An ominous start

Today was Day 1 of training for the Broad Street Run in May. It was the nastiest weather imaginable today... rain, wind, at times the two together in such force that umbrellas were useless (and often turned inside out). I had pretty much figured on running on the treadmill but then the rain stopped and the sun even tried to peek out. It was warm, too, if humid. A quick check of the weather showed another line of clouds and rain moving in but I only had a 30 minute run on my schedule. For the first 15 minutes of the run it was glorious and I was considering myself so incredibly lucky to be out on the pavement in shorts and a T-shirt at the end of January. Then the skies grew dark. Then the first few drops of rain hit. And then the skies opened up. In less than 30 seconds I was soaked to the bone. The rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see the pavement in front of me. The water was so cold I was breathing in gasps. When I got around the block to my building a few minutes later I thought about cutting the run short but I realized I couldn't get any wetter so why stop now??? After a few more minutes the rain eased up so that I could at least see the huge puddles before I stepped in them. By the time I finished I had to wring out my clothes and it will probably be a week before my shoes are thoroughly dry. Hopefully this isn't a sign for how the rest of the training will go.

One month later

I can't believe it's been a month since the marathon. I've been running since then but really only a handful of times and all on the treadmill. It's quite pathetic. For the first week or so I couldn't run because of the painful toenail. In fact, there were only a couple of pairs of shoes that I could wear. But after that I really had no excuse. Just laziness. Well, there was work and all of that but still. I should be running more than I am (she types after spending the entire day at home in her PJs).

Believe it or not, training for the next race starts in a month. The Broad Street Run is May 2nd. It's a 10-mile run. I use my half-marathon training program which is a little overkill but I like it. After running my second marathon, a 10-mile run seems like a breeze. This year I'm going to try for a really good time. In 2008 I did 8:42 splits. Last year it was 8:40. I'm not sure what my exact goal will be for 2010 but it will be better than 8:40.

I'll only be running 3 days a week (as opposed to 4 when I was training for the marathon) so I'm going to try and focus more on my cross training and weights. I think that was my downfall this last time around. It will help that my teaching schedule is a little lighter this spring.

As much as I've enjoyed taking a break this past month, I'm anxious to get into a routine again with my running. Of course, having a foot of snow on the ground isn't exactly inspiring me to get outside but I guess I can make do with the treadmill for a month or so.

4:15 and two toenails

I made it across the finish line this year in 4:15:56. I was a little disappointed that it was 2 minutes slower than last year but given that I went into the race knowing that I wasn't in as good of shape as I was last year I decided to just be happy with that result. The run was definitely tougher this time around. The weather, however, was gorgeous. It wouldn't have taken much to be an improvement from the freezing temps of last year but really you couldn't have asked for much better than we got. It looks like I will be sacrificing two toenails and that doesn't count the one that I already lost during training. If I get below the 50% level then I'll really start worrying. I'm walking without too much trouble today - a little stiffness in the hip flexors but nothing serious. All in all, a decent race. Still, I'll hope for better next year. Yes, that means I'm going to do it again.

See you on the other side

I just finished my 20 minute run for the day. Seems a little silly to run for 20 minutes the day before you run 26.2 miles. I imagine it's mostly to keep the runner from going stir crazy. At least it allowed me to try out my clothing choice and see if I'll be warm enough tomorrow. Of course, I have to extrapolate how I'm going to feel after 4 hours instead of 20 minutes but still it's something to work with. I think the weather is going to be almost ideal, really, which is nice. I managed 8:35 splits for this short run. It still surprises me when I see times like that on my pedometer. It seems like just yesterday that a 12-minute mile was a good run for me. I certainly won't maintain that kind of speed for the marathon tomorrow (I only ran 2.5 miles today) but it's still neat knowing the progress that I've made in the past 3 years.

I'm heading into Philly in awhile to go pick up my race bib and wander through all of the cool booths at the runner's expo. I'm staying at a hotel downtown tonight so that I can avoid having to drive in at the crack of dawn tomorrow and deal with parking. I plan to have a nice steak tonight and go to bed early. If anyone wants to track my progress you can do that through the marathon website (http://www.philadelphiamarathon.com/). I will, of course, post results here as well. It would appear that there's nothing left to do but go buy some Gu packets. Thanks for all of the support. I'll see you all on the other side of the finish line.

Counting the hours

It's less than 48 hours until race time. I'm checking the weather forecast on an hourly basis. I'm obsessing about what clothes to wear. And I'm dying for a beer. After a horrendous telecon at work today I really, really needed a drink. But no alcohol until after the race. Of course, if I drink immediately afterwards I'll be a cheap date so that's one benefit. Actually, now that I think about it, there's usually a group of people handing out dixie cups of beer near Manayunk (the 20 mile point) but I think I'll wait until I finish.

I'm now a good mix of nervous, excited, anxious, and tired. I'm almost ready for this race. Almost.

The astronomer says what?

OK, I know I'm an astronomer and all but since when did it start getting so dark so early??? Stupid Earth tipped over, stupid daylight savings. I planned to do my short 30-minute run around 4pm today. I got waylaid with some other stuff and didn't get out until just after 4:30pm. I figured this was fine. After all, it was only 30 minutes, forcryingoutloud. Well, somewhere around the 20 minute mark I was running in the dark. D'oh! At least I was on campus where there are decent lights for most of the way. I had to make some adjustments to avoid parts of my loop that go into some of the residential areas which have no street lights and the short section where the sidewalk consists of ankle-twisting brickwork which is a challenge to navigate even in broad daylight. Despite my efforts to stay out of harms way I still almost got smashed by a car. Granted I was wearing dark shorts and a black fleece pull-over - not the best outfit for running in the dark - but you'd think that my pasty white legs would be hard to miss. In the end it was a decent run. I stayed warm, out from under tires, and I didn't face plant. I also managed 8:44 splits but it was only 3.5 miles. From now on I'll make sure to be done with my runs before sundown.

Dreams

I've had a couple of stress dreams about the race now. Last night I dreamt that I ran the first half of the race and then, for whatever reason, I decided there was something at home that I had to do. The plan was to return and finish the race but whatever I went home to do took longer than I expected and then I looked at my watch and realized that I wouldn't have time to finish the race before they closed the course. Weird. I guess it's to be expected with only 8 days to go.

The weather is iffy for race day. I'm pretty sure that it won't be freezing like last year, however there's a good chance it will be raining at some level. This raises the question of how to dress. I've run in the rain before but always short distances (less than 5 miles). I don't have any kind of rain gear so I guess I'll just get wet. If it's not cold then it shouldn't be a huge deal. But it's all still 8 days away and who knows what the weather will really be like.