Past 30 and looking to go sub 4:30

I've been running for a long time, more than 1/2 my life, if you count the soccer I used to play, then near 90%.  Something incredible about it all is that as you reach you physical peak, you learn that PR's are less frequent, and when they come, they are by much smaller margins(and thus, a greater reward).  But one thing that increases, is your knowledge of training method's and your own body's reactions to them.  Hopefully, if you're smart, you'll pay attention to nutrition/diet and rest/recovery to get the most out of yourself.
And for the sake of tossing about metaphors; Running isn't fast food, you can't just order some crap off the dollar menu and get er' done.  It's a meal! You have to be a farmer for it. You need it to nourish and sustain you, not poison and kill you.
You have to sow the soil and plant the seeds; tend to it and grow it, reap it, then prepare it, and finally you can sit down to eat and enjoy it.  You work to live, and so you live and work to keep living.  Running is the same way, it needs constant attention, you need to plant the seeds yourself, and you need to get out in the fields and do the work.   I think I like this idea better than the idea of "building the foundation" or "base" as so many runner's refer to the early stages in training cycles.  There will be times for the fields to lay fallow when you take a break after a series of hard races.  As cyclical as life is, so is running.

This is my mental image of my 1 mile PR growing

Running needs to be kept in balance.  Or else, things break down, failure is just around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking the pessimist's perspective here. I'm saying, you have to respect what your current ability is, and what your needs are.  Equally, success is just around the corner.  Another thing I've learned in all this trotting about, is that you can never count yourself out, if you do, then you may as well not get out of bed tomorrow morning.
Perhaps it's a blessing to be not the fastest or #1 from the early days of your competitive running.  I mean, if you just win, win and win some more, nothing feels like a challenge or worth striving for.  I like knowing that my training counts because there is always a next step towards something, I like it either way, but it's a bonus for it to have a high ceiling.
So, I keep this all in perspective, I try not to let this all wander too far from my conscious state.
I'm preparing the soil and looking forward to the planting time, and carrying through the whole process in 2013.  To achieve some long sought after goals, it's going to take prioritizing, sacrifice, and a new volume of pain that I've never known.
I'm on the wrong side of 30, and I have yet to run a mile under 4:30.  There are a lot of times I've never hit, and meets I've never been fast enough to enter.   Can I now? Go ahead, just tell me I can't, see if that stops me from trying!  You probably just don't want to be reminded of how you packed it in and let your dream die on the vine.  I'll be on the roads, track, and trails; tending to mine.

Sunday is Runday

Something that was expressed to me in a humorous email struck a chord of thought. It was another stitch that brings closer together the seams in the fabric of my mind's inner workings.

My friend said, "Enjoy your Runday".  Which immediately made me think about Sunday-Funday. I like a Sunday-Funday, and who doesn't? But more importantly...Sunday is Runday!  It's LONG run day! It's the most important run of the week! It's like the breakfast of long distance training!

I move to vote on renaming Sunday, to Runday.  Because, in my estimation, that is what Sunday should be reserved for, there should be no other pain in the ass obligations that interfere with running as far as I want to with my friends!  Once running is done, I say eat(get to the diner), drink, and be merry(beers and ha-ha's).

There are only 52 Sunday Funday's each yr, don't squander them! Run far and drink hard

Call me a dreamer, but I think the week should start with Runday, and we just don't have to talk about the one that starts with an M...

The Philadelphia Marathon: My first Love in the Marathon

Many runners in NJ/PA/NY, have sought the big city excitement of a road marathon when they decide to run their first.  The idea of running with thousands of other runners and having thousands of spectators cheering for you is an enticing thought to the newbie.  I'm not going to bullshit you, that was part of the draw for me too.
 
I may have yapped about this story in part before but, I have to give credit to a guy I've known a long time and did a fair bit of running with, Mike Daigeaun, he suggested Philly, as it was his first as well, and he was also running it that yr coincidentally, two weeks after a bad run in the NYC marathon(Daigeaun does stuff like that). He gave a great pitch, I was sold.  So, I twisted the Mike Dixon's arm, and convinced him that this is how we would qualify for Boston.
I was so focused on the idea of getting to Boston that I didn't think much about Philly being a chance at a great experience, and truth be told, I've had a BLAST in Philly a bunch of times, with or without a marathon! Boston's nice too, but in 2006, what the heck did I know? I'd never really spent much time in either place. So I've run seven marathons now, and I think back on the two that I ran in Philly, and I appreciate the city and the event more today than I did on the day of either race.

Fun in Philly!

 I wanted to run a fast course, and blaze through some streets where you'd otherwise normally be run over by a bus.  I wanted to see how I could place among a lot of runners, of course-qualify for Boston, I wanted to see what "hitting the wall" felt like. Philly provided ample opportunity for all of this. I face planted into the wall...yes, I did.

Today, I was working at the marathon expo, selling discounted running apparel, accessories, and shoes.  I was also at the NYC expo a couple weeks ago(too bad about that whole thing eh?)  And, I suddenly realized, how much I enjoy being around runners who are excited about their "big race".  It is very meaningful in the lives of each of them.  I like hearing people telling me, "It's my first, I'm excited...and nervous."
Now, I like to pick on Eagles' fans a bit when they lose, and I like seeing the Devils beat the Flyers, I don't give a damn about basketball...but I like Philadelphia for the sort of place that it is.  I enjoy the murals and mosaics you find alongside random buildings in the city. Most of the buildings aren't obnoxiously huge, has good bars with great beers! There are a whole bunch of historic things there, and I don't feel lost in the frenzy of consumerism there so badly. You really won't notice a whole lot of that stuff unless you studied up on where everything is, and that's why I am more excited about being there to see it again(now knowing the city better). Philadelphia, is a cool city with a lot of character.

 It will always be the city I ran my first marathon, and I so I'm excited to go see my teammates Ken Walsh and James Lothian run it this Sunday.  These guys are going for a sub 3hr run, and I'm looking forward to seeing them do it! I was born in NYC, but I Love Philadelphia, and I probably always will.

Beard Power

I have a beard.  How much does that matter in running? Training? Racing? Answer to all 3 questions, a lot.

Reasons to have a beard(or facial hair):
1-Beards are a source of true power
2-Shaving takes up valuable time that could be better used(sleeping, drinking beers, and general chillin')
3-They look badass
4-Many successful runner's have had a variety of facial hair arrangements...and so you should too!

Like these guys:

Greg Meyer: Last American to win the Boston Marathon, 1983.  Plain and simple, this is a proper beard!

Anton Krupicka: A champion Ultra Trail Runner, a nice free flowing mega beard, I know, shitty little picture, like we almost couldn't be sure he's running. Whatever man, I swear he's a real runner.

Nate Jenkins: Not only found on tracks, truely a great LD road racer, has been to the Oly trials and placed well in several major marathons. I bumped into him briefly at the Boilermaker 15k Road Race a few yrs ago, nice guy.

And now some impressive moustaches:

Will Leer: a DIII star who kept on rolling, still competing internationally, best mile is 3:55xx. Nicely styled Fu Manchu.

Brian Sell: 3rd at US Olympic trials marathon in 2007, competed in Beijing games marathon, I saw this guy slowly work his way through the field with amazing patience through a fanatic crowd in Central Park, one of my personal heroes! This is called a Winnfield, similar to the Fu manchu but add in the sideburns, excellent!

Frank Shorter: Last American to win gold in the Olympic Marathon, 1972. Pictured here in his Florida track club singlet, with his big old bushy moustache.

Lasse Viren, chasing down Steve Prefontaine in Munich Olympics 5000m 1972.  Viren wins Gold, pre doesn't medal. Much respect to Pre, but we all know a beard(albeit an overgrown chinstrap) trumps a moustache any day of the week.

Steve Prefontaine:

"The only good race pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die." Pre did a lot of fast running, and if you're reading this blog, and don't know that...go do your homework.

This is a beastly set of mutton chops and a mammouth moustache! Bravo! Sadly, it wasn't enough to beat a 6'4" Finn, comprised of the three ingredients of a champion- lungs, legs, and beard.

Tim Morgan attempting to outrun me in a 5k xc race.  But the beard had other plans. 

Q:How did I beat Tim Morgan in this race? 

A: I have a beard.
Note: in this race(photo above), I beat Tim by about 2seconds for 5k.  Today(one month later) I beat him by 18seconds for 5miles(today's race), and a new PR by 22seconds for 8k. 

Q:How did I manage to spread this gap?  

A:The beard...grew larger!

 Also note: Neither Paul Ryan nor Kip Litton were entered in the race, they must be saving it for the Diamond League 2013 races.

 See above-Ken Goglas crushed everyone today, 25:05 for 5miles, give that man a beard...24:59 for sure.

 It's all about BEARD POWER!

Fun in the Sun: Running, Drinking, and Winning!

August is the final lap of summer, it hurts, it burns, but when it's done, you know you did something very real.  August is one of my favorite months to run in, most people hate the heat and humidity...not me.  I prefer a musky, drippy 85, over a bitter, numbing, 35; every time.  And it's my birthday month!   Fast runs happen in August! Adventures happen in August! Victory, memories, legend!

Highlights of the Summer:
1-August's running total: 289miles, short of last yr's total by 4miles, but I've had some good quality runs and workouts recently.  There should be some good races coming down the line...lets just not talk about the Jimmy D 5k, yeah that happened, mooooving along!

2-Destination runs: Deer Path Park and the roads of Readington, a great 16miler with GSTC teammates. Two very nice runs(8 and 15 miles each) in Cape May with RVRR friends, views of the Ocean, marshes, and grasslands lying beside it were very peaceful, running along the beach was a delight. We spent a few days at Anne McCarthy's family beach house, thanks Anne!

Cape May Point
 

Whiiillle we were in Cape May, the Agents of the Clandestine Service of Beer Mile took part in: Operation Thunder Storm.  We like our beer miles, my friends and I, and when we're all together, and we've been talking about it all day, week...month, um year? Don't get me wrong, there are other beer miles, but the Cape May Beer Mile is a very special event, simply because we're all there just once a year together.  There was  no backing down.  Rain, Thunder Lightning, pff, whatever, we're gettin' on the track, we're puttin on our racing shoes, and we're crackin' cans!
We found a mostly dark and secluded track, converged with our beers of choice. One foolish soul, Tim "That's not Puke" Morgan, believed that Heineken was a good choice...I tried it once, it was a no go for me, and if anything is worth believing in, it's whatever your stomach tells you(except for puking during lap four of the beer mile)!  My stomach says, Ice beer is alright, it doesn't seem to taste as bad as other things when chugging, go figure.
Small side bets were made, but mostly pride and bragging rights were on the line, and not to be forgotten the coveted Championship Belt and Jacket!

How it all went down: Rules were reviewed, beer were arranged on the infield, and the competitors lined up with Beer #1 in hand.  The time was started and Steve "Name Tag" Dovidas, as usual, was hot out of the gate, a demon chugger!  But I wasn't too far behind him, and passed him within 100m, I was quickly chased by Mike "The Great White Kenyan" Dixon, Dave "Boogerz" Allara, and Lindsay "Beer makes me faster" Hammoudi.  I accelerated to increase my lead at the 200m mark and then coasted the last 50m to catch my breath a bit. Powering through beer #2 I got out just ahead of Lindsay to begin lap 2.
Beer #3: I started to struggle, and Lindsay got away from me when i still had a couple of onces in the can as I tried to maintain my breathing as to not hurl.  I threw back the last couple ounces and chased him down with surprising ease.  I surged to open the largest gap I could without going full throttle, still fearful of losing control and vomiting.  I knew that the outcome was in the hands of the gods of track and beer, and yet I still had to chug with all my might.  Fear and panic struck as the flying Scot loped away with empty can dropping to the ground, as I stood there, hoping to summon the strength to push down the last couple ounces once again.  He'd gotten 40meters on me in that time.  I steeled my nerves, and ran after him, belching through the first 150m, I reeled him in and sat on his shoulder. With 150m to, I unleashed the fury, there was no more time to wait, and the sky opened up once again, the rain fell hard on us as we sprinted, and I quickly pulled away.
I ran so hard that last 150m, I lost my beers 5m after the finish line, perfect timing, a new PR by 11 seconds(6:38)!  A title that has been held by now I believe, six, different people within our guild of beer mile, and it's mine once again.  It never felt so good to violently vomit, and I've never felt so good about myself after violently vomiting. Note to self: Fish tacos 2hrs before beer mile=no fish tacos in your digestive track for more than 2hrs.
PS. We ran the Lance 5k(3beers from a red cup pre-poured, xc), in July...I won that too. see the photos below!

Beer #1 goes down the hatch.

Tom and John enjoy Tim's suffering, hehe!

Spectators and "official timers" look on as I run down the home straight with my hand raised to signal the victory!

The Champ and the beer that made it all happen, Natural Ice, a True American Beer for a True American Hero!

GSTC at Mansquan Reservoir July 29th. Apparently Ken and I had the same idea.

 Long Runs: There were 2 trips to River Rd in Bedminster, as always, a fleet crew cruised through a 15miler
there in the 6:20's.  River Rd never disappoints. Great conversations with Jeff Perrella, Anthony Harris, Ken Goglas, Chris Heibell, Rich Angelillo, Steve Mennitt and other members of Garden State Track Club

Also ran: Fairmount Park in Philadelphia with Adin Mickle, who gave me a pretty solid tour of the park. The next day we did a very solid 16x400 workout together, good training south of I-195!   And in the days since my birthday, I've pretty much been running locally.  Every now and then, I have to remind myself, it's nice to live on a slope that leads into Donaldson Park alongside the Raritan River!

The days are getting shorter again, and my heart shrinks back a bit, but at least I know, it can't be denied, we RACE fast in the fall, so lets go!

view of Center City at the top of Farimount Park

The 1st Annual Lance 5k participants

Short Shorts+bloated abdomen+fast chuggin'=a 5k beer xc Champ-time of 18:26!

Six Mile Run and The Misfits

This summer has mostly been good running.  With good training partners, nice destinations, and with generally few problems of any sort. For the first time in yrs, I have really taken it back a step and stuck to the traditional idea of building a base.  Granted I've had a few days here and there were my back hurt, and I just didn't run.  But largely, I've been consistently getting out the door for solid 60-75min runs on weekdays.  For long runs on weekends, I've been conservative.  I want to maintain a steady energy level through the rest of the week.  It's nice to run 8-10miles on Monday knowing  you need to recover from a run that went 18-24miles.  I'll probably cap the LR's to 2hrs for the rest of this yr, just for this reason.
This Tuesday I'm going to have to jump into the cold ocean of pace specific intervals, I've got the USATF-NJ 5k XC championship coming up on Sept 8th.  For this one, I'd like to have a 5k XC pr.  I haven't run one in about 3yrs.  I'm better than the 16:22 I ran at the 4th race in the RVRR Summer Series of 09'.  Granted, Deer Path Park is a slow course, I ran16:27 there, but I'm a stronger runner now.  I'm pretty excited to see what I can do this go around.
The London Olympics were inspiring. Meanwhile, my 2nd metatarsal in my left foot is a failure to my aspirations, but my heart and lungs don't know that.  Just now, I got back in from a run at Six Mile Run Park/preserve(whatever they call it).  The 75mins went by quickly as we chatted about...politics, various political theories, their merits and potential flaws, and why we both loathe to vote in elections.  Rich told me more about what speech pathology is used for and some stories about his former profession as a pastry chef, and on the ride home, we talked about music a bit.  And wouldn't you know it, Glenn Danzig and The Misfits came up, so enjoy this tune and shake a leg to the horror!

Other noteable recent runs: Dropping under 5:20 pace late into a couple of 10 mile runs on midweek runs on the towpath with Rich Angelillo, Chris Heibell, Jeff Perrella, and Steve Mennitt.  Sunday's run at River Rd Park which took us to the an avg of 6:08per mile for the last 5 of 15 with Jeff, Ken Goglas, Tony Harris, Tom Poland, and John(I suck for not knowing John's last name right now).

Mileage total past 5 weeks: 51, 72, 52, 61, 58.
Time for a push, doubles, core, and a bit of weights.

The Boys are back in town!

Summer time is the best running you'll get in NJ!  Mike Loenser agrees!  We were talking about it last night while we ran along the D&R canal, along with another former collegiate runner, Jacob(didn't get his last name).  But I always think about it, and every summer, the now graduated HS studs are free from their coaches(for better or worse), the college guys and girls are back in town, and the teachers who run/coach are way more available.  It's the densest concentration of speed you'll get all year!  Runs feel like training, because sometimes, solo runs just feel like a sleep walk.   The old guys want to remind the young guys they've still got speed, and the young guys don't want to get schooled too badly.  Having some fast bodies around you makes it feel a lot more real, and if you're a live wire(young or old), you'll toss a surge in there now and then to turn the screws on em'!

Enjoy the Thin Lizzy!

So, it's been nice to just catch up with people on some general purpose runs.  This past week I ran with GSTC teammates, two legendary EHS xc/t&f alums Rich Angelillo(96') and Steve Flynn(12'), RVRR folks, the group up in Jersey City and Metuchen at Runner's High, and the boys team at EHS.  It's good to have a big network of runners.  I've run along the Hudson River, at Holmdel Park, on the Middlesex Greenway, and the D&R canal, Beuchluch Park, streets in Edison, Metuchen, and right here at home in Highland Park.  I'm back in a nice groove.
One thing is for sure, I don't want to race a road marathon this fall. A few months ago, I thought that I wanted to run one.  Now, I'm sure I'd rather mix it up with XC and trail stuff.  Distances ranging from 5k-HM. Plans for trail ultra's are not out the window, just on the back burner, or at least I don't see something before me that I'm targeting yet.  Also, from what I see/gather, that preparing for the Ultra stuff really puts you into a different place mentally and emotionally.  For some, it's all zen and mild escapism from the week's bullshit.  While others put the running before everyone and everything. I'm looking to stay on my own wave length in between.  I'm a devoted person in many aspects of my existence, but running is my way of life, its a culture and a faith(in a calling, in yourself, in traveling the earth one stride at a time as often as you can) and people need to understand that.

Oh, and the past 2 weeks, I'm in the 50-60mpw range.  Moving right along, in a good place.  This is going to be a big base, my races this fall are going to be so legit'.  Looking forward, looking up.