Saturday, October 21st, 2006 Run: 20 Miles
It's amazing how something that flows so freely at one point can become so daunting just a few days later. It's not so much that I couldn't think of things to write, it's more that I've been having trouble finding the time to write. The morning is when I'm most productive. It's always been that way. When I was in college, it was rare that I would stay up all night to study or get something done. My mind typically becomes much less productive after 9pm. Instead, I would wake up early and get a fair amount of quality cramming done before lunch time.
It's carried over in life, too. Unlike most of my peers and compadres in the music industry, I prefer to wake up as the sun rises and knock out what I deem to be important. That said, it's not always so easy to ensure that I get up and do things. Running, too, is something I prefer to do in the morning. I believe it follows from the philosophy of "get it done early and relax later." So, with running and writing both vying for the short morning hours between when I arise and when I head into work, it's been tough to continue writing.
That said, it's early on a Sunday morning, and I'm the only person in the coffee shop near my house. I'm not running today, and therefore am able to dedicate myself to writing about my running.
Technically I've done 6 runs since I left San Francisco. All in all it was a good week for my running, though I do have some aches and pains that are indicating otherwise. The first run I completed upon return was the monstrous 20 miler. That was last Saturday, the 21st of October. I was exhausted from my trip to California, and despite the three hour time difference, I was able to get to sleep a little after 1 am (10pm California time). I surprised myself by sleeping until almost 9. However, I was still tired once I awoke, so I ventured out to find some coffee. I figured 20 miles was going to require a bit more fuel than I'm used to giving myself, so I had a small bowl of oatmeal, too.
The route I ran was a variation of the many routes that I've run during this training period. I went from my house through Rock Creek Park all the way to the 14th Street Bridge. I crossed the bridge and jumped on the Mt. Vernon trail. I only had to head out 2+ miles on the Mt. Vernon, but somehow went a bit further (which would mean that my 20 miles expired before I returned all the way to my house). Eventually I did a U-turn on the Mt. Vernon and headed back across the 14th Street Bridge. I then did the Hains Point loop. When I came out of Hains I'd begun to realize that overshooting my turn-around on the Mt. Vernon trail meant that I could alter the end of my route to accommodate the extra mileage. However, my mind was not particularly fond of changing the end of the route.
From Hains Point I typically cut through Southwest, DC, by the Fish Market and then onto the Mall (4th and Independence). From there I run just in front of the Capital before heading North and West on Pennsylvania. I could have easily cut out the jaunt through Southwest or even the portion in front of the Capital, but my mind wasn't ready for that. At this point my legs were quite tired (as was my mind), and I thought the familiarity of the route, combined with the presence of people to watch down on the National Mall, would make the finish of the run easier. It did, but after I cut North from Pennsylvania onto 7th Street and eased through Chinatown, I was disappointed to hit the 20 mile mark by the Convention Center (on 9th Street at this point) - roughly 2 miles from my house.
I'd considered continuing up 9th at the same pace I was heading, but my body really was looking forward to stopping. I stopped my run there but combined running and walking to complete the last 2 miles to the house.
I ran 20.03 miles in 2h 36m 41s at an average pace of 7:49/mile. I ran a negative split, which is how I'd like to run the marathon.
Here is the breakdown of the miles for the 20 mile run.:
Mile 1 - 8:03
Mile 2 - 8:07
Mile 3 - 8:07
Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 7:59
Mile 6 - 7:56
Mile 7 - 7:54
Mile 8 - 7:53
Mile 9 - 7:51
Mile 10 - 7:49
Mile 11 - 7:44
Mile 12 - 7:41
Mile 13 - 7:43
Mile 14 - 7:40
Mile 15 - 7:39
Mile 16 - 7:36
Mile 17 - 7:37
Mile 18 - 7:41
Mile 19 - 7:41
Mile 20 - 7:43
The 20 miles was challenging and I really think that the 26.2 of the marathon is going to be tough. I ran a negative split on the 20 mile training run, and if I want to do the same in the marathon I will have to hold the 8+ minute/mile pace for at least the first half of the race. Form there I can gauge how I'd like to increase my pace. As a 3h 30m finish would be great, I don't want to push myself too hard, but would like to run my best race possible.
----------------------------------------------------------
The rest of this past week I fit in the runs necessary to stay on my training schedule. The highlight of the week was the track session that I did on Wednesday night. I got out there and did 4 x 1600 (mile repeats) at an average of 5:45 pace! I'd been immunized against Yellow Fever, Hep A (booster) and Polio that morning in preparation for my upcoming trip to Africa. The Yellow Fever shot left me feeling pretty ill for most of the day and since I had a soccer game later that night I almost decided not to head over to the track. The previous time I went from a track workout to a soccer game I felt it served as an incredible warm up period for the soccer field. Unfortunately on this Wednesday I misread what time my soccer game was and showed up to the field just as the game was ending: though my legs felt incredible!
Since I didn't play in the game on Wednesday, I got up and did a short 4 miler on Thursday. My hip and the top of my right foot seemed a bit aggravated, and I had a lot of trouble remembering that on these short, recover runs, I should really try to run more slowly. I ran this one at a 7:52 pace.
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 12 mile run
Yesterday I had a 12 mile run scheduled. I returned to the gym for the first time in a month (rib injury) on Friday night and then went home for a relaxing evening. I ended up in bed later than I would have liked. Like last week, I surprised myself by sleeping in until 8:30. I got up pretty quickly and was out the door by 9am.
Tired of running the exact same routes, I decided to try something a bit different. The first mile between myself and Adam's Morgan was the same, but instead of dipping down into Rock Creek Park and heading towards the Mall I went across the Calvert Street Bridge and ran north on Connecticut Avenue. I had a general idea of what my route would be like, hoping to be able to take Connecticut to Military Road, head East on Military and come back to the house via Rock Creek Park.
By the time I reached Military Road, however, I'd barely eclipsed 4 miles, far short of the 6 mile halfway point. To Turn down Military and reach Rock Creek Parkway would mean that once I got back to my exit point from the Park I would need to continue on to make up the missing mileage. So, instead of cutting over on Military, I took Connecticut all the way to the Maryland border (Chevy Chase circle). At that point I still hadn't eclipsed 6 miles. I wasn't sure how pedestrian friendly Connecticut was past the circle (I know driving it turns into a 3 lane road), so I turned around.
It was a relatively short distance back to Military Road, and instead of heading East I decided to head West towards Wisconsin Avenue. Once I got to Friendship Heights (Military and Wisconsin), I head South on Wisconsin, thinking I could take that to Massachussets and then back towards the house.
By the time I reached Massachussets Avenue, though, I didn't think I would be able to return without having to make up a bit of mileage within the neighborhood by the house. Therefore I continued down Wisconsin towards Georgetown before cutting over on P Street and finishing the run via the well traveled route of Florida to 16th Street.
I'm not entirely sure what went on with this run, but it wasn't spectacular. In fact, if I wasn't able to just chalk it up to a "bad run" I might begin to worry about my preparation for the marathon. There are a lot of things that are weird about doing 12 miles at this point in my training. For one, on the weekends I'm so used to the runs being really long (20 miles was just last week) that 12 miles SEEMS short on paper. However, 12 miles is still a good hour and half out there pounding the pavement. So, while my mind perceives it as short - it's NOT short. It is shorter, but not short.
The new route also may have contributed to an off run. Instead of tracing familiar steps and allowing my mind to flow freely, this felt more like an out of town run. I was constantly guessing and anticipating the next mile to elapse so I could figure out where to turn around. Also, the run was hilly. Heading up Connecticut from Woodley Park is almost exclusively up hill. The portion of Military between Connecticut and Wisconsin was uphill as well, and portions of Wisconsin fit that description, too. And, finally, the top of my right foot and my right hip are having some issues. Even now, almost 24 hours after the run yesterday, the top of my right foot feels bruised in some sense. The issue with my hip has been there ever since the Montreal soccer tournament (where I believe I was kicked in the hip). The problem with these small injuries is they don't necessarily prevent me from running, but they don't leave me feeling fantastic afterwards.
Nevertheless, I finished the 12 miles at roughly a 7:49 pace (I forgot to mention that I calibrated my iPod + Nike system at the track on Wednesday and I'm not sure if that changed anything). It wasn't a fantastic showing, but I am looking forward to continuing to taper my runs in preparation for the marathon. This week I have to run 4 miles tomorrow, 6 on Tuesday and 3 on Thursday. I will do 8 on Saturday (in San Diego!) and then continue to just wind down. I hope that my mind can accept that I will not be running as much.
It's amazing how something that flows so freely at one point can become so daunting just a few days later. It's not so much that I couldn't think of things to write, it's more that I've been having trouble finding the time to write. The morning is when I'm most productive. It's always been that way. When I was in college, it was rare that I would stay up all night to study or get something done. My mind typically becomes much less productive after 9pm. Instead, I would wake up early and get a fair amount of quality cramming done before lunch time.
It's carried over in life, too. Unlike most of my peers and compadres in the music industry, I prefer to wake up as the sun rises and knock out what I deem to be important. That said, it's not always so easy to ensure that I get up and do things. Running, too, is something I prefer to do in the morning. I believe it follows from the philosophy of "get it done early and relax later." So, with running and writing both vying for the short morning hours between when I arise and when I head into work, it's been tough to continue writing.
That said, it's early on a Sunday morning, and I'm the only person in the coffee shop near my house. I'm not running today, and therefore am able to dedicate myself to writing about my running.
Technically I've done 6 runs since I left San Francisco. All in all it was a good week for my running, though I do have some aches and pains that are indicating otherwise. The first run I completed upon return was the monstrous 20 miler. That was last Saturday, the 21st of October. I was exhausted from my trip to California, and despite the three hour time difference, I was able to get to sleep a little after 1 am (10pm California time). I surprised myself by sleeping until almost 9. However, I was still tired once I awoke, so I ventured out to find some coffee. I figured 20 miles was going to require a bit more fuel than I'm used to giving myself, so I had a small bowl of oatmeal, too.
The route I ran was a variation of the many routes that I've run during this training period. I went from my house through Rock Creek Park all the way to the 14th Street Bridge. I crossed the bridge and jumped on the Mt. Vernon trail. I only had to head out 2+ miles on the Mt. Vernon, but somehow went a bit further (which would mean that my 20 miles expired before I returned all the way to my house). Eventually I did a U-turn on the Mt. Vernon and headed back across the 14th Street Bridge. I then did the Hains Point loop. When I came out of Hains I'd begun to realize that overshooting my turn-around on the Mt. Vernon trail meant that I could alter the end of my route to accommodate the extra mileage. However, my mind was not particularly fond of changing the end of the route.
From Hains Point I typically cut through Southwest, DC, by the Fish Market and then onto the Mall (4th and Independence). From there I run just in front of the Capital before heading North and West on Pennsylvania. I could have easily cut out the jaunt through Southwest or even the portion in front of the Capital, but my mind wasn't ready for that. At this point my legs were quite tired (as was my mind), and I thought the familiarity of the route, combined with the presence of people to watch down on the National Mall, would make the finish of the run easier. It did, but after I cut North from Pennsylvania onto 7th Street and eased through Chinatown, I was disappointed to hit the 20 mile mark by the Convention Center (on 9th Street at this point) - roughly 2 miles from my house.
I'd considered continuing up 9th at the same pace I was heading, but my body really was looking forward to stopping. I stopped my run there but combined running and walking to complete the last 2 miles to the house.
I ran 20.03 miles in 2h 36m 41s at an average pace of 7:49/mile. I ran a negative split, which is how I'd like to run the marathon.
Here is the breakdown of the miles for the 20 mile run.:
Mile 1 - 8:03
Mile 2 - 8:07
Mile 3 - 8:07
Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 7:59
Mile 6 - 7:56
Mile 7 - 7:54
Mile 8 - 7:53
Mile 9 - 7:51
Mile 10 - 7:49
Mile 11 - 7:44
Mile 12 - 7:41
Mile 13 - 7:43
Mile 14 - 7:40
Mile 15 - 7:39
Mile 16 - 7:36
Mile 17 - 7:37
Mile 18 - 7:41
Mile 19 - 7:41
Mile 20 - 7:43
The 20 miles was challenging and I really think that the 26.2 of the marathon is going to be tough. I ran a negative split on the 20 mile training run, and if I want to do the same in the marathon I will have to hold the 8+ minute/mile pace for at least the first half of the race. Form there I can gauge how I'd like to increase my pace. As a 3h 30m finish would be great, I don't want to push myself too hard, but would like to run my best race possible.
----------------------------------------------------------
The rest of this past week I fit in the runs necessary to stay on my training schedule. The highlight of the week was the track session that I did on Wednesday night. I got out there and did 4 x 1600 (mile repeats) at an average of 5:45 pace! I'd been immunized against Yellow Fever, Hep A (booster) and Polio that morning in preparation for my upcoming trip to Africa. The Yellow Fever shot left me feeling pretty ill for most of the day and since I had a soccer game later that night I almost decided not to head over to the track. The previous time I went from a track workout to a soccer game I felt it served as an incredible warm up period for the soccer field. Unfortunately on this Wednesday I misread what time my soccer game was and showed up to the field just as the game was ending: though my legs felt incredible!
Since I didn't play in the game on Wednesday, I got up and did a short 4 miler on Thursday. My hip and the top of my right foot seemed a bit aggravated, and I had a lot of trouble remembering that on these short, recover runs, I should really try to run more slowly. I ran this one at a 7:52 pace.
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 12 mile run
Yesterday I had a 12 mile run scheduled. I returned to the gym for the first time in a month (rib injury) on Friday night and then went home for a relaxing evening. I ended up in bed later than I would have liked. Like last week, I surprised myself by sleeping in until 8:30. I got up pretty quickly and was out the door by 9am.
Tired of running the exact same routes, I decided to try something a bit different. The first mile between myself and Adam's Morgan was the same, but instead of dipping down into Rock Creek Park and heading towards the Mall I went across the Calvert Street Bridge and ran north on Connecticut Avenue. I had a general idea of what my route would be like, hoping to be able to take Connecticut to Military Road, head East on Military and come back to the house via Rock Creek Park.
By the time I reached Military Road, however, I'd barely eclipsed 4 miles, far short of the 6 mile halfway point. To Turn down Military and reach Rock Creek Parkway would mean that once I got back to my exit point from the Park I would need to continue on to make up the missing mileage. So, instead of cutting over on Military, I took Connecticut all the way to the Maryland border (Chevy Chase circle). At that point I still hadn't eclipsed 6 miles. I wasn't sure how pedestrian friendly Connecticut was past the circle (I know driving it turns into a 3 lane road), so I turned around.
It was a relatively short distance back to Military Road, and instead of heading East I decided to head West towards Wisconsin Avenue. Once I got to Friendship Heights (Military and Wisconsin), I head South on Wisconsin, thinking I could take that to Massachussets and then back towards the house.
By the time I reached Massachussets Avenue, though, I didn't think I would be able to return without having to make up a bit of mileage within the neighborhood by the house. Therefore I continued down Wisconsin towards Georgetown before cutting over on P Street and finishing the run via the well traveled route of Florida to 16th Street.
I'm not entirely sure what went on with this run, but it wasn't spectacular. In fact, if I wasn't able to just chalk it up to a "bad run" I might begin to worry about my preparation for the marathon. There are a lot of things that are weird about doing 12 miles at this point in my training. For one, on the weekends I'm so used to the runs being really long (20 miles was just last week) that 12 miles SEEMS short on paper. However, 12 miles is still a good hour and half out there pounding the pavement. So, while my mind perceives it as short - it's NOT short. It is shorter, but not short.
The new route also may have contributed to an off run. Instead of tracing familiar steps and allowing my mind to flow freely, this felt more like an out of town run. I was constantly guessing and anticipating the next mile to elapse so I could figure out where to turn around. Also, the run was hilly. Heading up Connecticut from Woodley Park is almost exclusively up hill. The portion of Military between Connecticut and Wisconsin was uphill as well, and portions of Wisconsin fit that description, too. And, finally, the top of my right foot and my right hip are having some issues. Even now, almost 24 hours after the run yesterday, the top of my right foot feels bruised in some sense. The issue with my hip has been there ever since the Montreal soccer tournament (where I believe I was kicked in the hip). The problem with these small injuries is they don't necessarily prevent me from running, but they don't leave me feeling fantastic afterwards.
Nevertheless, I finished the 12 miles at roughly a 7:49 pace (I forgot to mention that I calibrated my iPod + Nike system at the track on Wednesday and I'm not sure if that changed anything). It wasn't a fantastic showing, but I am looking forward to continuing to taper my runs in preparation for the marathon. This week I have to run 4 miles tomorrow, 6 on Tuesday and 3 on Thursday. I will do 8 on Saturday (in San Diego!) and then continue to just wind down. I hope that my mind can accept that I will not be running as much.
posted by Mike Mowery at 9:28 AM
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