A fine 15

I've got something that's majorly distracting right now, so I'm planning for this to be a short, quick update. We'll see how that goes once the sentences start flowing.

Previously on 26.2 I recognized that I was perhaps not eating enough to support my marathon training. My plan for the week was to eat with abandon, and I'm proud to say that I found a plan I can stick with. When I wanted a snack, I had one. I've had some Pepperidge Farm cookies in my desk drawer for months that I wouldn't eat because of their high caloric value. They're gone now. When I wanted the sweet clean taste of a Dr. Pepper, I popped the top with gusto. That 12 pack has been hanging around longer than the cookies, but I'm working my way through it now. I ate without a care in the world all week long, and on Friday I rewarded my sticktoitiveness with a fine steak dinner.

This weekend was another step-back weekend, so I went down from 18 miles to 15. That was nice since I could reasonably figure that it would take me three hours to run on Saturday. The weatherman was pretty clear that I should run on Saturday instead of Sunday. I lounged around in bed luxuriating in the feel of not being mobile for a little while. Then I got up and had a leisurely bacon, egg, and potato breakfast bowl. Since my whole day wasn't going to be sacrificed to the running gods I could sit around for a couple of hours and let the digestion happen. Finally, Lisa and I laced up the shoes and hit the streets. We headed toward Lake Union and the Burke-Gilman Trail.

I took my iPhone with me, but I ran sans music. Sometimes I have a day like that where I just don't want my head cluttered up with the noise. It helps that I'm starting to get bored with my tune selection. I need some new blood before the big day. We chatted a bit as we ran, but I don't recall any interesting sights or events during our three miles together.

After the first three miles I was left to myself. I tried not to go too fast and tire myself out, but I didn't want to go too slow and be bored. I was pretty adamant that I wanted to spend somewhere between 2 hours 45 minutes and 3 hours running.

No one was at the Wall of Death today. It was a little gray, a little wet, and a bit chilly, so maybe that was keeping the skateboarders that usually play there away. Or... maybe they were with the rest of Seattle at the UW football game.

I don't keep up with college football. Some people love it more than the pros because they think it's more pure or the players try harder or something. I don't know. My school didn't have a good football program when I was there and doesn't appear to have a good one now, so I've just never been into it. I like pro ball. At least that way my team can be a winner every once in a while, although my team has been in a rebuilding mode since 1995. So, since I don't keep up with college football I didn't realize that there was a UW game on Saturday that would be in the 4th quarter by time I got there. It did not go well for the Huskys, as evidenced by all the people leaving in the 4th quarter. I dodged a lot of folks. I could tell UW lost because they weren't an overly happy crowd. No real anger or sadness, just not happy. For a team that didn't win a game last year (I only know because it was on the news every night) they've bounced back pretty good (again, on the news every night).

The last time I took this path I must have done (I'm trying real hard here not to say "only done") 14 miles and I started at a different place. Side note: I'm trying real hard to break myself of saying that I only went X miles. Frankly, any distance I run further than down the block is more than most people do. And 10 or 12 or 15 miles, or any other number for that matter, deserve my pride. I didn't only do 15 miles. I did 15 miles y'all! I went much further than I expected to go, but Grendel assures me that I only went 15 miles ("only" in this case is not intended to be self-deprecating, rather it's expressing that I didn't go any further). Still, I saw a part of the path I hadn't been on.

There's this spot about six miles in that I've run by a dozen times but never noticed the water fountain. I've bitched and moaned about there not being any water on the trail, and here's one laughing at me. I'm so glad I found it because I'd been rationing my water for the long slog back and now I realized I wouldn't have to. I planned to hit it when I came back in about about 2.5 miles later. I hit my turnaround spot, dropped a GU, chugged some agua and started back. I made a stop at the water fountain to refill my now empty bottle. Another runner was there and I mentioned how I had never seen it before. He told me it was the only one he knew of for about 10 miles. No wonder I haven't seen any others.

Back by UW, the game was now over and everyone was out on the the trail on their way to their cars or whatnot. I don't know what it is about large groups that makes the individuals forget that the world does not revolve around them, but there were a couple of times where I had to actually talk to make sure I didn't run over someone. I got into a slight, and extremely brief, verbal altercation with one guy. He and his girlfriend were part of a larger group and the group was taking up the whole path. There was no room to get by them. We were heading in opposite directions and I was hugging the right side, which is the correct side for my direction. We're conditioned, thanks to our driving habits, to walk, ride or drive on the right side of the road, so I was following the generally accepted rules of the road by staying as far to the right as I could. The girl part of the couple got distracted, probably by something shiny, and was looking down and to the side. Not at the 165 lb. sweatmonster coming at her. So I said "LOOK OUT!" She looked up just in time to get startled and jump out of my way. Boyfriend must have taken exception to it because he yelled "why don't you look out buddy?!" I didn't stop to chat, but, in what is a startling development for me, I did turn yell over my shoulder "DUDE, how much fucking room do you think I have on this path?" That's the story. I didn't stop to talk any more, he didn't decide to defend his honor and chase me down. Bygones.

Back around Lake Union I started to shift into a run/walk strategy. I'll probably end up doing some of that in the marathon, but hopefully not to the extreme I did this weekend. I walked a quarter mile then ran the next three quarters. I think my pace averaged about 5mph, but I'll have to consult Grendel to be sure.

I stopped at Starbucks on the way home and grabbed some coffee and pastries. Nothing says love like a muffin.

Next weekend is another 15 miles. I'm kind of relieved. I thought that it was a 20-miler. I could do it, but I don't mind admitting that I'd like to put it off another weekend if I can. I think I modified my plan to take advantage of starting it early or having a week off somewhere, which is why I'm repeating. So, this weekend 15 miles and next weekend 20 miles. After that, it's taper time. The marathon is right around the corner.

18 to life

I found "the wall" yesterday. It came up and backhanded me at mile 14, and from then on it was mostly walking with some sporadic jogging until I got home. I'm going to blame hitting the wall on poor nutrition, and I think that's a fairly safe bet. I've proven that I can stick it out, so it's not lack of will. I don't think it's lack of training because I've been steadily increasing my miles for a couple of months now. This week was only two miles longer than last weekend. No, it's got to be the food.

I think the main problem is that I still try to limit my net calories to 1500 per day, which is roughly what a man weighing 160-165 lbs would need to lose 1.5 lbs a week. That's probably a bad idea. I don't think I should be trying to lose weight (not working, btw) while training for a marathon. I'm missing out on valuable carbs and protein to keep me moving. So, new fooding strategy: if it's edible and not actively trying to get away from me I'm going to eat it. Of course, that won't really happen. I'm often too lazy to get up and grab a snack or eat even when I'm hungry, but hopefully giving myself blanket permission to eat anything I want when I want it will end up with me getting more calories. I'm going to place particular emphasis on eating the night before Longrunday. I suspect that part of the problem with the 18-miler was that the night before I ate a very light meal.

Side Note: I completed one of my 7 goals for my 37th year on Saturday. Lisa and I went to a cooking class (it was my birthday gift) and learned how to make some awesome goat cheese appetizers, fettucini with basil pesto, halibut, and espresso creme brulee. It was tons of fun, and I can't wait to do another one. Plus, I now know how to make my own pasta, which is handy. But, you can see how this light eating (I also didn't eat much before the class) might affect my performance on an 18 mile run, right?

My initial plan was to do this thing on Saturday, but we decided to have "storm of the century" rain so I put it off a day. Sunday had it's own complications though. We had the vet coming by early in the afternoon to give the cats their checkups and poke them with needles (they LOVED that part), so I had to get up early and get this thing done. At 8:00am my alarm went off. I mentally cussed it out and thought briefly about just not going, but after a few minutes feeding my internet addiction I got my lazy ass out of bed and got ready. I hit the street at 9:00 and got moving as soon as Grendel deigned to contact some satellites.

Sometime between last weekend and this weekend fall paid a visit to Seattle. Last weekend, the trees were that ubiquitous green that you don't even notice. This weekend the leaves had turned to a hundred different shades of red, orange, green and even a little brown. At one point I was looking at the ground and it looked like some painter mixed up bunches of paint then just started dabbing dots on the ground. It was really pretty. Texas didn't do fall like Washington does. In Texas the leaves were green and firmly attached to the trees on Monday and by Tuesday they were all a uniform shade of brown and lying on the ground. There was no in-between phase.

Seattle has a dog problem. It's not that there are wild packs of dogs roaming around the streets. It's not that dog-caretakers don't pick up after their pup drops a deuce (some don't but most do). No, the problem is that Seattle sometimes smells like a wet dog. It took me a while to figure that out since I don't have a doggy companion, but some dim memory from my childhood was finally awoken by the third time I said "what's that smell? Is it me?" For the record, it was not me. I took a whiff of my sweat soaked clothes before tossing them in the washing machine, and while my stuff is rank it definitely does not smell like wet dog.

Early morning is the time to run, apparently. I much prefer to do it late but I saw three or four times as many people going early than I do when I go later. There were so many that I asked one guy if there was something going on. He thought it was because we were on part of the marathon route and people were getting a little experience with it, and he didn't know of anything else going on. It turns out that there was a 5k going on at Seward Park. I got there at the end when the last runners had grabbed their goody bag and the stalls were breaking down. I took a couple of minutes for a break and filled up my water bottle before taking off again.

If there is one thing that the 18 miler taught me it is "do not stop and take a rest break." I think it's ok if you supplement some of the running time with walking time, but taking a full-on rest break makes it that much harder to get started again. Plus, the body cools down while you're resting and mine didn't want to warm back up.

At the 14th mile I hit the wall. I tried some GU, but that didn't help. I tried just powering through, but I didn't have anything to give. I thought about having Lisa come pick me up, but I wanted to finish it one way or the other. I walked. There was a little jogging interspersed, but mostly I just walked. I tried to walk fast, but I think my best pace was probably about 3 mph. I have a few complaints about various things from this point on.

- I hate that people can't see my health meter and tell that "Larry needs some food" (that's a Gauntlet reference if you didn't get it). They should know that if I have to stop and wait for them to get out of my way I might not be able start moving again.

- I have two pairs of shoes and right now both of them suck. My Asics have something on the instep that gave me a ridiculous blister last week. If I can find it I'll cut the bastard out. My Brooks are light as a feather but insole is as hard as concrete. I felt like my feet would actually be more comfortable if I wasn't weary any shoes at all!

- WTF, Seattle? What's up with all the damn hills?

- And you, the planners of the Seattle Marathon.... GRRR!! Why would you choose to make us run up Madison at the end when we're already exhausted? Do you just hate people?

In the end, a run I planned on taking no more than 3 hours (6 mph x 3 hrs = 18 miles) took me 3 hours and 45 minutes. I'm almost resigned to the marathon taking 5 hours to finish. I hate that and I hate that I'm so concerned about it. Finishing is the goal, not some arbitrary time measurement.

Next weekend is another step-back weekend. I only have to do an easy 15 miles. Then, the weekend after next will be the longest run of my training plan, 20 miles. Twenty freaking miles. I don't know how I'm supposed to handle that, conceptually.

Suh-weet Sixteen

Foreward: You know, I actually do write these things fairly soon after I do my runs (the long runs at least). I slap them into Blogger with the firm intention of re-reading and editing for a basic level of intelligence, but lately I've been having a hard time getting psyched up for the editing process. The problem is if I don't edit I don't post. So a post that was written the day after my run ends up lingering until almost a week later for me to get around to just clicking the button. Anyway, on with the show...

In a stunning reversal of my recent trend of delaying my long runs until Sunday, I actually got up early-ish to run on Saturday. Of course, I also broke my own vow that I would not be crossing Capitol Hill again, but the only one to suffer was me, so nyah!

I work with several other runners, in fact 4 of the 21 people in my department are either current or former marathoners or in training for their first (me). That seems like a very high percentage to me, and I wonder if it says something about the type of people that do this job. Even the ones that don't run are active in some other way: semi-pro baseball, nightly two-hour gym visits, not-to-be-screwed-around-with biking, etc. Overall, as a group we're pretty healthy.

On Friday a couple of the other runners were talking about favorite routes, and they both suggested that I cruise over to Lake Washington and go south toward Seward Park. So I gave it a shot. It's not the Trail, but I was already getting bored with the Trail anyway. And, BONUS, Lake Washington Blvd from Madison to Seward Park is part of the marathon route anyway, so I got a little preview.

Going over the hill hasn't improved any since the last time. In fact, in spite of it being the first mile of my run it was one of the slowest miles of the day. Going down the hill was just as bad in its own way. It's just not a forgiving hill, and it scares me a little bit that the marathon route goes about halfway up in the last miles. Fortunately it's not going to hit the second, steeper half, but any part of that hill at all is going to be a challenge.

Once I hopped on Lake Washington Blvd it was a straight shot to Seward Park. I had a simple plan, go that way, stay on main roads or roads I recognize, turn around when I get to 8 miles. There are a lot of parks in between ranging from parking spot sized to football field sized. Sometimes you leave one by entering another, they're packed so close together. There's even a park under the I-90 bridge, even though everyone knows that the place under the bridge is ALWAYS reserved for the homeless. How else are they supposed to get a roof over their head in rainy weather? As I went through each one I kept my eye out for water fountains. One actually had a bathroom, but I don't trust public bathrooms like that, and I'm definitely not going to fill up my water bottle inside one.

Going along the lake, when I could actually be next to the water, was very nice. For the most part, whether you're on Lake WA Blvd or Lakeside (rd? dr? whatever) you're usually separated from the water by a row of houses where people have paid lots of money to prevent their view from being impeded. It was nice and peaceful, although on the "out" part of the "out and back" I felt like I was running the wrong way to really enjoy the scenery.

You know the note on the your car mirrors that says "objects in the mirror are closer than they appear?" I've come up with a corollary of sorts. "Objects that appear far away are closer than they appear." The I-90 bridge over Lake WA appeared to be far away, so far that I expected that I would turn around within a couple of hundred feet on either side of it. I thought that when I was at 5 miles, so it must have looked about 3 miles away. When I went under it I still had a couple of miles to go.

I had an encounter in one of the parks I went through just before turning around to come back. There was a winnebago, a bright purple hoopty car with flashy rims, and a couple of guys giving a dog a bathroom break. The dog may or may not have been a young pit bull. I ran on past without really thinking about it, but just after I passed them I heard someone shifting their feet very quickly. I turned to look and two possible explanations jumped to my suspicious mind. Either the dog saw someone running as something to chase after and possibly bite, or one of those gents decided to screw around with a stranger. My heart sped up a bit. I don't want to screw around with dogs or other people. Fighting animals or people (sometimes the same thing) is hard, and it's been a while since I even thought about my kung fu. I didn't stop to find out which one it was, but I did turn around every once in a while to see if either the dog or the guys were staying put.

Another quarter mile beyond was my turnaround spot, and my designated choice for a momentary rest break. The weather was perfect for a run: overcast, maybe 55*, and just a little breeze. So my first rest break didn't happen until right at the 8 mile mark. I had some GU and drank about half of my water bottle. I'd been keeping my eye out for refill spots the whole time, and I had two possibles picked out. After a couple of seconds catching my breath and working myself up for the return run, I beat feet and headed home. I avoided the spot where the dog-walkers were hanging out. I didn't want dog or dudes to have second thoughts about letting me pass the first time.

At around the 9 mile mark I felt the tell-tale stinging of a blister on my foot. There's something in my Asics that is sticking up just enough to scrape a little bit. I will fully admit right here and right now that I am a wuss. I do not like pain, I go out of my way to avoid anything that will cause it, and I have no problem making someone think that my blister is like a second degree burn. Unfortunately, when you're 7 miles from home with limited options for relief the only thing you can do is suck it up and deal with it. I saw a multi-sport store on my way out that I would get to around mile 11 or 12 where I might find something to cover the blister with, but that was still going to be 4 miles in front of me. Time to man up.

The multi-sport store, when I got there, had nothing to offer me. They suggested some Glide, but I didn't feel like that was going to take care of my need, especially since that foot already had some Glide on it where the blister was forming.. I was looking for some tape, maybe like the kind I use on my nipples. As a balm for their failure to have a wide assortment of blister relief products, the multi-sport guys were kind enough to let me refill my bottle. Larry: 1, Dehydration: 0!

Once I got back to Madison, my speed decreased noticeably. If you go over the hill one way you have to go back over it the other. I hate that hill. After half marathon distance, I just couldn't force myself to run up both halves of it. I made it up the first slope, but the second slope was just too much and I had to do a bit of walking. Eventually I reached the top and was able to head back down.

Unless you've actually been on the hill, I don't think you can get a good feeling for what it's really like. I think it comes across better if you think visually. Take a capital "L" and lay it on it's side with the short arm to the left. That's basically what this hill looks like. Going west is a steep slope up with a gentle(ish) grade down. Going east is a gentle(ish) grad up with a steep slope down. You're basically screwed either way you go, and I have to go both ways to get over the Lake WA and back home.

Rather than turn off and head straight home I went straight down Madison into the real businessy area of downtown. I'd taken some shortcuts on the way back that I thought I would have to make up for somewhere, and this seemed like the best place. Plus, I wanted to stop by SBUX on the way home and grab some coffee. I had to run through the Saturday afternoon shopping crowds on Pine, but people who don't get out of my way are the ones that regret it, not me. By the time I get back to downtown I'm filthy, sticky and smelly, and I have no problem giving someone else some of my sweat and stink. I must have made some good choices because I hit 16 miles about a block away from SBUX and called it done.

I took Sunday off and did a treadmill run on Monday in my Asics, and it just about killed me. After about a mile in them the blistering feeling returned and it made me change how my feet hit to compensate a little. Bad, bad, bad idea. I don't think I hurt either of my feet, but I wasn't helping them and I've got some uncomfortable toes today. Plus there was some pulling on my right achilles tendon too. I'm going to have to monitor that now. I paid for the marathon on Friday, and the Seattle Marathon has a "no take-backs" policy. If you get injured and can't run, you can't get your money back, can't put the money toward next year's race, and (technically) can't transfer it to a friend. I'm not going to be out $100 because I'm being stupid. Oh, and I think I'm probably going to end up losing one of my toenails on my left foot. Yay. The toe feels a little bruised and the area under the toenail is tender. I'll have to see how it goes, but if it's going to go, then it better do it with enough time for me to recover before the race.

Step back, JoJo

Expect typos, repeated phrases and generally illogical passages. I'm not editing this one.

After all of the lazing around I've done for the last couple of weeks, I don't feel like I deserved a step-back week, but that's what the training plan calls for so that's what I did. My adherence to the plan is funny when you consider that the only part of it I actually follow is Longrunday. All of the running throughout the week I just do whatever I want. Last week it was zero miles on Tuesday (Side note: if you have the chance to go see the Broadway version of Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" I highly recommend it. It's a hilarious combination of Hitchcock and Monty Python that's worth the money.) and five miles on the hamster wheel on Wednesday and Thursday.

Another Saturday came where I couldn't muster up the enthusiasm to do my long run, even if it was an abbreviated long run, so I made the typical executive decision to postpone until Sunday. I had some stuff that I needed to do on Saturday anyway, and it was all dependent on other people, so it wasn't like this was a hard decision to make. I've got to get myself back onto the Saturday schedule though. It's so much more convenient than Sundays. If you don't watch college football, you don't have to schedule around it.

I got up bright and early on Sunday morning - 10:30 to be exact - with a planned 11:00 departure time. I started off with a light breakfast (a medium banana and a cup of Honey Nut Cheerios) while getting dressed and preparing my gear. Speaking of which, it seems like the stuff I take with me keeps growing and growing. I have Grendel, the iPod, phone, 1-3 packets of GU depending on how long I expect to be running, driver's license and other wallet-based items, keys, RoadID bracelet, and water bottle. That's quite a bit of stuff to be carrying around, and all of it is necessary. By 11:00 I was on the street waiting for Grendel to find some satellites to talk to, and once he did that it was time to take off.

Once again I started my run while the Seahawks were playing, so until I got over into Fremont it was like I was the only living person in the city. I tried to keep my mind focussed on one of my recently proclaimed 7 goals for my 37th year, but I'm afraid that my mind skitters around like a drop of water on a hot frying pan. I can't seem to focus on anything for long periods of time. Even writing these posts get broken up over several days.

The route was the same as last week's long run, so not much more to comment on there. Actually, the route was on the same path but not going as far as last week's run, so I didn't even see anything new. I saw the Wall of Death again this time sans skaters or homeless. There was a mandatory rest stop at the Fremont bridge. I say mandatory because just as I was running up to it, the gates came down and the bridge split down the middle and lifted to let some sailboats go through. It felt like it took 5 minutes, but it probably wasn't quite that long. Still, it allowed me to catch my breath for the next bit. I tried following the correct path for pedestrians this time, just for kicks. For the most part bike riders and pedestrians use the same path, but in some places the directions split us apart, usually to the detriment of the pedestrians. Our little paths (read: sidewalks) just aren't as nice as the bike path. They're not paved the same. They're narrow. They're right up against the street. Overall, I think I'll take the chance of some jerk on a bike yelling at me rather than follow directions from now on. Hell, I appeared to be the only pedestrian that even noticed we have a separate path anyway.

I was entirely over-dressed for this run. When I woke up it looked cold outside, and based on the temps we'd had all week and what I thought the weatherman said I put on my long sleeve shirt from the half marathon and some tights. Say what you want about tights, but sometimes there is a proper time and place for them. That was a little too much covering for me. I think the shirt was a good idea, but the tights just made me too warm. The legs are the part that gets the most movement anyway, so of course they're going to get warm. Too bad I didn't think of that before I went outside.

I hit the 5.5 mile mark, had my mid-run snack with some water, and turned around to go home. About a half mile back on the trail I saw a woman with a pretty dog sitting on the side of the trail and looking like they were posing for a picture, so, being the social runner that I apparently am, I made a comment about it. I intended to keep running, but she said something back, so I had to take out my headphones and find out what she wanted. It turned out that the dog was on the lam and she wanted to use my phone to call the owner. I called and left a message at the number on the tag, but I had no intention of hanging out with the pup until his owner came to claim him. As soon as I said we'd probably call the Seattle animal control people, she said she would take him to her house. As long as I can end my involvement with a phone call, I'm cool with that.

That was the last of my excitement. I didn't get any stops on the way back except for those that involve traffic lights. After it was over, I stopped at Starbucks for some coffee (post run snack of champions) and a donut. The guy behind the counter said I looked like I just got done running. I said "yeah, 11 miles." He was suitably impressed. Then he rang up my purchase, which came to $11.11. Coincidence? I think not

What a shock!

Although Grendel has accompanied on all of my outdoor runs, I've been reluctant to upload all of his data out of fear of what he was going to tell me. Well, I finally nutted up and did it this afternoon and the results were not that bad. Let's take a look:

9/23 - 6.01 miles - 9:37 average pace
9/24 - 5.15 miles - 10:13 average pace
9/27 - 13.72 miles - 10:59 average pace
10/4 - 11.00 miles - 10:13 average pace

That's not too shabby if I say so myself. I've been struggling a bit over the last couple of weeks, so much so that I've actually thought about not doing the marathon and settling for the half instead. Seeing this, I think there is a mental hump that I need to get over, and this might just be the boost that pushes me over it.

That being said, I don't expect to run the Seattle Marathon more than this one time. I think if I'm going to do another marathon it will be the Rock and Roll Marathon. I'm finding it increasingly hard to go outside when it's cold and I hate that it's starting to get dark so early.