Runner’s World sends me a Quote of the Day in my inbox each morning.  Here are my favorites from the last 2 months.  You can get the 101 Kicks in the Butt here: http://www.runnersworld.com/newsletter/0,7127,,00.html

This is not about instant gratification. You have to work hard for it, sweat for it, give up sleeping in on Sunday mornings.
-      Lauren Fessenden, marathoner

Marathons are about tenacity as much as talent.
-      John “the Penguin” Bingham

When they’re out there running, for that little slice of time, they’re not free, but they have a little bit of mental release.
-      Laura Bowman, who is in charge of a running club for prisoners

That is why athletes are important, why records are important. Because they demonstrate the scope of human possibility, which is unlimited. The inconceivable is conceived, and then it is accomplished.
-      Brian Ganville, “The Olympian”

Consistency requires discipline. Force yourself out the door.
-      Bob Glover and Shelly–Lynn Florence Glover

Experienced runners learn to respect the changing needs of their bodies. That’s the wisdom that comes with time, and – for good or bad – with age.
-      Fred Lebow, founder of the New York City Marathon

I ran to be free; I ran to avoid pain; I ran to feel pain; I ran out of love and hate and anger and joy.
-      Dagny Scott, Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running

I think there is no better way to invite a human being to view their body differently than by inviting them to be an athlete, by revering one’s body as an instrument rather than just an ornament. It’s a really great way to reorient how you see your body so you can see it as this incredible, awe-inspiring machine that you need to fuel well in order for it to function.
-      Alanis Morissette, Singer/Actress

Nothing hurts more, but is so rewarding at the same time.
-      Runner Sandy Zanchi on the Marathon

Running is my private time, my therapy, my religion.
-      Gail W. Kislevitz, writer

When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.
-      Deena Kastor, U.S. Olympic Marathoner

Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually pain passes and the flow returns. It’s part of racing.
-      Frank Shorter

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.
-      Jesse Owens

I used to run to school, 10k every day.
-      Haile Gebrselassie

I run with my head, my heart and my guts, because physically, I don’t think I’ve got a great deal of talent or ability. I started at the bottom and worked up.
-      Steve Jones, former marathon world record holder

Do quality workouts year-round, including during the winter. You’re less likely to get injured because you won’t hurry the training process, and you’ll race better because you build fitness on a solid foundation.
-      Brad Hudson, elite coach

If one has determination, then things will get done.
-      Chinese Proverb

They say you can’t run away from your troubles. I say that you can.
-      John Bingham, The Courage to Start

Dwell on the positive, but have controlled, passionate anger.
-      Pat Tyson, running coach
 
A change of pace in terms of your running pace will give you strength psychologically.
-      Bill Rodgers

Thanks for reading, make sure to bookmark my site and come back often. Feel free to email me at Jason@nycin310.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NYCin310.

J

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My long run yesterday was pretty awful.  I set out to knock off a 20 miler and packed it in after only 13 and a half.  Now, to be fair I ran 19 last weekend, so this theoretically should have been my weekend to drop back anyway.  But I made an ill-informed decision to try to cram in milage.  And it was bitter cold yesterday.  And I apparently am still in recovery mode from the flu, as I am still struggling with stiff neck/achey back and general tiredness.

However, my confidence was shot by the abbreviated distance.  When I got back, I immediately sent a note to the Gasparilla Distance Classic event organizers (again, this is embarassing, but I figure who really reads my blog anymore anyway!):

From: Jason
To: Gasparilla
Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 1:51pm
Subject: Dropping back from marathon to half-marathon

I hope its not too late to officially drop back from the full marathon down to the half marathon. I know the site mentions a deadline of Jan 27th but hoping there’s a few days of flexibility. I came down with a bad flu mid-january. On top of that I live in NYC and this has been a particularly frigid winter so the long runs have been extra tough! I am flying down and have already purchased airfare, so I still would like to compete, but know racing the full marathon is not in my best interest. Thanks!

Then I followed up with… 

From: Jason
To: Gasparilla
Sent: Sun 1/31/2010 3:16pm
Subject: Just to be clear

Hi, I just sent an email asking about switching from the full marathon to the half. Just wanted to be clear. I wanted to know if its still possible to switch. Once I find out if its possible I can let you know promptly if that’s what I intend to do. Thank you! Jason

From: Gasparilla
To: Jason
Sent: Mon 2/1/2010 9:27am
Subject: RE: Just to be clear

Yes we can switch you from the marathon to the 1/2 marathon please let us know.

And I promptly responded…

From: Jason
To: Gasparilla
Sent: Mon 2/1/2010 9:27am
Subject: RE: Just to be clear

Thank you so much for getting back to me promptly. I believe I was suffering a momentary lapse in self confidence after turning home early from my long run on Sunday. I will continue along with my plan to run in the full marathon. Sorry for the firedrill!
……………………..
So there you have it.  I’ve devoted too much time and energy to training for this marathon to just drop back to the half.  I really don’t need another half on my list, I am happy with my mastery of that distance.  At the same time there’s no way I’m making my goal time of 3:25, and even PR-ing with a sub 3:40 is probably a long-shot at this point.  The goal is now to do better than my marathon debut time of 3:57.  And at the end of the day, at least I’ll be able to say I’m a 3-time marathoner!

J

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This is kind of what my January looked like.  Pretty much 2 full weeks of being sidelined with the flu right in the middle of it.  I got in about 9 runs, most of them being relatively short distances.  One 19 miler right at the beginning of the month and then no long runs until last Saturday.   

So the big question becomes, how do I make up for lost time?  After this weekend, it will be 4 weeks to race day.  I’ve already decided I’m doing my longest run of 23 miles on the Saturday 2 weeks before race day.  Common knowledge is that the longest long run should be 3 weeks prior, so I’m already breaking that rule. 

Now I need to decide if I’m going to run long 2 weeks in a row… or if I should give myself a few more days and do a midweek 21 miler next Wednesday?

I found out some interesting news when I went to the doctor last Thursday.  By that point I was pretty much recovered, but it was taking long for me to go back to feeling 100%.  Going out on long runs will no doubt slow the recovery process.  Fortunately my doctor was an awesome marathoner (a Boston finisher in 2:38) and he understood that if I didn’t go out and do 19 miles last weekend, I would have been psychologically destroyed.  So he gave me his blessing and just recommended I take it easy.

He also said no tempo runs, no speedwork.  So my hopes of a 3:25 marathon are looking pretty bleak.  At this point, I’m going to say just beating my PR of 3:40 will suffice in my book.  And you know what, training for a spring marathon has been a great learning process for me.  I’ve learned to never train for a spring marathon again!

Here’s what last Saturday’s long run looked like…

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What an awful 10 days.  I felt a little off at the beginning of last week… tired, lethargic, stiff neck, etc.  But I couldn’t figure out what was wrong because none of my symptoms were bad enough to keep me from going to work or going to the gym.  Then Wednesday night after a nice meal with my lovely wife, I found myself hugging the toilet at around midnight.  At first I thought it was food poisoning, but as the next day wore on and the body aches really kicked in, I decided that I caught the flu. 

This proved to be pretty catastrophic in terms of keeping up with my training schedule, since I had my first 20-miler planned for Saturday.  And to add insult to injury, Saturday was probably the nicest day of winter weather we’ve had all season.  It would have been pretty much perfect conditions for my long run.  I told myself I would be able to make it up on Sunday, then as the symptoms wore on, I thought I would maybe get out of work early and take a stab at it on Monday.  Bad ideas.

It took an article in the February issue of Runner’s World to finally persuade me that attempting any long run within 7 days of my worst flu symptoms would just be suicidal.  That any attempt would surely end in failure.   So now I have the unfortunate circumstance of having to wait an extra week to attempt my first 20 miler, which throws my training plan way off schedule.  That really only gives me one more subsequent opportunity to do a run of 20+ miles before race day.

I wanted to have at least three 20+ milers under my belt for the Gasparilla Marathon.  I’m already starting to readjust my goal finish times in my head because of all of the challenges that winter marathon training has thrown at me.  On the same token, there are almost 6 weeks between now and Feb 28^th.  It’s possible that if I work hard and there’s a race day miracle, I could still make or break 3:25.

One of the only positive things to come of this flu, was that it did give me a break.  I may have been teetering on the brink of over-training recently.  I could tell that my enthusiasm for hitting the treadmill or the cardio machines had reached an all time low in my current training program.  Now it’s just the opposite.  I’m fired up from missing out on basically all of last week and am excited to get back into a training routine.  I’ll have a much better grasp on things after we see how Saturday’s upcoming long run turns out!

J

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I didn’t do a long run this weekend, but I ran 10 treadmill miles on Thursday night without puking from boredom, which was an accomplishment.  Then I went to Atlantic City on Friday night, which spilled well into early Saturday morning.  This left me totally incapable of a weekend long run.  All the comfort food I took down on Saturday and the arctic conditions on Sunday really made me not want to run outside at all, so Sunday night I opted for a triathlon of indoor cardio: 1hr bike, 1hr elliptical, 1hr running.

I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud, but my perroneal tendonitis has really subsided since late-December.  Of course now that I’ve said it, it’s going to start screwing with me again because I’m being arrogant.  That being said though, I’m going to try to do less biking and more elliptical now that I’m mostly injury free.  I was doing a lot of elliptical when I ran my 1:30 half marathon… so I have to assume it’s a solid cross training activity. 

Now, I have to start mentally preparing for next weekend, when I do my first 20 miler!  God I hope the weather doesn’t suck.

J

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Happy New Year!  I would make some sort of resolution to update my blog more frequently in 2010, but unfortunately I just don’t see that happening.  How about I resolve to post just a little more (December was just pathetic).

Ok, so making up for lost time…

I kept up with my training pretty well over the holidays.  I made room for all of my important runs (ie, one weekly tempo, one weekly long run) and fit in some cardio/weights in between.  The eating, or rather extreme over-eating, was the biggest setback but those 5lbs were worth every ounce and are sure to come off within the first week back to a normal schedule.

My long run in Miami on Dec 27th was awesome.  Having completed 18 miles the week before, I was thrilled with the prospect of dropping back mileage for the first time since I started marathon training.  And South Beach provided the perfect back drop for a 13 miler, with morning temps in the high 60’s and gorgeous views of Ocean Drive, Star Island, and the Venetian Causeway; a stark contrast to the freezing and hilly route I took down on New Year’s day. 

19 miles throughout the sloshy, snowy streets of suburban Allentown.  Normally, when I do my long runs in Allentown, I take advantage of the Ironton rail trail, which is remarkably flat compared to the surrounding terrain.  Since the trail was covered in snow I toughed it out on the partially plowed streets, which follow the pattern of: big hill, small hill, medium hill, and so on…

I would say that this was easily the hardest long run I’ve endured this winter, but I’m not even sure that’s true.  There were some rainy ones in NYC that give Allentown a run for the money.  I guess my point is that marathon training in the winter sucks. Have I mentioned that lately?

J

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Funny how this weekend (Dec 19^th) brought with it probably the 2nd or 3rd worst snowstorm I’ve witnessed since living in NYC, and yet weather-wise I had the best weekend long run in about a month.  I hit the pavement a little earlier than usual on Saturday which allowed me to avoid any run-ins with precipitation.  So it was just bitter cold which I can live with compared to cold and wet. 

I’m a little annoyed to be dealing with the same problem of doubting myself in the early stages of my long runs.  At 20 minutes in, I was already considering a point in time for an early turnaround.  But 30 minutes came and I figured I could go another 15 before turning back. Then came the hour mark and I decided I still had more left for the first half. 

The way back was a total breeze, with the wind (literally) at my back.  One of the things I’ve picked up on as a runner in NYC is that the wind almost always blows in from the Northeast.  That means if, like me and a million other NYC runners, rely heavily on the Hudson River Greenway, you should try to plan your out-and-back runs starting off by heading north so that you have tailwind for your trip back. 

What else have I learned lately?  Well, having never done substantial outdoor training in the winter, I’ve learned the importance of technical fabrics and layering.  I’ve learned the importance of planning you workouts around the forecasts on weather.com.  And being completely flexible based on when the conditions will be most forgiving.

 Coming up next… Dropping back my long run milage in South Beach!

J

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The marathon gods must be testing my dedication with this cold and messy weekend weather. After sending myself home early last Saturday on account of the freezing rain, at least I came into this week’s long run a little more prepared.

While we were out and about on Saturday morning, I dropped by an Asics store and picked up a pair of tight water resistant running pants. Add to that a long sleeved Under Armour shirt, a tech-fabric Champion jacket, and a baseball hat and I was fairly well protected from the nor’easterly outdoors. And even with quality gear, Sunday’s long run was treacherous.

I set out to do 17 miles, but just a few miles in, I started having thoughts of turning back. There was virtually nobody on the Hudson River Greenway and I figured that was a sign that more sane individuals knew to stay indoors. But even as the rainwater seeped up into my sneakers, I knew turning back early 2 weeks in a row just wouldn’t set the right precedent.

I soldiered up from Battery Park to about 120th street and turned around short by about 3/4ths of a mile. At this point it was getting so cold and windy that I was beginning to feel legitimately concerned for my well being. The other problem was that I was completely soaked. And all the layers of gear that were keeping me warm probably absorbed 10x their weight in water.

This made the way back much harder than I was anticipating and with about 2 miles to go, I think I hit the wall and went into marathon shuffle mode. When I got back, I mapped out the course and was just barely disappointed that I fell short of 17 miles by about a mile and a half. On the other hand, I was just happy to take a hot shower. (8:07 splits, oh well).

J

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Despite unfavorable forecasts, I decided late last week that I would be doing my long run on Saturday morning… which of course turned out to be an awful idea.

I went out onto our roof deck at around 10am on Saturday morning to scope out the weather situation and decided it wasn’t that bad out.  I spent about an hour getting dressed, stretching and consuming caffeine.  Oh and I took a hot shower.  I always take a hot shower before my long runs now.  It really helps to wake me up and loosens up any muscle stiffness.

By the time I was ready to go at 11am the temperature dropped 5 degrees, the wind picked up and it was raining pretty steadily.  It’s been a long time since I intentionally went out running in the rain and I was minimally equipped for the wet freezing weather.  Basically I wore my regular running gear combined with a light hooded rain jacket. 

I actually couldn’t have been much worse prepared.  When I wasn’t wearing the hood the freezing rain was stinging my eyes.  When I was wearing the hood, it cocooned my head in a sweaty humid dome.  I was running into the wind, so my baggy rain jacket was like a drag chute. 

The other big problem was that I was already out the door and 3 miles deep into my long run by the time I decided the conditions were just too sucky for 16 miles.  I set a turnaround goal at W 40th street, which is just under 5 miles from our apartment in the Financial District. 

At least the trek back home was much better than the way out.  The wind was at my back, so the extra material on my jacket was more like a sail than a drag chute.  The rain wasn’t in my eyes anymore.  At one point I even considered staying out and finishing the 16 miles outdoors.  Fortunately my better judgment took hold and I packed it in with 9.4 miles under my belt.

But that’s not where the story ends.  I quickly entered my building, went upstairs to my apartment, toweled off and changed into dry running clothes.  Then I went downstairs into the basement gym and banged out another 6.7 miles on the treadmill.  Not exactly fun by a long shot, but I got the job done and am damn proud to have stuck with it in the face of adversity.  Oh, and 7:47 splits to boot.

J

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After bragging about how I’m kicking some perroneal tendonitis ass last night, I woke up with a familiar stiffness towards the back of the ball of my right ankle.  And I know why.

There was a period of a few weeks where I was icing my ankle religiously.  Well, not icing per se, but using this cool-pack ankle brace thing that I keep in the freezer.  If you have perroneal tendonitis, go out and buy one immediately.  http://www.footsmart.com/p-20267.shtml  I was using it every night when I got home from work, 2 or 3 times a night.  It worked like magic.

It was mildly annoying to have to remember to keep alternating between putting on the brace and then bringing it back to the freezer 20 minutes later.  But a relatively small price to pay to avoid a debilitating injury.  Anyway, I stopped doing it because things were getting better and I was getting lazy.  I need to get back on track.

One of the main reasons I do this blog is to keep myself honest.  If I say something in the public domain, I feel like I need to make good on it.  Hopefully mentioning  the icing process on this blog will get me back on track!

J

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