Winter Solution?

Thanks to the LW for providing me the link to the screw shoe. What a clever idea. Once the snow and ice come back around here, I'm going to give this a try. Maybe it will solve my falling down problem. And I appreciate your thanks for skipping the obvious puns.

(H/T to EDRW)

99 Things to do...

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise (I don't think what I've done meets the intent)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted.

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching (Don't think what I've done qualifies)

63. Gotten flowers for no reason (Given, not gotten. Although there's always a reason.)

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Piece a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had Chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

50/99 I guess that's not bad, although I wouldn't call some of them accomplishments.

(H/T to Gunslinger)

Silly Man. (again)

I went out today to inaugurate the 'official' training period for the Paris Marathon. It was scheduled to be 3 miles at 10:10 and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I went out with a co-worker and we did 5 at about 9:15 instead.

Overall, it was a good run, until we ran into the woman and her dogs. We were running two abreast on a decently wide (yet snow and ice covered) paved trail. She was on our right with one dog, and the other dog over on the left. There was also an older couple about 5m behind her, also on the right.

Being a rational beast, my co-worker took early and decisive action and fell in behind me on the left of the trail. Which, of course meant that the woman took her one dog over to join the other on the left. Right in our way. I'm sure this is some German custom about only passing port-to-port.

So, this required us to jump back over to the right. At this point my foot slipped on the ice, causing me to crash down on my left hip, knee and of course, wrist. This despite the fact that on the way out (this was the return leg of an out-and-back) I made specific note of how icy this area was. And how I really wasn't looking forward to running down this slope with all the ice. And how if I did slip, the one thing I really didn't want to do was to try to catch my whole body weight with my hand. But, yes, that's exactly what I tried to do.

So, my wrist which was just about 100% from Thanksgiving. Is now sore again. Joy.

Let's just hope this isn't a bad omen for the whole marathon experience. Which, thanks to the vagaries of U.S. Military medicine, I'm still not medically cleared to run. But the doc specifically said not to stop what I was already doing. So, to me that means I'm still cleared to 13.

Winter Wonderland

I decided to ride into work on Friday. Mostly because I could. And I thought it would be fun. The official total was 17 inches for the week, but there wasn't more than about 5 inches on the ground.

Since I ride on trails, not roads, it wasn't clear. There was plenty of snow, just a bit of ice and pretty much no one. And it was quiet. Like I was in the middle of nowhere. Couldn't even hear the autobahn although I was less than 100m from it on numerous occasions.

Back tire sliding all over. Barely needed a light because the snow made everything so bright. My speed was no where near normal, but that was all part of the fun. I ended up walking up a few of hills, because I just couldn't keep traction on my back tire, and once I stopped I couldn't get going again. I also didn't really trust the brakes on the big down hills.

When I got home, there was about 2-3 inches of mud, snow and ice all over the bike. Great fun.

Post Turkey Day Recovery

As those of you who read the better half's blog know, we went to the mountains for Turkey day with friends.What she might not have let on is that we went there with one of them.
So we had a great Turkey day dinner. Lovely desserts. Lots of fun with the kids (sledding, games, etc).

Tangent

Unlike most kids, our LM doesn't like things that go 'fast'. He's a bit of a scaredy cat. So, when we went sledding he wanted no part of going down the hill. Even when his friend went down. Even wen Daddy went down. He much preferred the one-horse-open variety of sledding. I'll give you three guesses who the horse was.

End Tangent

So, the day after thanksgiving, we decided to go for a run. Now mind you. It was cold. And snowy. So when we headed out at 8:30 it was an adventure. The temperature was about 2C. We headed out down the road, and turned off onto a foot path/bike path combination. It was covered in a combination of snow and slush.

Soon, it turned off into the woods. Where the path became just that: a single track path. Covered with snow and ice. It got so rough that we ended up walking for about 25m because we just couldn't get any traction while running up hill. Just too icy.

That was only the beginning of the fun though. Going down hill was even better. Slightly better trail conditions, but not much. And of course, since we were going down hill, I ended up on my derriere at one point. No serious injuries, just a sore wrist and bruised ego.

Still, it was a good run (except for the fact that he ran me into the ground going up hill). We made it back after an almost 4 mile run and all the moisture that had been wicked away from our skin onto the outer layer of clothing had turned to frost. Very cool look.

Kit Review

Garmin has gone and updated Garmin Connect again. I'm getting more and more satisfied with what they're doing there. Check out this new feature. It plots speed against elevation and steps through your workout together as it does so.

Holy Cow

When I saw this was the most popular video on the BBC news website this morning, I was quite surprised. Seriously. Dominoes?

Then I watched it. Maybe it was the early morning hour. Maybe I was still slightly delirious from my run. But it was really cool. Watch and enjoy.

The Long Lay Off Ends and Others

I've been silent for a while. Various factors came into play, but I'm back and running again.

I had a last minute business trip which caused me to miss a 10k I intended to run. This was unfortunate for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that the top times were within reach of my personal bests, so I might have been able to do relatively well. Of course, the route was very hilly so it might have impacted my potential times.

---------

I have found, looking back over my training records for the past year, that I am a much more reliable runner when I have a goal. So I've given myself a goal. We'll see how this works out. I had planned to do this in October, but I just couldn't get the time to train properly.

Stay tuned for updates. Encouragement and advice warmly accepted! (Remarks along the lines of 'you idiot', while not necessarily off base, are not.)

Kit Review

As my few regular readers recall (ahhh, alliteration...) I promised some updates on my Garmin Forerunner 405. I'm happy to say that it appears the Garmin people were reading my blog. They've made some improvements.

In summary my initial review was that the watch was great, but the Garmin Connect functionality kind of let it down. I'm happy to say that it appears they are working on my comments.

• The Garmin Connect website is now significantly faster and smoother to use.
• They adjusted the scaling on the elevation plot so you can actually see some details, instead of showing you from sea level up (great if you're in Groton, CT not so good if you're up over 1,000 feet). Below is an example of the new graph:

Here is what it used to look like (if you're curious, the route is approximately the same):

There are still some fixes I'd recommend. Highest among them is some data averaging or fairing (look at the graph of my lunch run from yesterday):

Lots of spurious data points there that could be faired. Still, we're moving in the right direction here, and I'm happy.

New Navy PT Test

I took the real one last Friday. Beat my time from last fall by a massive 1 second. Sit ups and push ups just as good or better. So, overall i still get to put P/WS on my FITREP! What motivation.

Anyway, I shouldn't complain too much, I guess some services have it a little harder.

Time flies?

I know I've written about my toy a bit lately here and here. But read this and take caution.

A co-worker of mine ran the Berlin Marathon this past weekend. Some miles in (about 14 or so if I recall) he stopped at a water stop. A short while later, he reached up and went to tap a friend on the shoulder and thought to himself "my arm feels a bit light". After a moment or two delay he realized that his Garmin was gone.

To the best of his knowledge it got knocked off in the confusion around the water tables. He went back to look for it, but there was just too much debris on the ground.

Needles to say, he ran the rest of the race angry and frustrated. He said he just jogged it the rest of the way.

That sucks. I guess the lesson here is make sure your watch is securely fastened to your wrist. That, and make sure you have insurance!

Equipment Review

As promised, an update on my Garmin Forerunner 405.

I love the watch. I'm still not using a fraction of its capability, but I love it. I've been playing with some of the 'workout' features. Today I did some intervals: 0.5 miles with 2 minute recoveries between. It took all of about 2 minutes to program ahead of time and it was pretty easy to use.

I had one 'oops'. After hitting the 'Do workout' button a window pops up saying "hit lap when warm up complete' (or something to that effect). So I did my little warm up and hit lap...and...nothing. Turns out you have to hit 'start' to start the workout, but I'll take the hit on that one.

Here's the run I did today. Simple out and back, not too long:

I like the fact that you can see your run data displayed against time:


That's my heart rate against time.

You can do the same thing with elevation or pace too:


You may see above where I think things start to fall down a little bit. Look closely at the graphs. You've got heart rate against time, elevation against distance and pace against time. I'm not sure why they've selected it that way. It would make sense to have everything against time...or everything against distance...or even better, make it user selectable.

Second quibble: Look again at those graphs: particularly the elevation one. It goes all the way to sea level. That would have been fine last winter in DC, but here, not so good. There's a lot of wasted space on that graph and you cold see the elevation changes in much more detail if you could adjust the scale...even an auto scale would be more useful than that.

Third quibble: look at the pace against time. How about some data smoothing? That would make things more usable I think.

Last point for today: Garmin connect (the source of all the graphs and pictures from above) is slow. Not the downloading from the watch to the PC. I'm okay with that (and it's wireless). But navigating within the Garmin Connect site is very slow between pages, logging in and pretty much everything.

Things I'd like to see added:
-More user selectable options (as mentioned above)
-The ability to select a point on the geographic display and have the same point highlighted on which ever graph you are looking at.
-The ability to look at more than one piece of data on the same set of axes (i.e. elevation and pace against distance)
-Exportability (as a .gpx file or something similar)

A caveat: it may be possible to do some of the things I've mentioned above. If it is, I can't figure it out (and not for lack of trying). I'm willing to admit error though if someone can show me the light.

Overall, I love the watch. I'm living with Garmin Connect. I feel it's letting the watch down to some degree.

More Running in the News

Strange how things come in groups.

The other night, the LW and I were talking about Top Gear and their impending world tour and British actress Kristin Scott Thomas came up. The very next day at work I was reading a news article from a Canadian news site and WHAM! Kristin Scott Thomas' picture in the margin linking to an article in the entertainment section. If you want a third, we watched Four Weddings and a Funeral last night, but that's probably related to the first two.

Then, after my last post about running and science, I find this article in the New Yorker.

Interesting discussion of the development of running in the U.S. from both a competitive and recreational standpoint. Also some interesting comments on the demographics of recreational runners. Did you know the readership of Runner's World has the same average income as that of Forbes? Or, how about how we poor-fair-mediocre recreational runners subsidize the elite (our shoe and clothing purchases and race entry fees pay their appearance fees and sponsorships with the major companies). Intuitively obvious, I'd just never thought of it that way before.

Will there be a third?

Running in the News

Thanks to the LW for sending this to me. From ABC news of all places.

The thesis:

...[T]he human body took the ideal shape of a long-distance runner starting some 2 million years ago, the researchers say. The long, lean build helped us scavenge widely scattered kills and could also have been an advantage when hunting down prey over long distances.

Of course, one question not asked or answered in the article is "Who sponsored the research?" As usual, the LW cuts to the chase and asks the important questions. (She should know, she used to sponsor all sorts of research.)

Food for thought if nothing else.

Whoops (update 4)

Really nice run today at lunch. Not even 3 mile, but it was on uneven ground and it was pretty fast (considering how little speed work I've done since my abortive injury fest on the track).

Ankle is still not 100%, but it's getting better!

Translations

This, I believe, is why they send FAOs to language school. (Warning, LW snorted her wine with this one.)

Whoops (again...)

Today was a big milestone in my ankle's recovery. I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill. While I really prefer not to use them, I did it for a reason. I wanted a nice even running surface so I wouldn't have to worry about turning my ankle again. Basically, I wanted to baby it. And I did. And it felt fine. Stiff but fine. I'll venture out onto the trails again soon.

One of the nice aspects of running on a treadmill is that there are usually other people around. And sometimes they're quite humorous.

In the gym there are 2 rows of 3 treadmills, with 4 bicycles and about 10 ellipticals behind them. I got a late start to the gym today, so by the time I got there I had to grab the last open treadmill in the back row, far right. I got it set up and went to plug my headphones into the audio jack and alas, no audio.

So I was left with a choice of watching one of three TV programs-with no sound:

1. analysis of the presidential election on a news channel,
2. a rebroadcast of the Bears vs. Colts game from Sunday night, or
3. some movie that I couldn't identify.

Needless to say only one of those really lends itself to sound-free enjoyment.

It soon became obvious that the gentleman using the front left most treadmill was a big Chicago Bears fan. Every time something went their way, he'd let out a little cheer, every time something went wrong, a little exasperated sigh. This was going on for some time and it was really entertaining.

Everything was going swimmingly right until there was a "big play." I don't recall if it was a touchdown, interception, fumble, dropped pass or maybe a safety. What made it so entertaining was that as this was going on the poor guy ran off the side of his treadmill and tried to take a header into the control panel. Luckily he failed in his attempt and got right back up running again.

Nothing is more humorous than the travails of others.

So, I guess running on the treadmill isn't 100% safe either.

Whoops (update 3)

I did 20 minutes on the elliptical on Friday. It felt really good. The ankle was a little stiff (likely from lake of use) but no pain. I felt good walking from the gym to the car to put my bag in the trunk.

Then I turned my ankle on a crack in the parking lot.

I suck.

Whoops (update 2)

Well, the ankle is getting better. As expected the knee has not been an issue.

Following a strict RICE regimen it feels pretty good. Not 100%, but good. I did about 20 minutes on the bicycle in the gym yesterday without any pain, and I've done quite a bit of strength training (including lunges) without a niggle.

So I'm hoping to be back running soon, I just don't want to rush into it. I'm signed up as part of a team for a 24hr marathon relay next weekend and I'd like to not back out!

Whoops (update 1)

I mentioned yesterday that the LM helped bandage my knee. Here is his handy work. He even offered one of his special band-aids to do it! I feel very lucky!

Whoops

So.
I've been trying out some of the new features of my new watch. I figured that the auto lap detect feature was a great match for some speed work on the track. It's great. If you set it up properly, it will detect when you cross your own path and mark a "lap." Great feature.

I jogged up to the local track this afternoon to give it a try. I did the first two laps as a warm up then proceeded to alternate fast laps with slow laps. The 405 beeps every time a lap is detected, so I used that as my signal to pick up the pace or slow down.

Post run, the data the unit provides is pretty good (better than the Polar S120 I've been using anyway). Here's some of the data from my run. I didn't wear the heart rate monitor today. In the past, there has been interference on the track that prevents a good signal:

Lap

Time

Distance

Avg Pace

Avg Heart Rate

Avg Cadence

Calories

1	00:01:46	0.17 mi	10:42 min/mi	--	--	26 C
2	00:03:13	0.34 mi	09:34 min/mi	--	--	56 C
3	00:03:09	0.33 mi	09:24 min/mi	--	--	56 C
4	00:02:24	0.34 mi	06:59 min/mi	--	--	55 C
5	00:03:21	0.35 mi	09:41 min/mi	--	--	59 C
6	00:02:15	0.33 mi	06:45 min/mi	--	--	53 C
7	00:03:44	0.34 mi	11:00 min/mi	--	--	60 C
8	00:00:29	0.06 mi	08:25 min/mi	--	--	7 C

Now, the astute among you may say: "Gee, that's a short last lap. Only 0.06mi. What did you do? Wimp out?" Uh. No.

As I was rounding the first corner of the track, one of four things happened:

a) I hit an uneven spot, or
b) someone unseen by me threw something in my path, or
c) I hit the inner edge of the track, or
d) I tripped over my own two feet

I'm voting for b.

Anyway. The damage is done. I'm nursing a nice skinned left knee (which the LM has helped by putting a bandage on) and a swollen right ankle.

I'm not worried about the knee. Although it looked really bad at first. Luckily, what I initially thought was a massive abrasion and bruise turned out to be mostly some of the red surface of the track that rubbed off. After a shower it cleaned up nicely.

The ankle is ugly. It's the same ankle I've sprained on and off for years. We'll see how it develops. Right now I'm practicing the Ice and Elevation aspects of RICE. Compression will come in a few minutes.

The most frustrating thing? With all the running on trails, paths and other uneven surfaces I've been doing, where do I bite it? On a track! (and no, I wasn't looking at my pace on the watch when I did it).

Return

So, I've been gone for 2 weeks.
Runs completed while on holiday: 0.

I've run twice since we've been back, and bicycled to work once. And I have one thing to say: Concrete legs.

I did get some new shoes while we were away. A pair of Asics trail running shoes. I figure I do most of my running on trails of some sort, so I'd give these a whirl. Plus it would give my other shoes a rest.

Oh, and I also got a new toy. I wore it for my run today. I'll see how I like it as time progresses. The initial report is good, although, I think I was looking down at my wrist every other step today!


Break


When you want a short diversion try this:

I got 34. Looking at the answers afterward, I just couldn't believe some of the ones I missed!

zzzzzzzzz

I'll probably be away from posting for a while.
It's probably just as well. There's significant construction in the area I normally run. I can't run up the hill. I really can't get down to check on the amorous couple. Well, I could, but I'd risk getting run over by railroad repair equipment.

Busy Morning

8.3 miles this morning, predominantly on trails. Slightly new route. Made a couple of wrong turns, but it all worked out in the end. Here are the totals:

• 21 runners
• 13 walkers
• 3 dogs
• 2 fishermen
• 2 Polizei
• 2 rabbits
• 2 deer
• 1 Buzzard (one of these, not one of these.) And no, it wasn't eating either rabbit.

Also found a hill like my nemesis, but 5x as long. And, of course, I wasn't going down it.

Race Report

So, I woke up early this morning to do another half-marathon. This was a memorial run for troops killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Short Aside

Unlike the Stuttgart Half Marathon, I really didn't do any specific training for this one. Since that race was less than a month ago I just repeated the last 2 weeks of my program for that. I'd read something online about trying that method which put my mind at ease a bit. They also offered a simultaneous 5k. I'm glad I opted for the half marathon though.

End Aside

This all sounded like a good plan until they published the route about a week ago. Now, for your education, the Stuttgart Half Marathon was run through the streets of the city of Stuttgart, in a valley. So while there were some hills, it was mostly flat. For your viewing pleasure, the height profile of the Stuttgart Half Marathon:

Now, there are no height markers on that one, but the starting elevation was 218 meters, and the max elevation was somewhere near the 10th km and was about 258 meters.

The toughest parts of that race were the numbers and the heat. (See the post for details.)

Below is the elevation profile of the race from this morning. You'll note the slight difference.

Yeah, it was pretty miserable. I knew I was in for it right from the start. We started off on cobblestone (normal for around here), then shifted quickly to a dirt fire road, which quickly began a precipitous descent and transitioned into a rocky, muddy, rooty slope. Two immediate thoughts:

1. I wish I'd worn my trail running shoes. (Wait, I don't own trail running shoes!)
2. This is going TO SUCK on the way back. (It was an out and back course.)

And yes, it did suck on the way back.

My goal was to beat the Stuttgart time. Aside from the course I figured I had a few things going for me:

• I'd done a good, longish speed work session recently. Over 8 miles at the pace I wanted to run the half at. I hadn't done that before the Stuttgart half.
• Numbers. Stuttgart had well over 15,000. This one had about 80.
• Weather. Over 30C for Stuttgart, about 15-20C for this one.

So I went out with the intent of trying, despite the hills, to beat my time from Stuttgart. I pushed pretty hard, especially on the climbs, then tried to recover as much as possible on the down hills. It seemed to work pretty well.

Until I got back to that muddy hill of despair. I didn't get passed going up, mostly b/c everyone else was just as beat (even the 5k runners who ended up mixed in with us towards the end, and must have helped me sub-consciously push the pace). It was a case running-gate, walking-pace. But I figured I could pick it up again at the top. Fat chance. I got to the top, with less than 1km to go, and I just couldn't pick it up. It was just like my nemesis from my lunch time runs.

Overall results were good. Better than I expected. I beat my previous best by over 7 minutes! Very happy. Slept most of the afternoon.

Uh-oh

I think someone stuck a hidden camera in a staff meeting:

In The Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex

Firecracker!

This morning I ran the local Fourth of July 5k. I'm quite pleased with the final results. Without any training for a 5k (only the half training to fall back on), I managed to best my previous PR for 5k by more than a minute. Which leads me to question the distance of the race. I'm not entirely sure it was really a full 5k. I'll measure it later but for now I'll bask in the glow of my success.

Even better, I finished 3rd overall in my age division (although, if the race was run last Saturday I would have finished 2nd) and 15th over all. The top two finishers were also the top two in my age group. They finished about 5 minutes before me. Still, I'm happy with the results.

Now, as for the organization. The roads weren't closed, but that didn't really matter because there wasn't any traffic to speak of, and the two spots were there might have been traffic there were police to keep the roads clear.

The issue was advertising. The only way I found out about it was the local "Fourth of July Events" flier. It was not advertised on the website where races are normally advertised. I'm kind of surprised they had the turn out they did (about 60).

As a temper to my happiness, I did get 'out-kicked' by a 14 year old. Again. Oh-well.

Update 5 July

Well, it was too good to be true. The race yesterday was only 4.74k, so my time wasn't as good as I'd thought. In fact, my pace was a hair slower than my previous PR, so I've "re-instated it".

The Continuing Saga...

Today, I had the first speed session that I've been remotely happy with in over a month. I went out for a short fartlek at lunch and it wasn't 'Bad.' It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. Even my nemesis the hill wasn't that bad. I pushed up it as hard as I could, without slowing to a snail's pace.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

For those of you following the continuing saga of the amorous couple: no sighting today, however, I think they're bringing their relationship out into the open. On Monday, (in addition to seeing a guy running in shorts and body armor) I spotted them out enjoying their 'lunch.'

Their cars were parked in the normal location (one small hatchback, one mini-van/MPV with two children's (?) name stickers on the back windows). But instead of being pressed up against each other between the cars, they were across the road leaning up against a railing. (Have I mentioned before that this location is about 50m from a sewage treatment plant? I hope I'd pick a better spot for an amorous rendezvous.)

Two random

thoughts for Thursday.

- I sent the following email to the LW today from work:

Okay, I admit it.

I've seen a bunch of people out running/jogging over the past couple of days.

I've felt REALLY BAD that I haven't run all week.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing.

I know logically: I ran a half-marathon on Sunday. My foot has some nasty blisters that need to heal. I have worked out and I'm going to cycle in tomorrow.

But I still feel like I should be running!!!!

I think I have a problem.

- Littleman's new bike. Holy cow. The kid's a speed demon!

Stuttgart Half Marathon

The observant among you may have noticed the added Personal Record in the left column. It's not hard to record a new PR when it's your first race at the distance!

Looking back at previous posts, you may also realize that 2:03:18 isn't quite the time I was hoping for. Honestly, as the race went, I'm quite happy with it. It was a lot of fun, and very crowded (well over 15,000 runners). Complete with samba bands, cheerleaders (yes, German cheerleaders I'm not kidding). But I get ahead of myself.

We left the house and took the train which was fine, except as we got closer and closer to the start the train got more and more crowded. While the race wasn't as big as last year's Marine Corps Marathon, unlike the DC Metro the Stuttgart transit system didn't throw on any extra trains...just the normal Sunday schedule (i.e. one every 30 minutes).

Once we got there things were fine. We made our way to the starting area and had quite a bit of time. More than we expected, since we planned (conservatively of course) to get there 30-45 minutes early. We just didn't expect the 45 minute delay in the start time. It worked out alright though, b/c the LM got to watch the hand bikes warming up (the picture is of a rider getting his medal but you get the idea.) The thing that worried me, was that as we were standing there waiting to start, it just kept getting hotter and hotter.


Herein was the big problem with the day. Heat. All of my long training runs had been done in the morning. Usually completed by 10:00. The race was scheduled to start at 9:00, so I should have been done by about 11:00. But add in the 45 minute delay... That and the average temperature for the past few weeks has been hovering about 17C/63F Yesterday the temperature was about 32C/90F. This created some serious problems

Tangent

One of my co-workers today uttered the following words while talking about his mountain bike race and my half marathon this weekend:"All those super thin people had a lot of trouble, but you and me, we've got nothing to worry about!" (This from a guy who is going to ride the Trans-Alp mountain bike race later this summer, so I didn't feel too bad.)

End Tangent

Because it was hot, and I really didn't feel acclimated, I didn't push it. And I'm glad I didn't. There were a lot of people having a lot of trouble. This was most evident in the later miles of the race. Going up a slight hill about km 15 or so, I had the runner in front of me start weaving all over the course (right into the arms of a fireman). Then, most disturbingly in the 19th km, I heard yelling up ahead. In a small alley way off the side of the course I caught a glimpse of a runner-a man-with blood dripping down his knees, screaming in agony, thrashing about on the ground being restrained by several medical workers and race stewards. Yeah, great weather.

I must say though, the people of Stuttgart were just great. Lots of support along the way, music, cheerleaders, a couple of drunk guys dancing about... But most importantly, quite a few of them (and some firefighters manning the routes in their trucks as well) took it upon themselves to spray down runners as we went by. Much appreciated!

The above water sprays were especially appreciated because the actual race water stations were pretty uncoordinated. Things pretty much came to a stop as soon as you approached one. Which slowed everything down. A lot. This was probably the low point of organization for the run, which was really unfortunate. I was just glad I had my belt on.

As for the sights and sounds. I'll leave you this link to the LW's blog. She's covered most of the highlights. Just let me add, she didn't see the post race showers! To be blunt, there's not a lot of modesty to the German character. Basically open air showers, with a little screen separating the men from the women. But of course, the men's showers were open to just about anyone. (The ankle deep water in the showers themselves was just an added bonus!)


Overall, my griping aside, it was a great time.

- - - - - - -

Kit review:
Amphipod belt: good, no irritation, I wore 3x 8 oz bottles (probably should have worn 4) and the pouch with Jelly Belly Sport beans.
New UA running shirt: I'd worn it a couple of times over the past few weeks and it was great. No irritations at all
UA shorts: this is the first problem I've had with them, even though I've worn them numerous times (long runs included) I had some chaffing issues. (The link is to the newer version of the shorts I was wearing.) I've got to think the chaffing was made worse by the heat, humidity and the fact that I was continually doused in water and/or sweat.

MASSIVE BLOG REDESIGN!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so it's just a new header.
But what a new header it is!!

Many, many, many thanks to the LW for her incredible artistic and digital skills in designing my new logo and header!!!
(Yes, that's custom original artwork by the LW! Isn't she great!)

One Week To Go...

Yesterday was my last long run before the half-marathon next weekend. As the LM's soccer season is over, I didn't run the normal route. This gave me bit of freedom to choose my direction and route.

Thus the quandary. I spent a bit of time on Friday night pouring over a trail map, Google Earth and the like trying to find a good loop of about 11 miles to run. The problem is, there are tons of trails in the woods around here. Most of them have names. Many of them don't. And some of those that are named don't match what's on the map or Google Earth. For instance, on my route to the LM's soccer games I run on Sindelfingenspitzweg, which on on the maps isn't labeled and on Google Earth is labeled Sindelfingenweg. To make it more interesting there are dozens and dozens of trails that aren't on either, but are just a wide and well used so counting left turns or what ever just doesn't work. Confusing? Yes.

After about 30 minutes, I'd mapped myself out a nice run that ran around some lakes and ponds, up towards a local palace. Then it hit me. I didn't have names for about 80% of the paths I'd mapped myself onto. So instead, I opted for the easy way out.

The Radel-thon. The Radel-thon is an 80km bike path that encircles Stuttgart. It's a combination of dirt, gravel and some paved areas. I did some quick calculations and an easy to follow 6 mile out 6 mile back route to run.

So I followed it yesterday morning. It was easy. Signs at almost every junction help keep you on the right path, so that wasn't a real worry. Even better, it went over nice rolling hills followed a stream passed a couple of ponds, and was devoid of vehicles. It even turned out (by design of course) that the route was almost completely a gentle up hill (with a few steep sections and some downhills of course) on the way out, and consequently down hill on the way back.

Tangent

They have some massive wood carvings in the area of the Bärensee there are massive wood carvings. By massive I mean a 20 foot tall tree stump that has been carved into chain links, and a downed tree carved into a giant alligator (you get the picture?) There are massive play areas for the kids, and shelters with grills interspersed in the woods. It's just a great area that we're going to have to get out into as a family and do some hiking.

End Tangent

As for the race prognosis:

• I've no doubt the distance is doable (yesterdays run was a couple of yards short of a half-marathon).
• I'm more worried about pace. I've had troubles finding and meeting the pace for my longer runs. More worryingly, I've missed some of the longer tempo runs over the past 3 weeks. A couple were due to just being flat. For instance this Wednesday I went out for a 'tempo' run and I just had nothing. I ended up with a short easy run instead, b/c I just couldn't do anymore. But annoyingly, some of the runs in the program I'm using just aren't going to happen. I don't know about any of you, but I just don't have the time to do 8-10 mile tempo runs in the middle of the week. I may have to rethink some of my schedule if I really want to get them done. Move the runs from lunch time to early in the morning. That would really put a cramp in my life though, so I'll have to really think about that.
• Physically I feel fine. I have a slight ache in my hip, but it goes away as soon as I start running.
  
• So I think I'll finish (barring catastrophe). Will I get in in under 2 hours? I don't know. The missed tempo runs worry me a little, but yesterday's run was a few yards short of the distance and I finished in about 2:05. The course is flatter than what I ran yesterday, and there will be the 'adrenalin' of being at a race. So I'm hopeful. If not, well, I'll just need to try a bit harder on the next one!
  

Hyper Sensitivity.

Yesterday day was long run day. I ran the same route that I ran last weekend. It's just under 12 miles from our house to where the Little Man plays soccer on the weekends.

Tangent

It was his last game. He did great. Actually kicked the ball a couple of times! The fact that he was on the sideline two of those times is beside the point! He even did well enough to get a new Doctor Who toy. Who said bribery doesn't pay! He started the season as one of the archetypal first time soccer players. Not paying attention to the coach. Not paying attention to the ball. Just kind of wandering around the field randomly: "hmmm what pretty flowers....ohhh! that blade of grass is longer than the rest! I must pluck it! What was that round thing that just bounced off my back? I'd best fall down and cry!"

End Tangent

Like last week, my legs felt very heavy through most of the run. I tried to push through the second half though. (I had the incentive to get to the field on time, and last week I'd barely made it.) I managed to shave some time off the total from a 10:04 pace to a 9:54 pace. But I noticed something odd.

The route is mostly on fire roads and gravel/dirt trails through the woods. There are some pronounced hills (like part of the big one and the last one from the last race). But I noticed something odd. I've run this route or it's constituent parts at least three times in the past. But yesterday I noticed something. Lots of those stretches that I'd previously mentally classified as "flat" weren't. Pretty much the whole thing was either a moderate up or moderate down slope. (In my mind yesterday it was pretty much all gentle up!)

Just a silly change in perception. Anyway, 2 weeks until the half marathon.

Kit note:
The Amphipod belt still working well. Still no big issues, no real bouncing which was my main concern. Most of the time I don't even know it's there. One of my concerns was the ability to get the bottles back into their clip holders while running. It's really not a problem. They just nicely slip in with a nice 'click'.

Still Not Home

Right.

It appears that last post drew some reaction.

First, in response to the Sagey/Blunoz double team to my ego:

Yes I admit it. I brought the Wii fit to your attention.

However, was it not the Sagey Blunoz' that tried to push the value of the X-box on me a year or so ago? ;-)

The NYT article Sagey mentioned is here.

Also, it is not just Sagey and Blunoz on a (presumably) unpaid marketing campaign on behalf of the Nintendo corporation. The LW recently reunited with her long lost best friend. Read her husband's most recent post.

...all the way home

Our good friends Sagey and Blunoz are acting like delinquent teenagers. Imagine your worst experience as a high schooler: "Come-on! Everybodies doing it!!!"

They want us to buy a Wii.


We're trying to talk ourselves out of it. The Wii Fit looks really fun. But we're just having trouble justifying the investment of money (minor issue) and time (major issue) that bringing that box into the house will entail. But we had a run in today.

We were in the local "shop" waiting for the thunder and lightning to clear out. And there was a big sign:

ENTER HERE!!

NINTENDO Wii GAME SYSTEM!!!!!!

So, living up to the tattoo I have on my forehead, I walked over and reached for the pen and pad of entry slips. And as I'm getting ready to start entering data on the slip I look more closely at the sign: "Drawing on 14 June..." blah blah blah...

Then I notice the small print:

ENTER HERE!!

For the opportunity to purchase a

NINTENDO Wii GAME SYSTEM!!!!!!

So, I put the pen down in disgust and walked away. Rational thought prevails (for today anyway).

Unsolicited Commercial Endorsement

Living overseas, we do a lot of internet shopping. It's a great way to get a wide selection and still pay in $ vice paying in € or even worse in £. A company I was turned on to by a fellow running blogger The Running Warehouse.


Wide selection, quick turnaround (usually w/in a week, and we have to wait on the USPS) and they've sent me what I ordered every time! My only criticism is that some of there items only ship through UPS, not priority mail so I can't order them). Although, for those who live in the continental 48 (sorry Blunoz) they have free 2-day shipping, and free return shipping.

Even better, they've got a promotion of some sorts going on right now, and if you place an order over a certain value, you get a free reusable cloth shopping bag.

It's Kind of Like Riding a Bike

Cross Training. I've decided to do it a bit more. The bog-standard Runner's World half-marathon plan has 2-3 days of "Rest/Cross Train" per week. I've tried to do something other than run at least one of those days.

It started off with just riding the stationary bike a the gym.

Then I moved on to doing a little strength training.

Tangent

I don't really like strength training to much. I can't explain why. I just never really have. I fall for the oldest trick in the book all the time. "I just need to get in better cardiovascular condition first, then I'll start worrying about strength training," I tell myself. Then the semi-annual PRT rears its head. I realize I haven't done a push-up since the last one. I panic. I over train. I burn myself out. I grow to dislike strength training even more. When the PRT is over, I just go back to cardio. Repeat until next PRT.

End Tangent

I've struck upon a better idea now (it doesn't really address the strength training though..).

Today, I cycled in to work and back home.

It was fun. Not easy, but fun.

I'd scoped the route by running it half-way from home and half-way from work. This morning I rode in for the first time. About 7.6 miles each way. I'm quite proud of myself, as the route is anything but flat. I even made it up the first big hill without too much difficulty (the same one that was at the beginning of my latest race). It was pretty much cake from there.

Right up till the end.

I'd talked with another guy from work who cycles in the same way occasionally. He'd warned me about a hill. Now, this is a hill I've 'run' up numerous times, but I'm not sure if I've written about it. It almost always ends up at the end of my lunchtime runs. It is the bane of my existence. Regardless of my intentions, by the top of this not-too-long hill I'm moving at a walking pace with a running gait.

So, for-warned is for-armed, no? Well....no. I knew the hill was coming, so I built up to max speed on the straight away leading to the hill....as fast as my wee little haven't cycled in 11 years legs would take me. Then: foiled again! What I'd failed to recall, what I didn't seem to remember, regardless of having run this way numerous times, was that the way I was going, I had to make a hairpin turn at the base of the hill, reducing my speed too essentially zero. Great plan. Needless to say, my cycle up the hill ended up resembling my runs up the hill. Walking pace, but this time pushing a bicycle.

Final Tangent

I've decided to keep the bicycling up once or twice a week, weather and my work schedule permitting. I just need one more piece of important kit. Glasses. I swear I pulled a dozen flies out of my eyes over the course of 40 minutes.

End Tangent. End Post

Doggie Paddle

(Thanks for the title LW)

There's been a lot of rain here lately. Well, there's always a lot of rain here.
Today on my lunch run, I ended up in the middle of it, literally.

I passed the small parking lot with the amorous couple and noticed the beginnings of a puddle. No trouble, I figured, I'll stay toward the shoulder. Which worked well, until the puddle spread to the shoulder. So up I went onto the curb. Which worked well until I had to decide, thanks to my balance, whether to risk a twisted ankle or suck up the wet shoe. (Did I mention this is just where the local sewage treatment plant discharges into the stream?) Well, needless to say, I had a wet foot. But only one, which I figured was okay. A decent small sacrifice.

Until I fully rounded the corner, and saw that the puddle was in reality a small flood, completely covering the road, curb shoulders, right up to the hill side.

The only bright spots here:

• I didn't get my other foot wet as I turned around to go back, and
• I got a chuckle from the amorous lady who disengaged from her beau long enough to laugh at me.

So, all was well. I continued my run with my one moderately wet foot. I was trying a new route. An out an back that would take me half way home. I'd done the other half a couple of weeks ago during the weekend. The goal being to scout the route to support future bicycling to work.

Well when I say well, I mean almost well. I had a run in with a dog.

A young girl of about 13 was out walking her dog. A big happy looking guy about the size of a large border collie. Not on a leash of course. As I ran by, he trotted out to follow me with a big ol' doggie grin on his face.

While he looked friendly enough, I really didn't want to push him. So I slowed down to a slow jog (compared to the scorching pace I had been maintaining of course). And he just kept pace with me, big doggie grin and all.

So I stopped. All this time, the girl is calling her dog: "Fido, Fido, Komm!" to no avail. Eventually, she broke out the dog whistle. And the dog turned and faced her, then turned and faced me with a big "Will you let me run with you" look on his face. (Or at least that's how I interpreted it. Maybe it was German dog for "One more step and you're mine!") I think what really saved me was another runner coming from the other direction. She distracted him enough for me to slowly jog off.

Now, for some reason, I brought my drink bottle with me today. Not that it was that hot. But I guess, I could have used that to give the dog a big squirt in the face if it came down to it. That would I'm sure have either solved the problem or pissed the ever-living bejeezes out of him. Needless to say, after I was a good way clear, I gave the bottle a good test squeeze and it produced a nice solid stream of water. Would it have worked? I'm glad I didn't have to find out.

I've only had one other "run-in" with a dog while running. Back in England while running with a friend we were "threatened" by a dog. Right on one of the waterfront cycle/walking paths in Portsmouth's Northend. It was a real mean sounding thing, baring it's teeth, growling, sneering, drooling. All 10 pounds of it. I think a swift kick would have sent it spinning into the muddy low tide water.

I discussed this with the LW when I got home. We decided for 'grab the throat and choke' over 'gouge the eyes' when in extremis with a dog.

Cobblestone Classic

Race Report.
Yesterday morning I ran the Cobblestone Classic 5 mile run. Tag line "Where Tanks Once Tread" (To find out why, read the Tangent below). A Five mile course from Patch Barracks to Panzer Barracks along Panzerstraße.

Warning: Long Historical Tangent Ahead.
(A tip of the hat to Blunoz for format)

Patch Barracks was originally called Kurmärker Kaserne and was constructed starting in about 1936, by, you guessed it, our good old German friends...


Panzer Barracks (originally Panzer Kaserne) was built around the same time. Kurmärker Kaserne was the home for the 7th Panzer Regiment...


...it had the headquarters area, offices, barracks, support facilities and the like...


...and Panzer Kaserne had the training area and shooting ranges for the Panzers.

To get from Kurmärker to Panzer Kaserne, they needed a road. Just any old road wouldn't do. Tank treads tend to be a little rough on asphalt, and they'll turn dirt roads to mud. So they came up with a solution:

Cobblestones

Great for tanks not so good for knees and ankles!

The bases were needed to support the newly re-arming German military during the run up to the Second World War. They played a supporting role in the military re-occupation of the Rhineland.

Kurmärker Kaserne didn't make it out of the war too well:(Nice bullet holes above)

The combined USAF and RAF gave it a bit of a plastering.

The 7th Panzer Regiment didn't do that well either. It surrendered in Tunisia and finished the war in POW camps back in the U.S.

(Source note: all of the above photos came from a EUCOM history brief about Patch Barracks. I cannot attest to the status of copyright on any of them).

End Tangent.

This is at least the 3rd running of the Cobblestone classic (which I know only b/c I saw a 2006 Cobblestone Classic T-shirt).

I've fallen off the wagon the last week. I did 11 miles last Saturday, and due to an equipment malfunction (sock position) ended up with some nasty blisters on my right foot. I ran again on Monday, only 4.5 miles and really regretted it. So I took the rest of the week off. (Which has some implications for my half-marathon training plan but in the short term really made my legs feel heavy when the race started. But it did give my blisters enough time to heal which was really what I needed.)

The race started alright. I made a conscious decision to start nearer the front this time. In past races I've spent a lot of time and effort at the beginning of the run playing dodge 'ems with slower runners, walkers and stroller pushers starting near the front. That worked out better than my past starts. (No, there were no starting guides or any order at all really to the start. Just "line-up and go". Very un-Armylike.)

The problem was I felt miserable pretty much from the start. Legs heavy, lungs weak. To make things worse the course was not easy. Pretty much immediately after leaving Patch Barracks it enters the woods, where it remains till the end, so the scenery is nice.

But there are the cobblestones. And there are the hills. It's pretty much just a series of hills for the entire 5 miles. With a nice long one at the beginning. (see the profile below). I'm not a hill running champion, I tend to slow down quickly, and get very slow as they go on.

I did have the advantage of having run almost all of the course before. I've explored most of the woods through which the course wound during my weekend long runs, except for the last half mile or so.

Needless to say, my "good start" stopped about mile 1 1/4 when the first real uphill began. I continued to trudge up the hill passing the 2 mile mark near the top of the hill at 16:16, a bit of quick and easy mental gym: 8:08 pace. Not exactly scorching.

Finally at the top, I sped up a bit as the course leveled out for a little bit and then began a slow relatively steady descent. I was able to maintain that pace, running next to a co-worker who had a GPS watch. It said we were running sub 6:00 pace. It lied. No way. We were holding an on/off conversation, which I cannot do at a sub 6:00 pace. Besides, we were maintaining pace for waaaaay too long for me to be sub 6:00. Even counting the downhill.

If you look at the elevation profile below, it was the second to last hill that really did me in (the one that starts at mil 4.3 or so). I think I pushed the pace a little too hard going up, trying to run with the same guy. Consequently, I didn't have much left.


To make matters worse, I started hearing a slapping footfall behind me. Getting closer. And closer. Soon enough, a scrawny little 11 year old boy just screams by. Very disheartening. About 5 miles in and passed by an 11 year old.

Then came the coup de grace to my race. Where was the finish? I just felt I had to be nearing the 5 mile end. We turned off the main trail that I'd run before onto a side trail I was unfamiliar with. As we curved around in the woods, I was really needing that 5 mile end point. My legs felt dead. My lungs weren't much better.

Then around the corner!

(Commence inner dialogue)

A sign! 5 miles!!! Joyous day!

But...wait....where ...(pray tell) is the finish line??? Refreshments????? The END??!!!!

Ahhh, [expletive deleted] race organizers!
Can't even advertise the real [expletive deleted] length of the [expletive deleted] race!
Yeah, but they sure can find a [expletive deleted] hill to make us run up.
Must have been a [expletive deleted] Marine again. [expletive deleted]

(End dialogue)

Well, eventually I did see the end, around a corner up a hill (of course).

Finish time: just over 42 minutes. Pace actually slower than my PB 10k time.

But honestly, with the hills, I'll take it. And it was fun. Just wish they'd said it was 5.something miles, not "5 miles".