Just Checking In.

I haven't got much to say right now, except that I am getting excited to head up to the North Woods and run the Moose Mountain Marathon next weekend. I've had a pretty easy week with just a few very light workouts and short runs.

I have decided, based on how the runs went that my body is all-over tired and just needs to recuperate for about a week. I should feel 100 per-cent by the beginning of next week, and instead of my usual "train through it" I am actually going to use the week before this race to really solidly rest. I know I've pushed it hard and I do feel ready (as ready as I can be, being a mid-packer and all). The last few weeks were a doozy, though. I also know that going up there and enjoying this is job number one and in order to do that I'd like to be able to wheel up there and be relaxed and rested. Not on the ragged edge of worrying about whether the last set of crunches is going to get me through mile 25 any faster than if I did not.

I was going to post anonymously to my online running group and ask if it was okay to just not run or do the hard workouts for a week, but I decided that was just dumb. Obviously, based on the way everything feels right now I just need to take it easy and stretch, eat well and get enough sleep to rebuild my stores and put some pep back in my legs.

My basic race plan is to go out solid but in control and knowing that I am capable, actually really push the latter half of the race. My new mantra is not "my bucket's got a hole in it" (at least i hope the song doesn't come into my head this time) rather it is "i am mentally and physically tough." I don't know what to expect in terms of terrain or elevation, but judging from some of the average finishing times for "just a marathon," the course is a doozy. Looks like I picked a fine, challenging race to "race."

-- this doesn't mean that not doing any of the workouts or running hasn't already started to make me a little weird. i get - not cranky, but just kind of anxious when I take my running away, even if it is for my own good.

*BUT* I'm going to also use this time to put the finishing touches on some preparations and go enjoy some things the state of MN offers besides trails in these the dwindling days of summer. I probably won't be indulging in the pronto pup madness, because I hear there are actually some healthy options out at the fair this year. Maybe I can walk out of the gates of the State Fair this year with my head held high because I didn't act like a glutton...

Speaking of eating well, I indulged my ever-present weakness for fajitas last night by learning how to make them myself from scratch. It's all about the sauce, baby. And plenty of fresh bell peppers of different colors. And freshly warmed corn tortillas. And black beans with hot sauce and salsa mixed in them. Now that's a recovery meal to put in the bank.

Analog Training Log - 8/20 - 8/26

Who needs Excel when you have Moleskine?

It's a good week to begin a taper. I feel at the limits of my physical capacity and it's beginning to show in some of my recent performances and certainly in the way my body feels. I've just got some nagging aches and pains that always come after I ramp up the mileage. I'm looking forward to a lot of consistent running and a slower build-up to whatever I decide to race this fall. After I rest up, I'm going to feel really good, I know it, but right now I know it's been about nine weeks of really solid training and learning - not to mention the eight months before that of just getting ready for this season.

I plan on trying out a little yoga this week, as well as some cross training and short runs and eating well. I can't believe it will be time for the Moose Mountain Marathon next week already. ARE YA READY?!

Yes, I do believe I am as ready as I can be. I'm starting to get my ducks in a row and beginning the process of overpreparation for a race which tends to be my ritual. Soon the kitchen table will have gear and food and everything else strewn on it and the cat will know it's time for daddy to go away for another weekend.

It's going to be difficult not to overindulge at the Minnesota State Fair this weekend, but ever since I started eating well, ironically the things that I'm sensitive to (MSG, sugars, fats) are all highly irritating or overstimulating to me now. Even the couple of 'dogs I had at the Twins game last week wreaked havoc on me. Or maybe it was the Nachos and Cracker Jack...argh. I'll have to balance the risk/reward factor into it, but I can hardly refuse mini donuts or pronto pups.

Analog Training Log: 8/13 - 8/19

I had a very nice, wet weekend out at Afton. Back to back three hour runs Saturday and Sunday. I met one of the listers from the Dead Runner's Society group and wound up besting my 25K time for the Afton course by a handy nine minutes. Sometimes time just flies by when you've got someone to talk to. That and we really hammered through the singletrack on the snowshoe loop. My average HR for the loop was 181. Fun stuff!

The weather was a big helper, nice and cool Saturday, didn't really get soaking wet until the last hour or so of the run. Sunday it drizzled the whole time I was out there. It made for some tricky and sloppy footing in the singletrack, which is always a good time.

Have mostly figured out what kind of nutrition it's going to take to get me to the finish in fine shape at Moose Mountain...about twice the gels I carry for my long runs at Afton and more solid foods.

Sunday I saw a big doe, a yearling and a fawn all walking together in the woods and we had a nice talk. The mama bleated at me when I went off-trail and I bleated back at her. God, I hope nobody saw that.

It's just about time to start to taper though...I'm going to try and keep myself occupied with some low-impact workouts and might even bust out the swim trunks this week.

Shame On Me. Dirty, Dirty.

I'm walking out of the Lifetime to go run on the Parkway last night. Adjusting water bottle straps, turning heart rate monitor on, etc., when these two guys were coming in from a run. One of them pipes up:

"You gonna come back for your shoes?"

me: "Maybe tomorrow."

his buddy: "You seriously run barefoot?"

I was still walking up the stairs, they were walking down, we were doing this whole over the shoulder conversation thing.

me: "Yes. Thursdays are my easy run days, and I really enjoy doing it barefoot."

him: "Really? Well, Thrusdays are my shower days, and I really like taking showers."

What? Did that make sense? Did I hear him right? I had to ask him what he said twice before I laughed it off.

Was he calling me a dirty hippie for not wearing shoes when I run? People. People who run, especially, lend me your ears. I've stewed about it and I'm not laughing anymore.

Some of us take weird detours in finding out what works for us. Our friends and loved ones think we are strange enough for doing this obsessive activity that we wake up super early for or stay up super late for that supposedly "destroys our knees and makes us prone to dropping dead from heart failiure, or 'falling off of a mountain*'" but we understand it. We should really respect each other a little more than that, don't ya think?

I don't call you an exorbitantly excessive, overcleansed yuppie scum for wearing your Nike Shox, do I? No. I do not pass judgement on your shoes. I wear them sometimes myself as well. And I shower. Regularly. Sometimes twice a day. And I am not a hippie, nor do I go barefoot because I like attention.

I go barefoot because it feels amazing, I believe makes me a better runner and it makes me happy. If there is one aspect of my life I'd like to fully indulge myself in and have be "all about me" anymore, at least it's that.

- Naturally, I thought of all of this to say well after the fact...but at least I can spew it here.

That said, run carefully and have a blast out there, folks!

* = My mom called last night to tell me not to run Moose Mountain because I might "fall off the mountain." Oh, sweet Mother. Maybe, but anything worth doing always carries with it a little risk.

More Q & A on the Vibram FiveFingers DIY Gaiter

Craig says:

What a neat sounding (and unappealing looking) hack! Awesome idea.

Getting grit inside my fivefingers is minor pain for me, but I'm mainly walking and tramping in them. I haven't found too many problems with grit - unspecified liquids in some countries are problematic though! (My review's here)

Are you using these modified fivefingers for running?

Keith Says:

Thanks for the compliment! To answer your question:

Yes, Craig. I am using the modified FiveFingers for running. In fact, I used them for several races, including a really tough 25K, which taught me the lesson of respecting your limitations.

I think they are a great tool for strengthening "shoe dead" feet and an all around neat idea. For running, shorter races and some trail running, the Vibram FiveFingers have been great. Oddly enough, I would strongly advise against using them in sandy river crossings. They don't purge grit once it's in there. If they ever manage to make the upper cover more of the foot (up to the ankle), and figure out seam issues in the toes the Vibram FiveFingers will be an awesome all around shoe.

I also wouldn't want to step in unspecified liquids...shod or not.

Lately however, the beautiful Minnesota weather has found me running completely barefoot at least once a week. Nothing compares.

Analog Training Log: 8/6 to 8/12

Big Week.

I managed to string together 34 miles over last Friday (6), Saturday (12) and Sunday (16). I've had a couple of really good runs this week as well. 6.5 miles barefoot on Tuesday evening on the Parkway and then a record breaking 6.5 miles shod last night on the same loop of the Parkway (training PR, anyhoo). I turned 30 years old on Monday. I got a new Moleskine Journal because the one I started in January is one page away from being done. Last night I ate the second hottest curry I've ever eaten. Am seriously considering (and missing) painting again. It's been a big week.

I was pleased with my training run last night. It seems all I need to do to run fast is give myself a migraine somehow (is there anything they don't sneak MSG in anymore?), put my compression shorts on backwards, put my right contact lens in backwards and run in shoes I despise because the Vasques were fresh out of the wash yesterday morning.

This weekend I am looking forward to a Saturday of hill repeats and a Sunday of 3.75 hours of running out at Afton. I think the heart rate training just might be paying off. I've already noticed that I am way more consistent when I run with it on. It doesn't mean I'm fast. Just consistent.

I think it's great when I run 6.5 miles in under 50 minutes, and PR runs 9 miles in the same timeframe. I know I'm not fast...but I think I'd like to be faster.

But damn, man. How do you do it? I've been at this whole consistent running thing for a couple years now...you'd think I'd be seeing gains. Not to say I don't love it - because I absolutely do love running, especially trail running (and figuring out nutrition, training plans, the woods, animals, other runners I've met over the last six months [the dead runner's society], etc.). But I guess the underlying frustration is that I still don't feel like I really compete in long distance races. I have what I feel is a good race and then find out afterward that really, the time isn't spectacular. I start thinking "hey, maybe I was only born with a V-6 instead of a V-12."

I have to admit, what hooked me to this was my first race ever. That first Get In Gear 5K, where I came in 31st place out of 384 people. To me, 31st was a feat. Something to be proud of. Now I'm trying to do this endurance thing and finding the results of my shorter races don't parlay into longer ones. It's a different game entirely. Not to say I don't immensely enjoy training for the endurance races, it's just a little discouraging to still be so slow!

I know that it's never been my goal to compete against others, per se. That the goal has been to keep myself in shape, and to basically race myself. I am grateful I get to do it at all, of course. I just wonder...will I ever rank higher than the low seventieth percentile in the Minnesota Trail Running Series?

If anyone has tips or stories about how they got fast(er) please send them along.

And the Rain Came Down...Or Not.

Got up at 4:20 this morning to go out to Afton before this supposed doozy of a storm system makes its way into the state. Got out there by 6:00, on the trail by 6:10 and I finished my run at 8:20 or so. It looked dark for a while, but really, it was nice and cool, breezy in spots and the dawn's early light had me privy to all manner of God's creatures out and about everywhere around the trails. I saw more deer than I've seen there in a while, turkeys, lots and lots of rabbits, a pheasant or two...I had a nice chat with a fawn that I got pretty close to before it realized that I wasn't someone it should be associating with.

Enough Doctor Doolittle...

I ran the first hour in the 60-70% of max range and then the last hour in the 70-80% range. It felt really good to go fast. It didn't rain. I think I might have liked it if it had, though. I was pretty stiffened up in the half hour it took to drive to the gym to stretch and roll my entire body on foam rollers. Must be the lack of sleep but I feel body tired and sore this now. My legs? Great. My body? Like I've been skewered with a log. Must have slept weird.

I am looking forward to getting out again tomorrow morning for my long run. I only have a few long runs left before the dreaded tapering begins.

OOooOOOhhhH!!! I got my Dirty Girl trail gaiters! In pink camouflage (she didn't have regular camo - and I simply don't care what people think...pink is my favorite color)...Coming flamboyantly to a trail near you! I'm going to install them monday after I wash my shoes tomorrow night (after my long run) and give that glue a good chance to dry. Thanks, Xy!

When All Else Fails...Go Running

Hi. I'm Ranty McRant-Rant.

I was a very upset citizen of this my state of MN yesterday. I have calmed down quite a bit and will only vote, speak out in proper forums and city hall meetings and never raise my voice on this blog about politics again. This was never meant to be a soap box and I will keep it pure and unsullied of the murky, turbid waters of opinion and unchecked anger.

So...

I go for a cleansing run down by the Mississippi yesterday. Down the steep banks, through the woods, over the piles of rock and all kinds of accumulated debris. Over weathered driftwood and on foul smelling mud flats and surprisingly clean stretches of white sand. I need no reminder that only a few miles upstream they were recovering people - people's loved ones from submerged vehicles and tangled steel and slabs of concrete. I can't help thinking of the t-shirts a lot of the alt-cyclists around here wear that say "cars-r-coffins." Pensive. Meditative. Glad I wore my trail running shoes.

I have to shake the mental image that was etched into my mind while driving past the site yesterday on an errand downtown. Caught in a forest of satellite dish trees and white vans. Seeing part of the collapsed decking on the ground with one car on top of it, shining blindingly bright in the pre-noon sun. Of driving out of downtown on Washington Avenue, past spectators looming, news trucks, police crime lab vans, the BBC blaming the Bush administration and the spot where the bridge once rose from 35W to span the river - cut off. Erased.

It looks so much bigger in real life than it does on television.

I run on the beach of the river for a long time. The Missisippi is really low right now. Whether that has to do with the fact the Army Corps of Engineers lowered the river two feet to aid recovery or the drought we're in I can't say.

Past stoners drawing graffiti in the wet sand and playing hackey-sack. Up old wooden steps, up a cliff I actually have to scramble up on hands and knees and emerge feeling conflicted - feeling like I still have it on me - a couple hundred yards from the Lake Street bridge. I run over the bridge, nodding at a few people I recognized from races or the gym. I pass a young woman sitting on a bench staring out into the shimmering water below. I stop when I have two miles left to go and change my heart rate zone to 80% of max and sprint the rest of the way back to Lifetime. I am dragging by the time I reach the top of the long hill at Cretin and Ford. Sweating as I stretch out on the stretching device. Say hello to the girls working behind the counter. Nod and say "excuse me" to someone I nearly bump into coming out of the locker room. Suck down the rest of my water from my Nathan bottle.

I take a hot shower and dress. Remove my contacts. Planning the rest of my evening in my head as I take a last look in the mirror. Walking around the grocery store and finding laundry detergent buy one get one free. Listening to the latest news on the radio on the way home. Drinking my protien smoothie. Come home to make a frozen organic pizza. Do the dishes. Watch the "news," and then get the international view of things with the BBC news. Writing. Falling asleep. Having dreams. Waking up. Hitting snooze. Pouring the first cup of coffee. Writing again. Worrying about money. About finding true love. About my family. About work.

Shaving. Showering. Driving to work eating an egg sandwich. Just another life. Just another day, right?

Oh. This Turned Into a Rant.

Tuesday I got out for a nice six mile barefoot run on my newly discovered singletrack by the Mississippi River. Wednesday (last night) I had a scheduled massage to work on some tight hamstrings and calves, and work out the lingering knot in my arch from Afton. Man. Did that feel good. I was all loosey goosey and driving back to work when my sister called me and asked if I was all right.

I replied that I was, and she told me that a large section of the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River had collapsed, taking with it a number of cars. She was the first of several people who called in quick succession.

I had trouble getting ahold of anyone on my cell phone, so when I got to work I land-lined as many people as I knew lived in that area. A couple of my friends had just been on the bridge that day (over and back -- twice!).

I couldn't reach my friend Bonnie for anything, though and I got that sour, panicked feeling in my stomach. Her phone was just going right to voicemail, or saying the network was busy. I knew she was going to be in the area to pick up her friend to go watch a movie. I prayed for her and rationalized that the networks were busy because everyone was calling everyone else. She was at a movie. Her phone was probably turned off.

I waited anxiously after leaving her one last message and just said call me when you can. I know you're out, but just call and say hi. She must have gotten out of the movie around 10:15 or so...because I finally got the "I'm okay you're okay" text message from her and then I hit the sack. It's no fun wondering if you're beloved people are okay.

I reeeeeaaallllly did not want to be one of those "current event" bloggers -- putting in my 2 cents on something that didn't directly affect me, and of course my prayers and thoughts go out to the families of people who may have lost loved ones in a most random and senseless fashion. Insert "life is too short" cliche here. Insert "hug a loved one" cliche here.

But -- this morning, I was listening to my cellphone's radio while I was doing my morning writing in my Moleskine. I have to flip stations one by one, and in the process of going from the local heavy metal station (guilty as charged of liking hair metal) to mpr I landed on the local "Average (angry) Working Man" radio morning show (the 'KQ Morning Show'). Host Tom Bernard was railing about how the welfare class caused this because it was taking money away from public works projects.

Er-hum. Mr. Bernard, You are an Asshole.

He said that people who drive that bridge every day to work have "every right to expect" perfectly safe roadways.* That bums who stand at the bridge exits there looking for handouts were responsible because they were leeching off of society and taking money away from maintaining the bridge. Blaming people who might be mentally ill, or maybe veterans of this wildly successful war we're mired in (that the government refuses to adequately treat), or folks who might be down on their luck -- for a disaster like this is beyond the pale.

I'm sure there are people who are just plain unwilling to work. Fine. They're probably a small majority. Because I'm sure that the folks out there begging really enjoy the humbling experience of standing out on a corner asking for change and being told to "get a job," and get blamed for the general degredation of society. Now they can blame themselves for bridge collapses.

Pretty soon, we'll find a way to blame them for climate change. Because it certainly couldn't be the fat and pasty suburbanite driving his Hummer, Expedition or Escalade into the city every day from Blaine or Rogers could it? No, it must be all that CO2 the homeless people expell begging for change that's doing it. We must take action. Put better Emissions Standards on the '08 lazy welfare class homeless street beggar. That sounds American, doesn't it?

It's a perfectly assholean, "I'm so wonderful and smart," leap of logic. Not everyone can be a millionaire-voice over man and morning show dee-jay. Maybe if wealthy individuals like Mr. Bernard actually had to pay the taxes they should be paying this wouldn't have happened either.

* = Yes. We do have a right to expect safe roads and bridges. No, it is not the fault of homeless folks on welfare that it doesn't get done. That would be shoddy government.

The bridge was inspected in 2006 and got 4 out of 10. That's 40%. That's held back a grade. That's failing. The folks at the DOT were probably more worried about rerouting traffic than they were about paying for it, since they WERE ALREADY WORKING ON IT when it collapsed. If a bridge is failing in the trusses, do you resurface it? No. You fix the trusses or build in more redundancy for when those trusses actually fail. Obviously there was money to fix the deck (when they should have been fixing the supports). So those welfare people must not have gotten it all, eh?