EAT AND RUN

CRAMPS (Philadelphia Marathon 2011 Race Report)

2011-11-23T10:26:00.004-05:00

C.R.A.M.P.S. = Cheung Runs A Marathon Painfully & Slowly (or Positively Splitting)
This pretty much sums up the last eight miles of my marathon on Sunday.

Marathon day was beautiful - sunny, temperatures in the 50s, slight breeze. Pre-race logistics went smoothly -- bathroom, breakfast, drive, pumped, banana, bathroom, shed layers, national anthem. I found the 3:10 pace balloons in the Maroon corral right away and lined up near them. I was neither nervous nor cold. I felt ready.

Instead of the gun, there was a countdown. When we started running, the pace felt like my last few marathon pace runs. It felt smooth and easy. I was relieved. I was almost giddy to be running through Center City on this brilliant day, with the view of a sea of bobbing heads in front of me. I felt so alive and so lucky to be part of what feels like a giant parade. Chestnut Street was Philadelphia Marathon's version of First Avenue of the NYC Marathon. It was lined with spectators screaming their lungs out. Awesome!

As we made our way up 34th Street, I looked at my watch. It read 50 some minutes at around 7 miles. I was right on time. Noah met up and ran a little bit with me shortly after, and when he peeled off, his friends Elaine and Roger were there with an Occupy Philly Marathon sign to cheer me on. I waved to them.

I kept this steady stride through Fairmount Park and West River Drive, staying on the fringe of the pace group and enjoying the scenery. The half was over in 1:34. I performed a mental check-up. How are the legs? Good, a little tired, not tight. Lungs? Good, still breathing through nose. Stomach? Fine, maybe thirsty, but that's fixable.

I knew that the Kelly Drive portion would be the toughest. On my last long run, I actually rehearsed my self-talk in this portion of the race. Noah joined me just past the boat houses. I don't even remember what we talked about. All I remember was constantly wondering if I shouldn't have got ahead of the pace group and if I should slow down a little. Looking at the splits after the race, I might have upped the pace from 7:15 to 7:00 when I hit Kelly Drive. But I decided to keep going because I felt fine.

Then, around mile 17, I got a cramp breeze. Cramps are my crutch in every marathon and I had made a point in my training design to prevent them. So, I knew it won't be "just a breeze." I backed off a little and the pace group caught up to me. At mile 18.5, I got my first Charlie Horse. I ran with it, dragging the cramped up leg with the other until the cramp subsided. At the Wanderers water stop, I grabbed a cup of Gatorade from Bob. It was useless.

For the remainder of the race, I got cramps on the calves, shins, feet, and toes of both sides. Serial cramps. Increasing in duration, frequency, and intensity. They reminded me of labor pains. Some of the cramps caused me to limp. In between cramps, I tried to run my normal pace and stride. On Main Street, I started to lose the pace group. I looked for Melissa and Ezra at the turnaround but missed them. They saw me and took the picture below. (Check out the forced stride.)

I felt like I was dying publicly. My legs and lungs were still strong, I was ready to race tired, but the cramps took over completely. All I could do is continue to put one foot in front of the other.

I passed the Wanderers water stop at mile 21 on the way back. I waved hello to people and tried to look normal. Then, I looked for Noah, who would run with me most of the rest of the way. He was tremendous - making up stories to tell me, reminding me to breathe, helping me stay up during the most severe cramps.

I thought about what Betty told me the night before, "Expect something to go wrong. Then you don't have to worry about it." I thought about my mom, who in addition to being a supermom, is also a super grandmom. And Zonker, who I've missed every Tuesday night when I did my long run. I thought about what a privilege it was to be able to run a marathon. The people in my life let me get away with having a full-time job, an adorable son, and time to run.

Those 5 miles took a while, but eventually, I got within sight of the finish line. People were cheering wildly and I kept hearing my name (thank you, Kelly). But there was no sprint finish. I merely dragged my sorry legs across the timing mats. The time on the clock read 3:15:59. My net time was 3:15:32. The cramps cost me a PR, but you know what? It's done! I'm a marathon momster! Just like having a kid, it was hard and painful and totally worth it.

Not doing much today

2011-11-19T13:44:00.002-05:00

I'm not doing much today. Why? I will be running my sixth marathon tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish, have a good experience, and have a good time, in that order. I might PR but I probably won't. I'm just looking forward to running with a ton of people without a target on my back, with expectations relatively low.

My training has gone well. I made an abbreviated plan and followed it since mid-August. This plan consisted of 5 days/week of running building up from 40 to 50+ miles/week. Most of the miles were done when Zonker was sleeping, or when we thought he would be sleeping. Each week I did one faster-pace run, one trail run, and one long run that's a run commute. That's the gist of it. No cross-training. For me this is a minimalist plan with low mileage. When I wrote it up, I just wanted to get to the starting line without injuries, to keep my quality time with Zonker and Noah, and to see if doing speedier runs would help me avoid calf cramps late in the race.

Marathon training added to a very busy Fall. It hasn't been easy to combine breastfeeding with marathon running. But with the help of my mom, who took care of Zonker three days a week including every Tuesday night when we did a long run home from work, and Noah, who ran all of the long runs with me, I'm here, on the eve of the race, in one piece. I'm sitting on a chair, not lifting a finger, dreading both the taper and the end of it. I can't decide what to wear, how I'll feed or pump milk before the race, how and when to take gels, etc. I'm not sure how tough I'm going to be. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to the race, but I am mostly scared of it. I want it done. And then I want to play with Zonker and not have to worry about tiring myself out doing it.

How Zonker Became Zachary

2011-05-08T10:41:00.003-05:00

So, yes, we named our baby Zonker.
Kind of, anyway.
The birth certificate says Zachary. That's not really what we call him though.
People have been asking us how we came up with the nickname, but truth be told, we had the nickname first. See, we didn't have a very easy time coming up with a name. Even after a full day at the hospital – when Zonker already was a living, breathing human being – we didn't have a name.

Except that, early on, we did have a name. Ana. A girl's name, because we were thinking (in the lack of any actual evidence either way) that we were having a girl. So we'd talk about her as Ana. 'Do you think Ana will have my teeth? Do you think we should send Ana to public school or private?'

Then it turned out we were having a boy. And the name search went back to the beginning.

"How's Sam doing?" Or, "Has Ben been kicking a lot today?" We tried a bunch of names out like that. Aaron, Max, Henry. None of them quite stuck. We did call him Piglet a fair amount, but that's not really a name. I tried to get myself to like the name Abraham, for my grandfather who passed away a couple years ago. But I could never quite embrace it enough. We were scrambling for names, and the due date kept getting closer.

Then I got the Doonesbury retrospective for my birthday. And for some reason, I started calling the kid Zonker.
And it stuck. Nothing else had, this had. "Has Zonker been kicking much?" "Do you think Zonker will get your eyes?" It just sounded right.
I just wasn't sure that I could put "Zonker" on my son's birth certificate.
Not Helen – she was sure. "We are not putting Zonker on the birth certificate."
So, ok, group decision and I was wary anyway. So we weren't going to name him Zonker. But that just left us back where we started. We never did come up with any other name that stuck.
Helen gives Betty credit for this, but for me it was Helen that suggested it – if we name him Zachary, we can call him Zonker.
That, then, is the story of how Zachary became Zonker.

Definitely our child

2011-03-30T09:49:00.000-05:00

Look at those lungs!

Our little Zonker arrived on St. Patrick's Day. He weighed 6 lbs, 9 ozs and was 19 inches long. We are doing well. He's got big feet, meaty and fin-like (with medium-low arches) . At first we thought that meant he'd be a swimmer like his mom, but then we gave him a bath and learned that he doesn't like the water. If he decides to be an endurance athlete, he will be able to use that innate ability to scream for hours with the look of suffering on his face.

For those who tuned in to this blog to check out our running, I jogged 3-6 miles a day until the day I went into labor. After the baby "dropped," I actually felt better and could maintain 9-minute/mile pace. Since he was born, I've rested for a week and then have been walking a few miles everyday. Childbirth is *so much* harder than marathons, but I think running has helped me have a quick delivery and recovery.

Ugly Mudder LBRR

2011-02-27T18:41:00.001-05:00

Depending on how you look at it, the Ugly Mudder is either the first race of the season, or an off-season race. Either way, it was my first time racing since the Philly Marathon Half-Marathon in November. And it went ok. Don't know that I enjoyed myself as much as I should have, although I finished around where I expected to. It's not a great fit for me, though. It's a hard race, and that's part of it – but there are some harder races that I like more.

In part, I find the 11 am ('ish') start time a challenge. When do you eat? But much of it goes back to the fundamental issue I have with racing: I'm a better trail runner than road runner; I'm a natural negative splitter; and trail running favors positive splitting. And Ugly Mudder really favors positive splitting. It's a huge race – 700 people? Maybe 800? On some pretty narrow trails. So even more than most, it's imperative to start out at least ok and get position. But I overdid it, so that I was pretty beat 15 minutes in, knowing that I had around 45 to go. And it's not a very forgiving race. It's some of the same trails as Half-Wit (albeit in the opposite direction), but I'd say that mile-for-mile it's a harder race. Similar hilliness, but trickier footing. And while there are fewer sustained climbs, there are more short but ridiculously steep, no-way-you-could-run-that climbs. So when you're realizing, ¼ of the way in, that you're kinda spent, there's not a lot of opportunities to get that energy back.

Unlike a lot of other runners, I did manage to stay on my feet. Even more surprising, I managed to stay on course – which many other runners didn't. Someone – again! - had stolen some of the trail directions, causing mass chaos. I was among the least affected, although among those most affected, some had to run extra, others less. So I suspect that I wound up around where I would have – with some who should be behind me ahead, and some who should be ahead, behind.

My goal had been top 35, and I wound up in the high-20s, so, yes, goal achieved. One guy I'd almost caught a few times 2 years ago, then couldn't get close to last year, finished right in front of me. I mean right - I was sprinting at the finish line and he didn't beat me by a full foot. I'd consider this a significant accomplishment, if I didn't know that he'd been part of the group that ran extra.

So that's where things stand now. I've had a good off-season, and this was a good benchmark, especially since I won't get to run Tyler. And who knows what's next? Apparently there's less sleep in my future, and that can't help things much. But then, maybe it can – sacrifice a few minutes, chill out some, and enjoy myself more. We'll see.

Running these days (she says) - the good, bad & ugly of pregnant running

2011-02-12T20:37:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am still running. Snow, ice, cold and all. I know I am lucky.

That hip pain I last wrote about is gone thankfully. It turned out to be the SI joint and is common among pregnant women, not just runners. I biked inside for a week and then cautiously returned to running, starting with painful 2-mile shuffles and working my way back to 5 miles of comfortable jogging. I always feel good at the end of a run.

Running is supposed to help ease pregnancy and childbirth. (So far, check.) But based on my blog stalking, I’m running at the upper range among pregnant runners at this stage of the game. So I don’t know if I should run more. No one knows, it depends on the person. I’m just supposed to listen to the body. So there, if you’re wondering what pregnant running feels like, it feels like uncertainty, maybe guilt. Every run can be my last run, every mile can help or hurt for two. This feeling trumps all others, which also includes loneliness (I’m too slow to run with people these days) and jealousy (Everyone gets to run more than me). This is the ugly.

The bad thing about running while pregnant is that I have to diligently empty the bladder and intestines before every run or else I experience great pain. Actually, even if I do, it still feels like I have to pee. I just know it’s a bluff. My bladder is small these days, so if I leave a little in there, every step I take would feel like someone is punching it. Imagine having your full bladder punched 100 some times per minute, and you’ve got the experience of me running. I also have no idea where my intestines are anymore, but they will always make themselves known if I run having underpooped. In fact, the entire abdomen would hurt so much that I have to immediately stop running.

That’s it, though. Physically, running with almost 20 extra pounds doesn’t feel nearly as hard as walking with a 10-pound dumbbell. My belly sticking out doesn’t affect my balance as much as I thought. I am just slower, about 2 minutes per mile slower than before, and I’ve cut back by 50-60% in distance.

What’s cool about pregnant running is that when I’m out running, sometimes I do feel like I’m running with the little guy, like the two of us are on a little adventure. Like last week, I took him to the trails to experience the serenity and beauty of the Wissahickon and the fun (and dare) of snow running. What’s good about running these days is that I can just do it. It’s simple. Once I’m out, I’m so free. Once the kid comes out though, it will actually be harder to run together, and it’ll be harder to just get out the door at a moment’s notice. That’s why I’m savoring these last weeks of freedom and trying to run for as long as I can.

Running these days

2011-01-30T14:06:00.002-05:00

We've been dominating the screwshoes hashtag on Twitter. Helen, Leo, myself – we've got pretty much all the entries. Turns out it isn't a big trender.

I'm the only one that's actually been using them. So simple, yet so effective: screw a bunch of screws into the bottom of your shoes, and there you have it: screwshoes. Run on ice, run in slush and snow. As long as you don't sink in too much, you're good to go.

Because these days, running means running in snow, running on ice, running through slush. It's a hassle, and it's harder. But overall, that trade-off is worth it. It's stunningly beautiful. Especially in the sun, with the bright snow. Forbidden Drive and most of the Wissahickon's trails are runnable. The trails aren't easy running – or, at least, they aren't fast. They're probably less technical than they normally are though.

The snow – even the packed snow – means a softer run, too. This morning was my long run; probably ran 15-16 miles, after running 9 yesterday. That makes this a big weekend for me, but I don't feel beat-up. Tired, yes, but not beat up. This despite the shoes I'm wearing, my 'screw balances,' an old pair of new balances with 400+ miles in them that never had much cushioning to begin with.

There's a lot to like about snow running.

But I miss running with Helen.

I got into this sport with Helen – she's my #1 running partner, and always will be. I'm hoping that somewhere down the line, the little guy she's been carrying around in her tummy is going to become #1a. But right now, it's an in-between period. Helen's doing a good job of running through pregnancy, especially now that her hip's better, so we still run some together. But we can't log the miles together that I'm used to, that she's used to. I know that, as far as pregnancy issues goes, this is small, and that dads-to-be aren't supposed to whine. But I'm looking forward to the day when we can hand the kid off to his grandparents and disappear into the woods together for a few hours. I hope that there's snow then, too.

Last Night's Dinner

2011-01-02T10:48:00.002-05:00

Last night was the 4th (and possibly final!) Annual New Year's Eve Dinner.
We brought it back to New Year's this year, as some people had problems with the mid-week/work-week dinner last year.
Four dinners and, by my count, four successful dinners! A relief as I didn't feel like we had as many new dishes this year; we've been a bit less creative, I think, in our normal dinner choices. But we've also eaten a lot of new things that just don't work as well in the large dinner party setting (pizzas, mostly, but other stuff as well, like the panisses I made a few weeks ago that were good, but require a lot of last-minute attention). With 18 people showing up, that wasn't an option. Lamb shoulder really is hard to beat for these parties.

Anyway: last night's menu:

Vin chaud (aka 'mulled wine')
--=---
Carrot-leek Soup
--=---
Arroz con pollo with olives and preserved lemons
Lamb tagine with dates and raisins
Roasted butternut squash
Chick peas 'maison'
No-knead bread
Soft Pretzels
Green salad with apples and pine nuts
--=---
Chocolate-pecan pie
Pear almond tart
Brownies
Ice creams: vanilla, cinnamon, chestnut

I did want to highlight seasonal stuff this time, more than usual. In the past, I've approached this as a time of excess, of doing things that aren't everyday – so, buying strawberries in December, spending more for fancier products, and lots and lots of meat were all part of the fun. Because of that approach, I paid less attention to local/seasonal stuff than I do in our normal meals. But this time, it just seemed to all have nice fall/winter colors: browns, oranges, instead of pinks and bright reds. Large piles of meat, still, but along with squash (a first, I think) and lots of bread.

The carrot-leek soup is basic, but very good.
Basic here doesn't mean 'easy' because making it involves cleaning leeks, which is a huge hassle.

And Helen pointed out that even though the soup was good, it probably wasn't worth the complications. I think she's right. As the dinner has evolved, it's moved from more structured to less (witness the disappearance of the palate cleanser course). Probably be best to just have the soup out for people who want it...

Arroz con Pollo

The only real weakness was the arroz con pollo. I'd made it before, and liked it – it's a Mark Bittman recipe that I'd jazzed up by adding turmeric, lemons, and olives, giving it a Moroccan flair. I forgot the turmeric this time, though. I'd also tripled the broth and rice in the recipe (with 18 guests, hard not to!). I figured that once the broth reached a boil rice cooking time would be the same, but that turned out not to be the case. Either that, or problems caused by having my ginormous dutch oven off-center on one tiny little burner. So, tasty, but with some crunchy rice and not much color.

The rest went great. People liked the squash, despite it being squash, which is, well, squash. The chick peas got eaten up, too. It's a standard dish here, probably close to weekly – chick peas sauteed with cumin seeds, chipotles, tomatoes, raisins, and almonds, then simmered in beer for a bit. We don't actually call it chick peas maison, but we don't have a name for it, so there it is.
The lamb is always a big hit. I even served it in a real tagine this time.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Chick Peas

Lamb Tagine

The biggest hit, though, was probably the pretzels. People really like home made pretzels. I think we made around 30, and they were gone by morning.
They're a great dinner party food, it turns out – even better if you've got kids coming who want to help make them.

Pecan Chocolate Pie

Brownies

Pear Almond Tart

Almond Biscotti

2010-12-21T17:54:00.001-05:00

Due to some lingering and major hip pain, I've been doing very little running the last week. This seems a bit different from my usual hamstring issues which manifest in the knees and hips. This is new and causes me to limp even when walking. Needless to say, this is frustrating. Yesterday, I went out for a two hour, six mile walk and still was mopey when I returned.

Oh, but my whining isn't the reason you decided to read this post, is it? So, back to biscotti. For the cookie exchange at work, I decided to make 80 some almond biscotti. While this isn't the tastiest batch I've made, these are the most intact, professional looking ones. What really helped this time is (1) having a spray bottle to soften the crust before cutting and (2) using sliced almonds instead of whole nuts. I wish they come out browner, but these are definitely crunchy enough.

They're not hard to make, but it does help to have a stand mixer or strong forearms (I think you know which one I have) and to give yourself at least two hours. Below is the recipe, which I adapted from King Arthur Flour's recipes for Almond-Lemon Biscotti and Barista Biscotti Bites. As usual, I doubled the salt. If you like things on the sweet side, you might want to use more sugar or add a glaze.

*********************

Almond Biscotti

(Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour’s various biscotti recipes)

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 cup sliced toasted almonds

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, almond extract, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour and almonds, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.

Divide the dough in half, plopping each half onto the prepared baking sheet. Using your wet fingers, shape each piece into a rough log about 12" long, 2" wide, and about ¾" thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the logs, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into ½" to ¾" slices.

Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 30 minutes, till they feel very dry. They’ll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they’ll continue to dry out as they cool. Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Best Runs of the Year – 2010

2010-12-20T21:06:00.007-05:00

2010 has been a good year for running. Helen and I re-ran some classic routes and discovered some new ones. We ran in Philly and New England, we ran in France, and we ran in Morocco. We've now run together in five countries on four continents and, by my count, seven U.S. states. We had some of our biggest adventure runs this year – no monkeys, perhaps, but there were some rather ominous cows, some major climbs, and some serious weather.

A good year for running, although I'm not sure I could call it a great year for running. Helen was dinged-up for much of it, pregnant for the rest, with some overlap to boot. This ruled out epic runs like our '08 mountain runs in Provence and Hong Kong, and our biggest adventure journey – a day in the Atlas mountains of Morocco – was a hike instead of a run. And it wasn't a great year for racing. I did PR in the half-marathon, and ran my first ultra; on the down side, though, the streak ended, and the last 10 miles of that ultra were pretty dreary.

But there were still more great runs than anyone deserves, and it's nice to take the time to relive some of them. So, here they are, in chronological order:

The Abbreviated-Four-Corners-Extended-Cake Run
This winter was different from previous winters just in the sheer quantity of snow here in Philly. Eventually I'd get tired of it, but at this point, we weren't there yet. Helen and I had planned on running the four corners with fellow wanderers Leo and Pete. It's a daunting run in any conditions, but with over a foot of fresh powder, there was No Way. What was supposed to be 21 miles in around 3.5 hours became 12 in three-plus hours. But what it lacked in speed and distance it made up for in pure fun. And cake!

The Pre-Wedding run
This run starts off a good series. This was, in one sense, just the normal Thursday-night Wanderers run. But since it was two days before our wedding, we treated that run as the start of our wedding festivities. got some extra friends to join us, ran in our 'bride and groom' baseball caps... there was even more cake afterward!

Running in Nice
We did a few runs in Nice, but it was the first one that stands out – running up in the hills above the city, going up in the gardens and the smaller roads in the hills. The conditions, the new scenery, made the run great; but it was also a great feeling being there, the relaxation of the honeymoon, the break in our routines.

Running through the Medina
The next great Honeymoon Run.
We'd had a great hike in the Atlas Mountains the day before. Beautiful, empty, with great vistas. Walking around Marrakesh had been different – exciting but hectic, with pedestrians, donkeys, motorcycles and cars all hustling for the same space. Early in the morning? That's a different story. So Helen and I woke up early and headed out, running free through the streets before the hustle began.

Running in Essouria
This was the other city in Morocco we visited – along the Atlantic coast. The city itself is quite small, so when we ran we ventured outside of it. We found some roads that followed along the ocean – one was clearly *the* place to run, but the other – a quasi-abandoned quasi-road – that was the fun part. We were brave and went past the cows that were off to the side of the road. The next hear, though, the ones blocking the road – that's where we decided to turn back. A few too many bulls.

Double Trouble
This year, we decided to do it up, and do the whole thing twice. Not sure it was the wise thing, but it worked out well for Helen, as she was able to win the long version going away. (We later learned that she was pregnant during the race, but we didn't know that then). I struggled in the last quarter of the race, but I enjoyed the first three quarters a lot, and also enjoyed hanging out in the park afterward.

Beartown State Forest
Helen and I have been going to Beartown State Forest for a few years, almost every time we go up to Great Barrington. We'd always been trying to find routes to take along the trails and skipping the roads. This time, though, we were wary of doing the actual trails. (I don't remember why exactly – Helen's ankle maybe?) So instead of the trails, we stuck with the roads in the park. Turns out they're *great* running roads. Like a network of Forbidden Drives. We'd been avoiding them the whole time, but it turns out that they might be what's best about running in the park.

Half-Wit Half
This is an annual. It's almost at the point that it's what I think of when I think of summer. Running through the woods, up and down the crazy hills (and stairs!), trying to stay on course. This was the second straight year that I stayed on course, and the second straight year I age-grouped. It was the first year that I wasn't faster than the year before, and Helen only finished second (I know, right?). I also felt like I left a minute or two on the course, but you know what? That was ok – part of the fun of half-wit is running it, but a lot of the fun is hanging out afterward, sitting around with the horde of other Wanderers.

Stumpy's Marathon
This wasn't a normal marathon; it was a trail run guaranteed to be "at least" 26 miles, running through the woods in Delaware. It took me 4 hours - I was able to run the first three hours with Bob Reynolds. Keeping up with him for those three hours probably hurt me during the fourth, though – something of a death-march toward the end. I liked the approach, though, and I liked those woods. And I liked the fact that I was able to just go out and run 26 miles and not have to spend two weeks tapering and then two recovering.

The Hamlet run
During the fall, I'd run home from work once most weeks. It takes some planning, because while I can bring as much stuff *too* work as I want, I try to run home with as little as possible – usually, a few bucks, my keys, my faculty i.d. Leaving my phone at home is easy enough. The course reading is the complication. Sometimes I'll scan something in and email it home; sometimes it doesn't matter, because I've taught the material enough to not have to worry about it. But in mid-semester I was teaching Hamlet for the first time, and didn't want to go two days without the book. In part, it was for class prep, in part it was just because I wanted to keep reading it. So I put my copy of Hamlet in a plastic bag and ran home – 11 miles – with the book in my hand.
The run wasn't great, to be honest – it certainly wasn't one of the year's best. But I've been looking for an excuse to write about running 11 miles with a copy of Hamlet in my hand, and this was it.

Philly Marathon Half-Marathon
It was a great year for running; it wasn't a great year for racing. But I did manage to PR at the Philly Marathon Half-Marathon, beating my previous time by a minute on a beautiful fall day.

Racing-wise, I don't know what's in store for next year. I'm thinking about focusing more on 5ks and 10ks. I've definitely got no plans to race another marathon.
But running will have to take a back seat, too... runner # 3 is on his way, but it's gonna take him a little while to get up to speed. For now, I'm thankful for the year of running that we've had, and I'm looking forward to all of the adventures that 2011 has in store.

Turning the Page

2010-11-27T15:19:00.000-05:00

This morning's run was cold. Sunny, blue skies, but cold.
It was a strange fall; it seemed like the whole time it was fall, it was feeling like it had just been summer. Now, all of a sudden it's winter.

It's nice, though, because the weather is cooperating with a whole lot of other changes. It's just past Thanksgiving, meaning that it's Christmas season. I'm finally done my fall racing season. I'm practically done my semester. So it felt good to be out there this morning, running with the wanderers, wearing my tights and gloves and hat and jacket.

It felt good to be back on the trails, too. I'd been staying off of them in the weeks leading up to the Philly Half, since you never know when you'll turn an ankle and ruin your race, or else just totally biff, scrape your face up, and ruin your race pics. In those weeks, though, the trails changed; they're not the fall trails of changing leaves anymore, they're the winter trails, with the sun shining through the barren trees.

I don't know what this winter has in store, and I don't know what I want to accomplish. It was hard to run in last winter's snow; but I let that dictate my runs too much. It took a while this year – all of spring, part of summer – to make up for what I didn't run in the winter. I could make a point of avoiding that this year. But next year's a bit different anyway, what with the piglet on his way, and the probability that even if I'm running much next spring, I won't be sleeping much.

On Thanksgiving morning, we were at the Whole Paycheck, doing some last-minute shopping. I saw some popsicles in the frozen foods aisle. I remembered getting a popsicle on the way up to Great Barrington, how refreshing and cooling it was on that hot summer night. There will be more popsicles, but not for a while, not for a while.

Giving thanks

2010-11-24T23:35:00.000-05:00

All of the thanksgiving posts over at my work blog got me thinking, man, my life is so good! I am having a good year. I married my favorite person in May. We then took a vacation in Morocco and France. I have great family and friends, a job that I am good at, and coworkers I like. And now, we're expecting a mini-us in March!

On that topic, I am thankful that despite all of the tests and worries early on, our piglet is healthy and I am feeling well. Sure, this is the year when I finally figured out how to keep my hamstrings working properly (by swimming), and now I have to cut back (20% so far). But I am still happy to be running. Also, I have no strange food cravings or aversions. So, the eating and running will continue. :)

And all of this is to say that, I feel so lucky and so thankful, just about all of the time.

Happy thanksgiving to all!

1:24:30

2010-11-22T07:10:00.001-05:00

I ran the Philly Marathon Half Marathon this morning. I finished in 1:24:30, which is a new PR for me, by around a minute.
I also placed 4th in my age group. This is unprecedented.

The time is around what I expected. "Around" - I printed up a wristband last night, and had it exactly at 1:24:30, but I had no idea that I'd hit that to the second. And to be honest, I'm not sure I did – kinda think it was 2-3 seconds slower, but whatever. I'm pleased with the time. It was what I expected, given my training this season.
It's not what I was hoping for when I signed up for the race, but given my conditioning, I was pleased with the race – with the time, with my effort, with my approach.
My previous PR was at last year's PDR – a half-marathon only race that many people, including me then, use as a warm-up for the full marathon. I had a 1:25:42, or something like that (forty-something). I knew I left a few minutes on the course that day, since I was taking it easy to prioritize marathon training, and hadn't tapered.
This season, I wasn't up for another full Marathon; I was hoping to go back and pick up those minutes I'd left on the course, though. Turns out it wasn't so easy.
I was putting in similar miles to last year, but just wasn't quite as fast – reps were just a few seconds slower. I wasn't concerned about endurance, having run the Bluse Cruise, but I was concerned about speed. The half-marathon is a good hybrid, it's certainly endurance but you need to run it fast if you want to do well.
Although I arrived at my wristband's exact time, race didn't quite go by plan. Was thinking easy first 3 miles, pick it up through mile 10, then lay down the hammer. Instead, I went out faster than I planned, kept it up for a while, then dropped back a bit at around miles 9-10. Still managed to speed up for the last 3.
Like I said, it's not what I was hoping for when I signed up. I felt like I had a 1:22-1:23 in me. But today – this season – I didn't.
That said, I'm pretty excited about my AG placing. I never imagined I'd place in my AG in such a big race. And I was 82nd overall. I'm a top 5% guy usually; but this is top 1%. Unprecedented.
Easy to make caveats: a lot of people doing the full were going faster than me. It's the Philly Marathon; that's the main event. And yes, I've always been a bit skeptical of AG awards. But in a race this big, that matters less. It's still gratifying.
And thus ends racing season. Don't know what's next on the docket... Ugly Mudder? Some spring 10Ks? We'll see.

Reflections on the Blues Cruise 50k

2010-10-04T08:12:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I ran the Blues Cruise 50k. It was my first real foray into "ultra" marathons – a category that includes anything longer than a marathon, from 50ks to 50-milers to 100-milers and up.

My main impressions:
-It was a beautiful day, a perfect day, really, blue skies and sunlight but cool and breezy.
-The course itself was beautiful, along a lake, trails that were usually runnable
-The support was great
-Toenails, though small, can cause an enormous amount of pain
-I'm happy with my finishing time
-Ultra running just isn't for me.

50k translates to 31 miles, which makes sense, since a 5k is 3.1 miles. This course may have been only 30 miles, though, which translated to around 48.3k; Bob Reynolds also ran this with me, wearing his gps, and that was what he had.
"Only 30 miles" – it was still a long, long way to run.

The race started out well. It's an out and back, on trails that are often nice, frequently beautiful, at times breathtaking. Most of the trails were runable; there were a fair amount of short and really steep hills, which were a challenge (both up and down), but they were never too long. the one real significant hill was at around mile 10 (and then 21, seeing as it's an out-and-back), but that was not quite as steep, a hill that would have been more Wissahickon-like.
I started off a bit fast – first mile around 7:30, no way that was sustainable – and then settled into what seemed like a good pace. I hit the turnaround at around 2:02. I knew at that point that I was going to positive split the race, but was hoping for something around 4:10-4:15. Running that far, even on trails, beats me up, so equal effort = positive splitting.
I hadn't prepared for the excruciating pain that I was going to have to go through in the second half. I first noticed it going up the big hill at around mile 21. I'd felt something similar the Saturday before, on my weekly long run, and chalked it up to poor sock choice. I tried to run through it, but it would keep getting worse. I took off my shoe and rearranged my sock, which helped for a bit – I'd wind up doing that 3-4 times during the race. At a late rest stop (mile 25) I managed to get some ibuprofen, which also helped for a bit. But nothing that helped lasted. I think that at the last rest stop – maybe 3.5 miles out? - if I'd known how much I'd hurt during those last few miles, I'd have DNFed. Lots of grimacing, yelling, deep breathing till the pain subsided, then starting up with the first ginger steps, till up to running pace, then I'd land wrong and the pain would begin again.
That said, I'm glad I finished. Now I've done it – I've run at least one ultra. And my time was good – 4:32. A pretty pathetic 2nd half, but an overall good time. That was good for 19th place out of around 200 runners. I'm usually in the top 5%, but I expected to be somewhere around top 10% for my first ultra. And it was around the time I'd been guessing I'd get.
But I don't think that this is for me. I can't blame the venue, can't blame the weather, because I couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know that I can blame my toes - I mean, I can, but I suspect that during most ultras I'd have some issue or another. But 30 miles, 31 miles, even 26 miles – it's just a long way to run. While running that long has the advantage of letting you see a lot of beautiful scenery, and taking this a bit easier, you don't need a race for that.

Ready or not...

2010-10-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

This weekend represents my first entry into the world of ultrarunning.
I'm signed up for the Blues Cruise 50k.
50k.
That's 31 miles... significantly more running than I've ever done. And, perhaps, significantly more running than I ever should have planned on doing. I might be up to this; I probably am ready; but I'm really not sure.

My running mileage has been in the 50s lately, I think – maybe high 40s. I don't usually add it up. My sense is that's a little light for a 50k, but maybe not excessively so. The biking will help. I have two 20+ runs, one the 26.8 mile Trail Dawgs Quasi-marathon. And yeah, that one didn't go so well. At least the fourth hour didn't.
I do have hopes that the last miles of the Blues Cruise will go better than the last miles of the Quasi-Marathon. That one I didn't taper for, didn't eat right for, basically tried to train through. I also ran it in running shoes that had long since lost any padding. For Blues Cruise, I'm tapering (probably not enough, but I am tapering), going a few days without booze, and trying to generally get ready for it. I also have my new, new trail running shoes – although there, too, I'm not without concerns. They'll only have around 40 miles on them, if that; the longest run was 19 miles, a run that was supposed to be 22 but which I cut short. I blame the socks I was wearing that day, but still – it'd be nice to know more about how I like the shoes. But then, I ran in my old Cascadias today, and they're done.

At least it's rained. The ground shouldn't be that hard.

I'm also planning on not going out that hard. It's tough, though – with such a long race, even going fast, you'll be out there way longer than is necessary. Go out to slow, you're looking at more than 5 hours running. That, I may not be up for.

New New Trail Running Shoes, version 3.0

2010-09-18T14:17:00.002-05:00

This morning I ran 10 miles in my brand spankin' new Asics Trabucos.
For me, this is a big shift. I do a lot of my miles on trails, and have a 50k coming up in (gulp) 2 weeks, so I'm counting on these for a lot. They weren't the pair I was planning on getting.

My first ever pair of trail running shoes was a pair of Mizuno Wave Ascends. They were great for around 350 miles, then suddenly weren't very great at all.
After that, I got a pair of Brooks Cascadias. Those were awesome. So awesome, in fact, that when those wore out, I got a second pair.

That second pair was even awesomer. They were, after all, just as good functionally as the first pair. Plus they were red. Awesome + red = Awesome-er.
Anyway, they were awesome enough to get a *third* pair of Cascadias. This involved moving from the Cascadia 4 to the 5.

The 5s were awesome, but not quite as awesome. The toebox seemed narrower, which is often an issue for me. Still, they gave me many good runs – including the trail marathon I ran last week. That said, it was clear during the fourth hour of that marathon that it was time for a new pair of trail shoes.

I was just planning on getting an unprecedented fourth pair of Cascadias, and I'm pretty sure I would have, but the store was out. So I figured, what the hey, and tried on what they had at the store. And the Asics Trabucos felt pretty darn good. So I took the leap.

The 10-mile review: they feel good. I do have some worries, related to ankle turns. They land a little different than the Cascadias, in certain situations. I feel like there are times when I landed with a rock or root or something that was a little high at the outside of the foot, and on the Trabucos, they sort of 'give' a little, where the Cascadias kept everything flat on the bottom. I'm really hoping that I get used to that.

I don't think that this is because the Trabucos are a stability shoe – because, despite what some websites say, I don't *think* that they are a stability shoe. Some shoe guides have them listed as such, but Helen saw no signs in the shoe itself; I saw no signs on the Asics site that they're made for stability. They seem, over all, not unlike the Cascadias.

Like the Cascadias, they have a decent heel, which I like, even though it's out of fashion among trail runners. The toe box is a bit wider, which I also like. Padding seems a little harder than the Cascadias, but not a lot.

It's hard moving away from something that works, but for now, I'm optimistic. My biggest worry? I should have gotten last year's model – the Trabuco 12. Didn't think I'd ever go with such an unlucky model number. But here it goes...

A Quasi-Marathon, and some thoughts on strategy

2010-09-12T17:21:00.001-05:00

I ran in the Trail Dawgs' Stumpy's Marathon this morning – a no-frills affair through some nice woods outside of Newark, Delaware.
I didn't fully race it, and it's not fully a race. It's a supported run, with no real clock, no sign-up, and no guarantees. It's a free race and, while they like pointing out that you get what you pay for, it's a pretty good event. They had a bunch of rest stops, and did a decent job of marking a pretty complicated course. Bob R drove down with me, and I ran with him for the first 20+ miles. He wore a GPS, and had the route at 26.6 miles. Or maybe 26.8 – I forget.

It took me just under 4 hours. I break down the race like this: first two hours were fun; the third was difficult; the fourth hour was a brutal death-march. I didn't walk (with the exception of some steep climbs, where it was a good choice), but was really feeling the pain.
For the first three hours, I'd tried to run with Bob, even though I know that he does a lot more long-distance training than I do. Seemed more pleasant to run with someone, and it was good to have help finding the mile markers. For the first two hours that was easy enough. The third was a struggle. By hour 4, he left me in the dust.

It made me think more about the races I've done recently: Double Trouble, Half Wit, and this quasi-race. I'm ok with all of my results. The one that most disappointed me was half-wit. That was the only one where I'd made a conscious choice to negative split. The thing is, though – even if it cost me some time, it was the one event where I really felt like I finished strong.

Positive Split, Negative Split... there's a lot that makes sense about positive splitting a trail race. I'm not sure that my positive splitting cost me any time in Double Trouble or today (or that I should care much about the time today). But it's hard to deny that it makes me enjoy the running less.

My next race – a real race – is the Blues Cruise 50k. That'll be the farthest I've ever run. I'm thinking I should start off slower.

Water Ice, Water Ice, Oh How I Love Thee

2010-08-19T21:36:00.004-05:00

As a native Philadelphian, I grew up eating Water Ice.
And yes, as a native Philadelphian, I do call it "wudderice."

For those not familiar with water ice, in consistency, it's a bit like a more solidified and frozen version of a slurpee. As such, it's a member of the all-important "sweet and cold" food group, which is not yet considered one of the major food groups by everybody, but it is by me.

Readers of this blog know that I love ice cream, and I love sorbet as well. But a water ice isn't really much like sorbet, or granita for that matter. In sorbets and granitas, you're really trying to get at the essence of the fruit.

Water ice is always fruit flavors (or almost always, anyways). But it's not the all-natural, essence of the fruit treat that sorbets and granitas are. With water ice, you have to be willing to embrace the artificiality. Those colors sure aren't natural. And not all flavors work. The sour cherry that I ordered once didn't. But then, water ice isn't really about having a wide variety of flavors, for me. It's about having a few flavors and doing them right. And by 'a few,' I really mean two: lemon and cherry. Although if you want to only have lemon, that's fine, too.

Most people who pay attention to this stuff consider John's Water Ice, in Bella Vista, the best in the city, and it only has four flavors: Lemon, Cherry, Pineapple (which I tasted, it's pretty good) and, for some reason, chocolate. That said, I'm not sure that I think that John's is All That. Two factors here: first, John's doesn't have the ice chunks that plague many water ice places. But the flip side of that is that it's a little liquidy. I don't like the ice chunks, but I'm willing to accept them as the cost of a water ice that's more solid, less liquidy. Second: most of the water ices I've had are pretty similar in quality. So I don't see it as worth it to go all the way across town to go to a particular water ice place. I'm happy with the ones that are nearby.

When should you eat water ice? Any time is good, but – this won't come as a shocker to anyone – it is best when you're hot. It's especially good when you've been exercising. Towards the end of a long bike ride, perhaps, stopping and having a water ice and then feeling nice and cool on the last few miles home... isn't that what summer's all about?

photo from slashfood.com

What a Half-Wit looks like

2010-08-16T14:43:00.002-05:00

So THAT'S What It Looks Like

2010-08-14T19:31:00.008-05:00

Tomorrow is the Half-Wit Half Marathon.
In the past I have criticized this race some, but really, this is one of my favorite races, one that I look forward to a lot, one that Helen and I plan around.

My main criticisms in the past came from going off course the first two times I ran it - for reasons that I thought were avoidable by better signs and better volunteer placement. Nor does the RD make the course available ahead of time. It's a trail half marathon, and while I do think it's pretty close to the distance, it's not like these things are USATF certified. I'm not sure that an official map exists.

Last year was the first year I was able to run the race and not go off course. I paid attention, tried to remember what I could. I also got lucky some. But as this race was approaching this year, Helen suggested I look on-line, that maybe someone had posted a GPS file of the course.

She was right! A few people had, and I was able to look over the course some. And my main reaction?

I had no idea, none, that it looked like that.

It's a really long, narrow course. Who knew?

Running in the Wissahickon can be disorienting, but I know its boundaries. And it's got the creek running right down the middle. Without knowing the roads around the half-wit course, I just had no sense at all.

Will this new-found knowledge help? I'll find out tomorrow.

Feast

2010-08-04T19:21:00.001-05:00

Noah and I had a lot of fun shopping at the Great Barrington farmers market and the Guido's and figuring out how to make new things in an unfamiliar kitchen.

Noah made this beets and tomatoes salad. He roasted the beets in the oven himself. This created a red mess in the kitchen, but the dish was well worth the trouble.

I was not terribly creative with desserts, but couldn't pass up the peaches at the farmers market. The only thing new to me is that for all the cobblers and crumbles I've made, I've never made a crisp before. So, I wound up making a peaches and berries crisp. It was tasty and perhaps a little too sweet for me. It also broke the household record for eating desserts - it took us 3 days to finish it!

I made this "grilled shrimp tapas" on the cast iron skillet with just a little bit of oil, salt, and garlic. Yum!

Noah made these stuffed squash blossoms and pappardelle pasta. These squash blossoms are now my favorite thing. They are stuffed with mushrooms, onions, bread crumbs and gruyere cheese and baked.

Isn't this what everyone does on vacation?

2010-08-04T09:44:00.002-05:00

Arrive late Friday night.

Saturday: long run in Beartown State Forest; dinner in town; movie

Sunday: 30-mile bike down to Connecticut, up through the valley; short run in the 'hood; home-cooked dinner of pasta, stuffed squash blossoms, gambas a la plancha, beet and tomato salad with fresh mint, peach and berry crisp

Monday: long bike ride (Noah) and a run in the 'hood (Helen); dinner at the Route 7 Grill.

Tuesday: one last run in Beartown State Forest; burrito lunch; schlepp it on back to Philly.

Which is the bread, which is the butter?

2010-07-07T19:11:00.004-05:00

A busy last few days of running and biking. On Saturday, met up with the usual Saturday Morning Trail Run down at Valley Green. Some guys were running the four corners; I wasn't up for all four, but did join them for two.

Sunday, I got out on the bike, and did the most recent version of the bread and butter loop. It wound up around 75 miles.

Then Monday, the Third Annual Green Ribbon Trail run – the fourth-of-July tradition of running someplace that isn't the Wissahickon, with the guys that I usually run in the Wissahickon with.

And I realized, a few things have changed in the last year or so. To start, a few things have happened to the bread and butter loop over the last year or so.

The bread and butter ride is the one that I developed, bit by bit, when we were still living in C-Hill. It was a 65 mile route that included a 35-mile out and back, which was ok, and a 30 mile loop, which was pretty awesome. No surprise: I called it my bread-and-butter because I would do it so often. Sometimes it seemed like I rode it most weekends, at least when the weather permitted. One winter, the weather permitted pretty much through December. That was fun.

Moving to Mt. Airy meant that the route got longer. This alone would have knocked it up to around 70 miles.

I added on a few more miles above that, because I found a nicer way to start the route. It's now closer to a loop; there's only around 5 miles that I do both ways (and even that's avoidable, if I want to do a few miles on route 113). And the additions are nice; more woods, less traffic, and a section that goes through Evansburg State Park. There's also a section on this odd trail that goes under the powerlines.

But the biggest change to the bread-and-butter route? I just don't do it that much anymore.
This was only the second or third time I've done the whole thing since the start of spring. It's hard for me to get out on my bike as much as I'd like. The little jump in mileage, from 65 to 75, doesn't help; but mostly, I think it's my shift in focus. I'm running more, I'm biking less. I'm ok with that. It's just so much easier to lace up the running shoes and head out. I can run in the 'hood, I can head down into the woods. I can run by myself, with Helen, with other wanderers... For a bike ride, there's just so much more planning involved, and so many more limitations. So many roads that are un-fun to ride on. And I like riding on the path, but it gets old.

Meanwhile, the 12-mile run on Saturday – that felt pretty easy. Familiar paths, familiar faces. It felt more familiar than anything I've been doing on the bike lately.

That said, the ride on Sunday was a lot of fun. Especially the part going through the woods out by Swamp Creek, alone on the road, with the sun shining through the trees. That was pretty awesome. It usually is.

Noah 1, Double Trouble 1; but Helen wins 2-0!

2010-06-27T21:00:00.001-05:00

Helen and I - along with a bunch of fellow wanderers – headed out to run the double trouble trail race today.
The course is a 15k loop (9.3 miles) through French Creek State Park. You can either do the single trouble (15k), which is one loop – and what we ran last year – or you can be really really dumb and do the 'double,' making it a 30k, aka 18.6 miles of trails. And heat. Trails and heat. Rocky trails, at that.

Last year, Helen had been kind of leaning toward doing the double, and I talked her out of it – so it made sense for us to go back and do it this year. She won the 15k going away last year, and I was pretty sure she could have won the 15k and the 30k. (It's a weird race that way, where you can double dip for the awards, if – like Helen – you're fast enough).

Since we were in for the long haul, Helen and I ran the first loop together. Until she started to peel away in the last mile or so. I crossed the finish right after her (you go through the chute then back out). We didn't know it then, but she was the 3rd woman through the chute, and the second to head out onto the 30k. We stayed together for the first mile or two of the second loop as well. At that point, I was feeling really good. We ran pretty conservatively on the first lap, and I felt like I was in good shape.

The trails themselves are pretty tricky. It's not quite as steep as the Wissahickon, but the hills are as big, if more gradual. But it's the rocks there that are tough. I don't know if it's rockier than the Wissahickon, but the rocks are somehow more jagged, tougher to land on and to avoid. We both twisted our ankles last year and while we managed to avoid that this year, it took some effort.

That said, yeah, I felt really good early in the second lap. I started off on my own to take advantage of the extra energy. To me, it felt like a normal trail run – just me, out on the trails, relaxed, keeping up a good pace. My plan was to be conservative for the first half of loop 2, and then speed up in the second half.

But when it came time to speed up, I just didn't have it.

I'm not sure what it was exactly – the heat, the build up of the attention to footing, the dehydration – but I started having trouble. The first thing that hit me was that I was screwing up my footing. In trail running, even on normal trails, that's a problem – so it was a worse problem with the rocky trails. I ate some more gels, I tried to focus better, but it kept happening. That last four miles or so were tough. I think I was around 1:18 for the first loop; the second loop was around 9 minutes slower.

One more mile, and Helen would have caught me. Maybe even sooner than that. She finished in the chute right after me – in first place! And *much* more refreshed than I was.

So, congrats to Helen for bringing home some more hardware. I brought some home, too - 2nd in my AG on the 30k. I don't think I've ever been 2nd in my AG, so I'm pretty psyched about that.

Sampling of the Tagines we had in Morocco!

2010-06-06T18:03:00.000-05:00

now THAT'S a topsy-turvy cake!

2010-05-13T06:07:00.005-05:00

Followers of this blog might remember the topsy-turvy cake that I made for Helen's birthday last February.
This time, though, we brought in the professionals.
Or, more accurately, my sister did, in getting us this cake for our wedding.

So, thanks to Melissa, for the cake; thanks to the Swiss Bakery, on 19th street, for baking it. Thanks to all the guests who came and helped us eat it.

Broad Street Run 2010

2010-05-04T15:52:00.004-05:00

I didn't PR, but I ran as well as I could given the conditions, which was hot, humid, and facing a headwind. If I had been more strategic or been a little tougher, maybe I'd have been a little faster. But I ran my heart and lungs out. After a decent first half where I felt good (31:47), the wheels fell off in South Philly. The air was so thick and it got to me. By the time I reached the gates to enter the Navy Yard, a quarter mile before the finish, I was lightheaded, gasping for air, and breathing loudly. But I kicked, passed more people, and wound up with 1:05:54. This was good for 3rd AG!

Here's a picture of the finish - I'm the person in white and blue with the arms driving across my chest.

Highlights:

My hamstrings and hips behaved during the race.
Thanks to relentless efforts by Noah to suppress my activity during the week, I tapered well for this race.
I started in the second wave and got to pass people the whole way, even when I was fading.
Running the hardest miles with Noah.

Challenges:

Heat, humidity, headwind
Running behind a woman who had pooped in her shorts, not recognizing that and not passing her until mile 9
Such negative thinking during the race
Cramping up big time after the race

My race by the numbers:

The Streak is – kind of – over.

2010-04-12T18:23:00.004-05:00

Followers of this blog know that I've had quite a streak going. Basically, a PR every time I race. To be more specific, I've had a distance-specific PR on every road race I've done, and a course-specific PR on every trail race I've done. That ended – kind of – on Sunday.

The race in question was the Bucks County Half Marathon.
This was my fourth road half marathon, after 2 Caesar Rodneys (08, 09), and last fall's PDR. I don't know the seconds, but my times had gone 1:29, 1:26, 1:25.

Going into the race, I thought that I had a decent chance of breaking 1:25, but not a good chance – probably around 40%. But I don't have a good sense, really, of where I am. I did manage to take a minute off my Tyler time, from '09 to '10. But I know I'm not where I'd like to be. A winter full of snow running of just miles, no real speed work, and 7-8 pounds that I didn't have at the marathon can't have helped matters. That said, I did put in the miles. So, yeah, I didn't really know.

And, having run a half-marathon yesterday, I still don't.

This was an inaugural race, and I expected some hiccups. It started around 20 minutes late, but ok. So be it. It had the feel of a fun local race. It was easy enough to get to, and it was right near Helen's mom's house. And the course was beautiful. Shaded roads, most of them with no vehicle traffic.

If it seems like there's a 'but' coming, it's because there is. A big one.

This was the most disorganized course I've ever been on.. The RD was a 17 year old who'd never directed a race before, and it showed. There was no way to know the course, short of having studied it ahead of time and memorized it, or even come out and practiced it. Which, of course, I didn't. I suppose that I could have studied the course map on the website, but that didn't really occur to me.

In any case, I was off course – kind of – by mile 4. I know that because I passed the mile 4 marker in around 15 minutes. Except that it turned out I wasn't "off" course, I was just doing that particular loop backwards. Which would have made sense, if they had a) described the course during the 20 extra minutes before the start, or b) had a map of the course at the start. But they didn't do either.

There was one T-intersection – literally, a full-on T, a dead-end, you turn right or left, with no signs and no volunteers. Helen was there the first time through, thank god – but she didn't know the course, since there was no map at the start. The course I ran was just guesswork.

So, yes, very frustrating.

One more thing to add, was that the website had said that there would be gatorade every other mile. There was only water. It's hard not to sound whiny when writing that, but it's a big deal. If I know ahead of time that there's only water, fine – I'll pack a gel and eat it half way through. But nutrition is a big part of race strategy. And I was counting on the extra calories from the gatorade for the second half. Not having them hurt.

In the end, it's very possible that I ran 13.1 miles. I ran most of the run with three other guys, one of whom had a gps. They had it at 13.3, but they had gone off route – kind of - and doubled back. They'd started the loop in the wrong direction, like I had, but they doubled back. (They still managed to drop me in the final mile, but I was glad to get to run with them for much of the race).

My time was just under 1:27. So, yeah, an end to the streak.

With a good course and calories to sustain me, could I have broken 1:25?

I think so. I'm not sure; but I think so. I spent a lot of energy mentally that I could have spent physically. That said, I do wonder if the days of smashing earlier PRs is gone. I was hoping on having a better spring season than this; but it turns out that the time to start planning your spring season is in the middle of the winter, and I didn't do that.

Back in the Saddle

2010-03-26T17:53:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning, Helen and I are running in the Tyler Arboretum 10k.
For Helen, it's her first race since PDR; for me, my first since the marathon.

Helen's been sandbagging, but I expect her to do well. She was 3rd two years ago and 2nd last year. I'm not promising victory. But I am hoping that between Helen, Polly, and Sharon, the Wanderers can rock the podium, at least on the women's side.

As for me, I'm kinda nervous.

There are external reasons to be nervous – it's gonna be COLD, and there are four (4) creek crossings. Four. 4. Creek crossings. With, you know, water.

But truth be told, I was nervous before it got cold.

I just have no idea what to expect. Last spring I was doing really well. And this past fall, I did better. My hope was that the strong marathon would lead to a stronger spring season – what happened to Helen in 07-08. But it's been a tough winter. Couldn't really ride, most of the running was snow running. And I managed to be dinged up for much of the time – including now. My ankle's been bugging me for a while now, and I just don't know how seriously to take it. Oh, and I'm around 6-7 pounds heavier than I was when I ran the marathon. I think of last year's Tyler as something of a breakout race for me, but I went into it having already run Ugly Mudder and Ceasar Rodney. This'll be my first race of the season. The marathon and PDR seem like ancient memories.

On the other hand, I have run a lot of miles this winter, more than the winter before. And I'm, uhm, rested.

So, really, I have no idea what to expect from my performance. I know what to expect from the course – it's rolling. It'll be cold. And there will be four (4) creek crossings. In, you know, water.

Things I Learned about Lamb Stew

2010-02-28T16:13:00.000-05:00

I'd been wanting to make something winter-y lately; nothing specific, just a meat dish that cooks for a long time.
Feeling uninspired by the recipes I've got around, I went with a make-it-up-as-you-go lamb stew.

Some things I learned in the process:
-Lamb stew is pretty forgiving. There's better and worse, but if you include good ingredients and let it cook a while, it's probably going to be pretty good.
-Lamb stew is a great way of using up some of the veggies in the fridge that are on the verge of going.
-Using beer for much of the stew liquid is very tasty. I imagine that Guinness would be best, but it's not what we had in the house so it's not what we used.
-Lamb stew goes very well with egg noodles.

As for fine-tuning, and what I'd do differently:
-Lamb shoulder takes a long long time to cook, even in small pieces.
-Potatoes and carrots take a long time, too, but not *as* long. So, next time, I'm letting the lamb braise an hour before adding the potatoes and the carrots.

Abe Michaels, 1919-2008

2010-02-22T09:27:00.006-05:00

Ahb and me in Paris, October 2000

I was up in Cape Cod this weekend for my grandfather's unveiling. This is a traditional Jewish ceremony – one year, roughly, after someone is buried, people gather at the gravesite, to 'unveil' the gravestone. Jews don't really embalm – it's against traditions. As a result, funerals happen days after death, and a lot of people can't be there. This serves as both commemoration and second chance for people who couldn't make it the first time.

Admittedly, this blog isn't the best place to commemorate my grandfather. But right now, it's the only blog I've got, so I'm going to say a few words.

I don't come from a family of athletes. Ahb, though, was a pretty active guy. He was a runner in high school. I wish now that I knew more about it. Back when he told me that he'd run track, it was before I knew what any of the times or distances meant. All I know is that it would have been sometime in the 30s. Back in the day. In Brooklyn, no less. He went to NC State for college. I want to say that he ran track at NC State, but I really have no idea if that's the case or not.

What I can say is that he was an active guy in his later years. His mind went out well before his body did. He was always fit, kept his weight steady, and kept moving.

Sometime early on in his life, he started doing 50 push-ups a day when he woke up in the morning. (Push-ups; he was old-skool like that). As he got older, he started doing less. It wasn't because he couldn't handle it anymore, though. He just decided it was unseemly for a man his age to be doing so many. So he started ramping it down, doing one less per year, starting (I believe) when he was 75.

He moved up to Cape Cod in the mid-70s. For most of that time, he had an office around a half-mile from his house. He'd walk there in the morning to start working, walk home for lunch, and then go through the whole thing again in the afternoon. When Melissa and I would visit, he'd go walking with us along the Cape. We'd tire as quickly as he would. His walking developed a bit of a limp towards the end, because of an arthritic knee. It didn’t slow much, though, even with the limp.

I'm not sure when he stopped doing the push-ups. At some point, he'd have forgotten how old he was. He forgot most stuff. That's how it goes.

When we first put him in an assisted living facility it was hard on him. He was 87 when we put him in, but even then, the facility just wasn't meant for someone as active and energetic as he was. It didn't have room for him to roam like he was used to. There was a door to an outside courtyard that they kept locked; somehow, he knew that. He didn’t remember much, but he remembered that they kept that door locked.

I don't know if being cooped up hastened his death or not. He died of pneumonia, which wasn't what any of us were expecting. But his system was weak enough by that point that anything could be fatal. That part’s true for most people in their late 80s, though, dementia or not.

There aren’t a lot of happy endings with Alzheimer stories, and there isn’t one here, either. The last time I saw him before he died, he didn’t know who I was. It’s funny, though - he still managed to be as cheerful and charming as he’d ever been.

The Flip-Side of Snow Running is...

2010-02-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

...no biking.

2009, and the first weeks of 2010, have been big running years for me.
What they haven't been, though, are big biking years. There, I'm totally out of it.

2009 started out with a lot more biking. Although it didn't feel like it at the time, I had biked around the same amount, through August, that I had in the past few years. This was highlighted by some fantastic biking in Great Barrington and in Vermont.

Since then, I've done a lot less.

I knew, going into marathon training, that it would mean less biking. And that was ok. Not good, but ok. I still got out around once a week or so. What I didn't get to do, though, was the regular, long weekend ride.

Since the marathon, though, I've barely gotten out at all. It's been COLD! And SNOWY! And that's coming on 3 months now since the marathon.

A few years ago, I was able to do so much biking over winter break. I remember going out on my 65 mile ride the Saturday before Christmas. It wasn't balmy, but with the right grear, it was totally doable. Am I just being wimpier this year? I don't think so. Much of the time, there's actual ice. And with the snow on the ground, I'm guessing at least 2 weeks – and maybe even 3 – before roads are ridable.

Part of the trade-off was getting to run in the snow. And I can accept that. Helen and I ran 15 miles today, much of it on packed snow. It beats me up a lot less. But now, I'm ready. I want a real winter, but I'd just like a few of those days when I'm not teaching, when it's over 40 degrees, and I can take off for a bunch of hours and just lose myself on my ride.

Of course, right now, I'm not even in shape for that. I did spend 40 minutes riding the trainer on Sunday. Just isn't the same.

Jealous of the snow Philly got?

2010-02-10T19:08:00.007-05:00

During our SNOW DAY today, I decided to learn to make videos using iMovie. Here's my very first, amateurish slide show.

Birthday Run, Birthday Cake. Birthday Snow?

2010-02-07T18:45:00.013-05:00

Big weekend here in Mt. Airy. Not only did the sky decide to dump 2+ feet of snow on us, not only did Helen turn 27 (I think, something around that anyway), but we'd chosen this weekend as the time to run the 4 corners! But snow can mess around with plans.
It started its messing around with plans when we had to push Helen's b-day dinner up from Saturday, which isn't actually her birthday, to Friday, which is even less her birthday, so that her sisters could come visit without putting their lives at risk. We hoped. Fortunately, I'd chosen to bake her cake on Thursday. So I was all ready.
Ah yes. Cake.
This was the second time I've baked a cake. The other was, also, for Helen's birthday. That one was a little more straightforward, and I'd still needed Betty's help. But I've had a cake-making dream for some time now. I wanted to make a topsy-turvy cake.
I've never actually seen one of these cakes in person. I've seen a bunch on the interwebs, though – and they rock! You bake the cakes at angles, kind of (well, not really, more below) and pile them on top of each other. When professional bakers do it, it winds up looking something like this:

(photo courtesy of cakewrecks.blogspot.com)

Mine didn't *quite* reach that level.

I wasn't willing to mess around with fondant, and didn't want to bake too much cake. This is still four cakes worth of cake!
As for the make-up, the bottom is devil's food cake, from a recipe from the King Arthur Flour cookbook. The top levels are all Trader Joe's vanilla cake mix, though. That's quite a shortcut, I know, but it still took a while. I made the outside icing myself. Between the lower layers, I put in a – wait for it – milk chocolate peanut butter ganache, also homemade. The top levels just have blackberry jam.

The neatest part, though, is shaping the cake. You don't actually bake cakes at angles. You bake normal cakes, and then you cut them at angles. From there, you pile them up so that one side is thicker than the next.

Then, for the next level, you dig out a hole, so that it actually sits on a flat surface.

Ta da!

Icing it was the hard part. I'm horrible at icing cakes.

Anyway, Friday night's dinner was great. Betty and Agnes came over, we had tomatoes (one of Helen's favorites), pasta with pesto, and eggplant parmesan. For dessert, we had apple pie ice cream. Oh, and cake! (Did I mention that there was cake?)
Between the four of us, I think we ate around 1/8 of the cake.

Then, of course, the sky let loose. Two feet of snow. Powdery stuff, too. Not easy to walk in, let alone run in.
Sunday – Helen's birthday – was the day that we chose to run the four corners.
The original crowd was going to be a bit bigger. Phil was going to come for some of the run, but decided instead to play with his new cross country skis. Bob was going to come, but he's stuck in Vegas. That left for of us – Pete, Leo, Helen and myself.
The last time Helen and I ran the four corners, we took 3 ½ hours. Our thought, this time, was that if it looked like it would take us more than five hours, we'd stick to just two corners.
We didn't even make it that far.
Helen's calling it the "Slowest. 12 miles. Ever." and she might have something. I'm sore in places I didn't expect to be – but, fortunately, not sore in places I did expect to be. Like, for instance, my kneecap, which I fell and banged, feels fine. My calves, though, are as sore as I can remember them ever being.
This is the route we wound up running:

Slowest 12 miles ever, perhaps, but that's also because it was the hardest 12 miles ever.
Sometime soon, I want to run the 4 corners again. Today wasn't the day. But, as Leo said during the run, it was also one of the funnest runs. So few people on the trails, so many great views. It's nice to be able to take advantage of this weather when it comes around.
After we got back, Leo and Pete came over for cake.

Vote now for "run happy, race lazy"

2010-01-20T14:45:00.002-05:00

Indecision 2010: (When) should Helen run a race again?(online surveys)

Saw Avatar

2010-01-13T23:12:00.005-05:00

Seeing Avatar was like running a marathon. Here's how:

I'm glad I did it, but I can't say I enjoyed most of it.
I watched a lot of slender people running around gracefully without tripping.
People look crappy and exhausted at the end.
There was a bit of buyer's remorse when I bought the tickets.
There were more guys around us than gals.
Make sure you pee before you start.
My butt got really sore by the end. Afterwards, walking was weird but liberating.
After you've done it, you want to talk to people about it.
Even though the experience was thrilling, I'm not sure if I'll want to do it again.

to fry or not to fry

2010-01-04T23:57:00.004-05:00

-
there once was a runner named helen
who finds jogging fun and relaxin
but when it comes time to race
she doesn't like to pace
should she give marathon another try
will she get fried or are there better fish to fry
-

Last night's dinner

2009-12-30T22:30:00.006-05:00

Opening: sage flatbread; pistachio-chorizo cake
Main 1: 2-hour chicken, ratatouille, rice
Salad course: gnocchi and smoked trout salad, morrocan carrot salad
Main 2: Lamb tagine with dates, chick pea soup, spaghetti squash, couscous
No knead bread
Ice creams: Double chocolate, aztec chocolate, banana, vanilla, strawberry sorbet. Also, salted caramel sauce.

There were around 20 people over for dinner last night. In the last few years I've had the dinner party on my birthday; this year, though, Helen's taking me out to celebrate the big 4-0, so we moved the celebration to the 29th.

I organized the menu a little differently this year. I didn't have a palate cleanser, and went with the main course/salad course/main course approach.

The dinner went well. My reaction is a lot like last year – it was fun to do, but I'm glad we don't do it too often. It's a lot of work. I tried to pick recipes that can be made the day ahead of time, or that don't take a lot of attention during the meal. Still, with two days of cooking, it's a lot of time spent.

Hard to tell what the crowd favorites were. People did eat all of the sage pizza. They ate a lot more of the first courses (chicken, ratatouille) than the second main course, but I suspect that's from lack of pacing.

I will say that, as much as I liked the chicken and the lamb, it was nice to get back into vegetarian cooking. I might have liked the lamb the best, but I liked the ratatouille a lot, too. I want to keep working on that. It's not the easiest thing to make, and I don't yet have it down, but it's a great dish.

But for the next few days, I won't be doing much cooking. Helen's taking me out to dinner tomorrow; but for now, we're eating leftovers!

There's no running like snow running

2009-12-21T18:36:00.003-05:00

There are many, many things I love about the snow. I love how everybody wants to go out and play. I love seeing kids out having fun. I love being able to fall down and not get hurt. And how neighbors help each other out. Everyone's a kid, everyone's your friend. The list of positives go on – there are many, many things I love about the snow.
Turns out, I also love running in the snow.
This is still pretty new to me, but not surprising. During my many years of playing ultimate, I loved playing ultimate in the snow. (Trick: use a disc that isn't white).

For those that don't know, the snow hit Philly hard this weekend. It started coming down Friday night, and snowed pretty much all day on Saturday. When we shoveled out on Sunday morning, it seemed like at least 18 inches had fallen. The weather people said 23 inches. Ok.

Our first run, though, was early on in the storm. We headed out for our normal Saturday run. It was Bob R and Pete, along with Helen and I. Bob had planned the second try at his Valley Green Trail Marathon, kind of an expanded version of the 4 corners, that goes all the way over to the Belmont Plateau. For Bob, that's just the normal Saturday stroll, but it was too much for me. We managed to get him down to *just* doing the four corners. Helen and Pete and I kept him company for the souithern half. For us, it wound up around 12 miles. These weren't easy miles!
The main thing that struck me about the run was how I was seeing things that I'd never noticed. With the ground white and the leaves off the trees, buildings seemed even clearer. Lincoln Drive can be kind of annoying to see, but this time we just saw the few cars, going along at 15mph.

This run was the coldest run, because it was still snowing. It turned out to be a good day to not have a beard, as Pete found out.

On Sunday, friend and family commitments kept us from getting back out to run (although shoveling was plenty of exercise). So Monday morning bright and early we hit the roads, for a five mile or so jaunt through C-Hill, including a mile on Forbidden Drive. It was great being out that early. There were cars on the road (more than I'd expected, actually), but the side roads of C-Hill were pretty empty. When we got to Forbidden, we were the only ones there. Coming up out of the valley, the sun was just starting to come up.

I couldn't wait for a chance to get back out this afternoon, so this afternoon, with Helen still at work, I headed out on my own to see what the trails were like. They were fun! Difficult, but fun. On Saturday morning, there was little enough snow that it still mattered what was under it; in some places, you could tell that you were running over frozen bike paths made in the mud, or difficult rocks that you couldn't see. Today, there was enough snow that it didn't matter what was underneath. That said, climbing today was hard. Doable, but hard.

Oh – doable in part because of my latest December gift from Helen – Yax Trax! One usage thus far, and they worked great. It's usable on the road, but once I was on the snow I didn't pay any attention to them - I just ran normally. Even on ice I felt ok, although I was still cautious.

I'm hoping to get Helen out on the trails tomorrow morning. It's not easy, but it is a lot of fun.

Favorite runs of 2009

2009-12-15T17:08:00.010-05:00

It's hard to top 2008, when it comes to favorite runs. Last year we were able to climb mountains in Provence, dodge traffic in Paris, and stare down monkeys in Hong Kong. But that doesn't make 2009 a down year. Helen and I ran together up and down the east coast, Helen defended her title at Half-Wit and added another one in our backyard race, and I achieved three of my four goals for the year (and all three running-related goals).

Goals Achieved:
Running the Four Corners (August)
A great achievement when it happened, this run also really prepared the way for the marathon training that was to follow. Running 21 miles might have been contra-indicated but things wound up great. It made the later long runs much easier.

Philadelphia Marathon and breaking the 3-hour mark (November)
We're around 4 weeks removed from the marathon now. I still get excited when I see my marathon shirt. And as I type this, I'm wearing the "pain is temporary, pride is forever" t-shirt that Helen got me. Is it all downhill from here?

Staying on-course in a trail race
Here's the amazing thing: I didn't go off course in any of my trail races this year! Not one!

Other Runs:
Snow Running in the Wissahickon (March)
This might have been the most beautiful run I did all year. Surrounded by snow, empty woods, the sun shining. It was a great day to be in the woods.

Running on Ward's Island (March)
When we were up in Manhattan, staying with Helen's friend Kristi on the upper east side, our original plan was to run over to Central Park, run around the park a little bit, then run back. But then I thought, what if we run east instead? What if we see about running along the East River?
It turned out great. The part of the run in Manhattan was a blast, running up the river front, seeing all the local Manhattanites out for their morning walks, their morning runs. But the real treat of the run was crossing over the brige onto Ward Island, and running around the parks there. I always like seeing the 'local' parts of a big city, the nice parts that the people who live there use, and not just the more famous spots.

Running from the new house (April and May)
This wasn't any particular run, just the fun we had in running into the woods once we moved into the new house. It's not like we were far from the woods before. But now, we're only around a quarter mile away. It took some getting used to our new little trail up the Cresheim Creek. And yes, we both got poison ivy at some point, which we imagine was from those trails. But this now feels like our trail, our way home.

Morning run at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (early May)
Last year's trip to Hong Kong was more epic. No question. But waking up at 5 in the morning, on a very beautiful campus clear across the planet, was a surprising little treat. I planned on running short, but I was having so much fun I just kept going, up and down the hills and around the loop. I ended by running a few laps around what has to be the most beautiful track in the world.

Wissahickon Trail Classic (June)
I was pleased with my run, but that's not what gets this into the list of the top. In some ways, this run wasn't fun at all when I was doing it - I probably went harder here that at any other race this year, except for the last 3-4 miles of the marathon. What gets this into the list is Helen's performance. She'd had an off spring, with a lot of PT, and less running than she wanted. Her time at Broad Street (May) was good, but not as good as 2008. So when I saw her coming across the finish line in first place, it was awesome. She was back to her dominant self – the silent assasin! She went on to wins in two other trail races this year, Double Trouble and Half-Wit.

The July 4 Green Ribbon Run (July)
This was a repeat of last year's July 4 run. Helen had sat that one out, deciding (not without some justification) that it was a bit of a boy's club run. I knew that if she had her chance to show up the guys she'd do well. And she did! This year she came along, and Bob R arranged us all a van ride out to the start. We ran the 10 miles back to Bob's house, running along the Wissahickon, running on trails, through mud, across highways, through more mud.

Half-Wit Half-Marathon (August)
This was a win-win, it was everything that I'd wanted Half-Wit to be.

For the first time in three tries, during the post-race festivities, I wasn't fuming about going off course. Helen defended her crown. I brought home the coveted 7th place M 30-39 award.
When I think back to good days this summer, one of my main memories is sitting around post-race, wanderers in full force.

Trail Running in Vermont (August)
Thanks for this run go to Jim Walsh of Paradise Sports
We'd stopped by his shop in Windsor, VT, on the way up to Mom's. We'd called him ahead of time, because we'd gotten a tip that he knew the trails up in Vermont. He actually went and got us a map! From a whole different store? And told us about a trail that isn't even on the map!
The run itself was a lot of fun. A trail run, but a very different kind of trail than we're used to. Much softer, but also quite muddy. You could divide this run into three parts: the fairly-flat-for-Vermont, the not-flat-at-all, and the 5K. We started by running along a creek, through the woods. Then, the trail-that-wasn't-on-the-map took us up to a peak with a lookout tower. Climbing up that was kinda scary... From there, back down, retracing our steps, until we wound up where we parked. There was a 5K course there, up the side of the hill along the creek, which we ran to finish off the run.
15 miles throught the woods. I don't remember seeing another person the whole time.

Finding the Lost Cemetery (September)
This was a run that our friend and fellow wanderer Doug led us on. I started the race in a somewhat off mood; I'd cracked a tooth the night before and, while it didn't hurt, I was pretty conscious of it. Seeing new trails was a hoot, though. I'd never seen those woods, even though they're really quite close. The highlight was coming across an abandoned Jewish cemetery, right in the middle of the woods. Creepy, but not actually scary.

Running Home (September/October)
This became the mid-week run for Helen and I this fall. We'd either meet at Penn, or at Lloyd Hall, and run back to the house together. This used to be a 12-mile run; the new house makes it only ten. When it's a nice fall day, it's hard to beat being out on the drives.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Those are the runs that stand out. A lot of other to consider – the other trail races we did, the long runs from the marathon training, climbing Mount Everett... you know, as I write them, I'm thinking that they deserve a place, too. I haven't done the math, but I'm pretty sure I ran more this year than any other year, so it's not surprising that there are so many candidates. Here's hoping for a 2010 filled with many more memorable miles!

Bikes, Cars, and Traffic

2009-12-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

In October 2008, the driver of a gold Mercedes hit me while I was riding my bike.
This was at the intersection of Mermaid and Crittenden. The intersection is a 4-way stop; there'd been a decent number of cars, so I'd stopped before proceeding. Did I put my foot down at the stop? I don't remember. I do remember that I had not been riding agressively. And I was almost all of the way through the stop sign, too – the driver just decided to start driving while I was still going, and hit my rear wheel.
He stopped, looked, and then drove away. I didn't know if I was hurt, or how bad by bike was, so I didn't give chase. Besides, there were witnesses. I got the names and contact information of two people who stopped to help me. They and I had both noted the license plate.
Later that day, I gave my police report. The officer – officer Boone – confirmed that the license I gave her was registered to a gold Mercedes. I figured this was proceeding well; she'd contact the witnesses and they'd contact the driver who had hit me and then fled.
What's happened since then?
Nothing.
Nada. Zilch. The one person I talked to at the police station seemed kind of annoyed that I'd called. I wasn't hurt, so I couldn't sue for damages. (Although, as the personal injury lawyer I contacted told me, I'm not a doctor, so really, how could I be sure I wasn't injured?)
The guy went through a stop sign, hit me, and fled. And the police didn't do a thing about it.

Here in Philly, there's been a lot of talk lately about the role of bikes in the city. A couple of councilmen got on their high horse about cracking down on dangerous cycling. I actually agree with most of Kenney's points - I hate bikes on the sidewalk as much as anyone. But when I hear about increased enforcement of rules regarding bicycles, I'm hesitant.
I'm like a lot of cyclists – I'd like to see more enforcement of all traffic laws. It doesn't start with cyclists, though. It starts with the cars. It starts with the cars for several reasons.
First off, there's the extent of law breaking by automobile drivers.
Here are some things to try: crossing nineteenth street, on the south side of Walnut; biking on Eakin's Oval and going past the merge lanes for 676; or, if you're not used to it, just biking from one end of center city to the other. Even on the bike lanes. You don't have to break any laws to feel vulnerable. And if you want to see cars breaking the law, all you have to do is open your eyes.
But cars also have to be first because of the damage that they can do. A 25-pound bike just can't do the damage that even the smallest cars can do.
One more thing to consider. As crazy as this sounds, cars are as responsible for the bad reputation of cyclists as cyclists are. Bad drivers drive good cyclists off the road.

Philly streets have a bit of chaos to them. Most people here accept that. I'd like to see that change. It's crazy, though, to expect cyclists to be the only people out there obeying the rules of the road.

Reading Chris McDougall's Born to Run

2009-12-04T10:55:00.005-05:00

Helen and I both just finished reading Chris McDougall's Born to Run. And both of us liked it quite a bit – probably I more than Helen, who found it good but self-serving. But, then, she finished it pretty quickly, too, and even started running around the street without her shoes on lately. Hard to believe that's a coincidence.

One of the most impressive aspects of the book, for me, is the way that it's got so much going on in it, while being such a page-turner. Yes, it's about running. But to be more specific, it's about:
-a tribe of indigenous Mexicans, the Tarahumara
-why shoes are bad
-the ultra-running community, and ultrarunning's evolution as a sport
-how we should run on our midfoot
-who we are as human beings
-traveling in some really remote and dangerous areas of Mexico
-how homo-sapiens defeated the neanderthals (hint: it's got to do with running)
-an 'underground' ultra in rural Mexico
-Chris McDougall himself

It's hard to get that many themes into one book. And yet, there's another list of what the book is about, running paralell to the first list: it's about Scott Jurek, about Bill and Jenn, and about Ann Trason; it's about Joe Vigil and Barefoot Ted and Arnulfo Quimare. It's about the scores of people – runners, explorers, biologists – whom McDougall brings to life through his writing. Above all, it's about a guy known as Caballo Blanco, a white guy living down near, but not among, the Tarahumara. And, yes, it's about McDougall, and his path from oft-injured wannabe runner to barefoot ultra runner.

Running is the one theme running through all of the book. Running really really long distances. One of the book's arguments is that humans evolved as distance runners, using some sort of 'persistence hunting' to track down large animals. So tribes that still do distance running are remnants of our prehistoric past, and events like the Leadville 100 or Western States are a way of humans returning to their original evolutionary purpose. Even marathons – writing about this book, marathons wind up sounding short, even for someone like me who's never run farther than that – represent some sort of biological urge to go back to our roots.

As anthropology, the book isn't great. It's got a lot of the really old anthro, or pop-anthro, with its fetishism of origins: that the Tarahumara are a glimpse at humans as they used to be, somehow closer to the "essence of man"; that there is only value in discovering cultures as they used to be before being contaminated by modernization; you can even add in the view of annual rituals as "safety valves." In anthropology today, you can't make those kinds of arguments. Even in the 1960s, they were pretty outdated. And it could well be that the evolutionary theory and the biological theory are just as weak, it's just too far out of my realm of expertise for me to know.

Still, having said that, I'm very impressed with the book. And I say that more as a writer than as a runner.

McDougall at Vally Green with Bob R

As a runner, I'm not sure what to make of this. For McDougall, humans are meant to run on their forefoot. Running shoes with padded heels give us injuries and weak feet. But I've been running for several years now, and (knocking on wood) I've stayed pretty healthy. I wear cushy shoes, I land on my heel. I do everything wrong, according to this book. But, then, a lot of people do. I'll take another look at this if I become more injury prone. For, now, though, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But I'll say this: while reading the book, it's really, really convincing. I can't imagine finishing the book and not wanting to run an ultra while landing on my midfoot.

How do you write a book that includes whole sections about evolutionary biology and not make it boring? How do you write a book that inspires people to do something so crazy as running up and down mountains at night? And – for me, this is one of the biggest questions – how do you write such a riveting book that contains so many themes?

I had a similar reaction around 10 years ago, when I read Friday Night Lights. Both are non-fiction written by journalists. Both of them manage to have a huge number of themes running through them. There are just more arguments here than you can pull off in an academic book, without having that book turn into something totally unreadable, without writing something that reads like the Theory of Communicative Action.

It seems to me that there are two keys. One is that, freed from the constraints of academic writing, you can include more suggestive arguments rather than conclusive ones. You can make claims meant to provoke thought rather than to pass peer reviews. And the second key is the characters. You wind up having such a good sense of these people by the end of the book. Without these characters, there's no way that this book – that either book – would be so riveting.

The Day After

2009-11-23T17:54:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I ran 26 miles.
Today, I walked a mile and a half. I'm not sure which hurt more.

The plan for today was simple: head out to the bank, cafe, and drug store. All are in the neighborhood. My game plan was pretty conservative; I even left my netbook at home, thinking that the extra 2.8 pounds might make this too hard.
My original goal was to go the bank first. That's the longest walk, so I wanted to get it out of the way first. But I had to adjust my goals after I'd started. It was just too hard. So I made an on-the-fly decision – 'called an audible,' if you will – to go to the coffee shop first. There, I could sit and rest up, while reading. I could also get some more fuel in my system.
I pulled off the stop in the coffee shop fine. But the whole time I was there, I knew that I was just delaying the inevitable: the trip to the bank. It really weighed on me. So finally, I decided to take the bull by the horns, got up, and headed out.
The trip to the bank wound up being ok. But the bank isn't a rest-up spot. You're standing the whole time you're there, and you're only there for 2-3 minutes. And let me tell you, the walk from the bank to the drug store is NOT easy.
I chose the route down Durham street. I knew that there was something of a descent there, but I'd underestimated it. Somehow, it got steeper today. I tried to go gingerly. At around the point where I passed the one-mile mark, there were some fences I could hold. But when they end, I was on my own – just me, a slippery brick sidewalk, and some overgrown grass. On a hill. I mean, come on! It was step after painful step until I reached Cresheim. But I made it.
The walk from there was easier. Flat, or uphill. I stayed conservative, crossing at green lights and looking for cars. I knew, once I made it back to our block, that I was going to make it home.
In retrospect, I was right to leave the netbook at home. The walk was tough enough as it is. But I'm also glad to have gone on the walk. Not because I needed to do the errands, but because it's this sort of mental toughness that helps you through difficult times later on.

-
So, listing the pains:
1) Thighs.
Mostly, the quads, but both thighs are sore. This really comes out walking up stairs, walking down stairs, walking on flat land, and sitting still.
This I expected. It hurts, but I expected it.
2) The bottom of my right foot.
This really hurts when I'm walking, specifically when I land on my right foot.
This one I expected, too. I've got some weird corn/callous/growth right where under the ball of my foot. By the end of the race it was really hurting. And today, yeah, I still feel it.
3) My right ankle.
This one I didn't expect. It hurts when I bend my ankle, when I rotate it. Monitoring this one.
4) My lower back.
I don't think that's from the race. I think it's from walking around since then, trying to control my body and taking smaller steps.
All in all, I'm doing around how I expected. Sore, but I can move. I've even been going up and down stairs. I just do it one at a time.

2:57:44

2009-11-22T21:21:00.002-05:00

Today I ran the Philadelphia Marathon.

I'd had this marathon on my radar for a while. I'd decided over a year ago that I'd do the 09 Philly marathon. And I'd decided that I'd try to finish it in less than three hours.
Someday things will come crushing down on me. Someday I'll set myself a goal and not reach it. Someday my streak of a PR at every race will end. So far, I've been lucky. But on the eve of the marathon, I was worried – worried that my feet would bother me, worried that my shoes would be too uncomfortable. Mostly, though, I was worried about my stomach. It was kind of bugging me.

But things worked out. Thanks, pepto-bismol.

I went into the race with two plans. On my right wrist I had a wrist band with the mile goals for a 3-hour marathon, with even times for each mile. On my left wrist, I had a more aggressive, Philly-specific wristband, designed for a 2:56:30 marathon. With secret plans of trying to break 2:55. But I always knew that was a pipe dream. The plan was to run a 1:28 first half and then see from there.
The race started out easy enough. I was worried about congestion at the start, but that was not a problem. I was able to settle into a pace pretty well. It was never that easy a pace, but I concentrated on keeping calm and keeping my shoulders relaxed. I was able to get a little time cushion in front of even my more optimistic left-arm wristband.
The first 7 miles were fun, and fairly easy. The only down point was not seeing Helen at mile 6, where I expected her. She saw me and called my name – but here's the thing. My bib said "Noah" on it. People were yelling "go Noah" and "good job Noah" the whole race.
So it threw me a little, not seeing her, but I knew it was tough to see people in the crowd. I just tried to keep going. I started pacing off of this group of three guys with "runner's alley" shirts on – they were going just a little faster than I would have, so it helped keep me focused. Having run all of the route before in training helped a lot psychologically. I did pretty well going through the west park, generally keeping pace with my left arm wristband. I knew that somewhere behind me was a 3 hour pace-group, so I wouldn't panic unless I saw them.
This approach got me through the first half. I was able to get past one of my worries, by not going through the half marathon finish line. Soon, I was back on the main route, ready to start the second half.
Helen joined me at that point, and kept me company from mile 14 to mile 18. These were relatively easy miles. The three guys slowed down, so I ran past them. I was impressed that Helen could keep up, since she'd just run the four corners the day before, but she didn't even seem to be struggling.
Helen stopped off at mile 18, at the Wanderers' water stop. Afterwards was a low point. I'd counted on getting gels at that water stop, but there weren't any. This was a major blow to my strategy, which basically involved eating a lot of gels.
That low point wouldn't last. Running through Manayunk was fun. My sister and my nephews were there to cheer me on, which was a huge boost. There was a spot to get gels, saving my strategy. The crowd there was good. And there was even one spot where they were playing Eye of the Tiger.
At around 20 miles, you make a 180 degree turn and start heading back to the Art Museum. I'd told myself that if I felt good at this point, I could speed up a bit. By this time I was a little behind my left arm wristband, but still well ahead of my right arm wristband. I didn't really have it in me to speed up, though. So I concentrated on keeping a good pace and staying relaxed. I was starting to get sore, but optimistic about a strong finish. That optimism lasted through the return trip to the Wanderers water stop. Not much longer, though.
Somewhere around mile 22-23, the pounding started really adding up. My shoes felt too hard, my legs too sore. I stopped looking at my wrist bands. The three-hour pace group hadn't caught up to me, so I knew I wasn't fading too fast. I started timing miles. I kept my focus on staying loose, but that wasn't easy. My legs were hurting. I tried to pass more people than passed me, but a bunch of people passed me. I had to let them go. I missed having Helen run with me in the last stretch, like she had at National. One of my miles was around 7 minutes, which was slower than I was going for. 2:55 was gone. That was ok. That was always a pipe dream. I still wanted to break 3 hours, though. The math was on my side - I knew I had a little bit of a cushion. But I also started to feel my calf start to cramp up. It was like a cramp-breeze blowing across my calf – it started to seize up and then went away. But I knew that I had to monitor that.

The last 3.2 weren't fun. I was just hoping on surviving, hoping my calf woudn't cramp up. I did and it didn't. I managed to get a little kick in the last quarter mile. I ran past the finish line in 2:57:44.

Now, I'm recovering. In other words, I'm really, really sore. And I'm in no rush to run another marathon – or at least, to race another marathon. For now, I'm looking forward to some time off, and then to getting back into running on the trails, and riding my bike some more. I don't know if I've got many more marathons in me.

One More Day!

2009-11-21T10:36:00.002-05:00

Ok. The taper madness wasn't as bad as it could have been.
It wasn't easy, but I didn't buy anything particularly silly this time. And it's almost over!
It's now one day from the Philly Marathon. As I write this, I'm around 23 hours from starting. And I'm nervous.

It's not the big things that worry me. I've done a lot of training. And yes, I think I've tapered too much and that I've lost all my fitness, but I know that's how I'm supposed to feel.

And, contrary to my expectations, I have not contracted swine flu during the taper period.

On the other hand, I'm kind of worried about my feet. I'm still wandering around lost in the sea of running shoes, ever since Mizuno changed the wave riders. I've got a new pair of new balances, which I'm going to wear, but they're a lot harder than I'm used to. Plan is to have a back up pair of running shoes at mile 18. Just in case. Meanwhile, the weird little callous/corn/unidentified growth I've got under the ball of my right foot... well, the taper period hasn't turned out well. It seems to have taken the opportunity to grow a bit more. So, the conundrum: leave as is, or risk last minute changes? Ugh.

So, that's what I'm worried about. I'm hoping that, in the excitement of the day, all this won't matter. I'm also hoping that I can do well tomorrow. We'll know soon.

let the taper madness begin!!!

2009-11-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

Ok. I'm now officially in my taper.
In some sense, I'm over a week into the taper. I went with a 3-week marathon taper; the first week is pretty mild, though, more like a light week during the training. I had had some pretty big weeks – a few over 50, and one that even peaked over 60. Last week was down to 40, so that's still a whole lot of running. And it included a 15 mile run this weekend.
That should be enough to keep me sane, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
On the one hand, I don't remember yelling at anyone, picking any fights, or generally being disagreeable to the point where strangers would notice.
On the other hand, I did drag Helen all the way to the Bryn Mawr Running Company, because I was convinced that I didn't have the right kind of shoes for the race.
And that was in a week that still had a fair amount of running.
This week will be far less running, more like 30 miles. I don't know why that seems so light, lots of weeks this summer were like that. But it does seem light. No more running home from class, no more running to class from home. No more 20 milers, no more yasso-800s, no more 2-mile repeats at the track. Whaddameyegonnado?
And all the symptoms are there. I feel sluggish. I feel slow. I'm convinced that I blew my training. That I peaked too early. That I'm just not gonna be ready. I even felt a little under the weather the other day. Luckily that passed.
But with close to 2 weeks still to go, I just don't know. I'm hoping that my taper tantrums are mild. That I don't burn any bridges. But I just don't know.

Instead of a dog, we got an oven

2009-10-14T20:39:00.013-05:00

No, there will not be a race report on the Philadelphia Distance Run. We ran, we finished, we got best times by a few minutes. Moving on. Noah's training for a marathon, and I seem to be stuck rehabbing a minor injury that refuses to heal completely. At least I still get to run.

Other than running and working, we have been indulging in our other love: eating. You see, we got our kitchen redone over the summer, and now we have two ovens. Our new toy is a 24 inch electric oven with convection function made by the Spanish company Fagor (known for pressure cookers), and it's a gift from my mom's brother and sister. They are very cool!

Here it is, posing with some strawberry peach crumble:

More examples of the oven's good deeds:

Nutella-swirl Vanilla cupcakes (before icing)

Peach Upside Down Cake

Pizza

Dinged Up

2009-09-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

Two runs so far this week, as I head towards Sunday's Philadelphia Distance Run.
On Monday I went for a tempo run... did around six and a half, with four of them the tempo part. I averaged 6:35 on those four.
On Tuesday, when walking to class, something in my left leg – hip? groin? – seized up.
Yesterday I went on a five mile run down on Forbidden Drive. Managed to average just under nine minutes per mile. The first mile took me just under ten minutes. And it didn't even feel that easy.
So, yeah, I'm dinged up.
My pattern, these last few years, has been to get dinged up some, but not actually get injured. I'm hoping that's the case right now. Worst case scenario, I'm guessing, would be that I've given myself some kind of groin pull. Best case scenario would be that this goes away quickly, and I can still kick butt on Sunday.
As to why this happened, there are two explanations.
The first explanation Helen can't stand... see, when I woke up on September 1, I didn't say Rabbit Rabbit. Since then, I've broken a tooth, banged my right thigh - hard – into a railing, and now this. I haven't had that kind of string of bad luck in ages. Coincidence? Could be... but I don’t know.
The second explanation is more traditional: too much hard running. Volume is up as well, which would be a contributing factor. But at last Thursday’s trail run I went pretty hard, esp. at the end. Then on Saturday Helen and I ran 17 miles, with miles 15 and 16 at the track, trying to go at marathon pace. Then the tempo run. So that's three hard runs in five days. So I'm making a note not to repeat that – to give myself more time between hard runs. But come October 1, I’m saying Rabbit Rabbit just in case.

Two Down, One To Go (and one abandoned)

2009-08-31T16:24:00.000-05:00

In January, I set down four fitness goals for the year.
This weekend, I achieved goal number two.

The first goal was to run a non-wissahickon trail race and not get lost. I actually managed to achieve that goal quite some time ago, back at the Ugly Mudder. And I've even got quite a little streak going, having stayed on course at Tyler, Double Trouble, and Half-Wit since then. One down.

Goal number two: Run The Four Corners. Goal achieved! That was the major event of this past weekend. Helen and I, along with fellow wanderers Chris Moore and Bob Reynolds, and joined brieflhy by Pete and Phil as well, set off at 7 am on Saturday morning. We started up at Northwestern, winded our way through the Andorra Nature Center, up Pain Hill, and across the yellow trail all the way to Buck Hill. We then went down Buck Hill and over to Valley Green to meet up with the usual Saturday morning crew.
A somewhat unusual approach, we then crossed the creek and took the white trail and all its outer versions out to Rittenhouse Town, crossed Lincoln, headed over to Ridge, back across Lincoln, and up the steps to pick up the very end of the yellow trail.
The odd part is that at that point, you've done three of the four corners, but you're soooo far from being finished. But we headed off, yellow trail back to Valley Green, then the bridge across to the white trail, the lavender trail (where we ran into Dad, Heidi, Tony, and Sophie), and finished up with that odd little stretch of Germantown Avenue. And we made it all the way! 21 miles, which we did in just under three and a half hours. Two down!
I'll say this, though – the very end was humbling for me. In the final part of the run, on the white and lavender trails, I didn't even have the energy to talk, and when everyone decided to speed up for the last stretch they left me in the dust. But I actually feel fine today, 2 days later.

The third goal awaits: run a marathon in less than 3 hours. I'm working on it.
The abandoned goal? More group rides. I should have done this last spring, but was caught up in other stuff. Right now, with my focus on marathon training, I've had to abandon it. So it'll be either .500 or .750. We'll know in a few months!

Helen for the Polka-Dot Jersey!

2009-08-26T15:07:00.004-05:00

Helen and I did quite a bit of biking over the last week or so, when we were up in New England.
And while Helen didn't come with me on either of my long rides, we did a handful of 30+ mile rides together. And one thing I noticed - she's climbing better than me. Yes, she's a bit lighter, but she gives quite a bit of that advantage back in the weight of her bike. Plus, she's riding with running shoes and pedals with toe clips.

This was the hill she rode up, heading out from my mom's house in Vermont:

And, uhm, this is the elevation profile.

Impressive!
And this without using her granny gears.
She did admit to standing up and climbing at the end.

Half-Wit Half - The Long Belated Race Report

2009-08-25T16:29:00.002-05:00

A bit late, but some notes on Helen's and my race last week at the annual Half-Wit Half.
It was our third time at this race, and Helen and I both managed to pull off some milestones.
Helen was able to defend her crown; and for the first time, I was able to run the race without going off course.
For all of my frustration last year with the race, we actually both like the race a lot. It's a hard race, but it's also a good scene. Lots of fun hanging out afterwards, and it's always a good wanderers turnout. And this year was pretty close to ideal weather. It was hot, yes, but it was also August, and we couldn't have expected much better.

It's hard to give many of the details, and there's not a lot of point in doing so anyway. I tried to start off a little slower than last year, in the hopes of having something of a kick at the end. The course itself is odd – it's a big loop, with an add-on lollipop. Any my goal was to stay on course. I was pretty focused on just racing my race – from early on I'd found a pace I liked, and if people passed me they passed me. Not a lot did, though – even though I took it easy at a lot of spots, walked some uphills, etc., I think I spent the second half of the race in roughly the same place I wound up finishing in.

In the end, I think I came in 20th overall, which I'm quite pleased with. I finished in 1:51 something, which is far faster than either of my other times, but since I got lost the other times, it's not really apples-to-apples. But I'm still pleased with the time, pleased with the overall place, pleased with my race, pleased with my navigation, pleased with my composure. I have a hard time taking my award that seriously - 7th place in my age group? Seems like a stretch – but that doesn't take away from my overall satisfaction with my performance.

As for Helen's race – she won't me like writing this, but she was dominant. (And if she doesn't want me writing this, well, *she* can write the race report!) She won by over five minutes. And she won a pair of shoes! Courtesy of La Sportiva. She says she only butt-slid down one hill, and I belive her.

So congrats to Helen. And congrats to all the wanderers who were out there – and really, to everyone who finished. It is not. an. easy. course. to. run. Between the hills, the rocks, the decrepit staircase, and the more hills, it's among the hardest half-marathons out there. But it's also one of the most fun.

Wanderers Represent!

2009-08-17T12:49:00.004-05:00

Wissahickon Wanderers showed up in force at Sunday's Half-Wit Half Marathon!

Eighteen in all, I believe. (There's at least one not in the photo).
Six even brought back some hardware:

I'm in the second photo because I managed to win the much-coveted 7th place M30-39 award.
(Oh, and Helen won. More on that later...)

Thanks to Polly for the pics.

Cassis (aka Blackcurrant) Sorbet (now with pics!)

2009-07-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

If you asked me what my favorite ice cream is, I'd have a hard time answering. There are a lot that I really, really like.
But for sorbet, it's a different matter. I do have a favorite - cassis sorbet, especially the one they make at Bertillon, in Paris.

A lot of people like sorbets to be refreshing. Not me. I want one that hits hard, that's so full of flavor that you're even a little tired after eating it. No sorbet can do that like cassis.

Cassis - aka blackcurrant - isn't too popular a flavor in the states. So I haven't had much luck making the sorbet. You can buy cassis nectar in some places, and I've made sorbet with that; it's ok, but it's not the same. So when Heidi brought down a whole bunch of blackcurrants last week from Massachusetts, I knew what I wanted to do with them.

I wasn't sure how, though. I'd never worked with them. I was planning on just boiling them down, the way I used to make strawberry sorbet. But then I read something that said not to cook them too much, or they'd lose their flavor. Meanwhile, they've got these little things on the ends that don't look like they'd be very good in the final product.

In the end, I decided to put the blackcurrants in the blender, then strain them (kind of a hassle), then add simple syrup until it was sweet enough. I also added some creme de cassis, and some lemon juice. Later on, when it didn't taste sweet enough or quite right, I squeezed some orange juice in. When it tasted right, I chilled it, then took it for a spin in my ice cream maker.

The result?
I can't say it's as good as Bertillon.
I can say, though, that it's really, really good. It's got so much flavor, more than any sorbet I've ever made.

Peach Rhubarb Cobbler (with recipe)

2009-07-06T11:00:00.004-05:00

For the past couple of weeks, we got into a habit of picking up whatever fruit looks good at the market and then figuring out how to eat it once we get home. We quickly learned that Cobbler is a good way to eat any fruit. Last Saturday, we had peaches and rhubarb (yes, again!). I used the "Basic Fruit Cobbler" recipe from the King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion, tweaked it for the runners' palette, and wound up with the yummy dessert pictured above. I recommend making this as a mid-morning meal because then you can snack on leftovers throughout the day and fulfill your fruit quota of the week just on cobbler.

Ingredients:

For cake -
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I put in 1 teaspoon salt for extra electrolites.)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk

For fruit -
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sherry, brandy, or bourbon (I used sherry. We're not wealthy.)
3-4 cups fresh fruit (Or in my case: 5-5.5 cups of peaches and rhubarb.)

Directions:

Room temperature the cake ingredients. Soften the butter. Slice the fruits. Grease a 9 x 9 inch square pan or something like that.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs and 1 cup of the sugar. Add butter and milk. Add the flour mixture, sitting just to combine. (Do the muffin method, for any Alton Brown fans who knows what this is.) Pour batter into greased pan.

Preheat oven to 375 farenheit.

In a saucepan, *simmer* together the sherry and 1/2 cup of sugar for 5 minutes. Add the fruit and stir to coat with the syrup. Let this *simmer* for 1-2 minutes. Pour this hot fruit mixture over the batter in the pan. (Don't worry if some of your fruit sinks. Also don't worry if the mixture is liquidy.)

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!

If By Win, You Mean Dominate

2009-06-29T21:33:00.003-05:00

This weekend, Helen and I participated in our first Double Trouble – another in the Pretzel City family of trail races. The terrain wasn't as hard as Half-Wit (or Ugly Mudder, which is the same terrain as Half-Wit, just in the other direction), probably not as hard as the Wissahickon Trail Classic, either - but significantly harder than Tyler.

It's an odd race. The course is a 15k (aka 9.3 mile) loop. You can race it once, you can race it twice, depending on if you want to go 15k (single trouble) or 30k (double trouble).

To be honest, I'd like to do a 30k trail race, but a two loop version of the race we just did didn't really appeal to me. It did appeal to Helen, but I kind of talked her out of it, which I feel kind of bad about now. Because the guy who won the men's 15k race finished 2nd in the 30k, and the guy who finished 3rd in the 15k won the 30k. Helen could've one-upped them, though. I'm sure she could have won both.

Obviously, this wasn’t the first race Helen won. But I can't remember her dominating a race like this one. The second woman didn't finish until four and half minutes after Helen.

I was generally pleased with my own race. I spent most of it alone - I finished 14th overall (although it's kind of complicated – for reasons I won't go into, some of the 30k racers who finished ahead of me count in the 15k rankings and some don't). I was around a minute behind the 13th place guy, and half a minute in front of the 15th place guy. My main goal in the second half was to not get lost. Mission accomplished! I really tried to keep my focus. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've now gone four straight trail races without getting lost. Amazingly, the races I've not gotten lost in now outnumber the races where I have gotten lost.

And Helen wasn't alone in bringing home some hardware. I managed to bring home the heavily coveted 5th place M 30-39 award. Maybe this whole turning-forty thing isn't so bad.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

2009-06-22T20:41:00.001-05:00

Wissahickon Trail Classic – One Year to the Next

2009-06-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

I thought that my first post on the Wissahickon Trail Classic got the most important news out. But Helen wanted me to post on my race. And she raised a pretty good point – I've made some significant improvement from last year to this.
The course was the same this year as last. I don't think it's a 10k – it feels long to me – but it's the same, up-and-down, crazy mix of trails. And my approach was fairly similar both years, trying to go out a bit faster than I'd like in order to get position. (It's not a good race to start slow if you like going fast down hill).
Last year, my time was 45:57.
This year, my time was 42:51.

So, yeah, I've made some progress.

This photo is from around 2 miles in, I think. (I'm leading Matt Joose here, but that wouldn't last long).

There were *some* external factors. This race was much better weather for racing than last year, and we weren't running around packing before this race. I even tapered this time. But three minutes is three minutes. I'm also winding up in front of people I always used to trail.

I should also note that it wasn't like I just cruised to the faster finish. I was pretty drained from pretty early on. At some points, esp. on the uphills, I was really feeling the burn. I remember feeling a bunch of snot on my face, and not really having the energy to get it off. When I looked down at my watch at one point and saw 22 minutes, I thought that there was no way I had another 22 minutes at that level of exertion in me.

I did get a good second wind, coming down the lavender trail, which I'd guess is around mile 4-5?
The thing that killed me though – around mile 5, you get back on Forbidden Drive, for a half mile. When I hit that, it was like something clicked off. Tons of people passed me. I got back some of them on the last trail section -but not Pete, who passed me on Forbidden and then finished ahead of me. Pete, incidentally, improved around the same amount I did - he finished a few spots in front of me last year, one spot in front this year. I guess that's what we get from all the Saturday morning trail runs.

The cost of my improvement? I'm definitely not where I'd like to be in my bike fitness right now. I went out for 55 miles yesterday, and that's the longest I've done all season. So I've got to get to work on that. But for now, it's good to know that the time running has had some payoff.

Our game faces, apparently

2009-06-08T14:08:00.002-05:00

I looked like I was suffering, but I was enjoying the race very much at that very moment.

Helen Wins! Helen Wins!

2009-06-07T07:20:00.003-05:00

Congrats to Helen, who won yesterday's Wissahickon Trail Classic!
She did so in impressive fashion, dominating the field on a beautiful (if muddy) day down by Valley Green.

The Most Pizza-Looking Pizza Yet

2009-05-29T21:25:00.003-05:00

We've gotten pretty into making pizza lately.
I don't know how many times this is now – 3? 4? But they've all been yummy.

There are two kinds I've been making: one is more traditional, with the dough, mozarella, tomato sauce, some veggies – mushrooms or onions – some chorizo, and some walnuts. The walnuts go great. The other had pear, pine nuts, and potatoes. Once it also had basil.

I should make the tomato sauce from scratch, but I'm too lazy – and really, you don't use that much in a pizza. It's mostly bread.

And the bread I make from scratch, basically, kinda-sorta. I start with the basics: flour, water, yeast, salt, olive oil. I use the recipe from smitten kitchen (great recipe, great blog). But then I cheat a bit, I guess – I put it all in a bread maker, press the "pizza dough" setting, and then go away for an hour. So, yeah, I'm not kneading the dough myself. But once the dough comes out of the bread maker, that's where my troubles begin.
I've liked all the pizzas, but they've had some very, very odd shapes.

On that level, today's was kind of a breakthrough. No, it wasn't round. It's vaguely rectangular. But: it's got a kind of regular shape to it. It looks like maybe it's got the shape I was going for. And you couldn't say that about any of the earlier pizzas.

Oddly enough, it wasn't my favorite pizza, in terms of taste. It was good, but it lacked something that the other ones had. Maybe it was some sort of beginner's luck, that's now run out. Or maybe it's just because we're out of pepper.

Noah solo in Hong Kong part II: Eating

2009-05-27T21:01:00.003-05:00

Don't worry, I didn't forget to post about what I ate while abroad. If nothing else, it's one more chance to make Helen jealous!

Five nights in Hong Kong. Really, though, only three particularly memorable dinners. One really kick-ass lunch, though.
When I got in to HKUST I was really exhausted. I managed to get a decent dinner at the university cafeteria, but nothing special. I know it was nothing special because, to be honest, I can't quite remember what it was. I do know that my breakfast the next morning included that sticky rice with chicken, wrapped in a lotus leaf. That was surprisingly good.
The dinner Friday night was with the Humanities faculty, and I was a lot more focused on the discussion, and trying not to eat with my mouth full, than on the food. Really, though, it was when I left HKUST and headed back to Kowloon that things picked up.

In our rankings last November, I put the shanghai dumpling place 3rd. And I stick by that. But they were probably what I missed the most. So I was very excited when we went there for lunch on Saturday. Along with Helen's dad, her Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sylvia came and joined us. I was glad to see them, but at this point, I was pretty focused on the dumplings. And they were every bit as good as I remembered.
(Here's the trick, though – you have to order them as you go. They're best when they're really hot, so if you get a bunch at once they cool down a bit before you can eat them all).
Dinner that night was out in Sai Kung.
I was a bit surprised that we went out there. Having woken up in Sai Kung that morning, I was pretty sure that there was someplace in Kowloon or on Hong Kong Island that would have done the trick. But they were pretty excited about going out there. Same crowd, plus Helen's cousin Byron.
Unlike the last time, we didn't eat right on the waterfront. The neat thing was that we actually ate at a non-seafood restaurant, except that Helen's dad and uncle walked over to the seafood market with one of the guys from the restaurant, bought a fish and a bunch of seafood, and then they cooked it all up for us. Apparently the charge for this is 60 hong kong dollars, or less than 10 bucks. (Says Uncle Dennis: "It's very reasonable.") Some really tasty stuff, especially a shrimp dish with pork floss. (The US needs more pork floss). The best stuff there, though, was the roast duck.
Sunday night – Mother's day – was the big event. Back to the Pacific Club. And it didn't dissapoint. The overall standard there is just so high – from the pickled shallots to the duck to the steamed fish, everything is fresh, well-prepared, and delicious. Even the deep-fried fish heads. I didn't think I'd like that, but I did. I guess that means something, but I'm not sure what.
The final dinner was the most surprising. A thai restaurant that Helen's dad likes. It's at his golf club – a driving range in Kowloon. Not the sort of place I'd have expected. But it was the best Thai food I've ever had.
I don't know if it's more authentic or not. But it was a lot fresher. Most of the Thai food I've had is really heavily cooked. And I like that- stews that spend all day on the stove, lots of spices, etc. And the one curry we had was like that. But most of the dishes – shrimp, and then eel, from the grill; a shrimp and grapefruit salad – had a really light hand with the cooking. It still tasted Thai, but in a much more subtle way.
So those were my main Chinese meals, and my one Thai meal. Not sure what Helen would have thought of the rest of my eating – lots and lots of breads from the bakeries, a few too many candy bars, perhaps; a few meals from the street vendors, which took quite a bit of guts on my part, I thought – not to eat them, just to order them. I was pleased with my level of independce in Hong Kong. But it still doesn't match the guided tour that Helen gave me last November.

Running in Hong Kong Part II: Noah Goes Solo

2009-05-19T21:04:00.006-05:00

Last week I was back in Hong Kong for 5 days. Unlike our trip in November, this one was for business, and it was a much shorter trip. And, unlike the first trip, I was on my own this time. I didn't have as much time to run, and there was a lot less chance of asking for directions or figuring out the public transportation system. So no Maclehouse trail, this time. Really, I was pretty intimidated heading out to Hong Kong on my own, but since I was going, I was at least going to get some runs in. And even a swim, as it turned out.
I spent my first two nights on the campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Science and Technology. This is a beautiful setting. I wasn't planning on doing all that much; I'd gotten a scouting report on running there, and I was told that even the track there was beautiful, and overlooked the bay. So I really just planned on doing that.

Problem was, I woke up really, really early. I was out the door at a little after 6, and the track didn't open until 7! So I made myself a little loop around the campus. The loop was around 2.5 miles – more of a lollipop, actually, with a little out-and-back down to the beach. A very pretty run, especially going down to the beach and looking out over the bay. But man, was that run HILLY. I think it's around 500 feet elevation from the lowest point of the loop (sea level) to the highest. I did three loops. I felt good, despite the hills – and despite running on a 15-month-old pair of Asics that by this point were feeling more like running flats. By the third loop, the track was open, so I put in two miles there. Overall, 9.5 miles in 90 minutes. The two miles I did on the track were at 8-minute pace and they felt like they were at the same effort, so those hills were really slowing me down.

The next morning, I messed up and didn't have any breakfast waiting for me in the hotel room when I woke up – once again, way early. So this time I just bided my time, waited until the track opened, did a few easy miles there. Normally, the idea of easy miles on the track doesn't appeal to me. But the natural beauty of the track makes it more bearable. And the feeling of just walking up the hills I'd run up the day before let me know right away that I should keep it flat.
I took a rest day the next day; really, though, I should have gone swimming.
I knew that there was a pool at HKUST – what I didn't know was that it's a 50 meter, outdoor pool. That was quite tempting! And me, without my suit and goggles.

Same deal at Helen's dad's apartment complex – a huge outdoor pool, and time this time to go out and buy a pair of goggles and get in there.

Running at Helen's dad's place was a lot like it was back in November with Helen. I went out twice, once for 35 minutes, once for 45 minutes. It's ok. There are empty sidewalks, which isn't the norm in Hong Kong, and you can keep going without breaking stride too much. There are even parts where you're running along the harbor. But it's not really scenic, and the ground's quite hard. (Did I mention that all my padding was gone in my shoes?) So it's there for maintenance runs, but not much else.

I did get one swim in. Not too long or too far, but it was nice being in such a big pool. One more opportunity to work off all the great food I had while I was there.

A decade of Broad Street Run (illustrated)

2009-05-12T13:45:00.011-05:00

Apparently, I counted wrong. I have run 10 straight Broad Streets, including this year. Looking back, I have really changed. The first time I ran the race, I treated it as the ultimate endurance event and aimed merely to finish. Now I don't dare go into the race unless I've done a couple of runs over 10 miles long.

I compiled a little summary of results and the race photos that came out:

2000: 1:56:07

2001: 1:25:35

2002: 1:18:57

2003: 1:13:16

2004: 1:12:57

2005: 1:13:15

2006: 1:18:48

2007: 1:05:43

2008: 1:02:32

2009: 1:05:59

I look tall in the Broad Street pictures

2009-05-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

Broad Street Run 2009

2009-05-07T11:23:00.005-05:00

This is Broad Street #9 for me. I used to think the people who run under 1:10 are crazy. But, here I am now, breaking 1:10 for the third time in a row. On the grand scheme of things, it is a really good result. In my narrow mind, however, I am disappointed. Even though life and health have gotten in the way of my running, I was still hoping to finish near last year's time of 1:02. I've been making excuses and rationalizing since the race ended. Since I've already blocked out the details of the race, I will just post these excuses, and then share the highlights of the day.

Excuses

Stomach ache all last week; leading up to diarrhea right before the start.
Poor nutrition and hydration before and during the race. I must've stopped for a whole minute just trying to drink something.
My hip and hamstrings have been bugging me ever since I ran the Tyler 10K and returned to the track. They also caused pain during the race.
Rolled an ankle on the trails two weeks ago that I can still feel.
My back and quads were constantly sore from packing, moving, and walking up three flights of stairs to do anything in the new house.

Highlights

Scored another 1 mile PR en route - 5:44.
Seeing and hearing so many people I know running and cheering in spite of the rain.
Post-race party featuring hot grill and hot tea.
Coming home to this:

---
Next race

Possibly Mudder Mayhem on Saturday and definitely Race for the Cure on Sunday.

Updates

When I get lazy with blog posts, I tweet. See right side bar for updates.

Layoff, Schmayoff

2009-04-05T17:29:00.004-05:00

Saturday was Helen's long-awaited return to racing.
After her injury last fall, and her months of rehab, she rejoined the ranks of local racers at a 10-K race at Tyler Arboretum.

It's a nice race – 6.2 miles of rolling hills out in the woods. A trail race, but not nearly as technical as the other trail races we've done (or as the Wissahickon, for that matter). 300 or so runners. Helen did this race last year, and came in 3rd – behind fellow wanderer Sharon, and some other woman that we didn't know.

We weren't sure what to expect with the race. Helen was worried about running hard, after so much time off from racing. I tried to explain to Helen that she might not need to run hard, if she was going to win anyway! Maybe I was overly optimistic, though... No, alas, Helen did not come in first in the race.

She did come in 2nd, though. Not too shabby! Especially for the first race of the season! And the time was within a minute or so of her time last year, which bodes well for her overall fitness.

For me, this was the first time doing the race. I came to cheer Helen on last year, but it came one week after my marathon, so no way I was going to try running it. I liked the race, though. Boy, is it ever rolling! I was around 3-4 miles in when I realized just how rolling it was. The hills were never that steep, never that long, but they were pretty relentless.

I was pleased with my own race. I finished 18th overall. 43:35, I think, which is my new 10-K pr. (The streak lives!) I was hoping for some sort of age group award, but it wasn't meant to be. (The organizers, who did an awesome job otherwise, did manage to screw up the handing out of awards, but that didn't change anything for me. I think I was 7th in my age group or something? Prizes three deep. And next year, things don't get any easier for 40-year-old Noah either). But I don't think I could have run much better than I did.

Next up for Helen? Maybe Clean Air, maybe not. Then on to Broad Street.
For me? Not sure. Maybe I'll actually run one of these 10-Ks on the road some day.

Finding our bearings

2009-03-27T15:41:00.011-05:00

The "Gun Loop" has been our default running route since we moved to Chestnut Hill two and a half years ago. We're finally moving out of here, and I'm really going to miss how this five mile route just flows through our neighborhood -- from row house blocks, to twins, to the mansion district, to the apartment complexes, and back to our row house block. I'll miss the hills -- and how what used to be a "hill of death" (Norwood, for any local person reading) is now merely an incline to me. I'll especially miss the versatility of the route -- you can run it at night in the dark and feel safe or you can run it during traffic hours because the streets have sidewalks. Occasionally, I would even do a double loop and practice positive splitting.

I'm a variety person, but I feel that every runner needs a route that they can roll out of bed and just do in her zombie state. Noah and I are now wondering what our go-to route is going to be once we move. So, I went on gmap and drew a 5-mile loop from the new house and then asked Noah to name it.

Arghhh... it's New Jersey!

Birthday Baking

2009-03-27T15:34:00.003-05:00

On my birthday this year, while I was out looking at houses with/for Farrah and Brad, Noah made a birthday cake (decorated by my sisters) and a berry dumplings. I'm so lucky.

Good use of preserved lemons

2009-03-27T15:17:00.002-05:00

This dish tastes Morrocan even if it doesn't look it (disclosure: Noah made both the preserved lemons and the paella):

I made popovers...

2009-03-27T15:12:00.004-05:00

... and consumed these with warm bourbon sauce/gu.

If I blogged it

2009-03-26T12:49:00.001-05:00

Because I wasn’t running much from September 2008 to March 2009, I also didn’t really blog. But if I had blogged, these would be the headlines:

Are planks the bane of my existence?
Why get (not dye) your running shoes in black
Sore, sore, sore
I made popovers
Don’t get the two-year subscription to Runners World
Why do they make good shoes ugly? (Brooks Cascadia in neon)
Buying a house a quarter mile from the trails
Not banditing Caesar Rodney
Back on the trail, back on the track, kind of

That's all, folks!

Caesar Rodney LBRR – The Streak Remains Intact

2009-03-15T16:33:00.003-05:00

There's something I still don't get about racing. When I was playing team sports, the feeling was that if you practice slow, you play slow. In racing, you're supposed to go much slower in training runs, and then speed up when you race. I'm not sure where that speed comes from, though. I'd been doing some tempo runs when training for the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon. Typically, I'd drive down to Valley Green, run a warm-up mile or so on Forbidden, then speed up for 2-3 miles, ending by going hard up the hill on Valley Green Drive until the top of that hill, by Chestnut Hill Academy. In the parts of the run on Forbidden, I'd been averaging somewhere in the 6:35-6:40 range. But that was hard. Really, hard, actually. No way, I though, could I do a half-marathon at that pace.

So I had to adjust my goals for Caesar Rodney. When I signed up, my very ambitious goal was to run it in 1:25. As it approached, I'd lowered my goals; I was still hoping to beat last year's time, and keep my streak intact. But the night before the race, when I wrote up my pace chart, I settled on a 6:45 pace, which means a total time or 1:28 and change. My thought was to stick with that for the first ten miles and then open up if I had the energy.

The race started out well. The first mile is downhill and really fast. I managed to bank around 20-25 seconds, which was around what I was hoping for. Things flatten out for the next few miles, as the course winds around Wilmington's little waterfront area. My goal was to keep those seconds banked until things started to climb in miles 4-8. I was able to do that quite comfortably. At that point in the race I was running pretty smoothly and easily, or at least that's how it felt. I wasn't running with anyone in particular – Chris Verry was heading off at a faster pace, which I knew would tire me out – but there was a good crowd of people around me.

Somewhere after mile 4, or really after mile 5 I guess, things start to climb. People think of it as a very hilly course, and I guess most courses are flatter, but it's not hilly compared to our neighborhood, and it's certainly not hilly compared to running in the Wissahickon, so I felt pretty good going up the long climb that winds through some park and ends out on a road sometime in the ninth mile of the race. And really, I felt good on the climb. At the start of the climb Helen was there to cheer me on, which gave me a lot of energy and just generally lifted my spirits. By the top of the climb I realized that I'd actually managed to hold on to the time I'd banked, and was still ahead of the schedule. At the ten mile mark I was able to open things enough. Yes, a girl did pass me at that point, but I still felt like I was running pretty well. Some guy in the crowd told me I was 84th, which was lower than I thought, since this part of the course was an out-and-back and there were plenty of people I'd seen going back when I was still going out.

The other nice thing about opening it up at mile 10 is that things are downhill for most of that. I'd stopped paying so much attention to my watch, but I was able to keep up a pretty good clip for the last three miles, and pass a bunch of people. I knew that the last section was the hardest part of the course, but I knew that I'd prepped for it and expected it to be ok. Same as last year, there's a hill that makes up the last 600 yards or so of the course that's pretty brutal. But this year, when I turned to go up it, not only was there no headwind, but I knew that it was exactly what I'd been training for with all those tempo-to-hill runs. I tried to remember all the different parts of the hill up from Valley Green, to make the Wilmington hill seem smaller.
That didn't quite work. But I did managed to go up the hill quicker than anyone else I saw around me. I heard Helen cheer me on. She said it looked like I was doing well, but I didn't even have it in me to look for her and wave. I felt kind of nauseous at that point, but I was able to keep going and even to pass a few more people before the finish line. My final time was 1:26 something. The pace on my 'gun time' (oh, yeah, there was a really loud gun at the start that set off a car alarm) was 6:37. I managed to keep that up for 13.1 miles. Still not sure how that works. I was in 72nd place, so I passed 10-12 people in the final three miles. Not bad.
Overall, I'm really pleased with my race. I could have trained harder, sure; but given the training I did, I'm not sure I could have run it any faster. And I think that this is a good distance for me. It's a good mix of relying on endurance and long-run training without being too grueling, and it doesn't have the 20-mile 'weekend-buster' long runs. And I'm hoping that the recovery is much faster than the marathon recovery, too.

Caesar Rodney - Putting My Streak on the Line

2009-03-13T11:25:00.002-05:00

I've got a little streak I've been building up over the last few years.
Every race I've run, I've established some sort of record or PR. In the trail races, that just means breaking my time on that same route, since the times there vary so much. But in road races, I've actually gotten a PR at every race I've done, at every distance. Ever. From some perspectives, that's quite a streak.
Of course, there are some tricks to maintaining a streak like that. Staying (relatively) healthy, training consistently, etc. But that's not what makes the streak possible. Really, what makes the streak possible is that I didn't start racing until I was 35, and I race infrequently. I've never done a stand-alone (i.e. non-triathlon) 5K. My only 10K was the Wissahickon Trail Classic, so even that's a PR, even though the course was way long and super hilly. I've done one ten-mile race, so I got a PR there. I've done two marathons, and the second was faster. And I've done one half marathon, so I got a PR at that one. But I'm doing a second half marathon this weekend. So the streak's on the line. And at this point, it's going to be tight.
I did this race last year, too. It's a hilly course (but of course it was just as hilly last year). My preparation was very different, though. On the one hand, it wasn't my A race. I was busy training for the National Marathon, I didn't really taper for Caesar Rodney, and I raced very conservatively for the first ten miles. On the other hand, because I was training for the marathon, I'd been doing a ton of miles in training. I came into the half marathon with a bunch of 18-20 mile runs behind me. And I was just more structured in my training then.
My times in track/tempo workouts have been similar, if shorter and less structured. When I signed up for this, I was hoping to knock 5 minutes off of last years time of just under 1:30. I can't see that happening, though. 1:27-1:28, that seems doable. But it's going to be tight.

I'm right-legged

2009-03-10T20:06:00.009-05:00

Here's a brief update on my formerly strained left hamstring.

Glass half full update: I'm back on the roads and trails.

Glass half empty update: My left leg is not really running, still.

Thanks for everyone's concern... it seems like this will take some more time to heal completely.

Snow Running in the Wissahickon (in March!)

2009-03-03T15:13:00.000-05:00

I took advantage of the non-teaching day today and went for a beautiful run in the Wissahickon. Yesterday I'd been kind of bummed about the March snowstorm (especially if Temple once again chose not to cancel classes!), but since I'm not teaching on Tuesdays this semester, today was a great day to get out and go for a run.

The Good: Really, the awesome. One of the really nice things about consistently running in the Wissahickon is seeing the seasons change, and today was a great example of that. The snow on the ground, the ice on the creek, the sun through the leafless trees.

I started off down at Northwestern, not really looking forward to the run. But soon enough I'd taken my headphones off and was just enjoying running in the snow and the sun. Most of the trails were already fairly well-traveled, but in a few places I really felt like I was out breaking new ground, since it's so windy that the footsteps got blown away. Very little ice, decent footing; the downhills felt softer, even going down pain hill. The uphills were harder, but I was ok with that.

The Bad: I wish I hadn't done this run alone; this would have been a great day to run with Helen. She's starting to reintegrate trail running, and the snow makes trail running easier, in a lot of ways. I usually discourage Helen from playing hooky, since she invariably winds up working off the clock, but she would have really enjoyed this.

Also, gotta say: kind of a sore ankle right now. I don't think it's from twisting it or anything, just from the different movements that the snow requires.

The Ugly: People who snowmobile in the Wissahickon are the scum of the earth. Lots of trails torn up on the Roxborough side.

Ugly Mudder LBRR

2009-02-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I managed to achieve two of my trail-running goals: I finished a trail race outside of the Wissahickon without going off-course; and I managed to keep my cool. I'm pretty sure that those two are related.

I've had a horrible record in this regard. I'd done four trail races – the Wissahickon Trail Classic, Charlie-Horse Half-Marathon, and Half-Wit Half-Marathon (twice). In all three half-marathons I'd gone off course. In the Wissahickon race I managed to stay on course, but I'd also been going over that course for several weeks going into the race. So staying on course in the Ugly Mudder was something of an accomplishment.

The race itself – well, it's ok. It overlaps a lot with Half-Wit, but without some of the latter's more memorable moments; it's a Ron Horn race, and at this point I'm a little tired of Ron Horn races. I don't blame him – basically, I'd like them more if I could do more non-Ron trail races. This one is just over 7 miles, with maybe as much as a mile on road (probably a bit less). There's less climbing than there is at Half-Wit, but it's still a fair bit. A lot of the downhill is gentle enough of a slope that you're still running, as opposed to just letting go. Some pretty rocky footing – and a lot of downed trees. There was a very slight snow, which made visibility harder, not because everything was white but just because it would get in my eyes. Since in races like this you need to pay attention to footing on just about every step, that makes things much more challenging!

I do like the end of this race, it's quite clever. You scurry up to the parking lot from the road; I'm horrible at this sort of estimate, but it's maybe a 30 yard climb that feels more like a cliff than a hill. You scurry up it, using all four limbs, grabbing branches, rocks, etc.

I've written before about the issue I have with trail races: I'm a natural negative splitter, but in trail racing positioning is important, so it makes more sense to go out hard. This is particularly the case in the Ugly Mudder: it starts with a half-mile on the road, then there's a half-mile on single-track. So I wanted to get position for that first bunch of trail. In retrospect, that wasn't all that important. I'd have had room to pass. Thing was, I didn't fell like I had a full tank of gas while running. I knew that after the first mile or so, I'd have some recovering to do, and I was ok with that. I figured that I'd be able to get back down into a nice recovery pace and then be able to pretty much reset. But there was a pattern that developed over the course of the race: I'd be going along at recovery pace, start feeling fine, and decide to open it up a bit. Each time I did that, I promptly wound up feeling completely spent within 10-20 seconds, and I'd have to settle back down to the recovery pace. By the end of the race, I was running very conservatively, walking up the steeper hills and even some of the only slightly steep parts. I also had to take it easy whenever there was a wall to climb over or a log to go over. This helped me to not completely bonk, but it also made things less fun than if I was just bustling with energy, hopping logs and passing folks on the uphill.

I'm overall fine with my results, even though I don't feel like I ran a great race. I didn't prep for it specifically, and the night before Helen and I had gone out to dinner, eaten lots of tasty food (much of it not carbs) and drank wine and I definitely was feeling that during the race. I still managed to finish in just under an hour, which I felt good about. There were around 700 people, and the results have me at 42nd pace, which doesn't get me an AG spot, but it's nothing to scoff at. That said, I'm pretty sure that I placed in the 60s, not the 40s! I'm expecting there to be some sort of correction this week. Either way, I'm ok with it.

New Shoe Season

2009-01-16T23:02:00.004-05:00

What can we say? They all just kind of wore out at once.
So she got new shoes, then I got new shoes. Then we each got another pair.

These are our new trail shoes. I think Helen's are pretty snazzy. She's wishing she got the blue ones. They're both Cascadias - a repeat for me, an update for Helen.

And these, of course, are our new road shoes. Kayano 14s for Helen, we'll see if they're as good as her Kayano 12s were. And a whole new shoe for me: Saucony Pro Grid Ride. Or something like that. I'd have been happy with a repeat of my Mizunos, but they changed the model and now it feels funny.

Noah's Goals for 2009

2009-01-01T18:50:00.001-05:00

I don't really do running resolutions, or fitness resolutions.
The closest I came was 2 years ago, when one of my resolutions was to stop letting training get in the way of my work. That one's still in effect, and it's one of the reasons for my not having full-on fitness resolutions. But I do have goals. And, for 2009, those goals start with the following:
1) Run the Four Corners.
This one I'm confident I can do. It's a roughly 21-mile run in the Wissahickon. I ran three of the corners last week. I was sore afterwards, but not insanely so. I could see getting this one done over the next month.
2) Complete a trail race without going off course. (Must be non-Wissahickon).
This one *should* be doable. But I've run 4 trail races so far, and went off-course in 3 of them. The 4th was on home turf. I'd like to change that this year.
3) Do more group rides.
This one's pretty straightforward. Every year I want to do more, and every year I do nothing to actually make that happen.
4) Run a marathon in less than 3 hours.
This one will be hard. I ran a 3:08 last spring. I'm planning on running Philly next fall (so 18 months later). I'm hoping that consistent running during that time will make me faster, but still plan on doing a lot of training for the race.

I'm sure that other goals will come up during the year. But this seems like a good set to start off with.
Happy New Year everyone!

Last Night's Dinner

2009-01-01T15:43:00.001-05:00

First course:
Tomatoes Provençal
Rabbit Provençal

Palate cleanser:
Sage Sorbet

Main Course:
Orchiette with Pesto
Lamb Tagine with Dates
Chicken with Garlic and Shallots
Tomato stew with Sausage and home-made pasta
Mushrooms with olive oil, garlic, and thyme

No-knead Bread
Rice

Dessert:
Hazelnut Biscotti
Ice Creams:
-Pear-Caramel
-Salted Butter Caramel
-Chocolate-Hazelnut
-Double Chocolate
-Strawberry Sorbet

(Technically the first two dishes are "niçois" and not provençal, but since that tends to mean 'with tuna' here, as opposed to just 'from Nice', I'll go with provençal.)

Twenty people total, including us. Definitely the most people we've fed, and the second most people we've had in the house. Eight empty wine bottles (but only ten empty beer bottles). Although it was quite a stretch for our little kitchen, I feel confident in saying that everyone ate well. We sure did!

There were a few slight misses. Well, not 'misses' – that's too strong – but a few things I'd redo differently. Right before serving the rabbit, I was supposed to add the olives and a squeeze of lemon juice, which I forgot to do. I didn't get to eat a tomato, but Helen said that they weren't as good as some others I made, probably because I had to make them in an oversized toaster-oven. I also didn't think that the stew really fit well. We've had it a bunch of times, it's a great dish, but at that point in the meal you've already done the tomato/salty thing and then cleansed your palate, so to go back to tomato/salty was a mistake. Hannah brought a salad, which was great and people definitely enjoyed it, but in retrospect I should have made sure people only ate it after the main dish, so that it doesn't dampen the palate-cleansing aspects of the palate cleanser.

Everything else was really successful. Even though I forgot the olives and lemon, people really liked the rabbit. People differed on what was their favorite dish, but I suspect that it was the lamb, followed closely by the rabbit and the chicken. The lamb was really tasty, and super tender.

Among ice creams, it was easier to rank people's preferences, since I'd made roughly the same amount of each. By far people ate the salted caramel the most.

I was thinking that the lamb was my favorite dish, but now I'm thinking it was the sage sorbet. Palate cleansers, especially palate-cleansing sorbets, might be my new favorite course. They're so tasty and so refreshing. I don't think the sage one is quite as good as the basil granita we served last year, but it was close. It's oddly addictive. And the temperature balance is so nice, too. I wish they were more popular.

Anyway, I don't see doing a dinner this big for a while. It required a lot of planning, and cooking for it was the main activity of the last two days. With only four burners and one oven I had to make up a whole spreadsheet to make sure that I'd be able to pull this off! But all those challenges just made it that much more satisfying when we pulled it off. Thanks to Helen's family for providing a table, spare plates, etc. Thanks to Melissa for the spare chairs and the ice. But most of all, thanks to all who came!

2008 In Review: The Best Runs of the Year

2008-12-27T10:04:00.003-05:00

I was going to do a top-ten runs of the year, but then I started to list them, and they didn't really fit into a group of ten. I have a pretty clear top four runs of the year. Then I have a lot of runs that I really enjoyed, but that all kind of blend together. Here, then, are my highlights for the running year.

I: The Best Trail Run Ever. Early June.
This was a no-brainer. The second trail run that Helen and I did together in Provence. Best views, best finds (the Fort de Buoux especially), the easy feel of the early days of a vacation.

II: The National Marathon. Late March.
A very different kind of run, of course. But a very satisfying race for me, after all the training I did. It was also a much more enjoyable course than I'd expected. Having Helen join me for the second half made the time go much quicker.

III: First Provence Trail Run. Early June.
If it wasn't for our better, longer trail run two days later, this might be number one.

IV: The Maclehose Trail. Late November.
Monkeys make this one lower than it might have been otherwise. Views that rival the Provence views, but in an urban context – who'd have thunk it?

Those were the best single runs of the year. They were hardly, of course, the only good runs of the year. Some of the other highlights, roughly in chronological order:

The Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon. Early March.
A tough entry, because that day was COLD. One of my main memories was standing in an ATM lobby waiting for the race to start, because it was too friggin' cold outside. But the race itself was fun, and it was good to finish strong.

The Wissahickon Trail Classic. Early June.
A fun race. This one stands out as the one trail race I did this year where I didn’t go off course. Of course, having it on my home turf helped a bunch. A rough race – brutally hot. We had a plane to catch that afternoon, so this was a good see-you-in-a-few-weeks run.

Running in Paris. Mid-June. There were a buch of fun runs in Paris, most of which Helen and I did together. Really, a great way to see a whole bunch of the city – the Jardin de Luxembourg, the quais, the Promenade Plantée. The favorite might have been the last one, starting at the Parc de la Villette, then running down the canal and over to the Buttes Chaumont.

July 4 run.
A run with some of the guys I run with on Sunday morning. I probably ran 40 times or so with them the past year, this was the only time that it wasn't in Valley Green. A 10-mile run in Montgomery County, led by Bob Reynolds. This was the only one of these where Helen didn't come with - although she'd have really enjoyed it. (Especially at the end, when some of the guys were pretty spent from a run that wouldn't have phased her).

Running in DC. Mid-July.
Helen and I did a few runs during our trip to DC. A mix of runs along the streets, runs along The Mall. The main one that sticks out in my memory was a run where we ran the perimeter of the East Potomac Park.

The Patriot's Tri. Early August.
The one Tri I did this year. The run part was clearly the highlight – a satisfying run at the end of a fairly long race.

Beartown State Park. Mid August.
This is near Dad's place in Great Barrington. A nice little park with a bunch of trails, some of them admittedly a bit torn up by snowmobiles. A bit muddy? Yup. Fun? Most definitely.

Half-Wit Half. Mid-August.
I remain disappointed with myself for losing my smile during this race, but way proud of Helen for winning it.

Bowen Road. Late November.
The best run that we did on Hong Kong Island. Actually, the only run we did on Hong Kong Island, but better than the ones we did in Kowloon. Not a long run, but beautiful views and a real mellow setting, so close to the hustle-and-bustle of Central.

Tomorrow's not looking so good for a bike ride

2008-12-20T23:55:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of weatherunderground.com:

I can handle the cold.
But the other stuff - Definite Light Ice Pellets? - yeah, not so much.
Looks like it'll be some QT with the trainer. Ugh.

MacLehose Trail (continued)

2008-12-16T17:21:00.010-05:00

Section 5: Where Monkeys Roam

When we got to the end of section four, we were glad we had chosen to do section five as well. The end of that section, well, there's nothing there. Aside from a very small road that comes in, it's mostly distinguished by a few signs. One announced that there were a lot of military ruins along the trail; there was a map, which we took a lot of photos of in case things got misleading again; and then there was one amusing sign that we took a picture of while chuckling to ourselves (see left).

At the start of section five, things were pretty mellow. The views were still spectacular, but things were somewhat flatter and we were able to run more at the start. The first major thing that happened was that we got to a detour. That we weren't counting on. One section was closed off due to a landslide, so we had to go around. This was discouraging at the time, but turned out to be kind of interesting. We were running on little village roads and trails, which made me wonder just how much of that there is in the New Territories. The biggest issue was that we weren't really sure if we were going the right way or not. The first big clue was when we saw a GU package littered on the trail; sad normally, but it showed us we were going the right way. Then luckily a runner coming the other way confirmed that we were heading the right way, and we returned the favor. We were all figuring it out.

The nicest thing, though, was that the detour got us into the Lion's Rock Country Park, which not only had some vending machines, but also had a little store/café. We bought a bottle of water, and then gladly abandoned the 'bread-and-water' idea in favor of some of the tastiest iced tea we've ever had – a home-brewed mixture in plain plastic bottles that might have been the best drink we had during the whole time in Hong Kong.

We headed out from the café and then soon got to the Kowloon pass. This was a kind of neat spot – the lowest spot in the ridge, although that was still pretty high. From there, we realized we had the option of going down the hill and into Kowloon, and getting some other form of public transportation from there. We decided against this, opting to complete the route we'd chosen from the start. It was at around this point that we saw our first monkeys – two monkeys up in a tree. That was pretty cute. We wanted to take pictures, but didn't, because of the sign earlier saying not to stare at them.

At this point, we thought things were good – there'd been a “beware of monkeys” sign, we saw the monkeys, and that was that. Right?

Un-unh. We only had a few miles left to run, but the main thing we remember from those miles is Lots. More. Monkeys. Those two in the tree? No big deal. But soon after that we were going through a really big pack of monkeys. There were two big ones; the rest were little, but we had no idea how many of them there were. And the thing with monkeys – you don't know what they know. They might be really really smart, they might not be. But you don't know. So we crept our way through, and luckily no monkeys attacked us. We were calm, they were calm.

There was a decent stretch after that, when we were able to keep a good pace going. But it turned out we weren't done with the monkeys yet. Within a half mile or so of the end of the trail, we came to another section of them! This time, things were much less calm. We were walking along on the trail, and then one of them started walking on the trail towards us. So we just turned around and started heading back. Then one of the little ones starts running towards us! It didn't come all the way – it veered off to the side before getting to us – and we got out of there. But then what? We were almost at the end of the trail. There was a road behind us that we could go back to, but didn't really want to. We figured we'd wait a few minutes and see if the monkeys were still there. Then a group of people came by. Helen told them about the monkeys and they just shrugged. So we tucked in behind them and went through. Some of the most heart-stopping minutes of our lives! Noah forgot about not staring, and one of them hissed at him!

We made it safely, though. And then kind of sauntered to the end of the trail, with our figurative tails between our legs.

What to make of the MacLehose trail? We're pretty set on *not* doing the monkey sections again, but definitely want to check out more of the trail. It does seem like a hiking trail, though, as opposed to a trail-running trail.
It's great to have that sort of thing in an urban area. Sleep at home, go off into the mountains, then eat wherever you want. Point-to-point runs become easier, because of how much public transportation there is. But our main thought, when we think about the trail, and about trail running in Hong Kong in general, is that we've only barely scratched the surface.

Running in Hong Kong II: The MacLehose Trail

2008-12-16T10:48:00.019-05:00

After a week of eating and seeing people around Hong Kong, the city, we thought it’d be fun to spend a day running in the mountains and subsisting on just bread and water.

After consulting Helen's uncle and various guides and maps, and turning down an opportunity to do a 50K with her cousin, we finally decided that our major expedition would be on the Maclehose Trail in the New Territories. There are 10 sections of the 100 km long Maclehose Trail, and we set out to do sections 4 and 5, which go through Ma On Shan, a mountain 2300 feet tall.

Section 4: Beautiful Views

Helen's parents drove us to the start of section four on Saturday morning. The first part of the run was a long, hard climb to the top of Ma On Shan. The terrain was mixed – some parts were paved road, some parts were trail, some parts were stone steps, some were odd concrete steps. The terrain would stay like this through the whole route.

Because it was a Saturday and we’re in Hong Kong after all, the trail was crowded. It seemed to us that a lot of people were going to do the first half of section four, and then headed back. We were glad about this, because while we try not to be too snobby, we'd really had plenty of crowds during our Hong Kong stay.

Good thing we weren't going very fast anyway because we repeatedly stopped to take pictures of the fantastic views from Ma On Shan. Here’s Helen’s favorite:

Once we were past Ma On Shan, we were able to keep a better pace going. Overall, though, this was as much a hike as it was a trail run. We guessed that, of the 12 miles or so, we ran around 40%; 30% we were climbing; and the other 30% we were walking/hiking. Some of the downhills were just too steep to run, and the footing – either because it was rocky, or because it was a series of awkwardly long steps – didn't lend itself to keeping up a steady pace.

While section four was rated as “strenuous” and the estimated time for hiking it was listed at 5 hours, we finished it around three hours. Around five minutes from the end of the section, the signage suddenly got confusing. In general, the Maclehose Trail is very well marked, so it was surprising when it became misleading.

(to be continued)

I say Coffee, you say Cake

2008-12-14T17:10:00.005-05:00

Courtesy of Helen, this is what I came back to today, at the end of a way-harder-than-it-should-be 35 mile bike ride today.

We do a lot of cooking in our little house. I can honestly say that this is the best the house has ever smelled.

(Coffee… CAKE! Coffee… CAKE!)

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Eating in Hong Kong - Ranking the Dinners

2008-12-09T10:39:00.005-05:00

So, nine nights in Hong Kong. Nine dinners, six ranked – we excluded the one home-cooked meal, and the meal we got in on the first night we arrived. We also decided to not include the one night where we didn't go out for Chinese food – a yummy Sushi dinner that we just don't know where to rank. (Oh, and 'night' is a relative term, of course, because for many of these meals our stomachs still thought it was mid-day the next day, or maybe the day before).
And one thing to make clear right off the bat: all of these were good meals. Helen's family was scoping these places out actively for weeks before we got there, making use of years of eating out in Hong Kong. This is not an easy list to get onto!

So, here we go:

The Pacific Club. Kowloon/Tsim Sha Tsui.
Rankings: Helen:1, Noah:1

What to say? Everything here was really, really good. IIRC, this was our third night. A banquet-style meal, with a steamed fish and duck. Overall, a really high level. In some ways it's a shame to rank this at the top, as it was the most western-influenced place we went (the food was Chinese, but the place had an old English men's club feel to it). But this is a food ranking, and everything here was good. They even had good desserts! And although Helen found the presence of pickled shallots on the table as pretty typical, I thought they were great. Pickled shallots – who'd have thought?

Seafood Place. New Territories/Sai Kung.
Rankings: H:2, N:2.

This place was a lot of fun. A TON of seafood. A more festive atmosphere, perhaps, than the full-on-family dinner of the Pacific Club. Two steamed fish, along with a ton of other kinds of seafood. (And a tofu dish, for some reason – perhaps there was a vegetarian there?). In the states, we debate about how to tell if fish is fresh. Looks grey? Smells fishy? In Hong Kong, deciding if something is fresh or not is much more straightforward: fresh=living.

Rice Pot place. New Territories/Tai Po
Rankings: H:3, N:4

Here, we're getting into the more obscure HK places. While Sai Kung is a touristy region with a big ex-pat community, this was just a local restaurant. No Way I would have found this place had I come on my own. It looked pretty obscure, just a corner place in the New Territories. We ordered a variety of things, but the best were the rice pots, super hot clay pots with rice and a choice of meats. You pour in this non-salty soy sauce and it chars the rice, kind of like the soccarat in a paella. Huge lines. Oh, and I'd have been so SOL without Helen and her family. No pretense of having an English menu.

"Canteen A" Hot Pot: Kowloon/Lok Fu
Rankings: H:4,N:5

This was our last HK meal, at the same restaurant as our first full meal. (My understanding is "Canteen A" is Helen's family's nickname for the place, not its real name). Basically, there's a bunch of boiling broth in the middle of the table, and a bunch of meats, seafood, veggies. You take the meat/veggies in your chopsticks (!) and hold it in the broth until it's cooked. This was a good last meal, as Helen got to see more of her family. I liked it, although I'd really like to do it at a smaller table!

Din Tai Fung (Shanghai food): Kowloon/Tsim Shai Tsui.
Rankings: H:5, N:3

I ranked this higher than Helen. I really, really, really liked the dumplings. I liked the other stuff, too, but mostly I liked the dumplings. This was also the restaurant where Helen's dad suggested I eat the fish bones. This set back the 'trust Helen's family' cause quite a bit. But they did choose the place. It's not a place I would have chosen – a chain restaurant in a mall. But the rules are different there.

"Canteen A" first meal: Kowloon/Lok Fu
Rankings: H:6, N:6

Mostly, I was trying to stay awake this meal. Not doing so well. Most of the food was good –really tasty shrimp, steamed fish. There was a roast baby pig, or something like that, that was kind of fatty. But don't let the last-place finish fool you. This was still an excellent meal.

I've been craving a lot of this stuff since getting back. Not like Helen has, I'm sure, but still…
Yes, Chinese food in China is different. Hard to explain how, exactly – it's fresher, less sauce. A lot of sections on menus here – 'lo mein,' 'fried rice' – tend to get their own restaurants there. But really, it's worth a trip for the food. Preferably a trip where you can go with someone who can read the menu!

Running in Hong Kong, part I

2008-12-04T13:38:00.004-05:00

When we planned our trip to Hong Kong, my first though wasn’t “awesome! We can go hiking and trail running!”

It was more, “oh my god, that flight is long!”

And I was right, it was long. But Hong Kong isn’t really what I expected. Or at least, what I expected – an insanely busy city filled with Chinese people – is only part of Hong Kong.

It helps to realize that Hong Kong is a region, not a city. And in that region, there are three main parts – Hong Kong Island (the most famous part, and the commercial center); Kowloon (where Helen’s parents live); and the New Territories, which make up the most area in Hong Kong, and where there are still some very remote sections.

Of these three, only Kowloon is mostly flat and inhabited. Even on Hong Kong Island, huge sections are mountainous, with either no habitation or relatively sparse habitation. Don’t get me wrong – the parts that are inhabited are super-densely inhabited, with block after block of 30-40 story apartment buildings. But there are also some really nice roads up in the mountains, where you can either run relatively flat routes parallel to the ridge, or really really steep routes up and down the mountain. (To give some sense of the pitch, near Helen’s uncle’s apartment there is an office building where the front doors are on the first and third floors, but the back door is on the seventeenth).

On Hong Kong Island, we had one nice run and one nice walk. The walk was fairly traditional tourist stuff – we took the ‘peak tram’ up to top of the ridge and walked up to the high point on the ridge. It’s ‘sparsely populated’ there, which really means than many of the people who can afford to live up there can afford to have major land around their mansion as well.

We also went running on Bowen Road, which seems to be the main running road in HK. It’s a 4-km stretch of road, not completely closed to traffic but so narrow, out-of-the-way, and filled with speed bumps, that no one really drives there. The nicest part, though, is the views that you get from the road. It looks down onto HK’s city-scape, not quite as high as our walk on the Peak but far more accommodating to runners. Given the number of other runners we saw there, it seems to be HK’s equivalent to running in Central Park or on the Drives. Not nearly as long, but with a far better view. We figured that, if we lived on Hong Kong Island, we’d probably get tired of it. But for a one-time run it was spectacular.

Running near Helen’s parents’ apartment was more of a challenge. One morning we even did the unthinkable, and ran on the treadmills! There are options around the apartment – on three other days, we managed to go for short runs in Kowloon – but they’re limited. Most of the sidewalks in Kowloon are insanely crowded; the ones right by where we were staying had the benefit of being relatively empty, and providing loops of maybe 1/3 of a mile without traffic lights. Ok, as things go – but it was surprising to see that these routes actually got a decent amount of Jogging traffic, despite their hard sidewalks and limited options. Things might improve in the future, as we did go on one run around a mile away, where they're putting in a little park with a running route along the waterfront. We're curious to see how that develops.

Overall, though, running in Kowloon is interesting but difficult. Running on Hong Kong Island was more interesting, although the non-mountain running options seemed limited. I'm curious to see just how much trail running there is on Hong Kong Island – possibly quite a bit, but I'm not sure how much of what they call their trails is actually paved. Some clearly aren't – when we were up on the Peak we had a view of what looked like an awesome dirt trail a bit further down. With one day set aside for a long trail run, we thought a lot about going and exploring that trail, or else other trails on the island. Finally, though, we chose to do a portion of the Maclehose trail – a 100 km trail in the New Territories, home of some of the most spectacular views in the region, as well as some of the most surprising wildlife I've seen anywhere.

Cycling Fitness: fading, fading…

2008-11-16T12:41:00.000-05:00

So it's not only blog postings that have fallen victim to our busy schedules this fall.
Yes, our schedules have made it harder to give updates. Our present training, too, hasn't really lent itself to updates. Helen's making progress, but she's still not 100%. I'm still running quite a bit, but with no races planned, it's pretty much just routine.

I figured out last spring that it's very possible to get a decent amount of running in with a busy schedule. And that remains the case. But biking is harder. My job this semester requires quite a bit of face time at the office, making it harder to get a mid-length ride in during the week. I had been riding my bike into work some, but haven't since a car hit me in early October. (I'm fine, wasn't hurt at all; I need to get my rear wheel fixed, though, and I've been as lazy about that as I have been about posting).

I'm still getting a ride in most weekends. Some have been quite nice. A few weeks ago, when we were out in Yardley, Helen and I went out for a nice ride through some of the scenic roads of Bucks County. Otherwise, I've usually been doing some portion of my bread-and-butter loop most weekends. Doing the full thing has been pretty rare, though, and the one time in the last few months that I did it really was tough.

This morning I did 45 miles of it. It was a nice ride, but I really couldn't push it.

So I'm torn what to do. On the one hand, I'm still enjoying the rides. I can call it 'base miles' and just wait until vacation starts and hope that the weather lets me get more rides in then. I could call it 'off season' and stop worrying about it at all. Or I can lug my trainer up from the basement and start getting more "miles" in that way. (Ugh. Trainer miles… I dunno).

So that's the decision I've gotta make.

Audacity of Mope

2008-09-22T10:32:00.011-05:00

I am injured. I can't run. And I will not be racing in the marathon anymore.

And here's the long story:

Since mid-July, I've had issues with my left leg. I was in denial then and didn't make a big deal about it. I ran through the pain, finished a race, banked some long runs, but kept my weekly mileage steady. My runs were fine and I was feeling good overall, but the knee area hurt when I'm not running and that pain was sharp.

In late August, I got an appointment with my sports doctor, who figured out that I pulled hamstring. I then spent two weeks doing stretching exercises at home, avoiding any fast running and staying off the trails. That didn't help enough. Even though my legs did hurt less, my stride was still uneven from not really bending my left knee, and I couldn't kick back without some pain.

So, not wanting to risk permanent injury by pushing through, I decided to take a week off running. I thought I would heal up if I just stop running for a week, and I could then return with two months to get back on track for the marathon. Shutting down made my knees less stiff in the morning, but one leg was still weaker, and I could feel the difference even when biking. And I felt like a blob and was miserable.

Last Monday, I went back to the doctor, who advised that I start physical therapy to rehab the hamstring. However, PT appointments were full for 4 weeks at this place. I called around and got an appointment sooner at a different location near campus. Still have to wait two weeks. I decided to go back to running, but only a few miles here and there, all flat, all slow.

I have no idea when this will heal. The beautiful Fall season is passing by me, and I miss running around all morning in this weather. I also miss the feeling of being a good shape, the feeling of being ready for anything.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I won't get to run in the marathon in November. Even if I run, I definitely won't make my goal of average 7 minute miles. Let's hope I regroup in time for Boston.

Half Wit Race LBRR – Proud of Helen; Of Myself, Not So Much.

2008-08-23T13:28:00.001-05:00

I've been a bit slow getting a race report up to the blog. This for a few reasons. The end of the summer work-crunch, for one. And I did get a Wanderers report up to the club website. But I've also not felt so good about my race in general.

I'm super proud of Helen. She won this race going away. She did this despite having a few weaknesses in her trail game. She did this despite a mishap around four miles in when I led her off course (about which more later). And she did this despite showing up at the finishing line with scratches on both legs, both arms, her right hip, and even her tummy. Still won by seven minutes. Going into the race I was pretty sure that she would beat me. That didn't turn out to be the case, but another mile or so and she would have caught me, that I'm sure of. I was beaten at the end, she still had plenty of energy. Of course, when you win by seven minutes, you have that option!

I'm less proud of my own race, though. I had three goals going in: don't get hurt; keep my spirits up. and don't go off course. I went one for three.

Helen and I agreed that we would separate at some point, which I was guessing would be the first major technical downhill. That guess turned out to be accurate. My approach was much like the earlier races: go out fairly hard, get some open space for the hills, and then hang on. I just wanted to be more careful about seeing trail markers this time. The last two times I went off course it was from following other runners.

I don't blame myself for going off course. I was more careful this time, but someone stole the trail markers. At two crucial spots.

The first was the one around mile four. I was running on my own at that point. There was a fairly big group ahead of me, probably around 25 guys, but they were well out of sight. I didn't know too much about what was behind me, but Helen had been with me until fairly recently and I passed maybe 3 guys since we separated. At one point I realized that I hadn't seen a marker for a while. I didn't know for sure that I was off course until I managed to see a whole bunch of people coming towards me. I'd somehow reconnected with the route out!

At that point I knew we were off, so I turned around. Panicked, but trying to keep cool.

We figured out that we were basically directly above where we were supposed to be. I'd missed a turn-off down the hill and kept going. No one else had seen it, either.

Turns out, it had been stolen. Or at least, that's what I think happened.

Some people started bushwhacking down the hill and I followed suit. Eventually we met up with another trail and took it. This led to markers! We were back on the route!

I was feeling pretty good about the route at that point. I'd gone off track, yes, but I'd gotten back on and I'd kept my cool. At that point, my biggest fear was that I'd cut a huge part of the course off and that I was now leading the race. At mile 6 or so there was a water stop, where they reassured me. That was not the case. And no women had passed yet, so I figured that Helen was still winning. I was thinking at this point, no harm done, and I'd kept my cool. What I didn't know was that the bushwhacking portion had taken a lot more out of Helen than it had me. She really hadn't liked that bushwhacking section.

The rest of the race, up until mile 12, went well. I was paying the price for having gone out too fast, but I was ok with that. Or at least, I knew that it was a conscious choice. I'd been able to do what I wanted on the uphills (go pretty slow) and on the down (let loose) without worrying about other people.

The course itself is kind of strange –it's like a 10 mile loop, with a 3 mile lollipop added on at mile 9. My problem came after the lollipop. I came out onto the road, and a guy I recognized (one of the RDs at Charlie Horse) told me to turn left. If he'd said, "Turn left, then left into the woods in 200 yards" I'd have been fine. But he just said turn left. So I headed down the road. I got to one part which I couldn't make sense of – a bunch of chalk on the ground, a cone on the ground. That was it. The chalk looked like it might say to go straight. But it definitely was NOT an arrow.

I later found out that there, again, people had stolen signs. Taken down indicators. That was by vandals. Volunteers had taken away two of the three cones, and not kept a person there. So I just went down the road, until someone behind me yelled out to me. At that point I had to turn back.

And that's the moment I just couldn't recover from. It was disheartening, and still is, to see people I'd outrun just going past me, in a spot that I can't have been expected to be able to identify.

What did I lose? 2-3 minutes. Probably 6 places (or at least, that's the maximum). 2 guys passed me on my out-and-back, 3 more right as I went in, and then 1 more later on. It didn't cost me a prize. But I lost my cool, and I'd really been hoping on not having that happen. Turned out that I had the mental strength to go off course once early on, but not twice, and not late.

I didn't actually yell at anyone. And I was there to cheer Helen on. I'm glad about that. But I need to find a way to either stay on course or at least stay cheerful. Maybe if I go out a little easier that would help, if I'm not running tired at the end. Might try that next time.

So that's how my race went.

I also wrote a report up for the wanderer's site with some more details, including the impressive showing by Chris in the half-wit drinking contest.

Friday's Ride

2008-08-18T09:04:00.003-05:00

Helen and I were up in New England last week, on an abbreviated version of the Vermont/Great Barrington trip we've taken before. We got to revisit some things we've done before – running in the Beartown State Forest, riding up from mom's towards Tunbridge, running on the off-roads outside of mom's village. (Helen did much better on that climb than she did 2 years ago, just pedaled right up it). Some of my favorite biking routes are up there, both near Great Barrington – where we didn't have time to ride this time – and up in Vermont. My ride on Friday, though, was largely new areas. I'd wanted to do that, see stuff I hadn't seen before. This was my most successful ride yet on the other side of the White River towards Woodstock.

Distance: just over 50 miles

Time: probably around 4 hours, including stops to eat

Lowest elevation: 223

Highest elevation: 1614

Really Big Climbs: Hard to say, but 5 at most. The ride from mom's house to and from Sharon is one big up and down. Once I crossed the White River and went up Howe's Hill Road I was climbing for a while, from around mile 7.5 to 10.5, then again, after a significant downhill, from 11.5 to 13.5, although this one wasn't as hard. In general, the hills I was on across the White River weren't as hard as I expected. Miles 17 to 22 was pretty steady climbing, much of it on a packed dirt road that I was glad to be going up and not down. After that it was a fairly gradual (by VT standards, anyway) descent down into Bethel. Really, from mile 22 until mile 43 I was either going down or riding the relatively flat roads along the White River. That said, I'd probably say that the section from mile 26 to mile 38 was the least favorite part of the ride; the most traffic, the least scenery. It also goes through Bethel, which is surprisingly ugly for a Vermont town. The last section along the river, from South Royalton to Sharon, there's a little road on the other side of the river that's nice. But riding on routes 12, 107, and 14 – it's not as nice as the other roads in Vermont. The two hardest climbs, it turned out, were the ones on 132, which I'd done a bunch of times before.

Highest speed: 47 mph. A new record for the black bike. (Red bike hit 50 mph once, also in Vermont, on a downhill I'd hoped to get to this vacation but didn't). The 47 mph was going down 132, on the home stretch. I got up to 44 earlier in the ride, somewhere around mile 14, but there was a car coming in from a side road so I couldn't fully let loose.

Pictures taken: 0. Sorry! No camera this trip.

Overall, a nice ride. Some of the roads are ones I want to get back to. The loop itself needs some tweaking. I'd like to find a way to include the first miles and the last, but cut off some of that middle stuff – maybe find a way to cut back to Royalton instead of Bethel. It's tough to figure out these routes, though, since you never know when you look at the maps whether a road is paved or not. You don't always even know when you turn onto a road, since a lot of roads start out paved and then turn to dirt – this was the case with Stage Road, which I took in the middle of the ride. Again, a decent road to go up, but I wouldn't want to go down it. I passed a road that was called Royalton Turnpike. I can't help but think that the name was ironic.

LBRR – Patriot's 50-mile "half-lite" triathlon

2008-08-04T08:27:00.003-05:00

So I've followed up last week's first-century-of-the-season with my first triathlon of the season.

Again, pretty late in the season; at this time last year I'd already done the Devilman half and Anthracite. And then proceeded to not do any more triathlons until yesterday.

The race yesterday was somewhere between an Oly and a half-iron. Total of 50 miles; 1300 meter swim, 41 mile bike, 7.6 mile run. I wasn't to hyped for it – I've been running a lot and biking a fair amount. And swimming once a week or so, but really not much. But I'd been wanting to do at least one tri, and some fellow wanderers – Chris, Polly, Matt – were doing this one, which I figured (correctly) would make racing more interesting than doing one where either I went on my own and didn't know anyone or where Helen came with me and we didn't know anyone else. This was especially good yesterday as Helen ran 20 miles (!) on Saturday, limiting how much she could run during the race itself.

Anyway, some notes.

First, some notes on the race itself, borrowing Helen's G/B/U format:

The Good
This was a nice venue and a nice distance. I've noticed a lot that RDs try too hard to get their races to fit a specific distance – Oly, HIM, IM – when the local terrain really fits better with a different distance. (Anthracite is a case in point – the 24 mile bike consists of a 20 mile loop and a 2 mile out-and-back. It would be a better race, in my opinion, if it was just a 20 mile bike ride. But then it wouldn't be an Oly, so they put in the out and back). Overall a well-organized race. And the roads out there on the bike were nice and scenic; the run was less scenic but shaded, and that was a trade-off I'd take any day.

The Bad
The bike route consisted of three loops. Not my thing. Again, I know my vision of a point-to-point IM isn't going to happen, but I still would have liked to see more than I did. Yes, there are advantages – going around the same turn 3 times you get to know what line to take and how much to slow down – but it would be nicer to get to see more.

I'm also not a fan of combining longer and sprint tris on the same route at the same time, as this race does. I like how the Philly Tri does it – sprint on Saturday, Oly on Sunday. Devilman was the worst, knowing that you've got 13 miles to run and seeing the sprint racers driving away. This wasn't as bad, but it still adds to the confusion.

The Ugly
There were just over 100 people who did the 50-miler. I don't understand why the swim start didn't include waves. It was all of us heading out at the same time. Most cramped swim I've ever done. Yes, I know that IMs are like that, but that's supposed to be part of the experience. And those are usually in huge lakes. This was a pretty small pond. Most I've ever been hit during the swim. Early on I even turned and yelled at someone who, from what I can tell, was trying to drag my legs down. I think that the general rule of thumb, if you're going to swim over someone, is that you need to actually be swimming faster than them!

It also seemed like they didn't have that many kayaks out there, which surprised me considering how many people have died in tri swims recently.

Make this a wave start swim, and it's instantly a much better race.

*******

Ok, now some notes on my race.

It'd be easy to reuse the G/B/U format here, which would be reversed to U/B/G. Out of 105 finishers I had the 46^th fastest swim, 37^th fastest bike, and – wait for it – 5^th fastest run.

But that doesn't really fit with how I feel about my race. First off, while I thought that the swim itself was ugly, I was pleased with my performance. I barely swam all winter and spring, and still managed to mendoza the swim (actually went 1:51/100 yards, although I suspect that the swim was short). And given my goals of the swim – don't drown, don't get kicked in the face – the time was just icing on the cake. For the bike, though – I should be doing better. I guess that's what I get for just bike riding and not training.

I’m surprised that my run was the 5^th highest split, which seems to me to say something about the field. But I'm still really pleased with it. It's the fastest I've gone on a tri run, faster than last year's (shorter) anthracite run. I was hoping to go sub-7, and did! (Yes, 6:59 counts!) And I kept my streak of not getting passed on the run.

Overall, the race reflects the training I've done. They say that the way to get faster at triathlons is to swim with swimmers, bike with cyclists, and run with runners. I run with runners; I bike on my own; and I hardly swim.

And I was right about a race being more fun when there are other friends there. Nice hanging out before and after with Chris, Polly and Matt. I think it made things a lot more interesting for Helen, too.

Season's First Century

2008-07-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday I rode my first "century" ride of the season.

Pretty late, this year. I did do an 80-miler a month or so ago; and I've done my 65 mile bread-and-butter route a bunch. And all of those exceed the "metric century" distance, which is just over 60 miles. (I've actually been thinking of these non-metric centuries as "imperial 161s," although I don't think that's accurate).

I did the same loop I've done on most of my recent imperial 161s, er, century rides; the 'dawhead special,' which means that I take the Schuylkill River Trail out to Valley Forge, then stay on roads in a big loop that goes out to French Creek St. Park and back. It's beautiful riding, most of it relatively car free, some of it completely car free.

It's not flat. It's not Vermont, but it's not flat.

I do think I did better this time than the last time, even though the last time I only did 70-80 miles of it, having driven out to Valley Forge and parked there. I tried to take it easy on the first 50 and then go hard coming back. And in general I was feeling good coming back, and even was kicking some butt on the return leg of the SRT. But then somewhere it kinda started to unravel a bit. Not completely, but a bit. I had the strength to go up Barren Hill ok, but that last stretch up Germantown, my left knee was hurting every time I pushed down.

It feels better now, though. And I did make it home ok.

Normally, the biggest difference for me between long rides and really long rides isn't the conditioning, or the leg strength. It's the 'little things' – a shoe that basically fits is fine for a 50-mile ride, but not for an imperial 161. Seams on gloves start to really chafe. And yeah, there's the whole butt/taint thing. So I was surprised this time that it really was my legs that were hurting at the end.

I'd like to get out there more often, but it really is a big chunk of time. I'm getting to know the route pretty well. At some point I'll start experimenting more out there, trying to find new roads and what not, but for now I'd just be happy being able to do this same route once or twice a month.

Got spare ribs?

2008-07-16T16:04:00.009-05:00

I fell off my bike on Germantown Avenue 10 days ago and got a whole bunch of bruises and cuts. Most have healed, including my neck, hips, and teeth. But the wounds on my knee are still working on closing up, and I have a bruised rib or two. The pain is far from constant, but it is sharp when it strikes. I went to the gym today, and pumping iron hurts my ribs. Fortunately, these injuries haven't affected my running, other than having salty sweat involuntarily drip down to sting open wounds. Overall, I am lucky, and I just hope everything heals quickly.

On a whole different topic:

Maybe two of the five dedicated readers of this blog caught that I've updated the "Next Big Race" page element a little while ago. Yep, I am signed up to run in the Philadelphia Marathon in November. My college running buddy Elaine, who is also signed up, gave me the final nudge to do it. So, I'm in!

Independence Day

2008-07-04T09:14:00.004-05:00

People think I hit the jackpot, dating a runner. In reality, I do most of my runs by myself anyway. Today is Independence Day, a day off from work, and I wasn't able to sleep in. I didn't want to be a charity case at the WBs' run, which Noah joined because he had heard about it since Wednesday. So I strike out on my own for a run. I was ready to run away, to be free, but I felt tired from several hard days this week..

I wound up on Forbidden Drive where you see all these families, couples, and friends hanging out. It was a quite a sight. I thought, these are people who know how to spend a day off. My run celebrated independence, and I felt whole and good and all, but there is a way to be free but not alone. Or maybe you just can't have it all.

I'm off to get the family fix this afternoon and to celebrate our freedom to choose to eat meat until we drop.

Blast from the past

2008-07-03T11:39:00.006-05:00

Brightroom Photography sent me an email with these pictures from a half-marathon in 2005, asking if I want to order them at a discount. Who knew they've hung on to the pictures for that long and I had never seen them before. These pictures brought back memories of the meltdown in Central Park, easily the second worst race of my adult life.

They reminded me that as recently as three years ago, I wear only cotton shirts and mostly tennis shorts; I ramp up to 11 miles in practice and decide to run a half marathon; I drink Sangria and wine the night before a race; I pin my race number to my shirt and dare my left arm to get stuck in it; I thought Central Park was hilly; I was 28 years old and young. Sigh....

Running in Paris - the good, bad, and ugly

2008-06-24T15:05:00.013-05:00

After four blissful days in Provence, Noah and I took the train to Paris for the second part of our trip. For the rest of the trip, I pretty much did a half-marathon everyday, running and walking throughout the city. Yes, my legs were really dead, but "le footing," as the French call running, was an excellent way to explore Paris, especially its less touristy areas.

Good

Whereas the streets of Paris are busy and loud, its parks are magnificent and calm, yet definitely urban. Below are the parks we ran in and the distinct impressions they left on me:

Jardin de Luxembourg – The most centrally located of the parks and one of the largest, meticulously manicured gardens, lots and lots of statues. We ran on the outer loop on a soft dirt surface. Noah found a secret men’s room while I circled the public tennis courts, watching some really good tennis. Not quite Roland Garros, but much better tennis than you’ll see in C-Hill.

Jardin des Plantes – The most enchanted of the gardens, featuring a gazillion types of plants and an exhibit on evolution, a calm place to sit and read, which I did.

Along the Seine River – Not a park, beautiful views of important buildings on both sides of the river, many bridges to look at, a good place to practice running on cobblestones

Parc Montsouris – Finally we see some real runners! Very neighborhoody, slightly hilly. On a Saturday, there’s a food market a block outside the park where you can fuel up before or after the run. On the southern border of Paris.

Cite International Universitaire – Not a park but a college dorm campus, a fun place to wander and people-watch, across the street from Parc Montsouris. I would've liked living here if I studied abroad.

Promenade Plante – Green and beautiful, if not also concrete and artificial, long skinny park, above ground (like a pedestrian overpass) with buildings on both sides, often just single track. A great place to take a walk.

Bois de Vicennes – Right outside of Paris on the east side, this huge park (compared to aforementioned destinations) features trails, roads, ponds, fields and fields, and a castle!

Canal Saint Martin and Parc de la Villette (I think that’s what it’s called) - Sketchier neighborhoods en route, felt a sense of discovery to run here because there were hardly any people in this area.

Parc des Buttes Chaumont – Whoa fast runners! It seemed like everyone was doing a tempo run on the same loop in the same direction. This park has a little of everything – hills, stairs, dirt surface, hanging bridge, caves, and awesome views of Paris from up top.

Bad

Running in Paris is generally hectic and resemble orienteering. People are out at all hours, and the streets are arranged randomly and there is a traffic light at every little intersection. These lights change from green to red without flashing first. At least we can jaywalk. In addition to cars, runners contend with motorcycles, scooters, bikes, pedestrians, and dogs, all possible on the sidewalk. And dogs in Paris are special – they are allowed leave poop all over the street. So, we watched out for these land mines.

So, we avoided the poop, hit a few green lights, and the whole block opens up ahead. Just as we find our rhythm, the street turns to cobblestones and then dirt and then slate and then concrete and then pavement. Instead of checking out the scenery, I was checking feet and hoping that I don’t fall. (I didn’t.)

Ugly

The air quality in Paris is terrible. Too many vehicles, road side gas stations, and smokers.

Best Trail Run Ever! - Conclusion

2008-06-21T02:41:00.015-05:00

Continued from the previous posts

Boy am I glad we decided to go into the Fort de Buoux. One of the neatest sights I've seen. A really old fort, with parts from the 16^th and 17^th centuries, but also the remains of a church from 13^th and even one section that they said was "Gallo-Roman," so presumably sometime around 100 A.D. or so. Pretty awesome.

It's a really low-key space, and it should really stay that way. Totally dangerous – lots of cliffs with no railings, huge drop-offs, etc. It was really a great way of using natural surroundings to keep intruders out.

This was around the time that Helen's camera started flashing "low battery." So there are fewer pictures of the rest of the run. But basically, we were back down at Seguin. The route called for us to head out the same way we had in the first route, but we decided to take the more shaded, less picturesque route back up to Sivergues. Since we were running out of batteries anyway, not taking pictures of mountain goats that may or may not be there seemed less important. From Sivergues we headed to Le Castelas and on past it.

This is the 'village' of Le Castelas, not counting the parking area across the road:

The following pictures are from the far point of the first day's run (around the 3/4 point of the second run), and show some of the beauty of both the little road/path we were on and the valley below it.

The next part of the run was nice; but it came with a lot of hype (from the two hikers we saw the day before). Basically, it goes up to a different spot on the same ridge as before, and we wound up thinking that this climb to the ridge wasn't as nice as the one coming up out of Vaugines; and in some ways, the views weren't as good back into the valley as they were in the pictures above. But of course, there's always something satisfying about reaching the top and knowing that, literally, it's all downhill from there.

That said, the rest of the run - down from the ridge and into Vaugines - was tough. One road, straight ahead, and not that technical, but just brutal on the knees and quads. I did manage to stay on my feet (unlike some other people I could mention!) but it was rough.

Getting back into Vaugines was nice a great reward after such a long run. It's a cute little village. Here's Helen running down one of the streets:

And here's the two of us at the village's one cafe, after enjoying our Orangina and generally starting to recover from the run.

There's actually a pizza place right next door (if you make the picture large enough, you can see where is says 'origan' – oregano – on the wall behind us). But it was midday and the place was closed, we were pretty sweaty, and it's not like the place serves slices to go. So we headed off, back to visit the village of Lourmarin some, then back to the hotel outside of Apt. A nice hotel, by the way. The nice part of that part of Provence isn't the towns. It's the countryside, the trail system, and the people. We really had nice people the whole way, as long as we stayed out of the more touristy areas. The couple who ran the Fort de Buoux filled up our water bottle for us (twice!), the folks at the hotel gave us lots of advice on where to go, people on the trails were nice and always said bonjour, the waiter at the café in Vaugines took our picture for us. Overall, a fun place. I don't know what it's like later in the summer, when things start to fill up. But this time of year, it's a real treat, and a great opportunity to run the best trail run ever.

Best Trail Run Ever! - Part II

2008-06-18T12:09:00.017-05:00

Continued from the last post...

For the next day's run, we wanted something longer. We were also curious about the rest of the route past Le Castelas. But we didn't just want to do the same thing again. So we figured out that one of the other routes in the book not only was around the length we were looking for, but included that stretch from Sivergues to Le Castelas and up over the ridge.

Oh, some notes on the Luberon Mountains – it's really kind of one very long mountain, stretching from east to west, with a low point in the middle separating the "petit Luberon" from the "grand Luberon." Our first run was entirely on the north face of the mountains, starting in the valley, going up most of the way to the top, then back down, making a loop with a spur.

Our second run was listed as a 5 hour walk and, more importantly, as a 2-day walk. We were a bit worried about the length of our second trail run in the Luberon Mountains, but decided to do it anyway; and rightly so. It started on the other side of the mountains (the Southern face), going up and over, then back down to the valley on the other side, then making a loop that went back up to the ridge then back down to where we'd parked. So not just more miles, but more climbing too. Oh, and unlike the first run, we brought the camera this time.

We started out, climbing up out of Vaugines. Soon we were up way out of the valley, with some great views.

The trail climbs out of Vaugines, goes along the line of the mountains, and then turns right up the face. That's the real climbing (most of which we ran, but some of it we walked; it made sense to be conservative, not knowing how long the run would be).

The closer we got the better the views got; towards the very top, it really opened up, ending with a grassy hill that was like something out of The Sound of Music! From there, we could see in all directions. The next three pictures are all from that point.

I don't remember which photo faced which direction, but we had the full 360 by that point.

From there, we started heading down the other side, towards where we had started our first run. Some of this running was a bit technical, but it was pretty fun. Hard to keep your speed down, actually. At the bottom we got to the entrance to the Fort de Buoux; we couldn't decide whether or not to go in or not. It looked neat, but we also had a rhythm going and were worried about the weather changing. Finally, though, it just didn't make sense to not go in.

These last two picks are of the area right outside the fort, looking down into the valley.

Best Trail Run Ever!

2008-06-17T16:31:00.009-05:00

Hyperbole?

Nope. Last Tuesday's run rocked. Monday's run was pretty good too.

Part I

Helen and I spent those days in the Luberon mountains in the Provence region of Southern France. I'd been to Provence before, but not to this part; Helen had been to France, but not to Provence. Our general plan had been to just go there and wander around, but I came across this book – and we finally broke down and bought it. Really glad we did. We were only in the region for a few days, but it gave us some great routes for trail runs. Granted, it's aimed at walkers, but we figured, why walk when you can run? That said, there were definitely parts that were too technical for us. And there were parts of Wednesday's run where we were just too tired.

It was surprisingly hard to find good maps on-line of the region, but basically, our starting point was at the 'A.'

Specifically, the village of Vaugines. That was the start of our second run, anyway. The first we started in Seguin (which can be seen on the third map). Both of our runs also went through Sivergues and Le Castelas. The local maps tended to have some of the places we went to, but not all.

I should note here that Vaugines is the only one of these places that really counts as a village. It's got a nice little central square with a fountain, a café, a restaurant, and a fair number of houses. Sivergues is the next largest, and that was really more of a hamlet, there's an inn there and a little city hall and a few other houses, but that was around it; Le Castelas is just a few buildings, and Seguin is just an inn.

The two runs overlapped; both included the stretch from Seguin to Sivergues and Le Castelas, a stretch that winds up from the valley and into the mountains. The first was listed as a 2 hour walk, which we wound up doing in an hour and a half. We weren't in much of a hurry; as a note for anyone planning on using the book, when they say something like "take this path for 20 minutes," that's a pretty slow 20 minutes, which should take significantly less than 10, running; on the other hand, you do wind up spending a lot of time checking directions. We also added on a bunch to that route. The way they designed it, it's basically a loop with a spur added on, but when we took the spur – to Le Caselas – it seemed pretty clear that it would be even nicer if we kept going further. That's not to say that the first part wasn't nice, it was pretty awesome. We went into the woods right behind the Auberge de Seguin, followed a series of trails climbed out of a valley – called, I should note, the "ravin d'enfer," or ravine from hell – looking across the valley at cliffs on the other side with caves and mountain goats. But up by the village of Sivergues, it starts to open up, and you can really see a lot. This was even truer up by Le Castelas, so we kept going and reached a point around a wall where the views were amazing, and we realized that we should have brought the camera. After we turned back, we saw a couple of guys heading up; they told us that, even further, the view opened up more; when you get to the top on a really clear day, they said, you could see all the way to the Alps.

The route back was nicer than the route out, albeit a bit less picturesque. (No mountain goats, for instance). It was a more direct route, following a stream; the beautiful vistas replaced by a nice, shaded path. More like Valley Green, actually.

So that first run just whetted our appetite for more trail running in the Luberon. The rest of that story is coming soon.

Wissahickon Trail Classic – The Long Belated Race Report

2008-06-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

Kinda odd to be writing this now, as it seems like ages ago and we're around 4000 or so miles away from Valley Green, but Helen and I both raced the Wissahickon Trail Classic on Saturday.

Overall, a good race for both of us. I finished something like 28^th overall, out of around 400 finishers. Now that I write that out, it's pretty impressive. I've come a long way. That said, if there's any race I should do well in, it's this one – my home course, we've been running the specific trails for the last several Saturdays and Thursdays, I knew more detail about the course than I ever have. And it's a trail race, which I think I do much better in than road races.

Helen is still more focused on the road races, or at least more comfortable on them, but if there's any trail race she should do well in it's this one – again, home course advantage. And she kicked some butt, too – finishing as the 2^nd woman, 31^st overall finisher, winning a Sunday brunch at Manayunk Brew Pub, and generally being impressive. It's true that she didn't win, as she did at Charliehorse. The one woman who beat her was from the Philly Runners Track Club, and was quite impressive. I was leapfrogging positions with her at around mile 5 before she pulled away, but even then it seemed like she had another gear if necessary. Helen finished around a minute and a half faster than last year, despite a harder course.

And it was a hard course. I can't say harder, as I didn't do the race last year, but it was tough, that's for sure. Up Pain Hill (I'm assuming it's spelled that way), down to forbidden, up the Lavender trail, up through the Meadows. Probably around 7 miles, very little of it flat. I tried out my positive splitting theory. And it seems accurate. I was pretty spent pretty early on, but I didn't lose many places; by the time I got down to forbidden at around mile 3 I was spent, but I didn't have to worry about any bottlenecks. It's just a bit less fun for me, racing that way; I much preferred the feeling at Caesar Rodney, when I could start off easy and then just really pick people off in the 2^nd half. But in trail running, I'm not sure that's an option.

It was good, too, to be doing a race where I knew so many people there. Even some people I know that I don't know through running showed up there.

So, overall a fun race. I guess this isn't really a race report, per se – but the details would be kind of repetitive – I went up, it was hard, I went down, it was exciting, then up again… oh and it was way too hot. But anway… congrats to Helen, congrats to all the other finishers. More updates coming soon, from the Best Trail Run ever, which turns out to have just happened today!

EAT AND RUN

CRAMPS (Philadelphia Marathon 2011 Race Report)

Not doing much today

How Zonker Became Zachary

Definitely our child

Ugly Mudder LBRR

Running these days (she says) - the good, bad & ugly of pregnant running

Running these days

Last Night's Dinner

Almond Biscotti

Best Runs of the Year – 2010

Turning the Page

Giving thanks

1:24:30

Reflections on the Blues Cruise 50k

Ready or not...

New New Trail Running Shoes, version 3.0

A Quasi-Marathon, and some thoughts on strategy

Water Ice, Water Ice, Oh How I Love Thee

What a Half-Wit looks like

So THAT'S What It Looks Like

Feast

Isn't this what *everyone* does on vacation?

Which is the bread, which is the butter?

Noah 1, Double Trouble 1; but Helen wins 2-0!

Sampling of the Tagines we had in Morocco!

now THAT'S a topsy-turvy cake!

Broad Street Run 2010

The Streak is – kind of – over.

Back in the Saddle

Things I Learned about Lamb Stew

Abe Michaels, 1919-2008

The Flip-Side of Snow Running is...

Jealous of the snow Philly got?

Birthday Run, Birthday Cake. Birthday Snow?

Vote now for "run happy, race lazy"

Saw Avatar

to fry or not to fry

Last night's dinner

There's no running like snow running

Favorite runs of 2009

Bikes, Cars, and Traffic

Reading Chris McDougall's Born to Run

The Day After

2:57:44

One More Day!

let the taper madness begin!!!

Instead of a dog, we got an oven

Dinged Up

Two Down, One To Go (and one abandoned)

Helen for the Polka-Dot Jersey!

Half-Wit Half - The Long Belated Race Report

Wanderers Represent!

Cassis (aka Blackcurrant) Sorbet (now with pics!)

Peach Rhubarb Cobbler (with recipe)

If By Win, You Mean Dominate

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Wissahickon Trail Classic – One Year to the Next

Our game faces, apparently

Helen Wins! Helen Wins!

The Most Pizza-Looking Pizza Yet

Noah solo in Hong Kong part II: Eating

Running in Hong Kong Part II: Noah Goes Solo

A decade of Broad Street Run (illustrated)

I look tall in the Broad Street pictures

Broad Street Run 2009

Layoff, Schmayoff

Finding our bearings

Birthday Baking

Good use of preserved lemons

I made popovers...

If I blogged it

Caesar Rodney LBRR – The Streak Remains Intact

Caesar Rodney - Putting My Streak on the Line

I'm right-legged

Snow Running in the Wissahickon (in March!)

Ugly Mudder LBRR

New Shoe Season

Noah's Goals for 2009

Last Night's Dinner

Isn't this what everyone does on vacation?