Race Report: 2014 Celtic Solstice 5-Miler

I was feeling very pessimistic about the Celtic Solstice 5-Miler.  I'd had a run on the previous Monday where my old compartment syndrome symptoms were back and I'd cut an attempt at five miles down to a little over three.  It wasn't terrible, but my calves were very crampy (is that even a word?) and my ankles and seemed swollen, and when I turned around back to my car, I sat down on the curb, just to check, and sure enough, I didn't have the full range of motion in my left foot.

Just as running had started to be something I enjoyed again, it was back to this bullshit.

I rested, doing lots of stretching the rest of the week, and the race actually went ok.  I ran four miles of the five-mile race and didn't have any compartment syndrome symptoms during the race, despite my shins still being pretty achy that morning during the long walks back and forth from the car to the packet pickup area.  (These races at Druid Hill Park are fun, but the parking and traffic situation is a little bit of a mess.)

The race is hilly, with a steep, tough incline at the start, and then more moderate hills after that.  It's not as hilly as Dreaded Druid Hills 10K or, I'm told, the Zoo Zoom 8K, which I believe uses some of the same access roads as the DDH.  I enjoy how the course makes tight loops around the park; normally that would annoy me, but it was nice to be able to watch for Chris as I made the zig-zags around the park.   A significant part of the last 2 miles is around Druid Lake.  It's flat but also boring, and my progress seemed very slow at this point.  I took a one-minuteish walk break at four miles as I was heading around the south side of the lake toward the Moorish Tower, and as I passed the tower with a little over a half-mile (I think) to go, I knew it was literally all downhill from there; the slight incline around the rest of the lake and then down the steep hill we started up.

I finished in 56:33, a far cry from my 42:44 at this race in 2011, one of my best-ever finishes and not-coincidentally my last pre-compartment syndrome race, but a perfectly cromulent finish given my current conditioning and circumstances both within and outside of my control.  It's hard not to be disappointed when I see comparisons like that, but it's important for me to keep reminding myself that during the summer of 2011, I was dropping double-digit mileages several times a week and that I had been in what passes for marathon shape around here, and this summer I had six new surgical scars on my leg and didn't even start running again until mid July.  That simplified explanation ignores that 2012 and 2013 were plagued by injury, but also that there was a lot more I should have been doing to keep myself in shape even when running wasn't going well.


 So, in conclusion, I either should or shouldn't beat myself up too badly over this finish.

Race Review
Falls Road Running puts on a good race, and all their events are both fun and challenging (they have race team that's very competitive, but this race gets participants of all levels), but there's a few small ways that I think this race could be improved.   The start was very chaotic and crowded, so I think some more room in the starting area would help, and also pace signs.  I probably would have ignored them this year, anyway, but I think it would be helpful to at least get the idea in peoples' heads.

There is a good post-race party with hot wine from Boordy Vineyards, fruit, and cookies.  All the cookies were gone by the time we got there, which I thought was definitely not cool, but there were bagpipers at the start, food and beverages (beer was available for purchase) and a Celtic band playing Christmas tunes at the post race party, and a fun, fairly scenic course.  It's a race that I would definitely run again, and probably will. 

Another high point is the swag:  a custom Brooks running jacket that makes the $80 registration fee not seem so high.  You can also do $40 with no premium, but I really like this one:

 

This Isn't Fun Anymore

That's what I said to myself on Saturday morning, as I set on the steps of Northeastern Middle School, breathing heavily, a veritable river of sweat running down the steps and into the parking lot below.  I don't mean to complain in saying that, but it's just a fact for me right now.  Nothing about running is enjoyable for me these days.

Two miles, a distance that used to be extremely easy for me, is a struggle.  I probably can't run a 5K right now and I feel like I'm a few weeks away from being there.  The half marathon I'm signed up for in October is probably a stretch physically, anyway, but mentally, it just seems completely outside the realm of the possible.

More troubling, is that I just don't want to run more than two miles right now.  I mean, why would I?  It's hot, it's humid, and it's hard; just not enjoyable in any sense of the word right now.  Really, I probably can -- and should -- try to push myself up toward 3 miles this coming weekend to get a better read on my compartment syndrome symptoms.  I'll definitely need a change of scenery for it (rail trail, maybe?) because I definitely am feeling bad vibes about just running it in the neighborhood where I usually run, where I limped back to my car so many times last year and earlier this one.

Again, I don't mean to complain, but I'm not sure how I fix the mental/motivational aspect of this.   I think I just need to accept that until I get some more conditioning back and the weather cools down, that this is going to be miserable.  It's just harder than usual to see the big picture when I really haven't had a really good, enjoyable, or rewarding run since the first half of last year. Today's run wasn't as miserable as Saturday's, except for the part where I tripped on uneven sidewalk and went flying.  That kind of sucked.

Meanwhile, I'll be out there on the road on Wednesday or Thursday morning, hating every second  of it.

Crashing and Burning

This post isn't meant to be as doom and gloom and the title indicates; it just hasn't been that good a week of running.  I had a gorgeous morning on Tuesday but could only put together 5 miles because of discomfort in the mystery bump area around my left ankle and shin.  I had a little bit of  a comeback on Thursday and managed 6 hillier miles despite the warmer morning.  Today, on an oppressively humid morning, I ran 5 again.  I hate the heat, but I should be able to do more than that...my legs just didn't feel well enough.  I had the same pain and weakness in the lower left leg, and the left quad was very achy, too.  I'm not sure if the culprit is fencing, Dreaded Druid Hills, one of my runs on this week, or something else I'm forgetting.

I need to find something that can help me make that left leg strong again, whether it's more (any!) strength training, exploring more medical options, or something else, compression socks and foam rolling alone just aren't cutting it.  As Chris said last night as we left our fencing class at the Y, I'd also be very grateful if someone invented an air-conditioned bodysuit.

(NOT an air-conditioned bodysuit)


Speaking of fencing, the last two weeks of fencing have been really fun.  Instead of just working on footwork and different blade moves (lunge, parry, repost, etc.) we've spent the whole class in round-robin tournament.  I know practice is important, but this is a lot more fun!

I'm holding my own, at 4-1 over the past two weeks, and came in second last week and this week we didn't total it up.  I think I tend to press my attack too much, because I really don't parry (defend) well at all.  I should have another loss, too, Chris got totally hosed by the judges (other members of the class) in her bout against me last week!   It's fun, but I'm still not sure I have any real desire to enter competitions or take it more seriously than just the class.


But enough about that.  You don't come to this blog for running, or fencing, or me complaining about my stupid legs.  You're here for the KITTENS!!!!

("You work. I'll lie under your desk and purr.")

So, Where Do I Go From Here?

 This is has been an interesting running year, to say the least.  I've hit rock bottom, deferring from what was going to be my third marathon, but I've also salvaged the year thus far with some success at the shorter distances, including new PRs in the 5K, 8K, and a 10K that is such a ridiculous outlier from any other 6 miles I've ever run that I question the accuracy of the course measurement. I've had some other good, fun races too, at the Sole of the City 10K and the YMCA Armed Forces Day 10, and even my return race at the St. Patrick's Day Parade 5K was a good effort.

I'm in another slump, of late.  I try to keep this blog mostly focused on its core subject matter -- running and pictures of cats -- but basically in the first six months of the year, I've done approximately a whole year's worth of work.  Great for my company's bottom line, I hope, but the late nights have not made for many good morning runs, or any morning runs, period. 

I got the first half of my comeuppance at the Druid Hills 10K on Saturday, and I'll get the second half at the Spartan Race on July 14.  It's ok, it really is.  I know I'm not ready and I accept that whatever humiliation I suffer is no one's fault but mine.  In one sense, I'm ok with that.  I think of myself as a runner, not any sort of extreme multi-sport athlete or any kind of tough guy at all.  So yeah, I haven't really gone out of my train for it, either. (Sorry, Tina!)  Like I said, it's been tough enough for me to hang in there just as a runner, lately.  But on the other hand, I'm going to be lifting as much as possible (yeah, I've kind of failed at this through May and June, too) and swinging on the monkey bars and climbing the little fake rock wall over at the playground (hopefully while there is no one else around to watch.) Perhaps it's not too late to avoid complete disaster.

I think I am, however, headed for disaster on one of my main running goals for 2012:  the elusive (for me) sub-6:00 mile.  Needless to say, with my training spotty at best over the past several weeks, I haven't mixed any speedwork in there.  It's not too late to get a few speed workouts in, though, and while my maximum distance is probably seven, maybe eight miles if the weather is cool and the terrain flat, I seem to be a little faster than I was last year.  So, I have a shot.  Where the disaster comes is that the Harrisburg Mile is four days after Spartan Race, so any kinds of weird soreness or injury (or death!) would probably slow my mile pace down. 


So, I'm debating bagging my mile PR goal.  I can register for it day-of so I'm not wasting money if in bad shape from the Spartan Race, but we'll see how much running I can get in.  If I run it, I'm going to do my best, but this might not be the year for 5:59, after all. 


That would be disappointing, but overall, I think that for the second half of Summer and into the fall, I really need to focus on pacing more than speed.  It's become apparent to me that I have lost all sense of how fast I'm going.  I start every run, especially races, too fast, and I've got little left for the finish.  In the half and full marathons that I plan to run in the fall and spring, respectively, I'm going to need to keep my pace more consistent than I have been. 

(More time here.)

The first step, though, is getting myself more consistently back on the roads, and that starts tomorrow.  Weather.com says it's going to be in the 50s tomorrow morning, and I'm not going to miss it.

(Less time here.  No offense, kitten.)

Sorry for the boring post.  I cracked a lot of jokes in my Dreaded Druid Hills review, though.  I was overdue for a boring, running and complaining about stuff type post.

Catching Up from Down South

Sorry everyone, another boring running-type post. Feel free to scroll ahead for adorable cat pictures.

I'm back. Not all the way back. Not that I was ever really "there", anyway. But, whatever. I'm back. I felt like it really took two weeks after the Philly Marathon-related Debacle before I really felt normal again. But after two well-paced runs, a 7-miler last Thursday and 10 on Saturday, I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be at this point to start training for Shamrock.

Of course, this week is a total mess. Willpower is not the problem, it's just a matter of logistics...which means I guess it is kind of a matter of willpower. I'm on a business trip to lovely Dallas, TX. And let me tell you this, all my sports-related antipathy to Dallas is not just hype -- it really does suck...well, at least the parts I've seen, which have been pretty much limited to the airport, highways and access roads.

The rental car facility was so far from the airport that there really should have been a connecting flight. There's a toll road that I was just magically on with no warning and supposedly drivers are somehow charged automatically and since I told the rental car people that I didn't think I'd be on toll roads now I'm probably going to wind up in a Texas jail. To get anywhere, you have to make these big loops since all the roads are divided. And where is the Jerrydome? I thought you were supposed to be able see it from space.

Anyway...back to my point. I brought all my running gear, and they're having the cold weather that I love, but since my hotel is nestled right off a highway access ramp and without sidewalks anywhere around, I settled on 40 minutes in the treadmill.

Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice treadmill, but it was also 75 degrees in hotel gym! That is why I wanted to run outside! Like I said, it really is a matter of willpower. I could have found a park or residential area, but at 9:30 at night in a completely unfamiliar city, I'll take my 40 treadmill minutes and be content with it.

The real problem, though, is this:

Not just In-n-Out Burger, which is awesome and which we don't have in Pennsylvania, but eating in general. To put it kindly, eating is one of my favorite things. Some people run to lose weight. Some people run because they really, truly intrinsically love it. I run so I can eat more stuff and continue to look relatively the same. But, when I'm on a business trip, I'm less restrained than usual.

It doesn't help that my client, which I'm not going to name, really took excellent care of the people attending the meeting that I'm here for. The attendees at the meeting are provided with a per diem allowance for meals, but when the client provides meals to attendees, it counts them against their allowance at a rate that's more costly than most conference-type food. Because of this, the people in charge wanted to make sure attendees got their money's worth. So, I had an egg sandwich and some fruit for breakfast. Not bad. Lunch? Bad. I mean, good. Delicious chicken in mushroom sauce. I was starving, so I had two lunches. I have no idea why I was so much hungrier than usual, but I still had room for some cookies (and conference cookies are always great!) at mid-afternoon break.

Later in the day, my colleague and I were lured by In-n-Out Burger's neon sign and promise of delicious burgers and fries. It was very good, even though I ordered a cheeseburger and got what I believe to be "Animal Style" by mistake.

I did hit the treadmill tonight, and probably will again on Wednesday. I hope to get to use the hotel's one set of weights tomorrow. But, I probably won't be able to keep myself away from the food.

After my workout, I rewarded myself with chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies, which my wife made me to take along. Did I mention I have the best wife ever?

(There were a lot more cookies...but I stress-ate a lot of them after getting to the hotel.)

She helped me out a little, though, replacing the butter with applesauce. Mmm...applesauce.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to getting home to my family and back out on the peaceful roads of Central PA.

And, without further ado, the cuteness:

(Higgy is "venting")

(There's no time like the present to lay under a Christmas tree.)

Friday Haiku, Volume XVI: Death to Humidity

Overconfident.
Unlucky with the weather.
Dreaded seventeen.

"17 miles on Saturday? No problem. I got this."

Not so fast, Brian. We're not out of the woods yet. After gorgeous running weather last week, humidity returned in a big way. I got my approximately 4 miles in Tuesday night. I skipped an 8-miler Wednesday night after the Revolution game because it was pouring, and then I was scheduled for another 4 last night.

However, I'd hoped to get 8 in, going out at 11pm after we got home from another Revolution game. (It's the playoffs, so we had tickets on consecutive nights) 8 on Thursday night worked well for me last week, and set me up for my very nice 13.1. With rain in the forecast on Saturday morning, I even contemplated going for my long run last night if I felt good.

Unfortunately, it was about 65 degrees at 11pm at night, with 90 percent humidity, and so foggy that my headlamp did no good at all. I could tell within the first 100 feet that 17 miles wasn't happening and with the thick fog I quickly decided that 8 was even a bad idea. I got in 4,and it was not fun at all.

On Saturday, I'm scheduled for 17 miles. It's supposed to be 66 degrees, 60% chance of rain, and 97% humidity. That's not weather that I'm feeling good about running 17 miles in.

If I have to adjust the plan, I still think I have time. Not that I trust the 10-day forecast very much, but next weekend looks like I'll have lows in the mid-50s. (That's what it said earlier in the week about this weekend, too, though.) I'm scheduled for 18 miles then. Then 13, then 19. That 19 is on October 15, so weather-wise things should be a lot more to my liking then. If I can get 13-15 in tomorrow, then I can go for 17 next weekend and I would feel good about taking the scheduled step-back week and trying for 19 on Oct 15th.

The cool weather will help a lot -- I'm confident of that. Had I not hurried trying for a sub-2:00 half last weekend, which is a pace quite a bit faster than I'm shooting for in the marathon, I feel like I could have (and in hindsight, should have) gotten 17 in then and taken my step-back this week.

Based on my last two years at the Philly Half, I'll probably have exactly the weather I'm looking for on race day. I think I underestimated just how much less I would enjoy training for a fall marathon would be than for the early spring one.

Because I didn't want this post to be a total downer: MORE KITTIES!

(With a perfectly good fleece blanket a foot away, Elizabeth, the cutest, dumbest cat in the world, lies on notebooks.)


(Pooka back in his glory days when he was huge.)

And yes, an entry about all the gross and wonderful things I ate at the fair is coming, but the point of this blog is to really complain about the weather and talk about running. Also, cat pictures. Priorities, people.

Friday Haiku, Volume XV

The water rises
And my confidence declines
Time for a comeback

This is has been a tough week for running. I crashed at 10 on my alleged 14-miler last Saturday. This week, I got my Higdon-proscribed 4 in on the treadmill. I tried for 8, which my plan called for, on Wednesday between rainstorms, and just didn't feel well at all (stopped at 6.3). I skipped yesterday's 4-miler because I figured I should shovel as much of my driveway back into place as I could.

This week's long run is 15 miles. I'm not sure I can do that right now, between they way I've felt this week and the rainy humid morning we're supposed to have, and my sort of sub-par training over the past two weeks. I can't get hung up on that, though. I just need to focus on doing the best I can to get back on program as much as possible. 13 miles -- I'll take it! 14 or 15, I'll be thrilled.

I also need to STOP WHINING! I've been very negative lately. About the weather, about running, about work, and probably other things that I can't think of right now. Some are in my control, and some are not. Running is one that is -- to a point. I've been at or above mileage and long run mileage every week all summer until the last two weeks. I can't let myself get too frustrated when there's still plenty of time to recover.

Waterskiing, Anyone?

Because I don't think I'll be getting a run in anytime soon.


Lake Driveway isn't the only new water feature we have in our yard.


Here's the Side-yard River, a popular destination for white water rafters from all over the country.

I would love to send all this rain to another part of the country where it's actually, you know, wanted.

I'll probably just skip my run today, and do another four on the treadmill or, if I'm lucky (I'm not lucky), eight outside tomorrow, weather permitting.

Update:
The flooding here is really, really bad. York County made the national news. Harrisburg's City Island and the city up to 2nd street are going to be flooded when the river crests on Friday, and the waterfront in Wormleysburg is also going to flood, among other places.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44432466#44432466

I'm hoping the Conewago has receded since I drove by at around 5:00, some of the homes along the creek were in the creek, and more were about to be. This is usually a pretty calm part of the country...we could sure use some slow news days right about now.

Going Nowhere

I'm not a fan of the treadmill at all, to put it mildly. But with the remnant of Hurricane Lee parked over Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future, it becomes my best option for getting as many of midweek miles in this week.

I especially dislike our treadmill. It's rough on the calves and ankles and the speedometer and odometer seem to very inaccurate. (More on this in a minute). I'm probably being too harsh on a $350 treadmill from Bocov's, especially because it has been an extremely valuable part of my training during my first two years of running, when I was quickly driven indoors by the cold temperatures that I now crave.

Since it was pouring at 7:00am, when the always-reliable weather.com said there was "only" a 40% chance of rain, I decided to wait to see if I could catch a break in the weather in the afternoon, when it seemed there was another possible break at around 1pm, where the chance of precipitation dropped back down to 40% again. Again, pouring.

So, I hopped on the treadmill at my lunch break. Like I said, the speedometer and odometer seem very inaccurate. I run about a 10-minute mile pace -- 6mph. But on our treadmill, I go flying off the back if I set it at 6mph and used to run at 5.5. I hadn't used it in a year, and today I found that I was most comfortable and my stride seemed to most closely match my usual stride at 4.3mph. Though my PRs are faster, I am probably a little slower on average than I was in 2006-2008, when I used the treadmill more often, but that seemed ridiculous! In the past, when I've used a treadmill at a gym or hotel, I've been able to set it at 5.5 or 6mph and run comfortably. To be fair, those treadmills also probably cost thousands of dollars.

At any rate, today (and any other days this week I'm forced to use the Hamster Wheel) I assumed a 10-minute mile and ran for 40 minutes, considering my four-mile obligation to Hal Higdon to be fulfilled, even though I really moved less than two feet for the whole 40 minutes.

The rest of the week's schedule is 8 tomorrow, 4 on Thursday, and 15 on Saturday. There appears to be no chance of the rain stopping anytime soon, but there is also no chance of me staying on our treadmill for 1:20. I'll keep an eye on the forecasts, and hope that I can switch the two and get the 8 in on Thursday.