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This blog is all about running. Sort of.
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Posted 11-23-10 at 04:22 PM by Henry
Updated 11-23-10 at 04:30 PM by Henry
Miles Eight to Ten went through Georgetown. This is when the party really gets started. People lining both sides of the course three deep, screaming and cheering. Makeshift water stops everywhere. Little kids holding out their hands as you pass. I figured as SuperHenry I had to set an example and liberally dole out high-fives to the adoring throngs. People would call out “Go SuperHenry!” and I’d flex. It was also at this point that the crowd on the course started to thin out. There was no more dodging and weaving through the traffic jam of runners. There were often stretches where I had the whole road to myself, or only had to contend with one or two other runners in my immediate vicinity. By Mile Nine we were all really settled into our pace.
At Mile Ten the party was pretty much over. I was starting to feel a little nauseated. Nothing unexpected. This is something I deal with on all my long runs. I knew it would get worse before it got better, but I was prepared to run...
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Posted 11-08-10 at 01:15 PM by Henry
Updated 11-08-10 at 04:03 PM by Henry
The alarm on my phone went off at 5:30, but I had been awake for two hours. I wasn’t exactly nervous so much as excited. I had waited ten years for this. Ten years to replace that 5:39:39 next to my name with a more respectable time. A runner’s time. I was excited, because my training had gone off near perfectly. No major injuries to report. I not only survived all my long training runs, but had also managed to improve my cruising speed. If all went well today, and I saw no reason why it wouldn’t, I would be finishing this marathon in 4:45:00 or so. I was convinced I could sustain 11 minute miles into eternity, and I had actually trained myself to speed up over the final few miles of a long run, routinely finishing runs faster than I started them. After ten years of biding my time, I was ready to knock The Beast right between the eyes.
I got up and quietly got my gear on. My wife got up with me and put on the coffee. My sister was picking my up at 6am to take me to Crystal...
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Posted 09-07-10 at 04:04 PM by Henry
Updated 09-07-10 at 06:26 PM by Henry
Today was one of those days I’ve had circled on the training calendar. No, it’s not Marathon Day or anything. That’s still two months away. But this was a day in the training that I’ve been anticipating for a long time.
The funny thing is, it‘s only a four mile run. These days I can run that in my sleep. Three weeks ago I slogged through fifteen miles in the blazing Delaware sun, fighting a losing battle with dehydration, muscle cramps and blisters as I inched my way up and down Highway 1. Only my sister, running alongside me with a quart of Gatorade under each arm saved me that day. Two weeks ago I pushed the distance up to seventeen miles. That day was cooler and I was better prepared, and I finished that up about a minute per mile faster even though the distance was longer.
So four miles shouldn’t be a big deal.
So what makes this four mile run different from all other four mile runs? This one I’ve gotta do fast.
Now those...
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Posted 07-19-10 at 04:22 PM by Henry
Updated 07-20-10 at 12:43 AM by Henry
Last week my official training began. Oh, I’ve been running for a while now, but that was just building up the base so my legs wouldn’t fall off when I really started training. Last Monday I started running intervals to increase my turnover, which should, in theory, help me run faster. On Thursday my long run went up to seven miles. This week it goes up to nine.
And I have to say so far it’s all going swimmingly. If only the temperature would go down a little. It’s been 95 degrees or so for the past three weeks and I haven’t been able to run outside at all. My last attempt was about a month ago. I had planned a nice seven mile jaunt around Lake Braddock, a picturesque little lake 2 miles from my house with a nice flat, and oftentimes shady 1.5 mile trail surrounding it. I figured I run out there, do a few laps and run back. Trouble was that when I got to the non-shady parts of the trail I almost collapsed from heat exhaustion. I only made it 6.5 miles before I had to hang...
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Posted 06-09-10 at 03:47 PM by Henry
Updated 06-09-10 at 03:56 PM by Henry
So yesterday I was just finishing up a maintenance run. 30 minutes at an easy pace, which these days is about 12 minute miles. I usually run these on the treadmill because it’s easy on the legs, I can control the temperature and I’ve got this really cool setup with a 22” TV/DVD player to keep me company, but yesterday the weather was so nice I just couldn’t pass up running in it.
Anyway, about 25 minutes into my run, maybe two miles in, I run past this guy. He’s probably about ten years older than me, walking from his car to his house. He looks at me running in his direction, smiles and asks “how far you going?”
“How far am I going?” … Its that guy!
I am certain he didn’t recognize me but I immediately knew who he was. I wanted to say “Guy, it’s you! How you doing? I’m good! I’ve gotten a lot better at this running thing since the last time we talked. I worked myself up to three miles a run, and I’ve got this cool GPS thing and an iPod and new... |
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Posted 05-12-10 at 03:23 PM by Henry
Updated 05-12-10 at 04:41 PM by Henry
About a month ago I was in the middle of a walk/run. Nothing spectacular. Just alternating walking and running every five minutes for a half an hour on the treadmill. About halfway in, while running, I felt a twinge in my left knee, which as most of you (hopefully) know is my bad knee. Considering how light my workout was I didn’t think much about it and kept on going.
But the next day walking up the stairs, I noticed it hurt.
And the next day it hurt too. Needless to say I was a little frustrated. I hadn’t even started really running yet. If walk/runs on the treadmill were going to take a toll on my knees how was I ever going to run a 15-20 mile long run? Or the marathon itself? I couldn’t really scale my workout back much more than I already had. But before I let depression fully set in, I consulted my sister.
She gently suggested it might be Fred.
Every time my wife has gotten pregnant, I gained about 20 pounds. It happened...
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Posted 03-09-10 at 08:45 PM by Henry
Three weeks into training, I'm finally getting some distance out of my runs. Not a lot, but something that isn't embarrassing to admit. The first two weeks all I did was walk. Week One was 20 minute walks. Week Two was thirty minute walks. Week Three, walk-running. And my last run I did thirty-five minutes of five minutes walking/five minutes running. Went over two and half miles.
For those of you who have been following this blog since the beginning you may be wondering why the heck I'm starting out so slow. Marathon training is different than 5k training. Keeping the legs strong and healthy is far more difficult, and so my runs will be much slower, and over much softer ground. Increases at this stage will be pretty gradual. Ok, back to the point of this entry ...
So yeah, I'm finally working up to a decent speed and a decent time ... and then I get a cold. It's funny, but throughout the winter ... through the H1N1 scare of October and November, to the Incomparable...
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Posted 02-25-10 at 03:24 PM by Henry
Updated 02-25-10 at 08:32 PM by Henry
I dialed the number. I could hear the phone ringing. This was it. If he picked up the phone there was no turning back.
“Hello.”
Here we go. Full steam ahead.
“Hey Mike, it’s Hen.”
“Hey man, what’s up?”
Last chance. Make something up or you’re doing it.
“Mike. It’s been ten years. It’s time.”
Pause.
“No way in hell, my friend. But good luck to you.”
“Understood.”
And it was done.
I did understand, of course. Mike and I don’t live as close to each other as we did back then. And he’s married with three kids now. But he deserved the first call. He jumped into the breach with me ten years ago when I announced to the world I was planning on embarking on an insane, crazy journey of training for and running a marathon with no previous experience. He ran the long runs with me and kept me going when my knee gave out. He was at the starting...
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Posted 02-18-10 at 04:45 PM by Henry
Updated 02-18-10 at 07:16 PM by Henry
It is time.
I have to apologize, loyal readers, for leaving you all in the dark these past months. Lately, 40 has been rearing its ugly head in my direction. I hit The Big Four Oh in two months, and since my last entry middle age has assaulted me with more bad ankles, kidney stones, a broken wrist, and several yards of impassable snow. So I have reacted to this onslaught the best way I know how: Sit on the couch, eat lots of snack food and nap a lot. Sadly, none of these activities make for very good blogging material. Hence, my absence.
In addition to my lack of blogging, I have to admit mild depression has set in. I didn’t think 40 would bother me when the time came, but I guess it has a little. I blame my various recent ailments (and the snow) but whatever the reason, I have come to realize I am now beset with a full-blown case of Mid-Life Crisis. This has led me to consider how exactly to deal with said Crisis.
My first option, research...
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Posted 07-23-09 at 03:51 PM by Henry
Updated 07-23-09 at 04:31 PM by Henry
Well, here I am outside my house, staring at the straightaway.
It looks a lot longer than I remember. It’s hot outside. High 80s at least. And humid as hell. I should go back inside. I’ve got a perfectly legitimate reason to stay off the road today.
Bah. Just take a step. Go forward. See what happens. I’m not breaking any records today. I’m not planning any heroics. I’m just going to go for a slow walk around the block to see if the foot feels any better …
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It’s been a full ten days since I last ran. I’ve only run three times this entire month. Some time in late June I noticed a soreness around the back of my left heel. I tried to ignore it and run through it a few times but it just got worse, even when I slowed down to just two 11:30 miles. After a quick search on the internet I found what I was looking for: Achilles Tendonitis. The first thing I had to do was stop running entirely to avoid making it worse, or even rupturing...
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