A Rhapsody of Running in Romania

A Rhapsody of Running in Romania

Four twelves and a twenty-two. That’s the plan – for each of my two weeks here in Romania. The first week would start on Monday morning and I would do my four consecutive early morning 12-mile runs, take Friday off, and then do my 22-miler on Saturday morning. The second week would have to start with the 22-miler on Sunday morning, followed by an off-day on Monday, followed by the four twelves on Tuesday through Friday. How else to keep up with the 70-mile weeks and also accommodate my travel schedule? Of course the more important question is this: will my body be able to accommodate this schedule?

But whilst we’re discussing goals and objectives here, we should mention that there is one overriding goal: to return home as a better runner. This almost never happens because it’s so tough to control eating and training in general. But this time will be different.

Into the Early Morning Darkness
On Day 1 I woke up much earlier than the planned 3:30am. Did I mention the early hours? I have to be at the office at 7am each day. Working backwards, it’s about a ½ hour taxi ride from the Marriott to the office. I need 20 minutes to eat breakfast. I need 20 minutes to shower and dress after the run. And I need ½ hour or more to wake up before I get out the door. So that’s how I came up with the 3:30am wake-up idea.

I was out the door by four, just as planned. I started running around the Palace of Parliament in the early morning darkness. The Palace of Parliament is one of the world’s largest buildings – second only to the Pentagon, according to the Romanians. Whatever it’s rank, it *is* big. I remembered from my previous trips here that this is an easy and safe loop, but I couldn’t remember how far it was (maybe 3 or 4 miles?). My loop times were 18:00, 16:40 and 16:05, so it evidently was not as far as id’ thought. At least I was moving fairly fast, and getting faster. But I was also getting bored, so I did some smaller loops wound the adjacent park (Izvor Park).

My first day of running – about 12 miles in 1:41) is deemed (by me) a success. Now to keep the trend going.

Second Verse, Just Like the First
Day 2 was very similar to day 1. Once again I didn’t sleep enough, waking up before 2am. Once again I started slowly, but ran some decent middle miles. This time I did one loop in 14:52 – way faster than yesterday. Only one problem/caveat: I measured the course on mapmyrun.com and learned that it’s only 1.85 miles. So 14:52 is something like 7:45 pace, while yesterday’s 16:05 was about 8:30. I also looked at my times for these loops in 2008 and 2006. They were faster still, with some of the fastest under 14 minutes. Still, my 14:52 felt pretty decently fast. Some of the other back and forth to Piata Unirii (trying to find the best way to walk there to catch the metro) and Eroiler were also at a decent pace. So I’m calling this another 12 miles in about the same time as for Day 1.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The saying about mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the mid-day sun almost applies. For one thing, there are plenty of wild dogs running around all over in Bucharest. It’s almost impossible to avoid them. And although I haven’t been running in the mid-day sun, it’s been getting hotter here in Bucharest. It was probably in the low 70s as I ventured out into the early morning darkness this day.

This time I ran on the bike path along the canal. I ran here last time – it’s an ok run, but it’s a bit scary in the dark, what with the dogs everywhere and the possibility of tripping over something unseen. It’s 3 miles to the place where the path splits just before the lake, and I did this in a slow due to the darkness 28 minutes. I got back much faster since it was getting just a bit light – 25. Then I did 3 laps around the Palace. The first was a minute faster than yesterday, which was a minute faster than the day before. The other two were a little slower, but still better than 8 minute pace. After a little more running I was able to call it 12 miles in 1:40. Still hanging in there.

Hot and Nasty
Each day in Bucharest has been hotter than the one before. That goes for the early mornings as well. It was probably well into the 70s when I started my Thursday morning run. At least it isn’t too humid. After sleeping well the night before, I had another night with only a couple good hours. That has nothing to do with the heat; it’s the “nasty” part.

I started with 3 slow but increasingly faster loops around Izvor Park. I like this the best for running whilst it’s still dark – there is some lighting, the footing is good, and there aren’t too many wild dogs. A few homeless people sleeping on benches, but they haven’t bitten or chased me yet. As it got lighter, I went back to the Palace Loop area across from the hotel to start my terrible tempo training run.

It had been a while since I’d done a tempo. At 1.85 miles, I’d have to break 13 minutes in order to call it sub-7 minute pace. This would be yet another minute faster than yesterday, which was a minute faster than the previous one, and so on. I think my PR on this course was 12 fifty-something from 2006 when I was in shape. Would I be able to do it now? The answer turns out to be yes, barely – I did loops of 12:58 and 12:53. Not bad.

I did yet another Izvor park loop and finished up, getting my 12 miles in at 96 minutes, and so far fulfilling my goals. Tomorrow I get a day off before Saturday’s long run.

Not According to Plan
Although those first four runs were exactly as I’d planned, Friday turned out differently. I really wanted to catch up on sleep, and to just rest my bones before running long for two consecutive days on Saturday and Sunday. Didn’t happen. I woke up at 2am as usual. Out of bed at 3:30. I have no idea how I’m surviving on 3 to 4 hours sleep per night, but I don’t nod off too much during the day. So since I was up, why not go for a little run? It would actually be helpful to not have to do a long run on a day when I also wanted to do something touristy, like riding a train to Transylvania.

Thought I’d saunter around town and explore a bit. I’ve seen nice-looking bike paths through parks at the north end of town (I’m on the south side), but the problem is always getting up there: I’d have to run straight through the city center. So north I went. And I didn’t get there. I was just too tired of fighting the busy city sidewalks, traffic, dogs, etc., etc. I turned back after Piata Romana, did some dipsy doodles on old cobblestone and brick streets, and wound up in the Botanical Garden. So running in the northern parks also didn’t go according to plan.

Once in the Botanical Garden, I started to really enjoy the run. That’s got to be the prettiest running in Bucharest. Too bad it’s such a small park. Despite its size, I still managed to get lost. This, when it was getting late. Once I found my way to the exit, I had to hoof it to get back. And this, of course, was not according to plan.

I’m calling it 14 miles in a little over 2 hours. Probably being generous with myself this time because it was really slow going.

I got out of work at a decent time on Friday, so I hopped onto the mill for more. Running outside when temps are in the mid-nineties was not an option. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a bad mill run. I got 8 in, to get up to 70 for the week, and I was even able to get my weekly 800s in as well. It was 8 x 800 in 3:11 (15Kph). Not bad.

A Long Hot Long Run
My Facebook entry for today: ran in the heat for 3 hours, 10 minutes and then walked for several more hours, mostly through many of the fine, but too small for much running mileage, Bucharest parks. Among them: Parcul Izvor (where Madonna will perform on her Sticky and Sweet tour a day after I leave), Gradina Cismigiu (the botanical gardens), Parcul Herastrau, Parcul Kiselef, and Parcul Carol (pictured).

Yes, it was hot. But I ran ok for the first half as I stayed close to home. I did about 5+ loops of Izvor park, along with a few other nearby dipsy doodles, then did one loop around the palace to get up to 10 miles. Now it was getting lighter (and hotter), and it was time to explore a bit more. That’s when I slowed down. Mostly because I didn’t know where I was going. I did make it to Parcul Carol, and then I ran around there for a half hour or so before heading back through Izvor park one more time. I did the whole thing in 3 hours, 9 minutes. Calling it 22 miles. That accounts for a couple slow miles at the beginning, some sub-8s as I got moving, and then some other slow ones finding my way to, and around, Parcul Carol. Not too bad for such a hot day. I would’ve preferred to finish at top speed though.

Side note that you may have noticed above: Madonna will perform on her Sticky and Sweet tour on the 26th of July – just after I leave. I’m actually happy that I won’t be around.

Time Constraint
I got out the door later than I wanted on Monday morning. The weekend, the running, walking and general traveling, had taken its toll. I’d have to do today’s twelve in a relatively fast 95 to 100 minutes in order to get to the office in time. Naturally this didn’t happen. After a slow start, I did get moving fairly fast for a few of the laps around Izvor park. But then I slowed again for the final four miles – two laps around the palace. So it was 1:41 and change – still not so bad. And I still made it to work on time. Barely. I may standardize this 12-mile course: “over to Izvor, around the outside, 5 inside laps, over to the palace course, and 2 times around the palace before going back across the street”

Tempo Training Attempt
I figured it’s something like just over .9 miles around Parcul Izvor. I figured that to get to tempo pace, I’d have to do 3-4 consecutive laps under 6:30. If it was going to be 4, I’d do a tiny bit more and call it a 4-mile tempo run. So after a warmup of a few miles, I started. 1st lap: 6:36. Hmmm – could I still call this a tempo? 2nd lap: 6:32. Still slow by 2 seconds. Then 6:26 and 6:16. So – is this tempo training? After figuring it out on mapmyrun, I now know sure that it’s .91 miles around. And now the math: I really had to do 6:22 per lap for sub-seven minute miles. I only did one lap as fast as I needed… and this means I can’t call it tempo. The last few miles, including a last loop around the palace were pretty slow. Altogether I did the 12 in 96 minutes. Not too bad, but I want to be faster!

Tineretului
The name says it all. It is actually a place fairly nearby, according to my client, Dan, that is a decent sized park and a good place to run. He was right, but I have a tough time saying it and remembering how it’s spelled, so I just like to call it, “Tiramisu park.”

To get there, I ran through Parcul Carol, past the meanest of the wild dogs (got to go around the right side next time), out the back entrance, turn left on the busy street, and half a mile down a hill. By this time I was over 2 ½ miles into an extremely slow run. The entrance way was huge, and there were some booths and stands in the process of waking up. I went to the paths on the right and wound up on a bike trail. Although there were many other paths going all sorts of directions, I stayed with that bike path so I wouldn’t get lost here in the dark. And it was very dark.

I felt like I was running around the perimeter, since there was a wall to my right. I was also up fairly high, as I could see down a bit in the just-barely getting light morning. There was a lake down there, and I could also make out some buildings in the distance, which may have been the city center. About 45 minutes into the run I came to a guarded gate that I ran through and came to something that looked like an opera house or something similar. I turned back, running out towards a different exit, but then back around on the bike path once again, and back through Carol and over to Izvor park where I did a bit more before calling it a day. My slowest 12-miler yet –I’m tired and my thighs feel like hamburger.

Tempo Training Attempt Two
Out the door and over to Izvor park. The plan was to try again for a tempo run now that I’m more sure of the distances and the times I need to do them in. This would be the last run I’d have to do to make reach my stated Bucharest running goal. Might as well make it a good one.

After one dog in the Marriott driveway scared the bejeebers out of me, I reached the start of my Izvor park course intact. Like usual, I did one big loop around the perimeter followed by one fairly easy inside loop, after which I’d start my tempo attempt. I was feeling fairly decent and confident. The tempo attempt was stopped dead in its tracks by the vicious dog attack yet. The dogs in Izvor are usually not so bad, but this morning they scared me more than any had yet in Bucharest, and that’s saying something.

That had shaken me up some. After only one Izvor lap, I ran back to the start of my palace loop, figuring I would do the tempo attempt there. I’ve noted before that this course is interesting and familiar, but the footing isn’t so good, especially the 25 to 30 percent that is uneven bricks instead of asphalt sidewalk. There are also several curbs around the driveways to negotiate. But I was in no way about to do any more running in Izvor today.

First loop: 12:54. Second loop: 12:48 (a PR!). Third loop: 12:58 (!!) That was 5.55 miles at tempo pace – much more than expected. I did some more at a fast pace, so I’m calling it six.

Turned out that my last planned run here was by far the best. Goals– including the one to return a better runner – met!

Who’d’ve Thunk It?
I thought I was done for the week. Had my 70 in, and everything was fine. Didn’t get any speedwork in, other than the tempo and near tempo runs, but that was ok. Then I got out of work a bit early on Friday, my last day. You guessed it: I hit the dreadmill and did 800s. Six of them – a couple less than last week, but I didn’t want to over do it. Now I’m really done.

For more on my travel adventures, check out the travel blog.

For more on running in Romania, along with other daily activities, check out a day in the life.

A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life

Need to clarify that title: “A Day in the Life of Dan.” No, that still doesn’t really cover it. How about: “A Day in the Life of Dan Whilst in Bucharest, Romania.” OK, that should do it.

Why a day in the life? Just thought it may be interesting to document such a thing. The events described here take place on Monday, July 20, 2009, but they aren’t at all dissimilar to those of my other days in Bucharest in 2009. And they aren’t that dissimilar to my days in Bucharest in 2008. And, come to think about it, they aren’t that terribly dissimilar to events I’ve encountered in other countries and clients.

3:20am: I am awake and out of bed. The alarm won’t go off for another 20 minutes, but waking up before that has been par for the course for this trip. One would think it would be difficult to wake up and that I would want to sleep longer due to the time change. But I’m somehow getting by on very little sleep, and waking up at an early hour (last week it was often earlier still – like 2am) is part of that. I think my body has been thinking that I’ve been taking afternoon naps, because that’s what time it is back home.

3:30am: I am dressed into my running clothes, eating an apple, and going to the Concierge Room for coffee. It is open 24 hours and there’s a machine that makes good cappuccinos. I’m also carrying a disposable cup that I’d squirreled away because I knew from experience that they are sometimes out of them in the Concierge Room. That’s not the only thing I had squirreled away. Other objects include the apple and several bottles of water, all available from this room. As I arrive, it turns out that one other cup is available this time. I make a cappuccino in one cup, then the other whilst I slurp down the first, then a third back into the first cup. I will take those two filled cups back to my room. But before I leave, I take a walk around this large room. I’m not sure why the previous night’s activities here interest me so much, but they do. Although the folks who work here make an effort to keep the room clean, there are almost always some areas of leftover food and other stuff from the late night people. You never know what it’ll be. The most interesting leftover find is an occasional amorous couple in some interesting state, who are surprised to see me coming in for my morning constitutional. They often look guilty and leave immediately. One reason for some of the late-nighters is the fact that this fancy-schmancy hotel includes a casino. Today the place is empty however.

3:40am: “You have very nice Moose-Clees”. A well-dressed but slightly mussed-up woman in the elevator lobby of my floor is addressing me as I am trying to get back to my room with a couple coffees. “Thanks” I say, trying not to make eye-contact. I scurry along. “Especially your legs”, I hear as I’m being followed down the hallway. I quicken my pace even more. Luckily there’s a guy coming the other way. I think she turned to follow that poor soul, wherever he may have thought he might be going. Jeepers, it’s not enough to be chased by dogs every day, now it’s crazed women too. Once safely back in my room, I reflect that the whole episode was unreal, but it really did happen.

4:00am: I turn on the TV to have something to watch whilst doing my push-ups. Sky News has a live broadcast of Neil Armstrong making a speech at the Smithsonian. Yes, today is July 20, the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Armstrong’s speech is, of course, the night before in Washington, but there would be other festivities later today. I am deeply moved by this hero’s wonderful speech.

4:40am: I head out for my run. This is the latest I’ve gotten out yet, and it places a real time constraint on the run itself, not to mention the rest of my morning routine, since I have to be at the office at 8am. Why did it take me an hour and twenty minutes from the time I awoke to the time I’m walking out the door? There was the attack-woman and the Armstrong speech, but the worst thing was: I checked facebook and email, which I simply shouldn’t do before running – it takes up too much time.

4:44am: Whilst exiting the posh Marriott I run past the hotel door man, the taxis and a few other folks and stray dogs milling about. The people who haven’t seen me running by during the other mornings give me strange looks. It’s a little cooler this morning than previous ones, but it’s still warm – probably middle or upper 60s. I do some quick calculations: let’s see: I have to be finished by 6:20am, so this means I have to run my planned 12 miles in something like 96 minutes. That’s 8 minutes per mile. This pace wouldn’t have been a problem for the Dan of Old – even the Dan of 2008. But for some reason it is so for the Dan of 2009. I have done one of my daily runs that fast, but I’m not sure I can do one today. I figure that I’ve got to try.

4:54am: I arrive at the southeast corner of Parcul Izvor, the place where I start my timed loops here. Parcul Izvor is the location of Madonna’s planned concert on July 26, the day after I leave. This morning it is dark and quiet like it is almost every other morning. I make one circuit on the perimeter of the park, followed by 5 loops on the paved trails on the inside. These inside ones are, I figure, just short of a mile, so I time each one and try hard to get them well under 8 minutes. No one is sleeping on park benches today as they have on previous days; maybe that is only a weekend thing. When they are there, I always try to run quietly when I pass by. Also today there are fewer dogs running around than usual. They’re there, but just not so many.

5:52am: I arrive back across from the Marriott. I’ve been successful at getting down to a good pace but have to run some more: 2 circuits of Palatul Parlamentului, the Palace of Parliament, are planned. These loops are always interesting, and I’d do more of them and less in Izvor Park except that: the footing is not as good as it includes some very uneven bricks, when its early, its darker in spots and hard to see where I’m stepping, and there are more dogs – some in and around the gates - who tend to chase me. Other than that it’s fine. By the way, the dog problem is seemingly worse everywhere else in Bucharest. This is why I run more and more of my miles in these areas.

6:27am: I have made my two circuits of the palace, jog back over to the Marriott and stopped running. Only one dog had seriously chased me today. And this time I had counted (because counting is what I do) the gates to the palace: there are twelve. About half have armed guards who are sometimes opening them as I run by. Those two loops were much slower than I had wanted; I guess yesterday’s long run and walk did indeed take its toll. As I go up to my room I do some more calculations: I am going to really need to hurry getting showered, dressed and eating in order to make it to work on time.

6:40am: I am in the Concierge Room, trying to ingest as many calories as humanly possible in an extremely short time. Some would say that this is an area in which I excel. Still not a good way to enjoy fine dining. I grab eggs, bread, peeled/sliced kiwi, yogurt, Dannon Actimel (which I’m not sure, but I think may be good for me) and my favorite: smoked whitefish. I often skip lunch, so I don’t worry too much about all this food. I’ve done worse on other trips.

6:56am: I am now walking to the metro station. I could take a taxi, but this will probably be quicker, and it will also keep me from running out of cash. I used to walk a mile and a half to the Piata Unirii station where I catch the M2, Linia 1 or whatever line to Pipera. I get really confused about the names of the lines and the M codes for the metro trains, but I have learnt which go where to get the correct ones. I say I used to walk to Unirii because I’ve also learned that there is a closer station called Eroilor, although it involves making a connection. It turns out that I can usually save several minutes by walking less. My walk to Eroilor is an interesting one, past the military compound, and through the mixed use neighborhood. The houses are strange to me: they appear to be made of concrete or maybe stucco. They are fairly big, usually with 3 floors or so, but there are no yards or anything. They may be multiple unit things, but I’m not sure. Besides the dwellings, there are occasional bars and restaurants, most of which don’t look so great. The other walkers and I have to squeeze by the cars parked on the sidewalk.

7:10am: I arrive at Eroilor station. It’s a relatively quiet one. In fact, it’s nothing compared to Unirii and Pipera. For some reason today’s walk took a minute or two longer than usual, so I hurry down the metro stairs and happily catch a train.

7:13am: The train takes off after sitting for several minutes. I’m not sure why. I have a seat as it isn’t too crowded. But for some reason the trains on this line are all very hot and stuffy. It may be because they are at a higher level than the other line. So now I’m sweating a lot, even though the walk over had been cooler this day. Other mornings saw me sweating profusely as I got into the train. I’m not too concerned about the heat here today because it’s only two stops before I get off for my connection at Piata Unirii.

7:20am: Piata Unirii station is as crowded and crazy as ever. And it’s a long, crowded walk from one line to the other. Did I mention that it was crowded? I walk past the newspaper and bakery vendors, through the long, crowded tunnel, past the McDonalds, past more vendors and down the stairs to the M1 Linia 2 line.

7:22am: I am lucky enough to catch the train bound for Pipera without much of a wait. It is hard to believe how many people are cramming themselves into the train. It occurs to me that they need crammers here like they have in Japan to push everyone into the cars. Somehow I get in, but only barely. Everyone in the entire train is touching several other persons. Since I’m near the door, I have nothing to hold onto. I put my hand up to the ceiling to keep from falling into someone else. At least I wouldn’t fall to the ground. Others are doing the same. As the train moves along, a few get off at some stops, more at others. There will be six stops before I get to Pipera.

7:36am: The train arrives at Pipera. It’s the final stop on the line. Although there are fewer people on the train, it’s a mad rush when the doors open.

7:38am: I’m now walking out of Pipera station, and this is the craziest place of all. People walking in every direction, but mostly out. Vendors are selling newspapers, magazines and bakery. There are cars, trucks, vans, buses and trams all over the place, headed in every and any direction, each following whatever set of traffic laws that they deem appropriate at the moment. I must look for the company bus or van of the client I’m working with. They run about every ten minutes at this time in the morning. It is provided for the employees, free of charge. The one I’m looking for will be one of several different vans or buses that have the company logo on a sign in the window. It may be across the busy street in a tiny parking lot, it may be turning around, it may be parked illegally on my side, or it may be traveling slowly back to the office, all the while trolling for more employees. What’s really confusing here is that there are so many other vehicles from other companies doing exactly the same thing. Heaven help me if I board the wrong one and end up at some other company.


7:42am: I spot Bogdan, one of my clients, who is also looking for the company vehicle. Working together, we spot it – it had turned and is stopping to pick us up. As I board, the atmosphere suddenly changes: it’s tranquil and reasonably cool. Aaah, the wonders of air conditioning. Let the driver worry about negotiating through all the traffic. Bogdan and I converse about Pipera. It is an extremely fast growing suburb north of Bucharest. Only a few years ago it was farmland and the Pipera station was nearly deserted. Now there are a great many new office buildings, many of which house multi-national corporations. There are also new residences. The only problem is the (lack of) planning. The infrastructure has not even remotely kept up with the development. This is obvious to anyone who checks out at the amount of traffic – the roads simply can’t handle it all. And that traffic includes an occasional horse-drawn cart. I’ve been told that some of the residences were built before the roads, and now with these big houses are placed at odd angles, the roads will never be able to get to and through them. It’s like the Wild West out here.

7:50am: I arrive at the office with minutes to spare. I go to today’s conference room and wait for my clients to show up.

8:05am: I meet with my clients and do my counting. Dan, Gloria and the rest of the bunch are wonderful folks to work with.

12:00noon: I skip lunch because I had enough calories for breakfast and the cafeteria isn’t so great. I just sit in the conference room and continue to work.

4:40pm: I’m finished with my meetings. I head outside and look for the company bus or van. You guessed it: I go through the entire morning commute in reverse. For some reason the trains and metro stations aren’t quite so crowded at this time in the afternoon. Perhaps it gets worse after 5 or 6pm.

5:20pm: The walk back to the Marriott is a hot one. The worst part is the last hill just before the hotel driveway because it’s also the place where the sun is the hottest. I also have to scoot around even more cars parked on the sidewalks prior to that hill.

5:35pm: Half-starving, I have gone directly to the Concierge Room. They put hors devours out, and sometimes I can get a salad or some veggies along with something hot. No salad today, so I get some carrot and zucchini sticks. The hot food is breaded/fried fish. Poor selection on the veggies, but the fish isn’t bad. I’ll give today’s food a C+. It’s never been above a B-.

5:55pm: I call Debbie using Skype.

6:15pm: Our call ends abruptly as Skype crashes. I don’t think this is Skype’s fault; the internet connection is flaky. The funny thing is that it was better here in years past. By an unspoken agreement, I don’t try to call Debbie again – we now expect to be cut off at any time and therefore discuss anything important first. Today as usual we had done so before getting cut off. Now it’s time to catch up on my work and email. This ends up taking up the rest of my evening.

9:00pm: I’m in bed, reading. I didn’t have time to turn the TV on, but that is a good thing. There is less stuff on here than home. Here there are only three or four English language channels, and those are pretty boring. Time to zonk out so that I’ll be able to run tomorrow, when the whole thing starts all over again.

Still Waiting

The breakthrough definitely did not happen at the Muddy Paws 10-mile race. Not that I expected it to. I can't believe I did a 10-mile race in 93 minutes. That's a PW in spades. But then it *was* a tough one, being on the trails around the Kendall area. Really tough. And on top of that, Ladd said he believed each 5-mile loop was 5.3 miles.

The good news: I was 3rd in my age group and won the ability to pick from a box of stuff. I wound up with a pair of $50 Tevas. Not bad.

Waiting for the Breakthrough

Yes, I'm still waiting. Had a pretty good speedwork session Tuesday. 800s followed by 200s. Not bad, but not a breakthrough. Yesterday I got over to North Park and ran the trails. Today I did some speedwork-light - 3 x 1200 very easy. I'll probably run this Saturday's Muddy Paws race very slowly.

Long (the run, not the story)

Got a long run in today. Over to North Park and ten miles on the trails there (there's only about 2 miles of trails in the park, so I did the same loop 4 times and then some other trails for the other two miles), and then over to the track for 3 before heading home. I averaged 8 1/2 mpm. Not bad.

See? Told you it wouldn't be long. Now I've got to recover for tomorrow's speedwork.

North Canton Y 5-Mile

Five pretty good strong miles today. Too bad they weren't all in the North Canton Y 5-Mile race. I started off by running the 2-mile as usual for a warmup. As usual, I did the first mile easy at just under 8 minutes and the second mile hard in 6:10 or so. Pretty decent, thought I. Bodes well for the 5-mile, thought I.

All of those thoughts were as usual too. I've never ever had a good 5-mile race here, but I continue to run it because it's in the race series. So with hopes of finally getting a breakthrough, I started well with a 6:30 mile. Needless to say, it went downhill from there. Even so, I hit mile 3 in just over 20 minutes and mile 4 in just over 27 minutes.

At that point I still had hopes of pulling off a semi-breakthrough. If I could manage a strong mile 5, I might be able to do something like 33 and a half. But it wasn't to be. Instead I fell apart completely. Yeah, there were some hills, but I still should've done better than 7:17 for a 34 and a half. Bad form. The breakthrough will have to wait for another week.

Twenty on Ten

That's 20 miles on 10 hours rest.

I did the usual speedwork thing with the gang on Tuesday. It went ok (I generally kept up with Ladd), but I'm a little discouraged that I'm not seeing any breakthroughs. The workout was 3 x 800 followed by 4 x 400. Maybe the breakthrough will occur next week.

I slept poorly that night and awoke a little after 3am. Got out the door a while later, and figured I was out doing the run on 10 or so hours rest. Did 10 fairly slow miles, although they felt fast. By then it was raining, and heaven knows it's not at all possible to run in the rain. So onto the treadmill I hopped, and then I did 10 more. These were fast mill miles, but they were still only mill miles.

Today I did 10 more. Made my way slowly to the track and then did 4 x 1200. These were about as slow as speedwork can be. Another slog to get home. All in all I got 10 in today. Turned out not so bad.

Race coming up this Saturday.

My Three Races

What possessed me? I’d done stupid stuff like running three races in three days before, but never when I was in this bad shape. Not that I’m not on the upswing, as I like to say. But this weekend should make me or break me for the rest of the year. Ironically, my slowest race was my best, and I was thrilled with a PW (Personal Worst) that really wasn’t.

The Wadsworth Matchstick 4-mile was the Friday night race. Lots of friends from MCRR showed up, but not so many from the series. The hills were as tough as ever, and it was fairly warm at 79F. I ran a slow but reasonably steady 27:19. Since the turnout was lighter than usual, I managed to place 2nd in my age group. Got a $10 gift certificate to Second Sole!

What hurts, besides the slow time, is that 1st in my age group went to Doug Hradek, who I almost caught up to at the finish. I used to also be able to beat Doug in my faster days. Oh well.

On Saturday morning I drove out to the Green Township Y very tired, but not overly sore. The Green YMCA Caribbean 10K was not going to be a pretty one for me. I figured I’d start slow and try to keep the mile splits around seven minutes. Luckily it was cool and comfortable with temperatures rising through the sixties. With that conservative start I managed to run a fairly steady pace with nearly even splits. I came in at 44:39. This was obviously not one of my faster 10K’s, but under the circumstances, I’d have to take it.

Another funny thing happened: even with this slowest of 10K races in many decades I still came in 3rd in my age group. The leaders? Vince and Doug. Once again I had tried to catch Doug at the finish but wasn’t able to.

Now I added up my mileage and checked my average pace for the past week. One would think that after a tempo run, a speedwork session and two races that I could average better than 8 minutes per mile for my weekly seventy, wouldn’t one? It was 8:04. I guess this means I’d better do fewer miles. In fact, I’m thinking that next week will be an easy one for me, no matter how hard that is. Maybe this will enable me to run a decent pace at next week’s 4th of July run. Naaah, probably not.

On Sunday I awoke still more tired, but still not overly sore. This run would definitely be a slow one. Eight minutes per mile. If I could just do that for the entire NCN Columbia Station ½ Marathon, I’d have a PW, but I’d still be happy. For some reason, I’ve never run a really bad ½. As far as I can tell, my worst ever came in 1989 at the West Bloomfield half in 1:41. 8mpm would bring me in at about 1:44 and change.

But would I even be able to do eights? I did for the first six miles, but it seemed like faster than that. At about the ½ way point I caught Debbie and Ladd. I thought we’d run together for a while, but our reunion didn’t last too long. Ladd sped up, and so did I as I tried, unsuccessfully, to catch him once again. Debbie stayed back, but seemed to be doing fine anyway. Up until that point all my mile splits had been at or just over 8mpm. After this point, they were all faster than eights. Not that it wasn’t tough out there. There were some windy parts, and although there was no sun, the humidity was very high.

I took an energy gel at mile 9 and continued to gradually increase my speed. After 6 consecutive miles slower than 8 minute pace, my last seven were: 7:59, 7:54, 7:53, 7:58, 7:47, 7:21, and 7:13 for the final uphill 1.1. I liked that trend. In fact, I liked the whole race – I really enjoyed myself out there. There is nothing like the ability to finish strong. My overall time was 1:42:15, good for first in my age group.

But it was still a PW. Or was it? Ladd’s GPS told him that he’d run 13:67 miles. Other runners with GPS’ also said that they had it at ½ mile too long. ½ mile would be 3 ½ or more minutes. So it’s the PW that wasn’t. And the slow run that was my best.

The Fly and Me

It was about 4:30am when I stepped out the door, and this was a bad thing. I'd wanted to get out the door before four, so that I could run more, but that's not what was in store. I guess I have to get out of bed before 3:10.

It was comfortably warm as I started, and this was a bad thing. It meant that I'd be extremely UN-comfortable as my run progressed, especially after the sun rose. And of course this did turn out to be the case.

What do these bad things have to do with the Fly? If you combine them (starting late and hot weather) and also run on the Ohio country roads that I run on, you get attacks by deerflies. And this is a bad thing too. They drive me bonkers. I know that I could avoid them. I could get out earlier and do my entire run in the dark (I tried, I tried). I could use repellent (but I hate that stuff, and I always have the hope that maybe I can avoid the flies long enough so as not to need it). I could run more on the citified roads and avoid the country roads (but I love those country roads). I could just stay in bed and not run at all (this is not an option).

After about an hour of running in the dark, the eastern sky began to get light. And that’s when I got my first nibble. Or, I should say, the first nibble got me. I tried to brush it away, hoping beyond hope that it was just some rogue fly that was out there on his own. Nope. Soon I was being eaten left and right. I did manage to swat one and it fell out of my hand and onto the ground. But that’s just the beginning of the story. Here’s how I described this little incident in my Facebook entry for today: ‘ is sure this happens to everyone: you’re out running on country roads and attacked mercilessly by deerflies, so you swat one and it falls to the ground and you think, “at least that’s one fly that won’t chomp on me anymore”, but IT DOES, and you know it’s the same fly because it looks a little like Jeff Goldblum, so you swat it again and this time you hold it in your hand an pull off one of its little wings, PETA be damned.’

The rest of the story isn’t quite so exciting. I got back home for a pit stop after my 11-mile loop, then went out again, headed for the track. Those three miles were slower, but when I hit the track I really turned on the speed. Yeah, right. I did go from 8:30 and 9:00 minute miles to just under eight minute pace for three of the four miles there. Not so long ago I would’ve expected these to be sub-SEVEN minute miles. Today I was happy with the sub-eights. But then, suffering mightily, I slowed down again and struggled to get home in the heat. I’d wanted to do something like 22 to 24 miles today, but this run only added up to 21 in 3:01. Maybe next week’s long run will be better.

More On (or is it Moron) Speedwork

Just kiddn. It was great speedwork. And there was a good bunch o folks out there too. Never seen quite so many before. We did 800, 1200, 800, 1200, 800 and I'm pretty durn happy with the results. I think my running is getting somewhere.

Stamina

I've been talking about speed and strength, but there's a third component of running improvement: stamina. It's the ability to hold a relatively fast pace for a relatively long time. In order to improve stamina, one would do tempo runs and longer intervals at slightly slower than top speed. Today I worked on my stamina.

I took a long 5-mile route to the track and then did a 3-mile tempo run there. Although I've done a few on the mill, I haven't done an outside tempo run in a long time. I was very, very happy just to be able to do the 3 consecutive miles under 7 minutes each. Then I struggled home.

Now I've got to recover enough to be able to do the speedwork tomorrow.

Fathers Day, Solstice, Anniversary

Yes, it's all that. Number 34 for our anniversary. I suppose it's about my 30th Father's Day and my 56th solstice. Not sure how many total fathers days we've had - maybe 100 or so. Also not sure how many solstices we've had - probably on the order of 4.5 billion.

So of course the day is being celebrated by eating. We went to Madd Chef's for a nice dinner last night and are about to go again today for their Father's Day Brunch. We also had a 4-mile great hike on the towpath with Amy, who happened to be finishing up her run. We'll probably also see a movie.

On top of all that, I had a pretty good run today, finishing my 11-mile course in a fairly strong and steady 89 1/2 minutes.

Running in the Rain

There was a steady rain as I went out the door for my 16-mile run Thursday. I managed to keep a steady, but fairly slow 8:45 pace througout. It wasn't pretty.

Yesterday it was raining and I didn't feel like fighting it so I stayed on the mill for 6. It wasn't pretty.

Today I met Dave and we ran on the towpath to Peninsula and back. That's 14 (in 1:57) but with the extra running around I'm calling it 15. Yes, it was in the rain. And on the towpath, rain = mud. It wasn't pretty.

The good news? I'm continuing (barely) to get 70 per week in.

Strength and Speed

A few posts ago I wrote about Speed and Strength, so this time it's the other way around. Sunday I ran 22 .9 mile laps on the NC24 route. I done good, averaging just under 8 minutes per mile. There were a couple stops however. So that was the strength.

After a couple shorter runs Monday and Tuesday morning I showed up for speedwork last night and also done good. I was able to (just about) keep up with Ladd and Frank as we did 6 x 800 in about 3:11 or so.

Things are looking up.

That's Not So Raven

“Nevermore” was a lie. Yes, I had actually spoken the word to a gaggle of three ravens sitting in a tree looking down at me. They didn’t say anything back – but they did have knowing gleams in their little black eyes. I had passed them once before, and at two hours, twenty minutes into my planned three hour run, I was headed back and figured I wouldn’t pass by this way again. Ravens are near the top of my list of really cool animals. They are highly intelligent, they get along fairly well with humans and they mate for life. The Native Americans in Northwestern North America revered them, consistently placing them atop their totem poles.

This run in Jasper National Park would be my long one for the week. I’d been running about 90 minutes per day here and in Canmore, near Banff, without a day of rest; remaining vertical for 3 hours would be a challenge. But the trails are so wonderful that it’s easy to forget being tired or beat up. I started out from our Pine Bungalows cabin along the Athabasca River at 4:20am. This far north and only a week away from the summer solstice, it was already fairly light. The sunset is also quite late – well after 10:30pm or so. We never see darkness.

I ran up the long driveway to my first trail – Bighorn Alley. I didn’t see bighorns or any other wildlife here. At the end of this trail I emerge onto the main road right by a bridge over the river. I take it and then immediately turn right onto trail number 7 which runs along the river heading west. This is a very scenic trail – the river is a beautiful aqua color, and the mountains were beautiful in the morning as always. Soon I come across a couple female elk headed over to the river. I stay well clear – I’d heard that they’re particularly nasty now that it’s calving season.

At 90+ minutes into my run, I’d crossed another bridge and was now back on my side of the river headed east into Jasper Townsite. Jasper is a nice town and there are trails galore here as well as everywhere else in the Canadian Rockies. I pass through town and then head back up some of those hilly trails to the north. After passing the ravens that second time, I still had more running to do. I went back to the north on trail 2a and witnessed more fantastic views before coming back around and unexpectedly passing under the ravens a third and final time. That’s why my statement to them had been a lie.

I made it back in exactly 3 hours. Then it was time to get ready for a long hike with Debbie. But that’s another story.

Running in the Rockies

That's the Canadian Rockies, by the way. We're spending a few days in Canmore, near Banff, and then a few more in Jasper, followed by one in Calgary.

Just before leaving I ran 7 on the mill and then 2 more on the trails in Heritage park. This was significant for two reasons: one because I saw two dead, decaying dear on the trail (kind of strange), and two because this enabled me to hit 70 miles for the week. That's the first of those in a long time. I'm gonna try to keep it going though.

Sunday's run goes under the category of "whoa, I didn't think I'd see that!". There are trails galore in Canmore, and generally all over the Canadian Rockies. I studied the trail maps intently before venturing out. As soon as I found the trailhead, I got lost on some dinky trails and thought: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that! Whilst I was lost, I looked up at the towering mountains that had been gray and misty in the early morning gloom, and I thought: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that--- The tops of the mountains were pink. BRIGHT PINK. It was from the sunrise, of course, but I certainly did not expect to see that color this morning. Then I saw and animal right in front of me on the trail. It was an elk, and it was as big as a draft horse. You can guess what I thought at that moment: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that! I eventually found my way onto the better maintained trails and got 90 minutes in.

Oh, the sights you'll see. Some of Monday's run was similar to Sunday's. A little lost, but not as much. More pretty pink mountaintops, but not as much. More elk, and this time they wouldn't get out of my way on the trail. I ran along the other side of the river for miles and miles. What a great place to run. Call it another 10 in 85 minutes.

Tuesday's run was not so good. It was raining and snowing, so I didn't use the dirt trails which would've been muddy. I therefore didn't see any elk. I was feeling tired and lousy anyway. But I somehow managed to stay vertical for 90 minutes. A miracle.

My first run in Jasper was a beauty: all along the Athabasca River. Like Banff and Canmore, there are trails all over the place. These were as fine as the others. I ran the ¾ mile up our road to the start of the Bighorn Alley trail. I took that to its end, near a bridge over the Athabasca River. After crossing it, I continued to follow it on the trail alongside. The return was a little faster: my splits were about 47 and 42 minutes.

My Thursday Run was a long one. See my separate post: That’s Not So Raven.

Finally I also got a run in on Friday before leaving for Calgary. It was also on the trails in Jasper, and at times I ran at a decent enough pace. Other times, of course, I ran slower. 85 minutes in all.

And that's about it for running on this trip. For more about the trip itself, including pictures, see Debbie and Dan's Travel Blog.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

To me this has running implications. When I'm doing speedwork, it means getting in the first part of a repetition at a good speed but without working very hard. Before my body figures out that, "hey, I'm working hard and I should be breathing hard and hurting!" When I'm doing a long run, it means getting out super early and getting the first part of the run in before my body even figures out that it's awake and running at all.

Of course there are other reasons for getting out early: it's cooler, there are no deerflies or other bugs before sunrise, There is less traffic, I can get finished earlier... I could go on. I have to get these early starts in even when I don't have any pressing work or other commitments. I realize that I'm insane about this, but there you have it.

For today's long run I managed to get out about a half hour earlier than I did for last week's disaster. I'm not sure how much difference that made, because it was cooler and I was better rested this week anyway. So I started my first of four six-mile laps on the Lester Rail Trail at about 4:20am. It was still very dark, and that slowed me down a bunch, despite my little flashlight. That 9++ minute per mile pace didn't matter too much for me; my goal is always to finish strong, not the other way around.

My goal, in fact, is always to run each 6-mile loop faster than the one before. It's fairly rare to be successful in this, but I try. I also used to try to get under 7 minute per mile pace for most of the final loop, but this hasn't happened in a long long long long time. Now it's tough to get close to eight minute pace. I wasn't too overly concerned about the numbers today. I just wanted to feel strong the whole way and thereby expunge last week's awful death march.

How did I do, you ask? After the first loop of 55:38 it began to get light, so I dropped off the flashlight and picked it up a bit. The second was much better: 51:34. Would I be able to pick it up yet again? I was and I did, but just barely: 51:09. Then came the final one. That's where I completely fell apart last time. Luckily it was still cool. And luckily I didn't feel too terrible - just a little tired and sore. As I headed east on the trail, I tried mightily to pick the pace up even more. It sure felt like I was running faster than before. Too bad the clock doesn't lie - I was right on almost exactly the same pace as I was for the previous lap. As I turned and headed back, I realized that I'd have to pick it up even faster. The funny thing is that I did. Barely once again, but I did: 50:53 (so each loop did indeed get faster) to finish in 3:29.

That's only a few minutes better than last week's time, but I feel way better about it.

Balance

Yes, life is a balancing act. Work, school, home life, family and social activities all need to be coordinated in a balanced way. Someone once said there are seven ports of life (not sure what they all were, but the above bunch are probably five of them), and your ship can only visit some of the ports at certain times. You can sail to more than one in a given period of time, but not all, and it's certain that you'll spend more time at some of the ports than others. Finally, the ones you concentrate on change at various stages of your life. All part of the balance. Makes you think about President Obama's job.

I'd have to say that for me, at least, running is one of the important ports of life. I devote a lot of time to reading, writing, planning (the 24-hour event) my running, not to mention actually pounding the pavement and trails. Even this time has to be balanced with the rest of my life, and even within itself. For example, I try to run some speedwork and something long every week. I know that I can't do these too close together - I've got to balance the weekly schedule so as to allow for rest time as well as all the running. The original plan was to do the usual Tuesday track with the gang, and then a longer run later in the week. In the process I'd try to keep the weekly mileage up in the mid-sixties. All a matter of balance.

Tuesday track didn't happen. I'd had a hamstring problem, and was called to work at the store anyway. So today (Wednesday) I did 7 outside before hitting the mill for 6 1200's. I could've hit the track, but I wanted a decent amount of mileage, and as the rain began, I decided to do the rest inside. I *think* I should be able to recover ok in time for a long run on Friday.

The hamstring? I got that whilst running on the North Park trails on Monday. Half-way through the run I tripped on a rock that was sticking out of the trail by 1/16 inch. I stumbled forward for several steps, but barely managed to keep my balance and not hit the ground. What I did do, though, was pull that right ham. Had to limp home. I'm a little better now, but I'll need to be very careful with my speedwork.

So Monday's run was a matter of balance too. I didn't fall, so I kept my balance. On the other hand, hitting the ground may have been preferable to this injury.

Weekend

Another wild weekend in Cleveland. At least the Cavs lost, so that's one less thing to be concerned about.

Friday we had Kathy and Mike over for pizza.

Saturday it was running on the towpath with Dave and Amy (12 or so at 8:45 or so pace). This was followed by work, then Austin's graduation party (good to see everyone), then Iris and Mike's for the final disasterous Cavs game (but good to see them too).

Sunday Dave and I did his 10 mile loop at better than 8:30 pace and then we worked on his deck for the rest of the day.

Speed and Strength

You guessed it: I need to work on both. It's tough to do both at the same time however. I usually like to have worked on strength throughout the winter, and then begin on the speedwork in the spring. This usually enables me to gradually work into the summer racing season, and then still do a marathon or two as they pop up. But with the injuries, sickness and travel, neither my strength nor my speed is where it should be. Not that I'm not working on them.

I showed up for Tuesday track determined to do better than last time. I should have been - I was fairly well rested this time. And I guess you can say it was decent. This time it was 200's with only a few seconds rest in between. I did ok, but of course I'm still the slowest, by far, of the faster group. I did about 17, but the rest of the group did 24. At least I'm moving in the right direction. I'm sure this Tuesday speedwork is or will be helping me.

This morning it was an attempt at strength: four 6-mile loops on the Lester Rail Trail. The only problem is that it wasn't very strong. At least the finish wasn't. The first three laps went swimmingly well: 52, 51 and 52 minutes, respectively. The fourth got to me though. It was as bad a death march as ever: 58 minutes and that didn't count some of the stops.. I should've quit after 18 instead of toughing it out. As it wound up, this was very nearly a PW on this course. Here are the numbers from my training log:


Date Distance Time Course ID
9/2/2005 24 207 Lester Rail Trail 24
9/6/2005 24 201.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
9/7/2005 24 199 Lester Rail Trail 24
10/19/2005 24 201 Lester Rail Trail 24
6/15/2006 24 186.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
7/7/2006 24 185 Lester Rail Trail 24
8/16/2006 24 185.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
4/14/2007 24 197 Lester Rail Trail 24
6/4/2007 24 201.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
6/11/2007 24 197.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
7/29/2007 24 209.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
8/29/2007 24 199 Lester Rail Trail 24
7/1/2008 24 202 Lester Rail Trail 24
7/14/2008 24 197.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
8/4/2008 24 213.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
9/21/2008 24 202 Lester Rail Trail 24
4/18/2009 24 212.5 Lester Rail Trail 24
5/28/2009 24 213 Lester Rail Trail 24

Other stuff going on: not much work, but I did join facebook. And --- I have lots of "friends"! There is also a great deal of activity surrounding the NorthCoast24 run. I talked to the Cleveland West Road Runners club about it last night.

I'll probably stay up to watch the Cavs one last time tonight. I guess..

Holiday Weekend

Lots going on. Valerie flew in on Saturday. After some middle eastern food, we went to Charles Elkins' wine tasting party to benefit the Colitis/Cron's Disease foundation. Besides Charles and Tara, we saw several other friends from the MCRR. And of course tasted some wine.

Sunday was barbeque day. But first, in the morning, Debbie, Valerie and I went to Hinckley to walk and run around the lake. Yes, Valerie is running again these days. The family came over in the afternoon and we had ribs and chicken amongst other stuff. All good, as always. That night was the Cavs game, and they lost. Bummer.

On Monday morning Valerie and I went for another mile run around the hood. Of course afterward I had to make the required banana pancakes. All too soon thereafter it was time to take Valerie to the airport for her trip back to Chicago. Debbie and I then walked a nice walk in the Wallace Lake area in Berea. In the evening we went to Kathy and Mike's for more visitationing.

Running wise, it was a good weekend. I've alredy mentioned the Wooster 5k in a separate post, as well as a couple miles with Valerie in this post. In addition, on Sunday I did my 11 mile loop at a little slower than 8 minute pace, and today I did the 12-mile North Park run in 95 minutes. That's a PR for that course, although I've only officially done it 4 times. Still pretty encouraging. Now I'm pretty tired and sore. I'll need a bit of downtime now. I'll go easy on myself until tomorrow's speedwork.

Wooster Wellness 5K

You knew this wouldn't be pretty. And it wasn't. But I was happy to just make it to the starting line - not to mention the finish. Why do 5K's seem so long?

It turned out to be a nice morning, probably in the low 60s. I did the first mile in 6:40+, the second hilly one in just over 7, and the last 1.1 in 7 and a half or so. I finished in something like 21:20. At least it's not a PW.

This was my first race in the Subway/Ohio Challenge Series. I won't be challenging too many folks this year - I was 5th or 6th in my age group. But I have to get 7 in, and this was a start.

Trails

Since my last post was called Track, I decided to name this one Trails. There aren't many trails within running distance, but I did get to some today. It's 4 miles to North Park, then 2 loops of 2 miles on the trails there before heading home. So only 4 out of 12 miles of dirt. At least it's something. I definitely need to start putting in a greater percentage of my miles on softer surfaces.

The 12 weren't bad at all - mostly at 8 1/2 pace or better. It helped that yesterday was an off day, and I'd only done 3 easy ones on Wednesday.

Still thinking about what to do tomorrow - probably a 5k in the race series.

Track!

Yes, two days after the marathon I was on the track. This after almost no speedwork all year. But peer pressure from Connie did it. As it turned out, it wasn't pretty, and I certainly didn't set any speed records. But I was happy to get out and do it anyway. It certainly beat the alternative.

Where Can I Find Payne?

I parked on Payne Street, east of East 13th street for today's Cleveland Marathon. It turned out to be a long way from the start, and a much longer way from the finish. Not that the start and finish are that far apart, mind you. More on this later.

The Medina County Road Runners met up at the Free Stamp for a group picture. I just made it after a good warmup run from my faraway parking spot. Good to see everyone. I also saw plenty of my other good friends at the starting area. I told everyone that I wasn't in shape and just wanted to finish. When pressed, I said that maybe I'd go out at 8:30 pace.

Well that didn't happen. I went out at just under 8 minute pace. And I felt good. The temperature, which was in the upper 40s and lower 50s was great. It was sunny and clear. The only problem was the wind. It was tough the whole way, and never felt like it was at my back. But I held that 8 minute pace through 23 miles before the wheels fell off and I started my death march. Those last 3 were simply awful. Nothing particularly wrong - I was just shot. I finished in 3:35 or so. SO... Better than expected - but I didin't like that march of death at the end.

As soon as I finished, I talked with a couple friends a bit and then had to get to the store. That's when I couldn't find Payne. As mentioned, it was a long way, and it doesn't go all the way through to downtown. There I was, limping around and asking anyone else I saw if they knew where Payne was. "Where can I find Payne?" I would say. (I actually did add "street"!) All they had to do was point to me.

I did eventually find it and get to the store. And now I'm still in Payne.

Yiannis Kouros, Bart Yasso, and other Stuff

I had a nice conversation with Yiannis Kouros. He happens to be the greatest ultramarathoner of all time. After Joe Jurczyk had initially contacted him, I was trying to get him to do the NC24. It was a nice conversation, but he needs his expenses paid as well as appearance money, and we're still a poor race without sponsorship, so it won't work for now. Oh well - maybe some day we'll get that sponsorship.

I had a nice conversation with Bart Yasso. This was actually part of his speaking engagement with the MCRR. It was a nice talk. I'll also email him about his take on sponsorship after talking about it during the meeting.

Other stuff going on:

I ran abour 4 miles with Ladd, Marsha and some of the other MCRR gang before the meeting. I also did 2 more this morning. Got the Cleveland Marathon tomorrow.

Speaking of the marathon, I'm just hoping to avoid a PW.

Also speaking of the marathon, I volunteered to help with packet pickup this morning.

Also speaking of the marathon, I have to work at the store immediately afterwords tomorrow.

I haven't been around there much for the last few weeks - first there was Hawaii, then Peru, and last week I was swamped with work.

Achieving Eightness

Oh, I do it now and then. It's fairly common on the dreadmill, and I've done it on shorter runs. I also do it for parts of longer runs. But it's still fairly rare these slow days, and it's even rarer to do it for an entire run of any decent distance.

So I was happy to do 10 miles in exactly 80 minutes today. Now that included a little light speedwork, but it was still a pretty decent accomplishment for 2009.

My speedwork was 4 x 1200 at about 5:25 pace. Pretty pedestrian, but any speedwork these days is better than none.

Egads, I've Got a Marathon in a Week. I'd Better Train

Yes, the rest theory will be put to the test for my run at the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday. Altough I tried to get moving yesterday, I could only manage 4 miles. Today I was actually able to run 20 - 10 out followed by 10 on the mill. Not one of my greatest runs, but I managed to get through it. I have the morning time because I'm working 10-7 all week. Good for finding time to run, but very bad for everything else in my life. At least I'm home.

Running in Peru – My Final Run for the Trip and Sort of a Summary

I’d had hopes of doing another long run this week - the Cleveland Marathon is looming. But those pesky Peruvian germs got me again - yesterday I caught a sudden cold. I wasn’t about to miss this final opportunity for a run during this trip, but I would probably have to do it slower and easier than I would’ve liked. So I start slowly down the hill from the hotel and then onto the now familiar road that loops around the golf course.

I can’t say that my running in Peru has been great. My post about my first run here chronicled my circuit along with the accompanying pollution and traffic challenges. I’d gotten some decent mileage in that first week, including a slow 20-miler. That’s when the germs got me the first time causing that major GI problem. By the time I recovered, I was in Cusco, where at 11,000 feet, all I could do was shuffle around for a couple miles. (The picture above is actually of me shuffling in Cusco.) When I returned to Lima, I was suddenly running better than before I was sick. Monday I did 4 of the 2.85-mile golf course loops in record times, and Tuesday I also ran well, logging a solid 9.

Yes, after 15 to 20 circuits, the old loop around the golf course is very familiar now. The golf course, like everything else in Lima, is surrounded by walls. Starting at 5:30am, there is very little traffic, and I can do some of the running on the asphalt roads. Later, as the traffic builds I have to move to the concrete sidewalks for the entire way. There are four places where I have to cross the road, and this gets more dicey as the morning wears on – the traffic volume reaches a crescendo by 7am, but I’m finishing up by then. I run by the walls, the armed guards at the gates, the other runners (Peruvian and not) and of course the increasing traffic. Today I do 3 circuits, each one a bit faster. The last two loops are under 23 minutes – pretty good for me in this day and age.

Now it’s light out and I’ve got between 8 ½ and 9 miles in. I’ve got a little more time but I don’t want to fight the traffic and exhaust on another loop of the golf course. Instead I finish up on a 2++ mile loop of the mountain road by the hotel. It’s not really up on top of the mountain – it’s really just built into the side of it. It’s winding and hilly, and the traffic isn’t bad. I finish this in a decent 19 minutes to give me 11 total miles in 90 minutes. With my cold, this was better than expected, and the best pace for any of my running in Peru.

For more on Peru, See the old travel blog, horvaths travels.

Running in Peru

Here is a chronical of my running during my trip to Peru in April and May 2009. It may not be as Exciting or exotic as you may think based on the subject. On the other hand, I don't want it to get too Exciting.

For more on Peru, see the old travel blog.

That travel blog will also help explain the sudden stop in my running (hint: it rhymes with food poisoning).

Tuesday, April 21
Eight miles in 2 loops of the golf course. See my separate post on my first run in Peru.

Wednesday, April 22
I did 3 loops for 9 miles total in 78 minutes. Each 2.8x mile loop was about the same: 24:4x. Not too bad. Don't like all the concrete on the sidewalks though.

Thursday, April 23
This time I got an early did 4 loops. Woohoo. The lap times got better with each one, and this is something I ususally try for. It's still a little discouraging that it's so difficult to run any faster. I guess I'm just an old fat bald guy who tries to run, and there's nothing I can do about it. So it wound up as 12 miles in 1:45.

Friday, April 24
Decided to try something new today. It appears that it may be possible to get up the mountain that the hotel is built into, but that the road is from the other side. I tried to find it by running around the mountain, and I think I did find it. I didn't go up, however, because it looked too dangerous - no sidewalks or any other place to run but the road. I did a bit more around the side of the golf course and headed back. Call is a slow 5.

Saturday, April 25
Waking up with nausea in the middle of the night? Diarrea in the morning? Not good omens for a long run. But it was now or never - I had to go. I suppose it could've been worse. It was certainly slow, but surprisingly steady, with most of the 2.85 mile lap times within a minute of each other - even the last few. It was getting very hot at the end, but I made it. Six of the loops and then extra on the mountain road. 20 in 3:02 or so.

Monday, April 27
I didn't feel well most of the weekend, but this morning wasn't so bad. I proceeded very slowly, however. I did some back and forth on the mountain road and then one loop around the golf course. 6 miles in 57 minutes or so.

Thursday, April 30
Finally feeling almost human, I went out and ran 2 miles on the mountain road. Slow, but at least I could run.

Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3
At 11,000 feet, running in Cusco would be a challenge. Especially for me, having just arrived and breathing heavily just while sitting around. And having just gotten over being deathly ill. So this wouldn't be my best running. In fact, all I did was shuffle around town, walking and running. You could hardly call it running at all, but I will. Call it a walk-run mile for each of the two days. Took the camera and some pics too.

Monday, May 4
I've heard that you need 3 weeks at altitude to begin to achieve positive training effects. I had 3 days. Did it help? Well, I did have an excellent run today - my best in Peru so far. But then maybe it was just that I hadn't done a serious run in a week. Anyway, 4 loops, 12 miles in 100 minutes. Pretty good going! Loop times were: 25:02, 24:00, 23:25, 22:27. The last two were PRs.

Tuesday, May 5
I was a little tired and just a bit sore. But I wanted another good run today. Too bad I had a later start and only had time for 9 miles instead of 12. I did it in 75.5 minutes, so I'm still doing well. Maybe 12 tomorrow. Two golf course loops of 24:24 and 23:17. For the last three I did the mountain road loop (about 2.5 miles) and some extra. All in all, things are looking up, running-wise.

Thursday, May 7
I did 11 miles in 90 1/2 minutes. Pretty good going. See separate post for more on this one. The 3 loops were: 24:11, 22:55, 22:50 and the last 2.5 was 19:17.

My First in Peru

"Don't run there. They'll kidnap you." That was the word from two of my coworkers who had come here before me. Since being held for ransom is not being high on my list of life's enjoyable activities, I naturally took notice. I did some research and learned that there is a lot of crime in Lima, but mostly robberies and non-violent stuff. I talked to a runner who sat next to me on the plane, who had run here before with no problems, and who also said that the area around my hotel, the Hotel & Spa Golf Los Incas, is safe. Finally, I talked with the hotel folks, and they also said it was safe.

So armed with that information, and my own, "I don't not run" attitude, out I went for my first run this morning. It may not surprise you that the Hotel & Spa Golf Los Incas is near a golf course. It's actually built into a hillside overlooking the links. I can see the entire course from my 14th floor room.

The first thing I notice is the smog. Lima is on the coast, and is shielded by mountains to the east. It’s not unlike LA. And like LA, the smog is trapped by the surrounding mountains. Also like LA, but maybe more like Phoenix, it’s hot and dry here. It’s been in the 80s during the days and upper 60s and 70s at night. This morning it was probably well above 70. So that morning warmth is the second thing I notice.

I run down the hill to the road that loops around the golf course. I can’t see the course from here. It’s entirely walled in. Most of the neighborhoods on other side are walled in as well. So there isn’t much to see, other than the sidewalk, the road(s) and traffic, and some pedestrians. The pedestrians, surprisingly, include several other runners. And they don’t appear to be touristas either. This is good to see. I wave and say, buenas dias to the oncoming runners. Most respond in kind.

I only have to cross a couple streets during my loop around. I did run through one shopping area and around one traffic circle. I finish the loop in a bit over 26 minutes, so it must be about 3 miles – just about what I thought. I loop around again, and this time the traffic is much heavier. I do this one in 24 minutes, so it must be shorter than 3. I finish going back up the hill to the hotel, and then another couple miles going further up the hill from there before heading back down. I’m pretty hot and sweaty by the time I finish.

No kidnapping to report. In fact, it was pretty much an average old run, except for the pollution. I’m just happy to be able to run. Here's a link to the map of one loop:

Map

Later in the day I mentioned my running to some of my clients, and one lady told me about a race here in Lima. The conversation went like this:
Liliana (and/or others in the group): Do you run marathons?
Dan: Yes I do.
Liliana: There’s going to be a marathon here in Lima on the 3rd of May.
Dan: The 3rd of May? I’ll still be here. I’m going to do it. Are you?
Liliana: I may. Some of my friends are doing it. It is for, how do you say it? Women’s rights.
Dan: Do you have to be a woman to run it, or can men run too?
Liliana (and everyone else): Lots of raucous laughter. (I hadn’t intended it to be a joke.) Yes, men can run too. There are two categories: runners and those who aren’t serious runners.
Dan: Oh, you mean walkers? It takes a long time to walk a marathon.
Liliana: Yes, five kilometers is a long way.
Dan: Oh. You mean it’s one of those 5K marathons?
Liliana: Yes.
Dan (a little dejected): I guess I’ll probably run anyway.

This conversation could have happened in the U.S. 25 years ago – before everybody and their mother started running the 42.2K type marathons. It may be fun anyway. If I do run the race, you’ll hear about it.

Solid Six

Six decent miles before heading out. It's all I had time for.

Twenty-Four

Yes, it's the number of hours in a day. It's also the number of hours that will be run for the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run that I (along with several others) have been working so hard on. And it's official now: our run is also the U.S. 24-hour run national championship. For more, see the website: www.northcoast24.org.

And twenty-four is at least one other thing: it's the number of miles I ran today. This is a big deal for me after such a terrible winter of running. I believe it's my longest run in about 6 months.

With temperatures rising from the upper 30s to the lower 40s as the sun came up, conditions were perfect for a nice long run. The Lester Rail Trail was as pretty as always. I did 4 6-mile loops.

It was slow, but steady - most miles were between 8:30 and 9. The last few were a struggle, but I made it intact. Very encouraging.

Week of April 12, 2009

Sunday
After yesterday's fairly long run, I had some grand plans of another one today. Didn't happen. I was EXTEMELY tired. Not sore, just tired. Almost sleeping on the run. I only made it 8 slow miles on Substation, followed by another 2 on the mill.

Tuesday
I was tired after yesterday's all-day trip to Amish country with Dave and Carol. So once again I had planned to do more, but wound up with only 10 very slow miles.

Wednesday
I was bound and determined that come hell or high water, I was gonna run 20 miles today. I took one step outside and realized that there was indeed high water - a cold rain. My favorite. So I stepped on the mill. And I done fairly good - 20 miles at a steady sub-8 pace (zero elevation). I didn't have to hold on too much and I even felt like I coulda done more.

Friday
20 minutes of old, tired running on a nice day at noon. Don't know why the old body's so tired today. Must be spring fever.

Saturday
24 on the Lester Rail Trail. See separate post.

Week of April 5, 2009

Sunday: After all that travel... I didn't feel all that bad. I even woke up early. So I hit the old 16-mile route. I started off at a bit better than 8 1/2 minute pace, and managed to hold that most of the way. I did slow some for miles 11-14, but then picked it up once more. Splits were 67, 68, so I finished in 2:15, the best in a while. Nice Ohio morning, even though it was cool. Nice sunrise.

Wednesday: There's been snow and cold lately, so I haven't been running. This was to change today, as I planned a 20 miler. Since it was still cold and yucchy, I just got on the mill. Turned out that I started a bit late and ran out of time. Not that it was a stellar performance anyway: after starting well and even doing some 7:30 miles, I hit the wall at about 12. After that I was just limping through. I got to 18 before calling it quits. This was a little disappointing.

Thursday: Yes, of course I was tired and sore. But I did make it through my 6-mile course at 9-minute pace. I'll take it.

Friday: 3 tired miles on the mill. Nuthin much else goin on.

Saturday: I met Dave and Amy in the valley for our usual Saturday run that hasn't been so usual lately because I've been out so much. Today was back to normal - at least for today - I'll be out some more starting next week. It was good to get on the ole towpath once again. We also ran up to Brandywine falls and did the bike&hike trail and the old carriage trail. All of it was fairly slow but nice. I'm calling it 17 to make 60 for the week.

Wailua Falls! Slowly I Turn...

I still remember the old Three Stooges skit. Someone inadvertently says, “Niagara Falls”, and another person (Moe?) goes bonkers, saying, “Niagara Falls! Slowly I turn. Step by step. Inch by inch…” and then he beats the bejeebers out of the first guy. Come to think of it, this routine may be even be something that was old when the Stooges got hold of it. Maybe it’s from the Vaudeville days.

Wailua Falls is taller than Niagara, but has a teensy bit less water. There was some discussion about this in my guide-book, and that’s what got me thinking about the skit. It’s one of hundreds, or perhaps thousands here on Kauai. Some are bigger, some smaller. Wailua is famous because you can walk-up, paddle-up or drive-up to it. In fact, the road goes right up next to the top of the falls. And this, of course, is the object of today’s run.

I venture out into the early morning darkness from the Kauai Marriott and onto Rice Street. I’m immediately faced with a huge hill that will take me up into the town of Lihue. There isn’t much traffic this early, but I know it’ll be getting busier about the time I return. When I do see some cars coming towards me, I head onto the sidewalk, and bleccch, face-first into some rather strong cobwebs that had been strung across the path, between some bushes. Strangely, I’d had this exact same experience whilst running this same course last Sunday. Even though I was going the opposite direction, it seemed like it was this very same spot. Hey, maybe it was the very same spider. If so, I’ll bet he’s mighty P.O.’d by now.

I make my way through town and down a big hill just before Ma’alo, the road to the falls. Based on my measurements when I ran this course four years back, I know that it’s 3 miles to this point, and then it will be 4 more to the falls at the end. When I ran this way the other day, I got here in 26 ½ minutes. Today it is 25 ½.

Relative to the volume and intensity of my running before coming to Hawaii, I’ve been running my ‘Okole off since then. It’s been two whole weeks of running each day, including a pretty solid mid-distance effort at least every other day. This run will be a solid one if my ‘ole legs can continue to handle this pace.

Now I’m on dark, dark Ma’alo Road. There are no residences the entire way, just shrubs, trees and an occasional happy cow-in-paradise. I brandish my little flashlight to see where the heck I’m going. The initial big hill slows me down for the first mile, but then I manage to pick it up again.

After 3 dark miles, I see some lights. They are coming from pickup trucks driving slowly and shining flashlights into the bushes on the sides of the road. I don’t quite understand – are they hunters? I’ve heard it’s wild boar hunting season. If that’s what’s going on, is it legal to hunt with flashlights? I do my best to not look boarish, or boaring. But I do try to be seen, and I say, “morning” as I pass by. I hear some response from a couple of the trucks, but I can’t quite hear what it is. I keep running.

Finally I reach the falls at the end of the road in 59 ½ minutes – 2 faster than the other day. Oh, what measurement and motivation can do. It’s barely getting light at 6am, and I stop to admire the falls and stretch just a bit. The wild chickens-in-paradise, of which there are many, have started to crow. Other birds have started to sing their exotic songs. I reflect a bit that Debbie and I have been to six out of the seven inhabited Hawaiian Islands. Kauai is fantastically beautiful, and full of bountiful wonders like these falls. Yes, it definitely ranks in the top six.

Now it’s time to go back the way I came. Down, mostly, into town, and then down to the Marriott. I pass by the hunters again, and there are even more of them now. Many are parked, but some are still “patrolling”. As I pass by the mile markers, I can tell that I’m almost achieving “eight-ness”. That’s no small feat for me these days, especially on these tired legs.

Going back up the hill into town slows me down, but once again I’m able to recover. I stop to admire the wonderful sunrise. The sky is aglow with pastel colors – blue, pink and peach to name a few. Now it’s back down the hill to the Marriott. My legs sure do ache, but I’m getting there. I reach the hotel in 57 ½ minutes – pretty solid.

Time to pack and return home to Ohio. With thoughts, of course, of returning yet another time.

Hawaii - 2009

ICan'tBelieveILiveHere.com
That's the name of Rita and George's imaginary website. They may actually register it yet, and I hope they do. We had the honor to stay with Rita, George and Chessie (aka Kitty in Paradise) for the first couple nights of our 2009 trip. We didn't plan anything big - just a visit.

Unfortunately, Rita had experienced a death and an illness in her family. It was a tough time to be visiting. She was in the midst of planning to go back to Ohio the same evening that we'd be leaving for Kauai. George was recovering (well) from his knee surgery. In spite of this, we had a nice visit. Rita prepared some nice meals, and we took a grand walk along all of the Kameole beaches in Kihei. A highlight was seeing a whale breach just as we took a rest at the farthest point. George said he could hear the thing flop back into the water. Dinner that night was at Cafe Ole - a wonderful place that we'd been to before.

Rita and I had a very nice run before we had to go on Sunday morning. Sad to go, but it was on to Kauai, and Rita had things to do to get ready for her own trip.

Nualolo/Nualolo Cliffs/Awa-awapuhi Trail Hike
This was some hike. We'd been planning it for months, and it was everything we thought and hoped it would be, and more.

The early part was extremely muddy, and extremely downhill. It was more of a climb than a hike. A climb through mud. After 3.8 miles of thick, slippery muck, and nearly four hours of hiking, we reached the Lolo Vista viewpoint. It was indescribable. Such grandeur to look out upon the Na Pali coastline from the top of the cliffs. It might as well have been top of the world.

After backtracking a bit, the 2.1 mile Cliffs trail was fine, except for one eroded section where we had to literally hug the side of the cliff to get by. Treacherous doesn't begin to descibe the feeling of being inches away from a 2,000 foot drop.

The lookout from the end of the Awa-awapuhi Trail was the most spectacular yet. Simply fantastic. Then it was time to go back up for 3+ final miles of the 9.8. It was a steady uphill hike, not as steep as the climb down. But we were extremely tired and had to stop often.

We made it out alive. It took us over 9 hours - that's about 1 mile per hour - and we were exhausted as I ran down to get the car. What a day.

The Lady Adventurer and I were pretty durn sore for the next day or three.

Island Cars
This was our car rental company. Hertz, Avis, National, etc. are all available, but I decide to save some money with this outfit. I did probably save about $150, but what an experience. We wound up driving a complete wreck. It was so bad it was funny. The guy did tell us that we could swap it for a better one in a couple days, and that we did. Even then we had a problem with the newer car over-heating. I found the loose coolant cap and replaced it after filling it up, and then it was fine. So I guess it all worked out, and we still saved the money.

General Sightseeing
We've been checking out some of the same stuff we've seen on other trips, and also some new stuff, like a waterfall we'd never seen before. The same stuff included home-of-the-magic-dragon Hanalei area (although we'd never before walked that particular beach), Kilauea Lighthouse and Haena/Ke'e Beach. Ke'e beach gets my vote as the world's most beautiful. (Trunk Bay on St. John is second.) We walked it and gawked at the nearby Na Pali cliffs all along. We couldn't believe that we'd actually been on top of them a few days prior. Whenever I see those cliffs I'm always amazed that such an other-worldly place exists. We also saw a couple endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals sunning themselves on the beach there.

Timeshare Presentation
Yes, we'll listen for money. $100 in this case. It was at the Marriott's Waiohai in Poipu. We'd stayed there 24 years back, before it was leveled by a hurricane. Interesting to see, but timeshares don't make no sense at all to me, no matter how nice they are.

Our Marriott
Speaking of Marriotts, ours in Lihue is as nice as ever. We've got a fantastic view of the ocean from our 11th floor room. As nice a home away from home as you can get. Great gardens too. You should see them feed the koi.

Other Hikes
Nothing as big-time as that first big time hike described above, but we're doing other stuff as well. Lots of walking around the resort area, and then some other dirt trail hikes as well. One was the Kuilau Ridge Trail, which was near the middle of the island. The very middle is Mt. Waialeale, the wettest spot on the planet. We weren't far - the mountain was, as always, shrouded in clouds only a few miles to the west of our trail. But we stayed dry for this very scenic and relatively gentle hike. I think I speak for both myself and the Lady Adventurer in saying that we'd happily do this one again.

The Pihea Trail to Alakai Swamp sounded like it would be great hike. Unfortunately, it was raining and very cold (54F) as we started out. And then there was the muddy downhill slope. Not this again. The mud, combined with the cold rain forced us to turn back. The view of the Kalalau valley along the way was awesome as ever, even in the rain.

Just a couple miles back down the road, it was sunny again. We started on a Waimea Canyon hike. The trail descended deep into the canyon, and we turned back after a half hour or so. The best views were from the top, but at least we got a workout coming back up.

The Weather
In general, it never got hotter than about 76 or so. Never colder than about 68 (except at the start of the Pihea Trail in the rain at 4,000 feet. I think that Kauai is best in the summer - for a tropical island, it feels pretty cool in the winter and early spring. And we've had some on and off rain. One day Debbie and I started off on a walk from the resort amongst very bright sunshine and perfect blue skies. Wouldn't you know it? By the time we were about a mile away, a sudden rain storm drenched us. A Marriott coutesy shuttle came by and courteously picked our drowned-rat selves up.

Another experience was sitting down to watch the movie, "South Pacific" on the beach at our resort - they had set up a screen, loudspeakers, chairs, etc. The movie was filmed here 50 years ago, so it was appropriate. After some earlier rain, the skies were clear and there was a pretty sunset. Just after the credits came an airplane scene followed by the song, "Bloody Mary", and with that, the rain. In we went, saying we'll rent it and watch it in our dry basement.

Debbie was really pissed. "Where are all the %#$^* rainbows?" We'd been here a week and hadn't seen a single one. And we'd had plenty of rain AND sunshine, often both at the same time. Last I checked, those ARE the main ingredients. Finally we did see a nice bright one from our lanai. Then another the very next day in the Kalalau valley. Maybe they've been around all along and we just hadn't seen them.

Sunsets have not been overwhelmingly beautiful; it's often cloudy in the afternoons and evenings. The sunrises, however, have been sublime. The whole sky has been taking on watercolor/pastel hues, much to my enjoyment during my daily morning runs.

Allerton Garden
$45 each for a garden tour? And it was worth it? Yes, and yes. The Allerton Garden was truly beautiful, and Wendy the guide made it an experience to remember. It shows what an extremely rich guy who likes plants can do. Also included were some of the areas filmed in Jurassic Park - watch out for those raptors!

The Ends of the Earth
We all know it's Polihale, the wind-swept, sun-baked 17-mile beach on Kauai's western shore. Looking west from here, there's absolutely nothing but blue Pacific Ocean for thousands of miles. That wasn't totally true for us this time, since we weren't able to drive to where the road goes through the park - it was closed. So we were actually facing southwest, and could see Ni'ihou from here. But this stretch of sand feels like the end of the planet no matter what. You can walk for miles and hardly see a soul.

We pulled into a parking area and began putting lotion and otherwise getting ready for our beach walk. No other cars around. After I closed the trunk I asked Debbie if she had the keys. You can guess where this is going: car open, keys locked in the trunk. After much consternation, Debbie was able, with me prying the seat away, to reach behind the back seat and use a hiking pole to snare her key-containing purse.

After our beach walk and picnic, we had shave ice for the first time. Not bad stuff.

Restaurants
Duke's is great. Portofino is ok. Roy's, which we remember as the best Hawaii restaurant chain, was good but not as great as we remembered. Buffets at our Kukui's were very good, but too much. Gaylords in Kilohana was the best all-around. Our last day we went to the hole-in-the-wall Lihue BBQ, and it was really great. And it was also a fraction of the cost of the other joints.

All in all, we had a great time. As always. Time to start planning our next trip back!

Running in Paradise

I'll chronical all of my running in Hawaii here. It'll be two weeks worth of running, some descriptive and some not so much so.

Running in Hawaii is like so many other activities in Hawaii. A true pleasure. Yes, it's running in paradise. We spent the first two nights staying with our friends Rita and George on Maui, and then the next twelve nights in the Lihue area of Kauai.

Saturday, March 21
After the previous day's long trip, I didn't feel too awful. I'd planned to do this run with Rita (George is still recovering from knee surgery), but Rita needed to sleep in. So I went out alone. Rita and George live in Kihei. When we used to stay at a Maui hotel, we weren't too far down the road in Wailea. So that's the direction I ran. It was like old times - almost like going home again, to run past the old Renaissance hotel that's now being torn down. I also ran on the Wailea ocean path for a while and looked for whales. An easy 10 miles in about 90 minutes. Great stars. Beautiful sunrise.

Sunday, March 22
This time I did manage to run with Rita. I did 2 on my own first, but then the two of us ran towards Wailea once again. We started at 9.5 mpm pace, and then picked it up to 8.5 pace for the return. So once again it was 10 miles in 90 minutes, this time verified by Rita's gps. Great stars. Beautiful sunrise.


Monday, March 23
Now in Kauai, I thought I'd do this 14 mile run that I'd done several times last time I was here (2005). It takes me up Rice street, through downtown Lihue, and eventurally up a dark deserted road to Wailua falls. Only problem is that I got lost trying to find the dark road in the dark. I did another road instead, and then accidentally made a good sized loop and then returned to Nawiliwili. I also ran up by the local high school looking for a track, but there isn't one there. Still another beautiful run in paradise.

Tuesday, March 24
I didn't run in the morning, and wasn't going to run at all- we had this big time hike planned. See my separate post about the hike, but afterwards I had to run back down the road to our starting point to get the car whilst Debbie waited. After 10 extremely tough miles of hiking in 9 hours, it wasn't easy to run, but I managed. Call it 2 miles in 19 minutes.

Wednesday, March 25
Extremely sore and tired from the hike, I managed to drag myself out for some extremely slow miles around the nearby golf course. They're also building a lot around there, so it's pretty interesting. Another beautiful sunrise. 5 miles in fifty (50!) minutes.

Thursday, March 26
I felt a bit better, and I explored a new road today. Can't think of the name of it, but it is deserted for about 5 miles and winds west and south, more or less parallel with the main road. Also goes by the Menehune Fish Pond. It was pretty durn dark out there. I cut over to the main road (Nawiliwili) for the last few miles, and I picked it up pretty well on that downhill section, even managing to get to sub-8 pace for a measured mile. Altogether 9 in 79 minutes.

Friday, March 27
Another gorgeous sunrise, but then aren' they all? (the answer is yes). I just realized that I haven't missed a day of running here yet. And today I was up early for a company conference call (that wound up getting postponed) so I was out the door early. I did 16 miles at about 9 minute pace, mostly on that same deserted road as yesterday, and some over onto Kipu road. This was a pretty good medium-long run for me.

Saturday, March 28
I dragged myself out and did about 4 miles around the resort, airport and golf course. I'd forgotten that the roads do make this loop. It's not the prettiest whilst running by the airport however. I also did some extra unsuccessfully trying to get into the nearby stadium track.

Sunday, March 29
It was time. I'd done the run to Wailua Falls a couple times last time I was here, and dad-gum it if I wasn't going to do it again. I like this run - it's challenging and beautiful. I run three miles into and out of the town of Lihue. This isn't good when there's traffic, so this run is best on Sundays or very early. No traffic today. Just to the north of town, a road leads 4 miles further to the falls. The road is almost entirely deserted. And it's dark! The payoff at the falls is really cool - the falls are really big, and the road is right alongside. I made it to the falls in 61 and a half minutes. This was mostly uphill. Then it was back down to the resort, and this I did in 58 and a half, reaching home in exactly 2 hours. I was exausted, but it was a really nice run. I'll do it again, probably Tuesday.

Monday, March 30
A streak is a streak, so I dragged my weary bones out and did 2 very slow miles around the resort.

Tuesday, March 31
I had measured the nearby deserted road that I'd been putting so many miles upon, and it's 6 to the end where it meets the highway. So of course that's what I did today. It's amazing what measurement can do. Suddenly I was running much faster than I did before when I didn't know the distances. Well, maybe not that much faster. 53 1/2 minutes going out (and that's mostly uphill), and then 48 and a half minutes back down. Another great sunrise.

Wednesday, April 1
For some reason I decided to try that same route again. 12 miles two days in a row? Can that happen? You're asking the guy who once did the Tahoe Triple, but who's only a shadow of that former runner. But I did manage to do this run a second time. And faster too! 52 minutes out, and once again, 48 and a half back. The ole legs really took a beating on those hills, especially the down hills.

Thursday, April 2
Another easy day. I only ran to the end of the Nawiliwili pier, stopped to admire the sunrise (best yet) and then back for 2 miles total.

Friday, April 3
I did the 14-mile run to Wailua Falls once again. 1:57. I've written a little story about this run as a separate post.

After Running 2 Miles in the Last 10 Days...

I decided I'd had it with sloth. It helped that I was finally starting to feel better. Yesterday I did my 6-mile course in 53 minutes, took a GU and some water, and then ran it again in 51 minutes. Felt like I was flying that second time. And that felt great. Yes, I'm a runner again. Albeit a slow one.

After yesterday's run Debbie and I hiked the Old Carriage Trail. This was our final preparation for the big-time hiking that we're planning for Kauai. Stay tuned for more on that topic.

Today I was tired, and it was tough to get out. But I did manage to drag myself out the door, even though the coffee had never really hit home this time. I wanted to get at least 8 in, so I did my 4-mile course in an extremely slow 38 1/2 minutes. Then, like yesterday, I did it a second time, this time in a faster 37 minutes. It was kinda like running through jello. But at least I was able to get in some real runs for two days in a row. Now I'm ready for vacation.

One more thing: The 24 hour run website is finally up and running. Lots going on. This is very exciting. www.northcoast24.org

I Ran a Mile Today

My injuries continue to compound, causing me to take yet another week off. My fall was about a month ago, and I was starting to feel a bit better, when I somehow displaced a rib last week. Indescribable pain. I almost couldn't function as a human being at all. I somehow did manage to get to my downstairs office and do some actual work. But even that was nearly impossible.

About that rib. At least that's what the chiropractor (Dr. Lisa) told me. She said she relocated it to it's proper position, and voila, I'm better. Really. So she did do something right. Now I'm still sore, but I can actually bend a bit once again without too much excruciating pain. Thanks Dr. Lisa.

So I made up my mind to go out for a run today. I ran a mile, and felt so good that I turned back and did another one. I even broke 10-minute pace for the final 100 meters or so as I sprinted it in.

It feels great to be a runner once again.

Week of March 8, 2009

Sunday: Cold rain. Did I ever mention how much I hate it? I had it yesterday, and today I'd planned to run with Ladd, Marsha and company. I was in the car, driving through the 40F driving rainstorm when I turned back and jumped on the mill. There I did 9 x 1200 in about 5 minutes each. Not a pretty one, but at least I got something in. Got another cold - probably because of yesterday's run in the rain. Taking Zicam again.

Egads, it's March!

Not only is it March, but I've got a marathon in May. Not only do I have a marathon in May, but I've got a half in April. Not only do I have that half (and probably other series races), but I haven't been running more than 50 miles per week, and those have been super slow. I could go on.

So yes, egads is the operative word here. As in, Egads, I'd better start to train.

I hadn't done a 20 (or even 18) all year. Blame the maladies. And the lousy weather. So Monday, when temps were in the single digits, I stepped on the mill and did a lousy 20. It wasn't pretty. I took yesterday off. Duh.

I hadn't planned to do another long one anytime soon; probably 15 or so on Saturday with Dave and Amy. But this morning I awoke very early and decided to go for one again, this time outside.

It's always a good omen to be out the door before four. Don't ask why. It just is. I didn't make it today; it was about 4:15 or so. And it was stil cold - in the lower teens. But it was clear and the stars were pretty. I did my 16-mile course for 15, and then zigged and zagged in the nearby to make it up to 20. Those last 5 were quite a struggle. I even had to walk for a good part of the last one. So I'd have to say that this was even less pretty than Monday's run. Maybe it was because of getting out so late.

So now at least I'm doing long runs again. Maybe I should do *only* twenties from now on. I've got a streak of two going.

Week of March 1, 2009

Monday: Took yesterday off to travel home. Today I stepped on the mill and banged out 20. First 20 in a long, long time. It wasn't pretty. Next time I'll try to do it outside.

Wednesday: Another 20 on the roads. See separate post (egads it's march).

Friday: It was a nice day. Temps were in the mid 50s. I hit the track for the first time this year. It was back to reality in a big hurry. I did 5 x 400, and never broke 90 seconds - I averaged 92. Being slow wasn't so bad, but the p___ was. It's so discouraging to know that I haven't really healed in any of the three areas (foot, back/leg, side) where I've been hurting. They weren't all that bad until this run, where I pushed myself a bit.

Saturday: I had thought about doing 2+ hours in the valley with Dave and Amy. The rain, continuing injuries and general lack of gumption made me quit after about an hour twenty. Dave and I did tackle some big-time hills going in and out of the valley within Brecksville reservation, so it was still a workout.

Visiting Veronica (and Valerie)

Debbie and I drove through a driving rainstorm all the way through Pennsylvania. It subsided by the time we got to New Jersey, but Valerie's flight into Newark was nevertheless delayed 2 hours. Probably because they *thought* about rain that may or may not occur some day. We walked around Ikea whilst awaiting the flight. After we picked her up, we had to drive through NYC on I95 at 5pm to get to Veronica and Barry's. Lotso luck. We finally made it in around 7pm - 12 hours after we started out.

But that's when the fun began. It was Veronica's birthday (a big one!) weekend celebration, so after pizza, we had the scrumpti-delicious cake that Debbie had made and brought in the trunk. We watched Meed the Robinsons. Saturday we went to Norwalk's Maritime Aquarium, dinner and a little shopping. Then of course it was more cake, and also some cupcakes.

Sunday we dropped Val off at Newark (no traffic this time) and drove home. Great to see the girls. Lotso fun.