Archive for September, 2010

It’s 6am, pitch black out and I’m looking at the weather, thinking “tempo or no tempo?”.  The fact that it’s already 80 degrees and tomorrow at this time will be about 70 has decided it for me:  Tempo tomorrow.

On the amusement front, the twins I talked about in the last post, Steph and Linds, replied with the best head-trip ever, they ran together yesterday specifically to have me see them in one place, at one time.  LOL!  I couldn’t stop laughing as they approached and was relieved that it wasn’t one girl messing with my head all this time.  Great job ladies, you had me grinning like a crazy person the rest of the way home.

One other little amusement, at least to me, is that the next time you read this blog, I’ll be a much wiser and more thoughtful writer than ever before.  OK, scratch that, though I will definitely be a more mature one, seeing as how I turn 49 on Monday.  Yikes.  Thank god for running, with its ability to turn a potentially anxiety, depression-filled occasion into only mildly irritating that I’m not turning 50…the better to kill in a new Age Group.  Let me say this again: Thank god for running.

Have a great long weekend, you US Labor-day celebrators, hope you enjoy your BBQs and gatherings, races, runs and rides.  See you back here next week.  Cheers!

It’s finally happened – the Plateau, she is gone.

Yesterday’s workout was: 10.7 miles w/5 x 1.25mi @10k pace, avg. 3:40 recoveries.  I averaged 6:59s.  It was 81 degrees and Daniels and Tinman say that’s equivalent to 6:47s in normal temps, so I plugged it into McMillan and dang if it doesn’t spit out my Half PR from last year.  Of course, this is all calculated approximation so TWB (tinged with bullshit) but I haven’t been in spitting distance for close to a year, so this is a beautiful thing.

Btw, some weather trivia I just read: this is the hottest Philly summer on record, and by a wide margin.  Highs averaged 88.7!  Last winter had record snowfall.  If this keeps up, I may just move my ass outta here.  But back to running…

Race Goals For The 19th
As mentioned, I’m not looking for a PR for this one, instead my main focus will be getting hydration down right.  I’ll also be tweaking the nutrition aspect and for the first time, at Adam’s suggestion, will take 2 gels, one 30 minutes in, the next 30 minutes afterward.  I think this is a great idea, I’ve always scrimped on that stuff during Halfs but now I have no problem taking gels (they used to remind me of snot but now I find them quite tasty, or else I’ve established a craving for eating snot).  But back to the goal…

1:34 has a nice ring to it; challenging, but not tempting fate too much.   Having trained in this miserable weather for months, it’s hard to realistically know what’ll happen.  It’s like you’re rehearsing for a dance but only marking your moves for months, then suddenly you have a week to dance all-out (assuming we’ll have some cooler weather before the 19th).  Should be interesting, if nothing else.  Plus, the major happiness with this race is the girlies coming in: there’ll be Reyana coming from California, Rebecca from Alabama, Doggie & Loren and Kat.  So it’s a chickfest in the works!

Meanwhile, I’m actually looking forward to my 6@Half pace tempo this Friday (or Saturday if the weather’s better) to see where my heart rate lies.  Who is this person?  Looking forward to quality runs again?  No defeatist attitude?  Some actual confidence?  She seems familiar but I can’t quite place her.  Looking forward to become reacquainted with her as the Fall progresses, though.  Speaking of…

Fall Races
I started scouting out races to do between this Half and the November one, and compiled a nice little list, which I’ve put on my At The Races page. I’ll pick 3 but those are the choices so far.   It’ll be so good to get back in the game – the longer I’m away, the more nerve-wracking it is to race.  Which is another reason I’m happy that September’s Half will be a rustbuster and not one that (in my mind) counts.

Back to the present
I had a fun 11-miler this morning, the first few miles run with blog commenter and friend Steph, who is one half of a pair of athletic twins (missed you today, Linds!).  I see them both in the park and they look so remarkably identical, the only way I can tell them apart is one wears red, the other wears blue.  I’m still not convinced there are two of them since I’ve yet to see them together.

Anyway, we had a fun time jabbering about the park regulars, it’s so satisfying to have your observations of weirdos and funny running styles confirmed.  Btw, they’re not the only twin runners in the park, there’s another set of sisters in their 20′s too, though they’re much easier to tell apart.  They’re also very sweet and always say hi.

I’ll end today’s post with a shout-out to my friend Matt Tartar, whom I met doing the Runner’s Roundtable.  He’s got a cool podcast called Dump Runner’s Club where he talks of all things running.  If you’re a podcast listener, add him to your list, he’s a funny guy and a sweetie, besides.

And that concludes today’s blah blah.   I wish you all the blah blah for the next couple blah.   Be safe and make sure to blah your blah blah because it might get itchy if you’re not careful.