"Mr. Ski Gloves" and other mysteries…solved!

Posted on June 21, 2008 by threlkeld

I posted about a person I see just about every day, walking in the hottest of weather wearing Michelin Man ski gloves*: At random points in his perambulations, he drops to the pavement and does pushups. I guess the gloves are to protect his hands. Still seems like overkill, though.

The forecast for tomorrow’s half marathon in Connecticut is for 70 degrees and around 80% humidity. I suppose it could be worse (and it has been in past years, or so I’ve read). Fortunately, much of the course is reported to be shaded, so I’ll just focus on getting the water down my throat rather than the front of my shirt and taking it easy on the hills.

I will be one of 274 women in the 40-49 age group running (perhaps more, if there are race day registrations) tomorrow. I recognize one name from the NYRR races — someone who always beats me by just a minute or two. I want to try to reverse that trend tomorrow (although by her recent race times, it looks like she’s impervious to heat).

We’re promised a post-race “beach party,” which I hope means ice cream and beer (don’t ask me why I make that association). Way before noon! Sometimes, when you get over the whole taxes, home repairs, needing to hold down a job thing, being an adult is a lot of fun. Anyway, I’m hoping this “party” will make up for the fact that I need to get up at 4:30AM tomorrow morning to drive an hour and engage in strenuous exercise in high humidity.

Before I go, I want to praise Tivo. Because of Tivo we’ve been able to watch every single match in the Euro 2008 Football cup, at our leisure, in the evening. And we have about 30 “track and field” broadcasts scheduled to record in the coming weeks, Olympic trials from Eugene and otherwise. Heaven. Sheer heaven.

Also, since I’ve been making very little progress with weight (or, rather, butt) loss lately, despite running 90 miles a week and dropping my caloric intake to around 1500 a day, I decided to give the whole “your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto fat like it’s going out of style” theory some credence. For the past week or so, I’ve been experimenting with eating more (and more frequently). And rapidly losing fat. Who knew?

*Originally reported as “mittens.” I see now that they are in fact gloves.

Filed under: eating, elites, everyday life, meets, racing | 1 Comment »

Training week in review: 15 of 18

Posted on March 16, 2008 by threlkeld

This week’s training theme:

Food is fuel. Don’t put cheap gas in the tank.

This week I learned a very important lesson about the importance of eating properly. I’ve been experimenting with “carbohydrate cutback” days — lowering carb intake on some days and loading on others. The theory being (at least among bodybuilders who use carb cycling during their “cutting” phase) that if you cycle your carb intake it keeps your metabolism guessing. And if you do it right, you lose more fat than if your diet was structured around a static daily distribution of carbs, fat and protein.

Great theory. One which I’ve applied in the past few weeks. If the new prominence of my leg muscles and veins in my hands and arms are anything to go by, I have lost some fat since trying this method. But you need to be careful during high intensity training, because — as every runner knows — carbs are our friends.

The long and short of it is that I pushed the low carb envelope just a little too far this week and paid for it. I’ve never “hit the wall” in a race, but I do now know what it feels like, having hit the wall on Saturday morning. I ran 19 miles on Thursday, and obviously didn’t replace enough of the lost carbs. Then, on Friday, I did an eight mile easy run and also did not eat enough carbs.

The chickens came home to roost yesterday morning when I attempted a six mile recovery run. I didn’t feel well, and in fact was craving sugar. So I ate a PowerBar before heading out, but that was not enough to make up for two days of deprivation. I was slogging along at a 10:30 pace and thinking, “Wow, I feel like I’m working really hard just to run this slow.” I checked my heart rate and it was elevated to 76%! I normally can run 10:30 at around 62% max heart rate, so something was obviously very wrong.

I had absolutely no energy. It’s such a strange feeling, to actually feel as though you couldn’t run another step. Since I also felt foggy in the head, I turned around at 1.25 miles and walked home and right into the kitchen for a large plate of carbohydrates. My last major long training run was scheduled for the next day (this morning), and there was no way I wanted to feel like crap due to bad nutrition. The only thing I could do — despite the extreme sacrifice — was to consume as much bread, rice, pasta and beer as I possibly could. For my training, of course.

I was also in a slightly injured state all week, as the irritated right achilles tendon continued. It was bad enough to skip running altogether on Tuesday. It was actually pretty funny. I put on my little running getup, walked down to the bikepath and took two running steps in a pronounced limp. Turn around. Go back up the hill. Take off the running getup. Take the ibuprofen and get out the ice pack. *sigh*

Still, it’s only the second or third time in all these weeks of training that I’ve needed to take time off, and it was the smart thing to do.

These changes in plans conspired to bring my mileage down from the planned 91 miles to 73ish. C’est la vie. This training business has been a grand experiment on my body and mind. It’s a great program, but I recognize that I need more than a day after a hard race and, in weeks where I have lots of high intensity work, I may need to swap a recovery run day with a day of complete rest. It’s a lot better than limping.

Another notable aspect to the week was my third speed session, which went very well and resulted in yet more learning. This time around, rather than running a six mile warmup before hitting the track, I just ran straight to the track (less than two miles). I felt much fresher than last time, so that’s what I’ll do from now on. I think even six very easy miles can take the wind out of your sails to some extent. I did 1200m intervals at a 6:45 pace and darned if I didn’t hit all my splits again. I thought I wouldn’t like speedwork, but I’m beginning to like it. Probably because it’s so prescribed and it’s easy (and quick) to evaluate whether or not it’s going well on a given day.

Finally, this morning was my last big, serious, long training run before the race in three weeks. I’d originally scheduled to do it in Central Park, but the weather was iffy. So I lay around all morning, consuming carbohydrates, and noting the weather in an attempt to avoid rain (which I did, save for some sprinkles in the last two miles).

Side note: why do none of the weather sites agree with each other? There was a swing of 10 degrees and 15 mph wind speed between Accuweather.com and Weather.com. It’s a shame that the artist Henry Darger isn’t still alive. I’m sure the moral outrage at his local weatherman’s inability to accurately forecast the weather, which he cataloged daily in his Book of Weather Reports, would be felt and expressed even more keenly today in light of the technology at meteorologists’ fingertups nearly 40 years on.

Anyway, back to my swan song long run. I decided to make it special: a progressive run with some one mile intervals at or below marathon pace. I did a few 1-2 mile surges at marathon pace, with one mile 8:20ish pace “rest miles” inbetween. And since I’m an overachiever, I did the last mile at 20 seconds faster than marathon pace (7:28). All of this was physically encouraging to me; I had no problem with the paces and still felt good at the end of the run.

But I suspect the run had the most value in the mental realm. I ran 22 miles in just over 3:07. The miles flew by. No tedium, no having to play mental games with myself, no urges to stop. There’s also the issue of time: A rule of thumb says that if you can run 22 miles in your goal marathon time, you’re probably in very good shape to achieve it. I ran mine in around 20 minutes faster than my goal time, so I’m hoping this means I’m in great shape to achieve it.

Taper starts tomorrow. If I’m not ready for April 6 as of today, then I’ll never be.

A look back at the week:

  • Monday: 6.1 miles recovery pace (AM), 3.6 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Tuesday: 11.8 with 4 x 1200 at 5K race pace; no rabies shot this week — next week is the last one
  • Wednesday: took the day off owing to an inflamed (and complaining) right tendon
  • Thursday: 15 mile long run (progressive pace) (AM); 4 miles recovery pace (PM)
  • Friday: 8.2 miles easy pace (AM)
  • Saturday: Disaster run of 2.5 miles due to severe glycogen shortage; 2+ hour nap in the afternoon
  • Sunday: 22 mile long run (progressive pace) with 5 miles at marathon pace

Total mileage: 73.2 miles

Paces this week:

  • Low carb: 10:30 – 14:00 (!)
  • Recovery: 9:35 – 11:00
  • Speed: Intervals at 6:45 pace
  • Long: 7:58 – 9:38
  • Marathon pace: 7:28 – 7:48

This week’s quote:

“There’s no such thing as a bad carbohydrate.“

— Don Kardong

Coming up in training week sixteen: It’s not Easy Street yet. I have a 10 mile easy run on Tuesday with strides, a 14 mile midweek long run, a 10 mile tempo run on Friday and a 17 miler on Sunday. With the exception of tomorrow, I only need to run once per day this week. What a luxury!

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Why Americans are fat and broke

Posted on March 14, 2008 by threlkeld


I was thinking of just posting this image with the title and leaving it at that, but I felt some analysis was in order.

Around two thirds of American citizens are overweight. About half of those people are obese. And we’re on track for those numbers to continue to trend dramatically upward.

I have nothing against overweight people. I used to be an overweight person myself, albeit only slightly so. I will say that I’m much happier not to be overweight anymore, and that’s primarily owing to how I feel, although looking better has been a fringe benefit of losing weight.

I do have something against people who throw garbage out the car window onto my street, however. Like this receipt. I picked it up and, well, how could I not play amateur anthropologist?

So here, with caveats*, I present an analysis of this McDonald’s receipt and why I believe it is emblematic of why our country is facing such enormous health and financial crises.

Exhibit A: This food was purchased at around 10PM at night on a Wednesday. Was it dinner? If so, wow, talk about a meal completely devoid of nutritional value. Can you say Type 2 Diabetes?

Exhibit B: If this was merely a late night snack, then how many calories were in that snack? I’ll tell you how many:

Cinnamon Melts: 480
Medium French Fries: 380
Large Vanilla Shake: 1,110
Total calories: 1,960

Let’s assume this was a guy of average height and weight (which today means overweight). We’ll peg him at 5’10” and 200 pounds (BMI of 29, right in the middle of the overweight range). He gets no regular exercise (remember: he’s average).

His caloric needs for the day therefore are somewhere in the range of 2,250. And let’s assume that he’s alone and wasn’t sharing this with his significant other or a child. Our littering friend has just consumed over 87% of his daily required calorie intake in those three food items. That leaves room for a piece of fruit and handful of nuts. I wonder if that’s all he ate for the rest of the day. Probably not.

He’s also just consumed 80%, 42% and 39% of his recommended daily maximums for saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, respectively. Ouch.

Exhibit C: I’ll admit that not only do I rarely eat out, I pretty much never buy fast food. Maybe once every few years, and only under duress when there are no other available options. Even then, I go for the plain chicken breast.

So, I’m totally out of touch with what garbage food costs today. But seven dollars? That seems an unconscionable amount to charge someone for three fast food items.

Exhibit D: MasterCard. It’s everywhere you want to be. Even if that’s McDonald’s on Tuckahoe Road at 10 o’clock at night on a Wednesday. Maybe our guy pays off his credit card bill every month. But, again, he’s average. Meaning that there’s a good chance that he’s among the 60% of Americans who carry a revolving balance, the median of which is $2,200.

That’s a lot of boxes of cinnamon melts. 1,078, to be exact.

*I know nothing about the purchasor of these food items. But I’m a pessimist, and I believe in statistics. So I’m going to assume the worst.

Filed under: eating, everyday life, humor, westchester | 3 Comments »

Julie the Hut

Posted on December 26, 2007 by threlkeld

Blorg. I am bloated with Christmas spirit.

I can’t believe how much I’ve had to eat and drink in the past 48 hours.

Christmas Eve featured:

  • a large vodka martini
  • goose pate (“no liver” — I’m not quite sure how to interpret that, since I thought pate was liver)
  • a pound+ sirloin steak
  • an enormous pile of french fries
  • a large piece of chocolate raspberry cake
  • too many glasses of wine to count

Christmas Day wasn’t much better — although since I was still digesting the Eve’s excesses I really didn’t eat much until the “turkey and fixings” extravaganza started around 6 o’clock yesterday. I was sufficiently inebriated and stuffed to fall into bed, semi-conscious, at around 9:15. I won’t enumerate what I consumed yesterday since it’s shameful. But it was delicious. And it only took five hours to prepare.

But, to my credit, I’ve been running a lot despite the bricks in my stomach. I did 10 miles of recovery running on Christmas Eve, a 10 mile easy run (last two at marathon pace) Christmas Day, and a 14 miler today. If I’m lucky, I’ll break even on the calories, although judging by the size of my stomach, I’m not so sure.

Santa, in collusion with Jonathan, brought some good running stuff in this year. This top — in red — from UnderArmour (which I love, although it’s currently embarrassingly form-fitting), and this hat. And this thermos for post-run tea or hot chocolate (when I “park and run” up in Scarsdale for my Sunday long runs). And…and…and…nice, thoughtful gifts from my generous family.

It’s a very quiet week at work, so I’m getting things done like archiving project files and emails, listening to pre-recorded “2008 strategy” calls and trying to decipher their encrypted messages…and generally catching up on other administrata that I haven’t had time to do lately.

Tomorrow morning is the annual “drug the cat” event, in which I administer Kitty Kwaludes to our half-feral cat in order to get her in to the vet for annual shots. It takes her about a day and half to get back to normal, during which time she’s stumbling around like Robert Mitchum at the Oscars, and we’re just focusing on not letting her fall down the stairs. In our household, the excitement truly never stops.

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Praise the warmth of the sun. Long live the sun.

Posted on December 24, 2007 by threlkeld

At last, the Bronx River pathway is runnable! Did six recovery miles this morning and will do another four this afternoon. Then we’ll walk it into Bronxville for Christmas Eve cocktails and dinner at Sammy’s Downtown, a new bistro and bar on Pondfield Road.

I drank far too much last night, but surprisingly I have no hangover. I’m wondering if there was something magical about the enormous amounts of chocolate I chased the martini and wine with. Hmm…

This is my fiftieth day of running without a break. I guess that’s a milestone of sorts. Or should I say millstone?

Happy Christmas! Ten miles tomorrow…

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Potpourri post

Posted on November 9, 2007 by threlkeld

Just a random post to check in.

The big news of the past week was, of course, the big two races in New York: The mens 2008 olympic trials, during which elite runner Ryan Shay died. What can you say that hasn’t already been said about this? It’s just very sad.

The other big event was the NYC marathon, for which Paula Radcliffe staged a spectacular comeback. And Gete Wami came in second to win the World Marathon Majors — netting her a purse of half a million greenbacks — just 5 weeks after winning the Berlin Marathon. That’s called “running for the money.”

Since my last post, I recovered from the dreadful cold and took a quick trip out to Las Vegas. Since I’m so lazy, I’ll just point to my sister’s blog post about this fabulous family trip.

I will add that we did two runs while there, an 8 miler and a 15 miler. Las Vegas is hands down the worst place I have ever run. We basically did a huge circle in both cases, with the famed Strip in the middle. But all the streets are 6-12 lane jobs, so it’s incredibly noisy and the air is filthy with exhaust. The average humidity is something like 6% most days, so you’re constantly dehydrated. No wonder we only saw one other runner. Probably another idiot tourist.

At the conclusion of the longer run, we managed to get trapped behind a 64 acre construction project while trying to get to Dean Martin Blvd. We ended up getting rescued by hotel security, who had to drive us back to our hotel. That was pretty comical.

This week was spent getting over jet lag and ratcheting up the mileage yet again. The week’s not over yet, but barring disaster I should top out at 70 miles this week, which I’ll hold for three weeks, followed by a recovery week. And that’ll be it for the base building phase. It’s hard to believe I ran 26 miles during the week in June that I started this oddysey. I was looking over my running logs and found that in 2006 I averaged just 20 miles per week. My marathon training was around 40. And until I started base building in June, my 2007 average was 30 miles per week.

It’s amazing how adaptable the body is. These days, a 10 mile run is like a four mile run used to feel. In fact, it’s now my favorite distance. It takes about an hour and half and I’m pleasantly tired at the end, and very relaxed. So that’s my favorite run of the week (this may also have something to do with the fact that I do this one on Fridays). I’m wondering what my favorite “no big deal” distance will be a few months from now — 12? 14? 16?

No injuries so far, knock wood. I’m hyper vigilant to the point of paranoia. The past two days I’ve had very slight, intermittent shin discomfort on one side. So no progressive long run on Sunday, just an easy 18 miles. I monitor my resting pulse every day and run very easy if it’s more than 4 beats above normal. And I’m sleeping like a fiend some nights. If I need 9+ hours, I sleep 9+ hours. Going to bed at 9 o’clock does feel a bit weird, though. I suppose I can use the writers’ strike as an excuse soon.

The weather has been fabulously cold in the mornings — mid-30s, which is perfect for me. And there are more races than I can run to choose from in the next three weeks. Next weekend I’ll either do the Nyack Hospital 10K or the Mamaroneck 5 Miler. Haven’t decided on which one yet. Then a 5 Mile Turkey Trot in Rockland (if the weather isn’t horrible like last year). And — again, weather permitting — the Hot Chocolate 15K in Central Park on December 1, two days before I kick off my 18 week training program.

Finally, we’ve decided that in light of the fact that we’re both trying to “lose what we won in Las Vegas” (no, not money; just a few extra pounds), we’re going to go out for Thanksgiving dinner at a local place (An American Bistro in Tuckahoe) rather than make a bunch of stuffing and other food that will further derail us as “leftovers.” I’ll probably do turkey and trimmings for Christmas, but within reason.

So there you are. Race reports to come.

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A lovely bouquet of online calculators

Posted on October 27, 2007 by threlkeld

Some people collect sea shells. Others collect porcelain figurines. I collect online calculators.

Here are some of my favorite running- or fitness-related calcs:

Equivalent performances calculator
I use this one a lot. Not only does it give equivalent times for races of varying distances (along with pacing information), but it also supplies target pace ranges for key running workout types. Note that this is not a “performance predictor”. This I’ve learned the hard way. Also note that the target workout paces can be on the aggressive side.

Here’s a more souped up equivalent performances calculator. I like this one because it can factor in things like temperature, elevation, wind speed and altitude if you’re feeling very wonky.

Race pace calculator 1
This is a very handy race pace calculator, because it allows you to play with different positive or negative split scenarios. I’m sure I’ll end up using this for my next marathon, as I learned in my last half marathon that I run well when I do “very negative” splits. And that’s a positive thing.

Race pace calculator 2
If you just want to know what your even splits would be, this is the calculator for you. You can also print out a pace band to tape around your wrist.

Want to know what your VO2 max is? Use this VO2 max calculator to find out.

Wondering how fast your poor old legs would take you if they were just a bit younger? Calculate your age graded equivalents — and either weep or rejoice.

Ever wonder how much faster you could run if your dropped a few pounds? Find out with this weight change effect predictor. How much ice cream and cheesy poofs can you continue to eat while still losing weight? Find out with this calorie intake calculator.

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Silver lining to crap weather

Posted on October 4, 2007 by threlkeld

Yes, I’m running in a half marathon, and so I have no need to carbo load. But Jonathan is doing the full marathon (which means he’s whinging twice as much as I am about the weather). And he DOES have to carbo load. And, naturally, I’m not making two meals for each of us. So I will be carbo loading too.

This evening: pad thai
Tomorrow: chicken marsala with rice
Saturday: pasta with chicken

And many sandwiches and muffins inbetween. Yum.

But no drinking.

Very little drinking.

Weather update: Forecast for Sunday is now a high of 78. No news about humidity yet. And the race is at 8ish in the morning. So if the freakish heatwave has not broken by then, we’re still screwed.

Runners all over the country are fretting today, as there are lots of major marathon events on Sunday. If this doesn’t light a fire under our butts over global warming, I don’t know what will (yes, I’m being facetious…)

Filed under: eating, racing, training, westchester | 1 Comment »

Our tax dollars at work

Posted on July 22, 2007 by threlkeld

Had a lovely run early this morning along the new extension to the paved path along the Bronx River Parkway. Some of the charm may have to do with its being a totally new area to see (whereas I’ve been running the same paths in Eastchester for 7+ years). But it’s also just very well done: a winding path along the river with plenty of well-placed benches and bridges.

The path runs from Scarsdale at Harney Road for a bit more than a mile and a half, then dead ends at Pipeline Road, a totally deserted two-laner. Pipeline runs just above the Metro North Harlem Line tracks straight up the Hartsdale train station.

At Hartsdale there are toilets, thanks to the Starbucks there (and, if you’re suffering from total glycogen depletion, snacks and coffee). It’s just shy of 10 miles round trip from the bottom of our road to Hartsdale station and back. And if I cross over the tracks, I can continue all the way up to Valhalla. This will make a nice 20 miler when I’m up to that long run distance again — with a perfectly located rest stop coming and going. I guess you could say I’m easily pleased.

I am on vacation, which means I still have to run 12 milers, but I am relaxed enough to stop and sit on a bench and enjoy the ducks rather than rushing home. This afternoon included lying on the couch reading, a leisurely stroll into Tuckahoe to pick up fruit at the Sunday farmers market, then more lying around. Going back into town this evening for a martini and Thai dinner at Garlic and Pepper.

Filed under: drinking, eating, everyday life, training, westchester | 1 Comment »

Race Report: The Five Stages of Race Day D.E.A.T.H.

Posted on May 29, 2007 by threlkeld

With a tip of the hat to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, I present to you the five stages of Race Day D.E.A.T.H. I experienced all of these stages, over a period of four hours, 17 minutes and 45 seconds on Sunday while running the 19th Annual Key Bank Vermont City Marathon.

D = Denial. “I’m just a little off my pace because of that last hill. That pain will go away.”

E = Exasperation. “Why can’t I make my legs go faster?! What on earth did I eat that’s making me feel this bad?”

A = Agony. “…potty. Ow. Ow. Ow. Where’s the porta potty? Ow. Ow. Ow. Where’s the…”

T = Tedium. “I’m jog-walking at mile 19. I wonder if there will be anyone at the finish line when I get there later this afternoon. Oh, look. It’s a downpour. Now I can walk seven miles in wet socks.”

H = Humiliation. “That fat woman up ahead is going to beat me.”

I suppose it could have been much worse. I was off my last marathon time by about 22 minutes, or about 50 seconds per mile. But it was just shocking how badly things started to go wrong starting at about mile 12. I’d kept to my 8:55 pace all the way, even though my stomach was bothering me.

But my legs started to really hurt at mile 12 (something that didn’t happen until mile 19 or so in the last marathon), and my pace began to drop off slightly over the next 6 miles, but I was struggling. Mile 19 was the the turning point, where I lost it physically and mentally. I also got the runner’s trots, which involved a stop of several minutes and feeling quite weak for the subsequent mile.

Like the last race, my thighs were in excruciating pain. But unlike the last race, I couldn’t keep running at a quick clip despite the pain. I just couldn’t make them go faster, and by mile 20 my pace dropped to 10:45. That was also when it began to pour rain, a downpour which lasted close to 20 minutes. By mile 22 I was walking/jogging at a pace of 12:52, looking and feeling like a drowned rat.

I rallied a bit (that’s being charitable) and managed to run miles 23-25 at well under 12 minute miles. But that was mostly because I just wanted to get the damned thing over with and get some food in me. The last 1.2 mile stretch was a cruel joke. My pace was around 13:30 and I began to suspect that they’d moved the finish line to Canada. I kept running by people screaming, “you’re almost there! Just around the corner!” but no finish line. When I finally crossed it, I was so disoriented (and relieved) that I forgot to turn off my watch, so didn’t get my time until last night.

Jonathan didn’t fare much better, having blown his goal time and suffered the same decay in performance as I did. The lessons I take from this experience are:

1. You can’t “coast” on the training for a marathon earlier in the season. I simply didn’t run enough miles, or do enough quality workouts, over the preceding two months (much of it due to recovering from a marathon and then a half marathon — and much of it just not having the time due to work commitments). I had enough conditioning to run a very strong half marathon in late April, and that was part of what was so dispiriting about Sunday’s race. My April half indicated a good marathon time (predicting 3 minutes faster than my March marathon time) — but you can’t “fake” a marathon. I’ll learn to trust my training history more than a time predictor next time.

2. A hard marathon in March, followed by a hard half in April, followed by another hard marathon in May is too much. If I do this again, I have to make one race the hard race and other two “fun” races, or “training runs with food at the finish.” 🙂

3. Don’t eat kung pao beef the night before a marathon. Too much fat, protein and fibre.

On the positive side, I was never really in serious trouble. I passed one runner being hauled away in an ambulance at mile 18 (he seemed lucid; I’ve a feeling it was a bad injury). And I saw another collapse at mile 25 — passed out cold. So I’m grateful that nothing like that happened to either of us.

And the people of South Burlington were kind, generous and full of good humor and encouragement. It boosted my spirits to run through neighborhoods where everyone came out — and stood in the pouring rain! — handing out bananas and orange slices and cheering us on. I even started high-fiving kids once I decided to accept my failure and try to enjoy other aspects of the experience.

Running along Lake Champlain was also quite an experience. Very beautiful, even in the pouring rain.

It’s a race I’d run again. Although since the More Marathon seems to be my big spring race goal for 2008, I might do the Vermont marathon as a fun run next time. They also give you a nice tee shirt, for the record. Simple design and technical fabric, so you can actually use it for running. And they have the heaviest race medal I’ve ever seen. It must be made of lead.

So that’s it for the spring marathons of 2007. I’ll focus on a full recovery from this one and then start building a base of 55-60 miles per week over the summer. I’ll probably run the inaugural East Hampton Marathon in September as a fun/training run, rather than race it.

The More 2008 race is 10 months away. Plenty of time prepare…

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