Haiku and a High

salmon sunset light
dissolves to indigo depths -
reflections vanish

Decent week of running last week, but the weekend was interesting. On Saturday, after plenty of rest, I did a short run in the afternoon. Only three miles. I felt like crap. Then on Sunday, after not getting much sleep Saturday night, and some pretty marginal nutrition during the day, I decide to go for a five mile run. I felt pretty good as I started, and by the time I got to mile four, I was feeling really good.

Then the runner's high kicked in.

Wow. It's been a long time since I've felt that good. For the next two miles, I picked up the pace and was just cruising. It felt so good to run so hard for a change. Everything was clicking and the endorphins were just flowing through my body. I felt like I could have kept it up for another mile or so easily. In fact I though about taking another loop around the pond to make a seven mile run but it was getting dark so I just headed home.

It was a very good run.

C-Ya

Getting Back In The Groove...

Well, I seem to be back into the running groove. Now I just need to get back into the blogging groove...

I've been getting in my four or five runs every week. Things are still feeling good. Starting to build slowly.

Last weekend it was almost 90 degrees on Saturday (in Boston!). I took the day off. Then on Sunday it dropped to the mid 60's. Nice. Went for an easy 6 mile run with a couple friends. Took it easy, but did just fine. Weekend (long-ish) runs now have a minimum distance of 6 miles. My midweek runs will be transitioning from 3 mile runs to 4 mile runs over the next few weeks. Building that aerobic base. Races will come next Spring.

I may not be blogging too much again yet, but I am keep track of quite a few of you other runners out there. You're all doing just great! I'm looking forward to seeing some marathon results in the next few weeks... (including a significant PR and a BQ!)

C-Ya

I Am Back...

Finally!

I waited until I was sure the old injuries weren't going to flare up again. But I think I can safely say now that I am back! Back on the roads. Back on the trails.

Running again!!!

I've been running 3 to 5 times a week for two months now. I'm just starting to get back some aerobic capacity. My pace is improving. I'm dropping a few pounds. I feel great.

I want to give myself plenty of time to rebuild (and I need to drop a few more pounds that I gained over the last three years while I was injured). So I'll add mileage very slowly through the Fall, then add some extra cross training/core strengthening over the Winter. In the Spring then I hope to focus on some speed, run some shorter races. Then if all goes well, go for marathon number six in the Fall of 2011.

To recap the past three and a half years (three injuries and one divorce later) ...

After marathon number 5 (Hyannis), as I was recovering and then rebuilding, I tore the meniscus in my left knee (injury number one). Confirmed by MRI, but the orthopaedic surgeon did not want to do the surgery. He wanted to give it a little more time. A few months later it was feeling much better -- it healed on its own after about a year.

Then as I started running again, I tore the meniscus in my right knee (injury number two). [They were likely both injured by my previous training, but the left one went first.] The right knee took over two years to heal. It was never quite as bad as the left one, but it lasted longer. Perhaps I wasn't as religious about the physical therapy and strengthening with the right knee.

Over the last six months or so there were a number of starts and stops. Also I had issues with plantar fasciitis in both feet (injury number three).

But time heals. And the divorce, as painful as it was, is now fading into the past. And I've been running regularly now for almost two months. Today's run around Fresh Pond was at a decent pace (decent for me anyway). Tomorrow will be a 5 mile run.

Not back to fast yet. And not back to far yet. But things are definitely looking up all around.

C-Ya

When You Cramp in the Last Mile of the Boston Marathon...

When you cramp in the last mile of the Boston Marathon, it's good to know you can rely on the soft touch of a Boston Police officer to get you through the pain...



Well done runners!

First Race In Over Three Years...

Yep, it's true. I did run the An Ras Mor 5K in Cambridge this morning. So here's the race report:

The weather sucked.

That's it. Oh, and I at least ran it in less than a half hour. [And not much under 30 minutes.]

Temperature was in the low 40's and it was raining and blowing -- average 25mph winds. I don't think the gusts of wind were quite reaching what they did last night (40mph gusts). The rain pounding against my bedroom window kept waking me up. And once in a while a big gust of wind would hit the house and I could literally feel the house move (bedroom is on the third floor). So a restless night before the race.

My friends all made it to the start line, survived the weather and the race, and everybody made their goals. It actually was a fun time for all. And there was Smuttynose IPA at the finish.

I'm not complaining too much (except for the weather part). I've only been training for about 6 weeks I think -- after two and a half years off due to the injuries. It feels good to race again -- despite the slow pace (I ran my last marathon at a faster pace than I did this 5K).

The knees are holding up fine -- pretty much pain-free running (walking is a different story). Still some residual plantar fasciitis pain (it is improving) after the race -- no problems during the race.

All my friends who did their first race today are asking when we're going to do another one. Looks like I'll have to put something on my calendar -- keep us all training for the next few months.

At least the weather can only improve.

C-Ya

Seven Glorious Miles

It was about 56 degrees in Boston today. Yesterday too.

Seven miles -- along the Charles River. Absolutely beautiful run. I am so wonderfully tired. And don't oranges just taste amazingly good after a solid run?

I didn't post last week, but the running has been good. I've been getting either four or five runs in every week. On Friday, I did the closest thing to a tempo run in a long time. It was a five mile run, with 2.5 miles at an up tempo. Feeling good. And today's 7 mile run, in this gorgeous weather, running with friends, was just extremely gratifying.

Next Sunday, the 5K. I'll be slow. But I'll have fun. The rest of the week will be a bit lighter. I'll probably run Tue, Wed and Thu, with just a warm-up type run on Saturday so I feel sharp on Sunday.

C-Ya

OK, maybe not THAT macho...

If you've seen the new movie "Shutter Island", you're familiar with the storm that hits an island off of Boston harbor. It's a tremendous storm. Hurricane-like winds.

Yeah. That's pretty much the weather right now.

Tonight's run is rescheduled for tomorrow. If Chuck Norris wants to go for a run in this, he's welcome to the "most macho" title.

C-Ya

¿Quién es más macho?

A. Chuck Norris



OR

B. Kurt from Boston...



who just ran 5 miles including 8 X 400 intervals...

on an outdoor track...

in Boston...

in February...

in 38 degrees...

in the rain.

¿Quién es más macho?

An Incomplete Week

Yes, it's true, my training was incomplete this week. I missed one day.

Now, I could blame it on the mid-week snow we had. And in fact, that did shorten one of my runs (the next day I was hoping the warm sun had melted all the snow on the neighborhood track and I could run some intervals -- but no, still covered in slush).

No, I probably have to lay some of the blame on the two bourbons I had Tuesday night (Fat Tuesday!) with my brother who was in Boston on business. That just really took Wednesday out of the picture (and I wasn't going to miss ashes Wednesday evening either). That left me with four runs to do in four days.

Didn't happen.

I did get my six miles in on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day to run along the banks of the Charles River. And six miles is still a tough run for me. I'm sure it will be several months before I'm enjoying the long runs again.

Hopefully this week I can get that interval session in. I do have a 5K on the calendar -- less than three weeks away now.

C-Ya

It Was a Very Good Week

Five runs this week -- for a total of 22 miles.

This has been my biggest week since the first of the two injuries. It was capped off (just now) by a 6 mile run down to the Charles River, across a couple bridges (Anderson bridge at Harvard and back to the Arsenal bridge near Watertown), and back home. I was a bit tired the last mile as I haven't done 6 miles in about 2 1/2 years.

It's four weeks to my 5K race. This is going to be one slow 5K. But it will be a fun 5K as I'm running it with several friends.

I'm also pretty happy with a new song I wrote, so it's been a very good week.

C-Ya