Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger; Sometimes you're the ball

I've been at this training thing long enough to know that some days are going to kick your ass, and that a bad training day means nothing on race day.  Unfortunately, it doesn't make bad days any easier to take.  Saturday was our second-to-last BIG run before the LA Marathon -- 19 miles.  In a word, it was rough. I don't know why I think 19 miles would be anything but rough.  Coming off a strong 18 miler and a recovery week, I had hoped for the best, but it was a looong 3 hours and 5 minutes.

It would be great if I had some legitimate excuses.  The weather?  Perfect.  Clothing/gear?  Terrific.  Old shoes?  Nope, still new.  Hills?  Pretty flat.  Boring scenery?  Tourists travel around the world to see these sites.  I got nothing.  At least, nothing that I didn't have complete control over.

Friday night I limited myself to one beer, stayed hydrated, and went to bed early.  Check.  Our dinner selection, on the other hand, may have been a poor choice.  We decided to get takeout from Kabab Palace, which friends have given rave reviews, for the first time.  It was good, but takeout from a place that generally resembles NY Port Authority Bus Terminal is probably not the best call the night before 19 miles.  Pre-run jitters have been known to give me "stomach" issues, but I'm certain that the kababs didn't help matters.  Sticking to Italian from now on.

The run started off harmlessly enough.  Ran through the neighborhood out to the Mount Vernon trail and started heading north to the 14th Street Bridge.  I went out a little fast but kept my speed in check and was feeling good.  I felt stong.

I am going to crush this!

Subconsciously, I think that if I run slow enough, I can relax and enjoy and go forever.  Maybe this is the trick my mind plays on me so that I'll even attempt running these distances.   Unfortunately, it never works out this way. 

Over the bridge into DC by the Jefferson Memorial and south for a loop around Haynes Point.  This was the flattest section of the route and my pace started to slow considerably...this was when I knew I was in trouble.  Not really sure what happened.  I was getting calories, wasn't feeling pain...the leg turnover just wasn't there.  Greg had started pulling away from me here.  I could just barely see him hitting the public rest room up ahead.  When I got there I popped in myself to refil my water bottle then kept on going.  Greg was still in there...uh-oh.  Damned kababs!

Next on the route was a lap around the National Mall.  Greg quickly caught up to me and his bathroom run must have been a success because he left me in the dust.  My legs were starting to feel tired and just when I exited the Mall at the Lincoln Memorial I started to feel legitimate pain.  I made it over the bridge back to VA and got a little glimpse of Greg looping under the bridge and back down the Mount Vernon trail.  5 miles to go.

A few hundred yards back in Virginia my right calf started cramping so badly I couldn't help but cry out.  Geeze...I'm only at mile 14!  How can this be?!?!  Perhaps my body wasn't fully acclimated to the warmer temps.  I drank furiously...hoping that some extra fuel and hydration would help.  Stopped and stretched for about a minute.  Knew I had to keep going.  I'll be damned if I'm going to walk five miles.  I changed up my stride a little to rely on my glutes and hamstrings to push myself along and give my calf muscle some relief.  I recalled the teachings of our yoga guru, Bryan Kest... "we can be uncomfortable but we don't have to be so reactive to it."  I switched between thinking these words are genius and thinking they are a load of BS and this guy never ran this far!  But it does help to breathe and relax...absolutely.  One foot in front of the other.

At mile 17 with two to go, I am running in the dark, damp trail that goes below the GW Parkway and Route 1.  There was not a soul in sight and it was eerily silent.  I could suddenly hear my breath and the sound of my footsteps and used all my remaining energy to quiet both.  I tried to pick up the pace but I had nothing left.  At this point I just wanted to get home and not have to walk. Nothing could stop me.  I could barely bring myself to look both ways before crossing the street...it would take too much energy and too much time.

Let them hit me!

A few blocks from home, I see Greg walking towards me...my wing man, coming to escort me all the way in.  He was so far in front of me I half expected to see him on his cruiser bike.  He said the idea came to him but he didn't know how well that would be received.  I admit I might have had to put a stick in his spokes.  :) 

So yes, once again I was humbled by a long run.  It just doesn't get easier.  But here's hoping that with fresh legs on race day I can crank out faster miles.  Time (T minus 34 days) will tell.

I love you foam roller, please don't hurt me

The miles are getting longer as we draw nearer to the LA marathon.

Jen and I ran 18 miles last weekend and are into recovery week before our next long run of 19 miles in two weeks.

The previous weekend our training schedule called for 15 miles so we made plans for a run on the WOD followed by grilled cheese and tots at the Space Bar in Falls Church.  Unfortunately they do not open until 5 pm on Sundays but we made the most of it with beers, food and catching up with our friend Ernie at the Mad Fox.  (When you are running for a couple of hours with your mind focused on tater tots as reward this is very disappointing, the Space Bar that is, not catching up with Ernie). 

As good as the company and beer were after the run I experienced one of those nagging runner injuries and I am to blame.  Not enough time on the foam roller taking card of the IT band and I paid for it at mile 14 and to make it worse I was having a great run.  The pain was so bad I had to stop at mile 14 and walk the rest of the way in, the only bright spot seeing Jen pass me on her way to strong finish.

Last week turned into multiple dates with my foam roller who treated me like a rented mule but there was some progress.  Enough so that I cruised through the 18 mile run with minimal pain and felt like I had some left in the tank at the end.

There are still lots of miles in front of us but I won't be neglecting my foam roller.   Or maybe I just need more tots.

Post Holiday wrap-up

 

I am not a big fan of this time of year, short days, cold nights, bad weather, sun hanging low in the sky, and the end of college football season.  But instead of spending my time whining about all of those things I can’t change I am thankful for all of the good things that came my way in 2013.  We moved into a new home, finished a half-ironman in PR times, welcomed a new puppy, celebrated Thanksgiving with family, and accepted the challenge of an Ironman in 2014.  

Jen and I finished the year with a fantastic holiday season.  So many highlights that I won’t remember all of them but I wanted to get a few down in the blog so I don’t forget and as a reminder of all of the good things to come our way in 2014.   

Christmas Eve service and singing carols at a beautiful stone church in Alexandria.

Our first attempt at rack of lamb on Christmas Day and a special guest appearance by our own Coach T that evening.

A relaxing get away to the Inn at Willow Grove 

Our first hike with Islay on the trails around Lake Accotink.

Jen and Islay on the trails at Lake Accotink

Quiet evening at home on New Year’s Eve enjoying grilled steaks and crab cakes.  I am too embarrassed to mention what time we went to bed that night but we did complete a 3,200 meter swim that day so give me a break, I am old.

Visiting the museums on New Year’s Day in DC and seeing a great film about Jerusalem at the Natural History Museum and a photo exhibit at the National Geographic museum.  We finished the day with some fine craft cocktails at the Quill in the Jefferson Hotel.

One of the great photos at the National Geographic Museum exhibit

Good thing we did not miss a day of training during all of this or I would need a pair of these.

Recovery Week

Since Christmas, we have been enjoying a much needed "recovery week."  Recovery week is every fourth week of training, where you back off a little bit and give your muscles some rest.  This recovery week comes at a perfect time.  Time to enjoy the holidays, time to do some lighter workouts, time to reflect on the past year and focus on the year ahead.

The holidays at our home were a blast.  Santa was good to all of us and not even Mulligan got coal in his stocking.

Mulligan's favorite gift - the basket Islay's gift came in.

We had a perfect Christmas day, which included a fun run followed by a hike with Islay at Accotink park.  After Christmas, Greg and I treated ourselves to a few days at the Inn at Willow Grove, one of our favorite spots, a beautiful resort in Orange, VA.  Is there a better Christmas present than a butler bringing you french press and warm beignets in the morning?  Even Islay got her own comfy bed and plate of treats.  Her cookies looked so good we had to be careful not to eat them ourselves.

Lady of Windsor Abbey on vacation.

Recovery weeks, of course, are not completely void of training - we executed a bunch of runs, a 40 mile bike ride through the gorgeous rolling countryside of Orange, VA, and even a New Year's Eve swim.

The official Ironman training vehicle.

Sometimes, even during recovery week, the workouts feel hard and tedious.  The cold, dreary weather doesn't help.  This past weekend we had a 10 mile run and a two-and-a-half hour "reverse brick" (run then bike).  The run felt longer than the previous week's fourteen miler, and both of us were clock watching the entire brick.  Not even some of the best final-season Sopranos episodes could distract us from the mental pain of one pedal stroke after another.  I just keep reminding myself that the bad workouts build an Ironman.  There are going to be many moments between now and Zurich when I just want to quit, but it is pushing through those moments that makes the finish line possible.  Brick by brick (no triathlon pun intended), we are getting there.

2013 couldn't have been better.  A big year full of big changes and big fun.  2014 is a year of big goals.  My biggest goal for 2014: to approach all of my workouts with as much enthusiasm as Islay does.

Happy new year!

Date Night

What a weekend in several ways and all of them good, even with the bad weather that rolled in on Sunday.  In a nutshell, Jen and I had a great road ride, outdoor training with Islay, date night, 14 mile long run, and finished it all off with peppermint stick custard accompanied by Julie Andrews and the Sound of Music. 

With the warm temps that rolled in last week, on Saturday morning Jen and I decided to skip the 2 1/2 hour spin on the trainer and took the road bikes out for a spin across the Woodrow Wilson bridge and into Maryland.  This was our first experience riding across the bridge and thanks to garmin connect we found a decent 30 mile route through the Oxon Hill neighborhood of PG County.  I did get the sense the locals are not used to seeing a couple of road bikers when we were asked at a stoplight if we were lost.  We will definitely do this loop again but probably better if done early in the morning to avoid some of the traffic.

After the ride and a quick sandwich from our favorite deli in Del Ray we met our dog trainer Sandy at the dog park for a training session with Islay.  (It seems like someone in the house is always in training for something).  This was the first time we did a session outdoors and Islay impressed us as usual.  She mastered "come" and did an excellent job with the "join ups", all due to the power of cheese.  The best thing about the training was the girl was tired after all of that play time which meant Jen and I could focus on date night. 



My beautiful date and I waiting for our train

Since Jen and I have been going steady, we usually try and reserve a night of the week as "date night" if our schedules allow.  It can be as simple as sitting in front of the fire enjoying music and a cocktail or as in the case of Saturday night it was dressing up for dinner at a fancy new restaurant in DC.  Jen made us reservations at a place called the Irongate in downtown DC.  The restaurant is actually the re-opening of the oldest restaurant in DC and the owners did a great job with the place.  We arrived early so our first stop was at the bar to enjoy a craft cocktail, I chose the Hang on St Christopher made up of rye, averna, and maraschino liqueur while Jen tried the Andiamo made up of genever, benedictine, dolin blanc, and bitters.  Jen and I both like to try new things so we ordered two drinks that we each wanted to try and in a rare turn of events I actually enjoyed mine more than the drink Jen ordered.  With the cocktail portion of date night in the books we transitioned into the beautiful old dining room, filled with the scent of the woodburning fireplace.  We went with the four course tasting and wine pairing with no thought whatsoever of the 14 mile run on our plate the next day.  Our meal was excellent with the highlights being the squash tortelloni and alysian farm lamb.  (The wine pairing were not too shabby either, especially the Greek red that came with the lamb, good thing we asked our waitress to write down the names of all the wines).  Dinner portion of the evening over, transition into the trip home and the metro gods were smiling on us as we caught the yellow line home just as it was pulling into the station.  Time to rest up and get ready for the big run in the morning.

We were both feeling a little dusty when we woke up on Sunday and the weather was not looking ideal.  I think we were both regretting not getting the run done on Saturday but like I told Jen, it could be raining on race day, just need to deal with it.  We waited for a break in the rain and heading out for the W&OD and our 14 mile run.  Coach gave us a twist to this workout, with the last four miles of the run getting progressively faster.  The first five miles of the run seemed to drag for me and I was feeling the effects of dehydration.  Good thing for both of us there was a bathroom at mile 7 to refuel the water and show solidarity with Islay.  Jen and I were feeling recharged and set the course for home and the weather continuted to cooperate with us.  We hit mile 10 and picked up the pace, just three miles to go and must get faster.  Mile 11, had to hold back a bit but feeling good.  Now we now this is in the bag, just two miles from home and we are cruising after mile 13 and getting faster.  One more mile through our hood, my mind focused on that burger and tots we planned to treat ourselves with later in the day.  Jen and I finished the last mile in a sub 9 minute pace, tired legs but happy to get it done.  Really proud of Jen today and how strong she ran especially on the heels of a "Telluridesque" date night.

Finished the day with a burger and fries (tots were sold out, really the only thing that went wrong all weekend) at Del Ray Pizzeria along with a powerful imperial stout from Laughing Dog Brewery called the Dogfather weighing in at 11% alcohol, the perfect recovery brew.  One more stop for Peppermint Stick custard at the Dairy Godmother and fortnately for us they were serving chocolate pudding cake, there is no way you can turn down that stuff no matter how full you are feeling, besides, we ran 14 miles today.

Merry Christmas from the heart of Del Ray

It Must Be Winter -- Here Come the Long Runs

Greg and I must have really short memories.  For the second year in a row, we are doing an early spring Marathon.  Last year, it was Austin.  We chose this because we figured winter is a good time to get your long runs in since you can't really bike.  While this logic may be accurate, it ignores the fact that running for hours in the freezing cold and wind and sometimes precipitation, while possible, is pretty miserable. This year, the spring marathon is a big check mark in getting us ready for Zurich, so not much could be done about the timing.

Greg: "Hey, Jen, you ready to run?"

We started our long weekend runs two weeks ago.  First ten miles, then twelve.  Tomorrow it is 14, the last four miles of which are to be run faster than the last.  Fortunately, December has been pretty mild, so the temps have actually been quite good.  Tomorrow, the forecast is 70 degrees...yahoo!

Training is officially back on.  Since Thanksgiving, we've had a few solid weeks of workouts.  Swims, spins, strength sets, tempo runs, hill repeats, interval training, and bricks.  The only thing we've neglected is our foam rollers.  This needs to change, stat.

In other training news, Mulligan has been on a boxing training program and has found a reluctant sparring partner.

Islay is on her own training plan and is performing like a rock star.  Unlike our training, which is designed to keep us in motion, Islay's training is designed to keep her sitting still.  Since she naturally wants to run, jump and hop around, this is effort for her.  So far, we are a big fan of this training routine.  It is structured and easy to execute (for us) and Islay continues to develop into a sweet, loveable puppy.  We'd recommend for any doggie owners.

Turkey Trot

I am only about a month behind but give me a break, it is the holiday season and I have been bouncing from one party to the next. 

Thanksgiving week and the first time Jen and I had overnight guests.  We were fortunate to have my mom, Ruby and Jen's mom, Lynda and her husband Lee join us for the holiday.  Lee pretty much guaranteed the invite when he offered to smoke the bird for us. 

We decided to get in the local swing of things and entered the local turkey trot that runs through our hood.  Jen dressed as a pilgrim and received plenty of cheers and advice from other runners and spectators, mostly aimed at her need to get back in the kitchen and prepare the feast.  The race also gave me some insight into where Jen's gets her competitve nature.  Lynda took the race a little more serious than the rest of us and ended up finishing second in her age group, pretty impressive but of course she was not hindered by a pilgrim costume either.

After the race we hosted some friends who ran in the race with us.  Nothing says happy turkey day like a post-race bloody mary and some mulled wine.  Islay turned out to be the highlight and lowlight of the party.  Our dog trainer stopped by with her dog, who instantly found our girl very attractive and decided to show his affection to her in front of all us on the living room rug.  I thought for a moment I would either have to get a hose or go "Ray Donovan" on the dog.  All of that turned out to be a bit too much excitement for our little girl so she decided the best way to end the festivities was to lose her bowels on the hardwood floor.  Everyone seemed to be in a rush to get home after that but it made for some good laughs later in the day.

With the guests and mulled wine gone, it was time for Lee and I to get busy preparing the turkey, meaning I was drinking beer while he tended to the smoker every half hour. 

Amish smoked turkey, should have used more sunscreen

Pre-feast

Jen came up with an excellent menu for the side dishes along with some home made pies courtesy of Lynda. 

More pie for everyone!

Great day all around for us, except mayby Islay, and a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving in our new house.

Most embarrassing day ever, in my happy place.