Ice Ice Baby

I am writing this entry at the Philadelphia Racquet Club, awaiting my Dad’s semifinal squash match. He has already played three matches in less than 24 hours, and is nursing a strained rib cage as he gets ready for his next opponent. Actually, he is asleep in the chair as I write this. The next match he is playing a 16 year old kid that is the number one seed. It should be interesting to see how the 57 year old veteran will handle a young punk that is over 40 years his junior. Either way it has been pretty cool seeing my Dad flying around the court and throwing his body at the ball. He subscribes to the adage of it being better to burn out than to fade away. Can’t say I am any different. His hand eye is better than mine though, so I will stick to the running.
This past week has seen more consistent training, and a steady dose of nasty weather. Freezing rain and sleet has taken the place of the snow, but at times on my outdoor runs this week I have pined for the snow instead of the wintry mix of nastiness. Last Sunday I got 14 miles in with Elkan in 1:34. We opted to run on the shoulder of West River Dr. because the path was slush and ice strewn. After turning at Falls Bridge around 6 miles, we picked the pace up moderately to around 6:15-20 or so. I added on two miles on Kelly Dr. when Andy headed in for 12. I didn’t trust myself to get back to Center City and have the desire to add on 2 miles on the shitty sidewalks. Sometimes you just have to know your mood and motivation on a certain run. Let’s just say I wanted to finish around 60 minutes into the run, so staying away from home base prior to completing the intended mileage was a good plan.
Monday was a recovery run with Breton in Jersey, and since all of the usual bike paths were covered in snow still we ran on some narrow roads. We had the pleasure of almost getting run over by a lady who rolled through a stop sign, but luckily we both were good dodgeball players growing up and continued on unscathed. On Tuesday, after more ice and snow, I opted for the treadmill. After a relaxed 5 miles at 33:30, I closed my last 5 in 30:10 for 63:40 for the 10. I felt like the effort was at the most 75% so that was a plus. On Wednesday, the weather warmed up to a smokin’ hot 41 degrees so I chose to do my workout on the River in the evening. The only stretch that was decent was from the beginning of Boathouse Row out to the mile mark, so I did 5 out of my 6 800’s using that stretch. I kept things at a fartlek effort early on, and took a quarter mile jog in between each. The last 800 was a blazing 2:37, but with the footing being uncertain I decided to go for a solid effort rather than try to kill it. When the weather gets warmer I will take more chances and occasionally be a hero in my anaerobic workouts. Now is the time to continue to build the aerobic engine up to higher and higher levels while striving for staying healthy.
On Thursday I stuck to my one day off every 7-9 days, and refrained from running. My 7 day total dating back to the previous week was 67, a slow step up from 65 the week before. On Friday I woke up early, around 5:45, and after seeing that the temp was 23 degrees and knowing that the black ice was going to be terrible on the sidewalks and roads I opted for the treadmill again. I ran the first 4 controlled at 26:38, and then started to step the pace down every 5 minutes from 6:15 down to 6 min. From 4 to 9.5 miles I ran 33:22, just over 6 min. pace. It again felt pretty easy, even at 6:30 in the morning. I cooled down a half, for 10 miles in 63:38. I am going to get in as many runs in the next week around 7 am so that I am accustomed to calling on the body in the early morning to function beyond eating and reading the morning paper. The race next weekend starts at 7 am so there is some method to the madness.
Today I was out the door around 8 am and into a steady freezing rain. Luckily, my Saturday runs have been easy days, so I didn’t hate my life too much throughout the 9 miles in a pedestrian 66 min. At least once or twice a week I make sure my runs are up over 7 min. pace, and today was one of those days.
So a week from tomorrow I will be lining up in the Big Easy for my first test of the New Year. I am excited and anxious to compete again. Even a layoff of a couple months makes you feel a little wary before a race. I am going to try my best not to get sucked out too fast, which for me right now would be anything under 5:15 pace. Ideally a first mile in the 5:20’s would set me up for a steady pace through 10 miles which I want to come through somewhere around 54 and change. With a last 5k of under 17 min. I would run in the 71 min. range for the half. Not where I plan to be in a couple months, but ok for February. Based on last year’s results that kind of time would put me in the top 15-20, which would be fine for now. Now it’s time to rest as much as I can when I am not breaking the body down in training or working at my real job. Till the next time.
Eric
Editor's Note: He won in straight sets, playing a guy in his 20's tomorrow in the final. Experience trumps youth.