Junk Miles

There is no such thing as junk miles. All injury-free miles at any speed are good miles.

Tuesday, Nov 18:

North St Paul Community Center overhead track, 81 laps for six miles. This time, just for amusement, I tried to hold the pace as close as possible to nine-minute miles without going over. On this track, that means exactly 40 seconds per lap, so there are 13 easily-calculated checkpoints in a mile. It worked OK - the splits were all under 9:00 and at least 8:57.

I wonder how far I can go running nine-minute miles. Today six miles, perhaps next week I’ll try eight - I think I could have done that today, but it might have been a tempo run. Now that the dexamethasone (dex) has been reduced again, to 8 mg per week, I should be able to get more speed or more endurance as muscles rebuild somewhat.

Splits:8:58, 8:59, 8:58, 8:59, 8:57, 8:58, total 53:49, pace 8:58.

Sunday, Nov 16:

North St Paul Community Center overhead track. I just ran a pace that felt good and clicked my watch any time a mile was finished. Since this was the third running day in a row, I only ran four miles. No knee problems today - no problems at all.

Splits: 8:50, 8:39, 8:39, 8:48, total 34:55, pace 8:44.

Saturday, Nov 15:

St Croix Valley Runners. What a nice run with Paul. He is coming back from an injury, otherwise he would be too fast for me now I think. But we chatted the whole way and still somehow finished in a sub-9 pace. Everyone else finished ahead of us, of course. I’m learning how it feels to be the slowest one. Five miles in 44:13, for a pace of 8:51.

I did have just the slightest twinge of pain in the right knee, that same pain which I believe to be due to ITB syndrome. But it disappeared immediately after we stopped running. I hope it was a solitary event.

Friday, Nov 14:

North St Paul Community Center overhead track, four miles in 35:22, for a pace of 8:51. No strain, no pain, some sweat, but this pace is easily maintained for four miles.

The three marathons are over, and there is not another within training range (16 weeks), so this is a time for easy runs to let the body recover. Dexamethasone makes the body heal more slowly, so a little down time is good. For me, that means no more than 20 miles per week, and few if any hard runs. Just keep moving ...

Splits: 8:54, 8:45, 8:50, 8:53, total 35:22, pace 8:51. Brooks Ghost shoes.

Tuesday, Nov 11:

North St Paul Community Center again, overhead track, 67.5 laps for five miles exactly. The idea was to run nine-minute miles and see if that felt like a race pace. It didn’t. Yay. Actually I finished the five miles in 43:36, for an overall pace of 8:43, aided a lot by a final mile at 8:06. I felt really good, just slower than I would have been a year ago.

In fact, looking back at the logs, my "natural" (easy but not too easy) pace last December was about 8:20 or so after the first mile, and today it seemed more like 8:55, the pace of the fourth mile. In that mile I didn’t look at my watch at all until the 12th lap (then only to be sure I had counted laps correctly), just ran a pace that felt good, about as fast as I could go and still get in four footfalls per full breath. In the last mile that went down to three, of course.

I’m going through all of the running shoes I have, to see whether I have any that will make my feet as happy as the discontinued Brooks Burn shoes. Darn them Brooks people - don’t seem to know much about running or runners, just marketing. Anyway today I tried some two-year-old Nike Pegasus shoes. They felt good, as did the Brooks Glycerine 5 shoes on Sunday, but they made the familiar flap-flap sound on the track. I’m sure they will on the road too. That noise doesn’t seem to slow me down - in fact I’ve known some elite runners whose shoes sounded worse, but I don’t like it. Feet may be happy, but ears aren’t.

Splits: 9:04, 8:43, 8:49, 8:55, 8:06, total 43:36, overall pace 8:43.

Sunday, Nov 9:

North St Paul Community Center indoor track. It’s that time of year again - we’re running indoors some of the time. Today I just wanted to see whether I could still do nine-minute miles for three miles, as I could do so easily last year.

Splits: 9:17, 8:43, 8:24, total 26:23, pace 8:48. So I did it, but it was a tempo run. Not a race pace, but nearly. Better than I thought I could do. One nice thing about running on the track - timing is exact, mile by mile. Brooks Glycerine 5 shoes were a little noisy on the track. Flap flap. My feet liked them though.

Saturday, Nov 8:

St Croix Valley Runners. Roy is one of the most faithful runners in the group, and has been running with them for a long time. His company has transferred him to another city, however, and this was his last run with us. In celebration of his years with the group, we ran a special route which included a few miles of trails, our first annual trail run in celebration of Roy. Afterward we all enjoyed breakfast at a local café.

The route was advertised as five miles exactly, according to George, but we got a little lost and repeated a portion of it. Windy, 32 degrees, and a few flakes of snow. 49 minutes - OK for 5+ miles on soft trails. Brooks Ghost shoes - they’re muddy now.


Three recent dinners:

Canned Alaskan sockeye salmon with yogurt & herbs, organic romaine lettuce with cucumber, organic blue corn chips, Sunshine's guacamole, plum, organic red wine vinegar.


Curried organic chicken, organic rice with cranberries, chard, and pine nuts, organic strawberries.


Dinner salad: Organic romaine with cucumber, beans from Don's mom & dad's garden, avocado, blue cheese, pimento-stuffed olives, sheep cheese, organic beef, organic red wine vinegar.

North St Paul Community Center Track

Thursday, Nov 6, 2008:

We renewed our memberships at the North St Paul Community Center . This facility has a nice overhead track, about 13 laps per mile, with slightly banked corners. It really is pretty good for running - I’ve done 20-milers in there. And of course it includes a complete fitness center with dreadmills and the rest of the stuff. No pool, but the price is quite modest compared with commercial places like Lifetime Fitness.

Today I ran a pace of about 9:30 for about 30 minutes. Three miles or so. Nice run, with stretches afterward. First run after the weekend of heavy running.

Rocky's Run 5k Cross Country Race

Sunday, Nov 2, 2008:

Rocky’s Run 5k Cross-Country Race. This is the last race of the season for the Minnesota Grand Prix series of 13 races. It is held on the University of Minnesota Golf Course, and benefits the U of M track program. There is a 5k and an 8k, with the Grand Prix race alternating between those in alternate years. For the overachiever among us, there is also a double-header (both races, one after the other).

I’m always a little surprised at the amount of extra energy required to run on a golf course. Not only is it hilly, but the soft sod takes a little energy away on every step. Inevitably, I end up walking up the little hills toward the end of the race, and today was no exception. Perfect weather though.

I finished in 29:51, fourth of six in my age group. Good enough for the day after a marathon. The real goal was just to finish the 13th and last race of the Grand Prix series, one of three runners who have run all 13.

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

Saturday, Nov 1, 2008:

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Not bad, not great. This was the first-ever running of this marathon. It had a few startup jitters, but not a lot. I ran 4:32:38, about four minutes slower than Des Moines two weeks ago. I should have been faster, because this course is flat, but for whatever reason I wasn’t faster.

Things I liked about the marathon:

• Aid stations were frequent, more than one every two miles.
• There were about 1100 marathoners and 1700 half-marathoners, a nice-sized race.
• Much of the course was on tree-lined streets, ablaze in fall color.
• The weather was very good, a little warm toward the end but quite tolerable.
• Two or three aid stations had a table containing an assortment of gels. Nice.

Things I didn’t like as much:

• Much of the course was on roads open to traffic, with cones separating runners from cars.
• In a couple of places, drivers were stopped for a long time and got pretty angry. That’s not fun for anyone.
• Aid stations were disorganized, with no convention for distinguishing between water and gatorade cups. You always had to ask.
• Not many spectators.
• There was no expo. I was actually counting on one, to buy some gels. Fortunately there were gels on the course.

As in other recent marathons, I slowed a lot after 20 miles, walking frequently. I just ran out of gas. Hip flexors started bothering at about the halfway point, but I found that if I did an exaggerated duck-walk I could stretch those body parts and make the problem disappear for a half mile or so. Yay. Now I will add a stretch like that to my regular daily routine and see if that fixes the hip flexor issue more permanently.

We bought gasoline for $1.93/gallon in Indianapolis. It’s a 10-hour drive.

Splits: 9:46, 9:04, 9:25, 9:33, 19:01 (2 mi), 9:34, 9:23, 9:40, 22:10 (2 mi, potty stop), 10:06, 9:45, 9:48, 10:30, 10:18, 10:51, 10:54, 10:39, 10:49, 11:05, 21:58 (2 mi), 12:54, 11:24, 11:47, 2:24, total 4:32:38, pace 10:24.

Running With Groups

Saturday, Oct 25:

St Croix Valley Runners. When we arrived at Northland Tennis Courts about two minutes before 7:00 am we were only the second car there. Then three more cars showed up, all just in time. Dave, Dave, Tom, & Roy all went out ahead of me, but I caught up to Dave & Roy at about the halfway point. Breathing was three footfalls per full breath, which is a race pace for me, and that continued through to the finish.

Five miles in 43:00, pace 8:36. I couldn’t have gone much faster, but that’s what I like to do the weekend before a marathon - a hard 5k, 8k, or 10k. Dark at the start, just the faint glow of sunrise 45 minutes away. That will improve after we switch back to standard time next Saturday evening, then it will gradually get darker again until December 21.

43 degrees again, no significant wind. I wore exactly the same running gear as last Wednesday evening. It was fine - a little too much if anything. Brooks Ghost shoes again.

Wednesday, Oct 22:

Woodbury Runners 5.2 miles in 57:27. I ran with Rich, well behind the larger group of faster runners. We took a shortcut again, running 5.2 miles to their 6.2, but finished after them anyway. Three days after a marathon, though, this was plenty fast and far enough. Pace 11:03. We did walk briefly in a couple of places where there were wet leaves on the dark trail.

43 degrees. I wore knee protectors (foam rubber sleeves), shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, a wind jacket, and gloves.

I tried the Brooks Ghost shoes again - they seemed better, with less foot-slap than I remembered, though still much more than the Burns have. They won’t become my new shoe of choice, but I probably will at least use up this one pair that I already have. 300 miles and out. Then what - I don’t know. Start trying out other brands I guess. Brooks has let me down, dropping the Burn with no replacement after I’ve bought 18 pairs and run 31 marathons and hundreds of other races in them. Sunshine and Sweet Pea have each bought almost as many pairs. Brooks certainly doesn’t deserve any loyalty.



This key ring just arrived in the mail today. Kinda cute. I think the organizers of the Lewis & Clark Marathon are trying to make it up to us for cancelling the marathon in mid-run.

Des Moines Marathon

The Des Moines Marathon is in the bag, another state, now 31 marathons in 18 states. I did not qualify for Boston, but I did finish in 4:28, which happened to be good enough for third of twelve in my 65-69 age group and ten minutes faster than I ran TCM two weeks ago. I collected a nice-looking aluminum water bottle for the effort.

Starting out, I wasn’t too impressed with this marathon. The runners’ instructions seemed to be designed for people who already knew what to do. They even say that a runner is responsible for knowing the race course, which is difficult at best for a visitor. I tried to find out where race gels might be handed out, so I could start with the right number, but didn’t find that information, though it could have been there. Two places, it turned out. The start was skimpy on spectators, and the few I saw were looking a bit glum at eight in the morning. Water stops were disorganized - sometimes the Gatorade was first, and sometimes the water. Sometimes the Gatorade was dispensed in the cups normally used for water. You really did have to ask.

But the positives FAR outweighed the negatives. After the half-marathoners split off, the spectators seemed to get with the program. As usual I wore my name on my shirt, and GO DON was a frequent greeting. Porta-johns were plentiful right from the beginning - you gotta love that. The race has an early start, so people who need more than seven hours can run it. Volunteers were everywhere - on bikes, on foot, in vehicles, and especially at every turn. Lots and lots of cheerful Iowa volunteers. Best example: A cheerful volunteer named Julie traveled on a bike with my sweeties all the way from mile 23 to the finish, just to be sure that they had water and anything else that was needed. This was especially comforting, because some of the earlier water stops had closed by the time my sweeties passed by. Thanks Julie!

Weather was excellent, almost perfect. 50 degrees at the start, 69 at my finish, with a brisk wind that actually felt quite good most of the time. And for some reason it seemed to come from behind more often than from the front - when does THAT happen? It’s not an "easy" marathon - there are some significant hills in the first 18 miles, but from that point on it is mostly flat.

I discarded a garbage bag almost immediately after the start, a long-sleeved shirt after about five miles, also improvised gloves and ear covers, finishing in a short-sleeved technical shirt, shorts, knee covers, and of course my Brooks Burn shoes.

Stuff:

• Just before mile 13 we ran one loop of the marvelous 400-meter outdoor track at Drake University. Very cool.
  
• Team In Training was there, raising money for blood cancers like mine, and I got the opportunity to thank several of them.
  
• I started with the 4:15 pace team, but they went out too fast and I lost them.
  
• I finished with the 4:30 pace team. For a while I fell behind them too, but I caught up again just before the finish line.
  
• At about mile 22 a man who might have been my age passed me looking as if he was going exactly the pace he wanted to run. I tried to keep up but couldn’t.
  
• Lots of runners saw "Minnesota Don" on my back and commented. Many were from Minnesota themselves.
  
• I ran a Galloway-like system, run a mile walk a minute. I also walked up hills, and late in the race I walked more.
  
• Most of the runners I talked to along the way were from Iowa, and mostly from Des Moines, but several were from Minnesota.
  
• In fact, as the awards were announced, I heard Minnesota mentioned more than once.
  
• The race route had some out-and-back sections, and I enjoyed seeing the other runners face on.
  
• I did a lot of walk-run late in the race, and there were a few runners that I passed dozens of times. But that works for me.

All in all a nice marathon. I enjoyed it and recommend it.

Splits: 9:13, 9:02, 9:42, 19:33 (2 mi), 9:33, 9:58, 12:40 (major potty stop), 9:17, 9:21, 9:48, 9:30, 10:48, 11:24 (minor potty stop), 10:09, 9:28, 9:44, 10:20, 11:05, 10:55, 10:32, 10:49, 23:10 (2 mi), 11:04, 9:56, 1:59, total 4:28:58, pace 10:15. I can do better, so many marathons, so little time :-)

Marathon Recovery

Saturday, Oct 11:

"Tour de North St Paul" 5k race, benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They also fund myeloma research, so I’m delighted to support LLS because they support me. A very nice little race through North St Paul, including a short piece of the Gateway Trail.

57 degrees, time 27:02, pace 8:43. I could have run a 5k faster than this if I hadn’t just finished five miles with my Saturday group. Good enough for today. No pains - those were apparently worked out in the earlier five miles. Nice semi-sprint at the end.

Saturday, Oct 11:

St Croix Valley Runners, 7:00 am at Northland Tennis Courts, five miles as always, nice run with George and Wayne. Lots of other people showed up today too, several of them walking because of injuries from TCM. Lucky me - no injuries this time at TCM.

56 degrees, just a long-sleeved shirt & shorts, no knee cover. My right knee did send a little hint that it likes the knee warmers, so I will wear them in the foreseeable future. The hip flexors hurt a little too, but they calmed down after a few miles. Oh, to be young again. Time 45:30, pace 9:06. I thought we were going slower, actually. But breathing was easy all the way.

Friday, Oct 10:

Same as Wednesday, just a nice jog to keep things working. Almost the same times as Wednesday, too. Hilly route.

49 degrees, wore knee warmers. No pains. Splits: 9:10, 13:07 (1.5 mi), total 22:17, pace 8:55.

Wednesday, Oct 8:

First run since Sunday's Marathon. I like to wait until the third day afterward. Local roads for 2.5 miles, no particular hurry, just keeping the body parts working after TCM and for the next upcoming marathon. I wonder if I can run 4:15 there? That’s a Boston qualifying time for me, but it seems out of reach right now. Maybe if I lose a few pounds.

44 degrees, I wore tights and knee warmers. No pains. Splits: 9:18, 13:16 (1.5 mi), total 22:33, pace 9:01.



I was mighty disappointed to drive 1100 miles to St Charles Missouri and NOT run a marathon. Blog posts here and here. But this is a touch of class from the organizers. Nice plaque, plastic on wood.