Food, Inc.

Don't worry, my big Boston re-cap is coming. I promise! I just still need to get a handle on the photos.

But in the meantime, I wanted to make a quick movie recommendation. We watched Food, Inc. last night. If you're anyone interested in food production, animal welfare, the American farmer, mega-corporations, or just what you're putting into your body, you should really make it a point to see this film. It's a PG rated (nothing bloody) documentary about America's food system, how it's changed in the last 50 years, how it's controlled by only a handful of too-large companies, and how it's detrimental to the health of the planet.

We have become more careful eaters in recent years, but watching this movie will have an immediate impact upon what we buy to eat, where we eat out, and what companies we will choose to avoid. When it comes to avoiding companies, I'm a pro, as it's been around 10 years since I've given Wal-Mart a dime. But, as crazy as it may sound, that personal boycott may come to an end soon, at least as far as certain food products are concerned. Wal-Mart's new "locally grown" food program may actually get me to give the OK to shopping there. That company is so large, it has the teeth to effect change, as it has with selling milk from non-steroid injected cows. As much as I dislike Wal-Mart's business practices of squashing local retailers and dictating costs to the point manufacturers are forced to move production overseas, I have a bigger problem with the near monopoly a handful of companies have over the ENTIRE food industry. I can, and have, easily avoided purchasing from one company, but to walk into any and every store and have the same products from the same food manufacturers on the shelves, that's a much bigger problem in my book.

What's the saying? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Well, that's something I'm going to have to think about. Until I reach that decision, we will be shopping the farmers' market and from local growers, and you should go watch that movie!

Finished Boston

I finished the Boston Marathon in 3:19:50 yesterday, four minutes off my qualifying time. I was closer than I expected to be and am very happy with my performance. I will be working on a full race report upon returning home.

Marathon Monday

I'm awake and having some breakfast. I laid all my stuff out in the hallway last night. I kind of know what I'm going to wear today. I may tweak it last minute. The weather is supposed to be upper 30's to 40's at the start with 50's at the finish. Partly sunny. Almost perfect! My nutrition is nearly all set. I need to mix a bottle of Gatorade to sip on before the start. The course is serving both Gatorade Endurance and PowerBar Gels, both of which I use. Less to carry with me today. In an hour we're leaving the hotel to get to Boston Common to climb aboard a bus to drive us out to Hopkinton. That's going to be a long ride. I feel good. No pains in the last few days. I really hope the pains stay away today. I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Boston

My Thoughts About Running Boston

(Stream of Consciousness Style)

I still don't really believe I'm going to be running the Boston Marathon on Monday.

I'm not as prepared as I would like to be, but it will have to be good enough.

The pain in my feet and ankle tendons is unpredictable but tolerable.

The pain in my lower back is unpredictable and disabling.

I really hope my back doesn't start bothering me.

Part of me wants to just go out and have a fun time.

Part of me wants to try to re-qualify at my 3:15 time.

Part of me hasn't decided what it wants to do yet.

The hills worry me, even though I've trained on them pretty hard the past few months.

I like hills!

My feet don't like hills, particularly the downhills.

Boston has many downhills.

It's out of my hands at this point. I'm just going to run and do my best based upon how I feel that morning. If I have the opportunity to push hard, I most likely will. If I hit 3:15, great! If not, oh well.

Best of luck to everyone I know running Boston on Monday and the BAA 5K on Sunday, and everyone I don't! I'll see you there!

2010 Fools 50K

Two times around a course consisting of a variety of terrain on multiple trails. That is the Fools 50K course. The second race of such distance I had pre-registered for. I did not run the first, but had every intention of running the second, no matter what might happen physically.

The day began dry but finished very far from it. The first loop, consisting of roughly 15.5 miles, went very well, and saw a nice group of us Medina runners sticking together in a pack and enjoying ourselves. We had some sloppy sections. We walked up some hills. We ran WAY too hard down some others. Sometimes we would spread out, but would eventually re-group. By the time we hit the mid-point we were split in half, and that's the way it would stay. For me anyway.

The rain really began to fall right as I was finishing the first loop. My aches and pains were beginning to show themselves too. Plus another most unwelcome pain: my back. That's the one that really did me in. It was like Last Chance all over again, only worse. Ladd and I were running together for a bit on loop two, but I was just slowing him down, so he took off to see who he could catch. I just kept moving as best I could. Every step seemed to send pain shooting from my back down my legs. It was all I could do to not stop.

Eventually, a very upright posture, combined with a very short choppy stride, kept me moving at a slow pace. I was running up hills I would have walked just because walking hurt more. I had a few chances to drop out, but knew that wasn't an option. With the rain falling steadily and the trail turning to swamp, I just hoisted the hood of my rain jacket over my head and pushed on.

The final trail of the course, Salt Run? I think, was especially bad. Lots of ups and downs and the trail was 100% mud. I couldn't wait to finish, but knew I had about three miles to go. It was pretty tough to keep going. Somehow I managed to pass three people on that final section. They must have been feeling even worse than me! The worst part of that last section, mentally, was that as we began it, there's a point where you pass within sight of the finish line. It was right there, but it wasn't. My finish time was 6:35:03, a new PR for a trail 50K by 11-ish minutes.

Chuck, armed with my camera, was out and about on the course taking all kinds of race photos. They can be viewed in an online album here. Again, many thanks Chuck for coming out on a crappy day to stand around and watch muddy people run by!

2010 S.A.R.C. Shamrock 15K

After having an absolutely HORRIBLE run at Last Chance, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run a 50K the following week at the Green Jewel. So I decided to instead crew for the other Medina runners taking part, and giving Chuck my number so he could run instead. I had a great time being Mr. Manager for the runners, keeping track of everyone's order and pace, what they needed, and taking LOTS of photos, which are posted here. But, spending a beautiful day driving around watching runners left me with a longing to run. Fortunately, there was a race the following day: The Shamrock 15K put on by the Summit Athletic Running Club.

This race is 9.3 miles of down, flat, and up. Lots of hills as it begins and ends at Woodridge High School in Cuyahoga Falls. The course took us down into the Cuyahoga Valley and back up, running the sometimes nearly vertical hills on Steels Corners! The weather was once again amazing, with lots of sun. Definitely shorts weather! I started off strong, and feeling good, stayed strong. I didn't know how my feet and ankle were going to treat me with all the downhill impact, but they let me run. I finished in 1:07:11, averaging 7:13 per mile. This was a HUGE PR over my one previous attempt at the distance from 2006.

Next up: Fools 50K? (If I can squeeze it in)

2010 Last Chance For Boston

Now that it's the week before Boston, I'm going to try to get caught up on my race reports. First up is the Last Chance For Boston Marathon, held on Sunday February 28, 2010. There was much talk within the MCRR about sending a large contingent down to run, as it was just down the road in Dublin, OH. I was in at first, but with my aches and pains I developed in the 24 Hour, I decided I probably shouldn't run it.

For whatever reason, I got it into my head to register to run the marathon the day before. That was a decision I would come to regret. Just like all my long training runs, the pain in my feet, ankle, and now my lower back, hit me hard. Where as just a few months earlier I could go run 26.2 without barely thinking about it, I was hobbling around the one mile loop course nearly as badly as I was in Morganton. It was all I could do to keep moving and finish.

The photo above was at a point when I was feeling pretty bad and it shows. I really just wanted it to be over. But there were too many people I knew there so DNF'ing wasn't an option. I just had to keep moving. My back was the worst. I could deal with the feet and ankle, but the back was sending pain shooting down my legs and leaving me with no strength at all. So I just limped along.

My finish time was 3:55:07, which was under my 4 hour goal time and not a PW, so I had that to be happy about. But that was all. I shouldn't have run it. It really messed me up for the rest of the week, and I had the Green Jewel 50K the following weekend. That was a no go. I was able to get my number transferred to Chuck, who went out and ran great!

Mrs. P had a good run in the Last Chance Half Marathon, running a 2:23:47. She had some pains requiring her to slow down, but at least put on a happy face!

Negative Split in the Pool

Today was a first! Got my first negative split in the pool during my lunchtime swim. First 400 meters = 10:53, second 400 meters = 10:47! I'm not sure how it happened. I wasn't trying to do it. Although I've been trying to start more conservatively and finish stronger, I wasn't making it a point to neg split, but it happened. I'll take it! These half mile swims at lunch are finally making me feel like I'm improving.

Easter Egg 20

20, as in twenty miles on the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley NRA/NP. (Not sure which it is exactly anymore, a National Recreation Area or a fully fledged National Park) We were up and running just before dawn, a large group of around 40 people, with the barest minimum amount of light to see where we were stepping. Temperatures in the bottom of the valley and ravines were a little on the chilly side, but up on the rim of the Valley and on the hilltops, add another 10 degrees to make things very comfortable. I would find myself longing for those cool spots later in the run. I forgot my Garmin and Ladd grabbed one that hadn't recharged yet so we were running blind with no sense of time or distance. Fortunately, the scenery kept my attention during the run. That and making sure I wasn't going to trip on anything!

Dawn breaking on the run.

Brown was still the prevailing color, but that will soon change.

Believe it or not, it was pretty sturdy.

Blue Hen Falls

Signs of Spring were poking out of the ground.

Ladd climbing the Piano Keys ahead of me.

Soaking my aching feet in the chilly waters of the Cuyahoga River.

Looking upstream towards I-271.

A beautiful run in beautiful weather, though uncomfortably warm towards the end. But it beats snow or cold rain any day! We finished in just under 5 hours by our estimate, with an extended break at the turnaround point. I'm looking forward to getting back down there and running that route again.

And just as an update to the BIG Swim post, I neglected to add my data. I did indeed end up swimming the full Ironman distance + a little bit, 2.5 miles, in 1:58. Everything felt great and I had a very enjoyable swim. Hope I get more of those!

BIG Swim

I'm still trying to get a handle on all the things I have going on and get back into my blogging routine, but it's still hard. However, I had a HUGE swim yesterday I wanted to note. Rather than hitting the pool for just a half mile at lunch, schedules worked out so I could go after work for a long swim. Something that has been lacking so far this year. I have one 1.25 mile swim under my belt, but nothing else in that range, so I wanted to do at least 1.5 to 2 miles, if not my full Ironman distance.

Cutting to the chase, I felt GREAT yesterday! Everything was working together like a well oiled machine. Still, I wasn't that fast, but I felt fast! My breathing came easy and regular and I didn't need to think about it. My strokes were smooth and even. I was able to maintain a freestyle stroke for the most part and only used the breaststroke when I needed a rest. I didn't dilly dally de-fogging my goggles and just kept going with limited visibility. The only problem I had was some cramping in my toes and feet, something I've always dealt with during longer swims. I don't know why. Maybe it's a lack of foot strength? Whatever the reason, I just eased back on my kicking and was able to work through it. My shoulders were SO tired afterward, I thought I was going to be in for a world of hurt this morning. But fortunately things aren't too bad today.

Getting ready for a nice 20 mile trail run in a little bit. The weather has been OUTSTANDING this week and I want to enjoy as much of it as possible. Happy Easter!

Upping Volume

My swimming has finally fallen into a routine. Somewhat. I've been getting up to the pool at lunchtime two to three times per week for half a mile. That's all I have time for and still get back to work in one hour. Funny thing with doing these short swims, I'm able to pick up on things I can improve. They're more noticeable then during a long swim. Whether I'm able to correct them is another story!

I begin the first half of the swim very strong and feel really fast. Then something happens with my breathing, either too much or not enough, and I fall into my normal plodding. But then during the second half, I start to find a natural rhythm and begin to feel good again. I haven't had any negative splits yet, but I've been close.

Running last week was incredible! The weather broke and I was determined to take full advantage of it. Even with all my aches and pains I ran five days straight from Tuesday through Saturday. I was certainly ready for a rest day come Sunday! Tuesday was speedwork, which was tough, 1600 / 1200 / 800 / 400 / and 4 X 100, since I haven't done some of those distances in a while.

The remaining four days, I was running trails! Three trips around the Reagan Park mountain bike trails, and a run along the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley. That last run was fun but very tough as we were running with a speedy group that meets down there every Saturday. The pace was a little too fast and sapped much of the enjoyability from the run. It was still a great time though! Can't wait to get back down there again.

This week is back to normal in the weather department, also known as Sucky. 40's and rain today. Speedwork is going to be miserable tonight. But I have to go.

Cycling is the only discipline where volume is dropping. Like a stone. I'm just not interested in riding in the basement now that I can get outside, but it's still a little cold to go for any rides. I dropped the mtb off at Century for an overhaul this weekend. At least when that comes back I'll be able to go out for some short evening rides.

Return to Trails

OK. This gap in blogging has lasted long enough. What started out as a delay getting to a race report because I needed to upload photos, has turned into a drought! ENOUGH!

I returned to the trails last night in Reagan Park for a short run after work before it got too dark. Managed 5.25 miles in about an hour. Not a bad time considering the condition of the trails. While overall they were in great shape, there were enough muddy spots to slow me down considerably. Looking forward to getting back there both tonight and tomorrow night.

I still have some catching up to do, including race reports for both Last Chance and the Shamrock 15K. For immediate results, just check the sidebar under my 2010 schedule.

Winter Blues

The winter blues have hit me hard this year, affecting my running, cycling, and my blogging. I hope to correct the blogging part soon with a series of Blog Blasts! I've much catching up to do.

A Snowy Run Through the Hinckley Reservation

Saturday morning I decided to head out for a few miles in Hinckley. Weather forecast was low 20's and snow, and that's just what I had. There weren't too many people out, keeping things nice and quiet. Just the crows making noise from up in the trees. I ended up running three loops around the lake for just over nine miles. But in those three loops I managed to capture the essence of the morning. Enjoy:

Boston Training: Hill Work Session #1

I began my Boston Marathon training a little later than I would have liked, but better late than never. Right? The nagging aches and pains, which are slowly getting better, kept me from really getting into full-on training mode. But after printing out Hal Higdon's Boston Bound Training Plan, I feel much better. One major thing, it's a 12 week program instead of the usual 18, so I have only missed the first two weeks. Switching around Monday and Tuesday to deal with the snow (which we are now getting) had me running hills last night.

I arrived in Hinckley just as it was getting dark. I planned to run one loop around the lake. There are plenty of hills to choose from there, both uphill and down. If the trail wasn't runnable, I would run on the road. I ended up doing a little of both by the time I finished. I didn't count on it being so cold though, and I was glad to be doing only one loop.

Four hill repeats were on tap with one being downhill. I ran counter-clockwise from the Spillway, using the first uphill as a warm-up. The trail was plowed but mostly packed to loosely packed snow with icy spots. My first hill was the one at the Boathouse. I ran down on the roadway to check the footing, reached the bottom, turned around, and sprinted right back up. Good one! Running back down I thought about sprinting it again but decided to save it for the next one which is a little longer.

Hill number two was the one that runs alongside the long road that dips down to the bridle trail access area. I ran in the road again here as there were no cars around and more bare pavement. This one really tired me out but it felt good. I was able to get a little rest before hitting the big dip along State Road.

Hill number three was the uphill along State Road going north. Here, the trail was dry pavement and I pushed hard. I was gasping for breath by the time I crested the top. I'm sure the low 20 degree temperature didn't help any. But I didn't have much time to recover as I still needed a downhill repeat.

So I turned around and flew downhill as carefully as I could for hill number 4. A great finish to my hill work! All I had to do was run back UP the hill I just came down, then make my way back to the car which was still nearly a mile away. But that was OK. I needed a cool down.

Superbowl Weekend 2010

I remember going for a group run this time last year. There was snow on the ground and we had to run in the street. Well, we were simply dumped on Friday into Saturday this year and there was no running going on for me. 8 to 10 inches by my estimate, lots of blowing and drifting, few people shovelling their sidewalks, and the roads not being cleared very well, and very cold morning temperatures kept me inside. A packed Rec Center kept me from running period.

Indoor cycling was on tap for the weekend. 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. I completed the distance in close to 1:30 each day. Sunday I followed the ride with 40 minutes of strength training to help burn calories before the Superbowl viewing party. It's kind of scary, I'm getting used to riding in the basement!

Good news! I have a plan! A training plan, that is. For Boston! I'm staying with Mr. Higdon and using his Boston Bound Training Program. It has runs scheduled for every day except for Fridays and should allow for some repositioning due to inclement weather this time of year. The new item is scheduled hill training. I will be alternating Tuesdays running repeats on the track and hill repeats. Today I'm supposed to do 4 easy miles with 4 X hills tomorrow. Due to more snow coming in tomorrow, I think I'm going to switch them around, doing my hills tonight in Hinckley, leaving me open to run indoors tomorrow if the weather is bad enough.

A Little on the Hinckley Trails

And by a "little", I do mean LITTLE. Like four miles little! You see, for the second time now I've arrived 5 minutes before 6:00 for the Thursday 6:00 trail run, and the group has already left. Since I didn't think they could have left too much before my arrival, I hauled ass over the snow covered bridle trail, following what I thought were the footprints of at least five people. I ran that first mile of trail... uphill... in the snow... in 8:37! Did I mention it was getting dark? Oh yeah, that too. Needless to say, I didn't catch them, nor even find them. They might have taken a singletrack side trail, but I doubted that due to it getting dark. I didn't hear a peep either. Oh well.

I managed to get across that first water crossing dry, using the ice and stones, and ran until I hit two miles out. By that time it was dark, my lamp was on, and I had to make a decision whether to continue or turn back. Since I really didn't want to be running solo in the snow in the dark, I decided to turn around and cut the run short. Only 4 miles in 39:49 at an average pace of 9:48/miles.

Good news/bad news. Good news: No discomfort or pain at all in the four miles, some of which was hard running. Bad news: I don't think I'm going to try to meet with that group any more. It's just too hectic for me to get there by the determined time, only to find they've left early.

The Track? The Track!

THE TRACK! I've forgotten all about the track. It's been so long since I've been there! But I was there last night and it was nice to be back.

I didn't expect to see anyone else up there so I wasn't disappointed when no one was there. With temperatures hovering right about 33 degrees or so, I wanted to get out for a few miles in the relatively "nice" weather. Speedwork is something I stopped doing as 24 hour training began ramping up last fall, and it's been calling my name for a while.

There were snowy spots, clear spots, and clear "wet" spots that began freezing once the sun went down. I wanted to get 5 miles total in with warm-up and cool-down. 800s were on tap. Five of them with 400 meter recovery. My times weren't great, but decent enough: 3:25 / 3:25 / 3:16 / 3:14 / and 3:18. With all things considered: my leave-of-absence from speedwork, the snow on the track, the cold temperature, and my persistent pain, I'm happy with the times. If anything, they will become a baseline for the rest of the year. Something to shoot for.

Only my left foot really bothered me. I needed to stop and loosen the laces on that shoe a couple times due to a pressure spot. I also wore an older set of shoes, the Scarlet and Gray Asics Gel Stratus Gen 1's, with approaching 400 miles on them. They felt light and fast, not at all like the Nimbus the other day.

I'm feeling a little under the weather today with a slight sore throat and a mild fever so I don't know if I'll do anything tonight or just take a rest day.

Round and Around Buckeye Woods

You would think that with a 100% cloud free sky and maximum sunshine, it would have been a little warmer Sunday. But you would have been wrong, as was I! Good thing I packed some "emergency" layers, just in case.

As it was only in the low to mid 20's around noon, it was still a little on the cold side, but much warmer than the single digits we had earlier in the morning. But given the abundant sunshine, it should have been warmer. You see, what I didn't count on was all the wind that particular area gets due to all the farm fields. There isn't much in the way of wind barriers in rural Medina County. So, that, combined with my recent running pains, is why I ran with no time goal, no mileage goal, and no route in mind.

I parked at Buckeye Woods, planning on returning to the car whenever I needed a drink or bite to eat. I just didn't feel like carrying a lot with me, including my camera, which left me with no choice but to use the camera phone, resulting in some low quality images.

The nice thing about this park is that the trail loops around. It's kind of like running in Hinckley but without the hills! I started out with a loop around the big field/pond area. Lots of wind there! Running through the treed sections on my way to and from the field provided the most protection from the wind, and I wished I could have just stayed under their cover. Too bad there wasn't a forested loop.

After a brief stop at the car, I decided to make my way south on the Chippewa Inlet Trail. Better get it out of the way early while I wasn't a total freezing mess in the wind. And there was wind. LOTS of wind! As you can see in the photo below, the trail is completely exposed with nothing to block the wind at all.



Also missing along the trail: me restarting my Garmin after crossing Rt. 162! I went for at least a mile before catching the mistake.

After returning from the canal side spur, which turned out to have a headwind both going AND coming back, I logged the remainder of my miles within Buckeye Woods just running loops. The trail was mostly snow covered, but not icy, and the footing wasn't bad at all.

The Asics Gel Nimbus was my shoe of choice for the day. I haven't put many miles on them and I wanted to see how they felt after a week of rest. Which leads me to some good news and some bad news. The good news: My ankles didn't bother me at all! I tried to keep my feet relaxed without tensing up at the ankle. The tongue design of the Nimbus may have helped too. The bad news: The balls of my feet began bothering me after about 8 miles or so. The left foot more so than the right. I ended up icing the left foot that night. The ball area just behind the second and third toes was very swollen. The unexpected bad news: My right knee gave out on me as I was finishing the run. I had about a quarter mile to go and I nearly fell down from it not bearing my weight. I don't know what that was about. That knee has never given me any problems before.



I'm hoping that my aches and pains are temporary, but I'm not ruling out a visit to Dr. Joe if I don't have any success working past things on my own. I have too many long runs scheduled for this year to not be able to run 15 miles without collapsing.

January Re-Cap

Since I'm encountering Technical Difficulties trying to make a post about my run yesterday, I think I will go ahead and re-cap January's numbers. Let's get right to them:

Swim: 1.25 miles
Bike: 181.37 miles
Run: 57.43 miles

As I'm having problems with the run right now, I really made an effort to get on the bike trainer and log miles in January. I had no official goal distance, but the 200 mile mark crossed my mind a couple times, and I could have hit it had I been a little bit more motivated. But still, 181 is the most trainer miles I've ever logged in one month, and quite possibly could be the most cycling miles period!

My swimming distance was from one visit to the pool. Totally mental. I just have had no desire to go up to the Rec. and get in the water with it being as cold as it has been here. I get shivers just thinking about it! I'm going to have to make more of an effort to swim in February.

Running? What can I say. It hurts right now and is not fun. Although my ankles didn't bother me on yesterday's run, my feet and my right knee did. I'm hoping it's just bugs getting worked out of the system. I'm systematically working through different shoes in the hopes of finding something that feels better. IF the shoes are the problem! I'm not all that convinced that's the case. Time will tell!