Three Games, One Week, Lots of Awesomeness

Today is practically a Friday for me because tomorrow Annie and I are leaving to go to Cincinnati for a few days to attend to some wedding stuff. So I'm going to try not to fixate on the clock today and try to get some things done before I head out the door at 6 PM on the dot and not a minute more!

Last night my firm purchased 50 field seats at the Orioles-Red Sox game for us. One of the company founders is turning 90 (and still comes to the office each week, which is crazy!) and got to throw out the first pitch at the game so it all ties together. I went to the game and stayed for about half of it since it was progressing slowly and I really have no vested interest in either team. When the Red Sox or Yankees are in town, Camden Yards tends to be much fuller than during other series. Red Sox fans call Camden Yards "Fenway South" because so many fans fly down here for the games. Last night was no exception and I'd say about half the people there, if not more, were Sox fans.

Anyway, after the second inning I went to get some food because I was starving. The lines were really long thanks to the Sox fans so it took me an inning and a half to get through it. That's one thing I like about having a terrible home team here in Baltimore...you can go to a game on the spur of the moment because tickets are always available, and the park is empty enough that there aren't long lines at the concession stands. Anyway, I didn't want to have to get back up, so I bought a bunch of food. I got a big Diet Coke (wasn't feeling the $5.50 crappy beer that was less than 8 ounces), chicken tenders, fries and a big hot dog. It was actually cheaper than I thought, coming in at around $18 total. I proceeded to house that dinner spread in about 15 minutes, to the amazement of others around me. Whatever. I was hungry and really hadn't made up for my 1500 calorie deficit from Sunday, I think, as I'd been constantly hungry since Sunday.

So, the game was fun and I got home about 9:30, which was perfect. Another good thing about Camden Yards is that it's a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

Tomorrow night we're going to the Marlins-Reds game in Cincinnati using Annie's mom's corporate tickets, which are behind home plate and get us a complimentary (sounds much friendlier than free) coke and hot dog. Should be a good time, as the Marlins have suddenly become a good team and have swept the Nationals twice already this season. I'm looking forward to seeing them play. I'm also hoping Ken Griffey, Jr. plays so I can see him again before they trade him to Seattle.

On Sunday, following the race in Wilmington, I'm going to the Nationals-Orioles game in the afternoon! I'm really sad I won't be able to see the entire series this season, but getting to see the Sunday afternoon game will be great.

So, three baseball games in six days isn't too bad, really. Once the Orioles start playing at home more often, I'll go to more games since it's so close and I get a discount through the company.

On the running front, I got my 5 miles in today without any real issues. I actually was on time this morning getting out of bed and out the door, which was a nice change. I'll run tomorrow and Friday morning but take Saturday off to rest before the 10 Miler on Sunday. Should be a good time!

Fortuitous Laziness

Nothing will cause your 10-miler to come back to haunt you like a restless night's sleep followed by a full day sitting at one's desk and not moving around. This is what happened to me on Monday. I felt great all day Sunday after the run, with only some minor soreness right afterwards, but that went away fairly quickly as I moved around.

However, the weather turned horrible on Sunday afternoon and stayed that way pretty much until last night. It was 24 hours of high winds and driving rain. The wind made my windows rattle loudly all night long, keeping me awake and unable to sleep through the night. So I woke up stiff and tired on Monday morning...Nice. Couple that with my usual Monday of sitting at my desk and working straight through until 6:30 and I was still stiff when I went home last night.

This morning, after a full night's sleep (thanks to the weather clearing up and wind dying down), I awoke to feel the stiffness still in my legs. Rather than tempt fate and an injury five days before the 10-Miler, I opted to continue sleeping and will head out tomorrow morning. Only after I woke up to get ready for work did I realize how fortunate I was to have skipped the run. Turns out our building didn't have any hot water this morning! So, while I was able to heat up some water on the stove to "shower" with and dunked my head in the icy water to wash my hair, had I gone running, I would have been forced to take an ice cold shower, something I really don't want to do!

So, this was the gods' way of telling me that it's OK to take today off and come back strong tomorrow. And to properly stretch and move around the day after a long run.

Another Long Weekend

Earlier in the week, I had imagine that this weekend, finally, would actually be somewhat relaxing and give me more than a few hours to catch up from the workweek. But no, it's almost 5 PM on Sunday and I haven't been able to do most of the things I needed to do with my days off. About the only thing I did carve out time for was running, thankfully.

I had hoped to get Annie's desk and bed moved out of her apartment quickly on Friday night, but it took us 2.5 hours because we spent 30 minutes trying to get the elevator and the loading dock, which was supposed to be free at that time (Annie had signed up for it earlier, as we were instructed to do). However, the girl who had signed up for it before us, didn't even arrive until 6:30, so that screwed everyone's plans up. We were both not very pleased. So there went our Friday night. Nice.

However, I had intended to spend yesterday afternoon at the office trying to catch up but had to go to a party with Annie that took 50 minutes to get to and we ended up spending less than an hour there. So, we spent 2 hours driving and 50 minutes at the party. I'm glad that she's done with school because these sorts of illogical events permeate music schools and drive us both crazy. We both had other things we could have been doing yesterday so I don't want it to sound like I'm blaming her. She had to make an appearance as a graduate assistant, but it was just a silly idea to begin with. We had to leave right in the middle of the afternoon so there went my afternoon at the office. Nice.

I did get 5 miles in yesterday morning though, which was good. I made good time and didn't feel any soreness or other ill effects afterwards, another good sign. We made a little more progress on getting her stuff moved out of her apartment as well. I'll be really happy when that's over because I really don't like all the hassle that moving involves. You have to pack your stuff up, sell off what you don't' want, move it all to your new place and then unpack it again. It all takes WAY too long and I wish we could afford to hire people to move our stuff for us. But alas, we're not millionaires yet!

Today I woke up and got a few things done in the morning but was running behind when I got out the door for my long run. I got a really nice 10 miler in today, which I HAD to do if I was going to have any confidence in my ability to finish the 10 miler next Sunday. I didn't get back and showered and fed until after 2, at which point going to the office was pointless since I had cleaning to get done here so we could continue to move her stuff this week. Nice.

This week will be busy as well since we're leaving on Thursday for Cincinnati so we can meet with the priest again and jump through more hoops for the Catholic Church. Really looking forward to that. With only three days at work this week, I've got a ton to do, in addition to the moving hassles we have to tackle this week. Tomorrow night we have to deliver more of her stuff to people who've purchased things, but that's not happening until later because I'll be working late.

Needless to say, we'll both be happy to be rid of the moving hassles, although they'll come back later in the summer when we move into a new apartment. To have a weekend where running is the most activity I have to do will be a treat!

Weather Delay

The weather here today was terrible. It started raining hard overnight and didn't stop until around 3 PM this afternoon. As a result, I didn't get my 5 miles in like I had hoped. My general rule is that if it starts raining when I'm out running, then I keep going, but if it's raining even before I start, I cancel. No sense in setting out to get soaked, really. This does not apply to snow, as I'll run in snow no matter what, so long as it's not too slippery due to ice, etc.

So, following my rule, I slept in till 7 today and will make it up tomorrow. I'll do 5 miles tomorrow morning, and then follow that up with my swimming and stretching I had originally planned.

Hopefully I won't totally exhaust myself tomorrow but I've been meaning to get back in the pool for about 6 weeks now so I have to make it happen. I'll post more tomorrow after I get back.

Getting Ready for Delaware

Not much to report on the running front. I got about 4.6 miles in yesterday morning and it felt good. I took it nice and slow, which meant that I ran out of time before I could get to 5 miles, but that's OK. Tomorrow I'll head out for a 5 mile tempo run and will pick up the pace. I skipped the workout this morning in favor of running Friday morning instead. I'm also going to get a brief 3 miles in on Saturday morning before going to the gym to get some swimming done. All in all, I should hopefully hit something around 30 miles this week (including a 10 mile long run on Sunday morning), which would be a great start (or restart?) to training for the summer.

Several of the bloggers I read regularly ran their first marathons this weekend at the Frederick Running Festival so I wanted to congratulate all of them as well. I know from their posts just how much time and effort marathon training requires, especially with jobs, kids, and everything else requiring attention too. Now that their marathons are over, they're faced with the age old question of "What's next?" It's an interesting question that we all have to answer once we reach any goal that has required lots of work and dedication. Once the goal has been reached, it's almost as if there's a void where our preparation for the event once resided. I know that's how I felt after the National Half Marathon, which probably led to my lack of training in April.

For my own running, having races lined up is key. I need to have some goal to work towards in the future or else there's no incentive to do the training now. I learned that the hard way at the Apple Blossom 10K this past weekend, as I had failed to maintain my fitness following the half marathon. And really, even with the 10K lined up, I still found it far too easy to not get up in the morning and run. Maybe it was because I thought a 10K was a race that, like a 5K doesn't require as much preparation. Maybe I was just lazy. Regardless, I got my butt kicked by that course so if I don't want a repeat of that in Wilmington, I've got to get back on schedule.

That being said, choosing races and determining where I want my running to go for the Summer also demands that I take the rest of my life into consideration. There has to be a balance between running and work, for example. Being 26, this is pretty much all I do anyways! I get up and run, go to work for 10-12 hours, come home and read some CFA study material, watch some TV and go to bed. What little free time I have I want to spend with Annie (until she leaves for the Summer) or friends, etc. Basically, the only time I have available to run is in the morning, which limits how far I can run (seeing as how I'm not the speediest of runners). That means that for the time being, the half marathon is my maximum distance. I just don't have the schedule or time to do runs longer than 5 miles during the week and don't want to get up at 4 AM to make the time, quite frankly.

All of which is OK with me. I like the half marathon distance as it doesn't require 18 weeks of training but is still a sizeable distance to run. So, the half marathon will be the cornerstone race of my season and I think I will plan on running three of them before December (the Georgetown to Idaho Springs in August, Baltimore in October, Richmond in November). Adding in some other distances will keep it interesting and keep me focused between the big races.

Apple Blossom 10K Race Report

Well this weekend was a valuable lesson learned, that being that running just twice a week for two week sin a row and not getting a solid long run in during that time does not make for a very successful 10K attempt. I finished in 1:01:00, which is much slower than I was hoping. However, while I certainly wasn't prepared for the weather (mid 60's and humid) and course conditions (rolling hills throughout with few straightaways), the majority of the blame is mine.

For some stupid reason, my preparation for this race was sorely lacking. Maybe it was the busy month of April or my own laziness (probably a combination of the two). Nonetheless, I was woefully undertrained for this race and it showed. Not only that, but in the day leading up to the race I failed to prepare properly. For example, I had heavy greasy Chinese food the night before for dinner and didn't get to sleep until too late. The morning of the race, I failed to eat anything beforehand for fuel, much less the Clif Bar I usually eat. I was too focused on the race itself and not on properly preparing for it, I guess.

At any rate, it was a struggle from the about mile 2, which didn't bode well for the remaining 4.2 miles. The race course was challenging, as I said, and had I been trained, I think it would have been a great course to run. Even struggling, I had a good time and enjoyed getting the Spring racing season off to a start in the mountains of Virginia. The Apple Blossom Festival is a huge deal for Winchester, VA, where the race was held, and the entire town stops to celebrate it during the weekend.

However, the main thing I'll take away from this race is to be be better prepared and to not overestimate my athletic ability again, even on a 10K. I have the Delaware Marathon 10-Miler coming up in two weeks and I think I'll be ready for it, as my fitness is not gone, just misplaced. With this kick in the pants, I think I'll be able to get two solid weeks of training in and get my endurance back up to par. Proper pre-race preparation will also help immensely, I think.

The rest of the weekend was relaxing and the weather was nice and Spring-like, so we had a nice time visiting my parents and getting away from Baltimore for a day. Tomorrow it's back to the grind again and back to the gym for some biking and swimming. Here's my plan for the week and I plan on sticking to it and not wussing out!

Monday: Cross Train (bike and swim)
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 5 mile tempo
Thursday: Intervals
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: Cross Train (spinning or swimming)
Sunday: 9-10 mile long run

It's ambitious, but I need to kick-start my body again from its slumber. I'm going to keep the paces down so as not to risk injury and will implement plenty of stretching to help on that front as well. I don't want to huff and puff across the finish line again on the 18th!

Run me Tender

I'm trying to kill some time at work because it's Friday and my boss is working from home today (woohoo!). I've also gotten caught up on all the tasks that are due this week, and have hit that Friday afternoon lull where you're really just interested in going home and enjoying a few days away from the office.

To pass some of the time, I thought I would post an entry. I ran yesterday morning and did another five miles. I felt good during the run and didn't encounter any real problems until later in the afternoon when my right shin started to ache; a sure sign of shin splints. I could feel that my foot strike was a bit off yesterday morning, as the ball of my right foot was hurting for the first 2 miles or so. It eventually went away as I concentrated on getting a more square (squarer? that doesn't sound right) heel strike, which would correct the weird foot movement. However, I think that problem put a lot of unusual stress on my shin, causing the tenderness.

It was tender the rest of the day and in the middle of the workday I wished I had an ice pack at work I could use to help the inflammation. I did ice it twice last night and took some painkillers, which helped a lot. This morning the pain is gone, which is good news and leads me to believe that this was a minor case that I should monitor in the future. To be safe, I didn't run this morning and took the whole day off to rest up for tomorrow's race. That, some more icing tonight after we get to my parents' house, and a conscious effort to correct this occasional pronation problem should help treat the shin splints. Oh, and I also need to stretch much more effectively, as I think this contributed to the problem. Tomorrow I'll dedicate 10 minutes before the race to stretching and warming up. This is perhaps the weakest part of my running routine, as at 6 AM I'm not at all interested in taking time to stretch and need to get going to stay on schedule for work. But to prevent a more serious injury I'll have to start stretching more actively.

Since I forgot to take our digital camera with me to the National Half Marathon (although Annie did get one or two pics of me after the race, which I will put up once I get around to it), I'm going to make a concerted effort to take the camera with me tomorrow morning to take pictures before and after the race. My hope is to have some pics from each of my races this season.

And with that, I'm off to kill the rest of my day before leaving relatively early at 5:30 so we can head out for WV by 6:30.