I haven’t run consistently in weeks. Here are the excuses: I’ve been reading through 41 grant proposals. I’ve been directing my energies toward job searching. Running is destroying my knees. See? I don’t have very many of them. This is why having someone to run with is important. You don’t want to let them down by bailing and they feel the same way. I call this: Runner’s Codependence.

I had an unintentional week off from running, mainly due to being back in the Bend, but also with job related business. I was supposed to run 7 miles today and I got in 5.5 before my left calf went Gordian on me. Stretch, test-run, walk::wash, rinse, repeat. I gotta just take my time and stretch for 15 minutes or so before the run, I suppose. I’m usually good on the tightening if I can run and not stop the whole time, but just let one traffic signal bring me to a halt and I get all bent out of shape.

I had a crummy run today. I was supposed to put in six miles, but only did 2.5. My calves felt like bad clockwork. I think If I’d run much farther I would have torn something. No matter how much I stretched, they were still tense. Better take it easy.

They say that it takes six weeks of any exercise program before you start noticing results. And by results, they usually mean weight loss. I don’t think I’ve lost much weight, apart from maybe a pound or two, but my body has definitely changed shape. I dropped a waist size and am now back to the ever-cursèd size of 32×34. Suddenly my hopes for finding pants that both don’t hang off my ass and cover my ankles are dwindling. I ran three miles quickly today.

I think 12 miles is the longest distance I’ve ever run. I managed to do it in three minutes under two hours today, which is three minutes faster than pace. About 5 miles in I started singing “Venus in Furs” to myself, which is a very bad idea. “I am tired/I am weary/I could sleep for a thousand years…” So I tried to get Acceleration by Machines of Loving Grace stuck in my head instead. “White light inside of me/acceleration all around/till it don’t seem/like I’m running at all/till it don’t seem/like I’m running at all” That didn’t help, but I did settle on Veruca Salt’s Volcano Girls, which has a bit about running in it, although it isn’t much better than Venus in Furs. “A million miles of running and/I hit the wall,/I bounce back and I run some more.”

I hit the wall about mile ten and beat on it for the rest of the run. It was one of those times when you know if you stop to walk you’re done done and won’t start running again. The wind was absolutely horrible and my lower lip was totally numb by the end of the run, and my beard fur was all bristled up to keep my face warm. I tried to let a homeless dude know I was passing him, but only managed to make blub-blub sounds, which still served the purpose, I suppose. Brr! but done! I’m pleased. If you’ve got recommendations for good running songs, that I’ve not mentioned [I just thought of Pink Floyd's Run Like Hell] please let me know. I think I’ll make a compilation.

After a week like this week, it isn’t really a surprise that I ran like a fiend today. Only three miles, but I busted it out like the fat kid in dodgeball and was raring for more at the end. I’ve got a 12 miler tomorrow though, so I didn’t run more. I finally got my training t-shirt from the Cleveland Marathon, and I almost regret it. It is possibly the ugliest shirt I have ever worn. And for those of you who remember what I wore in high school, that is saying something.

A little over 6 miles in a little under and hour today, but I was bushed. I did a truncated version of what I’m already coming to call the Bridge run, since I cross over Abbey, Carnegie and Detroit bridges, not to mention Bridge Avenue. When I extend it, I’ll also run over the W. 14th Street Bridge, the W. 25th Bridge, the W. 44th Bridge and Clark Avenue bridge. That’s the main thing I like about running in the city, the routes can be easily modified. In Connersville, you basically had to choose which country road to run down, and stick with it until you were done. The main thing I don’t like about running in the city is the air pollution; I’m becoming a master of shallow breathing.

Three miles - check.

A run across Carnegie Bridge,
I see for miles.
The north
rock towers,
Lake Erie
distance. Underfoot
swans tack the
Cuyahoga snow crust.

Art deco, overhead
eyes swaddling Cleveland,
steel carved in stone on
steel under stone.
Traffic
is light.

There is silence
even in my stride. The pace
a great muffler:
my girl,
her slow smile,
that dead-end job like
dish duty.

   now

   else
   where

wires in my calves
tighten unstrung
rewind. That heart
beats—
   my
   heart?
—slowly faster.
The south is
a whole county
of people; none running.

   Amen.
   Amen I say.

Still Sunday, a pilgrim
eastward, mantra of
foot in front
of foot
body bends to
shape the street
eyes on graffiti, backs
of billboards,
concrete concentrate
mouths forget words
feet forget miles

   This tang of street salt;
   this winter air.

          2.12.2006

---

I took a rather extended hiatus from running due to the crumminess of the weather last week and the extended crumminess of the sidewalks and road-edges even after the weather crapped out. Yesterday I woke up to snow, but by midafternoon it had mostly melted and I did 7.5 miles in 70 minutes, which is just a little faster pace than what I want to maintain for the marathon. I really got into the zone yesterday and time seemed irrelevant along with everything else. So I drafted a poem about it last evening.

I was supposed to run 10 miles over the weekend, but the weather was so bad that I had to put off the run until today. I put in 4 to 5 instead of the full ten, because the streets and sidewalks were still pretty ice-covered. My time was good nonetheless, and I’ll just crank up my pace for the rest of the week in order to compensate.

3 miles in about 24 minutes today. I need to keep pushing the short runs to build my strength and high gear stamina.

I had a 5 mile run in the rain today and I finished it in about 40 minutes. My shoes are well and truly broken in now that they’ve gotten their first soaking.

I was supposed to run on Tuesday but I ended up sleeping instead and moved my schedule up one day for this week. So instead of getting next Monday off, it’ll be a cross-training day. I ran three miles again, but harder this time and cut a couple of minutes off my time. The wind was blowing against me in three directions, so I likely would have been slightly even faster if it had been calm. The weather continues to be excellent otherwise, but global climate change seems pretty obvious, this summer could be roasting.

I’ve’nt run 9 miles in something like 10 years when the cross country team used to haul ass from the highest point in the county [the high school] to almost the lowest [in a van down by the river]. I did it today though. And my legs friggin’ hurt. I think I’m pretty well cardio-vasculared up and just have to wait until my legs get their asses in gear. Yowch for now though.

So I was a jackass and didn’t run today. I had a three mile run scheduled but the motivation just wasn’t there, my calves are still pretty knotty and it was bitchass cold out. I’ve got more excuses than Wrigley has chewing gum, but I’m hoping that this tactical day off will let me do my nine miler without a hitch on Saturday. I’d hate to pull a muscle 4 miles from home.

Well, it is definitely the cold air that makes my right knee wig out. Today was the first really cold day I’ve had to run in since the last time my knee hurt, and it started hurting again. I don’t understand why it is my right knee though. The left one is the one that has been dislocated twice and is arthritic. My calf also felt like a Gordian knot, so I ended up walking the last half mile for fear that running would cause me to pull a muscle. I hope my body adjusts soon, because now the workouts are going to become much more challenging. I want to be able to keep up. I hope I have decent weather for the 9 miler this Saturday. If previous Saturdays are any indication though, it will be windy and rainy. Looking at the forecast seems to indicate that this trend will persist.

Tuesdays will be three mile runs for the next forever. My times are improving, however. I’m not sure if it has to do with the new tires or if my body fully readjusted back into training mode. In any case, I did my three miles yesterday at my average time during high school and I wasn’t even that tired when I was done. I’m starting to get sick of my three mile loop, so I’m going to use the Google Map Pedometer to hash out some more exercise routes. I’ve done this before. Highly recommended.

I bought new shoes today, New Balance 808 Trail Shoes from Dick’s Sporting Goods. The 808s are last year’s model, and since the 809s just came out I got $35 dollars off the price of the 808s. New shoes are an important purchase, and it is incredibly hard to find good shoes when you have feet like mine. Most shoes are medium width, but my feet are AAA narrow, so nothing ends up fitting that well, and I’m not willing to dish out the cash to buy shoes designed to fit my feet. I especially like the reinforced achilles heel support that the 808s boast. Keeps my feet from sliding around so much. One of my feet overpronates and the other doesn’t do anything wrong, so the tread wear on my old shoes is a bit strange. Still, the run today went amazingly good. New shoes really make a difference, especially shoes that don’t have treads worn to nubs. 5 miles in 40 minutes might not seem that great, but it is the fastest time for me this year.

Today was a perfect day for running. I did my three mile workout in good time and then made myself a bowl of sausage and vegetable soup and a quart-sized smoothie. One smoothie for me fills up the whole blender, but the fat-free yogurt is just the sort of protein I need after a good run. I’ve got to get those leg muscles back in form. Then I accidentally made a double batch of brownies. Incidentally, this is my 1000th post and my gas bill [for a 4 room apartment] was $200 this month.

My run happened a bit later than usual today because a buddy needed hauled out to Fairview Park to pick up his car. Despite the later running time, my gear was still wet from the rain the day before. That meant I was going to have to run in the craptacular cold in wet clothing. Well, so I did. I had a four mile run and apart from 2 miles directly into the teeth of a strong wind, it went warmly. I even managed to avoid most of the ice on the sidewalks by running on the road. If you think I’m bitching alot now, wait until the Saturday after next, when the training actually gets hard.

My knee doesn’t hurt anymore! I put in my three miles in good time with nary a twinge. Unfortunately, the Cleveland weather has sorted itself out and settled on the expected: nice weather on days I don’t have to run, rain, snow, ice, and cold on the days I do have to run. Motivation becomes a serious issue when you’re warm and dry and need to go be cold and wet. Also, I signed up for the marathon and paid my dues weeks ago, where’s my stupid dri-release “In Training” t-shirt?

Today is, incidentally, the start of my fifth year of having a weblog.

Today was like running the gauntlet, wind, ice and suburban soccer moms doing kerb-checks in their Ford Planet-Eaters while making their weekly trip to the West Side Market. I had a seven mile run, but only completed four and change; the grillionth time I almost died from a wind gust pushing me off a bridge or getting clocked in the face by an ice-rimed plastic bag I decided to call it quits. I was warm the whole time, thanks to my layers of various synthetic stuff, and I found that my fleece vest from work is actually useful. My ass is always cold by the end of a run, however.

I had yet another 3 miler today. Went fine. I posted on Craigslist looking for another marathon runner to practice with and then almost immediately discovered that one of my coworkers is planning on running as well. Hopefully I can convince her to practice with me. Training goes so much better when someone shares the misery. I was starting to flag a bit on the run today until I saw another runner in front of me. Then I had something to concentrate on. I just kept my eye on her shoulder and forgot about how my side hurt.

I had yet another 5k run today and it went fine, my knee ached a little, but I blame the rain I was running in. If I can maintain the pace I’m doing, I should have a marathon time under 4:30. Of course, I’ll need to make my shorter runs harder to compensate, but I’m tired now and don’t want to write anymore.

Today I had a 6-mile run, the first long run of my training session. I ran an average of 8:30 per mile which is pretty good considering I had to stop a few times to rest my right knee. I don’t know what is going on with that. I think it might be a pinched nerve and Andy at the Lit corroborated that. He’s a bartender so his medical opinions are accurate. I’m gonna do some bike-riding tomorrow and I have Monday off, so we’ll see how I’m doing Tuesday. Perhaps extensive stretching will make things all better. Meanwhile, beer awaits!

The weather got crappy today, so I was running in a light rain/snow mix. I took it easy but my right leg started to seize up on me just after the two mile mark, so I walked the rest of the distance and tried to get the leg loosened. I think basically what is happening is that I’ve been tearing the muscles in my quads too much too soon, without enough recovery time, so instead of getting stronger they’ve been getting hurter. Friday is a day off though, in preparation for a 6 mile run on Saturday, and even toward the end of last evening I could feel the quads knitting back together. I think the can of tunafish that I ate helped out with that a bit. I need to figure out some other routes for strange distances like 4 miles and 7 miles. Since my typical loop is exactly 5k, I’ve not done a lot of experimenting elsewhere. There is a nice, long, low-traffic road that runs parallel to the Interstate that I think will offer some good training terrain.

The three mile run I put in today went much better. The air was warmer, and although I inhaled a large amount of exhaust, my breathing was much better as well. I ran the three miles in about 25 minutes, and if I can end up keeping that pace throughout the marathon I’ll be quite pleased. Steve Goldberg almost ran me over while I was making my way down Abbey Road. The lactic acid was quite powerful this evening, but sitting on my ass for three hours and watching The Seven Samurai didn’t do much to help that out. My hip flexor still feels a bit weird, but I stretched before and after the run so I think I’m okay. Just gotta work through this stiffness. At least it’s been easy to find my stride and breathing rhythm again.

Today was the second day of my training for the 2006 Cleveland Marathon. I didn’t write about the first day because the first day was a day of rest. Jeff Schuler recommended Hal Higdon’s training programs and I naturally selected the novice program to help me prepare. Here is a week by week look at how my training should proceed.

I hadn’t run in a few months until putting in my three miles today. I didn’t stretch appropriately and now my right hip flexor is a bit achy, but I think if I stretch well for my next run I should be okay. I got a pedometer from work for taking a stupid wellness survey and found out that it doesn’t work at all for running. My three miles registered as 1.28, which I know was incorrect. It was a bit harsh breathing the cold air until my body got warmed up, and then I was fine. Until that happened though, I had to walk for brief intervals to catch my breath again. It felt like I was out of breath because of the cold, not the exertion, but I could be wrong. Some dumbass kid doing laps of W 25th in his beater kept yelling stuff at me. Some things never change.

I’ve got this idea though, something that will keep me more motivated to train for the marathon. I’d like to try to raise some money to benefit the homeless in Cleveland. I’ve never done anything like that before, asking for pledges and such, but I’m slowly coordinating all the necessary information and approval for it. I’m thinking about creating a DropCash account to raise a certain amount of money [$1500?] for whatever charity I end up deciding on. Then I’ll just need to get the word out. Maybe as another incentive I could offer to match 10% of whatever ends up being raised. I dunno. I’ll figure it out and keep you posted. Hopefully this will be something that is allowed by the people in charge of the Cleveland Marathon.