pleasures & explorations

One of the pleasuers of maniacal running: guilt free eating.

My newest delicacy:
a slab of salted butter atop a square of raw chocolate chip cookie dough.
don't knock it 'till ya try it.
YUM!!!

Extra special thanks to Miss Rosie for introducing me to raw cookie dough as a snack during my tenure at Treasure Island. :)

late night 90 minute run tonight around the hood, 9ish miles

you learn a lot about what's going on in your neighborhood when you walk, cycle and run around it all the time. Last week was the finals of the FedEx Cup, some big deal golf tournament with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson etc. Since I was running and biking the police let me right through the security barricades. Woot woot.

And tonight I've noticed more and more actitvity around this old graffiti'ed warehouse complex. So I stopped and chatted with the police officer for a bit and he told me it was the 14 day filming of Fast and Furious 5, with Ludacris, Vin Diesel, etc... then he showed me the cars, they had like 4 identical tricked out blue Porsches sitting right there in the lot... schweet!

pace felt strong and fast most of the way
got very lost on the way home so my 1/2 mile sprint turned into a 2 mile sprint.
hahahahaha!
felt really good and strong tonight, even with running immediately after 2 tacos and 3 beers. GOOD!

discipline

scheduled for 8 miles tonight. Again, fear & loathing... and a tad bit of excitement.

Many of you have mentioned, and I can completely empathize with, the boredom about "I ran this many miles today in this many minutes." So for those, please allow me to clarify:

My Numeric obsession comes from competition. I will be running this marathon with my brother. He is Adonnis, and I am the exec cum yoga teacher. My brother has been physically stronger than me my whole life. From age 10 on, we wrestled and fought for many hours each day. Traditionally we met every summer at the family beach house, and continued this battle. In fact, this past summer was the *first* summer that I returned home with nary a broken bone in my body. Yes, we fight that hard. And yes, it is all in good fun... with a little bit of alchohol added for danger, natch.

So numbers are the primary way that my brother and I encourage each other on this journey towards the marathon. I send him my last run, he sends me his last run, and we generally try to one-up each other... which makes for fairly good and aggressive training. All of it is in the interest of maximizing our joy, and minimizing our pain, on race day.

Its also in the interest of communication. Because in between all those numbers, we speak to eachother about our lives... and that is something that has been sorely lacking in our relationship for years and years and years. I can honestly say that since we've signed up for the marathon, I've communicated to my brother more frequently and more honestly than I have in 10 years... and if miles are the agent of this bonding, then I am in celebration of them.

Finally, I want to note that, until I ran 15+ miles the other day, I had an on and off doubt that I might not be physically capable of completing the race as a runner (I don't care to walk a marathon... already got that merit badge, on the Appalachian Trail in 2009, thanks). So the miles are like... what, waypoints along the road to winning... where in this case, winning = completion on my own terms.

So when you see numbers, equate them to realisations and epiphanies.... and as with any good athlete, the better you get, the harder you have to push it to get to those wonderful thresholds of joy and pain and insight. So what I used to receive in 5 miles, now I have to run 11 to get it.

All that said, from now on I will really try to communicate my mental and emotional journeys more than the miles. Cause we all know, come October 31, I'm running 26.2 miles, and accomplishing something that I've been aching to do for more than 10 years. And every number up to there, is well, just moving meditation. 

xo,
G

the zen of distance running

I get this deep deep deep inner calm after distance running, very zen like. like those near-infinite percussions of bam bam bam bam of my feet on the earth and pavement totally jiggle the body, and when I'm done, all is quiet and well and still. Its also a kind of total body exhaustion unlike most other exercise / play I've done. And the farther I run, the longer that peace lasts. I'm currently 12+ hours out from my 2h45m run, and still feeling that ease and grace.

In most long runs, my skeleton is the limiting factor. I can basically breath deeply and even sing songs while running that 10, 12, 15 miles... I'd safely bet that my heartrate isn't even pushing past 100... which bothered me for a while, because I really like to push myself... but every time I pushed myself to faster paces, my knees and hips begin to scream and threaten to break / destabilize. And as I learned last year, it is imperative to listen to your body while doing distance running (or any activity for that matter :)

note to readers: last year I entered a bet that I couldn't run 10 miles... so to win, I ran, cold from the couch, two back-to-back 13 mile days. In the middle of the second run, I felt something like a knife go into the small of my back, but I just chose to ignore the pain and continued to run another 6 miles. Upon my return home, when I finally stopped running, I actually collapsed into the ground, and the full extent of the pain enveloped me. I literally crawled on the grass to the front door, crawled up the stairs, and laid in bed for the next 12 hours. It took me 2 full days until I could walk again, and another 60 days before I could even think about running again. So that was my lesson of Yes, mind can win over matter, however, there are prices to pay for exceeding the body's current training limits

So I keep going at my lazy pace, just knowing that first I'll get the musculo-skeletal endurance in place, and then I'll improve my speed.

going the distance

15.65 miles
night time run

ran first 3.5 at an 8:55 pace,

i like that pace. it feels fast and free

first hour was in the rain

i like running in the rain :)

next hour was in total darkness by river

i like running next to the river :)

final 45 minutes was along very hilly roads with cars and no sidewalks

i do not like nasty cars with high beams and running blindly into the grass and ditches

had to take 3 shits in the woods, so happy it was dark
lost 6 pounds of water (165>159)
overall I feel pretty good at that distance
still had enough energy to sprint the last 0.5 mile
think monday / tuesday will now seem easy, can try to add a little speed

your racing companion,
G

more inspiration

The year: 1960
The place: Rome
The event: XVII Summer Olympiad

Abebe Bikila enters the marathon as a last minute substitution
when team mate breaks ankle.

Bikila runs entire race BAREFOOT...
Goes on to win GOLD in world record 2h 15m...

First black African ever to win Olympic gold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQmqEIYI-GU&feature=player_embedded

G

victory is within reach

6 days
36 miles of running
72 miles of biking

gonna take a little chill down now for a day or two.
tonight put in another 9.5 running after 15 biking this afternoon.
not thinking about pace helped a lot.
i think running after dinner is stupid. gonna change that habit.
took the first 3 miles to digest my food
then it was another 3 of struggle
at 6, i ran past an outdoor bar, and seeing all those people see me, i got this huge adrenalin rush, and doubled my speed.
i was able to maintain 50% of that speed gain for pretty much the final 3 miles.
felt pretty damn good.
the FedEx open is right across the street from me, literally.
http://runkeeper.com/user/AcroYogi/activity/17031369
see that blue lake next to the 9 mile mark?
that's east lake country club. my house is the green dot.
all the roads are closed off,
but the police still let me run and bike next to the course.
the Goodyear blimp is here! :)
so the general theme of these runs I'm seeing is, I hurt for the first half, then have some kind of epiphany (thought or physical), and mostly really enjoy the second half. I hope the actual race goes something like that, or even better! :)

Gonna enjoy my 2 days off.
Targeting 15 on Sunday.

the punisher

So today I did 16 on the bike,
10 on foot.
felt pretty exhausted after the very hilly bike ride (4-5:30p),
so had lots of gatorade, big steak dinner, 3 beers.
then time to run the big 10 at 10pm!
running went fairly well.
running in the darkness on unlit roads under a full moon = cool.
running on a path next to a huge river with running rapids under a full moon = cooler.
having a large deer run right up to within 6 feet of me, pause, watch me pass, then sprint off... AWESOME!!
yes, all that happened :)

not pushing pace too hard, because every time i start sprinting, my body complains, and i am being super cautious about injury at this point. i want to finish the marathon.
I am also really thinking of throwing all pace goals out the window.
The 10 I ran today, was at a 10:15 pace.
http://runkeeper.com/user/AcroYogi/activity/16972942
It was supposed to be at an 8:30 pace by my spreadsheet.
Hahahahahahaaaaa.
I do really really want to beat a 4h:30m. Oprah Winfrey did it in 4:30. I *have* to be faster than her!!!!

Am enjoying working through thoughts while I run. Good moving meditation. Good reflections on life, relationships, etc.