to participate in a triathalon in Malibu.
Hum. Triathalon? That's something I've never done before...
Hum.
Get thee behind me
Capital Hill Classic, 2009
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
You can't win a marathon
without taping some band-aids on your nipples.
Classic wisdom from the movie "Horrible Bosses."
Classic wisdom from the movie "Horrible Bosses."
Friday, October 28, 2011
Fall. Or Winter?
It was cold on this morning's 11-mile run to daylight. Maybe 45 when I set off. I wasn't really as prepared as I should have been, because I didn't have my gloves. It was dark, too. Sun didn't rise until almost an hour after I set off. Luckily I did have a light with me, to alert passing cyclists not to run me down. I'm here to say: none did, although one came a bit too damn close.
The weather forecast calls for snow tomorrow. Crazy. I like running in the snow, though. So I may be doing that. I'll let you know.
The weather forecast calls for snow tomorrow. Crazy. I like running in the snow, though. So I may be doing that. I'll let you know.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Reading about running
As a writer who runs, I've done a fair amount of reading about writing. Hearwith, a review of some of the things I've read in the last year or so.
First, let's start reading where I did: Runner's World magazine.
I picked up RW in a store a couple of years, knowing that if I bought it I'd probably subscribe. And I ended up mailing back the card the next day. It's got nice features. "I'm A Runner," a Q & A style interview with a (sometimes) famous person (sometimes I've never heard of 'em) is usually interesting. This month it's Al Roker, the dude Jerry Seinfeld once called a "chubby weather man." (or was that Mark McEwen?) Anyway, Al's not so chubby these days. All that running.
RW is always entertaining, but does become a bit repetitive when you read it each month. "Run your best marathon," one edition will announce. The next month zeros in on "Tips for a 10K." Rest assured the next two will feature 5Ks and half-marathons, before the cycle starts all over again.
It's also funny when the magazine offers contradictory advice. One month will explain the benefits of stretching, a few months later it'll say that stretching is overrated.
Sometimes the contradictions appear within the same issue. Nov. 2011, page 28: "you can't run long runs slow enough! Running slow and taking frequent walk breaks will help minimize fatigue and hasten your recovery." Page 45: "Your immune system favors short, hard runs over long, slow ones." So, which is it? Run long & slow, or short & hard? The answer: It's up to you.
And that's the best way to look at it. I read RW, I enjoy the tips, but I only use the ones that work for me. I eat what I want, not the almond milk & tofu that are often on the RW menus. I stretch before and after I run, but using the static stretching that RW has frowned upon. Hey, I've been doing this for several years and haven't gotten hurt, so something is working.
In short: I like RW, but don't swear by it. Next time: Books about running.
First, let's start reading where I did: Runner's World magazine.
I picked up RW in a store a couple of years, knowing that if I bought it I'd probably subscribe. And I ended up mailing back the card the next day. It's got nice features. "I'm A Runner," a Q & A style interview with a (sometimes) famous person (sometimes I've never heard of 'em) is usually interesting. This month it's Al Roker, the dude Jerry Seinfeld once called a "chubby weather man." (or was that Mark McEwen?) Anyway, Al's not so chubby these days. All that running.
RW is always entertaining, but does become a bit repetitive when you read it each month. "Run your best marathon," one edition will announce. The next month zeros in on "Tips for a 10K." Rest assured the next two will feature 5Ks and half-marathons, before the cycle starts all over again.
It's also funny when the magazine offers contradictory advice. One month will explain the benefits of stretching, a few months later it'll say that stretching is overrated.
Sometimes the contradictions appear within the same issue. Nov. 2011, page 28: "you can't run long runs slow enough! Running slow and taking frequent walk breaks will help minimize fatigue and hasten your recovery." Page 45: "Your immune system favors short, hard runs over long, slow ones." So, which is it? Run long & slow, or short & hard? The answer: It's up to you.
And that's the best way to look at it. I read RW, I enjoy the tips, but I only use the ones that work for me. I eat what I want, not the almond milk & tofu that are often on the RW menus. I stretch before and after I run, but using the static stretching that RW has frowned upon. Hey, I've been doing this for several years and haven't gotten hurt, so something is working.
In short: I like RW, but don't swear by it. Next time: Books about running.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Music, Part II
Okay, so I ran yesterday with music. It was a nice change.
Since it had been some months, I wasn't sick of all the songs on my MP3. Still, and maybe it's just because I'm A.D.D., I find that when a song starts I get fired up a bit -- "Oh, I love this song!" but by the time it's two minuets in I'm thinking, "Okay, what's next?"
Maybe what I need to do is start fresh, wipe off all the songs off the MP3 and start over with new ones. I'll see if I can make that happen.
Meanwhile, I do think I run faster with music, and it does keep me moving. When I'm tired, I just think, "Finish out this song. Finish the next song. Just two more songs to go."
And, of course, if the Tom Cruze-Jack Nicholson courtroom scene from A Few Good Men comes on, I'm fired up and yelling out: "You can't handle the truth." So there's that...
Since it had been some months, I wasn't sick of all the songs on my MP3. Still, and maybe it's just because I'm A.D.D., I find that when a song starts I get fired up a bit -- "Oh, I love this song!" but by the time it's two minuets in I'm thinking, "Okay, what's next?"
Maybe what I need to do is start fresh, wipe off all the songs off the MP3 and start over with new ones. I'll see if I can make that happen.
Meanwhile, I do think I run faster with music, and it does keep me moving. When I'm tired, I just think, "Finish out this song. Finish the next song. Just two more songs to go."
And, of course, if the Tom Cruze-Jack Nicholson courtroom scene from A Few Good Men comes on, I'm fired up and yelling out: "You can't handle the truth." So there's that...
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sound? Or Silence?
When I first started running a couple of years ago, I thought I needed music to do so. I bought a cheap MP3 player, uploaded Katy Perry, and away I went. Nothing gets me running like "Hot & Cold."
Along the way I uploaded hundreds of songs from old CDs and so forth. For a year or so I ran with music all the time. But by the time I added a "music?" yes/no to my 2010 running spreadsheet (do you keep a spreadsheet of your runs/times/weather conditions, or am I the only one who's that obsessive?) I had stopped listening most of the time.
Why? I don't remember. I think I forgot the MP3 one time, or it had a dead battery, or something. And once I was out of the habit, I guess I found I enjoyed running in silence. Looking over my 2011 spreadsheet, I realize I haven't run WITH music since June.
I was thinking of this today whilst running on the trail, because it was pretty quiet, except when I crossed the Beltway or I-66. It reminded me how quiet yesterday was on the trail at 6:45, and how loud it was in D.C. at 7:45. There's plenty of noise in the city without adding any of my own.
In any event, even when I do run with music, I only wear a headphone in one ear. I like to have the other ear clear to hear traffic, cyclists (those that bother to warn they're coming up behind me) and so forth. I'm going to do a short run on Sunday. Maybe I'll wear the MP3 player just to see how doing so changes my approach.
Along the way I uploaded hundreds of songs from old CDs and so forth. For a year or so I ran with music all the time. But by the time I added a "music?" yes/no to my 2010 running spreadsheet (do you keep a spreadsheet of your runs/times/weather conditions, or am I the only one who's that obsessive?) I had stopped listening most of the time.
Why? I don't remember. I think I forgot the MP3 one time, or it had a dead battery, or something. And once I was out of the habit, I guess I found I enjoyed running in silence. Looking over my 2011 spreadsheet, I realize I haven't run WITH music since June.
I was thinking of this today whilst running on the trail, because it was pretty quiet, except when I crossed the Beltway or I-66. It reminded me how quiet yesterday was on the trail at 6:45, and how loud it was in D.C. at 7:45. There's plenty of noise in the city without adding any of my own.
In any event, even when I do run with music, I only wear a headphone in one ear. I like to have the other ear clear to hear traffic, cyclists (those that bother to warn they're coming up behind me) and so forth. I'm going to do a short run on Sunday. Maybe I'll wear the MP3 player just to see how doing so changes my approach.
What's it all about?
"I'm Rich, and I'm a runner."
I say that, not as someone who's trying to quit running, but as someone who's having too much fun to want to quit running. But is that accurate? I mean, am I really a runner? I guess I am, but it still comes as a bit of a surprise. Since this is a new blog, I'll start at the beginning. We can write about the present when it becomes the past. Or something.
First, I was born.
Okay, that's too far back. Let's skip forward 40 years. I'd never run any appreciable distance until 2009. I'd been biking to work (13 miles) most days for several years, so I was in reasonably good shape. Still, I was carrying a fair amount of weight around my gut, and I liked to eat and drink. For those reasons, I never stepped on a scale. But I'd suspect I weighed between 180-185. Not awful for a man in his early 40s. But far from svelte.
At Christmas 2008 I found myself on the beach in Florida craving a bit of exercise. They have handy half-mile markers there, and I decided one day to "run" from our basecamp at marker 2.5 to the next marker. It didn't feel so bad. So the next day I did it again.
Now, I don't believe in making New Year's resolutions, because I don't enjoy breaking New Year's resolutions and, let's face it, that's what happens to 'em. But I decided: In 2009, I'd accomplish one thing I'd never done before. Running qualified, so I decided to vow to run a 10K.
Why that distance? No idea. I'd heard of it, I guess, and knew it would be far enough to be challenging, but not so far that I'd collapse and die halfway there. Or, worse perhaps, get frustrated during training and give up.
And training was part of the point. About a month into my preparations, one friend said, "10K? You could run that right now!" And I probably could have, even after very little training. Yet I'd have been forced to walk a lot, and I'd have ached for days, and I'd probably never run again. That wasn't the point. The point was to step up to the start KNOWING I could run a 10K, and then to start out and RUN a 10K.
I worked my way up, adding miles slowly, week by week, until I could run five or six without stopping. I'd selected a race in May (right after my birthday). I knew nothing about the race except that it happened to be near my office, so I knew the neighborhood a bit. That was reason enough. By the time the day arrived, I was confident I could pull the entire 10K -- even the climb (it's called Capitol HILL for a reason) in the final mile. (Final mile? Who laid that course out, anyway?)
And I did it. 10K, 51:50, 8:21 per mile. Like everything else that matters (and much that doesn't) it will live on the Internet forever. http://www.capitolhillclassic.com/old/2009/Results-Men.html
My family gave me a mousepad with photos from the race and a 5K I did a few weeks earlier as a test run, the inaugural W&OD 5K near my house. I'd finished that in 24:46, just under 8 minute pace. http://www.mc-coop.org/wod/20090328.html The mousepad announced "my daddy is a runner," although I wasn't really certain I was.
Still, I kept at it. At some point I noticed that when my hands touched my ribcage, they bumped into bone instead of fat. That was new. I noticed that I was hungrier, but found myself craving oatmeal, chicken and salad greens instead of junk food. On a morning run, I could actually taste how good the oatmeal was going to be. And it never seemed to let me down. Without meaning to, I basically gave up alcohol. There didn't seem to be any point; if I wanted to feel good or relax, all I had to do was run a few miles. It was cheaper, easier and healthier.
So I ran. A 10K in August (was I crazy?). 50:58. That was faster, but still above 8 minuet pace. At some point I started wearing a real runner's watch and clocking my miles. That helped bring my pace up as well. I could tell when I was lagging and when I was pushing it.
By the time I ran the Jingle all the Way 10K in December I not only knew I would finish, I actually set a deadline: finish in less than 50 mins. Running in a cold, damp race was all the encouragement I needed, I guess, as I crossed in 48:10, easily a personal record. The fact there were no hills helped. But so did the fact that I'd been running for a year, and finally felt like a runner.
I've been pushing my times down ever since. 47:10 for the next Capital Hill Classic. 46:46 for the next (and apparently final) Jingle 10K (it's becoming an 8K). I faded to 47:59 in the first annual "Run for the Children" (my wife thinks the shirt says "Run FROM the Children.") But that was a hilly, winding course, so it's a respectable time. Plus my GPS watch (I bought one when I had some extra $ along the way) says I ran 6.4 miles that day. Hum. So that would really be 7:30 pace.
In 2011 I've added more distance without dropping much speed. I ran the Army 10-miler (under an assumed name) in 1:21:03 and the Hershey half marathon (the farthest I've ever run) in 1:43:45 -- under 8 minuet pace http://www.midatlantictiming.com/resultsdetail.php?did=144
And we're up to date.
So why start a blog now? Well, I love to write, and haven't done enough of that lately. Maybe this'll energize me. And I love to run, and maybe this'll help me get through the upcoming winter without losing my edge. If I'm going to write about running, I'll have to be running, no matter how chilly the weather gets. So we'll see.
I say that, not as someone who's trying to quit running, but as someone who's having too much fun to want to quit running. But is that accurate? I mean, am I really a runner? I guess I am, but it still comes as a bit of a surprise. Since this is a new blog, I'll start at the beginning. We can write about the present when it becomes the past. Or something.
First, I was born.
Okay, that's too far back. Let's skip forward 40 years. I'd never run any appreciable distance until 2009. I'd been biking to work (13 miles) most days for several years, so I was in reasonably good shape. Still, I was carrying a fair amount of weight around my gut, and I liked to eat and drink. For those reasons, I never stepped on a scale. But I'd suspect I weighed between 180-185. Not awful for a man in his early 40s. But far from svelte.
At Christmas 2008 I found myself on the beach in Florida craving a bit of exercise. They have handy half-mile markers there, and I decided one day to "run" from our basecamp at marker 2.5 to the next marker. It didn't feel so bad. So the next day I did it again.
Now, I don't believe in making New Year's resolutions, because I don't enjoy breaking New Year's resolutions and, let's face it, that's what happens to 'em. But I decided: In 2009, I'd accomplish one thing I'd never done before. Running qualified, so I decided to vow to run a 10K.
Why that distance? No idea. I'd heard of it, I guess, and knew it would be far enough to be challenging, but not so far that I'd collapse and die halfway there. Or, worse perhaps, get frustrated during training and give up.
And training was part of the point. About a month into my preparations, one friend said, "10K? You could run that right now!" And I probably could have, even after very little training. Yet I'd have been forced to walk a lot, and I'd have ached for days, and I'd probably never run again. That wasn't the point. The point was to step up to the start KNOWING I could run a 10K, and then to start out and RUN a 10K.
I worked my way up, adding miles slowly, week by week, until I could run five or six without stopping. I'd selected a race in May (right after my birthday). I knew nothing about the race except that it happened to be near my office, so I knew the neighborhood a bit. That was reason enough. By the time the day arrived, I was confident I could pull the entire 10K -- even the climb (it's called Capitol HILL for a reason) in the final mile. (Final mile? Who laid that course out, anyway?)
And I did it. 10K, 51:50, 8:21 per mile. Like everything else that matters (and much that doesn't) it will live on the Internet forever. http://www.capitolhillclassic.com/old/2009/Results-Men.html
My family gave me a mousepad with photos from the race and a 5K I did a few weeks earlier as a test run, the inaugural W&OD 5K near my house. I'd finished that in 24:46, just under 8 minute pace. http://www.mc-coop.org/wod/20090328.html The mousepad announced "my daddy is a runner," although I wasn't really certain I was.
Still, I kept at it. At some point I noticed that when my hands touched my ribcage, they bumped into bone instead of fat. That was new. I noticed that I was hungrier, but found myself craving oatmeal, chicken and salad greens instead of junk food. On a morning run, I could actually taste how good the oatmeal was going to be. And it never seemed to let me down. Without meaning to, I basically gave up alcohol. There didn't seem to be any point; if I wanted to feel good or relax, all I had to do was run a few miles. It was cheaper, easier and healthier.
So I ran. A 10K in August (was I crazy?). 50:58. That was faster, but still above 8 minuet pace. At some point I started wearing a real runner's watch and clocking my miles. That helped bring my pace up as well. I could tell when I was lagging and when I was pushing it.
By the time I ran the Jingle all the Way 10K in December I not only knew I would finish, I actually set a deadline: finish in less than 50 mins. Running in a cold, damp race was all the encouragement I needed, I guess, as I crossed in 48:10, easily a personal record. The fact there were no hills helped. But so did the fact that I'd been running for a year, and finally felt like a runner.
I've been pushing my times down ever since. 47:10 for the next Capital Hill Classic. 46:46 for the next (and apparently final) Jingle 10K (it's becoming an 8K). I faded to 47:59 in the first annual "Run for the Children" (my wife thinks the shirt says "Run FROM the Children.") But that was a hilly, winding course, so it's a respectable time. Plus my GPS watch (I bought one when I had some extra $ along the way) says I ran 6.4 miles that day. Hum. So that would really be 7:30 pace.
In 2011 I've added more distance without dropping much speed. I ran the Army 10-miler (under an assumed name) in 1:21:03 and the Hershey half marathon (the farthest I've ever run) in 1:43:45 -- under 8 minuet pace http://www.midatlantictiming.com/resultsdetail.php?did=144
And we're up to date.
So why start a blog now? Well, I love to write, and haven't done enough of that lately. Maybe this'll energize me. And I love to run, and maybe this'll help me get through the upcoming winter without losing my edge. If I'm going to write about running, I'll have to be running, no matter how chilly the weather gets. So we'll see.
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