Central Park

The hardest part of running a fast marathon is training hard. The temptation is always there to take it easy some days. Central Park can cure that. Maybe it's because there are always people ahead of me that I want to reel in, but I end up running harder there. Not too fast, but at a good pace. I went back there tonight during a 5-mile run at 7:04 pace. Not bad. My near-term goal is to start adding in a long run, with the idea of doing the Manhattan Half Marathon on Jan. 27. Goal: sub-1:30.

5.2 miles, 36:49

Facing Down Unleashed Dogs

I don't hate dogs, but I do dislike dog owners in NYC. Oh, I'm sure most are considerate, but there are so many of them that the minority -- the ones that leave crap all over the UES -- kinda stand out. As a runner, I have a particular uneasiness around the canines. They're dumb and friendly, or they could be amped up and dangerous. I have no clue, but it's impossible to tell when a big down comes lunging at you. Tonight, two big dogs were with their owner -- not pet parent, owner -- and of course they were unleashed. Now, I work, which sadly requires several hours a day. This leaves me evening/night hours to run. All signs in the Riverside Park say "dogs on leash at all times," yet dog owners continue to believe in this myth they can ignore the law when it's dark or early. It's crap. I have a right to run in the park without having unleashed dogs lunge at me. It seems like simple courtesy. What's worse, the owner tonight seemed to find it amusing that I'd be forced to stop to avoid her/him (it was one of those bundled-up androgynous types the UWS specializes in). That made an annoyance into a full-on scrap. The good part is the extra adrenaline helped the final part of the run.

5 miles, 37:20

Not So Slow

I dig my regular Riverside Park running route, but it's bad for telling how fast I'm running. The lights throw me off, and I'm not even sure of the exact distance. Central Park is a great way to tell pace because it has set mileage. My post-marathon plan has been relatively short runs (5 miles) at a pretty good pace. Tonight, I went to Central Park to see how fast I'm going. Because I have to run to the park, I only got an accurate read during the four-mile loop: 28:24, about 7:06 per mile. Not so bad. Of course, to run a 2:59 marathon, I'd need to run over 15 seconds faster per mile for 22 extra miles. Whatever. It's early.

5.25, 36:50

Running for President

Which of the presidential candidates is fittest? Judging by the White House's current occupant, an impressive athletic resume shouldn't exactly be a deciding factor. Still, I can't stand when people like NYT's Gail Collins writes op-ed articles that equate pursuing exercise to wasting time. Anyway, of the current crop of contenders, the most accomplished Republican runner appears to be Mike Huckabee, who turned to running after becoming utterly gargantuan and diabetic. He has three marathons under his belt and is oddly enough planning to run Boston in April. (I can't imagine running for president and training for a marathon at the same time.) The other Republicans are a sorry lot. Giuliani spent his time in NY hurtling through the city in an SUV, not pounding out miles. Romney probably plays squash. McCain has too many injuries from being in a cage for years, so I'll give him a pass. Fred Thompson seems to have a very low resting heart rate, but not from running. Ron Paul's strange enough to be an ultra guy. For the Democrats, John Edwards is by far the most Pre-like. He's a longtime runner and self-described 'addict" who has done five marathons, including one in the respectable neighborhood of 3:30. Probably something about keeping the hair looking nice. I would think Obama would be a runner because of his lanky physique. It turns out he's a smoker. Hillary takes walks. Richardson doesn't look like he's doing many miles.

It might do some good for Transatlantic relations if we do have a runner in the White House. French president Nicholas Sarkozy is fond of going for runs, and so too is Italian prime minister Romano Prodi.

5 miles, 36:40

Recovery Month

I have a bad post-marathon habit: getting hurt. The way it usually goes, I do fine recovering from the race, then start to feel completely out of shape. That's the strange part about marathons: other than the race itself, there's disturbingly little running for about six weeks, considering a three-week taper and three-week recovery. When I finally do start running, naturally it ends up being too much, too soon. I'm trying not to repeat this with low mileage but moderate intensity. Taking into account lights and stuff, my pace is probably at 7:20. But I'm only doing five miles at a clip with no real long runs. I hope to keep it this way through the holidays, aiming for 10-11 days every two weeks. We'll see. My hamstring's a little tight and I get creeping hints of ITB syndrome.

5 miles, 38:20

Back in the Swing

This week, I ran six days for the first time in a while. It reinforced an oddity of training. The fifth straight day running for me is easier because my body is used to it. I'm not running far -- mostly, five miles a go -- but the pace is getting better: today's run was at about 7:20 per mile. My goal for the rest of the year is to do 30 miles per week regularly, which isn't so easy with holiday parties and work obligations. My secondary goal is to stay at 160, another thing that's not as easy when you're out at parties with lots of food and drink. Come the New Year, training starts for real.

5 miles, 36:45.

The 2:59 Project

Watching marathons leads people to make rash vows. Next year, that'll be me. Maybe it was yesterday's race, or more likely the incredible racing and human drama from Saturday's trials, but it got me thinking about what's next for me and running. (Actually, it came up in a very loud, awful bar on the Upper East Side, but it was after a marathon party.) I've now run 10 regular marathons and two 50Ks. I'd like to move up to a 50-miler, eventually run Comrades. But there's something I need to try: running under 3:00. Two years ago, I had my shot. I ran a 1:28 in the first half of the race, and stayed strong. I did a 6:47 mile 22. In my head, I was there. The last few miles are always hard mentally, and I relaxed. There was a twinge in my calf, so why push it and risk a cramp. In the end, it wasn't until after mile 25 that I realized my math was off: the marathon is 26.2, not 26. I finished in 3:01:04 and pissed. My mom actually remarked that I didn't look that exhausted, and she was right. I had more, and I blew it. It's time to fix that, I think. My goal for 2008 is to do 2:59. It's going to be super hard. I'm about 10 pounds heavier than when I ran Philly in 2005. I'll need to lose a couple of those, add more strength to stay strong, and run a lot. This will also give the Pigdog a mission: documenting what could be a yearlong quest to run sub 6:50 miles for 26.2 straight miles. Right now, I'm not even close, but I know I can get there.

Ryan Shay

This morning, Ryan Shay lined up for what might have been the biggest race of his life, a moment he's been working toward for years. Less than an hour and a half later, after collapsing outside the Boathouse, he was dead at 28. Any untimely death is senseless, but I can't help feeling this one is particularly so. His wife and in-laws were there for what could have been a life-defining moment: making an Olympic marathon team. There will be an autopsy, and I'm sure it'll find the same thing that felled Jason Collier and Reggie Lewis: an undetected heart defect. What I can't get over is the timing. Why today? Before idiots start claiming this just proves running marathons is "nuts," remember he was one of the fittest people on the planet, an elite athlete. He was running at a pace that, for him, wasn't all that stressful even. He'd done it so many times before, so why today? We'll never know, of course. I liked what Ryan Hall's coach, who briefly coached Shay, said about him: "If you probably asked him if there was any way he wanted to go, it was out on the race course."

Ryan Hall on RW.com

I'm not crazy about the direction Runner's World has gone. It seems to have taken the lowest-common denominator approach. Every cover was about Six Tips to Get Great Abs. But its new video channels is awesome. Ryan Hall, the 23-year-old who blew out a 2:08 first marathon in London this spring, is on talking about what makes him tick and what it was like to find himself in the lead pack with legends like Tergat and Gebreselassie. He has an awesome response: It may have been the first time I'd physically been with them, but I'd mentally been there while running through Big Bear," the place in California he grew up and lives. I hope he kicks ass on Saturday at the Time Trials. One quibble: RW doesn't allow embeds, even though that's standard with Brightcove. Lame. Here's the interview: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid717784762/bclid1170502755/bctid823328646

Return of the Pigdog, Indy Edition

Yes, I've neglected the Pigdog. That's going to change.

The Indy Marathon was an ordeal, thanks to not enough training, a mysteriously queasy stomach and temperatures a little warmer than I'd like. But I'm OK with how it went, since I really just needed to get one out of the way after DE. As Gina Kolata pointed out in a recent marathoning story: The key is to not go out too fast. Easier said than done. I went out too fast and paid the price. The ugly numbers by the mile:

1. 7:02
2. 7:05
3. 7:04
4. 7:12
5. 7:02
6. 7:03
7. 7:11
8. 7:13
9. 7:14
10. 7:03
11. 7:23 (this was the mile where things fell apart. There's a surprising hill in a park that took a lot out of me.)
12. 7:36
13. 7:07
14. 7:23
15. 7:15
16:7:12
17:8:38 (ruh-ro)
18:7:41
19:8:34
20:9:17 (survival time + unscheduled rest room visit)
21:8:42
22:8:47
23:9:21
24: 9:16
25:9:59
26:12:58 (couldn't run much more than 30 seconds without cramps seizing my calves)

Finish:3:29, about my sixth best or worst marathon, depending on how you look at it.

More about Floyd

There's a good story about Floyd Landis in Play, the NYT's sports magazine. He comes across as a guy who is a bit lost at this point, forced to do rides for money with weekend warriors to pay his legal bills in an uphill fight. At this point, it's really impossible to sway many minds about the guy. If he is lying about the whole thing, he's pathological, but there's a lot of evidence that he was one of many to dope in the sport. No matter what, I'm disappointed there haven't been more riders just come clean, like David Millar.

16 miles, 2:04:03

Return of the Pigdog, Ankiel Edition

I've been a very bad blogger. Just like running, it's very easy to get out of the habit. I've found more of my blog-like impulses lately have gone to either Facebook or Twitter (the thing on the left side that updates the minutia of my day). Still, I cannot abandon the Pigdog. This weekend, a story unfolded that really encapsulated what I think fighting the Pigdog is all about: The return of Rick Ankiel. Rewind to 2000, I remember watching this guy pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals utterly lose his shit pitching in the playoffs. If the mascot came out, he would have hit the moose with a wild pitch. It was an amazing, compelling meltdown. Normally, people just fade away to live, I guess, either a life of regret or move on to something else. Ankiel, after not regaining his control and suffering injuries, simply took a different route: he converted into an outfielder. Now I suck at baseball. In Little League, I was a good fielder and had an OK arm, but I could absolutely not hit well. I'm not certain why. The idea of being a major-league caliber pitcher, then turning around to be an outfielder is beyond the pale. This weekend, he hit three homers for the Cardinals after making it back from a couple years in the minors. That's astounding. Dude could have easily hung it up but kept plugging away, fighting against all odds. After all the Bonds stuff and whatever, it's pretty inspiring to beat the odds like that and attain, at least for this moment, a big measure of redemption. If Hollywood dudes are circling this story, they're nuts.