Friday, March 31, 2006

Letter From Boston

Yesterday, I arrived home to find a letter from the Boston Marathon. It began with the words "We regret to inform you that due to irregularities in your application and difficulties confirming your qualifying time, we have found it necessary to deregister you from entry in the 2006 B.A.A. Boston Marathon." Needless to say, I was both startled and saddened by this development, until I realized that the envelope in my hands was still unopened.

I carefully slit it open, and inside were three items:
1) My number pickup card
2) An informational booklet for participants and
3) A booklet from the good folks at Adidas hawking their Boston Marathon clothing and their shoes.

While getting the card was the highlight, the thing that impressed me most was the runner's booklet. Most of the info was stuff that I'd seen already on the Marathon website. The thing that really struck me about this booklet was the depth of medical and health information they provided.

They offered substantial information about hyponatremia, something that I figured most qualified Boston runners would already know all about, thus the space (and effort) was wasted, then I realized that probably somewhere between one-quarter and one-third of the marathon field had gained entry through the charity runner route. For many of these runners, it is probably their first marathon and since they aren't experienced runners, they are probably at greater risk of hyponatremia or other health issues than those of us who have qualified. The other thing that struck me were the number of medical stations - 26!, a number that seems like overkill until you consider that quick attention to a problem can often mean the difference between a decent finish and slogging home with half your foot blistered. My old school mentality means that even if I have trouble, I'll be slow to visit them, but it's good to know they're there.

The booklet also contained much of the minutiae that marathon runners obsess about, including some things that I'd not considered, like the fact that the downhill side of Heartbreak Hill is often windy, and that a sea breeze, especially on a warm day, can mean you're racing in two different sets of weather conditions. (I don't know if knowing this will make me more comfortable or if this is a case where "ignorance is bliss".)

The arrival of this packet means that taper time is near. I look forward to crossing the finish at Boston and fulfilling a goal established in the fall of 1972.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

What Are They Thinking?

Here in New Jersey, today was probably the nicest day of the year thus far. Morning temps were in the mid-40's with highs anticipated to be around 68. My gym has about 20 treadmills, and at about 9:00AM, about 90% were in use. It seems like a good thing, but my reaction was "What's wrong with these people?" To me, running or walking indoors buys you an overly warm climate without much air circulation on a machine that lacks the variability to challenge your legs to do the work of feeding back to your brain the differences in the surface you land on, or in other words, "Are these people stupid?" I can understand why they won't run outside when it's 10 degrees or raining, but on a perfect day, I'm lost by their thinking (or lack thereof), of course, they probably waited five minutes for a parking space in the gym lot so they would have to walk any further than necessary.

While we're ranting about stupid, I got a real kick out of a blog post yesterday. My suggestion is that you take a few moments to read this article, then read this post by curmudgeonly sub-elite marathoner Duncan Larkin.

Another good rant was put out by Dirt Runner, who had a pretty good riff going about barefoot running. Some of us gave him a bit of education, and he posted this follow-up. I'm interested to see if he makes further comment on this.

Carrying The Piano

Last night, as a result of some coaching I do, I got on the track for the first time in nearly a year. We had the kids running 200's, I was the oldest kid. We did just 4 of the 200's after a bit of warm up. Though the children range in age from 7-13, most that I was working with were in the 10-11 range. Some of them are big enough to move pretty well. They get off the line much quicker than I do, but I seem to have a better top end, or at least I sustain speed better. Two of them each beat me to the finish once. On the final 200, I went by them early, and though I felt like I was carrying a piano, got to the line well ahead of them, and in the slowest time of the night.

Carrying the piano is never fun. (I wonder if you're going to see ads for piano movers in New Jersey next to this post...let me know!) When you body doesn't want to do something, and you need to keep repeating the lift the knees, swing the arms mantras, you know that you're struggling. I guess the light volume was OK, because, while a bit stiff this morning, I had very little soreness.

Track work is rarely pleasant, but if you want to run fast (and though I'm prepping for a marathon, it matters little to me) there is no substitute. (Note: you can do what I refer to as track work anywhere, but because of measured distances, a track is the easiest place to do it.) I enjoy getting on the track (and know the kids get a kick out of beating me, at least when they can pull it off) and know that it pays big dividends.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Weekend Update

My last posting about training told you that I would run on Wednesday evening. It didn't happen, but I wasn't terrible, though plans differed from my expectations. I had decided to run on Thursday morning in the warmth of the gym, but even that got thrown a monkey wrench. I got to the gym and realized that my gym bag was still at home. I asked my son if he wanted to go into before care or head home and back. He opted for before care, so I took him in, then realized that all I had were my boat shoes, so I jogged home and back, picking up my running shoes. I then headed in and ran my half-hour on the mill, tallying about 3.6 miles, and I needed to add to that about a mile for the home and back, so Thursday was an OK workout.

As I left the gym, I chose to walk out barefoot. It was chilly, and I'm walking across the parking lot at the gym and a lady was coming the other way. She looked at my feet and then at me and broke out laughing. I do try to give my feet air when possible, and we exchanged greetings because of it. It always amuses me how people react to unexpected bare feet.

On Friday, I did an uphill run to the house where we were staying - 4 miles with a BIG!! climb (I'll try to look it up on a topo map, but if any of you know the ski areas of the northeast, I ran from the river just north of the Sugarbush access road on Vermont Route 100 up to the Lincoln Peak area at Sugarbush and about a half-mile beyond.)

I did blow off Saturday, just continuing my orgy of eating, but then yesterday morning, I ran for 2.5 hours. I went down the access road, then up to Irasville, headed west on VT 17 and made a left past the Mt. Ellen area at Sugarbush and continued across German Flats Road and then up and over to the house. I'd figured that this would be a two-hour loop. It took 2.5, I'll need to try to get a measure on it, to see if the hills slowed me that much or if I went farther than expected. I'd assumed this would be 14-15 miles. (I used Google maps to chart my route, and it measured at about 12 1/3 miles, and the distance to the house was just shy of a mile, so, ignoring the tendancy of the program to underestimate distances slightly, this was probably just about 14.25 miles, short, but with the hills, worth considerably more than a normal 14. I'll trry to get the topo data to figure how much climbing I did...perhaps a mile of vertical in each direction - we'll have to see.)

The warm winter up in Vermont meant that I could not cross-country ski, so I lost out on that exercise.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Sweet Georgia Brown

On monday night, we took my son to see the Harlem Globetrotters. While the basic show hasn't changed that much since I used to watch them on Wide World of Sports back in the '70's, it's still a great show for kids. My son, who's 7, and his cousin, who's 8, had a great time. We saw them in a small arena and were just 6? rows back. It was a very enjoyable event that I'd recommend to anyone with kids between ages 5 and 12.

A Conspiracy, I Tell Ya!

Well, the 34 miles over the last 4 days combined with a middle of the night awakening and difficulty falling asleep conspired to keep me from running this morning. The gym bag is packed and a park visit is on my agenda. I'm debating between Holmdel Park (home of NJ's "big meet" X-C course) or Thompson Park (closer but flatter - and home of the ruined mansion I reported on last week). I should bring the total since Saturday to 40+ this afternoon.
I'll keep you updated.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Building Daylight - March 2006

Well, daylight hours keep increasing. We currently have a bit over 12 hours between sunrise and sunset, which occur now at 5:59 AM (05:59) and 6:10 PM (18:10) respectively. Adding to that the half hour or so of usable light at each end of the day and we have over 13 hours of time in which to run and see/be seen. Much better than in the darkness at the start of winter. Now, if it would only get warm enough to feel like spring.

An Odd Creation

The slide-rule/calculator - it's two, two, two practical products in one! In its day, it made reasonable sense, but today, it just looks WEIRD!

Draggin' My $%# ummm, BUTT!

I started my run this morning on unhappy legs again. I woke a bit late, having stayed up a bit late, and just with a general sense of malaise. I think the volume of the weekend has not yet been recovered from. I ran the 55-minute loop, completing it in about 53 min (it was hard to keep moving forward at the 35 minute turn, and just a bit less hard at the 45 minute turn). I got through it - the need to feel accountable to my readers is paying off already!

It was cold this morning, and I made a bad choice by wearing only the knit gloves without the nylon shells. My hands were cold thoughout - Brrrr!

OK, bad riddle time: Who discovered the north pole? (answer at bottom of post)

The cheerfulness of pleasant drivers had carried over into the work week. I had three little incidents and one very pleasant encounter. I'll tell them from kindest to nastiest. Passing the exit of a parking lot, a woman spotted me, we made eye contact and she gave the the "come along" wave. (Sort of a cupped hand, with the fingers moving quickly in then out). It was just a nice, respectful encounter. The next nicest was a young guy making a left turn from behind me. He pulled halfway across the oncoming lane and stopped, allowing me to pass unimpeded. (I don't know if he had misjudged my speed or if he made a judgement that with no oncoming traffic, he could exit his lane to allow cars to pass him from behind.) I felt no danger and it was good.

The third incident, and I place it third only because there was no contact, was a woman turning right from a road entering from my left (I think it was at a light). She was looking left as I approached, never glancing right, I kept approaching, thinking she'd look, no look. Finally, to avoid the risk of getting hit, I stop and give her the angry look. She starts to pull out, still without looking. Now she's getting the angry look with head thrust forward. Suddenly, she sees me and hits the brakes. She gives the wave for me to go ahead, with the look like she's being generous. The angry look with head thrust forward contiues until I pass her car.

The fourth incident seemed at first to be developing like the second. A woman in a small SUV came up behind me and began her turn. On realizing that she was turning into my path, she stopped with enough space for me to pass in front of her. Then, since I'd stopped, she began to pull forward as I resumed my run. I drummed a bit of a tattoo on her rear door and quarter panel as I passed behind. Her back up lights came on for a moment, and I was unsure if I was going to wind up with some type of an incident. Until I finished my run, I figured there was a chance of a cop (or her) pulling up beside me. It didn't happen.

I think I'd better tape my hands for my next run. Drivers, you've pissed me off!

Bad riddle answer: Aaron Brrrr!

53 minutes - about 6.3 miles.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Four Weeks 'til Boston

Well, I've been struggling of late to get out on the roads with the regularity that I would like. Today marks four weeks until Boston. I have two more weeks of training before the taper begins, and I want to make the most of it, but if I keep skipping days, I won't. So, I've decided to use the blog as motivation - I'm posting my training here every day.

The basic format of my training is based on Artur Lydiard's beginner's marathon schedule. It seemed like the most I could manage to do with other commitments, but I've cut in back slightly, so I am running about 45 miles most weeks. I'd like to get at least a few 50's in before I cut back for the final two weeks.

As I'd posted yesterday, I ran about 24 miles over the weekend. This morning, I ran about 4 as a recovery run. I should note that I will be doing some cross training this week, as I'm scheduled to be doing some X-C skiing. I may do some very limited running in addition, but it will be very limited. I ski with sufficient intensity that it's comparable to a run, so I'm not concerned about losing fitness.

Today, 4.2 - comfortable.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Doggin' It

Last night, after my long run, I saw a show about Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod. (If any of you are unaware, the Iditarod is a sled dog race covering 1150 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.) Riddles, a native of Teller (?), Alaska, commented that as part of her dogs' training, anytime there was a storm, she'd take them out and run them. (I assume it was to make running in less than ideal conditions seem normal to them.) Her comment made me think of DGC's post on her Running = Sanity blog about 8 miles on the track in the rain. While the Iditarod is a multi-day stage race, it's handled in a go-as-you-please format, but the essential condition of weather is a major factor. In this, it is like the marathon. A race in 85 degree heat is a very different race from one in 30 degrees and gale force winds. Racers must be ready to deal with conditions as they are on race day. Like Libby Riddles dogs, we must be ready to race in whatever mother nature throws at us.

Boston Training Going Well (Finally!)

Yesterday, after procrastinating much of the afternoon, dreading going out in the wind (I think my procrastination was exacerbated by Patti Dillon having posted on one of the boards that the wind made her bag her workout...the "blame Patti" system), I ran 2 1/2 hours. I seem to have hit the sweet spot clothingwise yesterday, wearing tights, a double shirt and light knit gloves - I sweated, but not excessively. I was well hydrated before, and since I was sweating minimally, I drank only about 6 oz. on the run. I'll log this one as a 17 miler, and the last hour was run in the dark, mostly in a string of parks and a college campus, and only the first couple and final mile on roads. It was my first legitimate long run in some time, and while the legs were a bit soft afterwards, there were no real problems.

I set my "most deer on a run" record last night. Climbing into the big park, I saw one on my left, followed almost immediately by two on my right. In one of the smaller parks, I saw what I thought was two dogs in the fading light, the realized they were deer. That put me seeing 5 separate deer in three sightings - five is one more than my previous record, and I've never had a three sighting run before. I did see a sign announcing that the deer reduction program in the big park would be taking place next week, so I doubt I'll match this for a while.

This morning, I went out and ran a bit over an hour - I think about an hour and 5 min, on some very tired legs. Aside from managing to blister my big toe pretty seriously - I was wearing my new Nike Zoom Elites, and they seemed to twist when subjected to braking forces on the downhill. This one will get logged as about 7 miles.

While climbing up the big hill in the park, I was passed by a cyclist. I shouted, "C'mon, climb." He looked back and grinned and both our paces increased. I kept him in sight until the top of the hill. When almost home, I passed a woman going the other way. She was wearing a bright green top. After the wave, I said, "You're wearing the right shirt for this weekend." She glanced at it, and said, "Got that right!"

For whatever reason, it seemed drivers we a bit more cautious yesterday and today. I don't know if it's the less harried life of the weekend; the fact that more running was in parks, where runners are more expected; or some other factor.

I want to make another post about Libby Riddles on a TV show I saw last night. Watch for it.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Those $#@&ing Drivers!

I'd prepared a post yesterday about my bruised knuckles from my run, you won't find it here because it was lost due to some blogger &/or connection problems. On my morning run, at one of the lights, a woman in a small silver SUV was in the right lane and accelerated hard, bringing her now fast moving mirror within inches of my shoulder. My right hand moved down and out quickly, giving her vehicle a jab in the rear passenger door (and bruising my knuckles on my other hand). I think she may have stopped, because it seemed like traffic took a long time to clear the light. I had gotten in my 55 minutes though.

Today, it seems that Dirt Runner met up with her ilk, and doubtless his response, described as half a peace sign, is kinder to his hands, but I doubt it's as emphatic...frankly, I doubt is it's often noticed, given how unaware many drivers are.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Biomechanics

Last night, I attended a lecture on the biomechanics of running given by Gerard Pearlberg, author of Run Tall, Run Easy, and Mr. RunningBuzz. After 32 years of running, you’d think I’d know what I’m doing, and for the most part, I do, but there were a couple of things that Coach GP mentioned that I think I can use to improve my form.

In a brief conversation with GP (and GP knows me from the competitive/coaching world), he mentioned that his techniques are nothing new, but that sometimes you hear (or read) something presented in a manner that is different from what you are accustomed to, and realize that there is some tuning that should be done. (For me, it was a nuance regarding arm carriage and its effect on footstrike.)

The lecture was given at Shore Runner, a new running specialty store in Long Branch, NJ. I understand that Coach GP will be giving a similar lecture at the expo held in conjunction with the NJ Marathon in about 6 weeks. I’d encourage any of you with the opportunity to attend.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Fire!

I recently went to Thompson Park in Lincroft, NJ to walk a bit to rehab my feet. When I got there, I noticed a closed area, and looked at it and saw that the Thompson Park Vistor's Center, the old Thompson Mansion, had burned. It was regarded as the crown jewel of the Monmouth County Park System buildings. You can see a small view of the mansion in the portion of the home page related to the fire.

I walked past the south side of the house, which I don't recall ever having gone into, even though it hosted various events regularly over the last 40 years or so. A pre-fire photo of the mansion can be found here. I have to confess that I'd passed the mansion many times, but paid it little attention, and now it's gone.

When I walked past, the views I saw were these kinds of views, leading me to believe that although serious damage had been done, the building could be salvaged.
It looked bad, but not insurmountable.

I returned to the park to take some photos, and when I moved around to the north side of the mansion, I was greeted with this view.

And this view, which I shot because you could see one of the collapsed columns from the porch really saddened me.

The fire had happened back on February 6th, 2006, and was well covered by the Asbury Park Press. They have some excellent pictures of the fire here. It has since come out that a contractor, putting final touches on a $3.5 million restoration touched off the fire with a torch being used for soldering parts of the gutter system. It also came out that the building has sprinklers only in the basement, and that its balloon frame construction contributed to it rapid engulfment. Modern buildings are constructed with platform framing, which tends to stop fire from spreading vertically through walls or as readily into floors.

Because the mansion also served as park system headquarters, also lost in the fire were many records and artifacts relating to the history of the county parks.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Confluence of Posts

Yesterday, I posted this (key portion posted below):

"I've decided to re-read Michael Connelly's 26 Miles to Boston: The Boston Marathon Experience from Hopkinton to Copley Square. It's worth noting that Connelly ran Boston as a bandit, something he's berated for in the Amazon reviews. I found the book to be an excellent vision of what the race is about for those of us who are mere mortals. I want to refresh myself on what to expect, so I can be sure to drink fully of the elixir that is the Boston Marathon."

While the very good, but very cynical Duncan Larkin posted this(again, key portion posted below):

"Most of the major marathons in this country--New York and Boston in particular--surround themselves with mountains of course 'cracking' books written by many running cretins out to make $15 per while giving you the inside 'scoop.'

Inside the books, you have course maps with elevation diagrams and blow-by-blow gobbledeegook that fills page after page at $15 per for you to stew on while you sit in the john telling your kids or loved ones that you'll be out in a damned second; one more mile marker then I flush and turn on the fan."

In the final analysis, from a racing point of view, books like this do nothing for your race, so Larkin is correct. Yet, for the common man, those for whom merely qualifying for Boston is a challenge, gaining insights into what to expect and how to drink in the experience is incredibly valuable, so I'm right. So, I guess the question is, "Who ya gonna trust?" Larkin, a 2:32 marathoner, or me, a regular joe who's proud of his 3:29. You decide.

I Got Blisters On My...

Toes!

They had the induction for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night. I just wanted to say that, I think the Sex Pistols attitude stunk, then again, bad attitude is what they're about. Debby Harry (Blondie) looks pretty good for an old lady.

I ran up an back down the big hill near home, the run took 59 minutes, a bit less than usual. I have been bothered a bit by a post-run cough, I'm not sure if I've been running harder than usual. I have long thought that I have a very mild case of exercise induced asthma. It just makes me cough after a hard run, and today, I coughed a bit on the run, though I chalk that up to residual phlegm from my cold of two weeks ago. Somehow, I blistered the surface of my second toe between it and the big toe. (OK, does the rock 'n roll blisters reference work OK between the HOF and this occurrence?)

Last Saturday, as I was running in the evening, I turned onto the main street of one of the nearby towns just as the church bells were ringing. It was just a delightful moment.

Monday, March 13, 2006

35 In The Log

After a late start to my running last week, I managed to still post a fairly respectable weekly total of 35 miles, made more exceptional by the fact that it was virtually all done over four consecutive days.

I ran 55 min on Thurs (6.3 mi), 45 min on Fri (5.3 mi), 1:45 on Sat (12.4 mi), and 1:20 on Sun (9.4 mi), then adding in the two micro workouts with my son on Tue and Thurs nites (1.6 mi each) during which I did a few drills (high knees, etc.) and I managed 35+ - after virtually no running until Thurs, I can't complain, though the lack of a true long run will hurt me a bit in Beantown.

I've decided to re-read Michael Connelly's 26 Miles to Boston: The Boston Marathon Experience from Hopkinton to Copley Square. It's worth noting that Connelly ran Boston as a bandit, something he's berated for in the Amazon reviews. I found the book to be an excellent vision of what the race is about for those of us who are mere mortals. I want to refresh myself on what to expect, so I can be sure to drink fully of the elixir that is the Boston Marathon.

Pinewood Derby - CRUSHED!

On Saturday morning, my son and I prepped to head to the district pinewood derby. We had qualified last week by finishing fourth in our pack. I wanted to relubricate the wheels and reset the axles, so I started pulling the axles out, and suddenly, the front of the car gave way. The whole wooden "front suspension" came off in my hand, along with the wheel and axle.

I said to my son, "I don't think we'll be able to race today." He went ballistic, tears, ranting, etc. Well, I gave some thought to what I could do to improve things. I realized that I could drill some holes through the axle, glue in cut-off toothpicks and perhaps have the car ready to deliver to quarantine two hours later.

We set to work. Gorilla glue, my favorite woodworking glue, was out since it requires a day to fully cure. So, I resorted to America's old standby, Elmer's Glue, which dries in about an hour. We made the modifications. I decided to use the axles from this year's car, rather than the one's from last; I figured the burrs on the underside of the nailheads were too significant a downside, so we'd live with the circumferential scratch marks. I don't know if this was a right choice, but we got the car assembled and off we went.

En route there, we missed a turn, so we needed to overshoot, then double back about a mile. They were emphatic about being on time for the 11:30 AM check-in. At 11:25, we arrived, got on line and it took us a mere 45 minutes in an overcrowded, noisy school gym to get checked in. The guy in front of us in line had his son's car running on just 3 wheels. (This is a tactic used to reduce rolling friction, but was prohibited by the district rules, which apparently hadn't been circulated to this guy.) His son's car had to run in the open (no awards) division. Our car passed the tests without a problem. When the woman checking cars weighed it, it was 4.99 oz., just under the 5 oz. limit; it fit easily into the 7" x 2 3/4" sizing box; and all four wheels spun when rolled on the table.

At 1:30, having each eaten a piece of lukewarm pizza, 1/2 a muffin, and a bit of dried fruit, the management announced that they only had the room until 3:00 PM. They would therefore not rerun unless it would impact the results.

The track at this school was radically different from our track. You saw our track in last week's post. This track used about a six-foot drop, and the track sloped down to the finish virtually the whole way. My son commented about the rough handling that race management was giving the cars: they were picking up cars by the wheels; putting them roughly into a box and carrying them back to the start; and some were even dropped from the start line to the gym floor below. Rather than using a drop gate to start the cars, the cars were set at the top of the track with rears wheels overhanging, then a hinged board would lift the rear wheels to permit the cars to roll away. This system proved a problem for at least one car that we saw; its relieved bottom meant it would not stay in place without a hand being held atop it. The cars then rolled through a timing gate to start their clock and a second gate at the finish. Thus, time to start rolling was also ignored - this could have a real impact in relative performance of some cars. Also, seams where track sections joined were not smooth, resulting in frequent "derailments" and many car-to-car impacts. Most cars were covering the course in between 2.80 and 3.00 seconds. Averages were made of the elapsed times on the three tracks, and cars were placed according to that - there were no head-to-head runoffs.

We raced at about 1:55 PM, and our 5 races (three counted, two had crashes) took us about 5 minutes. We performed poorly, putting up an average of 3.0X seconds. We hit the road, having spent two and a half hours for an activity that shouldn't have taken more than an hour.

Our racing was over, but some lessons were learned, most notably, to reinforce your car if you will be using a narrow profile at the front. All-in-all, I was pleased with the car and my learning from this year, I was extremely disappointed with the management of the race this weekend.

Sorry there are no pictures, the scramble to prep the car meant I forgot the camera.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Civil Rights

With the passing of Coretta Scott King recently, the legacy of her husband, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was being discussed. On Boing Boing, I found a link to some previously unpublished pictures from the Birmingham (AL) News related to the civil rights movement.

As I reviewed these pictures, they felt very sanitized to me. I am accustomed to seeing the violence, often graphically depicted in the photos of the movement taken by LIFE magazine and the AP. It struck me that these shots were taken this way to show Alabamans a view of the movement that was newsworthy, yet without the level of ugliness that they would have found objectionable.

It's often critical to consider the conditions of the time and place when reviewing news and information. Simply put, had the Birmingham News shown the uglier, more violent face of the anti-civil rights faction, they might have been attacked and/or their readers might have shut down on reading about the civil rights movement. Their sanitized version of the story presented it in a way that their readership would be willing to accept, while the argument can be made that they soft-peddled the story, had they pushed it the way the national outlets did, the consequences for them might have been grave.

These pictures are worth a look. They portray the civil rights movement as something civil, yet in truth, it was often a street fight or a murder in the dark of night, with the anti-civil rights faction using dangerous or deadly force.

Kind Of Makes You Think

Click this link. Trust me, you'll be astonished.

One Piece At A Time

...one piece at a time,
and it didn't cost me a dime...

Over twenty-five years ago, I attended a Johnny Cash concert. One of the songs he sang was about a guy who took a job building Cadillacs. In this song, he began stealing a car part a day in his lunchbox. By the end of his career, he had a wonderful Caddy, except that it had one headlight on one side and two on the other and a few other bizarre and amusing problems. You can find the lyrics here.

For some reason, while doing my run this morning, this song popped into my head. It just kept rattling around and somewhere along the way, it struck me that the story behind the song was kind of like prepping for a marathon. Do a little, every day, day after day, and at some point, you've got something.

Last night (and Tuesday also), I took my son to the local park and we ran a couple of laps (1.6 miles). It seemed to help my feet - maybe they've been crying out, "I want you to run doubles!" (Somehow, I doubt that.) When I bought him his first pair of real running shoes - Nike Pegasus size 2 (and is the plural Pegasii or Pegasuses?), I gave him the stern lecture, "I'll expect you to train seriously and to race hard." He may have taken it a bit too much to heart. There have been a couple of crying binges when I wasn't encouraging him to run due to snow. His track program at the local Y begins in a couple of weeks.

Oh, a few weeks back, on one of my runs, I passed this tree that had fallen and been cut off to clear the road. I suspect it was the tree guy who painted it, but I kept wanting to post a photo of it, and I wanted to call it "sporting a woody."

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Driving Under The Influence

This morning, while getting ready, I heard a very disturbing report about drivers under the influence of Ambien, the popular sleep aid. While the fact that care needed to be taken with this medication was clear to me from their ads (see the bottom of their website), I was surprised by how frequently these warnings appear to be ignored.

The report was on ABC's Good Morning America and the written version is here.

Side effects exist with almost any drug, but this side effect is particularly dangerous. Doctors and pharmacists must take great care to counsel patients about this risk when prescibing/filling a prescription for this medication.

Confession Is Good For The Soul

My post of yesterday conveyed at least part of the guilt that I was feeling about shirking my responsibility to train. This morning, based in part on my guilt, I got out there and did my 55 min route, so I got in a bit over a 10K. I'm moving again, but the feet still aren't happy (though much less unhappy).

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Malaise!

TURKEY ON RYE WITH LETTUCE, LIGHT ON MALAISE!

I'm the turkey who's got malaise. I think having beaten myself up over the weekend has me really down on running. My feet are now just tight again. I've been failing to get out the door. I'm angry at myself for it. This can't go on!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Kirby Puckett Passes Away

Though I am not much of a baseball fan, I do count myself among the Red Sox nation, despite living most of my life in the shadow of the dreaded Yankees. I was saddened to hear of Kirby Puckett passing away from the stroke he had this past weekend. He was a great player, who played with grace and skill.

Puckett was a horse of a man. Stocky and barrel-chested, he put fear in the hearts of opposing players. I have to wonder if his size and the fact that he played baseball were at least complicit in his death.

Let me say this, I have no knowledge of anything about his medical condition, everything here is speculative. It's not uncommon that heavier people have blood pressure problems, and poorly managed blood pressure is often a cause of strokes. Additionally, I've heard that extreme muscularity can also contribute to hypertension in two ways; by requiring the heart to pump harder to get blood to all that body mass, and by causing pressure on arteries, which can further raise the demand for pressure to keep blood flowing.

I had not heard whether Puckett stroke was hemorrhagic or ischemic, but I have a suspicion that it was the former. While speculating about Puckett's health, I would also think it possible that during his sports career, he may have used steroids. Again, I have no evidence of this, it is purely speculative, and I raise the issue to simply point out that use of performance enhancing drugs may have serious health impacts. Long-term use of many of these drugs haven't been studied. Some of the newer drugs are sold in supplements, but have never been tested on humans. Anyone thinking of using any type of performance or size enhancing supplements should give it very serious thought before proceeding.

I heard that, aside from Lou Gehrig, Puckett is the youngest Hall of Fame player to have died.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Pinewood Derby Photos

The Track

As you can see in this picture, the track drops about 4 feet, then has perhaps 30 feet of flat run to the finish line.

The finish automatically assigns place order.

The Race
Our pack races each group of cars in all lanes, our track has four lanes, though some packs have more or less. Racing each car in each lane eliminates questions about faster lanes, so each car will make as many runs as the total of cars being raced. (Three cars will race three heats, while four cars will take four heats.) Placings are then added up and low score wins - ties are broken by racing the two cars against each other, again using at least two heats.

In the early stages of the race, overcoming inertia is the key, and mass is the way to ensure that your car accelerates quickly.

As you can see, cars can develop pretty impressive speed. Here, on the flats, minimizing friction becomes important.

You can see my son's car on the far right getting trounced in (I think) the pack championship race.








My Favorite Cars
Doubtless inspired by the folks at Oscar Mayer, this was my favorite car.
This car, based on Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish Crackers was also a favorite. You just couldn't not smile when you looked at it.
This pencil car was also quite visually striking.

I See The Light

"...train hundred and two
is on the wrong track and headin' for you."
---Grateful Dead - "Casey Jones"

I ran a 20K race yesterday and think I may be headed for a trainwreck at Boston. I could grouse endlessly about the management of this race; it started late, it took over 2 hours for results, not enough food, etc., but it would all be a diversion from the real issue of the day. My right foot, which had been on the edge with plantar fasciitis just seemed to explode. I'm in full-blown baling wire and duct tape mode right now.

I started pretty comfortably, going through the first 5k in just over 22. I was struggling a bit after that - I felt like I couldn't really breathe, but I attribute that to residual gunk from the cold of last weekend. It affected my head a bit, but not disasterously. The headwinds in the early part of the race also made this race less pleasant than it should have been. As the race progressed, I found myself needing to take water and having to stop briefly to drink it. Not a big deal, but then near the turnaround in the park (about 8 miles), my foot just seemed to go sour. It was hurting and combined with everything else, I found myself doing tactical walking to stretch my foot and reduce the load on it. I walked up the couple of steep hills, doing my best to maintain racewalking form so I wouldn't lose too much speed. Once out of the park, I ran the rest of the course, passing, then getting recaught by a woman who'd passed me on the climb. Eventually, I overtook her, and since I knew she'd painted a big target on my back, I hammered the final downhill (doubtless further irritating my foot) and held her off. Some will say, "but you weren't even competing against each other" and there's some truth there. My attitude is she's another competitor, my obligation is to beat her if I can. (Why should I approach it differently whether man or woman?)

The one real bright spot was a woman who passed me in the park. She said something cheerful as she came by me. It was enough to kick me out of the doldrums and get me working on the race again instead of being miserable. We chatted a bit after the race, until she needed to cheer her husband in. He was running with their dog! Having the dog in the race doubtless violates many rules, but this dog was very well mannered and he had a comfortable loping gait. It was one of the other fun little things that did happen there.

Now, I have to think seriously about what to do if the foot gives me trouble at Boston...if I aggravate it early, I could really pay late. If I use a run/walk strategy, I might preserve the foot well enough to arrive in Boston in reasonable style. If my mind is strong, I might be able to run the whole thing with minimal pain.

I had a guy after the race mention that he had excellent success with a chiropractor who used ART (active release therapy) on his plantar fasciitis. He said that four treatments seemed to fully cure him. I may need to give it a try. Others, seeing my gimping around suggested orthotics, but I've been there, and done that.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Pinewood Derby Recap

Well, the race is in the books. Of eight boys in the den, my son's car (our car?) placed 2nd. In the rank (wolf), we placed third, after a run-off race. In the pack, we beat the car that beat us in the run-off, so managed to place fourth.

My son brought home a ribbon (OK, due to a problem at the trophy house, he hasn't gotten it yet) and a trophy for 3rd in rank. He missed the big pack trophies by one place.

Our council runs a council-wide derby as well. This takes place next weekend, and our result means we can compete there. I also got some axle polishing advice from the guy who won the pack (and has won it several years running).

Photos to follow tomorrow.

Friday, March 03, 2006

An Icy 10K

This morning, I haeded out, running the same route as yesterday on legs that felt a bit tired. My feet, especially my right one, was screaming for mercy whenever I started walking yesterday. That case of PF just keeps hanging in the background.

I ran much of the outbound route this morning in the lines where cars had polished the ice off the road. Whenever a car came, I sidestepped onto the ice. While it sounds awful, tire tracks, thrown snow, and the pellety nature of this storm gave my shoes tolerably good purchase. I ran what I regard as the 55 minute loop and even with the icy conditions, it took me 55 minutes to cover what I figure is a bit more than a 10K.

I felt a bit fatigued late in yesterday's run, and could feel it as I ran today. In talking to people, I've realized that one of the things that outdoor running provides is a continuous usage of small muscles in the feet, ankles and legs to adjust to the footstrike. Constant treadmill runners don't do this work and often find that when they get on the roads, the fatigue quickly. I think the added work of running on ice both yesterday and today was a key reason I felt fatigue. The process of interpreting the information is called proprioception, and was the subject of a long ago post.

A few runs back, I got to accuse my locker neighbor of holding my shoe hostage. I'd thrown the shoes on top of the lockers when I got in. The guy who usually uses the locker next to mine had gone into the shower while I was there. When I came out, I noticed that the shoelaces of the shoes were draped over the edge and one was locked into my locker, the other was in his. I got myself dressed and he still hadn't returned. By this time, to graphically show the shoe being held hostage, I'd moved it so it was hanging by the lace from his locker. Once he had moved into the drying area, I shouted to him, "John, you're holding my shoe hostage." "What," he replied. So, I explained. He came over, and we had a laugh over it. These goofy little things add flavor to life. I enjoy them.

Pinewood Derby Update


My son and I assembled the car last night. It looks pretty good, and when I put it on the floor next to last year's car, it moved off the line faster. The bad news is that it seemed not to carry speed as well. Last year's car caught up to it. While the speed off the line is great for the downhill portion, there's a long, flat runout before the line. The inability to carry speed bodes ill for that section. I don't know if we have a wheel problem - I may need to reset the wheels before we go for weigh-in/quarantine tonight.

This year's car was loosely based on Ayrton Senna's McLaren - we removed the wings. The color scheme and number were matched to last year's car. The race is tomorrow.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Eight in the (Not-So) Crap

This morning, after another day of relative sloth (I spent a bunch of time on my son's Pinewood Derby car), I took a little run. The impending snowstorn had just started as I headed out. Everything that hadn't been salted had a thin veneer of ice bonded to it. I told the guy at the counter at the gym that I might be back soon depending on the weather.

Off I went. The day of rest must have done me some good, as I got to my usual short-run turnaround (which I consider to be my 35 minute run) and felt good. I'll keep going. I hit the second turnaround (45 min), still feeling good - kept on. I hit my "long-weekday" turn (55 min) and still felt good. I also passed up the almost the end of the road turn (1:02), and ran to the end. I consider this run to be 1:07, but today, when I got back to the gym, 1:09 had passed. Given the need to watch footing and for some extra caution in case of sliding cars, I think it was solid. It'll go into the log as just shy of 8 miles.

The run out is westbound, thus normally into the wind. This morning, the slight breeze was no issue, but what made the trip out tougher than the trip back was two-fold, it was done earlier, which meant the salt and sand trucks hadn't been out as long, and the road is less busy, meaning that on some stretches, few cars had traversed the roadway, dripping their slurry of sandy, saline muck from the undercarriage, thus there was little help either mechanical or chemical to melt the icy glaze.

Just past the turnaround, I passed an older guy slogging out his mileage on the sidewalk. I commented that it was really a pretty good morning. He agreed. Traffic seemed a bit ligher than usual. There was just a tad of sleet coming down. The air was mostly calm.

Back at the gym, I stretched and headed to the lockers to shower and change. While hanging the tights, I noticed the lower legs were speckled with tan and white dots. The salt and ice, which had helped me on the run had followed me.

By the way, on Tuesday, while running, I hear a couple of toots on a car horn. I turn to see if it was for me - I think it was, but not exactly someone I know. I'm pretty sure it was this guy - same color car, same area. Guess I've still got a nice one!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Our Most Vital Organ

I spent some time listening to Dr. Daniel Amen speaking this past weekend on Dr. Kenneth Cooper's Healthy Living radio show. Dr. Amen is a psychiatrist, affiliated with the University of California at Irvine. His specialty is brain imaging, in particular, a type of image called a SPECT scan. This scan shows brain activity, rather than picturing the brain itself. Some of the things that Amen said were rather surprising to me, and I thought it would be good to share them with you.

Some of the relatively unsurprising things said were that head trauma and exposure to toxic chemicals can injure your brain. Because of this, he advises against sports like football and boxing and that people who handle solvents only do it in very well ventiliated environments or with good safety gear (or both!). The thing that startled me was his advice against soccer. He points out that our brain has the approximate consistency of custard and that it's housed in a skull that's quite hard. Causing the two to strike each other causes serious damage, but even just shaking the brain can cause damage. His message is "heading the ball injures your brain", and so he recommends against the sport.

One of the other things he points out is that depression is in fact seven or eight distinct disorders. A doctor who prescibes without seeing a brain scan is essentially shooting in the dark, and there's a pretty good chance (about 70%) that the first medication will not work. If you don't seem to get benefit from your depression medication, you should see your doctor about trying a different medication (or arranging a SPECT scan to better diagnose).

He also points out that pshchiatrists and psychologists, whether involved in medical treatment of conditions like depression and attention deficit disorder (ADD) or things like emotional counseling are the only doctors who work without seeing what they are working on.

I think most of us can learn some things by listening to this two-hour radio show. You can find them in mp3 form hosted on the Cooper website here: hour 1 and hour 2. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.