EASier Said Than Run

Week & Month In Review

This week was far less eventful than last, without any babies or travel.  I did have a good week of running, though, despite it being much less blue/green than previous weeks.  I had my standard long-run Sunday, ran a race on Memorial Day, and did a workout on Thursday.  By Saturday, I was pooped.

Sunday: This wasn’t an entirely standard Sunday run, in that I went to one of the most indulgent breakfast spots in town - named Gravy, if that offers any clue - before I ran.  I had earned a good late morning after all the excitement from last week.  Once my breakfast sandwich — egg over medium, with sweet peppers and veggie sausage — had a chance to digest, I got my big miles in for the day.

Monday:  Race day!  I signed up for a 10k a couple of weeks ago.  Based on results from previous years, it didn’t appear to be overly competitive, but I figured it was a good opportunity to do some faster work.  I haven’t done any workouts, really, since March.  Once I got to the race, I did my warm-up run on my own and did the usual, surreptitious sizing-up of the competition. I planned on just sticking with whoever took the lead.  

Well, once the race started, it turned out that was me!  I wound up running the full race on my own, and winning in a time of 34:36.  My mile splits were: 5:27, 5:26, 5:35, 5:57, 5:31, 5:41, and 58 for the last .2 mi.  The first two to three miles had a nice slow downhill, and although I was enjoying it and taking advantage of gravity, I knew I’d have to make it up at some point.  That came in mile 4.  Ouch! I was happy to see the course flatten out for the last 2.2 miles…

I was certainly satisfied with the result of the race - who doesn’t like winning?? - but it also showed that there’s a lot of work still to be done.  Ideally, by November, I will be able to maintain a pace pretty close to that 10k pace for the full marathon.  I’m glad I still have 5 months to go..

Tuesday/Wednesday:  Taking it relatively easy, feeling kind of beaten up from all the work of a long run, followed by a race on Monday. 

Thursday:  Feeling a little pressure from the race, I decided to do a workout on my own in Forest Park.  I ran 8x800 with 35-40 seconds rest.  It was TOUGH.  My times averaged around 2:38, and by the end my calves were just about calcified.  The beer that night tasted fantastic.

Friday/Saturday:  Curious what the hell I was thinking by doing a workout on Thursday.  Sheesh… I’m tired!

I closed out the month of May with the best mileage so far this year (see below), and I think it’s only going up from here.  I’ve clearly got a lot of work left, but I’m feeling motivated, healthy, and strong.  The chart below shows how many miles I’ve run each month this year, with the number on top showing the average miles/day for the month.  Looking good!

Week in Review

At the request of my mom a fan of the blog, I will start posting some info on how far it is that I’ve been running and what all the training actually entails, so here is a snapshot of my online running log.  (Key: blue means, “I felt good;” yellow means, “I felt ok.”) There’s a lot more to the actual running log - titles, descriptions, weather, time of run, heart rate - but again, I find myself at the limits of my tech know-how…

Sunday: Some people count this as the last day of their running week, but I like to start out with a big number.  It helps me feel proactive.  Sunday, 4/29, was my longest run in probably 2.5 years (15.5M), and it turns out, my fastest pace of the week (7:07/mile)!

Monday: Feeling the burn of the day before, so I took a day off.

Tuesday: Ran into a friend on the trails and did a meandering 9.5M loop in Forest Park.  I forgot my watch, so no pace, but it’s more about feel, anyway…

Wednesday/Thursday: My standard morning run.  It’s a beautiful 8 mile loop with a great amount of hills, woods, solitude.  These two days, I had a pretty consistent pace - just 11 seconds difference (7:25/mi).

Friday: A little lighter morning loop - 6.5M.  I had to walk to work since I left my bike at the office. (7:32/mi)

Saturday: Capped the week off with a solid 9.75M afternoon run. This day is yellow because I was STARVING during the run and it was all I could think about.  I rewarded myself with half a box of cheez-its once I got back. (7:12/mi)

This wound up being a pretty typical week.  I’ve been at about 55-60 miles for the past 4-5 weeks, building up a solid base.  At some point, I need to start doing some quicker stuff, as I’m hoping the marathon pace will be about 90 seconds/mile faster that this.  All in due time…

The journey begins

A little over a year and a half ago, my dad - “Papa,” from here on out - passed away after a swift battle with brain cancer.  Really, calling it a battle belies just how fast it was.  A mere 18 days passed between the MRI where doctors found a mass in his brain and his death.

Over those 18 days and in the months since, the effort of remembering Papa in a way that adequately reflected his character has been a near constant in my life and the lives of those who knew him.  Countless times, I have caught myself doing or saying something that was distinctly him.  Consciously or not, we are all striving to be a little more like him.  I’ve noticed it in my brother and sister, too.  Sometimes it’s while going hoarse from yelling during a soccer game; other times it’s when I’m sneaking a fourth or fifth cookie. 

One of his most distinctive traits was his strength.  He was someone willing to work hard to accomplish a task.  A “day off” generally consisted of him working until midday, and then laboring in the yard until dinner.  This only made the speed of his decline that much more remarkable.

A central memory of mine during Papa’s illness was realizing the sheer amount about the brain that we do not yet understand.  My family is far from alone in our experience with brain cancer; a family friend also grieving the loss of a family member shared her involvement with a charity called Voices Against Brain Cancer, an organization committed to furthering our understanding of this disease. 

They state their mission as striving, “to find a cure for brain cancer by funding scientific research, increasing awareness within the community, and supporting patients, their families, and caregivers afflicted with this devastating disease.”

I am thrilled to share that I will be running on a team for VABC in the New York City Marathon on November 4, 2012.  In supporting this organization, I will be fundraising feverishly, with the goal of raising $5,000 by November.  As I am currently operating at the boundaries of my social media savvy, I will post a link to my fundraising site in a separate entry.  I’m not sure how to make it a part of the permanent page quite yet…

If you feel moved to donate, please click the link the following post.  Through subsequent updates, I will seek to relate my journey to the streets of New York - the miles, aches, and sights.  You can follow along as the trails get longer, my legs get swifter, and the needle creeps toward the fundraising goal.  Over the next 28 weeks, I will be channeling the Papa, his strength, and his work ethic even more purposefully as I log the miles in an effort to do him justice and support this worthy cause.

Programming note:  I fully intend the tone of the blog to be quite a bit lighter as I move ahead.  Whether as relief from the gravity of issues surrounding brain cancer or as a break from the monotony of marathon training, humor makes everything better.