made it.  and my knee is weird


The 9 mile run on Sunday was not so terrible.  Well, the last mile was pretty terrible, but I felt pretty great the rest of the time.  There was an uphill that lasted about 3/4 of a mile that was tough and a downhill that sucked (but don't all downhills suck?).  I got a little lost at one point and had to re-route on the fly, but I managed.

I ran 5 miles Tuesday morning and felt pretty terrific.  Knee didn't bother me at all.  I am still pretty slow, but it was a sub 10 minute pace so I can't really complain.  Now this morning i've skipped my run because my legs feel like they need to heal some.  It makes zero sense.  My calves, achilles heel and knee feel beat up after feeling great for the past few days.  I know I could have run this morning, but I think an extra day of rest may better in the long run.

I am riding my bike a lot and I have noticed that the bridges have become easier and that my stamina towards the top of my inclines has gotten much better.  I am really able to dig deeper and push more. I just want to get my race done at this point.  I am really nervous about it for some reason.  I am going to run with a friend that runs at my pace which may help keep me honest with my game plan, in fact we are going to run 10 miles this Sunday.

Lentils with curry and kale and some roast chicken for lunch today.  Time to make my smoothie!

5 and still alive.  will 9 feel fine or will i just cry like a baby?


Ran 5 yesterday on the wonky knee.  It was not bad.  I felt really strong the last few miles.  The rest of the day felt fine on my knee, but it was a little stiff this morning.  I ordered a knee brace and will probably use it during the day just to give my knee a break.

I have to run 9 miles on Sunday and I am looking forward to it!  I guess i'll know at the end of that beast where I stand. I'm going to run in Jersey so it will be a new route. I think the change of scenery may be a pleasant distraction.

I am going to try and eat something before the run.  For some reason the fear of eating before a run is up there with shark attacks for me.  I am fairly convinced that I will poop my pants if I eat before a run.  I'll give myself an hour to digest.  That should cover it.  I hope.

Two weeks until the race!  I am very excited and nervous.  I will probably slow down everything these next two weeks to keep the abuse on my joints to a minimum.  I need to remember that I am in this for distance, not speed.

i'm injured.  i think


My knee is tweaked.

It's my left knee and it hurts on the inside side.  I couldn't finish my 10 K on Sunday and I took a break today.  Hopefully I will feel ok by Thursday (skipping tomorrow as well) to run 5 miles and also on Sunday when I will be (hopefully) running 9 miles.  If I can't run 9 miles on Sunday I am considering dropping out of the race.

And that would suck.

I am a little nervous about this injury.  Will my dreams of running long races be smashed?  Did I try to run too far too soon?  I feel like a half-marathon after 8 months may be a push.  Or is this just something that every runner goes through?  Is it just a tweak?  Will it work itself out?

I think that I will go to Staten Island on race day and try my best.  Maybe i'll end up walking the damn thing.  Maybe I will be picked up for being too slow and suffer that indignity.  Or maybe I will overcome my injury and Chariots O' Fire the damn race.

And if a frog had wings it wouldn't bump its ass a' hoppin'........

Here's hoping I wake up tomorrow feeling fine.

short and sweet


The run to Coney Island Sunday sucked.  It was really hard.  One of the friends I ran with pushed me for the first two miles or so and I kinda kept up.  Then they were gone and I fell back.  But I pushed.

It was hot.  REALLY HOT. I brought water but that was soon gone and, though I could have stopped to buy more water, I ran without.  I felt faint at mile six and practically delirious at mile 7, but I kept on slogging along.  When I got to the end my friends informed me that I had not been that far behind.  I didn't believe them.

I checked out my Garmin and it informed me that I set new personal bests in a few categories; Fastest 1 mile, Fastest 5K, Fastest 10K, Fastest 8 mile.  I was pretty stoked.  We had Italian Ices and then took the subway home.  We went to our separate homes to shower and change and then went and gorged ourselves on Pizza and beer.

Tuesday morning I woke up and ran 5 miles.  I gotta say, I cruised. I had a personal best mile (8:40).  I finished much quicker than usual and had a 9:20 average pace.  This morning I ran 3 miles and took it easy, but tomorrow I will try and push again.  Not to the injury point, but enough to challenge myself a little more.

My game plane is still to concentrate on finishing the 1/2 marathon rather than shoot for a specific time, but its nice to know that I can push a little and it won't kill me.

coney island bound

My run tomorrow, should I choose to accept is, is 8-9'ish miles to Coney Island.   It's a doozy. 

I will be running it with two of my neighbors (now dear friends) who are both much more accomplished runners than I . We will run to Coney, maybe eat some pizza and drink a beer, and then head back via the Q (thats a subway line if you are not familiar with New York).  Ooooooooh, maybe some clam strips too..... and a Nathan's hot dog.   

I am extremely nervous about this endeavor.  It will be my longest run to date and the first really "long" run going into my final few weeks of training.  I feel pretty good, but have still remained a little sluggish on my last few runs even though I seemed to be running faster than usual.  I sleep well and eat..... pretty well.  I have been drinking a little more than usual as of late, but not going nuts.  

My friends will push me on this run.  I know this.  I may end up trailing behind, but I will push my self, too a point, to keep up as best I can.  This is not about me hurting myself.  This is about getting in the miles and, perhaps, enjoying a new route.  

Maybe enjoy is too strong a word.

After this run its all gravy for the rest of my Sunday.  The Giants have their opening game at 4pm and I will be able to watch the Mets try to beat up the pesky Braves at 1.  There may be pizza, there maybe nachos.  Hell, there may even be some sort of salad.  I know there will be ice for my knee's and a refreshment or two for me.  

I will have, hopefully, deserved it.  

Tonight its a Mets game, some stew and a LOT of water.  

the grind. oh, the grind



Its starting to suck.  The day to day training.  The Sunday long run.  The back to backs during the week.  The regularity of it all.  The grind.

Tuesday morning was a struggle.  To get out of bed and out of the house.  It kind of sucked.  My run was not so bad, though I felt pretty rundown at the beginning.  My time was better than expected.  But I was mentally beat right from the get go.

This morning was not much better.  Again, my time was not bad, it was actually pretty good, but my mind was in the doldrums.  Perhaps a change in diet?  Maybe switch my route?  I hate not being psyched to get out there.  Maybe it's like exhaustion, if I power through it it will go away.

I'm going to see if running other routes helps.   Maybe a change of scenery is in order.  Also, i'll start bringing snacks on my run.  Maybe i'm just hungry?

Not much to report other than this.  Here's to some motivation!

feeling groovy


The knees are feeling better.  I have started doing some light stretches before my run and do a pretty rigorous routine after.  I also make sure to ice my knees. I think it just may be some growing pains as I start to ramp up the mileage.  I'll see how I feel after Sundays run.

I am starting to really pay attention to my pre-run diet.  This is, of course, the meal the evening before as I don't eat before runs.  I am trying to keep it pretty clean the night before to make sure my stomach does not get too loopy.  I will, of course, be bringing waffles and goo's on my longer runs. I am also very concerned with hydration.  I will definitely try my Hydration Pack https://www.cambridgelsat.com/bookstore/?azdp=B01ECCEAR0 this Sunday as it's a long one (7 miles).  I am a little nervous about chaffing, but the reviews are pretty solid.

I am actually (FINALLY) starting to see the effects of this training program.  My legs are starting to feel stronger on second and third day, consecutive, runs.  This Thursday was the third consecutive run and I definitely felt like it was my strongest of the three.   I will definitely be following this plan to the letter until the race, but will be doing a lot of research after to find a great strength and speed plan.

I have pretty much stopped riding my bike to work.  I only ride in on Saturdays as Saturdays are scheduled as a cross-training day.  I find the Manhattan Bridge really stresses my patella on run days. I have been reading a lot about the importance of rest in your running.  It's very hard to pull back and ease off.  I tend to want to push the envelope and see how far I can go and see how much I can take.  But I will seriously lose my shit if i get injured, so rest it is.

I'll be heading out of town Sunday after my run.  Going to visit a buddy upstate.  Maybe do some swimming hole laps and some beer curls.