Briefest Update Ever

August Total Miles:
444.0

Fundraising, Training Updates, Life Updates

Fundraising

I'll be running the Chicago Marathon on behalf of Girls on the Run. Please check out my fundraising page here!

Training Totals and super brief update
June 375 miles
July 378 miles

The mileage is good. The pace isn't generally so hot. We'll see how I'm feeling when the race gets here. Its 10 weeks from tomorrow.

I ran a half marathon this past Sunday (results here) and finished 4th, one spot behind Bryce Burgess. I went off course twice due to terrible course marshaling. Ran through a ravine and my leg was cut to shreds at mile 8. Hopefully I've got a lot more speed than that time indicates.

Life Update
Hello:


Bye:

May Training Wrap

The month of May and the very beginning of June served as a mini-base period of training for the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10. It was the second rainiest May ever recorded in Portland. Almost all of my runs were done at a relaxed pace. The last week culminated with a 104 mile effort. The very last run was a 19 miler with Stan that included several sessions of Marathon and Tempo pace around Duniway track and on Terwilliger Hill.

The beginning of phase two has been marred with a shin injury that I'm monitoring closely.

3 weeks from Tomorrow

I ran in the middle of a sand storm today. The wind was incredibly strong. I was doing a few laps around a large square at about 4700 ft and the wind seemed to be working against me in three of the four directions. At some points my face and neck stung from being struck by sand. I did manage to get a little over 21 miles covered in the heat and wind.

This wrapped up a strong week of training. I hit 94 miles for the week and also managed a couple of 1 hour cross training sessions on the bike. The week included 2 speed workouts (mile repeats, 200's) and a 2 hour+ hill run. I'm hoping to keep up this momentum over the next 3 weeks!

Frustrated and Sorry and Selfish

I went to see a doctor today. I've been carrying a temperature since Sunday night, aching, and coughing. I have not been able to run or work. The visit was less helpful than I had hoped. I've had symptoms for over 3 weeks which make one think its bacterial, but because of a terrible training mishap on Sunday night (stranded in cold/rainy conditions for just under 4 hours in my running shorts) the doctor thinks this could be new and unrelated and viral. This means he prescribed antibiotics for me, but I'm not supposed to fill the prescription until Monday (If I stay sick) or tomorrow if I wake up feeling even worse.

I understand there is nothing he can do. And I know there is not a wonder-drug he can prescribe. But, its very frustrating to a runner to take days off during the peak of training. And, while I can stomach that, not being sure when I'll return is hard to take. If I was taking meds and expecting it to disappear by the weekend I could handle it a lot better.

Doc told me no running for 14 days. But, that's why I always wish that I could see a doctor that an elite runner would see. No way they would say that. I'll be back on my feet when the fever has gone.

I know I need to be strong, and patient, and that in the grand scheme of things my overall running won't be affected, especially all season long when you look how early we are into everything. But, I have a half, a 5k, a trail-10k and full marathon all within 8 weeks. I've paid to do them, to travel to them, to have a place to stay while racing, and now it might all be money lost. That's hard to stomach for a person without insurance living check to check.

Next time I write, I hope to have much better news to share. I'll certainly be sharing an article from the most recent Running Times when I'm feeling good enough to touch the scanner.

And I feel selfish complaining about being sick. It happens to everyone. The great champions I admire have dealt with broken bones while training and they've bounced back! I need to learn from them. But, I also have to explain that almost all of my decisions are based on how I can improve as a runner. I make sacrifices every day that make my life less fun in the short-term because I find the long-term payoff to be so sweet, and then in looking back I usually realize how much fun I had getting there. I guess I need to remember that there is no promise that hard-work will pay off in terms of faster times. If it was that simple, then it would make the amazing feeling that comes with improvement less exciting and special. It is very hard to keep that perspective and not feel owed a reward at the end.

Will Power

I had an amazing run tonight. I arrived home from work well after dark feeling pretty worn down. But, the temperature was abnormally high for the point in the evening so I forced myself out the door.

As I reach the end of my street on a run I am forced to make a decision. Do I run up a big hill, or do I run down it? I always wish for a third option. I usually run down because I still want to take it easy and warm up. However, today as I hit this spot I saw another runner flying up the hill and passing me. He looked at me from across the street and I headed after him.

As we were climbing he wasn't putting much distance on me, but I certainly wasn't able to catch him. I was breathing hard and spitting like crazy as I'm pretty sick at the moment. According to my garmin we climbed for 11:00 minutes before reaching a mini-summit. I saw him glancing back a few times as we climbed so I knew we were both engaged. It was an awesome feeling. I expected him to turn or duck in somewhere and that would be that. But, after we got to the top he turned around and headed right for me.

He introduced himself as Will (pictured) and apologized for not waiting for me at the bottom. But, he was surprised to see someone keep up with him as he's not used to that. We decided to continue our runs together and we ran with bursts of accelerations and brief respites (when I think he was waiting up for me or waiting for my breath to slow, as he was pushing me to my limits). Turns out he lives two blocks down the hill from me and also works at the mountain. We've made plans to run to and from work with one another every so often.

I pressed him a bit to learn about his running and he mentioned running for William and Mary as well a few marathons. We both ran Boston last year so I had to ask how he had done. I expected to hear a time in the 2:40's or 2:30's. Instead he said simply, 49th. Anyway... enough gushing, it was nice to meet someone who was young and dedicated and friendly. I suppose I can run with him on his slow days. So that's the end of the story, right?

Not exactly. I decided to google him as I do any other competitive runner I meet to find out some more info (I almost always regret this as it makes me feel like I've violated the person's privacy). But, I can't help myself. So, what did I find? Will told me the truth, but he left out a pretty big chunk. There are lots of articles about him, because he ran under 2:30, finished in the top 50 at Boston, and did so while undergoing chemo to fight a brain tumor.

I think I can tough it out the next few days through my head cold to get outside and put in some big runs.

I've got a 10k race (first in a 3-race point series) this Saturday, so more coming then!