October 31

AM: 50:00 moderate, elliptical

More cross training today, and it wll continue over the next few weeks to give my legs a break from the pounding of all the mileage. I'm going to shoot for my first "real" run tomorrow morning at the store. I'm headed to Fells Point with Valerie and some friends from college. I considered dressing as a "sexy nurse," the joker, or both, but instead I'll probably be going as John McCain.

You know, I have some reservations about being so unabashedly opinionated on a running/training (b)log. "Patrick, it's running...let's stick with the program. The guys on Deadspin yesterday summed up my feelings on this subject:

Loosen up a bit this week. Don’t get all pissy just because someone said something mildly political you happened to disagree with. Because this shit is kind of a big fucking deal.

I guess what I really mean is, if you don't like what I have to say, the running is at the top. No one's making you read my rambling nonsense. I think this is important, so I'm going to write about it, especially since I spend a lot of my time running contemplating or talking about it all.

It's just a few hours away. The Punk prophet Henry Rollins, interviewed yesterday on DCist, reflected what scares me most this Halloween...and this November. This interview was six weeks ago, so he may not be so fearful at this point. I'm a bit more optimistic:

I think John McCain will be elected president. And I don't have any "Ding-dong, the witch is dead!" celebration in mind for when Bush steps down. The swath of destruction that he and his cronies have left after eight years -- it's not like you wake up the next day and everything is gleaming and all the legs have somehow been rejoined to the bodies.

With McCain, you can almost be assured that, yeah, of course we'll go into Iran, if nothing else to get a pipeline out of Azerbaijan and Turkemenistan down to the Persian Gulf. So there'll be more death. And Sarah Palin? I'm still trying to get my head around what's the strategy there, because Republicans are anything but dumb. Or is [McCain believed to be] so to the center that she's the balance; the anti-abortion, creationist that'll get Arkansas to vote? I don't know.

I want to be wrong. I'm voting for Barack Obama.

October 30

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: gym

I ran for the first time since the marathon...very encouraging. I could only slightly feel my left quad tightening from lingering soreness, and only on the downhills.  When I went the gym after work, I didn't lift any with my legs or use weights--just a lot of core and body-weight exercises. I couldn't feel any soreness at all by then.  

October 29

PM: 1:00:00 easy stationary bike

Time to get the legs loose again. Fortunately, I can tell that my recovery is going quickly. I felt no soreness whatsoever on the bike, but I also didn't do anything crazy. It's going to be a while until I jack my HR up again, running or otherwise.

My legs still aren't totally recovered, but, hey, I could be worse off. It's not like I have a devastating compound fracture or anything like that...

October 28

DNR - rest

I felt substantially less sore today, thanks probably to the massage, ice, and a lot of Advil. I have nonetheless tried to put my new free time to good use.

Running?

No.

Chicken and Dumplings? 

Yes!

I suppose this is a healthier alternative to drinking scotch until I erased the memory of Sunday's race...not that I didn't think about that. My liver, my dignity, and my friends appreciate that decision.

October 27

DNR - rest

I did nothing in forms of excercise today, which was definitely a good call. The day's best idea was getting an hour massage after work. It had some painful moments, but I could already feel a major difference afterward.

Since I'm not running much this week, I have some crazy plans: trying new recipes, spending time with Valerie, stretching, writing grad school applications, reading books...it's kind of like a bucket list, but since I'm not on the verge of death, it needs a better name.

Recovery list?

I-still-can't-walk-down-stairs list?

I'd-rather-forget-the-last-3-miles-of-my-marathon list?

October 26 - Marine Corps Marathon (73 miles/week)

AM: short warmup, Marine Corps Marathon, 2:35:38, 28th place, 27 miles

Was this race a disaster? No...I think not. Was it disappointing? Yes...absolutely. But I'm hoping I learned something from all of this.

My plan was to run this shoulder-to-shoulder with Jason Dwyer, averaging 5:50-5:55 splits through the major hills of the first eight miles. We nailed this, and a pack formed behind the two of us. I felt great, and he said he did, too. Splits: 5:56, 6:07 (uphill), 5:38 (downhill); 5:42, 5:51, 5:47, 11:45 (two miles, first with the "big" Palisades hill, and took a gel). Perfect.

The next section started after we ran past the store and down M Street in Georgetown. After this, I wanted to hold steady 5:40s from here until we got to Crystal City in Virginia. The course took us around Hains Point and the National Mall, and we hit the half mark in 1:16:09, which is almost what we split in Boston to the second. This was encouraging, especially since I picked up the pace in Boston 2008 in the second half, despite the hills. What the optimist in me failed to consider was that the first half of the Marine Corps was decidedly more difficult than Boston, so I wasn't feeling quite as fresh. When guys passed us, I turned around to tell Jason that I wasn't covering any moves until the 25k mark.

Splits: 5:41, 5:43, 5:44, 5:47, 5:47, 5:50.

At 15 miles (?), I met up with Billy, Klim, and Patrick, who ran with me for about a half mile. After I tossed them my hat, Klim said he was tucking back to talk to Jason. "Tucking back?" I wondered. I thought he was right with me, but somewhere after we exited Hains Point, he had dropped back. I still wasn't alone at this point, running with a bunch of different Marines, Air Force, and Navy guys. At 25k, I started pouring on the pace. If I had any shot to roll the rest of the way to a PR, and especially to sub-2:30, I had to run 5:40 pace the rest of the way. I started picking guys off, one-by-one, as I tried to stay with a surging Air Force runner. But that gap was getting wider, not smaller. Splits: 5:40, 5:38, 5:39, 5:41, 5:44.

At around 18 miles, the stomach cramps that, looking at it now, probably ruined my race, started to fester. Something I consumed, either the Powerade or gels, did not agree with my stomach. I tried a few different breathing methods to shake this tightening in my diaphragm, but to no avail. As my breathing shortened, so did my strides. And with those two, my heart rate steadily climbed into the red. "Too soon!" I panicked, trying vainly to clam myself back down. By 30k, the last thing I wanted was more sticky blue Powerade, but I forced it down at every aid station. (As I'm writing this the morning afterward, my abdomen is STILL sore from fighting yesterday's cramps).

I was warned about the 14th-street bridge beforehand, and though I admit it sucked (running on an open Interstate with rolling hills), I was still maintaining composure, but the stomach cramps worsened. One-by-one, runners, started passing me from the bridge through Crystal City. Yet, I still had fight, either tucking behind some, or passing others back. But by the time I exited Crystal City, I knew I was melting down...I was now fighting for my life against marathon death. I saw Dwyer around mile 24, who said he had dropped out. I was officially doing the survivor shuffle, focusing on damage control, because by now I was only passing the also-dead. Thoughts of finishing in the top-20 were gone, as were an aspirations for a PR.

Jake and Peter caught back to me in the last mile, which felt more like a funeral precession, escorting me to the last, horrible hill on the course. In the last .2, the course takes a steep climb up to the Iwo Jima memorial, and facing throngs of screaming people, I was running at an absolute snails pace, trying not to knock over the Marines directing the course. The pain was excruciating. When I crossed the line, I could barely stand. I was 100% done and defeated.

Final splits: 5:54, 5:50, 6:04, 6:04, 6:27, 6:43, 7:01, 1:44 (.2).

My goal for the race today? Top-10 and sub-2:30. The 10th-place runner today? 2:29:59. That stings more than anything. If I had been willing and able, the race was there.

In retrospect, I should never have signed up for this race, since I had my doubts about my ability to run two personal-best marathons in a year at age 23. I lacked the confidence necessary to run well going in. Still, I had a plan, I executed it accordingly, and either because a lack of adequate preparation or the stomach cramps (or both), my plan didn't work out. I tried; I failed. That happens. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes he eats you. Today, the bear won.

Unlike post-Boston, I'm now going to take some real time off. I got both an ice bath and a massage after the race, and I finally got some food in me around 3:30 with Valerie's family, who came all the way up from Calvert County to watch me race.

I'm scheduled for another full massage on Monday. Honestly, this has been a s***ty few months for training. I lacked the necessary enthusiasm for this race going in, and that's no good at all. I'm looking forward now to resting, wiping the slate clean, setting some spring PRs at 5k, 8k, 10k, and 10 miles, and ripping a fast cross country race in February. Marathon training will be a solid foundation for that, and I have a few new things I want to integrate into my training. We'll see. I have some time now to put a decent plan together...that same plan I lacked this time.

It's going to be a little while until I race another marathon. It plan to wait at least 12 months, if not longer. NYC 2009? Cal International? We'll see, but those ate the likely candidates at this point.

Lastly, big congrats to Melissa, who smashed her PR and made the podium today with a third-place finish. Nate Timm also raced, though I'm not sure if it was a PR. And, Bain ran the race anyway, despite not logging any runs over 10 miles in at least 5 weeks (crazy, but that's Bain). Team GRC and many of my friends were everywhere today...you guys were awesome. I don't know how you were in so many places at once, but I really appreciated the support (and the gels from Valerie at 16...especially since I dropped mine at the aid station on Hains Point). Credit to Alan Carr for some sweet photos as well.

I will now spend the next few days doing, well, whatever I want that isn't running...

October 25

PM: 4 miles easy

After a fantastic night of sleep, I got out for a quick run on the Capital Crescent.

Energy, confidence and enthusiasm are high. Here we go...

October 24

AM: 6 miles easy, strides

Nice and easy on the Rock Creek Park trails. Feeling OK. I'll head to pick up my race packet and bib number after work this evening in an effort to avoid the zoo-like expo tomorrow.

October 23

PM: 7 miles easy

Relaxed night run through the Chevy Chase neighborhoods with Bain and Klim. I'm officially antsy. 

Today's sports lesson is (to paraphrase Winston Churchill): Don't give up...don't ever, ever give up. 

Just like Michael Phelps. And Brad Sciullo. You're an inspiration for us all: 

"So then you had this burger, which was a myth in the eating world. We all talked about it, and we all thought it would be fun to take on some day. But I said to myself “this is the kind of stuff, this is why people don’t go further in sports, when they believe that none of this can happen. When they believe (someone) like Michael Phelps (can’t happen). Who’d of thought a swimmer could take all the medals like that? Nobody. It was a myth. Everybody thought ‘I’m good at this event or that, boy it would be nice to take those medals.’”

"Well, Michael Phelps decided he was going to do it and he did it. It wouldn’t have mattered how physically ready I was for this — it wouldn’t have mattered in the least. If for one second I said to myself “I can’t do this or I don’t want to do this or maybe I shouldn’t do this,” I would have been done. I’d have felt sick, I’d have felt terrible, I’d have been in just awful shape mentally and physically if I’d given up the zone."

His time? 4:39:00. To think that my high school buddies and I once celebrated after we all finished something called a "Burrito El Gigante." We were way out of our league, in retrospect. 

October 22

AM: 7 miles w/ 20:00 @ MP (5:45)

My last workout around Meadowbrook before Marine Corps on Sunday, just to get the rhythm. I kept it steady 5:40s, which I what I'm shooting for on Sunday. This was also the first morning I've worn tights since the spring...perfect timing with the cold weather if it holds through the weekend.

October 21

AM: stretching, core

PM: 10 miles easy

I considered going to the gym this morning when my alarm went off, but then I promptly rolled over, curled into fetal position, and fell asleep for another half hour. Sleep is more important this week, and I don't feel as rested as I'd like yet. Instead, I lounged around, did some core work, and stretched.

After work, Patrick and I got in a night run through the Chevy Chase and DC neighborhoods.

October 20

AM: 10 x 1'on/1'off, 8 miles

PM: 4 miles easy, treadmill

Got in a light workout on the Rock Creek Park trails before work. I went to the gym with Valerie in the evening.

Yesterday and today, the outside of my right knee has ached something awful at the beginning of each run, but it goes away about 10 minutes in, so I'm not too concerned at this point.

October 19 (78 miles/week)

AM: 8 miles easy, strides

My knee and left calf felt tight at the beginning of the run, but loosened up eventually. I took the trails down Rock Creek Park and ran back north on Beach Drive. The weather was perfect: I hope we're this lucky next Sunday.

October 18

AM: 14 miles easy/moderate

I ran from the store this morning with a sizable group of guys, throwing in a couple of faster clips. We came up Glover Archibald Park before heading back down Tilden and Rock Creek Park. I finished up the long run on my own running from the store down to Fletcher's Boathouse and back.

October 17

AM: 7 miles @ MP, 10 miles

I ran three loops around Meadowbrook as tune-up workout. I suspect the effort will mirror the first few miles of MCM...starting conservatively. My first mile in the marathon is always slow because I don't warm up much beforehand (only did 10 min. this morning). Ended up running 5:48 pace for the entire thing, which is slightly off of goal pace (but about the same pace I ran at Boston), but finished feeling pretty loose (not that it was a jog, either, but definitely easier than a normal tempo run...toeing "that fine line."). My workouts like this pre-Boston in April were marginally slower than the pace I ran in the race itself. Thus, it would seem that everything's right on schedule and felt exactly as it should have (and maybe I should incorporate another parenthetical side note at the end of this sentence, too...and possibly an ellipsis?).

Lap Splits (2-mile splits): 13:53 (11:47), 13:43 (11:36), 13:36 (11:29).

On another note...

Ribs. Fried Chicken. Kool Aid. Food stamps.

Nope, still don't see it. Hmmm...



"What a lot of people don't know is my mother was married to my father, who is Mexican." Touche. The ball's in your court now, race-card players!

October 16

AM: 8 miles easy, strides

PM: 4 miles easy

Felt even better today, especially on the evening run, which was light and crisp.

October 15

AM: 10 miles moderate

PM: weights, core, stretching

I felt loose and comfortable both in the morning run in the Park and at the gym after work: just as I hoped while tapering.

I'm settling in for a night of baseball playoffs and the last presidential debate tonight.

October 14

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 6 x 2'on/2'off, 9 miles

I met Patrick at B-CC after work. Because of a field hockey game, we couldn't use the track, so we just got in a light workout in the Chevy Chase neighborhoods.

October 13

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: weights, core

I ran on the Rock Creek Park trails and came back up Beach Drive. I love running on Beach Drive on Monday federal holidays, because not only are there no cars to speak of, but very few people as well. So it was just me, the road, and the trees flashing their full autumn colors during a quite peaceful run.

October 12 - Page's Run 5k (84 miles/week)

AM: 5k race, 15:54, 3rd place, 10 miles

PM: 5 miles easy

At the last minute, I jumped into a 5k with Patrick and Melissa, partially because I wanted a tune-up, and partially because I was chasing the prize for first: a trip to Boston with airfare and hotel included. The course had rolling hills, including a substantial one in the first mile, which makes my opening 4:45 mile seem juuuuuust a little quick for me off of anti-speed marathon training. I was shooting for anything under 16:00, so I was happy to just hang on after that. I ran with Pacers' Steve Crane and a guy from NC through the mile, at which point they both took off.

Though I may have crap for legspeed right now (not that it's abundant during the rest of the year), I still have plenty of strength right now, which I used fairly well to avoid falling apart on the hills after going out too quickly.

So in the end, I missed out on the flight, but I still put in a good effort.

In the evening, I joined Valerie on her run through the Park and back up Beach Drive before I grilled a pair of tasty ribeyes that we picked up at Eastern Market yesterday.

Thanks to Valerie also for the race photos...

October 11

AM: 10 miles easy, strides

Went to the store run, taking in a relaxed run around Hains Point and along the waterfront. We finished up with a few strides before hanging out at Eastern Market for a while.

October 10

AM: 8-mile progression run, 12 miles

I felt fairly tight in my hips and quads this morning. The effort wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be, but then again I also worked out on Wednesday night, just 36 hours earlier. After warming up for 3+ miles, I built into a few Meadowbrook loops, increasing my pace with each lap.

Splits: 13:52 (5:50 pace), 13:34 (5:44 pace), 13:17 (5:36 pace), 5:31 (last mile).

October 9

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: weights, core, stretching

Rock Creek Park in the morning. After work, I went to the gym solo, watched a little baseball, and worked on some grad school essays.

October 8

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 8 x 3'on/1'off, 10 miles, stretching

Easy shake out on the Capital Crescent in the morning.

Patrick and I ran a decent night fartlek through the Chevy Chase neighborhoods after work. Some decent hills.

The highlight of my day was when I found out that Hollywood green-lit a remake of the 1984 classic Red Dawn. The movie alone may have cost Mondale the election (there may have been one or two other things...). And not a moment too soon: just as Putin rears his ugly head and comes into the airspace of the U.S., you know.

If the Academy gave one all-time Oscar for "Most Violent Cold War Hyperbole," this movie would have won, narrowly beating 1985's Rocky IV. I'm 99% sure Ronald Reagan and your gun-hoarding uncle both wept like babies at the end of this classics. If you know anyone with a Y2K bunker, they probably loved Red Dawn, too. I have yet to find a film that captures Cold War paranoia better.

Here is a brief synopsis, from IMDB.com:

It is the mid-1980s. From out of the sky, Soviet & Cuban troops begin landing on the football field of a Colorado high school. In seconds, the paratroops have attacked the school & sent a group of teenagers fleeing into the mountains. Armed only with hunting rifles, pistols & bows and arrows, the teens struggles to survive the bitter winter & Soviet KGB patrols hunting for them. Eventually trouble arises when they kill a group of Soviet soldiers on patrol in the highlands. Soon, they will wage their own guerrilla warfare against the invading Soviet troops....under the banner of 'Woverines'!

I wait with baited breath for the remake. Until then, here's the trailer for the original "classic":

October 7

AM: 10 miles easy/moderate

PM: 5 miles easy

Rock Creek Park in the morning, and Connecticut Ave after work.

I watched the town hall debate over dinner with Valerie, and it's a shame a lot of this will be forgotten because none of it deviated too much from anything that's already been said. The night had its interesting moments, however, including:

1.) When McCain pointed at Obama and referred to Obama as "that one." Too weird. He was both frustrated and frustrating at the same time.

2.) When I got an unprompted text message from Jake Klim rambling something hawkish about our foreign policy. I'm 99% sure we've never talked politics directly before.

3.) The various outlets that found their own ways to call the debate "boring" the next day.

October 6

AM: 8 miles easy recovery

PM: weights, core, stretching

Easy recovery run in the park in the morning. After work, I pumped some iron and got in a good stretch. It was a fine session, but it's safe to say that I did not yet meet Arnold's definition of gym satisfaction:

October 5 (98 miles/week)

AM: 20 miles w/ last 10 miles @ MP

While many of the GRC team was racing the Army 10-Mile this morning, Dwyer and I ran a solid marathon workout starting at the Line. With a long 65-minute warmup, we ran the uptempo portion along Meadowbrook, which allowed us to take Gatorade at each lap, and finished with a short half-mile cooldown. We ran four Meadowbrook laps and finished the tempo going south on Beach Drive to the West Beach Drive bridge to make it 10.

This was an very encouraging effort, and precisely what I needed today. The workout is a classic marathon prep meant to be an accurate predictor and indicator of marathon fitness. We averaged what would be 2:29-marathon pace throughout the second half of the run, and while it wasn't "easy," I felt relaxed and controlled the entire time without straining or going to the well at any point. I had to hold myself back by the end, because by the time we hit our last lap, I was chomping at the bit. Here are the few two-mile splits that we took: 11:35, 11:27, 11:26, 11:23.

This should be the last 20-miler before MCM for me...now just three weeks away. This also means that my mileage is going to come down a little bit as I start tapering.

After the run, I drove straight to Baltimore to watch the Ravens-Titans game with Samy, Pat, and Jen. The weather this weekend has been absolutely perfect, for both football and running.

October 4

AM: 11 miles easy/moderate

PM: 5 miles easy

I started feeling much better this morning. Whatever cold/allergies I had this week seem to be gone. Part of that may have had to do with the almost 11 hours I slept last night. Valerie and I passed out in front of the Red Sox-Angels ALDS game around 10:00, and I didn't wake up until 8:45 today.

In the morning, I scooted down the trails in Rock Creek Park and came back up Beach Drive, stopping to talk to Christiam for a minute, who was finishing his own run at the Line. 

In the evening, I got in a shake-out run with Samy, doing much of the same loop, albeit a shorter version.

For the most of the day, however, I went with a bunch of friends from college out to Poolesville (really close to Riley's Lock) and went to pick our own apples, pumpkins, green tomatoes, and the occasional phallic squash. Too much fun, even though the farm had already harvested its Golden Delicious and Gala apples (my two favorite varieties). Some good will come of our visit...some baked goods, specifically. Valerie is the biggest an autumn-phile I know, so she was happier than a kid on Christmas morning during this entire experience. Not that I blame her: it was all very relaxing.

October 3

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Tired legs all day. Rock Creek Park in the morning. I tagged along with Valerie on her run in the evening.

October 2

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 3 x 2k @ 10k pace /1k @ 5k pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 11 miles

I met Patrick at B-CC before the VP debate, knocking out what felt like a solid workout. I felt increasingly strong throughout, even though my first laps were slow on the first two 2k's.

I felt strong throughout, and even managed a 69 last lap on the final 1000m rep. We were treated to a cool, breezy evening, and ran basically the entire workout in the dark. I felt like I hadn't run a decent track workout in a while.

Splits: 6:23, 3:04, 6:25, 3:03, 6:21, 2:59

In other news, Bill O'Reilly has lost his damn mind. He has a bit of a temper...



I won't even bothering recapping the debate last night. This handy chart will do it for you...

October 1

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: core, stretching

Felt sluggish this morning. Wanted to go to the gym after work, but I didn't want to irritate my shoulder any more.

Shaping up to be a solid debate tomorrow night. The tide is shifting toward Obama, though I fully anticipate the McCain campaign to excercise more morally questionable tacitcs before everything's all said and done:

First it was "sex education for Kindergarteners," and now this! How low will they stoop?