June 23-29

I fell short on mileage this week, but I got in the essentials -- track work, tempo, long run -- between Thursday and Saturday.

I was in New Jersey this weekend for my mother's birthday. We had family visiting from North Carolina and Texas.

Dad likes to do his long runs on Saturday. I decided to join him for solidarity and thus moved my tempo from Friday to Saturday. Dad is training for the Chicago Marathon, and I will be his coach until then, the first coach he has ever had in his life. Dad, when it comes to his training, has always been a bit of a lone wolf. But I think I know this wolf pretty well.

I was out for two hours on Saturday morning. Dad was out for 1:40, his longest run in a while, and I was with him for his last 45 minutes. We did loop after loop at Meadow Ridge Park, dodging packs of Little Leaguers walking to the baseball fields, talking about various things. There is an urge inside me to write something literary right now, something a bit more profound; I find myself staring at the screen, unable to do so. All I can say is that these rare runs with my Dad are extremely special. It's a very rare thing.

Monday - 8

Tuesday AM 6 PM 6

Wednesday - 12

Thursday - 9 - UMD track. 2 WU, stretch, 4 by 100, 3 sets of 800,600, 400 with a 400 jog between everything. Times: 2:29, 1:49, 70; 2:23, 1:48, 71; 2:27, 1:49, 70. 1.5 CD

Friday - 9 - 2 WU, 5-mile tempo on asphalt track: 6:01, 5:56, 5:52, 5:55 and 5:49 for 29:35. A minute slower than last week, but it was hot and I was sore. 2 CD

Saturday - 18

Sunday - 8

Total - 76

Some thoughts on this week

I
On Wednesday night I saw a documentary about the musician Arthur Russell at the Silverdocs film festival in Silver Spring. Russell died of AIDS in 1994, but in the last five or so years the disco era music he created has been rediscovered and widely lauded. Like Nick Drake, Russell's music has a very modern feel despite the fact that it was created decades ago.


Russell, who grew up in the 1950s Midwest, was a shy, introverted teenager. Apparently he started reading Timothy Leary and ran off to San Francisco. But he spent most of his life in New York City, in the same apartment building as Allen Ginsburg. He is known primarily as a cellist -- and he often backed Ginsburg during his poetry readings -- but he also developed a unique folk-driven guitar style. He was a weird guy. Severe acne in his teen left him with a ruddy, pockmarked face. And he was a consummate artist, someone who wanted to bridge art with pop. His sensibilities were esoteric and yet he had an obsession with crafting a pop hit that would be heard by millions, even though the pop process befuddled him.


For me, watching documentaries about people like Russell is a kind of medicine. For a day or two it wipes away doubt about certain life choices; it allows me to embrace an artistic spirit.


When I worked out this week, I tried to sharpen my focus. For that hour I wanted to be a runner and nothing else. I listened to The Rolling Stones while I warmed up and tried to ready myself to hurt a bit.


II
What does it mean to be "fit"?


This expression distance runners use drives Emily a bit crazy: Well, you're a distance runner who runs 10 miles a day; of course you're fit.


But to be "fit" within the context of a distance running refers to a higher state: you're rolling through the recovery runs, the times in your workouts start to drop.


The pursuit of fitness can be a mysterious thing: There are somewhat scientific indicators like times in workouts, but there is another element as well, something no one has every been able to explain in entirely concrete terms -- the reason so many coaches continue to develop their own formulas of success rather than just give their athletes a book by Arthur Lydiard. The training plans my coach Todd Lippin puts together, for instance, apparently combine Lydiard, Jack Daniels (although I personally prefer Kentucky Gentlemen) Pete Pfitzinger and a "little bit of Lippin."


On Thursday I averaged 70 seconds for 12 by 400 with a 200 jog between each. On Saturday I ran my best tempo yet. For me, these workouts are pretty good, and it would seem that I am getting pretty "fit."


Monday - AM 6 PM 6
Tuesday - 8
Wednesday - 12
Thursday - 8 - 12 by 400 with 200 jog - 72, 71, 72, 71, 71, 71, 70, 70, 71, 70, 71, 69
Friday - 12
Saturday - 10 - 5-mile tempo: 5:49, 5:50, 5:45, 5:38, 5:31. Fastest yet.
Sunday - 15


Total - 77

Week of June 9-15

I feel refreshed after a week of reduced mileage and no workouts. While there could be some mental stuff here, it seems like the week has allowed me to process the intervals and tempos from the previous 4-6 weeks. 

Monday - rest

Tuesday - 8

Wednesday - 12

Thursday - 8 with 4 by 100

Friday - 9

Saturday - 9 with 4 by 100

Sunday - 16 on C&O canal towpath

Total - 62

A strange week - June 2-8

Monday and Tuesday I was so tired and busy that I only snuck in 8 and 8. On Tuesday morning I got the ingrown toenail fixed; it was pretty messy that night and in the morning it felt good enough to run on it. 

Still, I was wary about putting on flats and doing a workout. Instead I went out for an easy 10 -- an easy 10 on still-shot legs with still-tender achilles, not exactly feeling fresh. 

On Thursday I went to the track and had a decent workout -- sort of surprising. 

On Friday I was once again the picture of a trainwreck. I had an assignment that night and slept into 9 a.m. on Saturday. How nice to get some sleep. 

And how interesting to walk out the front door on Saturday morning into Niger-like temperatures. In Niger you get used to such heat: You deal with it every day; you wake up every morning and expect it. When it comes to dealing with heat, however, it is the separation from it and then re-immersion that is difficult: After returning from Niger, March, April and May were such cool and pleasant months. Meanwhile, the heat in Takoma Park that day -- it was about 99 degrees  -- reminded me of Niger because there was a tolerable few hours in the early morning (which I slept through) and then there was so no window of time in the afternoon: the heat and humidity hangs thick until well after dark. At 5 p.m. I ran to my asphalt track with a water bottle and did a reduced version of the Saturday tempo, breaking it down into a 2-mile, 2-mile, 1-mile. I actually felt good on the first rep: 11:16, marathon pace that felt like .... marathon pace. From there it was rubbers leg, bouncing too much, bonk-mode. In the middle of the 2 mile I thought about altering the workout: I could do 1.5 and then 1.5, or just 1 and 1, or just ....

But something kept me -- keeps me -- going. 

Running when you are tired. Dealing with pain. Burning up. Completing the workout as written. 

I thought about the marathon in Ghana: I am almost ready to write about it, to really write about it. 12:22. 6:12. I ran home and saw squiggly lines and had a couple dry-heaves. The long run on Sunday did not feel much better. 

But now it's done. 

I have a recovery week coming up. I can consolidate recent fitness gains and look ahead to something in July, shortly before I start a new marathon cycle.

Monday - 8

Tuesday - 8

Wednesday - 10

Thursday - 10 - 6 by 800 with lap rest. Average: 2:29.

Friday - 11

Saturday - 12 with 2 miles in 11:16, 2 miles in 12:22, 1 mile in 6:12

Sunday - 16

Week - 75

 

Relearning 5-flat

Five-minute pace is becoming quasi-normal again.

I did 6 by 800 yesterday at the UMD track. I took a lap jog for recovery.

2:31, 2:28, 2:28, 2:29, 2:29, 2:28.

These workouts, however, continue to create lots of muscular stress. After a couple easy laps and some 150s, I could barely manage a mile jog for a cool down. My legs were that tight.

This morning my achilles is sore; we'll see how I feel in about 15 minutes.

It is 6:15. Chugging coffee.

Week: May 26 - June 1

Monday - AM 6 PM 6

Tuesday - 10

Wednesday - 8 by 600 with 400 rest at UMD track. (1:50, 1:50, 1:49, 1:50, 1:51, 1:52, 1:53, 1:55) plus 4 by 150. 10

Thursday - 12

Friday - 10

Saturday - 10 with 5 tempo at asphalt track (29:08)

Sunday - 16

Week - 80