Decisions.

This week was supposed to be the peak week in marathon training. I had a great 15-miler last Sunday and I was looking forward to another solid week of running, to be capped off by a 22-miler this coming weekend before being able to slip easily in to a 3 week taper…in fact, I wasn’t much bothered by the impending 22-miler, looking beyond it to the lower mileage, lighter load, more sleep of the taper.

But then I caught a stomach bug. Sunday night as I was vegging out on the sofa and contemplating turning in for the night, I started to feel a little “off.” By the time I put head to pillow less than an hour later, I was really starting to feel awful. Then, a little over an hour after falling asleep I was huddled in the bathroom thowing up. For the rest of the night, I repeated this hourly performance not stopping until the sun had come up the next time.

Just like that, just as quick as that, there went my peak training week down the toilet…swoooosh, plop! Bummer!

Yesterday, Thursday was the first time I ran since Sunday and it well. I could tell I was tired and not quite “on” but I completed the run and felt good about it. This morning I ran in to work, covering about 8 miles and tomorrow’s long run was on my mind for most of the time.

What to do? Take it easy tomorrow, don’t push it but cut my taper from 3 weeks to 2 weeks and run 22 miles next weekend. A 2 week taper didn’t work for me when I tried it during my training for marathon #2 so I’m very hesitant about this idea. However, I am a much stronger runner than I was back then so maybe, just maybe I could handle a 2 week taper.

Or, should I attempt the 22 miles and see if I can do it in order to preserve the 3 week taper that I was so looking forward to last week. I like this idea better but I’m just not sure it is wise.

Decisions. Decisions.

Daily Dozen:
8 miles run to work

So Whose Legs Have I Been Running On?

My legs have felt more like my own this week than they have in previous weeks. Running hasn’t been such a struggle and my pace is improving without extra effort on my part. In fact, three of my 5 runs this week have actually been in the 10s for an average overall pace, rather than the 11s I was seeing last week and the week before.

It’s better than just an improvement in pace though. My legs are feeling better; not so much like they had been dipped in wet cement. What a relief.

I had nearly resigned myself to the slower pace and the leaden legs, wondering if I should curtail all of my running plans for the year. Maybe I will run/walk the marathon in April since I had already signed up and call it quits for the rest of the year, I thought.

Honestly, I was surprisingly OK with that idea. Not that I would prefer to have my tentative plans spoiled by a silly overuse injury (I should have known better – my paces, especially on the long runs were just too fast. I’m not at 10 minute miles yet. I knew better but was dazzles by the specter of single digit pace. I’ll get there but I’m not breaking through just yet) and the snow. Yet, delaying my plans and living to race another year was more important to me.

I am determined to be a life long runner. I want to be pushing my kids in a jogging stroller just as much as I want to be winning age group awards when I’m 70 just because I was the only 70 year-old to show up.

I am back to feeling optimistic about not only the upcoming training and marathon but also the rest of my running life.

Daily Dozen:
10 miles run commute

Can Do.

Can Do

Whenever I run to work in the mornings (braving the cold and windy elements this morning, I’ll add) I make it a point to run by as many of the memorials and monuments that DC has to offer. My more usual, pre-work early morning runs and my long run on the weekends rarely take me by these historical spots so getting to run by them one day a week as I commute to work is motivating.

Some of the notable sites I run by are the Marine Memorial (aka the Iwo Jima Memorial), Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National Mall and the museums that partly make up the Smithsonian, and the US Capital Building. I still get a little giddy when I come around a turn and the Washington Monument or the Capital Building pops in to view.

However, this morning, there was one particular memorial that made me start to think – the Seabees statue at Arlington National Cemetery

I’ve run by this statue dozens of times but this morning I made note of the large inscription: Seabees – Can Do (as I learned from Wikipedia, it is one the Seabees most commonly used but informal mottos). Two things struck me as I paused to take a picture: 1) the upper body muscles of the statue are totally disproportionate and 2) what a wonderfully simple but completely to the point phrase. Not questioning or hesitant – might do? Not even declarative or forceful – will do! Rather a simple statement of will and intent. Can do.

I think I’ve let myself get away from the “Just Run” motto and that’s why I ended up injured (too concerned with pace and speed) and why it took me so long to get back in to a groove (kinda being lazy). There were so many strings attached to running – pace, distance, training, racing, weekly mileage – I forgot to just run.

Run. Can do. Yeah, I like that.

Daily Dozen:
7.3 miles commute to work
Strength Training @ lunch hour

Snow Run

Yesterday, I was asked, “what motivates you to get up and run so early in the morning day after day.” At the time, I really didn’t have a good answer. “I don’t know, I just enjoy it,” was the only thing I could think to say as I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

On most days, that really is the truth. I’m not really sure why I get up at 4 in the morning, roll out of a cozy, comfortable bed and head out for a run on dark, cold winter mornings and humid, sticky summer mornings alike. I just do it – me and Nike think alike it seems.

However, this morning as I crunched the fresh snow underfoot I found another reason why I get up early to run before work, while most people are still asleep. Being the first one to make tracks in the snow is one of life’s small gifts. It means nothing, the person following in my footsteps won’t even know who made those footprints, and yet it will make me giddy every time. Like seeing a rainbow or rain on a sunny day, it just makes me smile.

This is why I got up early this morning – to be the first person to make tracks in the fresh snow.

Less than a half mile later, I found another reason why I get up early to run; because I’m not the only one out there. I don’t mean this from a competitive stand point but rather from a place of camaraderie and community. I like being part of group that gets up each and every day to go out and run regardless of the weather and conditions.

Running in snow like this – fresh, soft, crunchy…perfect – is a rare treat for a DC area runner and I took full advantage of it on my run in to work this morning. I’ve run as it was snowing and I’ve run after it snowed but to run on such pure snow is a treat. The air was cold but clear. There was little of the wind that has plagued my running lately. I took my time, fully enjoying the experience and even stopping to snap some pictures. I love being a runner in DC and I think the city looks amazing after a snow fall.

The Washington Monument

On the National Mall

On the National Mall

Perfect.

Daily Dozen:
10 mile run-commute to work

TODAY WAS THE DAY

Today was the day to be strong; to run strong; to put that energy out in to the world.

It didn’t matter that I was tired when I woke up or that I was feeling slow and sluggish as I started my run. None of those things, the way I was feeling, mattered. This morning’s run was run strong.

As my feet pounded the pavement, I could feel my legs gaining strength and power. I actually ended the run feeling good, so good in fact, I extended the run an extra mile just because I could.

That extra mile was for you and for anyone else who needed extra strength today.

Daily Dozen:
9 miles run-commute to work

Continuing to "Just Run"

“Just run” as a running/training philosophy continues to serve me well.

Thursday I had something weighing on my mind, something that couldn’t be solved (by me anyway) and I let my legs take it out on the bike path. I couldn’t help it. I pushed and I couldn’t do anything to stop it so I went along with it.

As I played out different scenarios – good, bad – I just ran. And I ran fast and hard.

It felt good to run fast, let it out and feel strong. As I ran through the dark morning, I formulated a theory: if I ran strong this morning without fear or doubt or hesitation, put that strength out there in to the world, maybe that strength would somehow permeate the air and finds its way to the person who needs it. It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

With that idea in mind I couldn’t possibly slow down or hold myself back. For a few moments as I pounded the pavement, I didn’t feel as helpless. Of course, it didn’t really change anything but it felt good to have some sort of control, some say in the matter.

I ended up running 5 miles at a 9:36 pace, race pace. I wonder if I had listened to my schedule and took it easy that morning, would I have felt better? The same?

Just run.

This morning, Friday morning, again I set out under the cover of early morning darkness but this time I was on a mission. I ran to work but I was concerned with how yesterday’s faster running would impact this morning’s longer run. The good news – it didn’t seem to.

I took the longer route to work – 8.25 miles – and went at the pace that felt right. I was a little tired when I started but by the end I really didn’t want to stop. For an hour and a half, I had let the world slip away and only worried about the here and now – my body, my breathing, my legs, my running.

I got to work in good time (10:45 average pace…the first few miles were around 11 minute miles).

I’ve always heard people talk about running as a cheap form of therapy. When these people have a problem they want to work through, they run, they think, they solve. For me, I can’t say I ever solve any problems on my runs but they definitely make me feel better. I don’t think and maybe that’s the blessing for me.

Daily Dozen:
8.25 miles run commute to work

Run Commute

This morning I ran to work. I commuted on the power of my own to two feet. I’ve run home from work on multiple occasions but this is the first time I attempted to commute the other way.

The Short Story: I woke up. I ran from home to work. I made it.

The Story with more Details: My first impression of becoming a run commuter is that it is all about logistics. Before I stepped out of the door this morning, I had to consider how to get from home to work with everything I would need for the day – shower stuff (towel, soap, etc.), work clothes including shoes, and lunch. Shower stuff and clothes for work I brought to work the previous day and I decided to pack my lunch in my Camelbak (without the bladder) and carry it with me on the run.

My second impression is that was humid this morning. I was drenched in sweat by the time I got to work and there is no way I could commute this way without having a shower available at work. I might have to start carrying a water bottle with me as well throughout the summer, which may look a little weird since I have a Camelbak as well. I made it to work just fine without water during the run but it would have been nice.

The run itself went well. My legs felt a little tired this morning, which was a bummer because I was looking forward to a really good run on my first run commute, but it was a good run nonetheless. I love the route I ran – east on the Custis Bike Trail, scoot through Rosslyn over to the Iwo Jima Memorial and around Arlington National Cemetary, across the Memorial Bridge to DC the Lincoln Memorial getting closer, in front of Lincoln overlooking the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool, up the north side of the Mall past the Vietnam Memorial, the Constitutional Gardens, the World War II Memorial, the Ellipse and White House, past the American History, Natural History and National Archives buildings, finally leaving the Mall and scooting over Pennsylvania Avenue on to Chinatown and finally work.

Regardless of how many times I run in DC it always strikes me as an amazing experience to run through so much history on a regular basis. My commute reminded me how lucky I am.

I had allotted myself 2 hours to get to work but the 7.6 miles only took me 1 hour 20 minutes. I had plenty of time to drop my pack at my desk, go down to the gym to stretch jump in the shower to get cleaned up and then get dressed for work. Even with all of that, I was still 30 minutes early to work.

Maybe I’ll let myself sleep in a bit longer next week. Or, maybe I’ll just take a longer route!

My intention is to run commute once a week, usually Fridays. I love the idea of it – the self-sufficiency and “fringe-element” aspects. I love the anticipation and preparation that has to go in to pulling it off. I’m looking forward to next week.

Daily Dozen:
7.6 miles run commute to work