It was a nice week of running. 'Nice' is such a weak word, but it encompasses the nuances of this week's running. After the ass-kicking I received from the heat and humidity during the 16 miler last Saturday, even the short runs this week were a bit of a trial. What made them nice, rather than shitty, was the fact that I finished all of them. So much of running well comes from running when you really don't feel like it; pushing through the fatigue,discomfort, and (sometimes) outright pain.
So, each run this past week presented a challenge that had to be met. So, in some ways, it was a very rewarding week. Overall though, the suckiosity balanced out the rewarding nature of the runs to account for the 'nice' designation.
This weekend, the running was a bit more than nice. It was challenging, yet fun. I took to the river trails both days. I chose super early times, hitting the trails by 6:15 each morning in order to avoid the worst of the heat. Both days I felt good. The only downside for the runs occurred today when, for the first time ever, I was bombarded by horse flies over the course of a couple of miles. That had never happened before on the trails. Finally, at the most distant point, I abandoned the trails in favor of the sun and the levee. Up on the monotonous gravel that stretched as far as I could see, there was a strong wind. And a strong wind means no flies.
The remainder of the run was spent trying to get the awful song, 'Moves Like Jager' out of my head. I ended up with Cheap Tricks, 'The Flame' playing nonstop in my mind. Bizarre.
If you want some good sports docs to watch, check out Netflix for one about Ben Johnson and the doping scandal during the Seoul Olympics, and another on the rise of Usain Bolt. Both are excellent, and worth the investment of time.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Running on the PST
If you like to bike, run, or walk on a truly flat surface, but don't want to take a trip to Florida (truly the flattest state in the US), you might try the Prairie Spirit Trail. I had heard about the PST for years. My parents bike there and several friends run there regularly. However I had never been on it before yesterday.
My friend, Paul, had suggested that we pop out to Franklin County, and run the trail for 7 miles out and 7 miles back between Ottawa and Princeton (it's always surprising to me that cities in Canada and New Jersey are named after small Kansas towns). I would do one loop. He planned to do two (because he is, apparently, twice the badass that I am).
Driving toward Ottawa at 7:18 am, the NPR announcer mentioned that it was 78F; never a good temperature at that time of day. Cue ominous music. When we arrived, there were no day permit envelopes at the trail head kiosk. The PST costs something like $3.50/day to use. One can also purchase annual passes for $12.50. And one apparently should purchase a pass of some kind, because the PST authorities are serious about enforcement.
Paul mentioned that a grocery store about a half mile away sold them. So we began our run with a quick stop at the grocery store. Cue ominous music again. The store did sell passes, but they required a driver's license and social security # (seriously). Well, fuck! Not a huge problem,but not great. I ran the mile round trip back to my Element, got my dl, and presented it to the clerk who then issued me my annual pass. At that point it was probably just over 80F and humid. We'd also added just over a mile to our run.
Anyway, we took off, and after a short trafficky initial half mile or so, found ourselves on the unbelievably long, flat, and beautiful PST. Now if you are someone who does not like running on a skillet flat surface, and being able to see where you are running miles before you will arrive, then you will hate the PST. Personally, I'm a fan of wide open spaces. But I do like a hill or two (and a curve) every now and then. The PST has neither. The trail does offer pretty scenery and the ability to actually travel from town to town by pied or velo - something that is not too common around these parts.
Almost immediately, we were covered in sweat. By mile two (not counting the grocery store mile), my shorts and shirt could not have been wetter had I jumped into the little ponds we passed. Paul and I both had Nathan packs on, and we drank religiously (well, that might be a slight misnomer, because I never heard either one of us say grace). But we did drink often. It was really hot and humid.
At the turnaround point, Princeton (blink and you'll miss it), we stopped to refill our packs with water and soak our heads. We took off as the sun moved into better position to administer a beat down. For me, it was all manageable until about mile 13 or 14. That is when I really began to wilt. 15-20 miles are not distances that will kill me. But in the heat and humidity, I just couldn't get enough liquids down to hang in there. By the end of the run at 15.84 mi, I had consumed 2 liters of water/sports drink, a Powerbar Gel, and half of a Bearded Brothers Bar. Stepping on the scale later at home, I had dropped 7 pounds.
As I prepared to drive home, I cautioned Paul about the heat. He set off to redo the trip we had just completed, mentioning that if one doesn't run in the heat, one will never learn how to do it. Since I'm not in training for Badwater, I couldn't have agreed with him less.
I called Paul some hours later. He had cut the run short, and had completed about 27-28 miles. Around mile 21 he had decided that the heat was getting to him. He made it back to his car after his water had run out. But Paul is a pretty resilient guy. He sounded better than I felt when we spoke.
I'll hit the PST again several times I'm sure. I'd actually like to bike it's 58 miles sometime soon as well. The temps, however will have to be tolerable.
Here's a link from a biking website. It has a better description than any other I could find: http://bikeprairiespirit.com/
My friend, Paul, had suggested that we pop out to Franklin County, and run the trail for 7 miles out and 7 miles back between Ottawa and Princeton (it's always surprising to me that cities in Canada and New Jersey are named after small Kansas towns). I would do one loop. He planned to do two (because he is, apparently, twice the badass that I am).
Driving toward Ottawa at 7:18 am, the NPR announcer mentioned that it was 78F; never a good temperature at that time of day. Cue ominous music. When we arrived, there were no day permit envelopes at the trail head kiosk. The PST costs something like $3.50/day to use. One can also purchase annual passes for $12.50. And one apparently should purchase a pass of some kind, because the PST authorities are serious about enforcement.
Paul mentioned that a grocery store about a half mile away sold them. So we began our run with a quick stop at the grocery store. Cue ominous music again. The store did sell passes, but they required a driver's license and social security # (seriously). Well, fuck! Not a huge problem,but not great. I ran the mile round trip back to my Element, got my dl, and presented it to the clerk who then issued me my annual pass. At that point it was probably just over 80F and humid. We'd also added just over a mile to our run.
Anyway, we took off, and after a short trafficky initial half mile or so, found ourselves on the unbelievably long, flat, and beautiful PST. Now if you are someone who does not like running on a skillet flat surface, and being able to see where you are running miles before you will arrive, then you will hate the PST. Personally, I'm a fan of wide open spaces. But I do like a hill or two (and a curve) every now and then. The PST has neither. The trail does offer pretty scenery and the ability to actually travel from town to town by pied or velo - something that is not too common around these parts.
Almost immediately, we were covered in sweat. By mile two (not counting the grocery store mile), my shorts and shirt could not have been wetter had I jumped into the little ponds we passed. Paul and I both had Nathan packs on, and we drank religiously (well, that might be a slight misnomer, because I never heard either one of us say grace). But we did drink often. It was really hot and humid.
At the turnaround point, Princeton (blink and you'll miss it), we stopped to refill our packs with water and soak our heads. We took off as the sun moved into better position to administer a beat down. For me, it was all manageable until about mile 13 or 14. That is when I really began to wilt. 15-20 miles are not distances that will kill me. But in the heat and humidity, I just couldn't get enough liquids down to hang in there. By the end of the run at 15.84 mi, I had consumed 2 liters of water/sports drink, a Powerbar Gel, and half of a Bearded Brothers Bar. Stepping on the scale later at home, I had dropped 7 pounds.
As I prepared to drive home, I cautioned Paul about the heat. He set off to redo the trip we had just completed, mentioning that if one doesn't run in the heat, one will never learn how to do it. Since I'm not in training for Badwater, I couldn't have agreed with him less.
I called Paul some hours later. He had cut the run short, and had completed about 27-28 miles. Around mile 21 he had decided that the heat was getting to him. He made it back to his car after his water had run out. But Paul is a pretty resilient guy. He sounded better than I felt when we spoke.
I'll hit the PST again several times I'm sure. I'd actually like to bike it's 58 miles sometime soon as well. The temps, however will have to be tolerable.
Here's a link from a biking website. It has a better description than any other I could find: http://bikeprairiespirit.com/
Monday, June 10, 2013
Geneva and Paris
It has been some time since I last posted. But, if you are a regular reader, you will know that I have been working on a novel. Story-telling and composition of the work has taken up a lot of my time. I've also been travelling.
In May I went to Geneva for business, and then Paris for pleasure. I had the chance to run in both cities - Geneva, along the waterfront each morning, and Paris, from our flat in the 7th to Les Invalides to the Grand and Petit Palais (or Palaix - I'm not sure how to pluralize that) and then back. All the runs were great experiences, even in the cold and rain.
Paris, my favorite city, again did not disappoint. The Orsay and Montmartre were probably tops for me. But I found many pleasant days were spent simply wandering through various neighborhoods, and not at the tourist traps like the Louvre and Notre Dame.
The grandeur of the city is always um, grander than can be described. Our flat (I was travelling with friend and biz partner, Marisa and her husband, Chris), was stunning (thanks AirBnB), with just the right blend of ancient and modern. The location, almost equidistant between the Jardins Luxembourg and the Orsay was perfect as a launching point for forays into the farthest corners of the city.
I dropped too many Euros at Shakespeare and Co. I also couldn't walk by a bakery without buying a baguette (and we stopped at two bakeries that had won the best baguette in France competition in different years - those were some fricken good baguettes). Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint Louis were great places to stroll and people watch. The Marais was great for Centre Pompidou and sitting and splitting a bottle of red with a friend also visiting the city at the same time.
All in all, a fantastic experience. I hope to get back this year and spend another week in October (after the tourist crush has subsided).
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Book, Running, and (oddly) Books
I've been writing a lot lately. Not a lot here, though, so it probably seems as if I haven't been writing to anyone who reads this blog. I even wrote a long entry that I had planned to post here, but opted instead to let it hang in the purgatory of the 'written but unpublished' section of my account.
As many of my friends know, I've been working on a book for the past year. It is coming along nicely. But it takes up quite a bit of time. And time that I spend writing this blog is really time I could also spend working on the book.
The book, as some of my friends know, is a story about running. It is a work of fiction. I hope to have it completed sometime in the next 6 months (definitely by the end of the year). And for now, that is all I'll say about it.
I just wanted to let anyone who might follow this blog know the reason for the sporadic nature of my recent posts.
In terms of running, my life has been pretty good until very recently. I have been doing 30-40 miles each week, and, for the most part, really enjoying the runs. Over the past couple of weeks, however, I started to feel some pain in my knee. Never a good sign. On a recent 12-ish mile run, I torqued it several times in mud. With 5 miles left to go on my return, I knew something was not good. I walked about a quarter mile and then thought fuck it. If it is ruined, it is ruined. And I hobbled the rest of the way home at a 10-ish min/mile pace.
I made an appointment with my sports doc for Tuesday. And other than walking around NYC, and a bit of swimming and biking, I took the week off from running. Yesterday I popped out for an easy three. I ran the entire distance with a non-traditional (for me) front foot strike (I am normally mid foot). I felt little to no pain. Today I plan to try 3-5 miles and see how it goes. I am keeping my Tuesday appointment regardless of the outcome of my run. I am hopeful that my knee was just telling me it wanted a little change in mileage every now and then; and that I shouldn't continually go bigger without taking some breaks.
In other news: I finally finished the Electric Koolaid Acid Test (oddly, a book I had never read). I bought a Camus book I had never read, and plan to take that with me to Geneva and Paris as fitting Summer reading. And I picked up John Irving's, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Kindle edition (to read right now). A quick note regarding that. Every day Kindle has a sub $2 deal on 4 or more books. The deal is only for 24 hours. You either buy then or you miss it. Usually the offerings are crap (at least for my taste). But once or twice a week, there is something really good. You can get on their daily email list and see for yourself. Write me if you want a link.
I'll try to have more sometime soon.
As many of my friends know, I've been working on a book for the past year. It is coming along nicely. But it takes up quite a bit of time. And time that I spend writing this blog is really time I could also spend working on the book.
The book, as some of my friends know, is a story about running. It is a work of fiction. I hope to have it completed sometime in the next 6 months (definitely by the end of the year). And for now, that is all I'll say about it.
I just wanted to let anyone who might follow this blog know the reason for the sporadic nature of my recent posts.
In terms of running, my life has been pretty good until very recently. I have been doing 30-40 miles each week, and, for the most part, really enjoying the runs. Over the past couple of weeks, however, I started to feel some pain in my knee. Never a good sign. On a recent 12-ish mile run, I torqued it several times in mud. With 5 miles left to go on my return, I knew something was not good. I walked about a quarter mile and then thought fuck it. If it is ruined, it is ruined. And I hobbled the rest of the way home at a 10-ish min/mile pace.
I made an appointment with my sports doc for Tuesday. And other than walking around NYC, and a bit of swimming and biking, I took the week off from running. Yesterday I popped out for an easy three. I ran the entire distance with a non-traditional (for me) front foot strike (I am normally mid foot). I felt little to no pain. Today I plan to try 3-5 miles and see how it goes. I am keeping my Tuesday appointment regardless of the outcome of my run. I am hopeful that my knee was just telling me it wanted a little change in mileage every now and then; and that I shouldn't continually go bigger without taking some breaks.
In other news: I finally finished the Electric Koolaid Acid Test (oddly, a book I had never read). I bought a Camus book I had never read, and plan to take that with me to Geneva and Paris as fitting Summer reading. And I picked up John Irving's, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Kindle edition (to read right now). A quick note regarding that. Every day Kindle has a sub $2 deal on 4 or more books. The deal is only for 24 hours. You either buy then or you miss it. Usually the offerings are crap (at least for my taste). But once or twice a week, there is something really good. You can get on their daily email list and see for yourself. Write me if you want a link.
I'll try to have more sometime soon.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Running and Some Irish Culture
I've been doing a lot of writing lately. Not on this blog, as you will have noticed. Instead, I have been spending a considerable amount of time engaged in creative writing. I hope to have something out late this year, or early next. I have a particular project where the more I write, the farther away the conclusion recedes. Luckily, I enjoy writing, so having a receding conclusion is less distressing than having a receding hairline or an expanding waistline. Anyway, while I've been working on writings of a more creative nature, I am worried that I have turned this blog into a bit more of a phone-it-in kind of experience for the readers. While blogs invariably are the last refuge of the self-involved solipsist, I do want my blog to offer insights and encouragement to others on at least a moderately frequent basis. So, in the coming weeks I will try a bit harder to bring something meaningful into this space. It may not be today, in this posting, but I will try. Otherwise this blog may start to live up to its heretofore ironic name.
The weather this week kicked me around as it alternately raised and then dashed my hopes. Several times I went out with too little clothing for going into the wind, and to much clothing for running with it - all in the same run. So I would begin feeling the bite of the wind and frost, with cheeks and chin chilly, and feet and fingers frozen. I'd return feeling as if my clothes we a portable sweat saturated sauna. I'd enter my house and tear the garments from my body as if the sweat-soaked togs were covered in acid (I'm trying to say that sweating in hot clothes sucks a lot more than sweating in lighter clothing).
I dd have one day where I was able to run in a long-sleeve top and shorts. Nice, but it was a day I had planned initially to take off, so my run was only 5k-ish rather than 15k-ish. Whatever. If you can't stand the vagaries of Kansas winter weather, you should move. I'm thinking Tucson, seriously (just kidding, but maybe, seriously).
Anyway... for mixed media, it was Irish week at casa Allen. Movies were The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and Borstal Boy. Reading, was the brilliant book, At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. Irish history from the late 1800's on (and actually well before that but...) is a terrible tale. Nothing you read or watch is ever going to end well. You go in knowing that fact up front. But it is a fascinating period. I had seen both movies and read the book before (as well as Brendan Behan's book that became the movie, Borstal Boy). But all three are so well done that a week of Irish immersion seemed both a treat and a respite from present day inanities.
This is, sadly, not a trail week for me. It will be all road all the time for the next 5-7 days. Until my next post, don't put off a run or a workout that you'll regret not doing later on. How's that for a double-negative awkward final piece of encouragement?
The weather this week kicked me around as it alternately raised and then dashed my hopes. Several times I went out with too little clothing for going into the wind, and to much clothing for running with it - all in the same run. So I would begin feeling the bite of the wind and frost, with cheeks and chin chilly, and feet and fingers frozen. I'd return feeling as if my clothes we a portable sweat saturated sauna. I'd enter my house and tear the garments from my body as if the sweat-soaked togs were covered in acid (I'm trying to say that sweating in hot clothes sucks a lot more than sweating in lighter clothing).
I dd have one day where I was able to run in a long-sleeve top and shorts. Nice, but it was a day I had planned initially to take off, so my run was only 5k-ish rather than 15k-ish. Whatever. If you can't stand the vagaries of Kansas winter weather, you should move. I'm thinking Tucson, seriously (just kidding, but maybe, seriously).
Anyway... for mixed media, it was Irish week at casa Allen. Movies were The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and Borstal Boy. Reading, was the brilliant book, At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. Irish history from the late 1800's on (and actually well before that but...) is a terrible tale. Nothing you read or watch is ever going to end well. You go in knowing that fact up front. But it is a fascinating period. I had seen both movies and read the book before (as well as Brendan Behan's book that became the movie, Borstal Boy). But all three are so well done that a week of Irish immersion seemed both a treat and a respite from present day inanities.
This is, sadly, not a trail week for me. It will be all road all the time for the next 5-7 days. Until my next post, don't put off a run or a workout that you'll regret not doing later on. How's that for a double-negative awkward final piece of encouragement?
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Another week of running
I was able to crank out 41 miles last week. It was a beautiful week for running, and I tool advantage of it. As the weekend drew near, I figured I'd go long on Sat, and then do a shorter recovery run on Sun. But Saturday was really a bit colder than I envisioned for a long run. So I bundled up and played 18 holes of disc golf with some friends.
When this morning dawned, I knew I was going to be out in it. At 10 am, I geared up and popped out the door. It was an incredible morning, with light wind out of the south. I wasn't feeling too good, but I ran.
The reason I wasn't feeling fantastic could be the result of altered diet before the run. I had read that you could do protein before a workout. I never do because I have also heard that doing protein before or during a run can kind of make you sick. But I woke this morning, brewed some Yirgacheffe coffee (oddly from the town of Yirgachefe, Ethiopia - normally spelled with just one 'f'' - but don't get me started on all of the bs that surrounds that coffee, though it is good) and a Boulder Bar then waited a couple of hours before heading out the door - just to make sure the protein was digested.
While I enjoyed almost all of the run, I did get hit periodically with waves of nausea. It was very odd, because I am not a runner who normally experiences any type of stomach upset. I did manage to finish the 12 mile jaunt without losing any of my breakfast. I will, however, stick to carbs in front of, and protein in back of the workouts. Life lesson learned.
When this morning dawned, I knew I was going to be out in it. At 10 am, I geared up and popped out the door. It was an incredible morning, with light wind out of the south. I wasn't feeling too good, but I ran.
The reason I wasn't feeling fantastic could be the result of altered diet before the run. I had read that you could do protein before a workout. I never do because I have also heard that doing protein before or during a run can kind of make you sick. But I woke this morning, brewed some Yirgacheffe coffee (oddly from the town of Yirgachefe, Ethiopia - normally spelled with just one 'f'' - but don't get me started on all of the bs that surrounds that coffee, though it is good) and a Boulder Bar then waited a couple of hours before heading out the door - just to make sure the protein was digested.
While I enjoyed almost all of the run, I did get hit periodically with waves of nausea. It was very odd, because I am not a runner who normally experiences any type of stomach upset. I did manage to finish the 12 mile jaunt without losing any of my breakfast. I will, however, stick to carbs in front of, and protein in back of the workouts. Life lesson learned.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
More Miles
I am finally back on track with training (specifically) and running (in general). Training for what, you might inquire. Well, that is complicated. I'm always training, but unlike most runners who train for a specific event or race, I almost never have a race or event in mind. Instead, I have a fitness level in mind. Could I go out today and run a marathon?, is the first stage. Could I go out and run a trail marathon?, is the second. The answer to the first is yes, but not well. The answer to the second is maybe, but definitively not well. So, judging my fitness by my own internal standards - really not calculable on a watch or GPS device - I still have some serious work to do.
In getting that going, this week I will be back up over 40 miles for the first time in at least a couple of fortnights. I calculate my weekly mileage between Saturday and Friday. And last Saturday the city was recovering from some wetness. I had gone on trail runs the weekend before. Both experiences left me looking, to a casual observer, as if I collected mud for a living. So this past Saturday, I vowed to steer clear of mud for once. I popped out to the levee and did a pleasant 10 miler. It was a little bit boring, because the levee is the very definition of flat. It is actually that kind of flat where no matter how far you run, you simply cannot detect progress. Yet the day was stunningly beautiful, and I kind of mentally checked out and just ran on auto-pilot with the expansive fields on one side, and the trees and river on the other.
Sunday I awoke, got dressed for running, and took off. I felt great as I ran, until 200 yards into the run, the wind hit me in the face and I turned around and went home. I waited the rest of the day for the gusts to die down, but they never did. I just couldn't see myself putting in 10-12 mi in that kind of wind. I did an indoor workout - one that was as hard as I could make it, took a sauna, and then put the windy day behind me.
Monday was gorgeous. I decided to take a slightly longer lunch than normal, and popped out for another 10 mile run. I had the SLT trail completely to myself except for a lone cyclist who showed up right as I was attempting to lose some water weight behind a tree at the western end of the trail. It was truly weird timing. I finished the run strongly and was able to knock out the rest of the day's work with ease. I plan to do the same run for the next 2-3 days before taking a day off.
Less about running - I spent the weekend watching the new Netflix series (all 13 hours released so far), House of Cards. It is a remarkably fun show, and not the kind to which I normally gravitate. Once I had finished that, I finally set my sights on the illustrious Downton Abbey. Now DA, may just be a show that will earn its creator a place in Heaven (or at least a place in a loftier caste). The writing is wonderful, the setting, stunning, and the costumes non-pareil. If you haven't seen it, you should treat yourself to an episode or two. I believe you will be hooked.
More next week.
In getting that going, this week I will be back up over 40 miles for the first time in at least a couple of fortnights. I calculate my weekly mileage between Saturday and Friday. And last Saturday the city was recovering from some wetness. I had gone on trail runs the weekend before. Both experiences left me looking, to a casual observer, as if I collected mud for a living. So this past Saturday, I vowed to steer clear of mud for once. I popped out to the levee and did a pleasant 10 miler. It was a little bit boring, because the levee is the very definition of flat. It is actually that kind of flat where no matter how far you run, you simply cannot detect progress. Yet the day was stunningly beautiful, and I kind of mentally checked out and just ran on auto-pilot with the expansive fields on one side, and the trees and river on the other.
Sunday I awoke, got dressed for running, and took off. I felt great as I ran, until 200 yards into the run, the wind hit me in the face and I turned around and went home. I waited the rest of the day for the gusts to die down, but they never did. I just couldn't see myself putting in 10-12 mi in that kind of wind. I did an indoor workout - one that was as hard as I could make it, took a sauna, and then put the windy day behind me.
Monday was gorgeous. I decided to take a slightly longer lunch than normal, and popped out for another 10 mile run. I had the SLT trail completely to myself except for a lone cyclist who showed up right as I was attempting to lose some water weight behind a tree at the western end of the trail. It was truly weird timing. I finished the run strongly and was able to knock out the rest of the day's work with ease. I plan to do the same run for the next 2-3 days before taking a day off.
Less about running - I spent the weekend watching the new Netflix series (all 13 hours released so far), House of Cards. It is a remarkably fun show, and not the kind to which I normally gravitate. Once I had finished that, I finally set my sights on the illustrious Downton Abbey. Now DA, may just be a show that will earn its creator a place in Heaven (or at least a place in a loftier caste). The writing is wonderful, the setting, stunning, and the costumes non-pareil. If you haven't seen it, you should treat yourself to an episode or two. I believe you will be hooked.
More next week.
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