Category Archives: 04mi

Here We Go (Again)

0, 04mi, achilles, aidsmarathon, injury

Start time: 06/18/06, 7:00am
Location: Downtown Washington DC
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:30min/mile

At long last, my training season has started up again. I’m training for the Florence Marathon, and raising money for Whitman-Walker Clinic. This year I’ve agreed to raise a record high of $3700, so every little penny will help!

Anyway, after Tuesday’s run I decided I was doing good and ready to start up training this weekend. I wasn’t sure if I was going to run with the 9:30 or 10:00 group but decided I’d give 9:30 a go; if it was too fast I could always slow down, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t try it out I’d never attempt to move up. When I got there (along with jabulous) I saw there were two names on the 9:30 sign-in sheet from last week, and one person who had just put her name down this week. I added mine to the list, and introduced myself to Stephanie. Little did we know… we were it for the 9:30 group. Meanwhile, the 10:00 group appears to be Boyztown or something. Hmmmmm.

We headed out onto the course, and it was about a mile and a quarter in when I felt a sudden twinge in my left calf. Oh hell, I thought (or perhaps it was something a little ruder), not again.

Within about ten seconds, though, the severity of it went from a 5 to about a 3 (versus the initial incident which was probably an 8) so I decided to keep moving. If I had to I could always stop when we hit the two-mile point and hitch a ride back with Soyini. It never got any worse, though, more uncomfortable than anything else. Still, not something I’m willing to have happen every week. We finished up in exactly 40 minutes (which once you add in the required walk to kick off the run is pretty good) and I talked a bit with Coach Karen and Coach Julie Ann. They reiterated my need for more stretching with the achilles tendon and calf; I think tomorrow at work I’m going to set up my Outlook to auto-remind me twice a day to do the stretches. After jabulous‘s group finished up (not far behind me at all) we headed back home, and from there it was some stretching, ice, and a bit of ibuprofen. It’s still sore at this point, bah.

So, right now I’m leaning towards not running for the next week or two, coupled with really making sure I continue to stretch every day and take proper care of myself. Which, let’s be honest, totally stinks to be sidelined again and so very early in the training process… but better for it to be early than later on, right? Ah well. I’ll catch up quickly. And who knows, maybe I should take it easy and hang out with Boyztown when I do get back. (Don’t get me wrong, Stephanie is super-nice, I like her a great deal. But at the same time…)

Sweet the Sting (or, 16 Days Later)

0, 04mi, cramp, pacers arlington

Start time: 06/13/06, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 4.25 miles
Average pace: 10:17min/mile

So. Been a while, huh? Since my last update here, I figured out last Thursday night what was probably causing the strange cramp in my calf muscle (short version: wearing my running shoes for every day walking around) and hoped that removing the problem would mean I would be back up for running again today. The last time I tried to run, within well under half a mile I was in a lot of pain, so my plan for this evening was to jog slowly up to Pacers (4/10ths of a mile) and see how everything felt. I got up there with no problems (and the GPS said it was a 9:27min/mile pace… so much for slowly) so I decided I was ready to run again.

Chris showed up before too long, and miss_ev made an appearance as well (and with an adorable short haircut!) and we headed out and onto the Billy Goat running route. It’d been a little over two weeks since I’d gone running, and this is a tough course, so I had a feeling that I would bomb out before too long. The first mile was at a nice clip (9:25min/mile) but I knew that wasn’t going to last for long. Sure enough, there was a gradual slowdown over the next three miles (10:20, 10:36, and 10:51 for that fourth mile that goes straight uphill, with the final quarter mile being at a 10:04min/mile pace) as I could feel my reserves running out. My body was wondering why I wasn’t sitting on the couch! What was nice, though, was that I got to run it with three other people; Chris took off ahead for the last mile (and I must say I’d have picked up the pace if I could’ve) but the other two I was with were with me for a bit, then the one woman (Chin?) dropped back a bit and the other fellow (whose name I’ve forgotten already) slowed down to stay with her.

The leg held up pretty well. The last half mile it was feeling a little tight, but it didn’t hurt. More of a feeling along the lines of, “I haven’t run in a while and you’re sending me up and down all these horrendous hills.” Still, I stretched it out when I got back to Pacers, and used the Stick on it post-shower. (Man oh man did those frozen cubes of Freeze shower gel from LUSH feel good tonight.) I might try and knock out a few slow miles on Friday when I get back from a trip to Pennsylvania but a lot will depend on what I’m really feeling up to at that point. If I don’t, no biggie.

Things I did learn today include that a pre-run food of applesauce is a no-no (NO BOOTING), that I need to take a second dose of allergy medicine in the evening if I’m to run (stuffed up, ugh), that both this and the Alexandria store will be adding on additional days for running (both will have Tuesday and Thursday options in a few weeks), and now that it’s warm out I should start putting on the Bodyglide for even these shorter distances. Ouchie.

(Oh, and the GPS was dead-on accurate with the Google Maps route I’d plotted out for this before. Yay!)

In Which Greg Runs With A Local Group

0, 04mi, pacers arlington

Pacers Tuesday Night Fun RunStart time: 05/23/06, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 4.25 miles
Average pace: 9:57min/mile

About a month ago, lostchaos e-mailed me a picture from her cameraphone telling me about a local running store (Pacers) and how they had a weekly “fun run” open for anyone. I saved the e-mail and kept telling myself that I’d actually do it. But (and I know people find this hard to believe!) when it comes to new things I can be a bit shy; if there isn’t someone that I know there, I just as often will not go. Then, last Tuesday, I was standing outside the Clarendon metro station to meet jblum and kateorman for dinner and saw the Pacers group across the street assembling and heading out on their run. They all zipped by me, and suddenly I realized… I knew someone there. It was Chris, a fellow site assistant for AIDS Marathon (he’s working with the Half Marathon runners). So I dropped him an e-mail, asked him a couple of questions, and then decided that this upcoming week would be a perfect time to start.

One quick stroll down Clarendon Boulevard and I was at Pacers. There were about… oh, fifteen or so people there, including Chris. We were sorted into time groups (the first one was “6-7 minute miles” and I had to keep from snickering in response as I quickly scooted out of that rance) and we headed out for what was promised to be a “5 mile” course… and oh yes, we were going to head down the hill that is Highland Street, and go from there onto Hill City, aka the Custis Trail. Ack.

That said, it was a nice run. I chatted with Chris as we ran about this and that, and while we were towards the back of the pack we weren’t last (phew!) it was a pleasant run. I figure some hill work could do me good, and the change of scenery was huge. Running with different people and a different place just felt really… really good, really refreshing. It could be just what I needed, having something different. (And no walk breaks either.)

The only downside (well, aside from hill mania) was that when I looked at my time, I felt really surprised because it seemed a bit… low… to really be a 5-mile course. (42:17? Really? Although having the two splits being 20:42 and 21:35 was a relief to know it wasn’t that different.) I didn’t have the GPS unit with me so I mapped it out afterwards… sure enough! It’s actually just a 4.25-mile course. Still, not bad at all!

*yawn*

0, 04mi

Start time: 05/09/06, 8:20am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:23min/mile

It’s funny, because while I’m used to running early on Saturday or Sunday mornings, the past year and a half has been me almost always running on weekdays after work instead of before. The end result is that it still feels a little strange to do so, even though I think overall I enjoy the benefits more with having gotten everything moving beforehand. I was actually a bit behind schedule this morning when trying to get out the door, and it was a bit chillier than I’d expected, but I’m quite happy I finally started hoofing it.

I started a little fast—the first half-mile clocked in at 4:01 and I could just see another colossal “crash and burn” on the horizon if I kept that up. The rest of the run was me trying to find a new pace that I could stick with. I was hoping for a good 9:30 that I could find and then maintain. The second half of the first mile, I think, was actually that once you factor in the walk break having landed there (8:57). Mile two was me a tiny bit off-kilter (9:38) and mile three I was happy with considering it was the two-walk-breaks zone that a 6:1 will have it fall in (9:39) and I was clearly starting to find what I was looking for. Sure enough, mile four was more or less at the same point (9:20) once it was back to one walk cycle. Since miles 2 and 4 are uphill (a slow grade at first, then steeper at the end) I’m happy with that. lostchaos hasn’t commented on me looking like death warmed over when I passed her as she was walking to the metro around mile 3.8, so that’s a good sign. Now let’s see what happens on Thursday (another solo run as jabulous is out of town on a business trip through Friday afternoon).

(I must say that I was surprised to see no other runners out when I started, though, but a ton of them at the very end. I’d have assumed it would be the other way around!)

Oh, and big props to confessions_123 for hooking me up with Girls Aloud, whose “Waiting” is a really fine running song. That and the Go-Go’s “Unforgiven” have got a great beat to try and sync up with.

Once More With Feeling

0, 04mi

Start time: 05/03/06, 6:30pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 9:54min/mile

I went out running with Julie today for a four-miler. The first three were pretty standard miles for when we run together (10:01, 9:46, 10:32), perhaps a tiny bit faster than the last couple times we paired up. With one mile to go, though, Julie wasn’t feeling well so I took the last one in by myself at her directive (9:17). Afterwards I turned around and started heading back towards her but she was just around the corner, not far behind me at all. I felt bad about having gone on ahead and said as much, so she yelled at me. 🙂 (Ok, not literally yelling.) But it was a good run despite finishing a minute or two ahead of J-Money.

The joys of battery replacement

0, 04mi

Start time: 04/19/06, 6:15pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:14min/mile

On Tuesday after work, I went to Target to get some shopping done… and finally get a new battery in the watch half of grok‘s old Timex Ironman Speed & Distance GPS. Except they were A) out of the battery at the jeweler’s counter, and B) didn’t seem terribly thrilled about the idea of exchanging it even if I got a battery from the electronics department and brought it over. So, undeterred, I went to the mall on my lunch break today to get the battery switched out. The woman took a small eternity, first continually dropping one of the screws and then unable for quite some time to get the watch strap on. When I finally got the watch? The strap still wasn’t actually attached properly, but I managed to fix it with the help of a ballpoint pen.

So after all of that? Despite downloading the manual and reading it carefully I still couldn’t get it to do what I wanted to—namely to beep at me every mile. *sigh* I need to keep working on this.

Oh, today’s run? Almost identical to last week’s run (9:54, 9:48, 10:43, 10:27). Creepy. jabulous is an amazingly consistent running partner!

Back in the saddle

0, 04mi

Start time: 04/12/06, 6:15pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:14min/mile

No run for me on Monday or Tuesday, alas. After Sunday’s run I felt good… up until the part where we sat down and had lunch. When I stood back up my left calf muscle was all cramped up and sore. I took it easy for the next two days and used The Stick on it a lot, and on Wednesday all seemed good enough to run again. Julie kicked out a faster-than-normal second mile (9:55, 9:49, 10:44, 10:25), which was a little entertaining because the second we did all I could think was that mile 3 would be longer as a result. (Normally we hit the second mile marker about 10-15 seconds into a walk break. Hitting the marker before the walk break began meant that we had two full walk breaks waiting for us in dreaded mile 3.) It was a nice run, though, and it felt good to get back out there. I was going to report that my calf is completely back to normal but about half an hour it mysteriously was sore again. Although now it’s not. Huh.

Since I’m going to be away on Saturday and Sunday I was thinking that I might just plan on running Friday and Monday mornings, but we’ll see what my legs are saying to me later tonight and tomorrow morning. If more rest is required, so be it!

“It’s that damn third mile!”

0, 04mi

Start time: 04/05/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:18min/mile

The subject line was a direct quote from Julie upon finishing. Once again, our pattern held true on mile splits (9:53, 10:14, 10:41, 10:22). This was also the first run since the race, and I am thoroughly impressed with Julie; not only had she jumped from 6 to 10 miles for the race, but she was still game for running on Wednesday and with no backsliding. I think she’s going to surprise herself immensely by the time training starts in June. She’s much faster than she thinks she is.

Farewell, March.

0, 04mi

Start time: 03/29/06, 6:00pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:17min/mile

One final run to round out March. Julie and I took another four miles together, and to our surprise half a mile in we ran into Mark, who joined us for the rest. He seemed in good spirits, and we chatted about Cherry Blossom 10-miler plans and such. A slightly slower third mile (9:56, 10:17, 10:41, 10:13) but not bad at all. No stiffness at all is left from the half marathon, so fingers crossed for a good race on Sunday.

Speaking of half marathons, its presence also meant that this was officially my highest mileage for a month where I wasn’t in the AIDS Marathon program, topping out at 69.1 miles. (The previous record holder was December 2005 with the surprisingly high 66 miles.) The yearly total is at 162.1 miles, while last year at the end of March I was at 118.4. Wow!

April should be an interesting month in terms of running; starting on Mondays I’m going to be running by myself and experimenting with a GPS unit. Interesting may not even begin to sum up what’s ahead!

Monday, Monday

0, 04mi

Start time: 03/27/06, 5:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 6:1
Average pace: 10:16min/mile

Two days after the half marathon, and thankfully all is well. I could definitely still feel it in my muscles, but it wasn’t a bad feeling, just more of a signal that the muscles had definitely been used on Saturday! And, as I commented to Julie as we were finishing, an added bonus was that it was still light outside when we finished. Shocking! Shocking I tell you! (10:04, 10:12, 10:38, 10:09. Julie was motoring!)