short course. I was the first masters finisher in the short course, in 40:25. It's a pretty brutal course, with steep climbs and even steeper descents.

I haven't been able to update at all this week because of work. We're swamped, to the point where we can finally afford to hire another person for my department. She starts soon, but not soon enough. I'll be going in to the office tomorrow morning, early, to get some of our backlog cleared. Once we hire the new person, I'll be able to work on that stuff more, and won't be tied down with the kind of sork I've been doing.

I made an error regarding today's race--I gave blood yesterday. I'm not sure whether the mistake was giving blood the day before a race or racing the day after giving blood.

Hills.

2006-06-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

I ran up to Cobb's Hill today and ran some hills. A city reservoir is on top of the hill, and it's surrounded by a park. There's a road that runs up to the top, around the reservoir, then back down. I went up the side of the hill, a long, steep grass slope, then up and down on the road a few times.

It felt pretty good--I haven't run there in a long time. It was our league course when I was in high school, although I didn't run the section in the woods today.

I missed the Beth El 5k today. I just needed the sleep too much. The race started at around 8 this morning, and I just couldn't get myself up that early today.

(I had to delete and repost this due to a comment spammer)

Better

2006-06-02T06:02:00.000-04:00

Temps have gone back down--it was only 64° outside this morning. I got in a nice 5 miles at a nice relaxes pace on my "church run".
The sun is up before 5:30 am now, so I can see where I'm going most of the way.

I'm thinking about running in the Temple Beth El 5k this weekend. It starts and finishes near my house. I'll have to see how I feel. I believe it's on Sunday, not Saturday.

Hot.

2006-05-31T09:12:00.000-04:00

It's hot. We're not supposed to get this kind of weather in Rochester in May. We should have at least another month before we get this stuff.

It was 78° when I finished my run at 5:30 this morning. It was 80° when I went to bed last night. The humidity is hovering above 90%, meaning that you feel more dry when you step into the shower.

I skipped Tuesday, not because of the heat on Tuesday morning, but because of the heat Monday night. It was still in the mid-80s at 11:30, and I got almost no sleep. In the morning, I just rolled over and tried to squeeze out just a little bit more sleep.

It had rained shortly before I stepped out this morning, so it was still kind of steamy out. Very humid and uncomfortable, but still better than waiting until after the sun was up.

Canal

2006-05-28T16:53:00.000-04:00

I got out along the Erie Canal towpath today and yesterday. Oed came with me on his bike, which meant that the runs alternated between fast and slow (and stop). He also talked the whole way, forcing me to control my breathing while I answered or responded to him. I timed the runs, but I don't think the times really had anything to do with the effort.

We got out for a quick three miles yesterday, followed by five today. I'm going to get him out with me again tomorrow, maybe for another five.

Quick report

2006-05-23T05:52:00.000-04:00

It's been several days since I've been on the computer, and I can't remember everything about the race, so the race report is a short one.

I woke up Sunday, and the weather was cool, about 45° and misty. Electra and I went out to breakfast (french toast, my pre-race breakfast since 1978), and could see a storm moving in. Low, black clouds moving in. By the time we got back home (I only live about 2-2.5 miles from the start line, and only half a mile from the two-mile point) the rain was coming down hard. I changed out of my singlet and put on a long sleeved top, figuring that, since it was cold and raining hard, I would need to stay warm. At the start of the race, while I was getting into the starting area, the sun came out. It felt like the temperature went up 10°, although I know that it probably didn't actually go up at all. So, I ran the race in a heavy, long sleeved top, and regretted it.

the first mile was, as usual, too fast. Under 6 for the first mile, but that was mainly because I wa trying to get out of the crowd. A thousand people crowded into a two-lane road makes it difficult to get moving, so you move when and where you can. I don't remember muco more of the first two miles of the race, except Sandy and Oed cheering for me at the two-mile point, yelling "Go, you fat old man!"

Just like last year, I fell apart after the four-mile point. There's a long upgrade starting somewhere after the 4.5 mile point and running almost to the five mile point. At the end of the steepest section (the first thirty yards), someone was yelling "You're almost at the top" when we actually had another 700 or so yards to go uphill. My sudden decline at 4-5 miles was not quite as bad as that of aonther man I passed at that point. He stopped to vomit at the side of the road. He then started running again, and almost immediately started to vomit again. I didn't see what happened to him.

My finish was pretty good. 44:39, for 24th in my age group, and 149th overall. Top 15% of the finishers. That's pretty good, especially considering that my "long" training runs these days have been 7 miles, with the majority being 4 miles. It is time, however, for an increase in mileage, starting with this week. As soon as I plot out a few new routes.

I ran my 4 mile route backwards today, and it was like running a new route. It was cool, about 44°, but with almost no wind and no rain. A good morning run.

busy week

2006-05-19T06:28:00.000-04:00

Man, what a week. Tuesday night, Sandy wasn't feeling well, and didn't get much sleep. I went in to work late so I could get the kids off to school and she could get a little more sleep. Oed had been sick, but was healthy enough to go to school, so I got him off without too much trouble. He's on an antibiotic, which tastes absolutely horrible, so it's a lot of work just to get him to take it, but he was actually pretty good about it.

Electra, on the other hand, had fallen in gym class and hurt her left wrist. They were playing a game called "powerball" which is apparently somewhat like team handball. She says it's not, but I don't really see the difference from her explanation of the rules. Anyway, her wrist was really bothering her, so Sandy took her in for x-rays on Wednesday morning. It may be a hairline fracture, but nothing showed up on the x-ray. She (and 5 other kids) are out of gym for a couple of weeks now. I guess powerball is different from handball in the number of injuries sustained.

Yesterday, Sandy was again feeling pretty bad, so I left work early and came home to get supper and make sure she was OK.

My running this week has been a little bit hit-and-miss, with my bizarre schedule. I got out this morning, but I missed yesterday entirely. Lilac 10K coming up on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.

There's a review of "The Davinci Code" in the local paper today. I haven't read the book and probably won't see the movie, but the picture they chose of Alfred Molina as a Cardinal looks an awful lot like Terry Jones when he was dressed as a cardinal

Second place

2006-05-16T05:53:00.000-04:00

That's second place overall, in the team event. There were only three teams, so it's not that big an accomplishment, and the team that beat us consisted of a 12-year old and a 15-year old. My partner, Kevin, said (quite seriously) that the race would come down to how much he held me back. He hasn't been on a bike in at least 5 years (and I think it may be more like 10), so he's certainly not in top shape. As it turned out, he was right about holding our time back. I finished the first 2.5 miles in 15:58, approximately 90 seconds ahead of the next runner, and 6:23 pace. Kevin's cycling leg was 47:10, approximately 4 minutes behind the eventual winning team's cycling, which gave them time to catch up. My second running leg was in 17:48; a 7:07 pace for that second running leg. That put me thirty seconds behind the 12-year old who won the race.

The third place team had a pretty good cyclist--36 minutes for his cycling leg--and someone who was apparently running her first race. Their cyclist was the first of the relay team cyclists to finish, even though his partner was about 4 minutes behind us.

The course was a killer--at least the running course was. There were two pretty good sized hills, and one small hill, all in the span of 2.5 miles. The final hill was a little shy of a half mile long, and it came at the end of both of the running legs, with the transition area/finish line at the top. The cycling course was a flat out-and-back, and the riders had the wind at their backs for the second half of the leg.

Our overall time for 5 miles of running and 20K cycling was 1:21:32.

Nice and Easy

2006-05-12T06:16:00.000-04:00

I took it easy this morning, gouin out for a nice, easy 5K. I'm racing tomorrow, in a race in Lewiston, NY. It's actually a duathlon--something called the BeBop Du. I'm not riding in this race, I've got a partner that my wife calls my "twin brother separated at birth" doing the cycling. It's a 2.5 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.5 mile run. I do hope the weather stays nice. It was 55° at 5:00 this morning. Just beautiful out.

The village of Lewiston overlooks the Niagara Gorge--from the 2 mile point, I may be able to look over into Canada.

Lewiston is far enough away from here that we'll have to get out on the road pretty early tomorrow. It's almost a 2 hour drive and registration closes at 8:45. We're making final plans today. I'm hoping ot maintain a 7:30-8:00 pace through both legs of the race. I'm not going to say that I won't race, because I'm pretty miserable at not racing in a race.

Tough weekend

2006-05-09T07:33:00.000-04:00

The weekend was pretty bad. Thursday morning, we lost a server at work. We swapped in a replacement, and it quickly died on us. We were left without a network, only working on documents saved locally, but unable to print. Some of our files were completely inaccessible, and some of our orders required those files. In an industry that relies on printed documents, some of which are required to have original signatures, losing the printer was catastrophic. We finally got a new server in on Friday afternoon, but by then we had lost an incredible amount of time and we were behind on everything.

The good news is, on Friday night, my wife decided to quit, and first thing Saturday, she did. She got a new job offer Monday afternoon, and she'll be starting on June 5th. Normal hours, hourly pay (instead of pay based on production) and benefits.

Saturday morning, before I came in to work to try to repair some of the damage done Thursday, I was out running a seven-miler, when my right calf muscle tightened up to the point where it was painful to run at all. I've been treating it with ice and Vitamin I, and it's feeling better now. I haven't run since Saturday, but I'm going to try a nice, easy mile tonight, with Oed.

Every other day?

2006-05-03T08:17:00.000-04:00

Is that how often I'll be able to post? Oh, well. I got out yestearday morning and today, both days it was a little bit cool out. Yesterday I went out in a t-shirt and shorts, today I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was a little bit warmer.

Both times, I managed to maintain just about 8:00 pace. I've got a pretty good idea where the mile marks are--on this run, they very conveniently fall near streetlights so I don't have to go past the mile mark to the nearest light and try to guesstimate how long it's been since I passed the mile point.

I've gotten spoiled already. A month ago, I thought of 44° as warm, and would run in t-shirt and shorts. Now, with daytime temps reaching into the 70s, 44° feels chilly, and I need the long sleeves.

A late day

2006-05-01T19:22:00.000-04:00

I got out late today--I overslept this morning and didn't have time to run. I got out for an easy run after I got home from work, and Oed came with me on his bike while I did a cooldown afterwards.

Things are calming down a bit at work--we're still busy, but a couple of us have come in on weekends and we've eliminated a good portion of the backlog. On Sunday, Electra came in with me and she did some filing for me while I got some work out. I'm paying her about $25 for the work--it's a win-win situation. I get the work out of the way, she gets somw money and learns a little bit about tedious, boring work (very little is more boring than filing).

Today's run

2006-04-29T19:28:00.000-04:00

I got out for a nice, easy 4 miles today, temp in the 60s (yeah!) and sunny (YEAH!). It felt pretty good, and my pace was pretty even the whole way. I'm feeling good, and I will be registering (online) for the Lilac 10k soon. The stiffness in my legs is just about gone now and I think as long as I keep at it, it won't come back.

D'oh!

2006-04-29T08:05:00.000-04:00

I got up yesterday morning and it was 30° outside. I said to myself "Self, you can either run now, or wait until after work when it will bo almost 60°." I chose after work.

While I waas on the bus, I suddenly remembered that Electra was participating in a dramatic reading of The Crucible, which started at 7. Needless to say, I didn't get out yesterday at all. I'll be getting out this afternoon while Sandy is working.

2006-04-27T06:05:00.000-04:00

My high school Cross-country and Track Coach is retiring. Mr. Bradley was a great coach and a great teacher, and I was lucky to have him.

I got out at 5 this morning--no snooze button today. It was beautiful out--about 50° and calm. The rain appears to have gone, at least until the weekend.

Life is crazy right now. Work is nuts. We're having the kind of volume we're supposed to get during our busy season (June to September), higher than last year's volume, and with the same staff.

At home, things are crazy. Sandy started a new job, still working at home, but with set hours of 3pm-11pm, Tuesday through Saturday. We have no weekend. Tuesday through Saturday, I get home, make dinner, clean up after dinner, make sure the kids get their homework done, and get them into bed. I have always had great respect for single parents, but now I have more.

If I didn't run, I think I'd lose my mind.

Dang it.

2006-04-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

I hit the snooze button this morning, or I thought I did. 45 minutes later, I rolled over, looked at the clock and realized that I was not going to get in my scheduled run this morning. I'm rearranging my plans now for the rest of the week. I'm looking at my plan for the next two weeks to be sure that I don't have to do any rearranging after this week.

An early day

2006-04-25T21:24:00.000-04:00

I just got on the computer for the first time today. Things are so busy at work that I can't slow down. We're short several people at work, and I'm not slowing down until I get home. Even then, I've had an hour or two of work to take care of (in between blog posts).

I got out for a short, easy run this morning at 5. It was warmer than I expected. There I was, tights and long sleeves, and it was almost 50° out. Of course, it's now 39° and damp, so I'm really not sure what the weather will be like in the morning. I should probably wait to dress until I know what the temp is outside.

2006-04-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

On the weekends, I'm frequently prevented from getting any access to the computer at all. My daughter frequently is doing homework (yesterday she spent the day researching for a debate her social studies class was having--"Should the US launch a preemptive strike on North Korea?" she took the "no" position.) and when she's not on the computer, my wife or my son is. Tonight, however, I'm supposed to be working, so I have unfettered access to the computer, and everyone has to leave me alone.

It got cold again! It's not really all that cold, only around 41°, but it's raining, and that makes it feel colder out. I got out for a late run again yesterday--it was around 4:30 by the time I got out of the house--but I'm back on schedule this morning, bright and early at 4:45! Well, early anyway. I'm not so sure about bright.

A friend of mine is a race director for a small race organized through his church to benefit The Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation. It's an Episcopal Church, and the race is part of a series. The other races in the series are the Temple Beth El 5k and the Father Murphy 5k. The race comes up in August, with the Father Murphy 5k the following weekend, so I have time to prepare for those two races, but the Beth El 5k (which is in my neighborhood) is coming up on June 4th, so I'd better get ready.

another late day

2006-04-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

I wanted to get up early and run this morning, but Electra wanted to go to an Anime convention in town. She and a friend had pland to go at 8am. When she told me that, I just laughed. The friend called at about 7:45 to ask if they could wait until 10 to go. When I got back, sandy wanted to drive over to her father's house. She got back around 4, and I had to go pick up Electra.

Long story short, I got out around 4:30-5:00 to get in a run. It felt pretty good today, relaxed and easy. Long, easy run tomorrow.

Late run

2006-04-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

I got out late today. I was going to join in with a local group that runs 4 miles from a running store fridays at 6:00, but was delayed getting home from work. It seems that a local parking garage collapsed.

Apparently no-one was hurt. No cars on the ramp when it collapsed, which is a minor miracle, since it happened at 5:00 pm. I guess being in a shrinking city has its advantages. Streets were closed, traffic was tied up for a little while.
I got out for a few miles anyway after I got home.

Easy morning

2006-04-20T07:35:00.000-04:00

I took a nice, easy run this morning. I didn't get out yesterday, taking a day off is something that's too easy to do. I'm looking up the group that runs from the local Fleet Feet store--the store is about a mile away from my house, so I could get over there whenever I wanted to join in. It's always easier to run with a group, and I think it would help me stay on track if I could get some people to run with.

No races this week, taking it easy. We got our fourth for the Corporate Challenge in June. There's a big picnic after the race, so it looks like fun, assuming the weather cooperates. Apparently, the race finishes near a bowl-shaped depression, and the first time the race was held at the site, it was a rainy week. Instead of a bowl, it was a pond.

8:22 am--I just found out about this: Mark, the running blogfather is challenging running bloggers to make donations to their favorite charities. If 100 bloggers make donations to their favorite charities, Mark will wear a running skirt in the Great Human Race in Edmonton, Alberta. If he's impressed with the number of donations or the cash value, he'l race in the matching bra. I just have to decide which charity to donate to.

A little cool

2006-04-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

It's gotten a little bit cool in the early mornings over the past couple of days. Temps have been in the low 40s--shorts and a long-sleeve T-shirt weather--at 5am, but warming up during the day. I've had to re-route a few of my running routes, because there's road construction on one of the major roads in the immediate area. In the early morning darkness, I don't want to run through an unlit construction area, so I'm running down residential streets, which wind and turn a bit, making it a little bit harder to figure distance.

Almost nobody was on the street today--pedestrians or cars. I breezed through Twelve Corners without having to slow down. I am looking forward to the warm weather--temps in he 60s at 5am would be nice to have.

Rest day

2006-04-17T07:33:00.000-04:00

I was so exhausted this weekend that I decided to take today off. At my age, the rests are as important as the workouts. With the kids off from school, there's less rushing around inthe morning. I decided to take the day off and sleep in a little bit. In addition, my right calf muscle has been feeling a little bit tight. One week ago, it was my left calf that suddenly tightened up about a mile and a half into a run, and now the right one is threatening to do the same. So, a day off won't hurt anything. I'm not one of those people who record streaks of days running in a row.

I'm looking ahead to the Lilac 10K which comes up near the end of May, during Rochester's Lilac Festival. I'm hoping that the nice weather we've had means that the Festival will have nice weather this year. Electra usually goes with me to the races, and I'm sure that she will again this year. Oed and Sandy will probably wait at Twelve Corners for me to go by--it's about a quarter mile from the house and is corner on the course. Last year, we lived close enough to walk to the start line, but this year it'll be a short drive.

In May, I'm also running in a duathlon with a partner. I'll be running 2.5 miles, he'll be riding his bike 12 miles, then I run the 2.5 back. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. The last half-mile or so of the cycling course appears to be an uphill. At least I don't have to run that.

My boss also approached me about me running in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. That's 7:00 pm on the evening of June 1st, and is a 3.5 mile race/run. There's traditionally a big party/picnic on the evening of the race, and apparently we'll have a tent set up and have a big party after the race is over. Sandy will be working that night, so I'll probably bring the kids. There'll probably be a few other kids there as well.

I'm the only one at the company really training right now, so I'll be the only one really racing. We have three men so far committed to run, and the race requires either:

1. a four-man team;
2. a four-woman team; OR
3. a two-man, two-woman team.

So, we need either another man or two women. Or both would be acceptable.

Easter

2006-04-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

I got out this morning (just barely this morning--so much for getting out early) for a nice easy run. It's a little cool today, but may warm up later.

Over the past few weeks, I've been realizing the extent to which religions can co-exist in this town. Within very easy running distance are a Unitarian church, 3 Synagogues, 3 Roman Catholic churches (and my old high school, which contains a chapel), an Episcopal church, an Assembly of God church, a LDS church, 2 Presbyterian churches and the Islamic Center of Rochester. In addition, there's an Orthodox Catholic Church, another Presbyterian church, another Roman Catholic church, a Methodist church, a Baptist church, another Episcopal church and a couple of Buddhist centers a little farther out. There's no public conflict or denunciation or (open) intolerance based on religion, at least in the immediate area around here. After observing some intolerance in the past, I'm glad to be living in this small, tolerant place.

Did it again

2006-04-15T17:57:00.000-04:00

Once again, I missed a day posting. It's been pretty busy around here--my father-in-law is home from the hospital, and my wife is spending half her time at his house, and the other half here.

I accidentally ran about a mile farther than I had intended to yesterday. I said to my wife that runners can go a mile too far by accident, but most others can't.

Today I took it easy and ran late in the day. Got my taxes out this morning, and then went to the high school parking lot with Oed for a little bike riding.

I'm planning on getting out a little early tomorrow, but the best laid plans...

skipped a day

2006-04-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Not that I spent a day skipping, but I never got a chance to post yesterday. I did get out for a run yesterday, mainly because I had the day off. It was a beautiful day, but I had to spend most of it tied to a chair.

I spent the morning having my taxes done. Since the return has to be postmarked by the 17th (the 15th is a holiday in Massachusetts, where my return would be mailed), obviously I waited until the last minute for this. Why? My wife spent the year last year self-employed, and I was pretty sure we had underestimated her "estimated tax" payments. I was right. I've changed my withholding for this year, but we're paying a pretty fair amount to the Feds and the State of New York.

I spent most of the afternoon in the house. My father-in-law had a heart attack (his 4th) last week, and was expected to go home yesterday. I spent the afternoon waiting for the kids to get home and a couple of hours in the backyard with Oed before getting inside to make dinner.

This morning, I was back on track at 5am. Beautiful weather, it was 53° when I left the house. I felt good, but took it easy on the pace, keeping it around 8:00. Very few runners out at that hour, they are mostly out around 7am.

Better

2006-04-11T07:52:00.000-04:00

Better this morning. I took it easy, didn't try to push the pace at all. I didn't want another leg cramp. I didn't have any cramps or pain, and finished nice and easy.

It was beautiful this morning, at 5am the temp was into the mid-40s, with no wind at all. I got out in shorts again. I'm looking into health club memberships-I want to start doing some weight training again. I haven't had a membership in one since I left Atlanta. The Jewish Community Center is pretty close to my house (you don't have to be Jewish to be a member), and has some pretty good facilities, so I may look into a family membership there. The downtown Y is also a choice, since it's on my bus route into work. It's kind of expensive for a YMCA, though, so I'll have to see what I can get.

Ouch.

2006-04-10T06:15:00.000-04:00

This morning, between 1.5 and 2 miles, my left calf muscle tightened up. All at once, and not a gradual thing, partway up a long gradual uphill, it just didn't want to go any farther. I had to stop and stretch, and then walk for a bit, and it loosened up enough to start jogging again. I finished 3 miles at a slow jog, and I don't even want to know how long it took me to get back.

Nice relaxed morning

2006-04-09T14:44:00.000-04:00

The weather has warmed up again--temps in the high 40s. I got back out for a nice, easy 4 miles in shorts! I did have to wear a long-sleeved shirt, but wearing shorts was great. I imagine that the 5am runs will still require the running tights, but I'm hoping that the warming trend keeps up for the next few months.

I'll be taking Oed over the the soccer fields today to kick the ball around for a while, then he'll probably be riding his bike for a while. We have to go to a parking lot for him to ride, since we live on a main arterial road, but he enjoyus riding around a lot.

Cold Race Day

2006-04-08T10:59:00.000-04:00

Race day was cold. Around 30°, and not a dry kind of cold, but that high humidity, dank coldness that goes through to the bone. I had considered running in shorts today, but changed my mind when I got to the race.

the race was a 5k, with the first 1.25 miles on a road, and the rest of the race on the Erie Canal towpath. Nice and flat, fast, mostly gravel with some asphalt.

I went out too fast. My first mile was in 6:00. I had been planning to run this race as a training run--finish in about 24:00, keep the pace nice and steady. Electra, who went with me to the race, told me I wouldn't be able to do it, that I would get too competitive (she's seen me race before), and she was right. My friend Andy passed me at the mile point. Last year at this same race, I beat him by about 5 seconds. This year, I didn't catch him after he passed me.

I'm not sure what my second mile was in, because mile 2 was not marked. There was a water stop on the canal towpath, but I think it was closer to 2.5k than to 2 miles. They weren't giving out too many bottles of water today. I think maybe a coffee stop might have been better.

I finished the race in 21:32, too fast. Not many people say that about their races, but I really wanted to run this as a training run, and not as a race. My average pace was under 7:00, but removing that first mile, it works out to around 8:00/mile, so it appears that the shock of seeing a 6:00 mile settled me down into the pace I wanted to run for today.

Andy finished about 45 seconds ahead of me, and there were four people in our (45-49) age group that finished in the age group. I'm not sure what my place in the race overall was, but I was eleventh in our age group.

This race would not have been a good one for a slower (9:00/mile) runner. the sheriff's car which was supposed to do traffic control for the first 1.25 miles never showed up. After waiting nearly ten minutes for the deputy to arrive, the race director decied to go ahead with the race. Course marshals did a pretty good job of keeping cars back, but they have no legal authority, and a few people ignored them. I saw one man a the race today who is a 12:00+ miler, and I'm sure that the course marshals couldn't hold the traffic back by that point.

There's another 5K race in April that runs in roughly the same area, and I'm considering runing that one. I may not, though. roughly half of the first mile is uphill, with some flat stretches. The rest of the raceis flat, like a tabletop, until about 2.5 miles, then downhill and up one more short uphill to the finish.

Warming back up

2006-04-06T07:46:00.000-04:00

Temps are on the irse again--we're supposed to get into the 60s next week. I'll settle for no more snow at this point. I suppose I got spoiled spending those years in Georgia--spring was the most beautiful, comfortable time of year there, and I'm sure that the dogwoods in our old side yard are in bloom.

I got out for four miles this morning. The weather was nice, temps in the high 30s, no wind, no rain, no snow. Looks like a good race Saturday.

Springtime in Rochester

2006-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

....and the snow is wet. We got some snow last night, but none of it stuck. It started out as rain last night, then got thicker until it was wet, heavy snowflakes which melted as soon as they hit the ground. The roads were clean this morning, although they were icy in spots. I'm feeling pretty good--Electra wants to come with me to the race this Saturday, so we'll be getting up early and going out for breakfast beforehand. She's got a digital camera, so we may have some pictures from the race.

Looking for a "mercurial" pun

2006-04-04T09:09:00.000-04:00

Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile: a mercurial nature.
--The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

The weather yesterday was gorgeous--the temperature went up to 64° and it was sunny all day. Last night it was supposed to snow. I don't know if it did; the temp was 35° when I went out to run this morning, but we're supposed to have mixed rain and snow for the next two days.

There's a race this weekend that I have to run. The race course goes down a road less than a mile from the house I grew up in (and where my parents still live), turns around and goes back on the Erie Canal Towpath, where I did a good deal of my high school running. It's a nice flat, fast course, and it should be a lot offun.

The race

2006-04-02T09:12:00.000-04:00

When I woke up Saturday, the temperature was in the high 40s, with a strong wind and very heavy rain. I almost decided right then to blow off the race, but a little later the rain stopped and the clouds cleared up. I decided to go ahead with it. When I left the house, it was 53° and calm. Of course, by the time I got to the park, the temperature there had dropped more than 10° and a light rain had started. So, it was a generally uncomfortable morning, and I had shown up in shorts and a t-shirt.

The course was slightly hilly, kind of a rolling course, through the middle of Mendon Ponds Park. The race itself is an old-fashioned one, with no chip timing, no bands, not even a finish chute--place is determined by tearing off the bottom of your number and putting it on a safety pin. A step back to the days of the "popsicle stick" races of my youth. After the race, at the awards ceremony, prizes were handed out. The race was sponsored by Viagra, so the prizes were very funny.

the men's winner got a viagra wall clock. The women's winner got a large basket of chocolate. When it was awarded, one of the women in the crowd called out "that's defeating the purpose!" Further awards weregiven out, including two hospital gown-type smocks in blue with the Viagra logo. Sadly, next year, generic Viagra will be available, so the items will probably not be available. A different sponsor will have to be lined up.

My time in the race was 22:14, which wos good enough to put me in 7th or 8th place overall. I'm not sure of my place, because I lost count of the people ahead of me in the last half-mile. I've been looking for pictures and results, which were supposed to be online within a few hours of the end of the race, but I haven't found them yet.

Leaving the park after the race, I noticed the first signs of a migraine. I hadn't had one in at least 5 years,but when it hit, it wasn't really too bad. I got home before the headache hit, so it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure that it didn't have anything to do with running, though. Running today, I didn't have any problems.

UPDATE:

I found the pictures of the race. Here are two pics of me in the race. (I'm the bearded fella Number 748)

In the first half mile.

After the halfway point in the race.

Relaxed and Easy

2006-03-29T07:42:00.000-05:00

A nice, relaxed morning--I felt good enough afterward to run across the street after getting off the bus on my way in to work this morning. The stiffness is beginning to go away, or at least to lessen. It doesn't take as long to get loosened up in the morning and it's not as tough getting out of bed. The walking appears to be helping a bit--I'm walking in the evenings and running in the mornings. It was a nice morning, temps in the high 20s-low 30s. I expect it to be into the 40s at 5am very soon.

I'm not looking forward to daylight time, since it's just starting to be light out before 6am. Starting Sunday it will get light an hour later.

Another beautiful day

2006-03-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

It was another beautiful day this morning. No sun at 5:00 am, but a nice still morning. The temperature is still hovering in the low 30s at that hour, but during the day, it soars into the 50s. We're supposed to get rain this weekend, but the temps will be in the 50s and 60s.

I'm feeling less stiff in the morning, and it's easier to get started. Not that it's easy, by any stretch of the imagination--5am is a horrible time to exercise, but it's the only time of day I have available.

My wife just got a new job, and she'll be working 3-11 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, so our evenings will be shot, along with weekends. This week we will be rearranging our lives and our house to accomodate the new schedule. She was originally supposed to be on Sunday through Thursday, which would be much better for us, but there's a chance she'll be able to change her work schedule later.

Beautiful morning

2006-03-27T07:57:00.000-05:00

It was a great morning today, the temps were in the low 30s, but the air was still.

My daughter made a banner for me, but in adding it to the page, we discovered that the layout with the banner requires a minimum resolution of 1280x720. We added it to the page at about 11:30 last night, so of course we're waiting until I get home tonight to make the necessary changes to make it appear properly on lower resolutions.

Oops.

I haven't entered the race this weekend, but I'm still planning on racing. I'll just have to pay the higher entry fee for the "late entry."

UPDATE

I believe I have fixed the formatting problem, but any resolution smaller than 1280x720 means that the sidebar extends off the page to the right. We'll work on straightening that out tonight.

Springtime is here

2006-03-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

Great morning today! I went 4 miles in about 30 minutes and felt great the whole way. The temperature was around 48° when I started and is now 50°. I ran in shorts for the first time in a long time, and it felt great. I'm looking forward to the racing season.

Springtime is here

2006-03-25T18:07:00.000-05:00

Spring might just be here. The temp was 39° when I started today, and was about 41° when I finished. It's rainy, but it's that misty kind of rain that keeps everything moist. The weather is supposed to be in the 40s allw eek, and possibly into the 50s.

Got out this morning (actually, it was almost noon--that's still morning, though) for a nice easy run. Between 7:30 and 8:00 pace the whole way. Felt pretty good--I avoided all of the major hills on the way and took it as easy as I could on the smaller hills. The downhills, I relaxed and took at an easy, but fast, clip.

Afterwards, I got Oed outside and we played soccer at the high school across the street. After playing soccer for a while, we walked around while I explained the field events to him. He had seen the shot and disc circles and wanted to know what they were for. He was particularly interested in the javelin.

Tomorrow, I plan to run the same route as today, but hopefully a little bit earlier in the day.

Sandy losing her job couldn't have come--well, I don't want to say it couldn't have come at a better time, because it's never a good thing, but at least we've got savings now. If it had happened when we were in Georgia, we would have been SOL. At the time we were "mortgage poor" and the flat housing market meant that we had almost no equity in the house. Now, even though we are renting, things look much better financially.

Is spring here?

2006-03-23T07:51:00.000-05:00

The temperature was above freezing (33°) today, with no wind at all. It's supposed toget into the high 40s or 50s next week. I won't be holding my breath, though, since I've seen major snowstorms as late as early May.

Got out for a nice run early in the morning--started at 5am. I've re-measured most of my routes, and they should be more accurate now.

Snowy

2006-03-22T08:51:00.000-05:00

Another snowy morning, with small, soft flakes blowing gently around. It was around 27° this morning, and quiet. Hardly any traffic, which is unusual in my area. A major highway, near an intersection called "Twelve Corners" usually gets traffic 24/7, but not this morning. 12 Corners was deserted this morning. The only sounds were the sound of my feet on the road and the quacking of the ducks on the creek. I discovered that one of my loops is approximately 0.2 miles short of what i thought it was. Have to adjust the loop to add a little distance. That shouldn't be too hard, though.

I had a "senior moment" this morning. I take a multivitamin every morning. After showering and shaving this morning, I couldn't remember whether I'd taken one today or not. I looked into the bathroom cup, and the bottom had some water, but for the life of me, I could not remember having taken the pill. Maybe I need a checklist on the bathroom wall.

This guy makes me feel slow. He manages to walk 10,000 meters in 38:44 on the track.

On the home front, my wife lost her job about a week ago. Well, technically, she didn't lose her job, since she's self-employed (Memo to self: "You're fired."), but her one and only customer doesn't have enough work to go around any more, and the employees get priority over the contractors. She's been looking for work, and may have a new job (employee status) soon. This comes hard on the heels of our new computer purchase. December 31 (2005 business expense), we bought a new computer for her to use for her job. Now, that job dries up.

Another chilly one.

2006-03-21T05:47:00.000-05:00

It was another cool morning, temp around 23°, but almost no wind. Sunday was to be my scheduled rest day, and I had things set up to run yesterday morning, but I didn't get to bed until stupid o'clock, and when the alarm went off at insane o'clock, I just decided to go back to sleep. It was a good run this morning, I felt good, relaxed and loose.

The tightness has been my biggest problem. For some reason, it's been worse since I got back from SI. Maybe all the walking I did there(I didn't have a car, and lived roughly a mile from the nearest train station) kept my old legs limber. Maybe I should go back to walking more than a mile every day.

I'm signing up for the over-40 race on the 1st of April. I just printed out the entry blank yesterday, and got a laugh at the logo at the top of the form. It shows a football going through a tire swing as the letter "O".

Big Valley Strider

Another race

Yes.

We're havin' a heat wave

Once more, with feeling

Ouch.

Carbohydrates and Hydration

Cold Weather running

Race Report #2 -- A Post-Heart Attack PR

Race Report

I'm not going to show anyone my scar.

Regular Schedule

Milestone

I'm a Celebrity

What?

I am the luckiest man alive

Spammers

Trail Run

back on the bicycle

So far...

Been gone so long...

Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t

Almost Killed

scar

Back on.

Bad News

Taking it easy

I couldn't resist

Year-end reflection

Maybe I'm ready

More ouch

Ouch.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Happy

Hot weather

A race

I hate indoor workouts

Cross Training

Accounts of my demise are greatly exaggerated

Busy, busy, busy

Nice Morning

been gone

A little bit better

Starting to get cold

Rainy morning

Early morning

I'm back

I almost recycled the Megazord.

With a group

Oak Tree Half

Cross-Country Race

Posting rarely

Back on the road

Off today

It's been a long time

Almost didn't make it

Trail run

Hills.

Better

Hot.

Canal

Quick report

busy week

Second place

Nice and Easy

Tough weekend

Every other day?

A late day

Today's run

D'oh!

Dang it.

An early day

another late day

Late run

Easy morning

A little cool

Rest day

Easter

Did it again

skipped a day

Oh sht Oh sht Oh sht Oh sht Oh sh*t