I’m still here.  Just busy.  Spend the weekend at the cape.  I got my 8 and 3 mile runs in on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  I picked up the trail in West Dennis.  Lots of bikers.  Just one runner who tried to catch me but I ran too fast.  :)  Hearing her footsteps reminded me of a race and I couldn’t let her catch up.  :D

Hope you all had a good week.

Today (the day after the 5K) my legs feel really really good. There’s really no reason for it. Normally my legs would be crap today and I’d be hobbling, but I’m not. And this is a week after a 20K besides. As I recall, after the last marathon, my recovery time (i.e. time until I was walking normally) was only a few days, instead of the agony of over a week when I ran Detroit.

I’m telling you folks, its the shoes. This is me talking. The guy who breaks stuff constantly. The guy who had shin splints since he first started running. All that is really really gone.

Throw out your high heeled shoes. Buy the flats. Learn ChiRunning.

Yes, you will be starting over and you will get calf pain when you first start. That’s your Achilles being stretched to a normal length, instead of the shortened length from wearing high heels. That is all temporary and it will subside. Just run short distances at first (you know, like starting over again).

Can you do ChiRunning in high heeled shoes? Nope. I tried. There’s really no way to land midfoot (especially downhill) with those big heels. Buy the right shoes and do it right. You’ll see.

I ran in the Bruegger’s Bagel Run this AM.  Its a 5K here in Albany.  The race was not so very large, but it was a good turnout just the same.  Like most races here, this was a certified race but no chips.  I’m not competing for a winning spot, so no loss for me really.

We had some nice cloud cover early with a little breeze, but the sun was out by the time the starting gun went off.  I hadn’t run since Wednesday but I have been watching the calorie intake to keep myself from exploding again.  I had a good pasta dinner last night, but reasonable portions.  I think I still stayed within my target caloric intake for the day.

My wife was very kind to let me out of household duties so I could get to bed early on Friday night, and I think the extra sleep helped me recover from New Haven, so I would be ready for today.

I started out faster than I had planned (as is my custom), and tried my best to just hold on to that pace, but ended up going even faster.  I remember seeing the instantaneous paces on Forerunner as sub-7:00 a few times. This was a pretty flat course so if I was going to get some speed, this was the course to do it on.  Surprisingly, I did pretty damn good only 6 days after a 20K:

mile 1: 7:50
miles 2+3: 15:12 (never did see the mile 2 sign)
mile .1: 0:49

Overall: 23:52 (by Forerunner), 7:41 pace. Damn! Considering I was just a hair over 8:00 pace on the last 5K, I’m pretty pleased with this. That puts me about 30 seconds/mile slower than my 5K PR. For the first time in 3 years, I feel like a new PR is finally within reach. And I think that all the racing is helping me get faster. I’ve never raced this often before. Fits the old saying “If you want to learn to run faster, then run faster.”

Cool race bling: Technical race shirt and the bag that it all came in was one of those reusable grocery bags from Hannaford. My wife uses them so maybe this is the one I can keep in my truck and use myself.

Food at the race? Meh. Bagels, banas, pears, and little cups of Nantucket Nectar. We all headed for 2nd breakfast afterwards. I had a bagel with lox. Heh. By my calculations, I’m still within my target calories for the day, even with the extra race food and second breakfast. ‘Course, no lunch today, but I’m not really hungry anyway after two breakfasts.

Speaking of food and weight, my weight graph is telling me that if I stay on my present weight loss rate, I will hit 175 before the high school reunion. Yet another bonus today!

I was digging through old posts while writing this one and came across another where I am contemplating my next set of races.  It made me laugh to see myself saying I wanted to get my weight down again.  I had listed about half a dozen races I wanted to do.  I wanted to try barefoot running.  I wanted to get into running with flats to fix my form and stop the injuries (check!).

I made the post in October of 2005 (was it really that long ago?) while I was studying for the patent bar, and only a few months before I landed the rotten job that brought me back to NY, leaving all those races behind.  I got a chuckle at my closing line:

This all depends upon what is going on in the rest of my life. You can make all the plans you want but somehow the rest of the world expects you to carry on with your job and family life at the same time. Geeeeeeez.

Funny how life teases you like that.  :)

This is not a meme.  Its just a small piece of philosophy that I’ve had for a long time.  I’m sure I’ve told it to people I know, so here it is in written form.

There are lots of things in your life that are important to keep you healthy and happy.  Some you can control and some you can’t.  You can avoid smoking, you can eat organic food, you can wear your seat belt, you can move to someplace other than next to a toxic waste landfill, etc.

Among all these things, there are three that top the list for me.  Three things which I feel are very much in my control and which I do everything I can to make sure that they are the best I can do with regard to them.

Here they are in random order:

Water

Our bodies are made up mostly of water (by weight, no matter what the scale tells you).  I know there is an exact number out there (somewhere between 70 and 90%), but the point is that we are mostly water.  The water isn’t just sitting in a big sealed container inside us.  It is circulating, being excreted, reacting with food to make energy, and lots of other biological things far too boring to mention here.  The water comes in and the water goes out, in and through every cell of our bodies.

With all this water constantly being brought in an exchanging with the other water in our body, it is absolutely critcal to have clean water, because pollutants and toxins and chemicals that are dissolved in the water, do not stay with the water they came in with, waiting patiently to be harmlessly excreted.  No, they go off in search of organs to poison, cells to damage, and fat tissue to hide in until the right moment.  Some do get removed eventually, and some never leave, ever.

For this reason, clean water is one of the three things that I put on my 3-thing list.  Your water should be as clean and pure as you can possibly get it.  For me, I use double filters for my water at home.  I may sometimes drink bottled water.  I will NOT drink water at a drinking fountain in a factory.  In the US, clean water is readily available and chemicals can be filtered from it very cheaply, so make sure you are drinking clean water because you are what you drink.

Bed

Roughly a third of your life as a water-filled organism is spent sleeping.  We can’t go very long without sleeping before our brain tries to kill us.  I once when 52 hours without sleep and I fried part of my brain.  I had visual and auditory hallucinations, and went through some very strange mood swings.  Your brain needs sleep to survive.

For the most part, people here sleep in beds.  Most beds I have seen have a mattress.  The mattress is the most important part of the bed.  Bad mattress = bad sleep.  Bad sleep = brain disintegration.  If you are going to spend a full 1/3 of your life lying on something, it had better be something damn good.

I buy the biggest, best mattress that I can.  I want my mattress to be perfect so that my sleep is the best it can be.  Its a third of my life after all.  If I spend $2000 on my mattress set, it might seem like a lot of money, but amortized over a 10 year life of a mattress set, and that’s $200/year, less than a dollar a day.  Not so bad.  You spend more than than on cable TV, and you don’t spend half the time in front of the time that you do sleeping (one would hope).

Shoes

When your soggy body is isn’t sleeping, its up on its feet walking around (well, alot of times anyway).  The full weight of that giant sack of water bears down on those feet.  Now runners certainly appreciate the importance of good running shoes, but everyday shoes are also important.  You probably walk a couple miles a day in your “regular” shoes, and what those shoes do to your feet is just as important as what your running shoes do.

For children, shoes are especially critical.  Barefoot is really best, but you can’t go barefoot to church or the store, so you have to compromise.   Their feet are growing, and if you are going to stuff those growing feet into shoes, how the shoes fit them is very important because it can impact how their feet grow.  I know that kids go through shoes like Dixie cups, but when those shoes get worn out, their feet are then constantly walking or running on some really messed up soles.

I buy the most comfortable shoes for my feet, regardless of price.  I may try on two dozen pairs before I find one that is perfect.  I wouldn’t buy running shoes that didn’t fit perfectly, and so there is no reason to wear bad shoes the rest of the day either.  If I am going to strap those things around my feet, They need to treat my feet with respect.  I can’t become crippled and injured to save a few bucks on shoes.  Again, if the shoes cost (eek!) $200, and they last me a year, that’s less than $1 a day for shoes.  Again, not too bad, especially if you work in an office and those shoes actually last longer than a year.

So there they are, the three most important things to spend very good money on when you buy them.  My personal feeling is that there isn’t much that is more criticial and which you have as much control over.  Feel free to pass this along to everyone you know and allow it to turn into some giant viral email chain that ends up on Snopes.  Just remember you heard it here first.

Disclaimer

The author is not a licensed physician or an attorney.  The preceding is strictly the author’s personal opinion and in no way, shape, or form constitutes medical advice, legal counsel, or actual fact.  No way, no how.  Author assumes no responsibility for any action taken by an individual based on the above opinion, even when the action results in extreme financial loss, severe bodily injury, and/or traumatic public humiliation.  Readers are advised to seek the advise of a physician before make any changes to their diet, lifestyle, wardrobe, or home decor.  Do not stand forward of the white line while bus is in motion.  Close cover before striking.

I ran an easy 3 miles last night.  My calves were still feeling tight, but the run helped loosen them up, and this morning they are feeling pretty good.  I think I will be in good shape for Sunday.

I also discovered that I am losing a toenail, due to my cavalier attitude about preventative lubrication on my toes.  I had always used vaseline on the little piggy that stayed home, but lately I’ve been skipping it.  I guess I thought that a 20K was far enough to give me trouble.  I was wrong.

Last night I had that sore/pressure feeling in my toenail and after careful inspection I realized I had a blister beneath it.  I guess I had suspected as much after New Haven, but eveything else hurt so badly, I didn’t really look closely at it.

Get the needle.  Sterilize.  Lance.  Eeeeewwwww.

Well, now after the fluid had drained I can see very clearly that just the edges of the nail are holding it on.  So it remains in place until the new nail comes up undeneath.  Lessoned learned, my toes need vaseline for the long runs.

I hope nobody was eating breakfast and reading this.

I had another good year at the New Haven Road Race.  I ran the 20K this year which I have not run since the first time I raced there.  Somehow I have either been training for something bigger, or just wasn’t up to the 20K.  But this year I trained specifically for it.

We had a very small turnout this year.  Since I’m a total freak geek and all my friends are online, I really look forward to seeing people at the big races.  This year we had Dianna, Jank, and Jank’s wife Missy.  Dianna suggested I stay at their house since we would both save a ton on hotel bills and Dianna makes way better pasta than restaurants anyway.  A chance to sleep in the same Bed and Breakfast as the Amazing Hip and April Anne?  I’ll take it!

I got to meet Dianna’s very shy and reserved dog, Darin (sp?), along with the equally shy and reserved sled dog team owned by Dianna’s parents.  Sloppy tennis balls for everyone.  :D

Dianna and I had a lovely dinner out on the front porch, and I even managed to steal some tomatoes from her garden.  A welcome gift since my tomatoes have been utterly pathetic this year.  I did find one red one when I got home.  I set it on the counter next to the two giant ones from Dianna and it instantly shriveled up and turned to dust out of sheer disgrace.

We got up bright and early and headed out for the race in the morning.  I never did meet Dianna’s alleged husband.  Supposedly he came home after we had gone to sleep, and was still in bed when we left.  She had lots of pictures of guys around, but they all looked like the model pictures that come with the frames.  I remain skeptical, but we all have our little secrets I suppose.

We arrived at the race with plenty of time to check in and get our bibs.  Somehow I got a really low number and didn’t have to wait in line.  I’m sure from my physique they were all wondering if I was one of the elite runners.  Let them dream.

I was sure I spotted Beth walking with some guy, but I was too afraid to run up and tap her on the shoulder.  If it wasn’t her I was afraid the big guy she was with would be cranky about some freak questioning his girlfriend.  I know she was there someplace though.  I hope you did well, Beth, and I’m sorry we missed you.

The race was pretty good this year.  A little hotter than I’d have liked. I don’t do well in the heat.  Bill, Dianna and I started out together.  Bill disappeared in the first 1/4 mile and Dianna and I hung together for a mile or two.  At one point Dianna shouted to me that I was way over pace and I promptly slowed up.  Unfortunately, she was far ahead of me soon and was not around to stop me from over pacing later.

I was doing pretty well for the first 8 miles.  I was targeting an 8:45 pace (ahead of McMillan’s prediction), but I was running as follows:

mile 1:8:37
mile 2:8:28
mile 3:8:22
mile 4:8:19
mile 5:8:30 (see it slowing?)
mile 6:8:48 (now you do!)
mile 7:8:46 (still on target but..)

Somewhere in mile 8, the wheels fell off.  My legs were like lead and my hips started to ache.  I really didn’t have much left in the tank at that point.  I tried to straighten my form and make sure I was moving as efficiently as possible.  I got some Gatorade, an orange slice, and a oh-so-yummy Gu at the aid stations.  I think those things helped alot to revive me but I was still flagging for the rest of the race.

Bill came up on my around mile 8, or maybe I passed him, I’m not sure.  I was kinda out of it at that point.  We hung together until the next water stop and he vanished at that point.  I put on a the best smile I could for the photographer but I have the suspicion it won’t be pretty picture.  Its always on that downhill in the park and I end up looking like I’m heel striking, which is hard for me not to do going down hill.

The best thing I heard someone say in the race was “You’re almost there!  The next band you hear is at the 12 mile mark!”  Live band music never sounded so good.  :D

The rest of the times went like this:

mile 8: 9:14
mile 9: 9:18
mile 10: 9:27
mile 11: 9:17
mile 12: 8:53 (the finish line is in sight!)
mile 0.6: 3:37 (8:24 pace)

Final Forerunner time: 1:49:42 (I think gun time was 1:50:28, 8:54 pace), 8:49 “chip” pace.  1114/2090, 147/219(?). Forerunner says I went 12.58 miles, which is just shocking because usually its off by a quarter mile or more.  FYI Dianna, I peeked at your time.  You totally rocked that race!  :)

I think I crossed the finish line in good form. I think. At least it felt like that. Then I disintegrated on the spot, and walked in a daze to the food tent. After about 20 minutes I found Dianna and went to collapse on the lawn where I ate anything that I could get near my mouth.  I checked a bag this year which was very convenient because I could change into a dry shirt and I had a big bottle of Gatorade waiting for me.

After about an hour, we all said our goodbye’s and headed home.  I was very thankful for Dianna driving this morning, so I had the hour ride back to my truck to recover.   I was the bad rider and forgot to give Dianna money for gas.  Sorry Dianna.  :(

Overall it was a good race.  I crashed at home after emptying the fridge and showering.  My left hip is a little sore and I don’t seem to have much energy at the moment.  I have a 5K next Sunday and I’m hoping things will be ironed out by then.  I have no obvious injuries from this race, except for maybe some soreness on one toenail.

Thank you again to Dianna for hosting me this weekend!  And ofcourse it is always a pleasure to see Jank and his family.

Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day weekend!

I’m here in Connecticut with Dianna.

We have the New Haven Road Race tomorrow.

But first we are going to bed.

Well, not together.  What the heck were you people thinking?

Why the heck am I up at 1:42 AM?

Because I’m a flmaing idiot.

Egads.

Go to bed, stupid.

I ran the hilly 3.25 at the park tonight, which will be the last hill run before New Haven.  I have one more run this week.  I think its only 2 miles.  Actually, I need a 2 miler tomorrow and Friday, but I’m going to dinner at my sister’s house Friday so no run that night.  So maybe I will do my usual 5 Thursday night and then call it quits until Monday. Ok, maybe a little jog on Saturday.

The chocolate is made for next Monday.  If you are coming to New Haven, then you get some.  Sounds like a small group this year.   Wish there were more of us.

Ok, off to bed.

PS I lost 3 pounds last week. :)

PPS. I gained them all back on the weekend.  :(

I hate when people do bullets.  It makes them look like they think they are so damn important that people will be desparate for anything they have to say, and bulletpointed items will give them just enough to be happy.

That being said, I don’t have time for a full post but I wanted to post something before I forget and the topic gets stale to me.  Bullets.  I know, I suck.

• Ran 11 miles today.  It wasn’t too bad, but I really had to focus to stay on track with the hot sun on me.  I need a serious nap.
• Made 75 truffle centers tonight.  I made them a little denser, less air in the mix.  I’m hoping it will cure the “oozing” they do when coated.
• I have lost a couple pounds on my diet.  I seem to have picked them back up over the weekend though.  Must have been the sweet potatoes.
• To the stupid bearded old man in the green pickup truck driving on Charlton Road around 11:00 am today who almost ran me over because he was too fucking stupid to not drive on the fucking shoulder, I hope you had a heart attack on the way home and crashed into your house, burning the house, you, and your entire family to ashes, you stupid worthless old piece of rancid rat food.  In case you couldn’t hear me screaming at you while I gave you the double fingers today, let me repeat: GOTOHELLYOUFLAMINGREDNECKFUCKTARD!!!!  If I could read your redneck license plate, you would have been talking to the cops today.
• Ahem.  I feel better now.  Sorry for the rant (sorry to my friends, not the moron redneck).
• The extended forecast for New Haven on Labor Day says scattered thunderstorms.  :(

Good night!