Déjà Vu

Last summer I had an incident with a family of cyclists wherein I found myself stuck running amongst them. This led to a chain of events including one of the cyclists falling and me getting buzzed by doucheboy (using buzzed in the non-drinking meaning of the word). It resulted in a very humorous post if I do say so myself and you really ought to check it out if you didn’t catch it the first time. It’s not like you’re doing anything better today, it’s Friday and you’re reading a running blog so I’m guessing that you don’t have ‘meeting in the Oval Office’ or ‘product development call with Steve Jobs’ on your schedule today. I on the other hand do have important stuff on my schedule, things like ‘take long lunch’ and ‘watch last night’s episode of The Office online,’ don’t ruin it for me in the comments or I’ll hunt you down.

Anyway, last night on my tempo run (way better than intervals) I found myself in a similar situation. I was running down the path when I spotted a young family on their bikes up ahead. The father and youngest boy were trailing behind and the mother and older son were waiting for them further up the path. As I passed the slower pair they sped up a little and stayed right on my heels and as the three of us caught up with the faster pair they started pedaling down the path too. So there I was, once again bracketed in by a family of cyclists and they didn’t seem to care. They conversed with each other as though I wasn’t even there and I could feel the young boy behind me (that’s what she said) trying to pass. Since they seemed perfectly content with the situation it was up to me to rectify it.

It was time to teach them a little lesson that I like to refer to as ‘The Vanilla always rises to the top.’ I summoned up a burst of speed, recounted Viper’s rules to passing in my head and then I made my move. It was quick and decisive, I was by them in 3 or 4 steps and I didn’t let up. I kept pushing them further behind me with each step. I didn’t slow down until I rounded the sharp turn roughly 100 yards up the path and I never saw them again after that. Victory was mine! Victory and over-dramatization, both mine!

If you haven’t ever passed a cyclist during a run then you really should because it’s a huge ego boost which is exactly what a modest, unassuming guy like me needs. I recommend that you all go out and pass a cyclist on your runs this weekend, even if it’s just a little girl with pig-tails and training wheels that you pass, it still makes you feel like a world beater.

What's My Name?

Due to some scheduling conflicts this past week (read: laziness) I had moved some of my runs back a few days and was facing an 8 mile tempo run on Saturday after having just done an 8 mile run on Friday. Combine that with the fact that I have yet to complete an 8 mile tempo run at the suggested pace (9:00 minute miles) and you have a recipe for a VW Jetta run if I ever saw one. I was not looking forward to Saturday's run, but I thought I would go anyway so that I could at least log the miles.

I started out with a nice slow warm up mile, knowing that this run was more destined for failure than that kid in my macro economics class who always wore a helmet and drooled on the desk. I began to pick up the pace at the one mile mark and for some reason unbeknownst to me I also decided that this would be a good time to play around with my stride. I have done this in the past in an attempt to get closer to 180 strides/minute, which appears to be some kind of magic number.

Instead of focusing on how fast I was going, I was focusing on shortening my stride and increasing my turnover speed. I got to the end of the first tempo mile in 8:45 which means that I was a touch too fast (that may be the only time you ever see that phrase in writing on this blog). At the end of the 5th tempo mile I was still on a 9 minute mile pace and was feeling pretty good. This is huge for me because lately I have been fading around the 5 mile mark on my tempo runs and by mile 6 or 7 I'm way off the 9 minute mile pace.

I took a Cliff Shot and kept my focus on shorter strides, faster turnover. I wasn't feeling tired at all, in fact I felt quite superhuman. I was up and over the hills that usually cause me problems without even feeling them. By mile 7 I knew that I was easily going to complete this tempo run at the suggested pace. Nothing was stopping me know. I finished up the 8th tempo mile in a time of 1:11:38 which is a pace of 8:58 per mile. Who's the man? What? I can't hear you. Who's the man?

This was a major breakthrough for me, and I don't often boast on this blog but I felt great after that run. I finished with a cool down mile bringing the total to 10 miles in 1:30:45 and even with the warm up and cool down added in that averages out to a 9:05 minute mile pace. This is the first time during my training that I've really felt like a sub 2 hour half marathon might be possible.

Of course, I came to find out later that Amy had just run a 15K at a 7:58 pace! Thanks a lot Amy! You couldn't let me bask in the glory of my 8:58 pace? You just had to rain on my parade! Some friend you are!

My Much Anticipated Morning Run

At five o'clock this morning my alarm sounded. SCREW. THAT. I leaned over and hit the snooze button, perhaps a little harder than necessary, but certainly no harder than a snooze button deserves or is used to. Six minutes later the alarm clock again started begging for more punishment. I turned it off. What idiot thought this would be a good idea? But then, just when I thought that I couldn't be any stupider I found my feet on the floor and I was getting dressed to go run. At five o'clock. In the morning. In spite all of YOUR negativity in the comments of yesterday's post and in spite of my ever supportive wife, who said to me last night as I was getting into bed: "You know, it would be funnier if you failed."
"Excuse me?!?"
"Your blog. It would make for a funnier post in the morning if you failed." Awww, thanks honey. I love you too.

In a state of semi-sleep, I pulled my shorts on, laced up my shoes, and went to go check on the coffee. I had pre-programmed our coffee machine last night so that it would be ready for me this morning. Great thinking right? Except for one little oversight. Some idiot forgot to put the coffee grounds in it. Can I interest you in a nice hot pot of water? No? How about a new coffee machine to replace the one I just threw across the kitchen? This is not looking promising.

As I am about to head out, I observe that my shorts are on inside out. Nice work genius. I guess that's what happens when you dress yourself in a sleepy stupor. I remedy the problem and start out for my run. The first thing I notice is that the picture I posted yesterday of the morning runner is full of crap! It's still pitch black out. There's no beautiful sunrise like the one in the picture. Even the sun is not stupid enough to be up at this abominable hour. Undeterred, I continue with my run. It was actually a pretty good run, all things considered. I ran 4 tempo miles (9:00 goal pace) with a warm up mile and a cool down mile. I don't imagine that you're particularly interested in the splits, but you're getting them anyway because I'm a little cranky.

Mile 1 - 9:45 (warm up)
Mile 2 - 9:00
Mile 3 - 8:30
Mile 4 - 8:44
Mile 5 - 8:25
Mile 6 - 9:47 (cool down)

So the actual running part was good. The getting up early, not so much. I've already had two large cups of coffee here at work and I'm still as tired as a Lindsay Lohan excuse. Another good thing about the run this morning was that there was no one else on the trail, and that made me feel like I was a hardcore runner. The bad part was that there was no else on the trail to see me being a hardcore runner. You will all just have to take my word for it. I was hardcore this morning.

The jury is still out on whether running in the mornings is good or not. It's supposed to get up to 97 degrees today so I guess it's a plus that I got my run in early. We'll see how tired I feel for the rest of the day. The real payoff will come tonight when I get home from work and don't have to run. I'm already looking forward to getting my couch potato on. Oh, and the sun did eventually rise. I took a couple of pictures (below) of the sunrise as proof and because I don't know if and when I'll ever see another one. Sunrises are really, really spectacular! Who knew?

Click pictures to enlarge.

Addicted to Blogging

You know that you're addicted to blogging when all you can think about on your runs is how you could have improved previous blog entries, or what you could write in future posts.

I had a 6 mile tempo run on Sunday, which actually translates to 8 miles by the time I do a warm up and cool down. I've been struggling with my Tempo Runs lately and yesterday was no exception, I ran the first 4 tempo miles at a 9 minute mile pace (the goal pace) but then dropped to a 9:30 minute mile for the 5th and a 10 minute mile for the 6th. During the run I found myself thinking "you know, this is definitely a This Is Why More People Don't Run Run," it was at this moment that I realized what an awful name that is for a run. I spent the next 2 miles mulling it over and trying to come up with a funnier, more creative and more concise name for that type of run. This is the kind of nonsensical stuff that I think of when I run. Anyway, I couldn't come up with anything so I'll continue to refer to it as a This Is Why More People Don't Run Run, or maybe I'll abbreviate it to TIWMPDRR. In my office we're all about acronyms.

My thoughts were then interrupted by some kids up ahead with a lemonade stand. I immediately thought about my Video Friday post, and in particular the third video in which a woman runs by a restaurant and grabs a water from a customer on the patio and splashes it on her face. I kid you not when I tell you that it was all that I could do to not grab a lemonade as I ran by, drink it and then toss the cup off to the side of the path. I would have stopped and bought lemonade, but I don't carry cash with me when I run. Do you hear that all you would be muggers? No cash.

I have a speedwork session scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) but I also have to watch the boys while my wife is at a meeting which means that they'll be babysitting themselves again while I run on the blasted treadmill. Hopefully they behave as well as they did last time.

Tempo Run

Despite having made my feelings about treadmills clear, last night I ran on ours because I was scheduled to do a tempo run and it’s much easier to control my speed on the treadmill. You don’t even have to think about how fast you’re running and ‘not thinking’ is something that I’m good at. I began with a mile warm up at a 10:30 minute mile pace. Then I did six tempo miles at a 9 minute mile pace (which is my goal pace for the upcoming Bolder Boulder) and finished with a cool down mile at 10:30 pace again.

While it was encouraging to run 6 miles at close to my goal pace it was a little discouraging how tired it made me feel and I couldn’t escape the thought that if I’d have been running outside I would have slowed down. As I mentioned, the good thing about the treadmill (if there is one) is that when you set it to a 9 minute mile pace you have to keep running at that speed or you fall off the back and hurt yourself. Especially, if you live dangerously like I do and don’t clip the safety key/kill switch to your shirt. I find that living on the edge like that keeps me sharp. I’ll leave my seatback slightly reclined during takeoff and landing without batting an eyelid, and I even signed the waiver on the back of my race bib without reading it! You know what I waived? Me either! Seriously, I didn’t read it and I think I’m the better for it.

With this tempo run over my tapering has officially started (see previous post) and that really sucks because it means that I’m running less which in turn means that I’m burning less calories than I’m used to. I have more free time because I’m not running as often or as far in the evenings, but the one thing that I do to fill my free time is eat, and that’s going to hurt me.

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