Back on the Trail

(York County. We put the "rail" in Rail Trail.)

We hit the York County Heritage Rail Trail again on Monday morning. This time, we started at Brillhart Station, south of York and headed southward to Hanover Junction, which is south of Seven Valleys and back. (I know these names mean nothing to anyone outside York County -- and I admit I'd never heard of Hanover Junction and I've lived in York most of my life!)

(Oh, THAT Hanover Junction.)

Our ride totaled just over 14 miles in an hour and a half, so we improved on Saturday's ride in both pace and distance. It was a very warm, humid day -- it didn't feel bad on the bike but it would have been murder to run in. Thus, I felt kind of like I was cheating. Did the few runners few runners on the trail look at us and think "What a bunch of wimps?" Probably. Were other bikers laughing at our 20-year old Huffys? Probably.

Who cares?

(You won't find any carbon fiber on this bike!)

(This IS my "powering through the mountain stages" face.)

It was a nice way to spend the morning. I'm looking forward to more rides on the trail this summer and also doing some running there in the fall when cooler temperatures arrive. The trail offers more shade than the neighborhoods where I run in the mornings now, but since the closest access point is 20 minutes from my house, it's not a good option for trying to get out early and beat the heat on weekday mornings.

(No one knows how the ancient peoples of Seven Valleys erected these bicycle statues
2000 years before the time of Christ.)


(A good time was had by all.)

I'm taking Tuesday off, and then resuming running on Wednesday, so this will be a lighter week than last week, but like I said last post, I don't think that really matters. Right now my legs aren't sore, but they are tired. I'm hoping that mixing in some biking this summer will eventually make me feel stronger when I get into my deadly-serious, intense, Novice marathon training. Maybe cross-training can be right up there with packet pickup and carb-loading in the parts of the marathon that I'm good at.

Good Week of Running

I had a good week of running. Counting the week from being Monday through Sunday, like dailymile (the site I use to track mileage) does, then I ran 43 miles this week, my second-highest weekly total ever.

• Monday -- 10 miles in 1:36:33 (9:39 pace)
• Wednesday -- 10 miles in 1:37:21 (9:44 pace, also this one was a different route than the other 10-milers)
• Friday -- 13.1 miles in 2:08:48 (9:49 pace)
• (Saturday 12 mile bike ride)
• Sunday -- 10 miles in 1:40: 30 (10:03 pace)

At first, I wasn't thrilled that I got slower throughout the week, but I think that's just a meaningless artifact of looking at one week of running in isolation. I usually run every other day, so I'm not normally more well-rested at the beginning of a week than I am at the end of one.

Last Saturday, I ran the 10K race instead of a longer "normal" run. It was a tough race, but maybe I was more rested than usual on Monday. However, 1:37 for 10 miles is right about where I've been this spring and summer so far, so it wasn't like I was blazingly fast due to extra rest. Wednesday is a tougher route and I ran 3 extra miles on Friday, and they weren't too far off my norm, anyway. The 13.1 was quite a bit of my half marathon race times, but faster than I usually am when I train at that distance around here.

I'm going to chalk up this morning's slower than usual 10 to the return of some really high humidity after two beautiful mornings as well as likely being less rested than usual, since I ran longer than I have in months on Friday and biked yesterday. Oh, and maybe the four Yuenglings, 2 burgers, and 2 hot dogs I consumed at Lake Meade yesterday may have had something to do with it, too.

(A pirate's life for me.)

I'm getting pretty close to the point where I should probably stop "just going out and running" without any sort of plan and get on a program to train for the Philly Marathon. I think I'm going to go with Hal Higdon's Novice 2, since it doesn't require me to run more often than I'm doing now, so I know I can fit it into my schedule. If I were training in the winter, when running at lunch or right after work is more within my temperature comfort zone, I would probably bump up to one of the Intermediates, but I still feel like a Novice right now.

I'll probably make a few modifications:

• In terms of mileage, I'm ahead of where I need to be to start, so I think I'll shorten the program and begin with Week 5.
• Higdon doesn't have any speedwork in the program, which is great since I hate speedwork. Since I wouldn't mind getting at least a little faster, though, I'll probably run one of the midweek runs back and forth on the hills between Manchester and Mt Wolf.
• Lastly, if I feel up to it, I'd like to bump the 18 and 19 mile runs up to 20 miles. The longest training run for Shamrock that I was able to complete was 18 miles, and I think that was part of my downfall. That would give me three 20-mile training runs.
  

I'm not looking for a BQ, but I would rather not walk four of the last five miles again.

And Time Doesn't Wait for Me, it Keeps on Rollin'

I'm undisciplined about a lot of things in my training. Speedwork, tempo runs, and cross-training among them. (I've got long, slow, distance down though!) But I think I've found my cross-training for the rest of the summer and fall, though.


Today, Chris (my wife for any newer readers) and I took a gorgeous 12-mile bike ride on the York County Heritage Rail Trail. Our ride took us an hour and a half, but we weren't looking to set any land-speed records. In fact, I am much more likely to set a speed record for flying over my handlebars and smashing into a tree. We just wanted to explore this new (to us) place to ride and make sure we left enough energy in the tank to get back to the trail head in downtown York, since the ride out seemed mostly downhill. The way back didn't seem as hilly as I thought it might, though, so next time we can push our pace a little bit more and or head further south -- the trail goes 20 miles down to the Maryland line.

(I'm not so confident on the bike, yet. Here I fell behind as we crossed the street.)

We didn't go quite as far as we'd planned, but it was gorgeous ride on a beautiful day, and I'm looking forward to more adventures on the rail trail this summer. Great idea, Chris. I'm glad I tagged along!

(We turned around just south of the Howard Tunnel, one of the many interesting sights along the trail.)

Friday Haiku, Volume V: The (Half) Year in Review in Haiku

Half the year is gone
And goals are only half met
Much more to be done


We're now halfway through 2011, and so I wanted to take a moment to look at progress against the running goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year:

1. Run five 5Ks -- Kelly Shamrock, Honor Bus, Preakness, Bob Potts, HACC Dash.

2. Sub 23-minute 5K -- Nope. 23:55 at HACC Dash is my best work so far this year. Best chance is probably in December at Jingle Bell 5K.

3. Sub 6-minute mile -- Harrisburg Mile is July 20. Haven't done any track work, but can probably at least beat my current 6:44 PR.

4. Run a marathon -- Well, I ran most of it. I got the medal, anyway. Plus, Philly in November.

Of course, running was part of my larger-scale initiative to "Kick Ass", and become a more assertive, confident person. Most of that's outside the scope of this blog, but there's still quite a lot of room for improvement.

Not only are we halfway through 2011, but this is also my 100th post of the year. Thanks again for reading and commenting. I hope you've had a few laughs and hopefully learned from some of my mistakes. This calls for bonus haiku!

One hundred posts now
Maybe one third are worthwhile
Please keep reading though!

The Cursed Shirt

I'm borrowing an idea for a post, here.*

Schwag
Most races give away some sort of "schwag" to attract runners. Usually it's a t-shirt, and hence my closet is overflowing with shirts with the names of various 5Ks on them. More recently, it seems, race directors have upped the ante and are offering technical shirts, shirts made from supposedly moisture-wicking material designed for running, which can be pretty expensive. At a bigger race, you can also purchase souvenir items at the expo. I've bought a Shamrock Marathon t-shirt; a Broad Street Run hoodie and tech shirt; a Baltimore Running Festival Hat; and plenty of stuff at the last two Philadelphia Marathon expos including 2 half marathon hats, a long-sleeve half marathon shirt, a mug, and the unfortunate Cursed Shirt referred to in the title of this post.

Race T-shirt Etiquette and Superstition
Whether from tradition or actual superstition, there's a couple of unwritten "rules" of race etiquette about wearing your race shirts. The first is "Don't wear the race shirt to the race," meaning, for example, that if you're running the 2011 Higgy and Pooka Race for the Cat Food 5K, don't wear your 2011 Higgy and Pooka Race for the Cat Food 5K t-shirt during the race. I've always felt that the main reason behind this is the perception that doing so labeled someone as a noob, rather than the savvy, veteran road warrior we all want to pretend we are.

Personally, I don't care what people wear to the race. I was very strongly advised by a friend, who is a savvy veteran road warrior, not to wear the race shirt to my first 5K, but I see this "rule" broken all the time. Many people ran the Shamrock Marathon in the very nice long-sleeve tech shirts we got in our schwag bags, and when I watched the Disney Princess Half Marathon, the race shirt was a very popular choice among runners on race day. I've got my two favorite sleeveless shirts that are my usual race attire, but I wouldn't look down on a noob anyone who runs in the race shirt, and I think anyone who does is kind of a jerk.

Another commonly-held superstition or point of race ettiquette is "don't wear the shirt of a race you haven't run." (Or, "don't wear the shirt of a race you didn't finish.")

If you ran in a race but didn't finish, in my opinion it's ok to wear the shirt. You signed up, you gave your best effort, and you were in the race. If the shirt was clearly intended as a "finisher's shirt", you probably wouldn't have gotten it unless you crossed the finish line, just like you wouldn't have gotten a medal if that race had them. But if it's a race you weren't in, it becomes a bit more questionable. By wearing it, aren't you bragging about something you didn't do?

The Part Where I get to the Point
Here's where my Cursed Shirt comes in. The 2009 Philly Half Marathon was my first of two half marathons (I also ran it in 2010). It remains one of my all-time favorite races and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a cool-weather 13.1 with interesting scenery and a fun location. I was pretty confident that I could complete the race, and in addition to the shirt I got at packet pickup, I bought a ton of crap at the expo. I have, as mentioned above, a 2009 half marathon hat that I wear all the time and a long-sleeve t-shirt that I really like, too.

The problem is that the event is really branded like it's "The Philadelphia Marathon and oh, yeah, also there's maybe also a Half Marathon". There's much more "marathon" stuff than "half", and that's one of my pet peeves. Finishing a half marathon is a great accomplishment and it's a more popular and faster-growing distance than the full, so don't make half marathoners feel like second-class citizens.

The Philly Marathon attempts to get around this by emblazoning most of the merchandise with "Philadelphia Marathon 26.2 13.1 and 8K". Alternately, the Baltimore Marathon (ack! now I'm doing it!) is branded as the "Baltimore Running Festival" (but also has "Baltimore Marathon" stuff), and most Shamrock Marathon merchandise says "Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Anthem Half Marathon, and Townebank 8K Run" or at least "Shamrock Marathon, Half Marathon, and 8K Run".

So, anyway, back to Philadelphia. I ran the 2009 half marathon and have great memories of it. I don't feel bad at all drinking from this mug.

Yeah, kick asphalt! Note the prominently displayed 13.1. As proud finisher of the Philly half, I would have zero compunction at all about using or wearing something with that design. But how can I ever wear this shirt?


It doesn't say "13.1" on it anywhere. I wasn't signed up for that marathon and I had never run any marathon. I bought it because I thought it was cool, and there wasn't nearly as much stuff that said "half marathon" on it. It's a nice shirt, but I feel bad about wearing it. If I'd previously run a marathon, I don't think I'd be quite so conflicted. I've run many a 5K. I know I can run a 5K. If I somehow got a 5K shirt from a race I hadn't run, I wouldn't feel so bad, but this was a distance I'd never even attempted, and at the time had no intention of ever attempting.

Can the Cursed Shirt Ever be Redeemed?
I've now run a marathon, or at least most of a marathon. I've finished a marathon, and let's just leave it at that. Can I this shirt without shame now, even though it wasn't the Philly Marathon?

I am signed up for the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon. If I finish that, then can wear the cursed shirt in public? Or, should must it languish out of the public eye forever, or at least until I steal a TARDIS and travel back to 2009.

Note:
Like most things on this blog, this post shouldn't be taken too seriously. I'm not really superstitious, although I have pre-race traditions (Hooray for the night-before-the-race beer!), I don't think wearing or not wearing the Cursed Shirt will actually have any impact on how much or little my knees hurt, etc. I know, "It's just a shirt, Brian." But, I thought it made for an interesting question, since race shirt etiquette/superstition is pretty commonly held in the running community.

I also don't think any runner should look down what any other runner chooses to wear to a race, even though we've probably all seen and hopefully laughed a little (on the inside) at people that we thought were trying to show off a little too much.

Further reading:
1. *I stole the idea for this post from "The Running Moron", who recently picked up his packet, including a technical shirt, from a race he didn't run due to an injury. In his case, I thought he should wear the shirt without any hesitation, since it was from a race he'd run several times before, a distance that he he'd run many times before, and the shirt didn't have the year on.

2. This is an entry from a blog called "f my injury" that I found when searching for race shirt etiquette. I thought it was interesting and had some good links in it.

Meltdown!

I woke up this morning to an almost 70-degree, cloudless morning, and also a flat tire (the only one I haven't replaced recently, of course) on my venerable Neon.

I knew if I changed my tire now, I wouldn't get my run in, and since I work from home I wouldn't need the car, anyway. With no transportation over to the high school, I decided my best option was to run my "Pain Lies on the Riverside" route, which runs five miles each way from York Haven to Goldsboro along the Susquehanna River. Not only does it start at the park within a 5-minute walk from my house, it's the only one of my usual routes that offers even the tiniest bit of shade.

It's the toughest and hilliest of my local routes, too, and I didn't run it last summer or this summer so far, since it potentially places me much farther from home or car if I bonk and have to trudge home. There was a cool breeze blowing, though, and when I got to the turning point at two miles at which I can turn right and head down the steep hill toward Goldsboro and the river or turn around and loop back toward York Haven (which I could turn into a 6 or 7 mile run with a few extra turns), I turned right and headed for the river.

Wow. This route kicked my ass. It's the most scenic of my routes, with great views of the river and the best chance for me to see adorable cats as I run. It's also the best chance for me to get chased by angry pit pulls, but that's another story. More importantly as I get closer to marathon training, it's the only place I run around here that doesn't just seem like complete garbage miles, since I'm actually going somewhere

On negative side, though It's also way hillier than I remembered. There's a big hill at mile 2 and an even bigger, steeper one at mile 8, but even the flat parts are hillier than my usual course in Manchester, and I don't think of that one as flat. Dreaded Druid Hills has nothing on this nightmare run!

Hills aren't the only danger, though. While Goldsboro is a very pretty little town that seems to belong in another era, it lies directly across the river from the site of the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history.

(Is it blurry because of my unsteady hands, or radiation? Ok, probably just a bad photo.
I'll take better ones when I run here again -- in October!)

So if I appear to glow a little today, without the benefit of my dumb night-running attire, don't be surprised.

I'm exhausted, but it was a good run: 10 miles in 1:38, just a minute or two slower than my usual "Manchester" time.

Hats Off!
I'm going to take the opportunity to ask for some gear advice. Not to be gross, but I sweat a lot. No matter how sweatproof sunscreen claims to be, it's no match for my face in the summer. Therefore, I think I've got to look into running in hat. Don't get me wrong, I love hats, but I dislike running in them because I feel like wearing a hat, no matter how moisture wicking or reflective it is, is always going to be hotter than not wearing one. But if I'm going to go on runs this long or longer through July and August, I think sunburn is going to be just as much of a problem as overheating.

Anyone have a brand of running hat you particularly like or would recommend for its well-ventilated-ness? (ventalatalty?) I've got two Brooks running hats, and while they're cooler than normal hats, I have gotten very hot when I wear them to actually run.

(In Brooks' defense -- most of my running stuff is Brooks and I love it -- they're dark colors, which I know isn't the best choice. I got them more with the idea of keeping rain out of my eyes.)

Thanks!

Virtual Race Report: 2011 Sweat Your Thorns off Virtual 5K (And other stuff)

In addition to the Druid Hills 10K, which I've already gone on at great enough length about, I also ran in a virtual 5K hosted by Adam at The Boring Runner. He organized a real 5K, which took place in AZ, but invited non-locals to run it wherever they were and send in their times, since many parts of the country are starved for races as temperatures become unbearably hot.

Even though Central PA/Maryland is not one (two, I guess) of those places, I thought it would be fun, and decided that I could count my mileage total as 9.3. Since I was running during another race at the same time, I passed on the virtual 5K bib, even though it was more fun than the Druid Hills bib.


I picked the first half of the 10K to count as my 5K. It was allegedly easier (that turned out to be true), and I thought it would be easier to figure out my time. That would have been the case, except Garmin got awful reception on the hilly, heavily forested course and seemed to lose accuracy at about mile two. It told me I finished the 3.1 mile course in 26:27, which is coincidentally the time of my first-ever 5K, but I actually crossed the 3-mile mark of the 10K at just under 28 minutes. So, I'm counting it as a 28:00 -- which would be good for my second-worst 5K ever (not counting the one I tapered). So, you can add Druid Lake to the list of bodies of water that I considered tossing Garmy into.

Looking on the bright side, it just shows the difference in strategy between a 5K and a 10K. I can race a (real) 5K, but the 10K is I'd halfway between my race pace and my long, slow, distance pace. (I consider most of my runs to be long, slow, distance -- or LSD -- runs). Looking on the even brighter side, I could probably say that I was the regional champion. (Adam, if you read this and I'm not the regional champion, just don't tell me.)

In any case, thanks Boring Runner, adding the virtual race made a fun day of racing even more exciting, and made me even madder at GPS technology than I normally am.

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In other news, or lack thereof, the next race on the schedule is the Harrisburg Mile (note to self: sign up for the Harrisburg Mile). This is one of my favorite summer racing events, a one mile dash down Front Street along the Susquehanna River. Last year, I annihilated my one-mile PR, the 8:00-minute mile I ran during Presidential Physical Fitness Award testing in high school, with a 6:44.

This year, I wanted to get under 6:00. I've utterly failed at adding speedwork to my routine, however, and it's probably too late. I'll try to squeeze some track work or mile sprints in, but even though I'm overall having my best-ever summer of running, I just lack the discipline to add variety to my running plan. I go out in the morning and run 6-10 miles every other day. Repeat.

Still, I've put a lot of miles in during the last year. I think I've at least got a 6:43 or better in me. If I can bring that in, I'll have PR'd in every distance since my last half-marathon in 2010. If I can't, I won't have another chance to hit for that cycle for awhile, since this is the only one-mile race I run each year and I won't be racing a 13.1 this year. (No big deal, I just thought of this now, anyway.)

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After running Druid Hills, I turned spectator for the rest of the weekend. I headed home from Baltimore; and then my wife and I headed back to Baltimore (cat medical logistics and schedule made this make sense). We stopped at Charm City Run, where she picked up her Baltimore Women's Classic packet and I ordered my next pair of shoes; we had a very nice afternoon watching dragon boat racing, organized by our friend and marathon relay teammate Ada, at Tide Point; and had a great dinner at our favorite downtown Baltimore Restaurant, the (bar menu at the) B&O Brassiere. Chris had a great race Sunday morning, shaving 2 minutes off her time from last year, despite a more hilly course this year.

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After the awesome weekend, I got back in the routine today with a good, hilly 10 miles through Manchester & Mt. Wolf. Mmm...miles.