Time on my feet

For the ten-zillionth time, the coffee hasn't completely kicked in. Oh, it generally helps a little, and I'm far worse off without it. But even with it, I'm not truly with it. On this day and many others, I just can't quite get myself up to top speed.

I should add that top speed for me ain't what it used to be. It always used to help to run with my training partners, but that's something I don't do at all anymore. Going to a track or participating in a race can also do the trick. But I don't do those anymore either. No, I wouldn't consider Friday's Brunswick Marathon an actual race. It was more of a training run, at least the way I did it. A training run for survival.

Today's sojourn begins with thoughts of scouting out a new ten-mile course. I have plenty of courses, but it's sometimes fun to explore new possibilities. You would think that I know all of the streets around my Brunswick, Ohio home, and I mostly do. But sometimes there are new combinations to be had. And sometimes a run will bring me down a road that is somewhat less traveled. It's good to explore. Kind of.

But exploring when I'm this tired makes the world go by much more slowly, whilst I stumble along. I take the familiar track up Hickory Ridge, Pearl, Keller-Hanna, then circle around the high school, trying to avoid the goose poopsicles again (like on Friday), then I explore Miller Road, Miner, and Gary. I return on Oxford and through the path to Jefferson before doing a couple extra miles around the other President streets. Really, not much new or unusual at all. Except to say that my early slow pace has only gotten slower.

Yesterday's run was slower still. But I did explore more then, running on a couple roads that may have been entirely new to me. After exploring the gem streets (Emerald, Topaz, Ruby, etc.), I crossed over Substation and turned West onto Cessna and then Cheyney. These roads were quiet and they went on for a good ways; my kind of running course.

Running slow doesn't make you slow. Not running fast makes you slow. I'm guilty of both. All the exploring is just fine. But all my slow training (with no fast stuff to speak of) manifested itself in a terribly slothful marathon. Yes, time on my feet counts for something. Finishing a "race" or run is nice, but it's no substitute for running well. So now I feel the need to get moving again.

The question is, when?

Day 68: Lying Awake, Wondering if there is a Dog

Did you hear about the dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac? He kept himself awake at night wondering if there is a dog.

1:30 AM: I am lying awake, figuring that it's an even bet whether I'll fall back asleep or not. It also occurs to me that hey - with all this extra time, I can make this morning's run a long one. I truly had not been thinking about this last night before bed. I'd been thinking that I may consider doing elevenish miles to make up for coming up short of ten yesterday.

2:15 AM: Whoa. It appears that I did fall back asleep. At least a little. Now I'll begin getting ready for that long run.

3:15 AM: Double whoa. I fell back asleep again. But I'm really getting up this time. I mean it!

4:00 AM: I'm becoming woke. I'd been working towards getting out the door by four, but I've only had two of three huge mugs of coffee. I pour the rest and also have some toast with jam and an apple.

4:30 AM: The run begins. It's ridiculously warm and still. The current heatwave has, so far, featured relatively comfortable humidity and relatively cool nights. Those days are now gone. The heatwave isn't fooling around anymore. I notice the nearly full moon, then nearby Saturn and Jupiter. In the middle of the sky I spot Mars, and then Venus rising in the East.

5:30 AM: Time for a necessity stop after those five one-mile loops in the subdivision. Afterward, I bring some water and gel with me as I jog over to the track. Only 13 to go.

6:00 AM: I crawl under the fence as usual. I will plan to do around seven miles here before my return. The sunrise is pretty.

6:30 AM: My pace, which had been extremely slow, has now picked up. I would call it. 'respectable'. I mostly hold to it while I'm here running in circles.

7:30 AM: I took a gel and I'm going home. Whoa. I'm tired, sore, and beat-up. I slow down. Then I slow down some more.

8:00 AM: The final three miles have been totally awful, but I've made it back home. Barely.

Day 67: When Coffee Doesn't Work, Part 215

Readers of this blog may remember some of my previous posts about coffee, the most recent being only a couple weeks ago. Usually, coffee does it's intended duty quite well, but other times it doesn't seem to work well at all. Today was one of those latter days. I call it sleep-running.

Maybe I'll be more woke for tomorrow's run.

Day 56: Coffee on the Run

Before a morning run, I'll often have a cup or two of joe. All the other times, I have three or four. Yes, I'm hooked.

In order to keep logging GVRAT miles, I am now streaking; running each and every day for around two months. And I am pretty sure that I had coffee or some other form of caffeine for each and every one of those 60 or so runs. Except today.

How did that work out for me, you ask? The results, as you might prognosticate, were as predicted; it was slow, and I also failed to get into double-digit territory.

Tomorrow may possibly be more of the same. I'm doing a mini-taper for the planned long run on Saturday.