The Past Two Weeks: 83 Miles, a Meteor Shower, the Short Track, and a Tale of Two Long Runs

So much for updating this blog at least once a week. The good thing is that despite neglecting the documentation of my training, I have not been neglecting my training.

I attribute my falling behind to trying to keep up with a new job, my newfound addiction to Dexter, the exhaustion of a two-year old's birthday party, the birth of a new fantasy football season, and the Cubs collapse. I think last I wrote the Cubs were in first place or maybe a game or two back. Now they are on the brink of double-digits. My temperament, no doubt, fluctuates with the mojo of that blippin team (hey, we all have our crosses), and well, my motivation goes straight to the Port-o-Let when they play like this.

Nonetheless, over the course of the past two weeks I ran a total of 83 miles. It was by far the most I have run in a two-week period. Here's the breakdown of how it panned out:

Monday 8/10 - Oversleep a bit, but still get in 4 miles at the gym and a short strength workout.

Tuesday 8/11 - Up way too late last night (2:00am). No chance for a morning run. Instead, after dinner, Lori and I took the kids to the lake. I ran two loops for a total of 8 miles. She walked and jogged with the kiddos. A rare, but satisfying, and quite energetic evening run.

Wednesday 8/12 - My aspirations of running 8 miles the night before and getting up early to run 4 miles were squashed by another late evening and exhaustion in the morning. End result: an evening 4-mile run through the subdivision after putting the kids to sleep with a short strength workout. The awesome thing about this run was that there was an active meteor shower lighting up the night sky this week. It was at its peak late Tuesday night, but supposedly carried into Wednesday night. I kept my eyes peeled while running, and sure enough, as I pushed up the final hill, I saw one go streaking through the night sky like a laser beam. It was awesome! Talk about an adrenaline boost for the last quarter mile.

Thursday 8/13 - Thou shall not train on Thursday... Amen!

Friday 8/14 - I needed to get to work early. I also needed to get 8 miles in at my goal marathon pace. Since I don't run at the park in the dark, I opted for the short track at Bally's at 5am. Yes, 8 miles. That meant 120 laps around that 1/15th-mile track. Brutal but effective!

Saturday 8/15 - On the schedule for the day: 17 miles. The most I have ever run, and two more than the last time I said that (two weeks ago). This time I was running solo. While I was hoping a running partner might show up, I knew the odds were slim, and I was dreading the run. Not only was this going to be my first long run in a long time without a partner to chat the monotony away, but it was going to be a hot one.

For my 17 miles, I planned to run a half mile and then three 5.5-mile loops. And that I did. Each time I approached my SUV, I crossed my fingers, hoping to be surprised by a familiar face, ready to join me for a loop. But that never happened. No worries, though - I needed this test of will. Not only was I running a crazy distance, but the temp was climbing from the upper 60s at the onset of the run to the upper 80s at the close of it. I powered through 15 miles, and once I realized that with each step I was going one step further than ever before, I got to 17 with no problem. And with a couple hundred yards to go, Lori was there with the kids to surprise me. It about brought me to tears (and it's not even race day). The reasons why I run, there, like an oasis, at the end of my 17-miler. As I got my "Go, Daddy, Go!" from Em and gave her a high-five, I headed to the finish line, where I gave my Carlos Zambrano sign of the cross and point to the sky in thanks for getting me there. 39 miles complete this week and a photo op with my angels at the end. Awesome!

Sunday 8/16 - A cross-train day. Yeah, I've got to be honest, I didn't do much here except take the kids for a walk at the mall.

Monday 8/17 - Shorter runs increase to 5 miles this week. I ran 5 at the gym, again arriving a bit late, which forced me to cut my strength workout short.

Tuesday 8/18 - Ugh, up 'til 2am again last night. No morning run. I put in 8 again at the lake in the evening, except this time I started about 20 minutes later than last week. That meant that my final mile was past sundown. It was like I was the windshield of a car driving through an Iowa corn field in July. The bugs were out, EVERYWHERE, and it was disgusting, but I got my 8-miler in.

Wednesday 8/19 - Not a chance I'm getting up early. I ran 5 miles at night, again, outside and got in a short strength workout.

Thursday 8/20 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays. Gladly! But does an evening of yard work and mulching count as rest? If not, then I broke the commandment.

Friday 8/21 - Ah, my little one's second birthday! I had 8 miles scheduled. The short track was not an option this week. You see, I had off from work to celebrate. So I got to sleep in an extra half hour and run leisurely at the lake - two 4-mile loops. My reward for finishing? Cutting the grass and getting the yard and house ready for two birthday gatherings this weekend: one with friends, and one with family. It's safe to say that I'm just burning through calories these days.

Saturday 8/22 - 18 miles this week. It would be another solo effort, but this long run has a bit of a different story from last week. It starts with the weather. It was only in the upper 50s when I started and didn't make it to the 70s by the time I finished. (Yes, this is August in St. Louis). The program stated that if you felt good during the run, you could push it towards the end and run a 3/1 (the first 75% q slow/easy pace and the last 25% you can step it up a notch). As I was running, I felt as if I was getting stronger, which was not what I expected after an exhausting Friday and brutal training week. I ran the first 7 miles at about a 9:30 pace. Then I ran the next 6.5 miles at about a 9:15 pace. Once I hit that 75% mark, I hit a button and decided to test my body a bit. I cruised the final 4.5 miles running at about an 8:44 clip. And I felt GREAT! That run was the single biggest confidence booster for the marathon I have experienced thus far. Finishing isn't a question anymore. And for me that's huge. I still have two 20-mile training runs ahead of me, but this past week (running 44 miles) will end up being my biggest mileage week of the program. It's all downhill from here. Who'd have thought I'd run 83 miles in a 13 day span? Definitely not me. Crazy!

Sunday 8/23 - Another cross-train day, but I'll be honest again, I didn't do much here again. This might be a mistake on my part, but I'll say that I'm listening to my body. I was pretty sore after 18 miles the day before and pushing it towards the end of that run. And well, it was party time for the little one with the family. Good food, beer, family, and an evening fantasy football draft took precedent. I think I earned it.

Well, this coming week is a taper week... "just" 36 miles.

Half-way Home

As of Saturday morning around 8:00am, I was half-way done with my 18-week training program. Woohoo!

After what was shaping up to be a crappy training week with a lot of distractions, I finished the week strong. I hammered out 7 miles at marathon pace in the soupy humidity before work on Friday morning. And then I was joined by my new crazy running partner Saturday morning for an "easy" 11. Did I just say that?

Well, it really was easy. Crazy, I know.

With the temps forecasted to be in the upper 90s with stifling humidity Saturday, the trails were crowded much earlier than usual. Despite sweating more than I had on any other run this year, we knocked out those 11 miles without much trouble. It was warm early and just so freakin' humid. At the onset of the run, temps were near 72 degrees, and it climbed to around 80 by the time we finished. Humidity? Well, it ranged from 90% to 84%. Yeah, it was soupy all right. I guess that type of weather is how most summer mornings are in St. Louis. We have just been lucky enough to have had a very mild, if not downright cool, summer this year. Perhaps it's divine intervention assisting me in my training. Or perhaps it's the calm before the heat storm in late August and September.

At the completion of my Saturday 11-miler, I felt damn good about myself. I'm at the point where running 11 miles isn't something I dread or wig out thinking about the night before. Heck, I don't even really care what I eat or drink so much the day before. But I guess that might not be a good thing. At least I know better not to screw around too much on those upcoming longer runs. Gotta respect those long runs in front of me.

So I'm half-way home. Half-way done with the program. Half-way to being back in my hometown: Chi-town, The Windy City, Sweet Home Chicago.

All that being said, let's take a numerical look back at the past 9 weeks:

44 - Total days running, not including my cross-training days

255 - Miles run (almost to Chicago from St. Louis... I guess I'm to Joliet right now)

39:15:23 - Hours:Minutes:Seconds spent running on a track, trail, or road. It does not include time for stretching, strength training, or cross-training. And the vast majority of it was done before 7:00am most days.

172.8 - My weight on Day 1 of this 18-week program.

167.4 - My weight after 9 weeks of marathon training. I'm down 5 pounds, but I yo-yo a good 3-4 pounds throughout the week somehow. So I'm holding steady for the most part. Still, this is the lightest I've been since age 16.

210 - My weight four years ago when I said enough was enough. What was I thinking/doing to myself (back then, not now)?

27 - Individual donations made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital sponsoring my run. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

$1,505 - Total contribution to the kids at St. Jude so far - AWESOME!!!

It so happened that the half-way point fell on my 7-year wedding anniversary weekend. Lori and I got to celebrate making it to the "anti-itch" point with some of our close friends in St. Louis who have, no doubt, helped us get to where we are, both in our marriage and in our individual, personal lives. After 7 years, Lori still continues to amaze me each and every day and inspires me to no end. Without the love of my life, I am certain I would not be where I am today, and without her support, this journey would, simply, not be complete.

Kenny Rogers Roasters... "Oh! I'm Stressed!"

The Kenny Rogers Roasters episode of Seinfeld might be my second favorite of all time... second only to the "Little Jerry Seinfeld".

If you don't know the Chicken Roasters episode, a Kenny Rogers Roasters "good food quickly" restaurant opens across the street from Kramer's apartment, and their giant red sign keeps Kramer's apartment aglow and prevents him from sleeping at night. Jerry ends up bumping into an old college buddy and talks him into skipping a meeting. This causes Jerry's friend to get fired from his Wall Street gig, which only leads to him taking a job at Kenny Rogers Roasters as an assistant manager. Fed up with the "red menace" Kramer wants to put Rogers out of business, so he begins a "bad chicken... mess you up" protest. But Jerry's guilty conscience can have none of this, so he switches apartments with Kramer in an effort to thwart his protest. End result, the two end up taking on each other's personality in no time. In the pinnacle scene Jerry storms into his old apartment a-la Kramer, goes on a typical Kramer rant, and when asked if he's stressed, replies in a very Kramer-like fashion, "Oh! I'm stressed!"

Well, that's how I feel today. Maybe not quite as bad as Jerry, but the stress from the past couple weeks has taken its toll on my workouts this week.

I overslept Monday and got to the gym late. With a boatload of work waiting for me in the office, I opted to get my 4-miler in and skip the strength workout in favor of an extended stretching period, which probably wasn't a bad move at all.

On Tuesday I got in early to the gym and got in my 5-miler. Gotta love step-back weeks! I was feeling pretty good, so after running the first mile in about 9:00, I turned it up a notch and ran the next three at about an 8:30 pace. I slowed it down for the next 2/3 of a mile, but then switched into another gear, running the final 1/3 mile in 2:30. The run felt great and I averaged 8:40 over 5 miles. Not bad for me.

But with a to-do list piling up like sweaty, running clothes, the stress finally won out last night. Trying to get caught up at work, I went to bed late. Then I overslept and missed my run this morning. In an effort to make the best of my extra sleep, I rolled into work a motivated man, and boom... I got the infamous Blue Screen of Death on my laptop... Newman! My computer died and that really, really FUBARed my day, week! I fell further behind, and though I usually roll with the punches, the stress has started to annoy me.

With some loved ones visiting in town this evening, I fired up the grill and threw on some steaks, shrimp, and vegetables. I needed a good meal, and there's just something about grilling that is relaxing. Within an hour after finishing dinner, I hammered out my 4-miler through my hilly subdivision - not that easy with a belly full of steak, but worth it. I didn't get a strength workout in today as planned (that's two misses this week), so I'm pretty bummed about that. But it is a step-back week, and I'm glad I followed through and did sneak in that run.

During and after finishing those four miles tonight, my right Achilles tendon began to flare up, which means I really need to stretch the hell out of it tomorrow on my day off (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday). Again, annoying, and just something else to have to worry about now.

I rarely ever get stressed for any lengthy period of time, so I know I can get my act together. I just need to do it. That's what this weekend is for. No excuses. Time to go to work and put an end to these annoying stress levels. Giddyup!

10 Weeks to Go... Orthotics or No Orthotics?

This was a crazy busy week... at work, at home, and with my program.

I recently took on a new job at work, so now I'm juggling double duty as I attempt to transition away from the work in my old job. And at home, in preparation for my daughter's upcoming birthday, my wife and I have been on the Craigslist hunt for a swing set and jungle gym. That has involved looking at a bunch of postings, following-up with potential sellers, and traveling about in the evenings to check out the options... busy, busy!

Still, I managed to prevent the distractions from sidetracking me... and so, I managed to stick to my program all week long.

Monday and Wednesday I got in my 4-mile runs and my strength workouts. And Tuesday and Friday I got in my 7-milers as planned. Money I tell you! I was feeling pretty doggone sluggish, though, come my day of rest on Thursday (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday).

Reality after reality tends to sink in with me as I make progress along this journey. This week it was the reality that I'm not even half-way through my program. Knowing that my legs had been sluggish, that I've been starting to get some minor plantar fasciitis again in my right foot, and that my right Achilles tendon had been bothering me a bit after long runs, my wife hooked me up with one of her clients, who is a massage therapist.

So off I went to my appointment Thursday to the St. Louis Institute for Rehabilitative and Sports Massage. Mark Frank put the hurt on my legs, massaging the bad out of them as I like to put it. After about 90 minutes of some heavy wincing and biting my lip, I felt brand new. It really was amazing. My feet are turned out pretty badly (like a duck). This is in part due to genetics and in part due to muscle tightness, particularly in my abductors. But after my massage, there was a noticeable difference. In fact, Mark stopped after working on just my right leg, and you could see the difference when I stood up to re-check my posture: my left leg was still turned out far more noticeably than my right. And so then he worked on my left leg. The end result? Come Friday for my 7-miler, it felt like I had taken a week off to rest. Amazing!!! Thanks, Mark! I'll be back about every three to four weeks until the race.

He also recommended that I look into getting orthotics to combat the effects of the two-by-fours I have for flat feet. Eight weeks into the program, I'm a little skeptical, but he felt I could work them in without much trouble and referred me to a guy he trusts. While the negative effects have been minimal from my flat feet so far, he felt that I could be at risk for more problems as the mileage builds. My wife was a bit more skeptical - mainly because she knows that most medical professionals look at me and automatically think that I have all these problems because of my flat feet. But she knows that I just haven't had the problems they all come to expect, including herself.

What to do? What to do? Orthotics or no orthotics?

I figure I'll go talk to the orthotics specialist and see what he has to say. I have no problems getting them as a long-term investment, but I'm leery of screwing up my training for the upcoming marathon. We'll see what he advises.

Yesterday (Saturday) I had a 15-miler scheduled. I'd once again be running further than I ever had before. My normal running partners couldn't make any part of Saturday's run (Mike, thanks for coming out on Friday, though). Joe, a fellow South Side Chicagoan, who I randomly met on the trail last Saturday, did come out to run with me. An avid runner, last week in our brief conversation he offered to join me on my long runs. So I got in touch with him, and come Saturday at 6:00am, he was there... awesome!

Together we talked each other's ear off and hammered out an easy 15 miles (did I just say that?). With the humidity far less than it was a week ago, 15 miles this past Saturday felt like 8 compared to 14 miles the week before. It really is amazing what having someone to talk to can do for a long run. It makes passing the time so, so much easier.

And on my long runs I have definitely learned not to be stubborn and stupid. I take it easy now, coasting at about a 9:30 pace (no need to push it). I also stop about every 4-6 miles to get a gel pack or some Gatorade (Lemon Lime to stay consistent with what will be available on race day). And when stopping, I'll walk around for a minute or two. It does feel weird when getting back into a run, but that wears off within no time. With breaks included we finished 15 miles Saturday in just under 2.5 hours. It's crazy for me to think that I'm already getting up to running for that long, but I am. Now I just need to make it about another 90 minutes or so, and boom, there's 26.2!

Towards the end of my run Saturday my right Achilles started to get a little sore again, as did my left hamstring tendon. Man, do I really need to stretch more. With this being a step-back week again (only 11 miles next Saturday), I'm going to make it a point to stretch longer and more often this week.

10 weeks to go! Just 70 more days 'til race day!