Category Archives: 03mi

“Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

0, 03mi

Start time: 12/11/06, 2:00pm
Location: North Arlington (Clarendon, Courthouse, Rosslyn)
Distance: 3.4 miles
Average pace: 8:47min/mile

Today’s run is best defined by absence rather than presence. Sans GPS, sans iPod/headphones, sans knee strap, sans knee pain, sans endurance.

The plan (since I had taken a day off, and the weather was so nice) was to just head on out and run and not worry about speed. I also figured I would give running without the knee strap for the first time in years a whirl; it’s been long enough since the mortifying dancing injury that it should be fine. The good news is that the knee did feel fine, which is a relief. On the other hand, I was certainly huffing and puffing by the time I was done. I ended up calling it “good enough” by the time I hit Courthouse Road; it was just about half an hour and that’s what I was looking for more than distance anyway. (I’d mapped out a 4-mile route in case all went well.) Taking a week off after a bad cold stinks, and trying to run after the cold is finally gone stinks too, but it was good to get out there… even if afterwise I actually ended up sitting down on a hillside and caught my breath when I was done. Lung capacity, why hast thou forsaken me?

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=582640

(Subject line courtesy… oh, look it up yourself. But this final line to a very famous speech was running through my head as I hoofed it up and down the streets of Arlington.)

Back in the ‘Hood

0, 03mi

Start time: 10/18/06, 6:30pm
Location: Tanglewood Park, Glencannon Park, Peterson Lane Park, and parts of Vienna VA
Distance: 3.75 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile

The last (and first!) time I ran in my parents’s neighborhood was back in 2001. It was two miles and it just about killed me. (This is back when I was running—and I use that term loosely—a 16:30min/mile.) It was fun to take the area for another spin; all these roads and trails through parks that I grew up with. Certainly a bit faster a pace since the last time I was here, too. It wasn’t a great course; the paths were a little narrow and I managed to do another “step off the trail and roll my ankle” move (oops) but I felt fine, and strong despite the rolling hills of Vienna that were killing me so much five years ago. Sure, I could’ve run over on the track by the high school and had a nice flat course, but since I didn’t hit the Custis Trail this week I needed my hill work in there somewhere…

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=499954

Quickie

0, 03mi, pacers alexandria

Start time: 10/12/06, 7:00pm
Location: Old Town Alexandria
Distance: 3.5 miles
Average pace: 9:29min/mile

When I make the Thursday runs, I normally run with Chris, Darryl, and Sonia. Except Chris and Sonia weren’t there, and there weren’t other runners interested in our pace, so just the two of us headed out together… Except Darryl’s coming down with a cold and is also running the Baltimore Marathon on Saturday. “I’m going to take it a little slow,” he said, “and do just a little bit. So don’t be afraid to leave me behind.” We stuck together because I like the company and wasn’t feeling up for a huge run anyway (those gale force winds were a little daunting) so we just did 3.5 miles. What amuses me is our mile splits: 10:03, 9:36, 9:06, and an 8:56avg for the last half mile. So much for us trying to take it slower than normal. Somehow I suspected it wasn’t going to last…

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=489997

Slight diversion

0, 03mi, cramp

Start time: 09/28/06, 7:00am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail and Rosslyn
Distance: 3.16 miles
Average pace: 8:52min/mile

I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get any runs in this week, but I squeezed in one this morning before having to dash off to an appointment that meant leaving my home by 8am. Originally I was going to just stick to the Arlington Boulevard Trail, but going back and forth gets boring… and there were also a lot of construction vehicles that I had to dodge. So avoiding the first bit was paramount. Instead I kept running when I hit my normal turn-around spot, heading into Rosslyn. Turns out there really isn’t too much in Rosslyn in terms of places to run (unless you count heading over Key Bridge into DC, or down onto the Mount Vernon Trail) so I did a large loop through the River Place parking lot after I ran out of sidewalk, then headed back with a big loop at the end to avoid the construction. And I made it to my appointment on time, too!

(I had a *slight* cramp… almost just a twinge in my left calf. Which was probably not the same problem I had before but I’m marking it just to be sure. And to be fair I hadn’t been stretching all week. Bad Greg. Time to do so right now in fact.)

Saturday should be amusing. I’m working the AIDS Marathon 26-mile training run and I think I’m going to run some of the groups up the Hill of Doom (since I’m stationed right at the top of it and was told that it’s good to run with them for a tiny bit). The base of the hill to the crest on the side they tackle on the way out is exactly a third of a mile; the side they go up on the return is a quarter mile. I wonder if I can get all of Sunday’s 9-miler in this way? (Yeah, not quite the same thing, but I’ll take it.) And then, on Sunday… hopefully… new running shoes!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=463916

Knowing when to stop

0, 03mi, pacers arlington

Start time: 08/29/06, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 3.75 miles
Average pace: 9:40min/mile

This was just another one of those “I’m not feeling it” runs. Chris and I were both struggling a bit today, and it was hard to say why. Still coming off my 14-miler from two days ago? Thick humidity? Strange planetary alignments? The only thing for certain was that things weren’t going well. I finally decided to stop half a mile from the end and just walk home; my left thigh was starting to feel a little tight and sore. Now it’s probably not ITBS—no knee pain, no sharp pain, just soreness—but why risk it? I figured it was smarter to just throw in the towel a little early, even if it was only another 5 or so minutes straight uphill that I was sacrificing.

I need to go back through my journal again and figure out exactly when I got these shoes, though; I’m thinking it might be time for a new pair. It’s hard to say, though; I wish I’d been smart enough to have written down when I got the last pair. (I know it was after my trip to Florida at the start of March. And I think it might’ve been before the National (Half) Marathon. I’ll do some more research though and figure it out.) I was already planning on skipping Thursday because of having bloodwork for next week’s physical in the morning and book club in the evening, but I dunno… I might bypass my 7-mile recovery run as well. We’ll see. Right now a week off from running just sounds nice.

Oh, and then there’s the whole “new type of shoe” dilemma. The Beast has been working well for me, but I’ve had several people (including Zen Running Guru Rick Weber whose opinion I trust very much) suggest getting a lighter shoe, and to be fair I was recommended the Beast back when I was 60 pounds heavier. But do I want to mess with something that’s been working? Hmmmmmm. Things to think about.

Oh yeah: 71 miles for the month of August, the highest total so far for 2006, narrowly beating out March with its 69 miles thanks to having a half marathon in there. Woohoo!

No Food, No Stitch, No Fuel

0, 03mi

Start time: 08/15/06, 7:30am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 3.75 miles
Average pace: 9:03min/mile

I won’t be able to run with the Pacers group today (Mom’s birthday!) so instead I decided to pick up a few miles this morning. It went pretty well, aside from having no “pre-run breakfast” food available, so I stupidly went without. I could feel the lack of fuel by the end, so I was glad I’d decided to go a short distance this morning. On the bright side, no stitch in the side at all, so clearly less food before running is now the secret, even though last year it was the other way around. Oh well, if it works, it works. And I picked up some oatmeal on the way into the office this morning as to be better prepared for this weekend.

Unscheduled Run!

0, 03mi

Start time: 08/05/06, 6:30am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail
Distance: 3.4 miles
Average pace: 9:08min/mile

I actually wasn’t planning on running today, but it suddenly hit me this morning that one of us would need to run a little over 1.5 miles down the CapCrescent trail in order to mark the turn-around point. Soyini was in charge of “home base” and Chris was told he’s not allowed to run by his doctor, so I was very happy I always bring my running shoes to the site just in case. The actual distance down the trail from the water stop (where I could park my car) to the turn around was 1.7 miles, and once I woke up things went great. The first mile was a 9:25, the second a 9:13, and the last 1.4 miles were at an 8:51 pace. It’s nice to feel one’s self speeding up (without really trying to!) as the run continues rather than slowing down…

Since I hadn’t run all week because of the heat, it was nice to get back out there. I’ve got a teeny tiny run with AIDS Marathon tomorrow (5 miles) so this was a good way to get back into the saddle.

Too Hot.

0, 03mi

Start time: 07/04/06, 9:30am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:51min/mile

Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh. I had to take an extra minute walk break in the last mile, even with some serious hydration yesterday and a hat on to try and shield myself from the sun. Bleah. I need to get up earlier in the morning to run. I’m seriously not used to running in this weather. (9:01, 9:33, and the horrific 10:58. Splat.)

Listening to my body

0, 03mi

Start time: 07/02/06, 11:15am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:30min/mile

Two weeks later, it was time to get running again… right? I’d been stretching every day, all the pain had been gone for well over a week, and my achilles tendons were extremely flexible now. So, that meant a six-miler at the new run site this morning. As I went to bed, though, I started having some doubts. It’d been two weeks since I ran, and that wasn’t the same as just missing a weekend run. Plus… it sounds a little silly to me now, but I was feeling more than a little hesitant about going without really knowing anyone there. It would be one thing to be “guy who pooped out on his run and had to come back slowly” but something else to do so without at least someone else I knew there for moral support.

Ultimately, though, my decision was made for me when my alarm went off this morning and I felt… well, horrible. Once I was lucid enough to do more than slap the snooze alarm, it didn’t surprise me. I’d been out late Thursday night, out late Friday night, gotten very little sleep before site assisting on Saturday morning, and then not getting much of a nap on Saturday because plans for the day were changed on me giving less time to try and recharge. So even though I’d been in bed by 10pm and asleep within half an hour, it just wasn’t enough. My entire body was completely and utterly run down.

So, I turned the alarm off and went back to sleep with the intention of running on my own once I got up. This was both smart and not-so-smart. It was smart because I desperately needed the extra rest and would function a lot better with it. It was not-so-smart… in that I didn’t set the alarm to a new wake-up time. I ended up sleeping in far later than planned, which my body clearly needed but it’s also a pretty hot day and the temperature was rising quickly. So by the time I actually got out there to run, it was pretty toasty and humid. Add in having not run for two weeks… and, well, it became pretty clear that a 6-miler just wasn’t going to happen.

In the end I just ran a 3-miler, following my (annoying) pattern as of late of going out too fast when by myself and slowly grinding to a halt. (8:58, 9:32, 9:57 for the splits.) I think it was the right call, though. This week is going to be reminding my lazy innards that they need to get used to running again. If I end up with good runs on Tuesday and Thursday then I’ll feel really good about this upcoming Sunday’s run at the site again. But the important thing was to not bite off more than I could chew, but to just get moving again. Best of all? No pain or even tightness in my calf muscles. Hurrah! So really, a huge huge victory. Fingers crossed, that’s something that won’t come back. (I’ll continue to do my stretches, worry not!)

Here’s to a much better July than June in terms of running. (My June total? 8.25 miles. A new low in terms of mileage, but utterly understandable since the rest of the month was me sitting out an injury.)