REALLY?

I had a bunch of other comments about the Olympics, but now that the Games are over, they don’t seem to matter so much. However, since this is a cutback week and I don’t have much to say about my running, I’ll share them anyway.

BMX? Really? Does that mean cross-country running will make its debut in the next X Games?

I know it’s the Olympics and it’s about representing your country, but I’m really tired of all the flag draping. Here’s an idea, let’s make the athletes fashion their uniform out of an actual flag – sort of like a toga – and then compete wearing that.

Anyone else uncomfortable watching the interviews of Lolo Jones, Wallace Spearman, and Jeremy Wariner right after they fell, got DQ’d, and placed second?

And speaking of Jeremy Wariner, I really wish he would have gotten passed at the line, given how he let up and starting hanging his head before the finish line. His attitude was, if I don’t get first, then I don’t really care. Well fine - here's 4th place.

Platform diving looks “easy” – UNTIL they showed that panned back camera view where you could see the top of the platform and the water all in one image. Holy crap – that’s scary.

It’s really too easy to rip on synchronized swimming. But I’ll admit, the stuff they’re doing is pretty amazing – especially the Russian team.

I was trying to come up of a list of Olympians I’d most like to see in-person. So far it includes Michael Phelps, Kerri Walsh, and the entire women’s 4 x 400 team of Allyson Felix, Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, and Sonya Richards. I’m sure there are more – that’s just the initial list.

Speaking of Sonya Richards, did you guys know she’s married to Aaron Ross of the Superbowl champion New York Giants? I didn’t realize that. It was nice of NBC and Bob Neumeier to bring it up during every interview he did with her.

Quote of the day;

“You should walk off that mat with your soul gasping for air. I walked off, and I wasn't tired. And if I'm not tired, that's a problem. Wrestlers say that the most honest thing you'll ever do after a match is go back to your room and look at yourself in the mirror. I don't have to go that far to know this: I dropped the ball today.” – Dremiel Byers, Greco-Roman wrestler who was angry with himself after losing his quarterfinal match

MY ONLY HOPE

To be honest, I’m glad the Olympics are over. For me, the events and coverage didn’t live up to the hype and anticipation. If you watch NBC, then the Olympics only consisted of swimming/diving, gymnastics, volleyball and some track and field. As a track fan, I never knew when they were going to show any of the events. Maybe I didn’t do a good enough job of searching on my end. I’m sure it didn’t help that I thought the men’s marathon started at 8:30, rather than 6:30. By the time I turned the TV on, they were already at mile 21. Doh!

I came across a good article yesterday that talked about how the Beijing games had great preparation, but lacked celebration. I think a good indication of this was how far away the marathon spectators were from the runners. Sure there was “the tackle” in Athens, but does that mean spectators have to be 100 feet away the next time?

Everyone keeps talking about how London won’t be able to top Beijing. But really, who says they have to?

In a comment, Mark said my persistency is paying off. He’s probably right. However, it’s a little frustrating that I have to work so damn hard just to get back where I was. I mean, how can I hope to improve when it takes the entire training cycle just to get back where I was? What the hell was so different in May of 2007 that allowed me to run a half three minutes faster than Saturday? 5 weeks later I PRd at Grandma’s. I have 6 weeks till TCM and it’s hard to imagine PRing based on the difference in half times. My only hope is that conditions at Grandma’s that year were less than ideal – I know, that’s hard to believe.

Quote of the day;

“I didn't cross the line in second. And if I don't cross the line in second, I don't care if people are disqualified or not. I didn't deserve a medal.” – Shawn Crawford after moving up from fourth to second due to two disqualifications

ROCHESTER HALF RACE REPORT

I was originally planning on using Saturday’s half marathon as a workout by mixing in marathon and tempo paces. I’m not sure if I wanted to stick to Daniels’ program as closely as possible or if I was just scared of putting up a bad time and then having to deal with the negative feedback.

Well, while I was driving to the race, the idea of using the race as a workout went out the window and I decided to race. I wanted to take advantage of the unplanned mini taper – unplanned because I had some car problems and ended up taking Friday off – and the great weather. Friday it was 85+ degrees with a dew point of 67. Then a cool front moved in and Saturday morning the temps were in the 50s with the dew point even lower.

If you happened to read my race report from 2006, you know I went out way too fast (6:16 first mile) and died a painful death over the next 1:24. This year I definitely wanted to avoid that fate. During the first mile I felt like I was holding back and actually had thoughts that it was too much and I was going to pass the mile in 6:50 or slower. When I passed the mile in a controlled 6:27 I realized that with 12 more miles to go, I should be feeling comfortable.

Actually, having only held 6:25 pace for 15K two weeks ago, I was a little concerned that I was a tad quick. However, I felt in control and I was running with a nice pack of 3 other guys. We rolled off the next two miles in 6:28 and 6:26 and started to catch a few people in front of us. About this time it sunk in that I was feeling pretty good and that I could handle the sub-6:30 pace.

The next mile was 6:24 and I latched onto a different group of three, which included the lead woman. The two guys were chatting it up so I just tucked in and let them do the pacing. Mile 5 was the quickest of the day in 6:22. I missed the next two mile markers and when we hit mile 8, we had covered the last 3 miles in 19:21 or 6:27 pace.

This is where I made the mistake of thinking about mile 13.1 instead of staying in the moment and focusing on mile 9. As a result, the group of three got away from me and they would go on to put about 10 seconds per mile on me over the last 5 miles. While I struggled a little, I still managed splits of 6:29, 6:35, 6:29, 6:38 and 6:31. Results have me 20th overall out of about 600 in 1:24:38.

My 15K race report from two weeks ago made it pretty clear that I was not very happy with 6:25 pace for 9.3 miles. So running 3.8 miles more and only slowing down 3 seconds per mile is a step in the right direction. Maybe I’m actually racing myself into shape a little bit.

Finally, congrats to Kirk on his 2-minute PR. That’s a nice chunk when your previous PR was already sub-6 pace. Maybe his performance will inspire him to post on his blog and tell us all his secrets.

Quote of the day;

“I didn't know exactly where I was at fitness wise. Because of running more workouts in the heat, I was never nailing my tempo runs the way I have.” – Ryan Hall after finishing 10th in the Olympic marathon

WORDS TO LIVE BY

I’ll be glad when the Olympics are over – they’re really messing with my routine. I’ve been running more doubles lately because they allow me to watch the Olympics at night and sleep in a little each morning.

Last night I just ran an easy 5 miles. Tonight will probably be more of the same. I won’t go over 8 because I’m doing a half marathon tomorrow. I ran this race back in 2006 and my race report included the ultimate alibi. I can’t believe I didn’t include it in my article. Anyway, two years ago I ran like crap – barely breaking 1:30. However, that fall I snuck under 2:59 at Chicago. Just goes to show that you can’t pay too much attention to race results when you’re in the think of marathon training.

Outside ran a piece on the fittest real men in America. It had some pretty good words to live by;

I refuse to let work be the only reason I get up early or stay up late.

I’m not trying to impress anyone; I’m doing it for myself.

I’m not special; I think everyone has the energy to do it. Momentum is energy.

Don’t assume you have to stay with the template of “eat dinner, wind down, and go to bed.” If you have the passion, you’ll find away.

When it comes down to it, a 40-hour workweek leaves a whole lot of time to train.

Get rid of television and life becomes pretty simple.

It’s not a matter of making time; it’s a way to live your life.

Poem of the day;

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

– If by Rudyard Kipling

DEBBIE DOWNER

Let’s just say I’m not a big fan of having a 13-hour difference between here and Beijing. I basically can’t look at any website during the day without seeing some result that I was hoping to see on TV. And NBC’s coverage of track and field has been hit or miss. I was pissed when I found out the men’s 1500 meter results online, but since I didn’t stay up till 2 AM to watch NBC’s coverage, I’m glad I was able to at least read about the results. I still haven’t seen the race.

I will give NBC credit for their women’s marathon and men’s 10K coverage. Hopefully their men’s marathon coverage will be just as good. Having Ed Eyestone and Craig Masback in the booth seemed to work out pretty well for them.

Listening to a morning radio show the other day one of the hosts was talking about Usain Bolt and mentioned something like, “Well, they don’t have professional track.” I just shook my head. Maybe they don’t have a league in the U.S., but as someone pointed out, Asafa Powell’s $100K appearance sounds “professional” to me.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Bolt is pretty amazing. As Ato Boldon said, “The record I thought would be around till I die has just been broken.” I mean Michael Johnson basically broke a 17-year old world record by four-tenths of a second - that's huge over 200m. But then I thought about what Johnson said. That record shouldn’t have lasted 17 years to begin with. During that time it should have gradually come down. People are just now starting to run in that range. Even with all that said, Bolt is pretty quick. I wonder what he could do in the long jump.

Thanks to Charlie for pointing out this ESPN article on Katie McGregor.

Since I haven’t posted in 2 days, here’s an update on my training. Monday night I added another easy 5 mile run. Tuesday morning I ran 6 miles that included 5 times up the Bush Lake Road hill with a stride every time I reached the bottom. Yesterday I ran an easy 5 miles in the morning and then last night I ran a 10 mile progression run, dropping down to 6:30 for the last 2 miles.

Quote of the day;

“I tried to put a happy face on it. You don't want to be Debbie Downer and feel sorry for yourself. It's not like I'm the only person to finish fourth.” – Katie McGregor

PAST THE POINT

All right, maybe I was a little hard on myself after last weekend’s 15K. A week later I’m feeling a lot better and more confident. It probably helps that I’m finally past the point of dredging up tons of snot and mucus during every run.

I ended up taking Friday off because I wanted to actually keep my weekly mileage under 85. I was planning doing my long run on Sunday, but family activities made Saturday the better option. I wanted to get in at least 20 miles, but since I felt so good and the weather was ideal, I ended up with my second 22 mile run of this training cycle. That gave me 83 miles for the week on 9 runs in 6 days.

Yesterday I thought I’d slog through 12 miles on tired legs, however, I felt surprisingly springy for the day after nearly 3 hours of running. Of course, all good things must come to an end and this morning’s 5 miler was a very slow shuffle.

Here are my random thoughts on the Olympics so far;

What’s with the American gymnast wearing a pink outfit? Pink, white and blue?

Why do beach volleyball players have numbers on their uniforms? Do we really need to distinguish between 1 and 2?

Speaking of numbers, is there anything more useless than the hip numbers in track? 1) they always seem to fall off and 2) they already have bib numbers on.

It turns out watching the heats of the 100 meters is boring, but it’s still better than watching that equestrian event where the horse does different strides around the ring. Holy smokes, that was painful to watch.

I can’t wait until Usain Bolt starts using ‘roids. That will be really fun to watch.

Regarding Bolt, it’s kind of scary that my boss – the guy that determines how much money I make – thought that Bolt will probably be able to garner appearance fees of $10,000 - $20,000 after his WR performance. Now I don’t know the market for sprinter’s appearance fees, but I’m assuming it’s a lot higher than that. Hopefully it reflects my boss’s lack of knowledge regarding track and field and not his ideas on salary distribution.

Quote of the day;

“I just wanted to come in and make it in. I didn't make it in automatically but I'm safe, I'm sure I'm safe. Nothing to worry about - just go relax and wait for the finals.” – Bernard Lagat, prior to finding out he missed qualifying for the 1500 meter final by two-hundreds of a second

WORD OF MOUTH

Sometimes it seems that I get so focused on marathon training that I seem to forget to have fun along the way. By the time I realize it, the year is over and I’ve only run 5-10 races. And usually they’re the same races I run every year, so they tend to cause more stress because I start comparing year-over-year times. So when I saw a new 3-mile race planned for last night – when Daniels just so happened to have an interval workout on the schedule – I jumped at the chance to sign up.

I was mainly looking forward to a low-key way to get in some VO2 work, as well as the post-race beverages. Having one local brew pub furnish the beer is cool enough – but how about two different brew pubs supplying the cold suds? I know at least one blogger that will kick himself for not coming out and enjoying the Surly and the Flat Earth. Not only are we talking quality, but we’re talking quantity too. The Flat Earth bottle alone was 1 pint 6 ounces. Sorry Kirk, no wine was served. Maybe next year.

Best of all, I got to enjoy the beer with Katie and some of the Minnesota Red folks.

Oh yeah, the race…it went pretty well. I started out in 6th place before moving up into 4th before the first mile in 5:49. I held my position during the next mile, running 6-flat. With a mile to go I passed a guy who turned out to be 38 years old and ended up putting about 10 seconds on him before the finish – running the last mile in 6:01 for a 17:50 three-mile.

I finished behind Matt, a 19-year-old (15:32) who is trying to make it onto the UM team and Megan (17:25ish) who runs for a very good Princeton program. It’s funny because when I ran my 22-mile long run a few weeks ago, only one person passed me – some gal that I’ve never seen before. It turns out it was Megan.

Anyway, hats off to the folks at ACCUA for putting on a fine event. With so many weekends full of races, I’m guessing these week night events may be the wave of the future.

In total, the day's training included 5 miles in the morning and another 10 in the evening. Today will definitely be a very easy, low-mileage day.

Quote of the day;

“I didn’t know anybody who did it for health. You became intensely aware of your body, but it wasn’t like, I want to live a long life. It was more like, What can I get out of this machine? It was very competitive.” - Peter Hessler’s dad talking about the '70s running boom, in this New Yorker article on Ryan Hall

SEEMS ODD

Last night I jumped on the treadmill for another easy 6 miles. It’s been a little easier to double up now that the Olympics are on at night – along with the Twins/Yankees. This morning I ran 10 miles on the Hyland Park trails. Maybe I just have a short memory, but I honestly can’t think of a nicer summer – weather-wise. We seem to be stuck in this pattern of 60-65 degree mornings with a dew point around 58. Even the highs for the day have only been 80-85 lately.

The other night NBC was showing a clip about Natalie Coughlin. During they were talking about how swimming had consumed her. Finally, she backed off and took up some other hobbies to help create more of a balance in her life. Now she’s swimming better and enjoying it more.

I’ve probably mentioned it before, but that’s what I need. Doesn’t it seem odd that an average 39-year-old would put so much time, effort and thought in to trying to run somewhere between 2:55 and 3:05? Maybe if I had another hobby or two, I could worry less and run faster.

Maybe I’ll take up cooking or music or gardening. Any other suggestions?

Rocky posted his all-time favorite Olympic moments. That inspired me to google this moment. I’ve posted it before, but it’s worth another look.

Quote of the day;

“The man with by far the most powerful cardiovascular engine also had a history of saying he had little physical talent. The man with the ideal, seventy-seven percent slow-twitch muscle fibers and a heart rate that hit 210 beats a minute also had a habit of dismissing the importance of all that in effective racing.” – Kenny Moore, writing about Steve Prefontaine’s belief that one’s inherent physiology could be overcome by sheer will power

ABSURDITIES

When I like to balance recovering from a race, while still getting in my miles, I switch to two-a-days. So yesterday I managed two very easy 5 mile runs. And this morning I went 6 miles with four Bush Lake Road hills thrown in.

Sometimes with marathon training – as with the marathon itself – it’s hard to stay motivated for the whole way. It’s hard to watch what you eat, stretch, strength train, etc. for 18 to 24 weeks, while still running lots of miles and hard workouts. Needless to say, those ancillary activities have fallen by the wayside. Now with less than 8 weeks to go, I’m trying to get back into the swing of them. Let’s see if I can stay motivated now that TCM is drawing near.

It’s not Friday, but I have a bunch of links to share today.

Lots of people have helped with my writing and interviews, so I have no problem promoting other people’s stuff too. Early last year I interviewed Kara. Now she has started a blog about “the absurdities we moms face when we're trying to be mom, wife, employee (or employer), daughter, sister, friend, and the many other roles we take on; while making fitness fit into our lives.” And since she’s also a freelance writer, I’m guessing she’ll be able to string some sentences together – with correct spelling and grammar – unlike me and lots of other bloggers.

In case you missed it, Chris Lundstrom wrote this article regarding his thoughts on the Olympic trials. It even made the letsrun.com homepage, so you know it has to be good.

Thanks to Eric for this link about just letting anything go when it comes to doping.

Let’s do it – who cares any more. Legalize everything and let’s see what happens.

Quote of the day;

“The strength of my race was my strength, meaning late stamina. I ran thirty- to thirty-five-mile runs every two weeks. Frank (Shorter) seldom went above twenty (though he often did twenty several days in a row)." – Kenny Moore

"PR"

Yesterday I “PRd” at a 15K race. I ran 49 seconds faster than last year and broke one hour for the first time, finishing in 59:49. Complete results can be found HERE. And if you’re into the Minnesota Runner of the Year rankings, here’s an updated link.

It’s hard to be totally excited about a “PR” that you know exists only because you don’t race the distance very often. I mean, I’ve run faster than 6:25 pace for half marathons on numerous occasions. Overall, I ran a decent race. My splits were 6:15, 25, 22, 30, 27, 22, 26, 35, 32 and 1:54 for the last three tenths. For awhile it looked like I was going to be running all alone. Then at about 3.5 miles, the top 2 gals came by and I was able to work with them for the next 3 miles. However, when we went up the large hill for the last time on this 3-loop course, they gapped me. I thought I’d be able to catch them on the downhill, but I couldn’t and I ended up running the rest of the way by myself.

Of course, now I’m second guessing my marathon training. For example, numerous times I’ve run sub-6:30 pace for the Winter Carnival Half Marathon in January just off of base mileage and hills. And now, with a bunch of marathon pace and tempo workouts I can only manage 5 seconds faster per mile – for 4 less miles!

It seems like either; a) I’m not improving or b) I’m getting old and just fighting off the declining effects of aging.

Anyway, I thought the simple answer would be to increase my mileage and add in hills. But then I looked back at what I was doing last year before PRing at Grandma’s. Starting in April I actually began taking one day off per week and dropped down to an average of 60 mpw.

I need to figure out if I should stay the course, do more or do less.

On a lighter note, here's an Olympic poll;

What has been your favorite Olympic moment so far?

A) The Opening Ceremony
B) The U.S. swim team’s 4 x 100 relay team beating the French team
C) The return of Melissa Stark to TV

And speaking of the Olympics, I admit I snickered when I heard one of the swimmers last name is "Tancock".

I guess there are nude beaches in his country.

Quote of the day;

“Citius, Altius, Fortius - faster, higher, stronger.”

NOBODY'S BUSINESS

Fridays are quiet at work. I took advantage of having 3 of the 5 people in our department gone and came in a little late. I used the time to get in a longer run without having to get up super early. Don’t get me wrong, I still got up at 4:45 in order to get in 2 hours on the Hyland trails, but that extra half hour of sleep was nice – especially since I stayed up too late uploading my photo for the contest. I also loaded 2 photos of my dad because he can grow facial hair like nobody’s business. See…

Voting starts Monday, so I’ll probably link back then.

I’ve mentioned that I spent a year doing triathlons in 2003. That’s part of the reason I like to take jabs at triathletes. But honestly, a lot of the triathletes I know tend to really enjoy life and are very positive people. Maybe it’s the chlorine going to their head. Kathy recently posted some characteristics of champions that's worth a read.

Speaking of posts, or lack thereof, what’s happened to runnerville? You’d think with the Olympic Trials and now the Olympic Games, they’d have plenty of info for their site. However, their Runnerville Weekly podcast was last updated May 27th!!! And the Toni & Matt Show last aired on July 9th. It kind of reminds me of my interview site – at least I still try to have 1 or 2 new interviews a month.

Quote of the day;

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” – Olympic Creed

BLUNTING THE PAIN

Just an easy 8 mile run this morning.

Any gerbil owners out there?

All the sudden my daughter is on a gerbil-ownership kick. I’ve never owned one and really have no desire. I’m not sure what they do. Plus, I think all those rodent-type of animals tend to stink. But she really has her heart set on getting one for Christmas.

Thanks to Eric for providing a link to yet another article about the good and bad effects of coffee. This one claims coffee is not a diuretic – at least as long as you’re not pounding like 60 oz a day. Reading this article, it’s no wonder why coffee is the best darn wonder drug around;

...consumers report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability...The drug improves alertness and reaction time. In the sleep-deprived, it improves memory and the ability to perform complex tasks...For the active, caffeine enhances endurance in aerobic activities and performance in anaerobic ones, perhaps because it blunts the perception of pain and aids the ability to burn fat for fuel instead of its carbohydrates.

Now I’m a coffee drinker, but because I run so early, I wait until afterwards to indulge. For that reason, I very rarely drink coffee before a race. It seems like I’m missing out on some positive performance enhancing benefits. I mean “blunting the perception of pain”. Does it get any better than that for a distance runner?

So my neighbor is a blogger. However, he’s a biker, so I haven’t linked to his site. Besides, you know runners and bikers are like unspoken enemies. Anyway, he has a link to a buddy’s blog that contains some awesome photos. Check out his July 19th photo collage, which is set to Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! I have no idea how to take such amazing photos, but I’d like to learn.

Quote of the day;

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss

ALMOST COMICAL

Lots here today...bear with me.

If I had just turn 40 last week, the way I’ve been feeling lately would almost be comical. I’ve already blogged about my quad and my cold. Now I have this “wrist thing” that’s quite annoying. It feels like it needs to crack and every so often pain shoots right up my arm. It may have been related to the barn falling on my head, as it seemed to have started about the same time. It cleared up for awhile, but now it’s back. This doesn’t even include the raspberry I get on my chest whenever I wear my HRM or the raw nipples anytime I wear a shirt for more than 12 miles. Heck, I’m still only 39, so shouldn’t I have another year before my body breaks down?

This morning I managed my first hard workout in a week. Daniels called for tempo runs of 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 minutes with easy runs of 5, 4, 3 and 2 minutes in between. Since that would have given me 17 miles and forced me to get up at like 4:15, I cut out the 15 minute tempo and ended up with 14 miles. The last time I did this type of workout it totaled 50 minutes of tempo. I had 60 minutes at tempo today, so I’m not too concerned with skipping that 15 minute portion.

It was a little warm and sticky; 70 degrees with a dew point of 60. Whatever weight I lost in sweat was equaled in mucus – just what you wanted to know.

Recently I was reading some stuff on managing pain. You know, stuff like, the more pain you can handle the faster you’ll run, etc. Then I was thinking back to Ryan Hall’s Quote of the Day from a few weeks ago;

“I had reached a juncture at this point in the run: either I could get discouraged with the reality that I am not able to think myself into sprinting up the hill or I could accept, and even relish, in the pain and discomfort running throughout my body embracing the pain as part of my mission. Then something happened that I have never experienced during any painful running session: a smile slowly crept across my face. It was kind of a weird reaction to have, but for some reason I felt very alive and there was a new joy that I found in simply going all out. It was a great feeling to know that I was pushing myself to the max, that at this moment I had looked deep into myself for strength and used whatever I could muster.”

And I started to wonder, how do you know how you compare to others? Obviously, you only know what’s going on with your body, in your head, etc. How does your pain management compare to other’s pain management? Are race times enough of a feedback? Probably not because of all the training variables involved.

I was also thinking about Matt Gabrielson’s recent string of races which included 8th place in the 5000 meters at the Olympic trials and then a near-PR 13:30 in Europe. I’d like to think that I’m suffering just as much with my 18:30 5K as he is with his 13:30 – and that he only beats me because he’s genetically gifted (in addition to running twice as much as I do). But logically, it seems like there has to be a (big) difference in pain management too.

I’m not sure how you go about training that side of the sport. I’m sure there are some mental tricks (que words, relaxation strategies, etc.) that I’m aware of. But really is it like Hall says – just a matter of convincing yourself to accept and relish the pain? It sure seems easy on paper, but applying it on the roads is definitely a different story.

Quote of the day;

"I am going to win that gold medal. Silver is crap. Bronze is crap. God, if I only got a bronze I could never go home to Oregon again! I am going to win that gold medal." – Steve Prefontaine, prior to finishing fourth at the 1972 Olympic Games

BECOMING APPARENT

Well, I think I’m going to survive. This morning I felt much better, which means I looked something like this;


Actually, yesterday I thought I was going to put a zero in the logbook after sleeping in. However, after putting the kids to bed, I still felt pretty good, so I went for a 5 mile run. Lately, it’s becoming apparent that the days are getting shorter. I started my run at 8:15 and the sun was already starting to set. And then this morning it was still pretty dark at 5:30 – not headlamp dark, but it won’t be long now.

Today’s good news is that it appears the lifecycle of the black fly has run its course. During this morning’s 10 mile trail run, I only noticed 2 or 3 buzzing around my head.

Here’s something I’ve thought to blog about before, but never have. Anyone else out there not wear their race shirts from their marathons or other "important" such races? I’m not sure why, but I rarely wear my “big event” shirts. I have a couple of shirts and fleece tops from Boston that I like, but they’re not my finisher shirts. And even though Ironman Wisconsin was 5 years ago, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve worn my finisher shirt. I did wear it last Friday when I felt like crap – thinking maybe it’d help me feel better. It didn’t.

Here’s Carrie Tollefson’s latest journal entry.

Quote of the day;

“I know I could have taken the world record if my legs were fresh. I’m peaking perfectly. God, I wish we were racing the Olympics tomorrow! Nobody is running these times! I’m gonna kill them all. I know it. I feel it! I see it!” – Steve Prefontaine, after his lead-up races to the 1972 Olympic Games

ON MY ASS

Normally it just eats me up when I take a day off at the end of a month or the start of a month. I know it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but those 2 times for taking a day off just seem wrong. So imagine how I felt with taking the last day of July and first day of August off. Those are my first back-to-back days off since my Boston recovery.

Whatever bug I caught has really knocked me on my ass. I managed to run 12 miles Saturday morning, but even that was too much as I spent the rest of the day on the couch or in bed. Yesterday was a little better as I seemed to have a little more energy. Maybe holding off on my 7 mile run until 5 PM helped. Hopefully the 10 hours of sleep I got last night will help me finally shake this thing.

The good news is that my quad is feeling pretty good. Maybe having my head ready to explode has just taken my mind off my quad. Or maybe the 2 days off helped it heal.

I think I’m going to have to start ignoring the weather reports in the summer like I do in the winter. In the winter the weathermen usually talk about the bitter cold when it’s zero degrees out. This weekend they threatened we’d have temps in the 90s with high humidity. It turned out that Saturday was picture perfect; 85 with dew points in the mid-50s. And while Sunday was overcast, it was no where near 90 degrees.

I did come up with a new invention over the weekend, or at least the idea for a new invention. Sure ipods, HRM and GPS are all awesome, but I want a device that tells me when I’ll wake up. Not when I want to wake up, but when I’ll actually wake up. For example, say I like to get 8 hours of sleep. Going to bed at 11 PM is great if I know I’ll get up at 7 AM. However, if I got to bed at 11 and then am wide awake at 5 – that’s only 6 hours of sleep. Had I known I’d be up at 5, I could have planned accordingly and been in bed at 9.

Now I just need to figure out how to design such a device.

Quote of the day;

“To the best of our knowledge, research shows anabolic steroids have absolutely no effect on strength or performance.” – Dr. Dan Hanley, the USOC’s chief medical officer, prior to the 1972 Olympic Games

COUNTING CHICKENS

It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that goes by dew point, not humidity.

You never know who you will find blogging.

In case you missed it in the comments, Joseph sent a link for a Brian Sell facial hair contest. I haven’t entered yet, but I see that Eric has. I hope to do so this weekend. Voting starts August 11th, so I’m sure I’ll mention it again.

A week ago I was looking at my monthly mileage and figured I’d be right around 300 for the month. That’d be my highest July ever. A week later I ended up with only 285 miles for the month – 2nd most ever behind 291 in 2006. Getting any kind of run in yesterday would, most likely, have put me over that figure. However, to go along with my beat up body, I seem to have caught some type of bug and my throat is more sore than ever before. Usually when I have a cold I feel like crap early in the morning, but get better as the day progresses. And when I’m out running is when I feel the best. Well that’s not the case this time around.

So my leg is banged up, I feel like crap and it’s supposed to be 90-95 degrees this weekend.

Happy effin’ birthday!!!

Quote of the day;

“If I’m in really good shape, I’ll grow a little something on my face. Usually the goofier the facial hair, the better the shape I’m in. You can’t get too cocky. You can’t look like Ulysses S. Grant and go out and run a 2:30 marathon.” – Brian Sell