Easy is hard. I never run the recovery pace recommended. I sneak up to the fast end of aerobic pace on most runs. It might be OK for base miles, but now that I'm running at least 20% of my miles at MP or faster, I need to go real slow.......on the recovery days. Yesterday I was in moderate pain for most of my 10.7 miles and thought today would be a URD. But I hit the treadmill and refused to go over 8:40 pace for ANY part of my 5 miles. Guess what? No pain, and a nice run.
It takes discipline to run slowly, particularly when you are around other runners and want to show your chops. But the body tells me that easy is important. Last year I wound up learning the hard way. Not today.

Ernie and I------->

I just finished a 10.7 mile run. It was cold(34), windy, and worse yet, my left knee was hurting most of the way. It's days like this where I question whether I'm doing myself any good by running competitively. My pace was faster than planned, at around 7:50 most of the way, but the pain is unrelated to pace. It's easier on the TM, so it's most likely inpact related. I'm ready and willing to run higher miileage than the 55mpw I've been at, but I question whether my legs are able.

Anyway, I burned off the wonderful dinner our friends Ernie and Laura made for us. They had spent the month of April in Florida with their parents and the day they returned to Timmins had H and I over; they simply had to be around people their own age. I know that feeling. As a teacher I grew impatient with high school students; and now my senior relatives, sweet as some of them are, drive me into a catatonic stupor. My dear Mom and her computer questions take the cake!

Hard/Easy

One reason I post my daily workouts is to demonstrate the value of the hard/easy principle. Now it might appear that the easy days aren't all that easy, but the pacing is different. In particular, I begin the easy runs at a snail's pace and continue at approximately 8:30 pace until after 3 miles or so, at which point I start hitting 7:50-8:00. But only if it feels good.

Yesterday, I did an indoor tempo run at 6:20-6:40 pace. It took a lot out of me. I'd already run around 10 miles a day at a fair pace, and the fan in our room broke, so I was overheating. But after 21 minutes (3.2 miles) I went outside and ran an easy mile to cool off.

But today, after some soreness the first mile, I ran a nice easy 7.8 miles at 8:10/mile pace(excluding the first mile, which I never count for pace, unless I'm really fresh and warmed-up) and felt strong and smooth. Hard/easy is the key to recovery.

WILL AMERICAN IDOL EVER END?

When I began to train for my first marathon in 2002, I strapped on my radio walkman and listened to whatever stations I had programed into the thing. One Sunday, during a long run, I pushed the PBS button. No music. "Dang!" I thought. They often feature live concert rebroadcasts by the Minnesota Orchestra (I lived in the Twin Cities) which are perfect for running the lakes.

Rather, there was an interview with TV Guide columnist Joe Queenan. He discussed one of his books. In "Red Lobster, White Trash and the Blue Lagoon," he devotes an entire summer to finding the worst entertainment possible. Why did he feel the need? Because he couldn't believe how bad "Cats" was, and was impelled to seek out something worse. I won't tell you the outcome(though the title gives you food for thought), but I will tell you that the composer--and I use that term liberally--of Cats is Andrew Loyd Weber--the source of American Idol's songlist this week.

Now folks, I don't mean to offend any fans of ALW(I know you paid good money for those theater tickets last time in the NYC) but his music is at best, drab and plagiaristic. It's perfect fodder for the likes American Idol, looking to fill the gap between Dolly Parton week and Neil Diamond week next time. Seriously.

This show starts with 30,000 contestants, and eliminates one each week. This week it was the gal--Carly?--with the world's largest tattoo on her arm, who was at the voters' hindmost. Oh writers! Why must you strike? "Reality TV" has insinuated itself into our culture and I keep living in households where someone--not me-- has been snatched in its ruthless talons and I'm coerced into watching the bloodshed.

They're down to .....6? I don't really know. On line, I see discussions contemplating who will be the NEXT American Idol...I don't know who was the last. Often, it's a semantic banter over the meaning of "idol." Whatever. I just want to buy a big enough house so I can vanish when Michael Bolton week comes up.

Now that I'm running outside, I've got to keep my easy days easier. It's so natural for me to start at 8 minute pace and two miles later be going 7:20 or so. But my legs will never recover from the longer or faster runs at that pace. There are IT-band aches, periformis pains, knee problems, etc. at the beginning of each run. And they don't all go away once warmed up. So recovery runs are crucial.

Today, after nearly a week of running faster than planned on successive days, I forced myself to start at 9 minute pace, and take a walk break every 10 minutes for 30 seconds. Still, if you take away the walking time and first mile, the pace was 8 minutes for most of the run--less than a minute slower than MP. So I'm still working at getting the recovery pace down.

Tomorrow, I'll do a tempo run at HM pace. I wish I had more outdoor time to prepare for the 5/4 half marathon.

Lots of my marathoning colleagues are taking on the time-honored course of Boston. It's something I aspired to my first year but still have yet to get around to doing. I wish them all good luck. The weather should be good--a big plus. This is the 5th straight year I've been qualified, but the travel expense and questionable weather has kept me away.

I might do it next year; I don't see myself running marathons much longer. So if I am able to qualify for next year and stay healthy I'd like to get out there.

For the first time in 2008, I ran long today. Not too long, just 14 miles, but nonetheless, I had the "good sore" feeling after the run. As I've said in previous posts, I've been treadmill running all winter, weaning myself off over the last two weeks.
The result? Faster miles but some sore muscles and joints unused to the impact. Today's run was a good example. My overall pace was around 7:30/ mile for 11.6 miles, with the last 5 at around 7:05 pace, but I felt a twinge here, a pain there. All in all, however, it was not a hard effort and it give me confidence that I can build into some fast races soon. But I've got to stay off that treadmill and build up my tolerance to the pounding of street running.

The lawns here are sand colored and little is green, but at least it's warm out--57F--and the sun shines for us today. I'm planning on a half marathon in two weeks and again in 4 weeks. I'll be ready in four weeks...as for two, we'll see. It's a 3.5 hour drive away. I'm itching to race, but it might just be smarter to wait for the ING Ottawa in mid-May. I'll see how the training goes.

Tomorrow, I'll trace many friend's Boston efforts. Good running to all!

Six miles in 44 minutes on the streets after 2 miles on the treadmill in 17 minutes. Except for the last two miles of the run I felt I was going at a nice easy aerobic pace. For me that would be 7:50/mile or so. But my measured "easy runs" are clocking between 6:50-7:40 pace. Yesterday I ran the last 10K of an "easy" run on hilly, gravelly streets at 7:20 pace. My legs feel it a bit, but I'm happy with the effortlessness of these near MP-pace runs.

Why am I running faster without trying? The treadmill I ran on all winter has a definite uphill pitch to it. So some of those 50 miles a week I sustained all winter were higher quality than I first thought. That also accounts for the difficulty adapting to the impact of asphalt. But after a summer of clocking sluggish training times on the Timmins streets last year, it's nice to see all of these faster times.

On Saturday I'll be running with a group of slower runners, but we'll go 10-12 miles. So I'll do my 20-minute tempo run first on the treadmill, then the long, easy run. It should help my threshold for the MH in 20 days.

Lesson: the treadmill has error margins that must be acknowledged...

Good News--My Treadmill Stinks!

Now that I'm running outdoors, I'm finding that my natural pace is nearly a minute/mile faster than what it felt to be on the infernal running machine.
Today, for example, I ran for 30 minutes at 8:20 pace on the tread, then went outside and ran with the same perceived effort. I went 6.35 miles in 44:45--more like 7:10 pace. And I had to slow several times due to poor footing. I'd be more skeptical of the outdoor routes, but I did them last year and they were accurate.
In Panama, the Gym's TMs seemed easier to keep a good pace on...bottom line--my treadmill is miscalibrated, and I spent the winter running faster and possibly longer than thought. Sweet! Last season, my back injury kept such a pall on running that going faster is a great relief. Sudberry HM here we come!

JIM RYUN: my childhood hero...

Jim redefined what it was to be a distance runner in the 1960s. He had crazy speed (47 on the 400) and an unsurpassed work ethic, even as a 16-year old HS student in Kansas. By the time he was 20 he held 3 world records (3:51.1; 1:44.9-880; the indoor 880) and had run HS times( 3:55-mile) that would take over 30 years to surpass.

He was a 1968 silver medalist and had good reason to feel cheated at Munich(1972), where he was tripped in a heat, and though he was the fastest miler in the world, never had the opportunity to run for the gold.

Beyond that, he was a good guy. He took the time to counsel me at length in 1974 at his running clinic, though he could have cold shouldered me in a heartbeat. For an hour we ran together, talking over running and goals outside of the track.

What is strange to me is to realize that even then, he was only 26 years old. He and his wife, Anne, were like parents to all of us HS distance runners. As a runner, I understood what it was to be humble after our chat. It was a valuable lesson; I left running for awhile, which was the right thing.

At 26, I was a grad student who had no clue what to do....At 26, he was a three-time Olympian with a tumultuous career behind him, trying to be certain we didn't repeat his mistakes. He'll always be a big part of my running.