A Ten Mile ( Pound ) Run in a Five Pound Bag ( Me).

Tags

Marathons, Running, summer, ten miles

For all of you who were getting a little misty about the coming change of seasons Summer would like me to remind you that it ain’t over till it’s over as evidenced by this afternoon’s temps in either the high 80’s or low 90’s.

Headed out later in the day than I had planned but still firmly had my gaze fixed on 10 miles.  Crossing into double digit mileage for the first time this summer and had the temps been in the 70’s I would have knocked ten out of the park.  I had eight miles covered easily but the last two are what we say separate the sheep from the goats.

Ten miles turned into a slog that left me soaking wet and not from any passing rainstorm.  Tomorrow is most definitely a day off as I marshall my forces for eleven next Monday on Labor Day.

Summer sez – Autumn?  Not so fast bub.  In the meantime I’d like to deposit ten miles in the marathon bank.  Summer miles mean November smiles.  Yeah, it’s a simple phrase but if I’m smiling at 22 then today was definitely worth it.

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Ain’t That America ?

Made a quick trip to my local Farmers’ Market this morning which, by the way has been featured in the NY Times, and finally realized something that has been staring me in the face for years.

And the realization is even more apparent since Donald Trump has now locked up or locked out the Hispanic vote forever for himself and the Republican Party.

I made a purchase at a stand where the proprietor who is immigrant from the Middle East was wearing a Chicago BlackHawks hockey jersey.  Wait, it gets better.

Not fifty feet away is the Cuban stand where I regularly get empanadas.  Around the back are the Germans selling imported items and continuing up the row are the Greeks.  Picked up some apples at the Mennonite stand. This is just my own informal survey of my little town’s market.

But my point is this – This is what America looks like now.  This is what America is now and probably what it has been for a long time since my grandparents fled from the Czar and landed here in the 1890’s.

” Get out of my country” is probably not the best campaign slogan ever but it’s not going to go away.  Maybe when President Trump deports me it will be to a place where snow shovels don’t exist.  I could deal with that.

10K Volunteers Needed for Philadelphia Papal Visit

Tags

10k, Running

Actual headline in the local rag.

Is there a race connected with the Pope being in Philly or do they just need a boatload of volunteers?

I think it’s the latter but who else but you and me would read that headline and immediately think 6.2 miles?

Nine Miles High

Tags

nine miles, Running, training

Great name for a song but the name of the tune is ” Eight Miles High” and it’s by The Byrds from way back in the 1960’s I think.  You can look it up on YT if you are interested.

In keeping with my mile- a- week marathon plan yesterday was my nine mile day.  Ran pretty easily through seven. The real work started during mile eight but surprisingly mile nine went pretty well.

That’s a good sign when with the end of the workout in sight you can increase the pace and drive it on home.

The add a mile  a week plan is like slowly stretching a rubber band.  Each week gets a little easier and the body is able to adjust slowly.  Ask me in 7 weeks when I have to run 16 if I still have such a sunny and optimistic attitude.  But for now, for today, I’ll rest on my laurels.

As summers starts to pack her bags I’m seeing more and more runners scurrying around on weekends doing what I can only guess are their long runs for the week.

How lucky we are to be runners.

All Others Pay Cash

True story – this really happened today.

Working at an undisclosed location.

Getting close to finishing up and a manager or some guy who was in charge pops in, says and I quote,” Let someone out front know when you are done so they can lock up the room.  You can’t trust anyone these days. Trust me.”

I process what I’ve just heard and say,” Well, if you can’t trust anyone these days why should I trust you?”

All others pay cash.

Here, There and Everywhere on the Run

Tags

observations, romance, Running

Catchy title for a tune eh?  Two observations from recent runs.

Someone had chalked the following message on a sidewalk:

” Hey Good Looking, Hope you Have Nice Day.”  Is that great or what ?  I went around the block twice and got to read it two times.  I pretended I was surprised the second time I saw it and was absolutely convinced that it was written just for me.  Well, why not?

Now to the other episode.  I was toddling through a parking lot at the end of Sunday’s long run when I saw a car pull into a spot right next to another car.  The parked car was occupied by a man and the car that pulled in was driven by a woman.

As soon as she pulled in the man got out of his car and went over to her car.  She got out of her car, they hugged and then both drove away in her car to points unknown for reasons unknown and activities unknown.

Draw your own conclusions, maybe they were married, not married, about to be married or about to be not married but in any case they both looked pretty happy to see each other.

Don’t Worry Baby- the secret is safe with me.

Training and Coffee

Tags

coffee, marathon training, mileage, Running

Continuing with my crackpot theory of marathon training. I’m up to 8, count ’em 8 miles.

My marathon training plan is this: Add a mile a week to the long run, next week 9, the following week 10 and so on.  Doesn’t matter what I run during the week, a couple of three’s maybe a 5 but the week always ends with a long run.

I add a mile a week through August, September, October and into November where my last long run on Sunday, November 8 is a 20 miler.  Training ends.  I eat spaghetti for two weeks, watch the weather reports like a hawk and then tackle Philadelphia one more time.

Another theory got hatched this morning as the heat of the day built up.  I think that summer is the best time to start in new shoes because heat makes your new shoes more pliable and thus they mold themselves better to your feet.  Crazy – yes or what?

This morning as I set out to run 8 miles I had a tough time getting into a groove through miles one and two.  By mile three I was cruising, by mile five it was second wind time and as I hit miles six and seven I started to speed up.  Mile seven is where the real work began.  And O Happy Day when I clocked myself at 8 miles.

My reward for 8 solid miles?  Stopping at the local coffee joint where apparently no one can drink just regular coffee anymore.

Everyone has to have some exotic concoction of iced mocha frappe laced with candy and whatever. Yeah, I know, old man yells at cloud.

Doesn’t matter – I got 8 miles in my pocket.

Ten Days – Run Happy

Tags

happy, Philadelphia Marathon, Running, Yogi Berra

I’ve been told and have come to believe that the workout you did ten days ago is paying off in today’s run.

Frankly, I can’t remember the length of any run that far back without checking my running notebook but I do know the ten day rule has a great calming influence.  It helps me not to worry about the short term.  Even a bad day on the run is better than no day on the run.  Bad days pay off.  Every time you run it’s a win.

So if you drop time on a run tomorrow it’s because you put in the work a week and a half ago.  And today’s run will be money in the bank.  You collect the interest in only ten days.

Running and is always about what is to be and what can be.  That’s the great secret we runners have.

My training for the November 22nd Philadelphia Marathon shuts down by November 12th.  I’m not going to gain anything by running in those last ten days.  Those days are for recovery and obsessively checking the ten day forecast every five minutes.

There might be a correlation between my ten day rule and the ten day forecast but I can’t quite make the connection especially since I try to look for humor in almost everything.  There’s no happiness connected in shivering in corral or standing on a starting line on a cold November morning with 30,000 other people.

But maybe there should be.  Running a marathon is hard but that doesn’t mean it should be a chore or something that elicits dread.  I mean you signed up for it, you spent a lot of money to enter, maybe bought a plane ticket and a couple of hotel nights.  Might as well enjoy yourself.

Practice being happy during your run today. Look at the world with ten day eyes and a ten day heart.  Make happiness a part of your run.

I figure in Philadelphia that the cooler weather will be worth a mile in my pocket and the crowd support will add another mile I don’t have to worry about.  Running with 30,00 people all going in the same direction with the same goal will be a boost that lifts me through another mile or two.

If I keep adding positive thoughts worth miles then I’ve reduced the 26.2 miles by a factor I can’t calculate.

At some point my running happiness turns to dread and despair ( I know, I’ve been there especially looking for the 20 mile turnaround point) during the run but that’s when I hope I can remember to rely on the happiness reserves I’ve stored up in August, September and October.  You (and me) just have to remember that we have them.

Yogi Berra said baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.  Trust me, his numbers add up when it comes to running a marathon especially if you can keep 90% happy on the run.

He is also rumored to have said ” You give 100% in the first half of the game ( or marathon) and if that isn’t enough in the second half you give what’s left.”  I get it, makes sense to me.

Run happy today, run happy tomorrow, take a day off but stay happy.  You’ll be happier in ten days.  At mile 24 I’ll need all the happiness I can get.

You could look it up.

BA Degree in Running

Tags

bad ass, Marathons, rain, Running, thunder

Earned a BA the other day on the roads.  BA meaning Bad Ass Degree.

Thought about running and thought twice when I saw ominous dark clouds off to the west.  The weatherman genius in me says probably going to rain at some point. Should I run or not run.

Then a realization hit me and it pushed me out the door.

Suppose on Sunday morning, November 22nd when I’m in Philadelphia getting ready to run the marathon the weather looks iffy.  Am I going to say, Naw, looks like rain so I’m going back to bed.

The short answer to that will be no. So would the long answer and the only answer would be no.

And that thought is what got me out the door in an effort to outrun the storm.

As you might expect I caught in a downpour. I can run in rain.  Running in thunder and lightning which I did not expect is another story.  And that’s when I earned my Phi Beta Kappa BA.  Got up on my toes, dug down for some speed and killed the last mile all the way home through rain and thunder.

My diploma was waiting on the front porch when I arrived home.

Final score: Phil 5.8 miles, Rain headed out of town.

Is it too early to check the ten day forecast for Philadelphia for November 22nd?

A Run in Which A Second Wind Stops by to Say Hello

Tags

hills, marathon, Running, second wind

Out for the long run of the week this morning as I start to focus on the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

Cruise through mile one and two, no surprise and at this point should be expected.  Get myself to the five mile mark and from somewhere I pick up the pace (uphill no less) and crush the hill until it’s no longer a hill but just another flat piece of ground.

I’m running faster, chewing up gobs of yardage ( awkward phrasing I know but it works) and suddenly my goal today of 7 miles is in sight.

I don’t know the hows or why’s of a second wind but today it was like an old friend stopping by to say hello.