I guess you can say that i've been fortunate the last couple weekends to have avoided any serious cold weather on my long runs, until today. It still fascinates me how weather people get away with predicting incorrect forecasts, and they always keep their jobs? How is that fair? Anyway, it was predicted to be around 35 degrees this morning, but turned out to be 24 degrees instead, thats a pretty big difference. But being mildly insane like I am, that didn't stop me from heading out at 6:15am this morning anyway. I can't lie, it was cold, but I knew that by looking at the morning forecast, it was going to warm up by the time I was out for about 2 or 3 hours, so I knew to dress in layers...

So I put on a base layer, a mid layer, a top layer and my running jacket over top along with gloves and my knit hat. I still wore shorts though, with a layer underneath...the sad part is that I got the running pants out this morning, but stopped myself from putting them on. I've said it before, and i'll say it again .... I REFUSE to wear the running pants before I really have to. Thankfully it worked out okay though, I really didn't need them in the end. I ended up stripping off the running jacket, the gloves and changed my knit hat to my normal running hat by the time I returned from my run. The funniest part is that just 3 months ago in the summer, I was fearing the sun coming up and beating on me because it would heat me up .. today I couldn't wait for it to beat on me to help warm me up from the cold ...

Running in the cold is a totally different experience though, and i'm kind of glad in a way that I had the experience I had today. You never can tell what the weather will be two weeks out when I run the Philly marathon... I noticed a couple things though today, first, is that I really need to stay hydrated regardless of the temperature. I finished two large bottles of water, just like during the summer. Second, I found that I ran a faster pace because of the cold. I kept trying to slow it down, but it was hard to maintain a slower pace, and i'm not sure if its my body's reaction to the cold or what. I thankfully didn't die at the end of the run, so I didn't totally overdo it (or i'm just in better shape than I thought). Third, I found that by using the free samples of Eucerin on my face that I've collected, my face didn't chap up and get cold. It also helped that I had a good stubble going on my face from not shaving for 2 days (i'll have to remember this one for race week)... The main page for the race says that the average morning temperature in Philly at that time is around 45 degrees, so i'm thinking it won't be as bad as it was today, at least I can hope for it.

Anyway, I'm satisfied with where I am right now with my training though, and I'm hoping I get another good week in before I formally start tapering next weekend. I knocked out just about 22 miles today in 3:13, which is less than a 9 minute mile pace. It was the last 20+ mile training run of the season though, and it was weird, but I felt sad about it ... yeah, thats the mild insanity kicking in again. My back and hips seem to be cooperating though for now, no major pain in a couple days even though i've kicked up the mileage and the tempo, so I hope its healing up and it doesn't come back until i'm past these races.

We'll see how tomorrow goes for another 12 miler, its supposed to be 35 degrees in the morning again, yeah, ok. I'll believe it when I see it .. So good luck r to everyone racing this weekend, depending on where you're at, I hope the weather holds up!

It feels good to take a day off from running, although as you can tell by the time of this post, I still get up in the morning just as early, but at least there isn't the need to be up and moving and out the door. Especially this morning it feels good, its ultra-cold outside (low 30's) ... these types of temperatures never make you want to head out, but somehow I tend to keep going out anyway because its really not that bad after awhile. If I recall back to November last year, this was about the time that I started to fall off the running wagon, and getting my runs in was brutally difficult, so its good to be in a more stable place this year doing what I love to do.

I managed to get in a 6 mile speed workout in on Thursday, doing the Yasso 800's as their called ... I would do an 800, then a cool down, then another and so on. My 800 time was probably a little faster than it should have been, but not as fast as it was in the summer. I'm still recovering from the pain in my hip flexors and don't want to irritate it more than I need to. Its been pretty calm over the last couple of days, so i'm hopeful that the worst is over. My intention as I wrote this past weekend is to try to increase my pace somewhat because its really fallen off since the Baltimore marathon. I've had one decent week already, and expect another one next week.

This weekend is the Harrisburg marathon, looks like the weather is going to be decent for early November, so good luck to anybody running it, you'll love the course. I did run it 2 years ago, and my thoughts on it overall were that it was a pretty mild course and I actually PR'd that day, so it was a memorable marathon for me (but i've since broken it). If I recall, it was the first marathon that I learned this whole 'pace' thing called NOT GOING OUT TOO FAST! I finished strong, the people were nice, the accommodations were what I expected ... no complaints.

Anyway, tomorrow is my last 22 miler of the season since i'm just over 2 weeks from the Philly marathon ... next week i'll still push the pace into and past next weekend, and then taper it down like I did for Baltimore. My plan for that race really worked for me, so i'd like to follow it again. I have to watch though, because this is the ideal time for me to start making excuses to slack off .. we've all been there, and its set me up to fail in the past, so fighting that is a whole other ballgame. The weather is supposed to be kind of brisk tomorrow morning, but its good prep for the race in a few weeks...

After a decent weekend of no-pain runs, the week so far has been just as good. My back pain seems to have subsided for the most part, which has opened up the ability for me to start to push my pace again without much issue (at least for now). I'm starting to get that running 'buzz' back, despite the fact that its quite cold out now when I head out in the mornings. I was happy that we set the clocks back, which means that I now do half my run in the dark an half in the light, its really a welcome change. I can only imagine that running in the cold day after day is only going to help me with the marathon on the 22nd.. I do get some strange looks from people though when I get back to my house after a longer run in the cold because I actually have a light layer of frost on my shoulders from sweating (and then it wicks and then refreezes) .. its yet another reason for my neighbors to think i'm nuts..

I wrote the other day about the birds that I saw on my run, the last two mornings have been all about the moon ... a FULL moon. its pretty cool to be out in the crisp morning air, with only moonlight guiding my way. It was really bright...

So I still plan to carefully select my courses and distances to ensure i'm getting quality out of my runs, and not necessarily quantity. For now, Mondays are now an easy day, Thursday is a modified speed-work day with my longer runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday (and my long run on Saturday). I'm down to my last long run of the season this weekend... with another hard week next week before starting to taper it off for the race.

Just 17 days until the next race ....

I was fortunate enough to have access to channel WNBC, channel 4 out of New York this morning to be able to watch the New York City marathon. Just seeing the people, the start and finish lines, the scenery around the course, all the hoopla ... really made me remember how disappointed I was that I didn't get accepted this year. I can only hope that I get accepted for 2010.

To get me out of the disappointment, I reminded myself that the Philly marathon is just 3 short weeks away. My back is feeling 'so-so' .. after feeling great yesterday, it throbbed a little this morning after my 12 miler (with hills), but has since been pretty calm. I'm hoping this trend keeps up so I can start to push my pace a little bit during training. I'm really running out of time to get more quality runs in..

I thought that I was going to get swarmed with birds this morning (anyone ever see The Birds?) As I was heading back home in the last mile or so, I looked up and saw nothing but geese and ducks .. I mean hundreds of them! I'm not sure what they were up to, but the one farmers field on the other side of where I live must have had something they all liked. They kept circling it, making a ton of noise, it was really weird. Of all the time I've lived here, I've never seen anything like it... thankfully they minded their own business and didn't bother anybody..

Well congratulations to everyone who finished NYC today .. i'm jealous that I didn't get to compete, but there is always next year!

I have to admit that fall is the prettiest season of the year. I came to this conclusion while doing my 21.5 miler this morning, as I saw the leaves blowing in the wind as they were falling off the trees and piling in the streets and yards. It was considerably mild today for October 31st, which of course I didn't mind, but was still rainy. This is 3 weekends in a row that i've had to run in the rain on a Saturday. Its okay though because I'll take the rain over the cold any day.

It really hit me this morning that the training season is coming to an end for the year. I ran by the corn fields that are now cut back for the winter, which are the same ones I watched sprout up from the ground just 5 months ago. The temperatures went from cool in late spring, to hot in the summer, back to cool again in the fall ... then there are the trees that are pretty much bare again due to the wind were the same leaves I watched bloom earlier in the year ... well, i'm not sure what made me reflect like this today on the seasons, maybe sometimes I just get so caught up in 'running', I never take the time to really look at things while i'm out running, I guess today I did. I always joke that in just 2 months, i'll be running the same roads and trails in the cold and snow (possibly) .. agh, I don't even want to think about that.

Probably the biggest thing to remind me its fall is that we set the clocks back tonight, so I get an extra hour of sleep and get to come home from work when its dark now. Its funny how since they moved the return of Daylight Savings Time to the last weekend of October, it always seems to fall on the night before the New York City marathon. I'd hate to think of the person who didn't set their clock the night before the race, running around in shambles in the morning after finding out they actually have an extra hour to get ready for the race... reminds me of the Hot Tub episode on Seinfeld, where Elaine has a friend stay over who is running in the New York City Marathon, but Kramer blows the fuses in the building overnight and he oversleeps... its funny if you haven't seen it. I sometimes think of that every night before a marathon .. "what if I oversleep???"..

So anyway, I did pretty good on my 21.5 miler today .. pulled it out in 3:24, which is about 8-9 minutes slower than a 9 minute mile pace. Thats okay though, remember that my goal in Philly is to finish the race, i'm expecting maybe a 4:15 or 4:20 at this point, just depends on how difficult the course is (among other things). I stayed strong through the entire run, despite the low 60's temperature and showers... I had a good playlist on my Ipod, so that always helps.

The funny part about this long run is that once again, my back isn't bothering me afterward. I wrote all week about being basically crippled after running in the mornings, I figured it would be bad today, but nothing. I just can't figure it out, thats two weeks in a row. I still plan to take it easy this week and get the miles in that I have to get in and stay focused on them.

So I have several people to wish good luck to in the New York City marathon! so GOOD LUCK! Its looking like the possibility of rain, but the temperatures are pretty average (mild actually), so it shouldn't be too bad in my opinion. They're airing the marathon starting at 9am on WNBC channel 4 out of New York, I think thats the NBC that I get... if not they'll have a summary of it on at 2pm (which i'll tape).

Well off to rest ...

With every day that I continue to run while my back and hips are both sore and in pain, is making me think how difficult its going to be for the next 24 days. Yep, 24 days until the last marathon, worse yet, I have the Run for the Diamonds on Thanksgiving day just 4 days later ... luckily thats just a 9 miler.

Its kind of weird how this back pain issue plays out though ... I wake up in the morning, its usually a little stiff, but no pain. I go out and run, with generally no discomfort at all and then shortly after I get home, it starts to cramp up and get tight, thats when the pain really starts. I suffer for about an hour or two with pain that comes and goes and then it just goes away. It just makes no sense. Its been over 2 weeks now that i've had some discomfort, so my guess is that its not going away anytime soon... I better learn to suck it up. Some people have told me just to bag the last marathon and get better ... but I really have a lot of time and money invested in this marathon already, so even if I don't do great, I want to finish it.

Thankfully I am off tomorrow from running and expect to get at least 20 miles in on Saturday, and depending on if i'm crippled up or not from that run, do another 10 or so on Sunday... I intend to cut the miles back a little more during the week in the hopes of holding off anymore additional pain if I can.

I never thought I would say that i'm happy that training is just about over for now. Since I plan on doing the Ocean Drive marathon in late March, i'll need to get back to training by the end of December to get in decent enough shape to finish that. That gives me about 5 weeks of recovery.. during which I'll continue with the chiropractor (to heal this back up) and go for what I call 'the 2000 mile checkup'. It'll also give me a chance to catch up on my sleep and get over my fall allergies, i'm beaten up bad, I need the rest.

So enough complaining .. all the marathon post-race reports from MCM and other marathons that I had friends running in is what is keeping me motivated. I think Philly is one of the LAST marathons out there for the fall in the northeast (or at least the last real big one) ... I just have to hang in there I guess, its almost marathon time again!

I've had a rocky couple of days since the weekend, which is why I haven't posted since the weekend ... I was suffering from a slight head cold, which is almost gone now and an increase in load at work. The last couple days I haven't had time to even do anything except work, sleep and ... you guessed it, RUN!

I'm well on my way to being just about back to my training plan after my back/hip pain last week, although i'm still suffering from some pain after I come back from running. I'm not sure what to make of the pain and how exactly to deal with it except to start cutting the miles back. I haven't been doing bad so far this week, by getting in 12 on Sunday, 3 on Monday, 10 on Tuesday and just under 11 today ... so my plan is to take an easier distance tomorrow (maybe 4 or 5 miles) in preparation for the weekend long runs. I'm just 25 days out from the Philly marathon, so I have to stay focused on the race at this point and get in 2 more 20+ milers prior to the race ..

Probably the one good thing for this weekend is that we set the clocks back, so that means I don't have to run in the dark anymore in the mornings. Well, I guess I'll still be running in the dark, but not FULLY in the dark like I am now.

The weather has been continuing to be kind of rough in the northeast, I've done the last two morning runs in the rain and the cold. I'm thinking that running in the cold and the rain is probably not a good thing for a head cold, but so far i've been okay. Thankfully I have a real nice rain jacket for running that I bought several years ago.. i'm not sure if you've ever bought a piece of running gear that is just the perfect thing, and this was one of them. It keeps me dry ... it keeps me warm and has lots of pockets ... Lets just say its always been there for me ...

So back to the weather, on Saturday i'm looking at getting my 22 miler in with much milder temperatures yet again, maybe 68 degrees by the afternoon... It does look like the weather will hold out for the New York City marathon this weekend as well... i'm just kind of sad that I didn't get accepted into the reace again this year.. I'm determined to be accepted next year though!

I am looking forward to taking a few weeks off after the Philly marathon to rest my body up. I'm thinking that after 25+ weeks of training, its time for a break because before I know it, we'll be training again for the spring .. (ugh!)

I was happy to get out and get a 20 miler in today, despite the struggles that i've been having with my back this past week. The surprising part is that it actually feels better after the run (3 hours later) than it did all week. I always make the statement that the long run seems to clear up all physical issues i'm having .. because when my knee hurt, the long run cured it, when my leg hurt, the long run cured it. There are like 3 other cases in the past months where this has been the case .. its really weird.

So I headed out early (5:30am on a Saturday, yes i'm quite psychotic), with the expectation of rain and fairly mild temperatures, but it ended up being a little better than that. I decided to wear my shorts, a base layer and a short sleeve shirt over it and then my running rain jacket (with my running hat). The jacket made it for about a mile, then I took that off and realized that I couldn't really strip off many more layers without really effecting the run, so I was stuck wearing what I had. It only rained off and on for the first hour or so, and then was fairly mild .. but the temperatures were unbelievable for October. It was upper 60's and humid, it really felt like August all over again .. and I ended up quite dehydrated as well due to the temperatures. Thankfully I had my 30 oz bottle with me (which was filled twice) to keep me hydrated along the way.

I was able to tell that my body has already lost some of its endurance with the reduction in miles this past week, although it may have been that i was running at a much slower pace than normal. I averaged a 9:15/mile pace over the run and it did offer me hills and challenging terrain, so it certainly wasn't an easy course, maybe that was it. Even now i'm not feeling too bad so I expect to push out another 12 miles tomorrow if I can (of course the way I feel in the mornings are a totally different story).

I got what will probably be my last pair of Mizuno Alchemys for a little bit as my current pair are starting to wear out. I'll continue to use the old ones and start to mix in my new shoes over the next couple weeks and then finally make them my primary shoes for the last marathon of the season. I seem to find that it works pretty good that way (especially if I find myself in rain, it gives me a fresh pair.) I think that with 4 weeks to go in the training season, they'll get me through until I start training again in December for the spring marathons (gosh, it won't be long!)

I know several people online and locally running the Marine Corps Marathon tomorrow in Washington DC... I remember running that last year, I just wish it had come at a better time for me because I don't think I enjoyed it as well as I should have. Anyway, the one good thing is that the Marine Corps Marathon results get posted fast, so I can find my friends soon after they finish.. Regardless, if you're running MCM tomorrow, GOOD LUCK! It appears the weather might hold for you and it won't be terribly cold in the morning (like last year, it was brutal!)..