All the help I can get

Long runs can be tough. Especially for a long run that's a week after one marathon and a week before another one. Especially, especially when I'm tuckered out from some fast-paced mid-week runs. I knew ahead of time that this one wouldn't be pretty. It just had to get done.

To accomplish today's Lester Long Run, I did some of the usual long-run preparation. Yesterday, I drank a lot of fluids, avoided eating too much bad stuff, and pre-packed everything I would need. I also solicited help from my running friends, who showed up for the early as well as the middle miles, thank goodness. Finally, I used some weird nutritional stuff.

How weird? The Haribo Goldbears (gummies), Caffeinated Propel "Fitness Water", and a can of Red Bull are all things I received at recent races and haven't consumed in decades.

Did they work? I suppose they didn't hurt. But having good running friends helps much more. The run got done. Barely.

Forever 21

21 miles on Lester today. I was even able to run miles 18, 19, and 20 at about marathon pace (sub-9-minute miles). I tell anyone who will listen that this is a good thing to do. It's too hard to run all 20-ish miles at marathon pace (except, hopefully, during the race itself). But if you can at least finish your training run at that pace, then you're on your way.

So, am I on my way, you ask? Not quite. 

Forever 21 is a chain of stores that sell clothing and other fashion accessories. I believe that they target their marketing toward people who are somewhat older than 21, but who would like to stop time to appear younger. And that was me today: stopping time to appear (in my case) faster. You see, I stopped my watch for the places Lester Rail Trail intersects with the road, but also, near the end, after every mile, to catch my breath.

Yes, I am on the upswing, but I still have a way to go. You might say that "I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep."

Peer Pressure

"C'mon," I'll say. "Everybody's doing it." That's about as sophisticated as it gets when I'm applying peer pressure to my running friends. Sometimes, it works. But I did not like it when Julie Boggs turned the tables the other day and applied peer pressure back at me. "You said you wanted to do two Hinckley loops, so are you gonna do it Sunday?" She asked. She may as well have added (with a Dirty-Harry accent), "Well, are you, punk?" "Wait," I said. "I'm the peer-pressure-er. I'm never the peer pressure-ee!" But my protest went nowhere. I was hooked. 

Now, it's time to get going on the adventure. Theresa Wright is starting with Julie and me, but is only doing one loop. It's warm and humid as always. We chat for a while until the first hill takes its terrible toll. It gets quiet as we transition from running to walking. Eventually, we can run again. Our pace matches the constantly rolling terrain.

Traffic is heavier than usual. A Jeep goes by a little too fast. A quarter-mile later, we see the vehicle off the road and into a ditch with some weeds. We ask if the driver is okay, and they say they are. They are on the phone, asking for help. As we resume running, we see a police cruiser heading over, presumably to help the driver.

That was tough. We finish that first nine-mile loop covered with sweat. It's time for Theresa to go home, and also for Julie and me to begin loop number two. It hurts. What hurts, you ask? Everything. I'm still feeling Friday's long run on Lester. That had gone well, about the same as last week's long, loping Lester run. Today, not so much. Maybe I need more than one day between long runs? Hmm. I'll have to think about that.

Julie, Dan, and Theresa between loops

Traffic is worse now. The sun is higher and hotter. Julie and I are both tired. But at least we're moving forward. Surprisingly, the car had already been removed from the ditch and was gone. We're both feeling sort of gone ourselves. We finally get past Effie and over to the downhill section of Kellogg Road and Route 606. We're gonna make it!

Second surprise: Loop 2 was nearly the same pace as Loop 1. I'm grateful that Julie peer-pressured me into this. But I'd never admit that to her.

Long on Lester, August 2025 Edition

It's quite probable that two of the most common words in the post titles are "Lester" and "long." It therefore makes sense that they would be used together for many a post. This is one of them.

It's Friday, and my friends and I had decided that today would be the day of a long run for this weekend. Works for me. Oh, it may be tough to run 18 miles after sitting in the car for six hours (driving home from Chicago), but it may work out. Or, it may not.

After ingesting plenty of caffeine, I am able to keep up with the early (5:00 AM) group. A few folks join and leave, but the pace actually gets even faster as the run goes on. My Clif Bloks and hydration drink appear to help, but it's mostly the good company that makes the run successful. 

Yes, successful. We complete the run in less than three hours, although there were a few stops. I'm always happy when I am able to keep up with everyone, and today, I can.

Tale of two tremendous training trots

Last week: It's Friday, and for the five millionth time, it's Lester Rail Trail. The weather is great, and I had been having a wonderful time running with my friends. Until they all left. Now I'm alone with six miles to go. 75% of the time, I slow way down at this point and struggle mightily to get up to the required mileage. Today, that number is 18 miles. And today, for a change, I manage to not slow down; I complete the run in an excellent (for me) time of 2:54. 

This week: It's Friday, and for the five million and oneth time, it's Lester Rail Trail. The weather is not so great (the humidity is extremely high), and yet I had once again been having a wonderful time running with my friends. Until they all left. Now, I'm once again alone with six miles to go. There's a better chance than last week that I might struggle mightily to get up to the required 18 miles. Yet today, like last week, I once again manage to not slow down; I complete the run in an excellent (for me) time of 2:56. Yeah, that's 2 minutes slower, but given the difficult conditions, I'll take it. What other choice is there?

I'm not sure what's going on here. It's a good thing, but it probably won't last.

Dearth of excuses

The Cleveland Marathon is now only a short couple of days away. Today, I ran with friends on Lester Rail Trail, and I cut the run short at only six miles. Although I had some slightly challenging runs last week, this week has been taper-city. As already posted, I could be doing more, I just don't want to. The weather looks like it will be favorable on Sunday. 

Of course, the question is, what can and will go wrong? I wish I knew. I suppose my biggest concerns are my weight (it could be lower), and my long run distances (they could have been longer). We shall see. 

I'm NOT shuffling. And don't call me Shirley.

Surely you're shuffling, Dan tells himself. His retort is, of course, I'm NOT shuffling. And don't call me Shirley. It's a lie. Shuffling is as shuffling does.

Today's Good Friday Lester Rail Trail run had begun fairly well. Dan had been joined by around ten of his best friends, several of whom had run with him for twelve miles. Too bad Dan still had six more to go. On some occasions, Dan manages to continue running well even after everyone else leaves. Today is not one of those days. 

Dan's pace becomes slower and slower. By mile 15, he's barely moving forward. He takes a gel in hopes that it will help him get through the final three miles. Three ain't so bad, right? Anyone can do three. And the gel ought to help. Or will it?

~ Brief Interlude: My First Time ~

Remember your first time? Of course, you do; everyone does. Mine occurred in the early 1990s. The occasion was the Detroit Free Press Marathon. It was late in the race, and I needed a pick-me-up, something to see myself through to the finish. Lo and behold, some volunteer hands me a gel packet. It was probably Gu, since there weren't so many different brands at the time. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I soon figured out that you tear off the top and shoot the stuff down your throat, followed by some water. And guess what? It worked! My pace improved enough for me to finish strong and have myself a pretty good race.

~ End Interlude ~

But would a gel work its magic when Dan is this far gone? There have been times when it didn't. As the shuffling gets progressively worse, Dan begins to understand that today, nothing at all is going to work. 

He does manage to get eighteen miles in, but only twelve of them were decent. Not a very good Good Friday run. 

Permission to fail

The original title for this post was gonna be, Monday Madness: Mindless Moronic Miles. That's because after five and a half miles in Roscoe Ewing Park with my running companions, Debbie Hicks and Shannon Barnes, our runner Dan found himself alone with nowhere to go except the track for enough additional miles to make it at least to double digits. 

Sometimes, Dan is able to gather himself together when his friends leave. Sometimes, he is able to eek out a not-so-bad run, whether on the boring old track or someplace else. This actually happened on Lester Rail Trail last Friday. The friends got done and left, and Dan managed to actually pick up the pace a little and complete a pretty-decent long run. Some days are good ones, others, not so much.

As he was trying hard to run in circles, it occurred to Dan that he was moving slower and slower, and that he was simply unable to get even as many as ten miles in this day. That would constitute a failure, for the distance was the main thing this time around. (The total ended up as nine.) It also occurred to Dan that once in a while, it's okay to have a stinker of a run. Failure happens.

The best a runner can do is to manage his or her failures. Manage them in such a way that they occur during runs that are less important than others. Others would include races and more important workouts. A stinker on a Monday morning training run isn't so concerning. So long as one bounces back. That's giving oneself permission to fail.

And bounce-back is Dan's middle name.

Rule of Thirds

Waking up before 3:00 AM isn't all that unusual. Actually starting the run before 4 is. Such a feat used to occur more often; I even had a slogan for it: Out the door before four. Alas, it's been a while. Today, however, a long run on Lester Rail Trail was the goal, and for some reason,  the earlier the better. Exactly what reason is that, you ask? Damned if I know. But it surely is nice to finish a long run and still have a good part of the day remaining for non-running activity.

Although I'm still getting my mileage in, this week hasn't been as good as the last one. After suffering from sinus issues for a few weeks, I had finally came out of it last week and began to run well again. And then this week happened. Our wonderful grandsons brought/conveyed to us some nice Middle-School germs that we weren't used to. And Bob's Your Uncle, we were sick all over again. All the germs tend to take their toll on my running. Therefore, this week was another not-so-good one.

But today would be different, I hoped. I started slow, but the pace improved when I was joined at 5:00 AM by two friends, and then again at 6 by two other friends. These guys and gals got me moving as the twelve-ish mile pace became nine-and-a-half--ish. Just what I needed. Although the total, overall pace never quite made it to sub-ten, it was a very good eighteen-mile run.

The best part? I learned something new: The Rule of Thirds. I'd heard the term before, but not in relation to running. And I kind of understood it intuitively, but it was good to hear about it from my running partner.

The rule of thirds in running is a guideline that states that when pursuing a big goal, you should feel good about a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time. If the ratio of your feelings is roughly in this range, then you're doing fine.

The rule of thirds can help you:

• Shift your perspective: It can help you realize that okay days are part of the process of growth and are not something to shrug off.
• Find the right balance: It can help you find the right balance between pushing too hard and not enough.
• Identify burnout: If you're having too many crappy days, it might be a sign of burnout approaching.
• Look back over your progress: It can be useful for looking back over your progress.

Generally, the rule of thirds can be applied to other areas of life, such as relationships and jobs.  

For me, I plan to do my best to guide my running such that my good days are for big efforts like race days, my okay days are for a great deal of my everyday running, with the crappy days interspersed in there. Again, I (and probably most runners) do know this intuitively, but it's good to recognize it and to be conscious of it.

The man who ran too much

Let's call him, "Dan." There's an old Alfred Hitchcock movie called, The Man Who Knew Too Much. Dan likes to say that he fits in the opposite category. But it's not quite the same with running. Dan ran quite a bit on his recent cruise, about like he usually does. But not so much recently. 

After all those 70+ mile weeks, Dan's total was much lower last week due to jet lag and the time spent traveling itself (over 30 hours from Singapore). This week, he thought, his mileage would be back up there. It started out okay, but then the residual cruise germs got to him. At least, that's his theory. Regardless of their origin, they've been manifesting themselves in his sinus area, causing an infection. Yes, Dan is fighting back, but, so far, he's not running as much as planned.

Today would be different, he thought. He's feeling slightly better, so it will be 18 miles on the dreadmill. The cold rain and snow of recent days makes running outside less compelling; it'll be nice and warm on the 'ole mill. Everything is ready for that long, boring morning, when Dan notices that his friends are indeed going to run on Lester Rail Trail. Dan thinks, 'Hmm. The rain and snow have mostly stopped. Maybe I should join my friends instead of being a hermit.'

He makes it out there, and it's cold and wet and muddy and snowy. But Dan's friends are there, and he has the run of his life. Or, at least the run of his week. Anyway, it is quite enjoyable. He's glad he did it.

So now, here's the problem. He only did 12 miles, instead of 18. Where will he get the miles he needs to continue to be the man who ran too much?

(in the voice of Crocodile Dundee): That's not a long run

A long run is 18 miles or more. Less than that, even a tenth of a mile less, does not qualify. Why, you may ask? Why make the threshold 18 and not 17 or 20? Why classify long runs at all? Good questions. Decades ago, back when 20 miles was the minimum for my long runs, I read somewhere that anything approaching 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) takes considerable effort and time, and therefore could be considered long. At that point, I knocked my threshold down a notch from 20 to 18. Don't get me wrong; twenty is still better than eighteen if distance is your goal. But many times eighteen is just fine or at least, good enough. I classify long runs as such because my log allows me to, But more than that, I prepare, pack, and act differently for my long runs. I drink more fluids and eat more carbs the previous day. I pack gels, bodyglide, and other stuff for the run. I also dress differently (or at least more thoughtfully), and at least begin long runs more conservatively whilst being more mindful of nutrition and hydration during the runs. For more long run information, see this post where I republished an article on the subject.

Today's run on Lester Rail Trail (my most frequent long run venue) begins slow and easy. My expected 5:00 AM companions do not show up, so I am running alone until the 6:00 AM crowd arrives. That's okay; I enjoy the cool early morning darkness. After such a hot summer, the chill is quite welcome. The stars are like bright little diamonds shining down on me. I never quite wake up enough to get moving very fast, but only five days after Akron, I don't mind too much. 

The 6:00 throng of runners consists of Shannon Barnes. Slim pickings these days, but I'm very happy to have Shannon's company. Now, the pace improves significantly. That's good; it couldn't have gotten much slower. We talk a lot, and this helps pass the time and the miles. Soon, we're done with another six-mile loop, but we decide to do two more miles, just for the heck of it.

When it's time for Shannon to leave, I decide to call it a day as well. I have 14 miles in, and I'm well aware that 14 is less than 18. That's okay. It's not a long run failure, it's a short run over-achievement.

Looking for loping long on Lester

Hello Lester, my old friend. I've come to run on you again. Because a vision softly creeping. Left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain. Still remains. Within the mound of limestone. 

It's still very dark, but I find Michelle Wolff wandering on Lester Rail Trail. She is looking for Andy and muttering that he must have gotten lost. That's a tough task on LRT, which is only three miles in each direction. We run together for a while, then I take off a little faster.

But not too fast. In fact, I go so slow at this early hour that I begin to doubt my ability to do a long run today. As anyone who knows me will tell you, a long run is 18 or more miles. 17.9 - not a long run. 18.0 - long run. My hope is that Shannon Barnes will help me get up to that mileage.

Shannon shows up at 6:00, and I only have five of the planned six in by that point. We put in eight solid miles together, but then I'm alone again. I still have five to go, and this is the point in the run when I often start slogging.

But today, I don't. I actually speed up a bit, and make it (barely) to the 18-mile mark. It turned out to be a decent long run. Two weeks till Akron, and one week since Erie. Giddyup.

Psoa maybe a little better

The psoas pain (or whatever it is) is still with me, but after some more stretching, maybe not quite so bad. Time to run long on Lester. This, on yet another very warm, extremely humid morning. I'm lucky to have friends to run with. I'm even luckier that some of them even stayed with me for the entire 18 miles today. That's 18 very tough, sweaty miles. Not quite as much joy as usual. But it still beats not running.

Mindless Madness

Bridge on the River Kwai is one of my all-time favorite movies. I've seen it about a hundred times. At the end of the movie, the Dr. Clipton character, flabbergasted by the events that transpired, walks around and exclaims, "Madness!"

It speaks to the madness of war, But it's also a metaphor for the current state of my running. 

After last week's failed attempt at a long run, I ran another 14 on Lester, followed by a rare day off, and then two 9-mile heavenly Hinckley Hills loops on Sunday, where I finally did achieve true long runniness. Somehow, it's all adding up to a lot. Maybe too much.

Today, I thought, would be easier. Just bang out a few mindless miles on the mill. It's what I did last Monday, when I similarly needed a bit of rest. But that didn't happen. At the last possible moment, I learned of a group run from the (Medina) Square. I can't not run with these friends, so over to the Square I went. 

It was a decent six-mile-ish run, and I was happy to be able to mostly stay with the small group. "How many more are you gonna do, Dan?" asked Harold Dravenstott, as he was getting ready to leave. "Double digits for the day would be nice, but I'm mighty tired," I answered.

Then it was time for some seriously mindless miles. These would be over to, and around the middle school track. When I got there, the mindless madness ensued. I suppose I could have kept going, but I did indeed become more than a little mightily tired. I got up to eight, which is actually 10 in base eight.

Want more mindless madness? Stay tuned.

Done, Done, or, Longing for Lester

We now have to park for our Lester Rail Trail runs at the corner of Fenn and Route 57. It seems that certain members of our clan were busted for parking at the York Township Municipality Lot too early in the morning. So I announced that today's run would begin and end at the new location with loops at 5, 6, and 7 AM. Those times are kind of typical for me and for me and for everyone else. 

The final 6 miles are often, although not always, pretty lonely for me. Most of my friends, it seems, work for a living and these runs are often on weekdays (today's run was on a Friday). They usually need to be done and on their way home by 7 or earlier. That loneliness often, but not always, translates to a poor finish to my long run.

Today was slightly different. Although I'd planned to be there for each start time, and although I did want to get 18 miles in, I decided to begin super-duper early (4:15) with Michelle and Andy Wolff, and thus have only about 2 miles left when everyone else finished at 7:00 AM. Surely, 2 miles alone wouldn't be so bad.

Things didn't go quite as planned. Other friends (Shannon Barnes, Chadwick and Ella Sunday, and Julie Boggs) showed up at 5 as planned. As we began talking, I learned that Julie had been planning on doing all three loops - the ones I had promised to be there for. Now, I couldn't let Julie run those last miles alone, so even though I had nearly 4 in to begin with, I agreed to accompany her for the 7 AM loop in its entirety. This would put me at close to 22 miles, which is 10-20 percent longer than my usual long runs. But if I say there will be a 7AM loop, dad-burn it if there won't.

Those final miles were indeed slower for me, but the good news is that they got done. Or, as I used to say as a Project Manager, they were 'done, done.'

The 19th

June 19th, otherwise known as Juneteenth, was a week ago. The new National Holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. There is also an online news organization called, the 19th. This blog post is about none of that. It's about Dan's 19th mile (out of 19 miles) today.

Dan's long runs haven't been so hot lately. Wait. Let's rephrase that. Dan's long runs have been too hot (although not very good) lately. The same goes for most of his recent running. The heat and humility sure do take a toll. (For a slightly more complete list, there's heat, humidity, hills, heavy legs, humility, hubris, and so on...) Yet, today's run hasn't been all that terrible.

He called out some friends, since companionship is never a bad thing, and they responded. He also got lucky with some slightly cooler weather. And he hadn't been on Lester Rail Trail, his old long-run stomping ground for a while. Put all that together, and you have the ingredients for a decent Day. And so it was, at least until now.

Miles 16-18 had been alone since all the peeps had to leave. They have real lives, you see. These are usually the tough miles, where a run becomes a slog. Today, however, Dan had managed to keep going at his decent just-under-ten=minute-per-mile-pace. But could he do it for one more?

Dan can call it quits at 18 and legally (by his own standards) still consider this a long run. Today, however, he is indeed going the extra mile. Literally. Lo and behold, even that one is somewhat decent. Should he go even one more? Call it an even, nice-round-number twenty-miler?

Nah.

The comeback kid

Sometimes, it's the time after a marathon when you feel like you are truly in good shape. Cleveland is now two weeks in the rearview mirror, and Medina was only last week. Although I've had some pretty stinky training runs between the two races and just after, yesterday and today saw some pretty decent ones. 

Yesterday was my long run day on Lester Rail Trail. It was a nice, cool morning, and (with the help of some friends), I kept my pace pretty steady at a bit under ten minutes per mile, and even my later miles were as good as the others. 

Today's eleven on the country roads around here was slower, yet this was steady as well. Steady is good. I'm pleasantly pleased. 

Seen on the run

"What IS that?"  I think I was the first to see it: a large bird in the middle of the Lester Rail Trail, right ahead of us. As we approached, it scooted off into the woods, never to be seen again. My working theory is that it was a wild turkey, since ostriches are far less common in these parts.

"Look!" I was the first to see this one as well: An owl up in a tree, looking down at us. I was too excited to explain it with any more words than that, but I did manage to point it out to my friends. "Is that the one that attacked your head," they asked? That incident was described in a 2016 blog post.

These sightings occurred during my long run for the week: a 19-miler. That will be the final one before next week's Cleveland Marathon. I (think/hope/pray) that I'll be ready.

Today's run will be around Chippewa Lake. But before driving down there, I went outside to look at the dark sky. There was supposed to be an Aurora Borealis show. And there was! There is a lot of light pollution in my corner of the planet, but I do believe I saw something: a faint curtain of light reaching up from the North.

Now, to top all this off, there's the possibility of spotting the Chippewa Lake Eagle. I'm not sure that that's his or her real name, but it's (I think) an appropriate one. A few weeks ago, during a run at Brunswick Lake, some of us saw an eagle in a tree overlooking that lake. That was pretty rare, but Julie Boggs got a good photo as proof. Too bad I have no such proof of the other sightings described above.

Eagle at Brunswick Lake

Mileage first

Mileage first, then intensity. That's the formula that I usually employ to get myself in shape. And, it's happening again, now. After managing to somehow pull through last week's half-marathon, I now have to get somewhat more serious about training. Cleveland is looming; it's only a month away. And I do manage to get a long run on Lester Rail Trail today, with the help of my friends. It was only 18 miles, and it wasn't all that pretty, but at least it's done. 

Now, I've got to keep the mileage up and then work on some intensity. But you already knew that.

Meatier!

It's that time of year: The Geminid Meteor Shower is upon us. I saw two during yesterday's long run on Lester. The funny thing was that my companions didn't catch any. I suppose that's because they weren't very bright. I managed to get 18 miles in, with the help of said running buddies.

Thursday's solo run was different. On my way up to North Park, I spotted a bright one. So bright, it was startling. You might even refer to it as a meatier meteor. By the way, I don't run up to North Park very much anymore because I'm running most of my mid-distance runs with friends. And this may be my last run that way for another long while - the city will be draining and dredging the lake, and closing the entire park for the year of 2024.