Saturday Long Run, The Non-Epic Triumph of Humanity over Humidity

Since the dawn of time, man has struggled to overcome uncomfortable humidity...

I had been dreading today's long run for several days.

17 miles was what Hal Higdon had assigned for the weekend, and as I said last week, I'm definitely getting outside my comfort zone (Getting? Come on. Ok, I'm well outside my comfort zone). On a cool crisp day like last weekend, no problem; I felt like I could I have run forever last Saturday.

But this weekend brought a return of somewhat summer-like conditions. An overcast 65F, which I admit isn't bad compared to July, but with 97% humidity. Warm and humid is the bane of my existence -- at least my running existence.

So I worried. I made contingency plans. I accepted defeat. But I still had a choice.

I could bow to humidity once again, or I could stab it in its warm, wet, sticky, gross
heart.

I could keep complaining and writing whiny blog posts, or I could shut the hell up and run 17 miles, humidity be damned.

And as long as "shut the hell up" allows for the pathetic whimpering noises that I was making for the last two miles, that's exactly what I did.

It took me 2 hours and 59 minutes (a 10:31/mile pace for those keeping score at home) to finish, but it was not a victory without cost. I'll be reminded by my aching calves and quads, as I limp around Lincoln Financial Field tomorrow, that running is stupid and the guy that (according to legend) invented the marathon died while inventing the marathon. But costly or not, I consider it a victory nonetheless. .

It may have been 97% humidity out there, but anything short of 100% just wasn't going to be enough today.

I've gloated enough. More than enough. I'm sure my IT Bands will go all IT Band Syndrome on me as my karma balances out next week. I'm sure it will somehow be even more humid, if that's even possible, on my 18-miler next week. I'm sure my Shuffle will get stuck on "Britney Spears Mode".

But for now, I'm thrilled. After being so nervous about this run over the past few days, I felt like I had won a race when Garmin said "17.00" as I turned back into the high school.

In the endless struggle of man vs. humidity, man wins.

Saturday Long Run: Half Marathon, Full Speed

I won the Manchester Half Marathon, yesterday.



Unfortunately, it doesn't really exist.

Yesterday's long run, according to the venerable yet-often-ignored Hal Higdon, was to be a half marathon. I assume, since the plan said, "half marathon" and not "13 miles", and officially had the long run on Sunday instead of Saturday (which I ignored due to schedule), that I was intended to simulate race conditions or actually run a real half marathon.

I wasn't sweating it. 13 miles is a distance I covered on several occasions during the summer, and the weather was supposed to be gorgeous (by which I mean cool and overcast). So, a nice, relatively non-challenging (compared to last week's muggy 15), probably even boring long run to kick off a very busy weekend. No problem. And so no problem that, in reaction to a very stressful week, probably had a little more pizza and beer on Friday night than I should have. After all, I wasn't going to race this.

Except, I raced the hell out of it.

13.1 through Manchester in 2:02:56 -- my second fastest 13.1 ever! It was slower than my half-marathon PR in 2010 at Philly (1:59:34) but a few seconds better better than my 2009 Philly Half (just over 2:03) and 4-7 minutes faster than any other 13 mile run I'd taken all summer. At one point, I felt like I had a shot to go 10 miles in under 1:30, which I've only done once since spring of 2009 -- this summer in Montreal, where I died on the super-hilly last 3 miles and finished 13 in 2:07.

I fell a short of my 10-mile stretch goal, coming in at 1:34, which is still faster than I've been most of the summer, but it meant that to come in at 13.1 under two hours I would need to run what for me is an average 5K, but as the last three of a half marathon. In Philly last year, where the last two miles of the course are downhill or flat, I was able to lay down a very good last three miles to considerably exceed my expectations, but in hilly Manchester I just couldn't quite pull it off.

Having been running faster than my usual pace, I hit a wall at the end of a mile 11 in which I'd tried to recover speed, and had to dial it back during the 12th mile. I might have been able to then "sprint" the last 1.1 and finish a bit faster, but without a realistic shot at coming in under 2 hours (I would have needed to run faster than the fastest mile I'd ever run), and with a long, fun day of walking in Philly ahead of me, any potential reward wasn't worth the cost.

I don't really know this one came from. I didn't go out with a goal of running it as fast as I could. I didn't feel very strong or fast for the first four miles and it wasn't till I'd finished six that I realized I was going faster than my usual pace. As I've said before, I care a lot less about my marathon pace than I do in shorter races -- I'd rather keep a slow, steady pace and be able to run the whole thing than burn out too fast and crash on the wall...kind of like I did at Shamrock (I'm still going to partially blame injury!!)...but this was a fun run and it wrapped up the most enjoyable week of running in quite awhile.

Next Saturday is 17, and the following is 18 (which will tie my 2nd-longest run ever). Slow and steady will be the goal. We're getting into the part of the training schedule where I've really never really been before. Last time, my injury robbed me of a whole month and I recovered as best as I could, but only got a single 18-miler in before I had to taper. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous as hell, but I'm excited, too.

Friday Haiku, Volume XVI

Big change in weather
Fifty degrees out today.
Too cold for haiku



I went out for another middle-of-the-night run last night, and the temperature was in the low 50s or the high 40s. Bliss. For other stuff, I like weather in the 60s and 70s best, but if I had my choice I'd run every run in temperatures of 30-50F.

That said, it was a shock to the system, being my first cool weather run (by my probably skewed definitions) since, I suspect, April. For the first two miles, I found myself wishing I'd worn my light gloves or long sleeves so I could tuck my hands in. I ran 8 miles and it was nice to actually be able to enjoy the run and think about nothing, rather than be distracted by how disgustingly sweaty and gross I felt.

My approach to last night's run was a mixed bag. I must have left my Garmin turned on because the battery was dead. Though Chris offered her identical one, I took it as a sign that I should just go out and enjoy myself and not worry about pace. I did time myself with my watch, and I ran one of my most familiar courses so I know approximately where each mile "mark" is, but it prevented me from obsessively watching my pace.

But, despite my resolve to just go out and not worry about pace, once I got out in the chilly night air, it felt like I was pushing myself pretty hard. Though I'd contemplated 10 miles, my quads were aching pretty bad, and it was the middle of the night, so I decided I'd stop at 8 rather than taking the 2ish mile loop down into Mount Wolf. My fast pace turned out to be an illusion, though. My 8 miles was was at a pretty average (for me) pace of 9:54. I enjoyed the run, but I'm curious as to why it felt like I was going so much faster than I actually was. A couple theories:

1. Though I love running in the cold, it seems like I'm a little older and creakier in cold weather. Knees felt stiffer than usual and quads were much sorer than they should have been at this pace and distance. I do my IT band stretches before every run, but I have to remember to stretch the quads out more in the cold.

2. On the other hand, this could have been some leftover soreness from Tuesday's four miles at quite a bit faster than usual pace.

3. The neighborhood where I run is a pretty quiet one, but between it being 10:00 at night and not being distracted by how warm and humid I was, I was much more aware of the sound of my own footfalls than usual (which was kind of neat).

4. It really did seem like I just turned my brain off for a good portion of this run, which was nice, so I suspect that somewhere between mile two and mile five I slowed down w/o realizing it.

Whatever. It was a nice run.

It's been a good week of running. My 15, under pretty gross conditions last Saturday, gave me my confidence back and for different reasons Tuesday night's 4 miles and last night's 8 were two of my most enjoyable runs all summer. I don't think we're quite done with the heat and humidity here in Central PA, but this was a nice preview of the Fall.

I ignored Hal Higdon again this week, but my heart was in the right place (in the middle of my chest, slightly to the left side). Four miles on Tuesday was what he recommended, and that's what I did. I skipped Wednesday's 8-miles because of the rain, but then made it up yesterday, instead of the scheduled 4. Except it turned out that I misread the plan and it was supposed to be 7 miles. Oops.

While not officially a step-back week, this weekend is a step-back. It says "half marathon" on Sunday instead of a Saturday long run. I think that means I'm supposed to either be in a race or simulate race pace. But, since I treat the marathon as a long, slow, distance run, I'll probably just treat this as a regular long run, even though I've "raced" two half marathons previously.

Throwback

It's been a long week. I know it's only Tuesday (well, Wednesday morning now technically), but it's been a long week. Despite feeling like crap for most of the day and despite -- but also because of -- a very stressful two days of work, I had the great idea of trying to get my Tuesday four miler -- just like Hal Higdon wants -- in at 11:00pm. My resolve wavered as I got ready...I just didn't feel up to it. But I decided I'd feel better about myself if I at least tried. Turned out to be a great idea.

Since it was shorter than my usual distance, I set out without my hydration belt. No water, orange Gatorade, or Sports Beans. I also decided I was going to run it as fast as I could.

It turned out to be 4 miles in 35:22, an 8:50/mile pace. Not as low as I'd like to be for a 5K, but considerably better than the last time I recall going out with the goal of running 4 and keeping my pace under 9:00, which was a lunchtime run back in January, before my IT band trouble.

More importantly, though, this was fun. It was nice to have a run that was over in under 40 minutes, rather than over an hour and a half. It was enjoyable to just turn my brain off and focus on running as fast as I could, rather than worrying about pacing myself for the long haul. It was a throwback to the summer of 2008, when all I did was two laps around Cousler Park several times a week and try to break my personal records.

I've longer distances than I ever thought I'd attempt back then; I'm proud of that and have no plans stop running longer races, but I do think that summer was when running was the most purely fun.

Every week in my marathon training, I've got runs on Tuesday and Thursday that don't ever get longer than 5 miles. I admit, I really don't care that much about how fast I run the marathon. I think just by getting in more 20-milers in training I'll be better conditioned and between that and smarter pacing early in the race, I can shave off a decent amount of time. I'm not that worried about tempo runs or speedwork (Novice 2 doesn't have speedwork, anyway). But I think I'll take one of those short runs every week and just go as fast as I can.

Failure & Antonement

This weekend turned out to be a washout as far as running was concerned. 14 on Saturday turned into 10, and I got up to re-try this morning only to find it raining fairly hard at 6am, with a 75% chance of storms at 7am. Back to bed.

It's probably for the best. I'm humbled and ready to listen now, Hal Higdon.

I'll run four miles on Tuesday. I can find time for that, even though this is looking to be a very busy work week. Seven on Wednesday. Four on Thursday. Saturday calls for 15, and that will be a big challenge. Hopefully I'll get lucky with the weather -- both in terms of having a cool morning to run it and the rail trail not being a swamp.

I think my best bet is starting at Hanover Junction, running 4 miles north, turning around, and then running back to Hanover Junction, 3 miles south and then back will make it seem the least oppressive, give me a chance at the midpoint to refill bottles, and also not leave me 7.5 miles away from my car if I bonk again. Since the rail trail is boring, Shuffle will be a must. If it rains a lot this week -- and the forecast says it will, then I'll be trying to wring 15 garbage miles out of Manchester and York Haven.

I'm not trying to save the galaxy...just run 26.2 miles.

Note: This cartoon is not meant to imply that Hal Higdon is small and green or a stick figure.

Friday Haiku, Volume XIV

In life and running
There's much that can be improved
By three-day weekends.



Schedule and the power outage (in my house, this time, not my legs. The inconvenience of having to offsite to shower) kept me off the roads this week. I got my step-back week 10 in on Saturday, 10 on Wednesday, and will go out for 14 tomorrow on what looks like it will be a pretty sweltering morning on the rail trail, with lows back in the 70s after cooler temperatures in the morning for much of this week. (66 degrees with 90 percent humidity -- ugh! -- is the current forecast.)

Monday has lows in the 50s, so I was tempted to go for my long run then, but it looks like that's the overnight low for Monday night into Tuesday.

So, I'll try the trail tomorrow, and it will be a pretty un-enjoyable 14 mile slog, just like last time I was there. I'll probably ignore Higdon one last (Ha!) time and run Monday, since it's a day off, Wednesday, and Thursday, rather than Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Rest-Long Run. I'm thinking 10, but we'll see what the weather is like and how beat-up I'm feeling from tomorrow.

Enjoy the long weekend!

What's Next?

Think back to your PSAT or SAT tests for this one.

Complete this series: Earthquake, hurricane....

We here at the Earn Your Donuts Research Labs have concluded that the next catastrophe is right around the corner, and it will probably take one of three forms:

Space rocks.

Dinosaurs coming back from extinction.

Cats rising up against their owners and taking over the world.

Now that I've had my MS Paint fun, I should get back to running.

Even though the above scenarios render the Philly Marathon unlikely to take place, I've paid my entry fee and so I should probably hedge my bets and train for it. Since we'd been without power (and plumbing, since we have a well) from early Sunday morning through yesterday afternoon, it made it difficult to find a way to get our runs in. I finally got out for a nice 10-miler this morning. Though I missed out running on the two nicest weather days in months (Monday and Tuesday), it was a cool, beautiful morning -- the kind of day where running is a joy. So, kind of the opposite of Saturday's run.

Hal Higdon's going to be even madder at me, though, since I lost a run yesterday I'm winging my midweek mileage again this week. I'll also probably do my long run on Monday, when the weather looks cooler, instead of Saturday. I've got a 14-miler this time. I'd rather run it in 50-something degrees than 70-something, but I know I can get through it either way. That's as far as I've run this summer, though, so for runs longer than that (15 miles the next week, and 17 two weeks after that) I'll really be hoping for some cooler temperatures.

Saturday Long Run: Return to Humiditytown

It was really, really humid this morning. The kind of humid that makes me think it's time to find another hobby. The kind of humid that makes me question the existence of good in this world. The kind of humid that makes me right write posts complaining about humid it is. The kind of humid that makes me screw up homophones.

Hal Higdon called for 9 this week. Since I've done such a great job of listening to him so far, even this week, my first full week "on program", I just ran my usual 10-mile route through Manchester and Mt. Wolf. I had a slow pace again today, but unlike Monday's unexplainable bonk, I'm just going to attribute this one to slogging through 100% humidity.

(Yours truly at my finishing point, Humiditytown Middle School)

Did I mention that it was really, really humid? It was 73 degrees at the start of my run, which is quite warmer than it's been for my morning runs the past two weeks but nothing special overall for the summer, but the humidity must have been AT LEAST 1000% if not infinitely more. It was very overcast, which allows me to forgo the visor, but I was still disgusting and sweaty within half a mile.

Since words are powerless to convey exactly how much I was sweating, let's again use the power of MS Paint to try to capture the level of disgustingness (That's not a word, spell check? Screw you!) we're talking about here (click to enlarge):


Good luck on your runs, everyone. I'll be inside playing video games. (And best wishes to anyone in Irene's path.)