Historic Run

For those who are thinking about the Subject line of this post, you're probably wondering how an old bald guy can do anything at all historic these days.

Well I can't. Or at least I can say I didn't. But give me time. I still plan to be the Greatest Runner Who Ever Lived. It's just going to take time. But what was historic about this run was the location: Martinsburg, West Virginia. We were staying here in order to visit nearby Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; it came as a surprise to me that the town of Martinsburg is historic as well. Upon later reflection, it seems that all of the towns and villages in this part of the country have some local history to be proud of.

Martinsburg has buildings dating back to 1812, at the least. Many of the others are from the Civil War era. One of the most important events occurred when Southern troops led by General Stonewall Jackson, occupied the town, and burned some buildings including the train station and destroyed 38 miles of track, all with the help of a famous accomplice: a 17-year old girl.

I learned these events during my run, but then it got serious. Of course I had been running slow to take all this in. It was good to have an excuse, since I always run slow anyway. I hit the high school track to get on track, so to speak, and that did the trick. I was able to get a 4-mile tempo run in.

This brought the total to 13 miles. Not one of my very best runs, but a pretty decent one.

Sweet and Savory Sixty Mile Relay

Relays are fun. This one, the Sweet and Savory Sixty Mile Relay was especially so. Our team, Over the River and Through the Woods, was made up of Darryl Mika, Joe Vasil, Jerry Storer, Dan Ogonek, and Jan Frandsen. I knew Joe, Jerry, and Darryl from work, and it was nice to meet Dan and Jan.

There was a bit of trepidation on my part. I hadn't heard much about the event - would it even come off at all? I didn't know some of the guys - would we all get along okay, and would we all be able to run our legs during the event itself? I would wind up with the most mileage, including a tough leg 8 - I wouldn't let the team down, would I?

These and other fears turned out to be groundless. Our team - a bunch of slow old guys though we were, did just fine. Not great, mind you, but fine. I ran okay - slightly better than expected. And it was fun all around.

90%

Of course 90% is an attitude, since there's no way to measure such a thing. Okay, maybe you could consider heart rate, but HR is not the entire story, and besides, I mostly don't fool with it.

I do indeed fool with the 90% thing. Here's what it means: give 90% effort for 90% of the run. Why 90, and not 100, you ask? Good question.

The idea is that you are only giving 90% for that first 90% of the run, but you have something left in the tank for that final 10%. When you get there, then you give it the whole 100.

Event, distance, competition? Doesn't matter what or where. The 90% solution applies. I think of it during some of my more intense runs, especially races and intervals. Today, it was mile intervals. I ran smooth and fast for 3 1/2 of each four-lap effort, then put the pedal to the metal for the final 1/2 lap. The hope is that even at 90%, I'm still moving fast. Yet I have enough left to finish strong.

I've got to concentrate a little more to apply this in races. My 90% should equal my competitors' 100%. Then when I bring it up to 100, no one can stay with me. Another thing that helps is to be the greatest runner of all time.

AT - An Update

I know. You're tired of hearing about my Achilles Tendinitis. Believe me, I'm tired of talking about it, and tireder of having it in the first place. It's been five years, for heaven's sake.

Five years of general, nearly non-stop pain. Five years of step, ouch, step, ouch. Five years of trying everything and anything to fix it, with no lasting success.

Okay, now here's the update: I still have it. But there is some good news. I've been trying even more of the usual stretching and strengthening, but also Lidocane patches and kinisio tape. Some combination of all this, but I think mostly the tape, is resulting in reduced pain.

How much, you ask? Hard to say. But it is definitely noticeable. Will the improvement continue? Who knows. We can only hope.

With the reduction in pain comes more and better mileage. I followed last week's 26 with a decent week (over 70 miles, including some speedwork) and 24 yesterday.

I'm almost afraid to say it, but things are looking up.

Not Quite as Expected

Two weeks after the painful Cleveland Marathon; one week after the tedious Medina Half Marathon, you'd think I'd be ready for a break. But I did want to get a long run in. Long in today's case is defined as 20 or so miles. Any more than that would be icing on the cake.

Friends from work would be running on the Towpath as they often do on Saturdays. I decided to meet them, but to get some miles in early to ensure longness.

I'm awake at 3:30 and in the car at 4:20. I begin my run at Station Road Bridge at 4:55. The others (Joe Vasil, Mike George, and Scott George who's no relation) are coming at 7:00. I plan to circle back.

This provides two hours of tremendous towpath training trotting. In the old days, I could run from Station Road to Peninsula and back - fourteen miles - in two hours' time. Yes, I know. That was then, and this is now. I'll just do what I can. What I can and what I want are more and more frequently two different things these days.

I only manage twelve miles. That's pretty poor, but it doesn't bother me too very much. I did enjoy this return to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It had been a while. Too long, in fact. And as it began to get lighter, I did manage to pick up the pace. A little.

Scott, Mike, and Joe had planned on fourteen miles as well. My original plan was not to go that far with them; just enough to make it to twenty-ish. We get moving at an easy pace.

But lookyahere. After some nice conversation and other distractions, I find myself in Peninsula with them. Now all I had to do was run back.

This part is a little tougher. We become splintered a little, and I run mostly with Mike. It's good to catch up on even more stuff. Before I know it, we're back in Brecksville. I ran 26 miles.

That actually exceeded my expectations. And that's pretty rare these days.