Distance Run

It has happened to me since the beginning.

After a long run, about 24 to 36 hours later, I develop a cold.

Fortunately, it lasts only about 3 days.

Remember, going on long runs, or doing a great deal of aerobic exercise can reduce your body’s immune system.

To avoid this, try to:

• Stay clean for the 24 hours after a long run, including washing hands frequently.
• Keep hands away from mouth and eyes
• Eat healthy
• Get lots of rest
• Drink lots of fluids

Basically, treat yourself as if you are a germaphobe for the day or two after  your long run.

Bill

So, I’ve been riding my bike to work.

Now, it’s 8 miles if I ride right down DC’s 16th Street.  But that route has very heavy car traffic, and I worry about… well, I worry about being DEAD.

So I take a circuitous, 14 mile, route down the Capital Crescent Trail.  No cars, very few street crossings, and I only spend a total of 4 miles on roads.

This mornin, there was a biker down.

Big pool of blood on the trail.

Several people were assembled to help him, and an ambulance was on the way.

One of the assistants was dialing the fellow’s wife…

He had a helmet on… Bonus

But he was wearing an iPod.

Now, I’m not blaming the iPod, or him for wearing it.

But seeing him all bloody made me think, “Safety First!”

Accidents can’t be avoided, but be safe.

I can’t imagine what was going on for his wife, and I don’t want Jocely to every have to get a call like that.

Bill

This fall, the NEI Marathon Training Team is participating in the Baltimore Running Festival’s marathon and half.

For those interested in following along, here is a link to the training program(s).

There are three:

• The first is for the absolute beginner.  You only have to be able to walk, and have the desire!
• The second is for the intermediate runner - the runner who is routinely running three to four times a week and averaging 12 to 15 miles each week.
• The third is a ‘finish’ schedule for the marathon.  It’s for those who can comfortably do a long run of 7 miles or more, and are running regularly three or four days each week.

The schedule has been published through my Google Docs and Spreadsheets, so I hope it works for people!

NEI 2008 Fall Training Schedule

Enjoy!

Bill

This weekend I’m in Boston to attend the wedding of my finance’s sister-in-law.

Saturday we spent the morning in Salem, enjoying the history there.

In the evening we checked in to the Bulfinch Hotel.

I remember asking Jocelyn, “I wonder what a Bulfinch is… Is it a type of bird, do you think?”

As we wandered around the North End, I noticed some weird markings on the side-walk… “Oh!” Jocelyn said, “This is the Freedom Trail!”.

She told me about the trail as we searched for a dinner venue. Our walk took us past Paul Revere’s house.

Man, how awesome! I love the history of the US, and particularly of the revolutionary period, though I admit an unacceptably low level of education on the period.

But everyone knows Paul Revere, and his famous ride to the North Church to light lanterns to warn of the British march on Concord and Lexington to arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock!

Joce and I found a cute Italian restaurant across the street from Revere’s house.

Sunday morning I was going to run the trail. What a better way to see the city.

This morning the sun was up bright-and-early. I was in my shoes and out the door at about 6:10 am. Before I knew it I was on the trail.

Past Revere’s house, on to the Old North Church, past the Copp Hill Burying Ground, past the USS Constitution, and on to Bunker Hill.

Bunker Hill struck me the most. The first military engagement against the British regular army. A stake in the ground, asserting the dissent of the colonies to the imperialist British rule of the time.

I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to reflect on the significance of Memorial day. Here is where it all began, and I was breathing free air as I plodded along the route past milestones in our country’s struggle for freedom.

Oh, and on the way, I learned of Bulfinch. Charles Bulfinch, to be precise,. Bulfinch was an architect who played a role in designing several of the buildings I saw while traveling the Freedom Trail, including Faneuil Hall, the “home of free speech.”

In our travels last night, Joce and I also came upon the New England Holocaust Memorial.

Photo from: nehm.org

The opaque coloring on the columns is not frosting.  Etched in the glass are millions of numbers.  Numbers that were assigned to victims of the Holocaust in Europe in the 40’s.  Over 11 million died, 6 million were Jews.

Being memorial day weekend, it is important for me to remember that great freedom is often preceded by incomprehensible sacrifice.

I cannot forget those that sacrificed their lives to secure the freedom I enjoy, but I must also not forget those innocent civilians that died to show the need for that sacrifice.

Bill

Ok, the first thing I want to say is that the Potomac River Run Marathon and Half is my new favorite race.

First, it’s obscenely close.

Second, it runs along the Potomac River between Alexandria and Mount Vernon (an ara of particularly strong sentimental value).

Third, it’s tiny, but exceedingly well organized by the race director, Jay Wind.

The course was excellent, not many people, awesome weather.

I rocked it as well, but didn’t beat my time from 3 weeks earlier :)


Fin No. Name          Age S  City            NetTime  Finish   Adjusted  Adj.Pace
18 288 William Gross 38  M  Chevy Chase MD  1:34:18  1:34:22  1:34:03   7:10.4

There were a total of 376 timed finnishers, putting me in the top 6.25% :)

Bill

Much of the winter I spent training for a spring half-Ironman distance triathlon.

Due to a confluence of events (death of fiance’s father, buying a home and moving, etc) I missed too many weeks during my peak training period.  So, I bagged the race.

At the same time, my boss, John McIntire had coordinated a “train for a half-marathon” program at our work.  We identified two spring races, and recruited over 10% of our staff to participate!

So, that was an awesome fit.  The half-Ironman included a 13.1 mile run, so I figured if I can’t do the tri, I might as well see how well I could do at the half.

The first of the two races with the National Marathon.

Other than the annoyance of this race’s name having changed at least 30 times during the winter, the course, the weather, and the run was outstanding.

There is a marathon option, and I may definitely consider this home-town run next year unless Charlottesville is an option!

Here’s the results, I’m pretty happy!

Plc Group Group Gun Chip Pace
157  25/226  M3539 1:34:24  1:33:36  7:09 William Gross  38 M  3853 Chevy Chase MD

There were a total of 2,637 runners, putting my finnish in the top 6%.

I guess cross-training all winter with biking has helped :)

I think biking increases my foot turn-over, and definitely increased overall muscle fitness in the legs.

Bill

Over the past few months my focus has changed from strictly long-distance running to tri training.

My runs have gotten shorter, more infrequent, with a focus on maintenance rather than fitness and speed.  I have noticed that the increased biking endurance significantly improves my running endurance and turnover.

Much of my work has been in the biking and swimming areas.

My goal with the swimming is to simply perform well in the swim.  I focus mainly on skills work here, and some on endurance.  I’ve found that proper skills = long distance with little effort.

Biking is my key limiter.  It is where I stand to benefit the most from focused training.

I have been in an endurance building phase for the past few months.

Biking is harder than I thought, but I’m at the point where I can go for over 3 hours (or about 55 miles) with good economy.

I have not focused on strength.  My focus has been entirely on pedaling skills and endurance.

I have an excellent indoor trainer – and my NetFlix queue has been taking a serious beating!

I hope to do a half-Ironman in the spring, and if time and money afford, a full Ironman in the fall.

Bill

Those of us training for the Potomac River Run will have logged a four mile run last Sunday, followed by a 3 mile run yesterday.

Did you notice that the 3 mile run was a little slower than normal? Did you feel a little sluggish?

Don’t worry. You are building cardiovascular fitness. A key component is rest, and the fatigue you may have felt is an indicator of this.

Lesson: After a ‘long run’ your next run should be much slower, and include several walking breaks, particularly early in the run.

Taking it easy after a long run will help speed recovery. But be sure to run! Not running can be detrimental. Stick to the program if possible, but don’t hesitate to take as many walking breaks as possible.

Lesson: After runs of 3 miles or more, be sure to eat a high-carb snack within 30 minutes of finishing your run.

Your body will burn mostly carbs for the first 45 minutes of running. From 45 to 75 minutes, you transition to burning body fat. After 75 minutes, you are burning primarily body fat as a source of energy.

Replacing carbs is critical to rapid recovery.

Before you go on your run, plan and prepare your post-run snack. Half of an energy bar, a bowl of cereal, some granola, a piece of fruit… Having it ready to eat immediately after running will help ensure you get these vital carbs.

Advice: In the training program, there are several types of work-outs identified. Perform these only if you are feeling very good and have no pain anywhere. For novice runners, my recommendation would be to forego these workouts, and run those days at a normal level of intensity.

Advice: Take it slow!

You may notice that you feel really good at the beginning of a run during the week after a long run. I generally found this affect on Wednesday or Thursday the week after a long run.

Don’t give into temptation and run too fast, or too long. Stick to your training program. It may seem frustrating to run “slow” when you feel like a race horse, but I urge you to hold back.

Increasing your distance or speed too much can lead to injury, and no one wants that!

In preparing for this race, many of us are running distances greater than we’ve ever run before.

Conventional wisdom says you can increase your distance, or your speed, but not both without risk.

You are focusing on preparing yourself for the distance, so forget the speed. That will come with time!

See you on the road,
Bill

Readers,

NEI is coordinating two teams to prepare for upcoming half-marathons.

We have two races identified, one earmarked for runners who have some running experience.  The other race is a little further off, and is for novice runners.

Please come back to check progress, and for advice and aids.

Bill

(I’ll have photo’s soon!)

This past Sunday, October 28 was the 32nd annual Marine Corps Marathon.

Here are some stats:

NOTE, the winning woman was first-time marathoner Kristen Henehan. Way to go!

About the race…

Though I am not a fan of the bigger races I’ve done, I must say that I had the time of my life at this race.

What I don’t like about the big races is I feel confined by the volume of runners. I mostly run solo, or in a small group on the rare occasions when I run with my club.

I also don’t particularly like cramped courses, down-town areas, fighting to pass a pod of slower runners who are monopolizing the course… I can extend this list, but I think you get the idea.

I signed up for this race because I though, “What the heck, it can’t be worse than Richmond.” I’m not trying to knock the Richmond race, but it is a big city race :/

Boy was I surprised by the MCM.

First, and unfortunately, the race committee couldn’t have influenced this, was the weather. For much of the summer, DC got no rain, and very few cloudy days. Those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder must have been in hog-heaven!

But for the 5 days leading up to the race it was raining… not cloudy, raining. It was horrible for my attitude!

Imagine my excitement when the long range forecast called for clearing up on Saturday afternoon, and sunny on Sunday!

Stepping off the metro at the Pentagon I was greeted by one of my favorite sights. The night sky slowly giving way to the morning. The deep blues, stars, and glow of the new day on the horizon inspire me deeply. Sunrise is a very special time for me. I think it appeals to the animal that lies deep inside each of us that evolved rising with the sun.

Second, was the commute. I had a blast on the short train ride to the Pentagon. The stations and trains were packed with runners! Man it as motivating. I meet some people in from Kentucky to run the race. How fun!

Third, how about the enormous staging area. Much of one of the Pentagon’s enormous parking lots was set up as the pre-race staging area. Huge rows of port-a-johns, tents for information and warming up, and UPS trucks to shuttle gear to the finish area. Everything you could want in the 2 hours before a race (except Starbucks (though they were at the finish area)).

I found the area fascinating. It made me think of a friend of mine Adrienne who just got a degree in urban planning. I wonder is she’d have fun observing something like this.

The camaraderie in the starting area was awesome.

Fourth was the course itself. Some have complained about hills, wind, whatever. But my thinking is you don’t sign up for a marathon and complain about the weather. It’s a damn marathon, get over it.

That said, the course for the most part was excellent. Early in the race there were many wide open areas to allow me to fight my way to my race pace groups. There were a few bottlenecks where there were the road narrowed AND they had a water stop. Ah, most of the people I nearly mowed over were pretty forgiving :)

There were a few hills early in the course, and I love hills. Not only are they great for waking up all my leg muscles, but I tend to gain a lot of time on the downhills.

Many runners slow considerably on both up and downhills. This led to very quick thinning out of the crowd by the 8 or 9 mile mark.

After that, I felt like I was in a small race again. Sweet.

Finally, but not lastly, being in my hometown my family could come. How sweet it was to see them twice in the race! My dad has been trying to come see a race of mine for years now, and I’m so happy he was there! It made my heart leap. Perseverance was a gift from my father. I felt like the student being cheered by his teacher during the big rehearsal. It was moving, and helped get me through the mid-race blahs.

All-in-all, I had an awesome time at the race, and would definitely run it again.

A few final thoughts…

I tend to set several goals for race day. I don’t strictly adhere to these, but they would be nice to achieve. I run how I feel, and if I meet my goal, so be it.

My goals for this race were:

1. Finish in 3:20
2. Finish in the top 10%, overall
3. At a minimum, to beat my very first race time, 3:43 at Charlottesville, 2005.
4. Finish

Fortunately I met all but my first goal. Not bad :) All things considered, on any race day I’m grateful just to get across the finish line. So many things can go wrong during a marathon.

Sunday I was feeling strong. I started out very quick. I’m thankful that the early race was fairly congested or I may have bonked. Early in the race I was running 7 minute miles, and would have preferred to be running around 7:30. Later in the race I slowed down to well over 8 minutes per mile as the result, but had gained enough time early on to PR.

Though I was running fewer days per week than any other race I have run (except the first), I was running more speed and strength work outs. I think this had a lot to do with my performance.

I have also been bike riding a lot, though I tapered off of that about 5 weeks from race day.

This winter I hope to get back to 4 days running, with a 20+ mile run every third week, and with some speed/strength workouts in the mix. I’ll also be biking and swimming preparing for the 2008 season.

I predict more triathlons in ‘08 :)

Bill