Paying The Iron Price

Michael Enright wrote:Don't wear blue on Sunday.

I, too, like your point-to-point plans. I've thought from time to time of doing something similar and running the 18 or so miles home from work, but have never quite gotten that plan together.

Morning is definitely the time to run during the work week. It helps to be a lousy sleeper anyway...

 Saturday:  You just reminded me I have something to post in your blog.  A picture I've been meaning to put there for a few weeks. 

Did part 1 of the point-to-point today.  Drove down to the airport in DC and parked there, then took the Metro to a stop out in the burbs and ran home from there.  8.23 miles at 7:30 pace.  Upside of waking up early to do this was I got to run in low 80s and brutal humidity instead of mid 90s.  Super - I entertained myself during the run with dreams of what running in 40 degree weather feels like.  I'm sooooo much more of a cold weather runner.  I had forgotten why I'm so wimpy and usually drive a couple of miles from my house to run on the rail trail instead of running to and from the house each time. Today reminded me!  Man, its hilly between the trail and my house.  Some serious climbs.  A bit faster pace overall than I've been running recently.  Running alone and outside instead of with Scott or on the mill, that seems to usually be the case with me.  The flatter stuff along the trail I was doing in the low 7s and then slower for the off road hills between the rail trail and my house.  Tomorrow is part 2 of the point-to-point and Scott and I will run from my house down to the airport where the car (and some drinks I left there which will be warm but still welcome) will be waiting.

Yes, Chris, the Erie Marathon it is basically the same course that I will be running tomorrow at what is called the Presque Isle Half with  exception of the start/finish.  The Presque Isle half starts right at the entrance to the park, and the marathon/half in September starts about 3 miles down at the pavilion.  There is only one main road around the peninsula, so not too difficult.  It is not quite Chicago flat as there is a small hill over a bridge which followed by a gradual (very gradual - no more than 1%) downhill that lasts about 1/2 mile.  Not really the kind of hills where you lose any ground, but definitely helpful so that you aren't always using the same muscles. Not exactly sure where those miles fall on the marathon course, but I'm thinking 9 (as it is about 6 on the Presque Isle course.  I'll try to pay some attention tomorrow.)   I can tell you that the Erie Runners Club is a great organization, and the race is 39 yrs old and this is the 3rd course change; however, from what I have been told, the club has only gotten more accommodating for runners.  I need to register for the September race - thanks for the reminder.

Sunday: Not good again on the long run.  20 miles in the brutal heat and humidity just left me completely wasted and either I was sick coming into it or it made me sick because I ended up going to bed at 9pm last night and then not rolling in to work today until 11am.  I felt nauseous and lightheaded for the rest of Sunday post-run and couldn't really eat.  Bleh.  I did go to the US vs. El Salvador soccer game Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.  Since I was feeling crappy, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would normally but we had incredible seats right at midfield and the US trashed them 5-1 and looked great.  I still feel cruddy today so the plan is a full day off.  I'm flying to Chicgao for work tomorrow and the tentative plan is to run with Schuey. I also think I'll see Dave for dinner one of the nights I'm there.  I need to recover today because the prospect of hopping on a flight and running does NOT appeal at the moment.  ugh.

Saturday run = awesome.  You don't seem like the heat impacts you that much.  Hope you feel better today...

It's probably a direct result of that run in those conditions.

I only saw the highlight reel for the game, but what I saw was pretty exciting.

All things are good in Chicago - you'll feel better immediately, and enjoy the trip.

Chris M wrote:Sunday: Not good again on the long run.  20 miles in the brutal heat and humidity just left me completely wasted and either I was sick coming into it or it made me sick because I ended up going to bed at 9pm last night and then not rolling in to work today until 11am.  I felt nauseous and lightheaded for the rest of Sunday post-run and couldn't really eat.  Bleh.  I did go to the US vs. El Salvador soccer game Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.  Since I was feeling crappy, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would normally but we had incredible seats right at midfield and the US trashed them 5-1 and looked great.  I still feel cruddy today so the plan is a full day off.  I'm flying to Chicgao for work tomorrow and the tentative plan is to run with Schuey. I also think I'll see Dave for dinner one of the nights I'm there.  I need to recover today because the prospect of hopping on a flight and running does NOT appeal at the moment.  ugh.

This is called heat exhaustion.  You gotta stay hydrated and cool, especially when it's humid like it has been.  I've been having good luck with freezing about 1/4 of a 20 oz bottle of Gatorade, drinking half 5 miles in and then the other half 5-6 miles later when it's melted enough that it's slushy.  I don't know if you remember the article in maybe Runner's World a few years ago about drinking a slushy right before exercise keeping the core temperature a couple degrees cooler, but I've definitely noticed a big difference in the last 2 runs I've done when my last 5 miles I felt a bit cooler than I had for the previous few after drinking the partially frozen drink.

Be careful out there or that easy BQ you're looking at won't be so easy!

mul21 wrote:

Chris M wrote:Sunday: Not good again on the long run.  20 miles in the brutal heat and humidity just left me completely wasted and either I was sick coming into it or it made me sick because I ended up going to bed at 9pm last night and then not rolling in to work today until 11am.  I felt nauseous and lightheaded for the rest of Sunday post-run and couldn't really eat.  Bleh.  I did go to the US vs. El Salvador soccer game Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.  Since I was feeling crappy, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would normally but we had incredible seats right at midfield and the US trashed them 5-1 and looked great.  I still feel cruddy today so the plan is a full day off.  I'm flying to Chicgao for work tomorrow and the tentative plan is to run with Schuey. I also think I'll see Dave for dinner one of the nights I'm there.  I need to recover today because the prospect of hopping on a flight and running does NOT appeal at the moment.  ugh.

This is called heat exhaustion.  You gotta stay hydrated and cool, especially when it's humid like it has been.  I've been having good luck with freezing about 1/4 of a 20 oz bottle of Gatorade, drinking half 5 miles in and then the other half 5-6 miles later when it's melted enough that it's slushy.  I don't know if you remember the article in maybe Runner's World a few years ago about drinking a slushy right before exercise keeping the core temperature a couple degrees cooler, but I've definitely noticed a big difference in the last 2 runs I've done when my last 5 miles I felt a bit cooler than I had for the previous few after drinking the partially frozen drink.

Be careful out there or that easy BQ you're looking at won't be so easy!

+1!

If you can plan your route for a mid-run Slurpee, that might not hurt either.

Thursday - yup, Mark and Jim were right about Sunday being some pretty bad heat exhaustion.  Even through my run with Schuey in Chicago on Wednesday, I was not feeling normal.  I don't know if I also caught a bit of a bug too but from Sunday night through Tuesday mid-day, I just felt like utter crud.  Couldn't eat.  Alternating between being too cold and too hot.  By that time, I was in Chicago for work.  Probably a good thing but work forced me to miss a planned run with Schuey on Tuesday afternoon which I probably would have muddled through poorly.  Feeling much better Tuesday night, I went to dinner with Dave-O and his wife which was a great time.  Beautiful night in Chicago.    Then Wednesday, I ran 7.5 miles with Schuey.  Even on that run, I felt "off".  Had to have Schuey find us a water fountain twice and its not like it was a hot day.  But I still felt odd and dehydrated.  But after the turnaround and chatting with Schuey, I finished feeling pretty normal and good.  We kept it at an 8:00 pace so nice and easy and its always great to catch up with him.  Got to spend time with Lisa and Kristina before and after the run too.  So, all in all, a good visit to Chicago spending time with Dave/Brit/Schueys and leaving Chicago feeling like my normal self again.  So now here it is Thursday and this has not been a good training week.  But I feel good again so I'll run tonight and get back towards the steady progress I was making before the meltdown bonk 20 from Sunday.

Perfect timing for my flight home to DC was getting to watch US vs Honduras on the DirectTV on the plane!  I thought I would be watching it on DVR late night but got to watch live.  AWESOME.  The US team is playing at a great level right now.  On offense, I don't think they have EVER looked this good.  Under Bradley and other previous coaches, it was like they played in a defensive shell and looked for a 0-0 game or maybe a 1-0 win with a counterattack goal.  I'm not sold fully on all of Klinsmann's decisions as coach, but WOW he has them playing some freewheeling attacking soccer that's a hell of a lot more fun to watch than previous US teams.   Maybe as a result, they seem more suspect defensively than they have been in years past and I worry about how truly elite teams will rip apart the US defense but for now they have a 10 game winning streak and should be a heavy favorite to win the Gold Cup in Chicago this Sunday.  I'll get my long run done early - fingers crossed for a much better experience than last Sunday - and then be watching beer in hand!

Sorry to hear about the crummy week.   I think there are a lot of bugs going around, as I know quite a few people (including myself) who have been sick the past week.  You could also still be feeling some of the affects of your Sunday bonk.  Hopefully everything gets back to normal for your weekend runs.

Nick Morris wrote:Sorry to hear about the crummy week.   I think there are a lot of bugs going around, as I know quite a few people (including myself) who have been sick the past week.  You could also still be feeling some of the affects of your Sunday bonk.  Hopefully everything gets back to normal for your weekend runs.

 Seemed good today.  I think I'm back to normal running.  Did 7 miles on the mill pre-work and after talking with Schuey on Wednesday, tried some of his "fartlek" type pickups mid run.  So overall was running at 7mph (8:34 pace) when not doing the fartleks but then did 3 x 0.5 miles at 6:44 pace in the middle and then the last full mile at 6:31 pace.  Felt good and strong during the faster stuff.  Not ready to go run at faster than even 6:31 pace for a half right now like in the past but it definitely felt like a normal and not pushing it pace which was good.  Tomorrow I'll aim for 8 to 10 miles (I'm thinking treadmill at house) and then I'm going to do 18 outside on Sunday.  Will keep both runs pretty slow and mellow, just trying to save a decent mileage week out of this unplanned stepback period.  No bonks is the goal!

Yo Yo Yo!!! So awesome to run with you on Tuesday! Like I said bro take it slow and let it grow! It will all come back to you. Fitness can't be rushed it will come back at its own pace.

I love the fact that you are starting to do the fartleks! In my own opinion it is one of the most underrated and great workout to do. Think about how many times do you slow up and speed up during a race?

No worries, Chris - it will come back to you before you know.  I struggled a lot in June and now I seem to be turning the corner.  i know it is hard to be patient, but being patient is a must.

How'd the weekend running go?

mul21 wrote:How'd the weekend running go?

Yeah, no bonks!!

mul21 wrote:How'd the weekend running go?

 Ok but not great.  10 on the treadmill Saturday watching this season of Dexter and then 20 today with Scott.  I think (watch not in front of me) we did 8:18 pace?  Stopped at a couple of 7-11s to fuel and although it was typical DC humidity (97%+) it was cooler than it has been recently down in the mid 70s.  Still kind of sucked by the end and I was happy to be done.  So a 30 mile weekend coming off of a not very good Monday-Friday of mileage so I'm happy overall.  I'd like this week coming up to be runs each day Monday-Sunday (two off last week) and tick the mileage up a bit.  I wonder about that corner Michele is referring to.  I feel "blah" about my running.  My knee and legs feel good but there's none of my usual pop and I would think the paces would be feeling easier by now.  Somewhere up earlier Dave had said to just ignore paces through July and I need to finish that out.  Good thing is that my knee does feel really good so there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to start piling on some better stuff in August.

After brunch, went up to my brothers to watch the USA Gold Cup Final with his family and my Dad.  USA USA USA!  1-0 win.  Not a great game by the US.  Panama kind of bunkered in back on defense (no shots on goal by Panama all game) and the US struggled a bit to find decent opportunities to break the defense down.   But they got it done.  Only downer was one of my favorite players (Stu Holden) went down with a knee injury early.  No word yet on whether or not its serious but he's just coming off 2 YEARS of being out with knee issues and it will be heartbreaking if he's out again for a long time after how hard he's worked to come back.

It's coming, Chris - it really is!

Patiences Patiences Patiences!!! Like I said on our run Chris you can't rush fitness! Enjoy the runs and forget about were you have been and focus on were you are now. Before you know it you will wake-up one morning and be like wow its back. I speak from experience, I'm still have not regained all my fitness. With that being said I can tell you that I'm enjoying the heck out of running and if I don't ever get back to were I was oh well "at least I'm enjoying the ride!"

Don't worry Chris, it will all come back.  Rome wasn't built in a day   But in all honesty I think that if you keep putting in the work, the results will eventually be there.

Monday - 7 miles on mill slow and easy.  Watched two episodes of Friends.  The one where Ross takes all of the complimentary stuff at the Inn in Vermont cracked me up and I think of that episode sometimes when I travel and throw a couple of the soaps or whatever in my bag.  As July comes to an end, I kind of have a "Where I am Good/Bad" in mind with running:

Good: Knee seems completely healed - hasn't been an issue in weeks and weeks; seem to be able to run every day; 7-10 hours of running a week seems fine; getting better about doing my runs early AM before work

Bad: really struggling more than ever with long ones in the heat - 2+hours out there and I seem to just fall off a cliff in terms of energy; paces generally pretty slow; no desire let alone ability right now to race - a bit of running melancholia is upon me

All in all, not a bad place to be with surgery earlier in the year.  I think I thought I'd be further down the road to faster running by now but I'm happy that the running itself is pain free which is a big change from the last 6 months of 2012 and early 2013.

First, tough break for Stu.  I heard it was the other ACL.

Second, I'd been having the same kind of melancholy you're describing and really not looking forward to long runs until this weekend.  The 16 miler I did last weekend was just awful and I was soaked in my own sweat by mile 9.  However, we had a break in the weather this weekend and not only was the feeling of the run much more pleasant (i.e. not sweat drenched from the word go), my pace was much better and the run in general felt much easier.  I think some of that cool stuff should be headed your way and may provide a little boost to your motivation.

Good to see you back running and blogging, Chris.  I know it's not easy making a comeback, especially in the heat of the summer.  It seems like you are doing a pretty good job of that, even though I know it's hard to be patient at times.  It seems like you are on a good track to get where you need to be.  Keep on the course you're on and you'll feel like your old self before you know it.

Tuesday - no run today until I got home from work but I got in 7 miles pre-dinner at 8:00 pace.  Watched Dexter.  This is the last season of that show (8th season overall, I think?) and while I've always liked the show I'm not sure I'm digging this final season too much.  It just doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  I'll withhold final judgment until the series ends but so far a bit of a disappointing final set of episodes.  I'm really hoping the final 8 episodes of Breaking Bad are not a letdown.  That starts in mid-August and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing how that show ends.  My treadmill at home may need a bit of a tune-up.  Seems like the belt might be a little loose and it "catches" just a bit.  I haven't had it looked at in 2+ years but there's a guy who came out and tuned it up once before so I'll call him and schedule a time.

Wednesday

Hmm.  That was different.  I've been in a bit of a funk running-wise with some labored long runs in the heat and even the easy days just feeling kind of blah.  Today I went down to the mill at work for lunch intending to do another 7 mile easy run with the hour or so I had but instead decided to mix it up a bit with some slowish 800s.  I figured 8x800 with jogged rest would be about right.
1. 8.9 mph (6:44 pace)
2. 8.9 mph (6:44 pace)
At this point I actually said out loud "f$% this" as it felt pretty easy and it seemed like time to see how some faster paces feel
3. 9.2 mph (6:31)
4. 9.2 mph (6:31)
felt easier than the first 2 so I just kept going
5. 9.5 mph (6:19)
6. 9.7 mph (6:11)
Again, its not like I wasn't noticing the faster pace and I'm definitely sweating a ton but I could talk normally during the repeats and simply felt fine so it was back to the norm for the last two
7. 10.0 (6:00)
8. 10.0 (6:00)
Truthfully, even the last 2 felt pretty easy and I felt like I could have done 8x800 all at 6:00 today.  Weird - I wouldn't have seen that coming.

I used to do 10x800 at 6:00 as a once or so a month workout and probably my best workout ever I did for Dave was 10x800 at the track at 2:51 average (can't imagine doing that now but man I want to get back there)....so anyway, doing 800 repeats well is something I've had experience with and its not like this 8x800 was particularly fast overall.  Still feels damn good!  It felt very good to be moving back down to those paces and not struggling with it at all.  Everything improves in my running - I can feel my form tighten up and get more smooth.  I simply run better when dialed in like that on speedwork.  Strange to be knocking out 6:00-paced 800s easily while struggling to get through 8:00 paced long runs but that's running for you!  Can't figure it out sometimes.  Feels now like I didn't even run today.  No soreness, no tiredness.  Nothing.  Who can figure running out?  Not me!  But today helped restore a tiny bit of much needed swagger to my training.  Felt nice to actually have a good run result for a change.

So just run your long runs at 6:00 and all will be well!

Seriously, who knows, so just enjoy it!

Chris M wrote:2+hours out there and I seem to just fall off a cliff in terms of energy; paces generally pretty slow; no desire let alone ability right now to race - a bit of running melancholia is upon me

Awesome 800s - no wonder you are fired up!  Nice to have a breakout run...  I'm sort of in the "running melancholia" right now myself...