Rainy Wednesday runnings & ramblings

This week, as previously mentioned, is the first of full-time training again. I keep track of my weeks Monday to Sunday, so I'm three days in now. I didn't actually run on Monday, though, but I DID do an abridged CrossFit WOD (100' of lunges preceding rounds of 21, 18, and 15 pull ups/sit ups). The actual WOD has you do rounds of 12, 9, and 6 but I was at work and by the end of the round of 15 we were ready to leave.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we got to leave earlyish so I was able to get my run in right at sunset. I had originally planned on doing an easy half hour on North Point Rd (from my house to the gate at the park entrance is exactly 1.7 miles) out & back but I decided to take a detour out and back on a mile long trail and I'm glad I did. The run was relaxing and rejuvenating plus running in the woods helped break up the road running some. I picked up the effort to what felt like moderate over the last few minutes and wound up running the last mile or so at ~7:00 pace. I wound up doing 5.5 miles (42:33) all told. I'm still getting used to the fact that my easy pace is under 8:00 and 7:00 miles feels moderate and not at all like I'm straining much. Cool.

Today was much worse, weather-wise, and we had a field trip of ninth graders at work who we took to do trail maintenance all morning. The walking around actually helped with some of my muscle soreness (mostly from Monday's workout). Around 5 pm I set off for a shorter, easier effort on the park road and that's just what happened -- 4.5 miles (40:30) at what was essentially recovery pace.

The rest of the week will see me doing another easy run of about the same length tomorrow with strides and some strength work after. Friday will be slightly longer (probably about 6 miles) with some short pick-ups in the middle miles. Saturday will be another easy day and Sunday will be my longest run in a while, probably about 75-80 minutes.

Cluck, cluck, cluck.

Back to work

Exactly two weeks ago, November 15th, I ran a 5k in Norristown, PA. I ran a smart race, placed 2nd overall and set an official PR by nearly thirty seconds (18:40). Later that evening I headed over to the Haverford Nature Trail and ran an easy 4.5 miles as a shakeout/recovery run. And that was it.

That day marked five weeks since the Baltimore Marathon Relay, where I ran 7.3 miles faster than I ever had before. Five weeks which saw my first ever 50k and a 5k PR and more than a few hard training runs in between. I was exhausted, physically AND mentally.

Since that day I haven't run at all. In fact, I haven't done much of anything, exercise-wise, in the past two weeks. I have a pretty physical job and I've gotten what passes for exercise there most days but nothing at all compared to the activity level I'm used to when in the midst of training. So for all intents and purposes, I have done absolutely nothing for almost a fortnight. And that was exactly what I had planned.

Unlike my other extended layoffs over the past few years, this was my call. I wasn't injured or breaking down, but I had been racing hard for over a month, my peak had almost certainly been realized and it was time for some downtime to recharge and recuperate. And that's just what the past two weeks have been.

So tonight, after Jess & I finished our two day Dexter Season 1 marathon, I laced up my Brooks Launches and ran. It was nothing special; just the typical out & back along the park road at North Point, 3.4 miles total. I didn't feel particularly awful (my intercostals reminded me that nothing had been used in a while) and I didn't feel fantastic (I've never had a "runner's high") but it was exactly what I wanted it to be: An easy "Welcome Back" run. A starting point.

This coming week, and really the next few weeks, will be mostly more of what I did tonight -- shortish, slowish, easy runs. Right now it's just going to be about reintroducing my body to the rigors of running almost daily, and doing so gradually to allow my strength to build up and NOT GET INJURED (always goal #1 for running). It might be a little boring and I'll DEFINITELY be itching to run more than I'm going to allow myself for a while, but it's worth it.

So, now it's back to work.

Hello there!

Hi and welcome to my blog! I have a number of blogs, most of them somewhat running-themed, floating about the internet; all with various level of in-depth coverage about my running and racing adventures; all spanning various time periods in my running "career."

So why a new one? Well, for one, blogspot seems to be THE place to have a blog about running. For another, 2009 is drawing to a close. 2009 was more than just a good year for me running-wise, it was a GREAT year. I set PRs at 5k, 10k, and the marathon. I raced my first 50k (and finished 4th!). I ran more miles (as of this writing 1750) than I ever have in a calendar year (and note, there's still a month and a half left of this year). But along with all the highs that came in 2009, there were some lows. In fact, this was quite the roller coaster year for me, running-wise (the point is further driven home when one takes a gander at my weekly and monthly mileage graphs. Yes, I make graphs for each. Yes, I AM that big a running dork). Consistentcy was not something I enjoyed much of, following up a good start to the year with some lackluster spring months, then an injury, followed by a very solid summer, which was followed by a much less stellar fall and... you get the picture. 80 mile weeks back-to-back and then... 20 mile weeks? Or nothing? The point is, as well as I ran and raced this year, I'm SURE I could have done even better with more consistency. Instead of huge mileage weeks/months followed by almost nothing, a steady progression almost certainly would've yielded similar results with much less frustration. And, thinking long term, steady and consistent running > brief periods of excess followed by periods of nothing/injury, rinse, repeat.

So that's why I'm writing this new running blog. I've learned a lot in the past few years of serious, somewhat competitive running. I'm still learning. And I'm still refining my approach to training, as well as my short- and long-term plans and goals. All of this seems to indicate to me that a fresh blog would be a good way to get a quasi-fresh start. I'm not re-doing everything. But I have big plans for 2010 & beyond and this is my step one to that end. I'm even getting a bit of a jump on things, seeing how it's still 2009.

I hope you enjoy the months and miles to come as much as I'm sure I will!

Happy running!