Breakthrough

The long run is something that unites all marathoners, no matter what speed. In order to train for a marathon, you need to go long. It's a little ludicrous to non-runner, the idea of going out for 20 miles. Plenty of friends have asked me why I don't just run another six and be done with it. When I first started running, I would dread the long run. Then it became something I'd look forward to, mostly because it gave me an excuse to eat a ton afterward. (Ideal post-long run meal: bacon cheeseburger. Sometimes two.) From a training perspective, I realize now that I put too much stock in the long run. Instead of getting in the miles, I'd focus my training around it. Now, I'm following Pfitzinger and doing more tempo runs and the medium-long runs during the week. The one part of training that's confused me a bit is the midweek 14-and 12-mile runs. I wasn't sure what they were doing, other than making me sleepy at my desk. Now I know. I went for a 21-miler this morning. Odd as this is to say, it wasn't really hard. It was probably the 100th time I've run 20 or more. It's a long way, and I there are bound to be tough parts. But today's sailed by with the pace at about 7:45 or 7:40. I didn't run the last mile slower than the first, and I felt like I could easily keep running. Those midweek medium-long runs have given me a nice endurance base. My one concern is a little hamstring soreness in my right leg. I had a persistent hamstring injury two years that lasted forever, just a dull ache that stayed around for many months. My recovery plan is a bit unusual: I'm taking a four-hour bus ride to Washington, DC, to see friends. I hope there's no knife-wielding maniac onboard.

21 miles, 2:43:18

Getting Dropped and Dropping

I used to joke about "dropping the hammer." It's a funny term. But truth is, I've long admired the ability of athletes to pour it on late in races, testing whether others can respond. I realized that this week watching a video of Lance demolishing the field on the Alpe d'Huez and Prefontaine dropping everyone at the end of races. The ability to up the pace when everyone is tired is pretty cool.

Don't get me wrong, I've many times been on the receiving end of this. And there's nothing more dispiriting than getting dropped. It sucks. On a few occasions, even Stroh left me behind. Of course, I'd argue that many more times he was the one who couldn't keep up. One of my fondest memories of being dropped was when Stroh took off during the last five-mile loop of the Steiner 50k. I like to make the excuse that he made his move while I was slurping chicken soup, but the truth is, I tried to get back to him but couldn't. It was impressive.

This morning's long-training run started off uneventfully. It was sticky out and the NYRR seemed pretty disorganized, with volunteers telling me completely opposite ends of the park to get my number. With the Pfitzinger program in mind, I lined up with the 8:00 pace group. Part of me saw the 7:30s leave and wanted to be with them. The 8s are such a large group, it has to be broken up. Frankly, I looked around and saw runners that are much slower. But I have a bigger goal, and it's their mistake to run the long runs so fast. This hit home during the run, when people were talking of "hoping" to do a 3:30 marathon. OK, why run a 20-mile run, quite early in training, at the same pace you'll race? Needless to say, many of them wouldn't stick around for all 20.

The first six-mile loop is always about getting comfortable. The pace kept yo-yoing, which is always annoying. I got kicked and elbowed a lot from sudden decelerations. It was clear we'd end up going a little faster than 8, fine by me. I stayed near the front without going past the pace leader. Several people didn't, and that pulls the group even faster. The second five-mile loop, I started to feel normal. I stayed back and felt fine in the pack. After 11 miles, I usually run my best. I don't know why. During the third five-mile loop, I started talking with a guy who I ran with during the same run last year. At that time, I was out of shape, about five pounds overweight and trying to get in shape for the Indy Marathon. That time, about four of us broke off the last four-mile loop and ran it at a pace that got down to 7. I was dropped. Chatting about training helped pass the time. He went on to run a 2:58 in Philly last fall. This spring, he ran the Pig, like I did, but blew up and finished 10 minutes off my pace. He cut off at 72nd, and I started running at the front again. I like to run hills somewhat aggressively, if only to get them out of the way. By the time I got a rhythm on Cat Hill, I decided to run the rest of the loop at the faster pace, probably around 7:30. That brought up the final four-mile loop. At this point, we were down to about 10 people, not including most of those that were trying to pull the group faster. A few people broke off and went off before us. After we made the turn on the west side of the park at the start of the final four-mile loop, I assessed how I felt. While I know I should save my energy for the tough mid-week workouts, I put a lot of faith in being able to run hard deep into runs. I'd held back all day. So I did my version of hammer dropping, doing the last four at around marathon pace, somewhere below 7 minutes. Nobody followed. I reeled in everyone who had gone ahead. It felt fine, and I'm glad I did it. My favorite part of distance running is knowing I'll feel strongest after running for a couple hours. I'm a little sore now, but that's to be expected after 20 miles on hard surface with lots of ups and downs.

20 miles, 2:34

The Curveball

I neglected one thing in my breakneck prep for the Delaware Marathon: registering. I didn't for the first couple of weeks because, honestly, I wasn't sure if my body would be into upping my mileage that quickly. The last two weeks, I've just been really busy and put it off. Today, when I went to the site to finally register, I saw "SOLD OUT." Gulp. I emailed the race director, Wayne, explaining that Stroh of Arabia was coming back for the race from the front lines of the GWOT. He responded cryptically, "Having meeting later. Will be in touch." Hmm. Haven't heard back from him. According to the site, there are 556 runner registered for the marathon, with a 600 limit. What's more, this article says the deadline was May 5 (today). I'm not sure what happened. I'm hopeful I'll worm my way in. From the postings on MarathonGuide.com, Wayne seems like a genuinely nice man, and I'm sure we can work something out. Wayne, call me. Let's talk.

Breakfast: orange juice, two bagels, vegetable cream cheese, coffee
Pre-run snack: two bananas, Cliff Bar
Recovery dinner: Enormous ribeye steak, three baked potatoes, soon several beers while watching Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather beat the snot out of each other. KT has rightfully called the 20-mile run + baby-size steak + boxing and beer "testosterone night." Word.

20 miles, 2:33:34

Sore

Ow. Many sightings of the pigdog, but managed to hold him off. Vaam helped.

19.5 miles, 2:30:17

NIght Running

Another blog drought. I blame too much work (bad) and a KT visit (good). I'm just back from a recovery run, which was done much later than usual (9:30-10:15pm) because I was at the airport. Riverside Park is a much different place this time of night on a Sunday. First shady encounter: a man walking alone, talking on a cell phone, in the bird sanctuary. Next ones were to be expected: several homeless people setting up shop for the night around the benches south of 96th. Night runs like these can be quite peaceful because, other than the weirdos and vagrants, nobody's around, leaving to hear your footfalls and breathing.

Awesome run today by Ryan Hall, possibly the next great American marathoner. He debuted with a 2:08, sticking with the lead pack until near the end. The best part is he's only 24 and seems like a good dude.

Thurs. run: 5.75 miles, 44:30
Sat. long run: 17 miles, 2:11:11
Sun. run: 5.75 miles, 45:03

Going Long

Thanks to a stop on the Burger Tour on Thursday (Stand, so-so, certainly not burger nirvana) and late news on Friday, I wasn't able to run Thursday and Friday. The good part is I was well rested for my long run. One of the best parts of long runs is seeing the random stuff along the way, checking the progress of the Hudson River Park construction or the oddity that is the Gehry IAC building. I felt good the first half of the run, getting down to about the midway point of Battery Park in 56 minutes, then turning for the run home into a little headwind. One problem: I brought only $3 and one gel. I used $1.75 for a Gatorade, then found that the Parks Dept. hasn't turned on the water fountains yet, even those that are freeze proof, leaving me without enough money to buy water from a vending machine. I considered how potable the water is from the Greenwich Village park bathrooms. I thought better. So I stopped at the Nike Running Center, just south of Chelsea. Sure enough, they had water for $1 that helped wash down Gu. That hit the spot and made for an easy trip back uptown. I felt like going longer, but thought it best to stop.

15 miles, 1:54:23.