Matt Lauer

I love Matt Lauer! You can always count on him for some sort of asinine comment. This morning I arrived home from my run (I saw the dog again; this time I didn't wave at the owner), turned on the T.V., and as I was making coffee overheard this exchange with the jacket artist of the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter finale:

• Matt: So, exactly how long does it take to print twelve million books?
• Guest (looking confused by the question): Uhm, a few weeks.
• Matt: Oh, that fast?
• Guest: Yeah.

Matt, Matt, we have advanced printing techniques now. By and large, we haven't made books by hand for some 500 years. Of course, this pales in comparison to when, after announcing that Fred Thompson had announced his candidacy for president a few weeks ago, Lauer asked, "But can an actor really be president?" Doesn't anyone screen that man's teleprompter?!?

Today's run went well, with the exception that the shin splint I mentioned in yesterday's post hurts a little more. I'm now icing and anti-inflamatorying it. After the run, I was also solicited for medical advice. Some random on the street runs up yelling "Sir! Sir! When you have a pain here (gestures from his lower back along the outside of his hip to the top of his thigh), what do you do about it?" I demure with a, "Ice? I don't know." He walks off with a "Oh, you've never had that? Fine." Great, I guess Brooks shoes equal medical license?

4.15 Miles:29:45 @ 7:10/mile.

Perspective

As Yvonne has pointed out, perspective's a funny thing. I had the same reaction on my first "Queensboro Loop" after time off as she just had to her first "Tri-Borough Run" (which, is basically the same course). That reaction was, "Dear Lord, this is a long way! What ever possessed me to think marathoning was a good idea? And how'd I ever run this twice a week last fall???" Relativity is a funny thing.

Today I had another experience with perspective. Since I've re-taken to running after my months-long (and somewhat anticlimactic) trial build-up I've noticed that my pace has been quite a bit faster than last fall at the same effort. I've assumed that would change, that I'd soon be back to running 7:40-8:00 like last fall once the mileage got back up. Today, I assumed, would be that day. I'd run just under 2 hours on Saturday followed by 10k at a decent clip on Sunday. My legs this morning felt sluggish, I felt dehydrated, I still haven't acclimated to morning running, and, to top it off, I've developed a mild shin-splint in my left leg. If there was ever a day where running was a struggle, it was this morning and I knew that today was the day to get back to "normal" paces. I was therefore somewhat (or rather, completely) surprised when I got home to learn that the pace had been 7:36/mile for the 8.6 miles. I guess it's all a matter of perspective because it certainly didn't seem that fast. Of course, we'll have to see if this effort continues to produce 7:10-7:30 miles as I continue to drive up the mileage, but for the moment I'd like to delude myself into thinking I'm fit.

I've decided to dump Edith Wharton. It's just not working out for me. Really, it's not her. It's me. I just don't feel the connection. There's no spark; no chemistry. And there's another woman in my life. She's the subject of both song and poem. I'm now reading Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary, from whence comes this lovely Christmas poem --

Angelus consilii
Natus est de virgine
Sol de stella;

Sol occasum nesciens
Stella semper rutilans,
Semper clara.

Sicut sidus radium,
Profert virgo filium,
Pari forma.

Neque sidus radio,
Neque mater filio
Fit corrupta.

{"The angel of consel was born of the virgin as the Sun of a Star. A Sun knowing not setting A Star aways shining Always clear. As the star brings forth its ray, the virgin brings forth a son, in like manner. Neither the star by its ray, nor the mother by her son is made corrupt." (It certainly loses a lot in translation.)}

Week (of 3/19) in Review

Monday	Rest	--	--
Tuesday	5.25 miles	39:30	7:31/mile
Wednesday	4.15 miles	29:47	7:11/mile
Thursday	Sick Day	--	--
Friday	Rest	--	--
Saturday	14.5 Miles	1:50:00	7:34/mile
Sunday	6.25 miles	45:08	7:13/mile
Total	30.2 Miles	--	--

Etiquette

Here's a suggestion on manners,which, if it has not been mandated by Emily Yoffe, should be. Let me set the scene . . . Imagine it's a crisp spring morning. Your dog wants you to take it for a walk. It's scratching the door. You put on your shoes and take it outside. Now, you're outside the front door of your vinyl-siding house with a second floor entrance, standing at the top of the concrete stair that goes down to street level. You see a runner coming down the sidewalk. Runner waves at you. You wave back. When runner's head gets even with the edge of the concrete stair . . . you allow your dog to run to the edge and start urinating into the street, or I should say, urinating at the runner! Gross!

(Okay, I did have the iPod on and didn't hear the dog honking, but that should be a non-issue because his urine did NOT have right of way.)

• Tuesday: 5.25 miles in 39:30 (7:31/mile: Erin gave me a cold she had last week. This was tougher than it should have been because I'm all drugged up.)
• Wednesday: 4.15 miles in 29:47 (7:11/mile: Easier, felt better, or maybe just ran faster to get home to shower off canine excretion)
  

It's All in My Head

I have been blogging consistently over the past two weeks. I just haven't been writing to the blog or posting. I have the best of intentions. As I walk down the street, I compose the most striking and penetrating stories and commentary on life in the city. But then I get home, crack a beer, turn on the T.V. and never commit these thoughts to notebook. To a certain extent, I've started to narrate my life like John Dorian. (Erin says that this means I don't have enough friends.) But I realize this is both a lazy and selfish way to deal with life. So, for you, dear readers, and I mean both of you, I'll try to make more of an effort.

I've been thinking more about Victorian society as I've been working through The Age of Innocence, which I'm still undecided on. However, one passage in particular struck me as resonating with New York today, especially since I know so many women of around thirty lamenting their single status and their difficulties in finding marrigable men. (One friend, with whom I'm not even all that close, gave me the full breakdown on the status of her biological clock over drinks one night!) Here's the passage:

He had married (as most young men did) because he had met a perfectly charming girl at the moment when a series of rather aimless sentimental adventures were ending in premature disgust; and she had represented peace, stability, comradeship, and the steadying sense of an unescapable duty.

So, that's the secret. You have to be lucky enough to catch the guy at the right time, at a time when he's looking for stability, and then he'll feel obligated to marry you! This is really only funny because for many cases it's probably spot on true.

Running has been going fairly well as I've been striving for consistency. The last three weeks have been 22, 31 and 26 miles. I'm going to try to work up to around 40 over the next three weeks before cutting back for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon on April 14. Today's run, by the way, was loads of fun. It was 5.6 miles, with the first 2.5 into a headwind. They were extremely hard and I made the turnaround at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge after a tough 19:10 (7:40 pace). At that point, although I was climbing back up the Bridge, the wind assist was so great that I was moving at around a 6:40 mile going uphill and it was easier! The last 3.1, where the wind was either neutral or assisting I knocked out in a nice 21:35 (6:58 pace).

That's it from the land of Iphiclus. I have to go watch the alma mater play the Jayhawks of Kansas; but before I do, I'd like to add that I am so impressed that I don't have red-eye in this post.

Spring!

The forecast is consistently in the 50s for next week; that's so exciting it almost deserves a post of its own.

In running, I'd forgotten how it felt to do only 3-ish miles. Yesterday, I need 2 miles to hit 30 for the week, which I consider good "getting back into it" mileage since it takes some consistency over the week to get there. My shins were also a bit tender from 12+ on Saturday. Short necessary mileage plus sore shins made the decision to run from my apartment to the base of the Pulaski Bridge and back, a route that is just short of 5K, a no-brainer. Plus, the novelty of running under 4 miles in a training run was a load of fun. Three miles is great -- you can run it fairly hard, but it's still an easy run! Fantastic! This sprecific run was into the wind on the way out (10:20) and with the wind on the way back (9:55) for a 20:15 run, not bad for a hack!


Week (of 3/5) in Review

Monday	4.5 miles	30:00	6:40/mile
Tuesday	6.2 miles	45:00	7:02/mile
Wednesday	4.5 miles	31:45	7:03/mile
Thursday	Rest	--	--
Friday	Rest	--	--
Saturday	12.4 Miles	1:30:27	7:18/mile
Sunday	3.1 miles	20:15	6:32/mile
Total	30.9 Miles	--	--

Let's make fun of Victorians

I was asked about the omission of Tender is the Night in the comments of the last post. The omission was not meant as a slight to the book. I have yet to meet the Fitzgerald book that I don't like (and, since he wrote so few, it's unlikely that I shall). But I don't own a copy, and so the litany of titles from the Lost Generation on my bookshelf doesn't include it. Tender is the Night is a thinly veiled autobiographical account of life with Zelda; whereas This Side of Paradise is a thinly veiled autobiographical account of life at Princeton and Fitzgerald's (first) engagement to Zelda. I'm unlikely to own a copy of Tender is the Night soon, but you should. Like Erasmus, I have a backlog of dozens of books that I haven't read to finish before I'm allowed to buy ones that I have read.

I'm currently working through The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. A contemporary of Fitzgerald, this novel was published in 1920, but basically pokes fun at New York society of the 1890s. I'm finding it somewhat off-putting, and am just figuring out why. While Fitzgerald's works are clearly set in the problems of his own day and when he attacks the elder generation it's for their hypocrysy (really, did you believe no girls kissed boys before marriage?) that limits the preparation for life, and choices allowed, to his own (which just wants to lead a rich and leisurely life), Wharton's tone is more like the self-righteous later generation passing judgment from a throne of its own making. I'm finding the tone a bit grating in the same way I'd find a modern author passing an unfettered (and even snide, at times) judgment on, say, the 1980s, without ever seeming to recognize their own generation's follies. But, I am only about a third through the book and so will withhold final judgment for another time.

Okay and about face! This is a running blog, after all. I ran an easy (7:45 pace) 11.8 miles on Saturday. I wouldn't really call this a hard run, but I did throw in some fartlek and I realize that two months later I've lost a lot of my, as my dad would say, "get up and go." Yesterday, I hit the gym for 30 minutes on the mill. I decided that I wanted to run sub-7s. There was no particular reason for this; just a whim. So, I started at 7:30s and worked down to 6:00mm over the 1/2 hour, finishing at 4.5 miles in 30 minutes.

And a question, does one nice Saturday of spring-like weather before plunging back into winter satisfy the rat's prediction of an early spring?

Well, now what do I do?

The "i"s will be crossed and the "t"s will be dotted on the settlement of the trial by the end of the day. It's an odd feeling, being part of an eve-of-trial-settlement. Sort of akin to how I imagine it would feel to receiving a letter in the last few weeks before a marathon saying that it had been canceled. For half-a-second, the thought that you'll have free time dominates; then you're annoyed and frustrated because, not only were you certain you would win, but you were certain you would dominate; then you feel a little bit sick and realize that weeks and weeks of work aren't actually going to be tested--that this is a lost opportunity in your professional life. Of course, at the same time that this vortex of conflicting feeling coalesces in your chest, a solid handhold appears in the realization that those weeks and weeks of work are what made the case end in the first place, so they aren't wasted; and the client is happy, so you've done a good job. But, obviously, this is a swirl of emotions that I'm going to have to get used to. Settlements on the eve of trial are not uncommon.

In keeping with this theme of endings, I just finished reading This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In a backlash to Dickens after I finished Bleak House a few weeks ago, I've turned now full tilt to early 20th century American authors.

I absolutely love Fitzgerald's work. The only real gripe I have is that the guy smoked like a fiend and died at 44 from a (series of) heart attack(s). If you only read one book by Fitzgerald in your life, don't read Gatsby, that is, unless you have a high-schooler at home and you need to help him with a book report. Read The Beautiful and the Damned. That's a masterpiece.

But, I digress. Back to This Side of Paradise. The protagonist is hatefully selfish and egocentric. The female characters are almost entirely unmitigated bitches. The men are shallow. And the older people are hypocritical prudes. And the writing is poetic and beautiful.

This passage, near the end of the book, I think I must have read six times:

Long after midnight the towers and spires of Princeton were visible, with here and there a late-burning light -- and suddenly out of the clear darkness the sound of bells. As an endless dream it went on; the spirit of the past brooding over a new generation, the chosen youth from the muddled, unchastened world, still fed romantically on the mistakes and half-forgotten dreams of dead statesmen and poets. Here was a new generation, shouting the old cries, learning the old creeds, through a revery of long days and nights; destined finally to go out into a dirty gray turmoil to follow love and pride; a new generation dedicated more than the last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken. . .

Why, of why, Mr. Fitzgerald could you not have given us another twenty years?

Fastest Race Report Ever!

Race: Snowflake 4

• Temp: Freezing. Didn't that god damn groundhog predict a short winter.
• Before the race: Mary Wittenberg says over the intercom, "Any new runners out there?" and the response is . . . silence. I say, "Not today," and the guy in front yells, "Try again in July!"
• During the race -- Miles one and two: felt like I was working way too hard for 6:10s. Not surprising since I haven't run in two weeks and am pushing 80 hours at the office for the week already.
• During the race -- Half to mile 3.5: At this point I'm thinking, "Well I'm not going to get a p.r. I'm not even close. I'm exhausted from work. I don't really want to be here. And $*!@ this is hard!" I start coasting.
• During the race -- 3.5 to end: Run hard. Finish in 25:25; 6:21/mile. Slower than my 10K in December.
• After the race -- water was frozen. My apple had ice bursting through the skin.
• Around 6pm, I'm at the office and I think, "Gee. Let's see how bad today's race really was against my old best. . ." And the old p.r. is . . . 26:18. Are you kidding? I guess that's the benefits of having soft p.r.'s. Or maybe it says something, I guess, on how much fitness I gained last year that this race was that much better than my last.
• Miles since 2/15: 4
  

Deleted!

I was very happy yesterday when I learned, via email, that I'm being deleted:

Please Note: Your account will be removed from The New York Times Job Market on March 7, 2007 since it has been inactive for 18 months. If you would like to keep your account with The New York Times Job Market, please login now and your account will be retained for 18 more months.

About eightteen months ago I was initially offered my current position. This was a nice reminder of the hard work that went into finding something fulfilling in a down market, and the way that the bumps can get smoothed out over time.

Tomorrow, I'm "racing" the Snowflake 4, before heading back to the office. I'll be my first run since the 15th.

Quotes

Quothe the senior partner to the associates: "You know when the trial is. This isn't going to be a pleasant time for any of us."

Quothe the associate to his friends: "I shall speak to you again in April."

Week of February 5: 27 miles
Week of February 12: 16 miles
Miles since February 15: 0 miles

(When I return, I shall beguile you with stories from my wife's 10 year high school reunion.)

Stupid Cold

I've been gymming it for the last couple workouts due to the frigid temps outside. (But thank god I don't live Upstate, where up to 100" of snow is forecast!) The workouts were a mix. On Tuesday's "tempo" run, my hips felt extremely tight, which I assume was from climbing hills over loose snow on Sunday. After the run, my hips were so tight that I actually couldn't do my normal "bicycle crunches" after the run because I couldn't lift my legs off the floor. Note to self, remember to stretch those hips.

Last night, I felt fatigued, which makes sense following my hard run Tuesday and the long-ish run Sunday. So, I zoned into the first half of the Duke-UNC basketball game and took it easy. I have to say, it's good that UNC has such talented players because Duke totally out executed in the first half. UNC just looked bad, bad passes, forced shots, forced passes into triple coverage in the post. So rather than leaving in a good mood, I left my mill in a huff since UNC was down by 5 at the half. This was actually exceptionally close. As poorly as UNC played, and as solid as Duke's execution was, if the talent levels had been equally matched Duke would have led by 20. In the end, although I left after the first half, in the final period UNC did come back to win. So, while the result was great, I hate to see anything good go Duke's way, even if it's only a halftime lead.

In other news, Kentucky knocked off, or squeaked past, SEC cellar-dweller USC in a mid-week tune-up before hosting #1 Flordia on Friday night. ESPN, for several years, has been hyping this as a "Rivalry Game." For me certainly, and I think for most UK fans, calling Florida a "rival" of the program with the most wins of any school and the second-most NCAA championships may still be a little strong. But since #18UK (1 on the wins list, 2 on the NCAA championship list) has already lost to #5UNC (2 on the win list) and #2UCLA (1 on the NCCA list) this year, I guess we'll have to consider Florida an acceptable "rival" for this decidedly mediocre Kentucky basketball team. However, I really wish Indiana had a good team again, or Bob Knight, because that was a rivalry -- coaches that hated each other's programs, #2 and #3 on the NCAA championship list, border state's flagship schools. That had all the elements. And even after Bob Knight left, you could still hate Mike Davis.



Tuesday: 4.5 miles in 30:54 (6:52/mile, 2.5 miles at 6:40 and faster)
Wednesday: 6.1 miles in 45:00 (7:23/mile)

Frigid

9. 17 mph wind.

In Metric, -13. 27kph wind.

Loose snow the length of the trail, approximately 1/4" thick.

Ice. Especially on hills.

Ice chunks on the Hudson.

Those are the details of the run for seven Flyers yesterday in Upper Nyack, New York. I, for one, on the subway ride to meet the group, kept raiding my dry clothes bag for extra warmth (I think I need that T-shirt now!).

Apparently, Ward called Christoph, who was our guide to this trail, the day before to say, "Hey, Christoph, it's going to be really cold. Let me know if you think we should cancel. . ." Christoph's response on the ride out of the City? "See, what he didn't realize is . . . I'm German." (I'm not really sure what that means, exactly -- "I'm German and we're rigid," "I'm German and in the Bavarian forests this weather is warm" -- but it was still pretty funny.)

I'm calling the run 13.5 and am going to forget the time due to the conditions. I'm a little unnerved to report that Christoph and Skylight went out for more! They ended up running 20 in this weather (I hung out in the car during their extra mileage, with the heater, eating my banana and reading some Dickens. ) For me, 13.5 doubles my prior longest run of 2007, and brings me to 32 miles for my first consistent week of the year. That 32 also more than doubles my total mileage for '07, but it seemed like a good "getting back into it" amount.

Afterwards, we hit up a really cute cafe for brunch. Christoph, Skylight and I had about 7 plates between the three of us, which was somewhat ridiculous. However, it was really tasty and if you're ever in Nyack, New York, it's was called Strawberry Place.

(And, since its that time of year, the Alma Mater staged a 14-point, second-half comeback to beat Arkansas on the road Saturday. Go Cats!)

Is it a trend?

I've been very sporadic in blogging in '07, which reflects my running (weekly-to-date: 0,5,16, 10*). However, this week . . . oh, glory, oh accomplishment . . . I'm going to break 30 miles. This strikes me as sufficient consistency to be worth blogging about (also, it's notable in that it'll also lead to a doubling of my miles for the year!)

So, how has this amazing accomplishment occurred? Well, for one, I've (re)discovered that when I'm only running 4 miles a pop, I don't have to get up at 5 am. Amazing! You don't have to allocate 2 hours to run only 28 minutes. Second, I've been routinely leaving the office by 8 to 9 pm. That may still seem late, but at only around 12 hours, it's completely within my tolerance range for outside activity. Third, after about 2 weeks, I really started to feel run-down, but in a completely different way than the run-down I feel while running at my most fatigued. Basically, I like the way I feel when I'm active and don't like the way I feel when I'm not -- even if I'm running a lot and feel exhausted. A few weeks off reinforced just how much I like busting out a 5 mile run.

One thing odd about my month off, is how much faster my runs have been on this return than they were during marathon training. I would have thought that after 4 weeks of almost nothing, I'd be running slower (or at least no faster) than I was at the end of last year. That's not even close. Here's this week so far:

• Tuesday -- 4.15 miles in 29:08 (7:01/mile on the Pulaski O&B).
  
• Wednesday -- 4.15 miles in 30:25 (7:20/mile over loose snow in McCarren Park).
  
• Friday -- 6.00 miles in 45:06 (7:31/mile in a gym that felt like Kenya. Seriously, it felt like running in July).
• Today -- 5.00 miles in 36:28 (7:18/mile on the Billy Bridge O&B, but a noticable headwind on the out (18:43) that was a tailwind on the back (17:45)).

I'm somewhat confused by this. Although I understand tapering, and I understand faster times on lower mileage, I really have done almost nothing in January and thought that it would be assured that when I got back to normal mileage I wouldn't be running at sub-7:20 (and, for the record, these runs are being run at the same effort as my 7:40-7:50s at year-end '06). Is this just from integration of fitness during my time off? Is this just from rested muscles? Should I expect these times to climb over the next couple weeks? Last year was my first really "serious" training period, so this was also my first lay-off. What should I be expecting?

*I'd planned more for the fourth week, but the Flyers annual dinner (including a big open bar) derailed those ambitions. But it was totally worth it. Heh heh.

So, this is the new year. . .

. . . and I don't feel any different.*

Yes, folks, today was my first run of the New Year and unlike the implication lent by the line I stole from Ben Gibbard's band, it really felt like I'd taken two weeks off to spend a lot of hours at my desk job. I actually feel tired and, at least for today's run, extremely uncoordinated. My hips, calves, hammies and shoulders all felt tight and certainly didn't want to stretch out for a solid stride. It's amazing how "off" one feels after two weeks off. Even though my legs felt fresh, every footfall seemed to hit the ground a half second either before or after I thought it should. It was only with the last mile that things seemed close to "right," and the pace dropped significantly at that point with almost no additional effort.

As for Houston, today's run left me completely certain that I'd made the right decision. Although my legs felt fresh, extremely fresh (even if they weren't operating with the precision I'd like), mentally, the five mile Billy Bridge O&B was almost more than I could take. Although Friday was a 'normal' workday, the last two weeks have taken such a toll that just running water for clean cereal bowl this morning seemed like the greatest chore in the world! With that said, I can't imagine how I'd have managed to catch a flight!

Furthermore, this shortie 5-miler was extremely mentally challenging. Halfway through the run, thoughts that I imagine attack the minds of those who are running for the first time ever, or maybe those who view exercise as a punishment continually assailed my mind -- thoughts like: "What sort of freak does this for fun!?!" and "My god, I'm supposed to do this every day!?!" Fortunately, my mental outlook changed immensely in the last mile, once my joints started to loosen up some and my legs started to get somewhat recoordinated. Although the middle 60% of the run was pretty dim, I finished actually looking forward to getting running back into the routine again. But those dark thoughts confirm exactly how difficult trying to run a marathon this weekend would have been. Although I finished on a high note today, most of the middle miles of the run were mentally pretty bleak. Even at the best of times, racing the marathon presents bleak moments, and I don't believe I'd have had the mental reserves to handle them.

For the future, I'm considering the JFK Airport 5K in April as my target for spring. I've been browsing plans online, but haven't found anything that I like yet. Anyone out there have any suggestions on structuring 12 weeks to make a strike at sub-18?

Billy Bridge O&B: 5 miles in 36:24 (7:17 pace).

*From Death Cab for Cutie'sTransatlanticism.

"The New Year"

So this is the new year.
And I don't feel any different.
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance (in the distance).

So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
For self assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions

So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialogs bleed into one

I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then I could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back.

There'd be no distance that could hold us back [x2]

So this is the new year [x4]

Best Laid Plans . . .

It's been a while since I last posted to this blog, almost two weeks. Partly that's attributable to visiting my parents, who live far enough out in the country that dial-up is the only available connection, meaning that I may as well be off the grid. Partly, it's due to my very busy work schedule since getting back to New York on New Year's Day. Routinely, I've been in the office until 11 over the past week. Routinely, I've been arriving before 8, as opposed to my normal 9:30. What little time I've had outside the office has been devoted to having a beer in front of the T.V. The worst part is that despite those hours my inbox is getting more full!

That brings us to the Houston Marathon, which I've decided to bag. I haven't run a quarter in the New Year (actually, a 45 minute walk with Erin last night was the most time I've spent outside at a stretch in the New Year). And although I could run the marathon with zero miles in the two weeks leading up to it, I'd also be abandoning the firm before a hard deadline. No dice. Got the lesson here: don't plan big events for the month of January.

Looking ahead, I don't believe I'm going to be able to devote the hours to train for an April marathon either (we have a trial in March!). That stretches my next BQ attempt to the fall. I think the plan is to take a couple weeks off and then, once the hours get down to a more reasonable 50-60, to start in at 30 miles or so and focus on shorter stuff. I'd still like to take a crack at my 5K time this spring.

In the end, I have to admit that I'm not too upset by this development. Although it is disappointing not being able to race, I'm not a professional runner and in my profession I've been getting a number of positive signs: positive comments from partners I don't directly work for, the size of my raise, the very fact that I keep being given loads of work, etc. It's hard to be upset about missing a hobby with lots of positive feedback in the job.

And, although it's been unsaid to this point, like my running this blog will also be quasi-dormant until work calms itself.

Happy Holidays

The last week's been crazy. I was working in excess of 12 hours everyday last week, needing to add time to shop for Christmas, and trying to get in the last week of running. Not surprisingly, the blog took the hit.

I went to the Harley Davidson store on Lexington Avenue to pick up a shirt for my dad to use as an exchange gift. So, I go at lunch, from my office, in my fitted shirt, tie, Brooks Brothers suit. I go through the rack of shirts -- my instructions are that it must say "New York." I find a shirt, I find a salesperson. I say, "Can I have this shirt in 3X?" He looks at me like I've lost my mind. I say, "You don't have this in 3X?" He says, "No." I say, "Do you have anything in 3X?" He says, "Maybe," and starts going through the rack: "No. No. No. Uhhhhmm. . . No. No. Maybe this one. I'll check in the back." He then disappears . . . and I look at hats . . . and I look at lighters . . . and then he comes back with a different shirt and says, "I have this one." I said, "I'll take it," without even really looking at it. I'm somewhat surprised, because I thought if any shop had a demographic that would want -- nay, need 3X shirts, it would be Harley Davidson.

My runs this week have been awful, almost without exception. Tuesday I woke up, and sat in my apartment, in full dress, thinking "I can't do this. I just can't do this." I then laid down on the couch, in my gear -- tights, shoes, jacket -- and went back to sleep. This will, I'm sure, make more sense when you know that I'd worked all weekend and then had been at the office until midnight on Monday. Thursday, I tried to run 5 miles, but walked most of the last 1.5 to prevent "runner's trots." But the great runs didn't really come until the weekend.

Friday's run, just under 12 miles, started with me feeling like I'd been delayed at the airport 4 hours, only had Burger King for dinner, and then landed in Cincinnati at 2 a.m. . . Oh, wait, that's what happened on Thursday night! But, in all fairness, the run really improved my mood and I'm sure it would have become fantastic if the second half hadn't involved a 600' climb over about 0.75 miles. To put this in perspective, the first 6 miles took 45 minutes and the second 6 took 56 minutes. Yikes!

Saturday's run was very special. This was supposed to be a 3 hour long run. Not only did I get lost in Kentucky ridge land, (I swear, I ran uphill for 30 solid minutes. I'm never going to complain about Cat Hill again.), but the worst was the cold! The weather wasn't that cold, but I was in my skimpy shorts and . . . about an hour in . . . uhm, let's just say that the end of my man muscle was a little raw from the cold -- and in, every step my shorts felt like sandpaper. I started running with my hands down my pants, but knew that I couldn't go another 2 hours like that. So the long run was called at about 7 miles. I looked in today's paper to see if there was an article about me -- "Perverted Jogger seen Masturbating on the Run in A.J. Jolly Park: We know every year when the liberal New Englanders arrive in Cincinnati, there's trouble, but we never expected this perverse fushion of granola exercise and sexual degeneracy . . ." -- but there was not a peep about my troubles. Today, I finally got in a good run. 11.9 miles in 1:12:20 for a 7:30 pace. Solid, not intestinal or gonadal issues. Finally. Merry Christmas Eve to me.

Hope you all have a good holiday.

Hot Chocolate?

Saturday was the Hot Chocolate 10 Miler (formerly 15K) here in New York, which I ran as the second half of a 19 and change long run. My 70:58 was over a minute P.R. for 10 miles, although I feel a little weird writing that. A 7:05 pace is 20s per mile slower than my half-marathon p.r. So, I guess this let's you know how seriously I've taken 10 milers. I'm thinking of just cutting the distance from the sidebar list since I've never considered a 10 miler a real race.

As a long run, this run was in a certain sense fantastic and in another sense not so good. Here's the not so good sense. I went out planning to do 3:10 worth of running, which would be about 23-24 miles. I quit after 2:22 and change and that's not even close! On the other hand, from mile 9.5 through 19.5, I ran at an average of 7:05 per mile, 10s faster than marathon pace and felt strong throughout (which is the good part). However, with that much speed in the second half, if I'd actually added enough post-race mileage to run 3:10, even slowing to 8:00/mile, I'd have hit around 25.5 miles or so before I finished my timer. Do I really need to run 25.5 miles in my goal marathon time as a long run? I don't think so now, nor did I think so Saturday which is why I decided to call it a day after the race.

So, how'd that 10 mile race go after my 9.5 warmup? Here's the summary:

1 - 7:58 (Slow first mile. Chatted with some Flyers and got boxed in)
2- 7:01 (Uh?)
3 - 7:09 (This is pretty close to marathon pace. And feeling good.)
4 - 7:12 (This was totally comfortable)
5 - 6:51 (End of the first loop. Got excited going through the "finish line," but feeling fine enough to make fun of the announcer guy.)
6-7-13:59 (Missed mile 6, but looks like a 7:00 average. I was supposed to meet Skylight for some extra after the race, who was planning to do 7:15s. After the first half, I was thinking I was within 30s or so of catching him.)
8 - 6:56 (Miles 8 and 9 were total shockers because it didn't seem that fast)
9 - 7:01
10 - 6:52 (Obviously, the end)

Mile ten was the only mile where I felt somewhat bad and that was solely because people were pulling away from me in the last quarter and I had too many miles in my legs at that point to really hammer the speed to sprint with them. So, the second half of this 20 was 10s faster than MP and I felt great throughout. And, although I've been burned by misleading elevation charts before, I really doubt Houston has anything like my course today, which involved the Queensborough Bridge and 3 climbs up Cat Hill. So, even though I didn't run as long a time as I'd planned, I can't think this run was not a success.

I'd still like to get in a 3:10 run. But next week's the last real week before tapering starts. Since it's also Christmas travel (Thursday night flight) we'll see how well that plan works out. But even if I miss it, yesterday's run felt good and I'm feeling pretty confident -- as far as running goes.

The last issue left for Houston is work and whether I'm actually going to be able to leave New York over that weekend. It is a holiday weekend, but that doesn't really mean anything in my business. I've been laying the groundwork for the trip with the bosses for a few weeks and while I would say the chances that I'll be stuck in New York drafting papers is less than 50-50, it is likely enough that I've checked to make sure my travel arrangements were refundable. We shall see . . .

(Oh. And as a P.S., thanks to any Flyer readers who were playing course marshal! I tried to yell whenever I spotted you . . . as loudly and obnoxiously as I could! You all did a great job.)

Saturday: 19.4 miles in 2:22:04 (7:19/mile average; with 7:05 for the last 10 miles)
Sunday: 6.5 miles in 49:45 (7:05/mile)
For the week: 51.8 miles

Hodgepodge

This isn't a political blog. . . and regardless of how you feel about military officers using Pentagon facilities to make a promotional video for a Christian organization (while in uniform) designed to proselytize to other officers, this is a stupid quote:

Army Brig. Gen. Bob Casen refers in the video to the Christian Embassy's special efforts to reach admirals and generals through Flag Fellowship groups. Whenever he sees another fellowship member, he says, "I immediately feel like I am being held accountable, because we are the aroma of Jesus Christ."

I don't think I ever want to be someone else's "aroma" -- even if is a holy smell! Does anyone have any idea what he meant to say?

Overheard by Erin on the subway:

• Girl A: What do you mean you can't help hooking up? I do it every night. You just go home, take a couple sleeping pills, and then it's morning. Not hooking up's easy.
• Girl B: I don't know. I guess I just like making out with men.

Great new off-label use for sleeping pills, they can help keep you from being a ho.

Why, oh why, must this product exist?

Two shots from the Joe Kleinterman 10K. Even if Mr. President missed my pics, at least the professionals got me. I look like I'm dying in the action shot, but that's in the final sprint. The group shot's 4 of the first 5 Flyers taken immediately after the race.


Tuesday: 5 mile, Billy-Burg Br. O&B,38:18 (7:40/mile).
Wednesday: 14.4 miles, Queensboro Loop plus McCarren Park, 1:51:36 (7:45/mile)
Thursday: 6.5 miles, treadmill, Tempo. Mile 1: 8:00; Mile 2-3: 7:13; Mile 4-5.25: 7:04; Mile 5.25-6.25: 7:13; Mile 6.25-6.5: 8:00

Sub-40!

So, the Flyers were shellacked by the Polskis yesterday at the Joe Kleinerman 10K. When I came across the line, I saw 6 PRC guys standing just inside the line excitedly comparing results. Looks like second place it is, which is a bummer since we led most of the season.

Personally though, this was a great race! It was a counter-clockwise loop of the park, which is the harder direction. I'd planned to try 6:20s, but to be prepared to drop to 6:40s through the Harlem Hills and the Cat Hill mile to try to get under my 40:03 (How crappy is 40:03!) PR, which was attained going clockwise. At the start, I saw Flyer presidential candidate CM, our Flyer who gives us updates on West Ham soccer each week, and a couple others. Everyone seemed into the race and focused and soon we were off.

With about 5000 runners, I expected the first mile to be slow, but since I was trailing Mr. West Ham, and he decided to run over the roots and ruts along the side of the road to get around the walkers and 10min/mile folks that'd lined up with the 5 minute people, I decided to go with. After about a quarter mile, it cleared out and I wished Mr. West Ham good luck and off I went. The next Flyer I saw was Coach J, who was in tights, a flyer singlet, and a bright, sunshine-yellow, long-sleeve top. I asked if the top was to make him visible for team support, but am not really sure on the answer. Just before the first mile, I caught Ed and I knew it was time to slow down. Ed always finishes in the 38s. So, I knew I was probably pretty close to my 6:20 target if I was running with him. My plan became keep contact with Ed as long as I could. The first mile, including the big downhill and the climb out of the North Hills, went down in 6:14.

I lost Ed near the end of the second mile. Just a boom of speed and gone. I wasn't prepared to make that type of surge because, while not in the red, I figured I was probably in the orange. Crud! So much for that plan formulated three minutes earlier. Fortunately (or unfortunately) a PRC guy passed me just before the half. He was clearly going a little faster than I was comfortable with, so he became the new pace target. Miles 2 and 3 (missed the Mile 2 split) went down in 12:39. (Oh! And there were definitely some red and white pom-poms spotted in this around Mile 2 as well! Thanks for the support Reservoir Dogs!). Anyway, through the half, I was right on target pace. And given that I'd allowed 20s for the hills, I was actually way ahead.

After the half, I tried to keep contact with PRC guy, but he was clearly drifting farther ahead. Only two more strategy points were left. The first was Cat Hill and the second the flat stretch just before the Engineer's Gate (right after mile 5) which leads to a down hill to the finish. I was suspecting a big PR, so for the first target, I decided I'd drop the effort on the short downhill leading to Cat Hill to recover. This downhill isn't really long enough to gain a lot of time, but I was hopping the recovery would make the climb up Cat Hill, where a lot of time is usually lost, go by a little quicker. I don't really know if it worked, but the Mile 4 and 5 splits were 6:18 and 6:14. Unfortunately, while I gained on PRC guy on the Cat Hill climb, I quickly lost my gains once we hit the top.

Just before Mile 5, I saw Outgoing Flyer Prez taking photos. Since I didn't have on my singlet (it was cold man!) instead of a photo I only got a confused look when I yelled to ask why I wasn't getting a frickin' photo. Then I was through to the flat near the reservoir and it was time to kick! I'd decided back at the half that the strategy would be to run the last full mile as though it were the end of the race, and then after the Mile 6 marker, hang on as best I could for that extra quarter. I knew if I caught PRC guy, I probably wouldn't be able to outkick him with this strategy, but I also knew with any other plan I wouldn't have a chance to catch him. So this was the plan.

About 1/2 mile to the end, I caught . . . Ed. The guy I'd planned to pace from near the beginning. Since I was already running at a near sprint, I flew past. I hit the 6 Mile point, but really have no idea on the time. I was running all out before this point and was breathing like an asthmatic during a smog alert. I was just trying to keep my arms moving and thought if I checked the time I'd fall over. As I rounded the turn into the final quarter, I tried to pick it up, but had been running too hard for too long to generate any more speed. But with a lunge and grunt, I got across the line just as the clock turned to 39:00 even, for a net time of 38:46. My final 1.21 miles went past in 7:21, for a 6:05 average pace. (I never caught PRC guy. He finished 9s ahead.)

Summary: 1-6:14, 2&3-12:39, 4-6:18, 5-6:13, end-7:21.

Afterwards, I met up with the Flyer guys and we confirmed that the Polskis had gotten us. Turns out, I was the second Flyer, which means nothing more than that several folks weren't racing. Also spotted Flygirl, who I guess had a tough reentry to racing. I caught Ed afterwards at the NYRRC's hot chocolate and bagel setup. He said that he was confused when I passed him because he knew I lived in Brooklyn. He'd just been passed by the PRC guy I was trying to catch and then thought (for some reason) I was with the Brooklyn Running Club, another competitor of the Flyers. We had a good laugh.

A couple new goals from this race. First, a little math says that my 5K splits were 19:23 (if they were even). That means that at least one half of this race was also a 5K pr! I really need to find a 5K, which are apparently an anomaly for NYC racing. When I started running again 3 years ago, I wanted to reattain my high school 5K p.r. (18:35) and I suspect I'm getting close to that target. Second, 38:46 is aged-graded at a percentage of 69.2%. It's my understanding that 70% gets priority starts in NYRRC races. That's the next 10K goal, which I'm sure I'll get to focus on at some point. And last, a certain magical calculator converts yesterday's time to a 3:01 marathon. So, the goal here, is to ignore that 6:57 pace projection and run Houston at 7:10s. I've already tried running 6:50s in a marathon, with "fantastic" results. I can try for sub-3 after getting the BQ.

Week in Review

Monday	5.65 miles	45:00	7:56/mile
Tuesday	Rest	--	--
Wednesday	13.1 miles	1:44:21	7:58/mile
Thursday	10.33 miles	81:58	7:56/mile
Friday	5.0 miles	37:58	7:36/mile
Saturday	Rest	--	--
Sunday	6.21 miles	38:46	6:15/mile
Total	40.3 Miles	--	--

Melt Your Face Cold

That's what I thought while running into a headwind during my pre-dawn 5 miler today on a reported 19 degree morning. By half a mile, my hands and face hurt immensely. By three-quarters, I turned out of the wind but it didn't matter anymore since everything above my neck or below my elbows was numb. Not surprisingly, the Williamsburg Bridge was largely deserted today. Except for a pair of middle-aged, female twins who walk the Bridge every morning at 7. And about half a dozen runners, including one (fool)hearty soul in shorts. The windchill, by the way, was 4.

It's funny, but most of the time, you never notice a tailwind. Sometimes you do and I always find that a little unnerving. Happened today on the way back across the bridge today. It goes like this: you're in mid-stride and a gust hits you from behind. . . and your stride takes you a little farther than normal, you're a little higher off the ground, you're moving forward a good bit faster. For just a split second, although you're inches from the ground, you're no longer in control, just a leaf on the wind.

I'm ready for winter to be over, but the unusually warm November reminded me of the second verse of The Postal Service's "Sleeping In" from the album Give Up:

Again last night I had that strange dream
Where everything was exactly how it seemed
Where concerns about the world getting warmer
The people thought they were just being rewarded
For treating others as they'd like to be treated
For obeying stop signs and curing diseases
For mailing letters with the address of the sender
Now we can swim any day in November

Don't wake me I plan on sleeping
(now we can swim any day in November)
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in

Incidentally, I only went out at all this morning because I can't hit the gym tonight due to the Kentucky Society's semi-annual dinner. The speaker is Joshua Prince-Ramus of Ramus Ella Architects, who's designing Louisville's Museum Plaza, a 62 floor, three tower, mixed-use complex for commercial, residential and . . . a musuem. It'll also be the tallest building in the region when completed.

And, a few weeks ago, I listed some reasons why the Houston Marathon might be a bad idea. Yesterday, I had a conversation with a partner at the firm where the phrase, "We don't expect you to bill 100 hours a week for the next three months," was uttered. Of course, when a phrase like that is spoken, we all know what it really means, don't we?

Monday: 5.7 miles (7:58 pace)
Wednesday: 13.1 miles (7:58 pace)
Thursday: 10.33 miles (7:56 pace)
Friday: 5 miles (7:36 pace)