Fish or cut bait

To say that I've been depressed about my running as of late would be an understatement. Despondent would be a more apt description. Here it is summer, when I have no classes to teach, no pressing obligations, no hectic schedule, and yet I still find it almost impossible to stick to my training schedule and get my mileage in. Classes start up in a few more weeks at which point all free time will disappear. I'll be faced with the same (if not worse) situation as last fall where I barely eked out enough training to cross the finish line for the marathon. I didn't like the way I finished last year. It was hard, I didn't feel well, and there was some serious doubt in the last 6 miles that I was going to make it at all. But that's what happens when you don't train well. Now it's one year later, I'm another year older (which doesn't make it any easier), and at 4 weeks into my training I'm falling apart. How can I possibly expect to succeed??? I believe the time has come to fish or cut bait.

I could never quit running altogether. My already increasing waistline tells me that. But this last weekend, when faced with a long run of 7 miles that I was unsure I could complete, I thought long and hard about continuing on with my training. I could just run 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week to try and stay in shape and forget about the marathons and other races. I had pretty much settled on that idea but there was this little voice in my head that said "Why don't you just go out and try for 7 miles and see how far you get". The little voice won out. This time. But honestly, I just don't know what's going to happen in the coming weeks. If I let things slip any more than I have already it would be foolish to even try to run in the marathon come November. I'm not a rookie - I know what it takes. So I guess I'd better get serious about this fishing or ditch the worms and find something else to do with my time.

It's all about the shoes

I've been slacking pretty bad since the Broad Street Run. That was such a depressing run that I really wasn't in the mood for running for awhile. Then I was busy. And it was hot. And a lot of other lame excuses to either not run or at least not run very much or very hard. Now I'm paying the price by being out of shape, flabby, and, well, just plain sad looking. I'm more or less done with serious work for the summer. I have various little projects that are on my "to do" list but they're small, simple, and for my benefit only (which means no one but me will care if they get done or not). This means I can take more time to focus on my running, and workouts in general. I went and bought new running shoes today which, for some reason, is always inspiring. Running in brand new shoes is fun! They look flashy, they're nice and springy, and somehow my legs seem to have more energy in new shoes. I know, it's all in my head but, hey, I'll take whatever motivation I can get. So I went for an easy 3 mile run this afternoon in my new shoes. Tomorrow I'll go for another run. The shoes won't technically be new but the effect of the "newness" should get me through at least the end of the week. After that I guess I'll have to go and by some new shorts.

In a word... UGH!

Yesterday's Broad Street Run was the most brutal race I've been in yet. It was 80 degrees and extremely humid. The race organizers sent out an e-mail the day before warning runners of the expected weather and asking everyone to take precautions.

I got stuck farther back in the starting line up than I should have (they organize you by expected finishing time). This wasn't a huge deal but it meant that, once I crossed the starting line, I had to work hard to weave through the crowd to get ahead of the people that should have been behind me. At mile 1 I was averaging the 8:30 pace I had hoped for. I got to mile 2 keeping that pace. However, somewhere between 2 and 3 I realized that I had to slow down. I also had to stop for water. In the last 2 years of doing this race I've never stopped for water. With proper hydration ahead of time I can make it the 10 miles to the finish line without having to stop. Not this year. I stopped at all but 2 of the water stations.

They opened up the fire hydrants along the course to help cool people off. I think I must have run through 10 of them. The water was so cold it would take my breath away but I think it was the only thing that kept me going to the end. The sound of ambulance sirens was almost constant in the background and at one point I was nearly run over by a stretcher as they took someone off the course. At the nine mile mark, just one mile from the finish line, there were about 10-15 runners laying on the pavement, in the shade of an overpass, being attended to by medical personnel. Instead of being disappointed in my time (now close to a 10-minute mile) I decided I was happy to not be among the fallen.

When I finally got back to my car I was still drenched from the fire hydrants. I had to get creative in order to drive home without completely soaking the upholstery in the van. As a side benefit from not pushing myself hard I am not sore at all today and I didn't lose any more toenails (although when you start out with only 7.5 the odds of losing one go down).

I'm supposed to be running the Race for the Cure this Sunday. I have to admit my enthusiasm for the event has waned as a result of this experience. Of course, the Race for the Cure is only a 5K and the current forecast calls for a high of 64 and mostly sunny. I guess we'll just see how this week shapes up. As much as I liked the fire hydrants I don't really want to repeat a race like yesterday any time soon.

Forecast

The forecast for Sunday now says 84 degrees and isolated thunder storms. I think I liked the near-90 but sunny prediction better.

5224

It's always exciting to get your bib number for a race. Somehow that makes it seem real. Of course, getting up at the crack of dawn, fighting with a few thousand other people for parking, and standing around before the sun comes up freezing your butt off also makes it seem real. But this is good, too. I still have to go into Philly before race day and pick up the actual bib, along with whatever running swag I can get for free. The goal will be to get in and out of the expo without succumbing to temptation to spend money on cool running gear. After all, I do need a new pair of running shoes.

My bib number for the 31st Broad Street Run is #5224. For those stalkers out there you can check out my time on the website. Sunday's forecast calls for a high of 89 degrees. Yikes! It says "AM clouds/PM sun" so perhaps it won't be as blistering as it might seem. Regardless, I'm looking forward to it.

You'd think I'd be more excited

The Broad Street Run is now only 12 days away and you'd think I would be a little more excited about it. But I'm not. My training continues. Without much ado. I've been able to stick to my schedule for the most part and my last few long runs were good. Nothing exceptional but then nothing worrisome either. I'm probably set up to run my usual pace come race day. I suppose that's why I'm not all that excited about it. I started the season hoping to knock some minutes off my finishing time this year and I don't get the feeling that it's going to happen. I'm not crushed by this revelation but then I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Now, I know some of you are probably thinking "But you haven't even run the race yet!" This is true. I could surprise myself. It's happened before. But I suppose I'm not willing to make any outrageous bets at this point. It's OK. I'll do my best on race day and be happy with whatever results I get.

As long as it's not worse than last year.

HOT

Well, after complaining about the cold for so long you'd think that I'd be glad for warmer weather. And I am. Don't get me wrong... I'm loving these temps in the 80's and up to 90. However, it's difficult to go from running in 60 degree weather straight to upper 80's without some kind of backlash. On Tuesday I got out for my run early. It was about 1pm and the temperature was probably around 85. I was thrilled to be out in shorts and a T-shirt and to be warm! That lasted about 20 minutes and then I was hot. After another 10 minutes I was TOO hot. I felt ill and had to actually walk for a few minutes. I quickly realized that not only was my body just plain not used to running in the heat but that I hadn't adequately prepared and I was dehydrated. I managed to run another 10 minutes and then I had to call it quits. I simply wasn't up to the task physically. I should have drank more water ahead of time. I should have waited until later in the day to head out when it would be cooler. Lesson learned. Luckily for me the temps are heading back down to more "normal" numbers for the rest of the week. Tomorrow's run should be easier at 4pm when it will be 5-7 degrees cooler. And I'll drink my water ahead of time. And then on Friday the high should be 61. Gotta love this spring weather!