The loneliness of the long distance runner

No, I'm not referring to the book because that book sucked. Seriously, don't read it, it made me want to jump off a bridge. Book was super depressing. Anyways, I think I named a post the same thing two years ago, but deal with it. This one will probably be better anyways.

I'm almost done with Once A Runner, I've got 30 minutes (~1 chapter) left. I'm at the part where he's just about to compete in the Southeastern Relays against John Walton in the mile as his Finnish alter ego. I'm going to finish up the book tonight, even though I promised myself I would only listen to the book while running. I'm pretty amped to get home and listen to it, even though I could probably write the last few chapters of OAR from memory. I've read it five times already. Once A Runner is like the Bible- you pick up something new each time you read it.

Anyways, it was freezing cold today. It was the type of cold where I wish it would have snowed just because that would have raised the temperature a few degrees. It did snow at the tail end of my run, which made me want to go longer except I couldn't because I had to go to work. I love running in the snow, except the part where snow accumulates on the sidewalks- that part sucks. It seems to be an epidemic around me, and I'm guilty of it too. It snows, you tell yourself "I'll shovel that tomorrow," the snow melts and freezes overnight, you decide it takes too much time to shovel that, and it snows again and the cycle repeats itself. What results is piss poor footing and an uphill battle to stay upright and move forward at the same time.

And so is born my current crisis. I fell and ripped my running tights the other day, which is a problem when I only have one pair. So the last few runs have been chilly, and I have my Brooks wind briefs to thank that I still have the, um... ability to have children, shall we say? So, I'll have to hit up Run 'n' Fun on Sunday... oh shoot.

Other than that, today's run was pretty awesome. I ran to the U, but this time crossed over to the West Bank for some variety. It was peaceful. I named this post the loneliness of the long distance runner because we all are solitary creatures, and crave that time when we're alone with our minds, with an expanse of road in front of us. Some of us don't need that, but I know I do. I live in our fraternity house and someone is having a good time there almost every night. I'm not a party guy per say, since I don't drink and the measure of a man seems to be how many beers he can drink. So, its nice to get away from that mess and... I don't know... reground yourself?

That also concludes my first full week of consistent training since late July. Only 20 miles, but at a 7:54 average pace, which is halfway respectable, all things considered. I still have one workout left to add to my flotrack workout log that is written on a pizza box on my bed. That just oozes class. I ran 4 days, which I think I could up one more day without, you know, the knee flaring up. Its finding the time that's the issue.

Nice one, Flotrack

I ran 5.2 miles today, maybe more, but the number's irrelevant because it was 40 minutes, my longest continuous run since mid- July. I know that's slow, but try not to laugh. Out loud anyway. As to the condition I'm in right now, I'm not hurting, but definitely couldn't crank out a double. My knee is letting me know its there, but its under control and I iced it just in case. But whatever. So today, I logged on to my Flotrack account for the first time in a couple weeks. I usually go there daily, but haven't logged in in a while since I haven't had to post a workout in a couple weeks, maybe a month. Since I logged in, Flotrack changed formats and updated their site. I figured it out, but I went to select a shoe, and it said I didn't have any. Its a good thing that most of the shoes I own are new or close to it, save for my flats, so it doesn't make much difference. I'm light anyways, so putting a ton of miles on shoes isn't that rate. I used to count miles meticulously and switch shoes every 600 miles or so, but I can't afford that anymore and since I've done a lot of timed runs lately its hard to count miles. No big deal really, just kind of annoying I have to re- add them.

Pretty solid weekend

This week has been a pretty solid one for me on a few fronts. First, and the latest development, upon planning my runs for next week, I found that the hotel I'm staying at is only two and a half miles from a forest preserve. Supposedly there's also a trail head only a mile and a half or so from my hotel too. To tell the truth, I'm really pumped; it'll be a nice break from the suburban roads of St. Paul. Second, I'm a winner! Twice! First, a couple weeks ago I entered the runhappy.com daily contest and won a Brooks Nightlife prize pack. It consists of a LED light magnet, a nightlife vest, and a nightlife cap. I usually don't go all out and dress up bright for night runs (although maybe I should, I almost got killed crossing the street the other night; apparently the new twilight movie gives teenage girls the right to run over people in order to get to the theater) although I will if I have to run on the street for a while at night. I'll bring the whole kit to Chicago with me just in case, but it usually doesn't get dark enough in the summer to warrant a headlamp or anything. In the winter though, I suspect everything's going to see a lot of use.

Second, I won the Good Fortune Giveaway runners pack on Frayed Laces' blog. I'm super pumped about this. It includes, among other things, a fuel belt, a Brooks water bottle, the movie Volcanic Sprint, and most importantly, a Hansons/ Brooks singlet signed by Mike Morgan and Kevin Hanson. Have you seen that man Mike run? holy crap. Check this out. Woah. Guy runs a 2:15 marathon in '06 and doesn't look like he's lost a step at all. Other than that, I'm psyched because I don't have a fuel belt anymore (I had one, but left it at one of my runs), and who couldn't use another water bottle? I've got a Running Warehouse one that came along with a pair of my Adrens, but its in pretty bad shape. As for the movie, I've got to be honest and say I haven't heard of it, but I'm pumped to watch a running movie.. any running movie. My 8 hour shifts at work are getting pretty long lately.

Lastly, I've discovered the magic of doubling up my runs. It makes for a long day so I won't double during the weekdays, but on weekends its a godsend. Wake up at 6, put in a few miles, go to bed, wake up and do whatever and then put in a few more miles. Awesome. In fact, in an hour I'm going to make today a 19 mile day. I know that conventional wisdom says you're not supposed to break up a long run because the point of a long run is endurance. Fine, point well taken, but my whole thong right now is 1) laying down a base, and 2) mental toughness. I think going out and running 7, 8, 9 times a week goes a long way to accomplish goal #2 imo.

So, where ya been?

Nowhere interesting, thats for sure. My summer thus far has consisted of work, class, and coaching. Nothing to strenuous, but nothing too terribly interesting. Well, that's not entirely true- my Constitutional Law class was really interesting, but a lot of work. Surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of writing involved- we had to write 8 slip opinions for the cases we read, but only 6 of them counted, so we could effectively not do three of them, which I took full advantage of. Don't get me wrong, that class interested me too much for me to sluff it off, but since the class met Tuesdays and Thursday nights, the turnaround from Tuesday to Thursday was a little tight, especially with track practice Wednesday nights. Apart from the little writing there was, the class was just a lot of reading. We had an 1000 page case book that we read through containing Supreme Court opinions dating back to 1930, as well as three books: when the Nazis Came to Skokie, the Christian Burial Case, and Ultimate Punishment. That's what made it a lot of work.

Other than that, summer's been a lot of the same. Working 5 days a week, 40 hours, getting up at 6:00 to be there at 7:30, or even earlier if there's an event to do. I work in St. Thomas' technology department, so sometimes there's a bunch to do, and sometimes it seems like I don't even need to show up to work. Plus, yesterday and today I've worked 12 and a half hour days, so that sucks a lot. Plus I'm working Saturday so I'm racking up a lot of hours. Its all good though, because I'm going to Chicago next Tuesday through Saturday.

I'm going to Chicago, actually Deerfield, next week to coach in the National Junior Disability Championships. Really, when I'm there I can't do much coaching, lets be honest. Even at this point, two practices out, there's not much I can do-you can't make a training cycle in two days, but you sure can wreck one- the hay's in the barn, so to speak. Really, I'm just going to sit in the stands with my clipboard, writing down splits and blowing my vuvuzela real loud. Granted, my athletes aren't the world class or anything, but for most of them this is the climax of their running careers. Okay, one of my athletes is world class and already qualified for the Paraolympic World Championship Team and got a training stipend and all that, but that's none of my doing. For the vast majority of my athletes, they think they'll became better milers overnight. But that's another rant for another post.

So, my running. Its been kind of hectic and disorganized. Last week was good in the mileage category, but that's about it. 45 miles, but I only ran 5 days, doubling up once. The week before that I was slacking big time, with only 30 miles, with the mantra "I'll start my half training tomorrow." Speaking of, when should I start my half training? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking not this training cycle. There's a half that I was looking at what, August 7th? Now I'm thinking that's too early. Now I'm thinking that's way too early. The question's not if I could do it, but how fast. The master plan is to get faster and more mentally tough for next summer, and I feel like racing this early would negate both goals. I've got a master plan, which includes lots of speed and tempos, but to do that I've got to build up a solid base again, and I think racing would put me back at square one. Plus, I can't afford a $47 race entry fee, so that makes things a little easier.

Next in the news, R.I.P. Brooks Ghost 2's. After roughly 736 miles, they've called it quits. I've heard that when your knees start hurting, you know your shoes are toast. That never happened to me. It would hurt my thigh and calf general area and a little in my knees, but nothing extraneous. Maybe that's more bad form than dead shoes, but it seemed like a feasible relationship to me. So, a pair of Brooks Launches are headed my way. Until then I'm running exclusively in my Green Silences, which is, well, a challenge for two reasons. One, I'm scared to do a long run in them. That's why I doubled up this weekend instead of going long. an 8 in the morning/ 8 at night double somehow seems better to my feet than an outright 16 miler. Second, I always want to go fast. I find myself walking or jogging pieces of my run not really because I'm tired, but because I'm going way too fast and want to avoid a crash and burn. Obviously, that isn't a problem with tempo runs, but I can't tempo for two weeks straight.

Also, if you didn't think Flotrack was the best running site out there, I present to you floshopping. Enjoy. I lol'ed hard.