Pardon Me, While I Burst Into Flames
Monday, 04-12-2010
Tuesday, 04-13-2010
1H out to Pine Gully + Gym ~ 15km
Wednesday, 04-14-2010
50' easy on the Seabrook Trails ~ 12km
Thursday, 04-15-2010
56' progression in Patterson Park ~ 15km
Friday, 04-16-2010
AM: 30' + 12 x 500 in 1'35", r. 2' ~ 14.5km
1'38", 1'33", 1'35", 1'37", 1'36", 1'35", 1'35", 1'36", 1'35", 1'36", 1'38", 1'35"
PM: 30' around Patterson Park ~ 6.5km
Saturday, 04-17-2010
37' around Patterson + flexibility ~ 9.5km
Sunday, 04-18-2010
30' + Earth Day 5.15K in 16:29 (3rd) ~ 11.5km
Total
105km (65 Miles)
* Strong fartlek on Monday, considering a brutal return trip from Miami. Southwest Airlines is a joke for families travelling. Case in point: our first connection was massively delayed due to rain and so we had literally 2 minutes to run to our connecting flight in Orlando. Not really a big deal if you make the flight, right? Wrong, if you are travelling with children. Southwest does not assign seats, which I am sure some people love and I am sure that Southwest has researched that this is the approved methodology for their consumer, however, we were the last ones on the flight and my oldest daughter had to sit by herself in the last row in between a behemoth of a woman and some strange guy. Meanwhile, Victoria and I were on the verge of being separated as well. The flight crew offered free cocktails to anyone willing to swap seats so that my 3-year and I could sit together. No one flinched. Finally, the guy next to me offered to move and Victoria was able to sit by me, after about 5 minutes of trauma. Obviously, Perla and Sophia were able to sit by themselves in another random seat. We will never fly Southwest again as a family. Our bags ended up completely drenched (like they fell in a pool of water) and my kids were traumatized. Thank goodness that Madelyn is a mature 6-year old, or this trip would have been hell. Ugh, I guess you get what you pay for... oh yeah, and no meals. So, since we had to run to our connecting flight, we were unable to eat since 6AM and it was now 2PM... I had to convince Victoria that if you chewed peanuts (which she hated), she could make peanut butter, just so she wouldn't pass out from starvation...
* Alright, so I have arrived in Baltimore. First order of business is to go get my 2006 Infiniti G35 in Virginia. Then, it's off to find some cheaper groceries. Freaking Whole Foods took me to the cleaners. I am going to be in trouble these next 60 days of temp housing, as I had a Mediterranean Veggie Wrap for dinner tonight. $92 bought me some spaghetti, meatballs, cheese, bread, oj, cereal, milk and not much else. I don't even have Cafe Bustelo yet, nor a cafetera. Oh well... At least I am finally here and ready to get to work.. running tomorrow morning will be interesting, but there were literally hundreds of runners around town tonight. Boston Marathon is Monday!
* Alright, I have a phenomenal story from this morning's workout in the ghetto of Baltimore. So, they call Baltimore, Bodymore, Murderland, due to the ridiculous crime rates, which I have yet to see. Anyway, I had a track workout and the only track I found nearby was sketchy at best, thanks to Google Maps. Sketchy, because the bird's eye shot showed a worn-down track, no lane markers, no upkeep, just danger. Everyone had warned me about the Chris Rock, "good block, bad block, CRACK block!" but I hadn't ventured out far enough on my runs to Patterson Park. However, this morning, I would head to Patterson, do a half-loop and head for the track for my 30-min warm-up. As I exited Patterson Park on the northside, I soon realized I was entering some rougher neighborhoods, but no worries. I was wearing a yellow shirt and white headband, carrying my T6 racers, as I am apt to do for a workout. And so, I passed John Hopkins Medical Center and soon enough I find my track right after N. Central.
The track is an old, black, rubberized track, but there is no longer any rubber and it's mostly CCHS concrete. My largest concern is that there are scores of locals walking the track (which don't bother me), but it's the homeless or just bored that are just hanging out around the track. I try to think back to my days in Miami, figuring I used to run through Liberty City, and that no one is going to bother a Hispanic busting out 500-meter repeats. My biggest concern is surreptitiously changing shoes so no one notices nor steals my trainers. I end up going to the far side of the track and hiding my gear in a paper bag and proceed to start the workout shirtless. Now, I am getting some nice looks from the locals, and a little crowd forms. And then it hits me: I am wearing all-red, blood-red, BLOOD-red, like Blood vs Crips RED racing flats! Immediately, I am like, I hope Blood/Crips doesn't exist in Baltimore. Now, if I was in LA/Oakland I would be dead, but I was hoping there were no color wars in B'more. I get through 6 repeats without a problem, and then a Tracy Morgan character joins in... "hey, how long you been running." "15-minutes." "Man, you got me beat. Sh!t, you be rolling 'round that track. Hell, yeah!" I try to engage him, but I only have 2-min recoveries so I try not to be rude and line up for the next few and there he goes, ranting and hollering as I loop his track. By now, there are some suspicious kids/adolescents I sense scoping me out from a corner, but I continue to run strongly. I am committed to the workout. The workout goes greatly and I quickly avoid a drug deal and switch into my shoes, unawares, and head back N. Central, figuring I am good to go. However, my worst nightmare almost happens when I approach a group of 8-10 playing cards, sitting in chairs basically in the street, as I am carrying my Blood-red T6's... "hey, boy, gimme dem shoes." I ignore him and keep it going. A couple comments later, thankfully there is no chase and I finish up. 85-min of running with cruising at 1'35" per 500m two days before my debut and I'm feeling strong. Should be good...
* Race was crazy. Got there with plenty of time, well-rested and ready to go. My left hammy was messing around with weakness, but after some strides I was ready. 45-degree temps was a bit of a shock, but the bigger shock was the course itself! You basically ran downhill the first 1200m, hit flats, climbed a trail, and then got back on the monster mile climb back to the finish line. It was brutal! Not only that, it didn't let me know where I'm at with my training. 5:19 pace on those hills is solid, so I am thinking my time is closer to 15:40's or thereabouts. The top guys run sub-25 on the roads and they ran 15:41 and 15:58, respectively. Update: the course measured out at 5.15km, so perhaps closer to a 15:58 effort... but the hills make this well worth my first guess of a sub-15:50 effort. Here is the link to the course, http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=364634. Next week will be the truth.
