Another storm comin'

Unless Gustav turns north at the last minute, I'll probably get to run my 5k race in the morning. It was a light week by design. Tomorrow morning I should get an accurate sense of how slow I have become this summer. But I want to give myself the opportunity to surprise myself.

Sunday: run 4m
Tuesday: run 4m
Wednesday: fartleks
Saturday: run 4m

Natural disappointment

Growing up in New England, I was always a little jealous of people who lived in climatologically interesting places. The closest we ever had to a natural disaster was the blizzard. And in Maine we were pretty adept at snow removal, so a blizzard had to be a real doozy to count as an event. Anything less than five feet in 24 hours was insufficient to force a school cancellation, let alone make the national news. Four and a half feet was just enough to break my back shovelling the driveway and not nearly enough to prevent the plows from clearing the road before the school bus arrived. Boe-ring.

By contrast, the South routinely had exciting weather events, which we always watched on television with rapt attention. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. The sorts of cataclysms that launch the careers of aspiring television journalists. Try to imagine Dan Rather in 1961 catching the eye of CBS execs by reporting from the snow-covered rocks of Portland, Maine in January. There's a reason that many Americans think that Maine is a Canadian province: hurricanes make good television and blizzards do not.

Now I live in a very climatologically interesting place: Alabama. So it was with no small anticipation that I awaited the arrival of Hurricane Fay last week, my first noteworthy weather event. Then Fay was downgraded to a tropical storm, changed directions seven times, and stalled out over Florida, which took some of the excitement out of it. But when I saw the pictures of eels and 'gators swimming in the streets of the Sunshine State, I became eager all over again. Violent winds, torrential rains, storm surge, and dangerous animals? I'm all about that!

Fay arrived Saturday and of course I celebrated by lacing up the running shoes and heading out to tour the carnage. I was sorely disappointed. No children suspended horizontally from street signs. No local TV reporters channelling their inner Dan Rathers, buffeted by rapacious gusts. No one paddling around the streets in canoes. Not one alligator.

But there was plenty of rain. So all was not lost. Like most amateur endurance athletes -- runners, cyclists, rhythmic gymnasts -- I am both vain and deluded about my own physique. I'll take any excuse to run shirtless through the streets with rain pouring over my flabby midsection, imagining that I resemble one of those athletes portrayed on the cover of Outside Magazine, making his way across the Australian outback with nothing but a compass, a water bottle, and a tattered pair of running shorts. Fortunately, everyone else had the good sense to stay inside, so I had no spectators.

I have Tropical Depression Fay to thank for that brilliant moment.

My stats from last week.
Sunday: ride 22m
Monday: rest
Tuesday: run 7m
Wednesday: 12 x short hill
Thursday: run 5m
Friday: 12 x 400 meters
Saturday: run 4m shirtless in a mild tropical depression; lunges 20 minutes

Ah, Lunges!

AJMac reminded me that I could always do lunges to help strengthen the legs. I forget these things, which is why we have this blog. Soon, we are entering September and then we will need to definitely crank up the effort; so this comes with good timing. I also could do the exercise where it looks like I am skipping, but I am really propelling myself high in the air. What are those called?

At any rate, I definitely had a productive week = 34 miles:

Monday - 5 miles hard
Tuesday - 3 miles hard
Wednesday - 8 miles - 1 hour 0 minutes,
Thursday - 3 miles easy (not to mention biking into work and home again)
Friday - rest
Saturday - 10 miles - 1 hour 16 minutes
Sunday - 5 miles medium

I also had time to ponder over my running philosophy. Some time soon I will write about it, but only if AJMac doesn't laugh at me. I am feeling more in shape and my 10 mile and 8 mile runs this past week felt efficient. That is good. I need the miles and the confidence to strengthen my legs, the hills to gain some speed and the cardio to build my engine.

I was watching the Olympic men's marathon and they described the winner (from Kenya) as having the perfect marathoner's body, "small frame and large engine, just like a stock car - efficient cardio and only 112 pounds". 112 pounds! Well, I thought I was like a "stock" car, but different meaning. No wonder my marathon is 1.5 hours longer than theirs. I guess I can kiss the 2012 London games good-bye. Maybe the 2010 Nathan's Fourth of July Coney Island HotDog Challenge is within reach. I should start training.

Speed work

Congrats to CGB for his 19:42 5k tempo run Tuesday. He's obviously in good shape to make another run at 19 minutes. In light of my 20:47 5k tempo on Friday afternoon, I have more work to do. My next 5k race will be on Labor Day. It will be helpful to know how much speed I have lost since my 19:12 race in April.

What I have lost in speed I have gained in endurance. Riding the bike around New England and running on trails above 9300 feet in Colorado was very good for the cardio-vascular system. Now I just need to get my legs to move. To that end, the last two weeks have been all about speed work and leg strengthening.

Two weeks ago:
Monday: run 5m
Tuesday: run 4m
Wednesday: run 5.5m
Thursday: 4 x 700 meters (2:34 ave.), 350 meters
Saturday: 12 x 400 meters (88 sec. ave.)

Last week:
Monday: run 6m
Tuesday: run 4m; lunges 20 mins.
Wednesday: run 5.5m
Thursday: 4 x 700 (2:33), 350
Friday: hot, humid 5k tempo (20:47); lunges 20 mins.
Saturday: 10 x 400 (87 sec.)

From Colorado to Sea Level to the Olympics...

Not that I am in or even at the Olympics, but they are on and they are taking up all of my time. Even the kids are into the Olympics. They were in the pool at grandmom and grandpa's house and they were "playing Olympics". Thankfully, Mrs. CGB was there to referee the events.

It has been a while since I posted. Since then, I have returned from my excursion to Colorado and Summit County. It was so beautiful. Some time in Rocky Mountain National Park opened my eyes to God's great glory, when my head was shutting down - not quite acclimated on day one. On my second day, we hiked up to 14,265 ft. on Mt. Quandary and I have never seen anything so surreal in my whole life. Here take a look:

AJMac really enjoyed the views and even got to stand out "over the world".

And just so you believe that I was there:

Now, I have been hard at work back at sea level. Sea level is fine, but after spending days at two or more miles above sea level, such low altitude seems pointless. The only advantage seems to be swimming in the ocean and that is too cold to do. No wonder there was a lady in Boulder, CO with a T-shirt that read, "Sea level is for sissies".

Well, this sissy, has been biking to work most days (it helps that my car was in the shop for a full week). I have been placing runs in strategically and feeling pretty good. I have to get back to doing speed work (my last session was early June), but I was encouraged by a 5K on Tuesday night. I ran it in 19:42. Also, I should state that Mrs. CGB and I are doing the South Beach diet in order to get a little healthier. I actually feel a little more in shape. Dieting, biking and running ought to do that, you know. Now, I need to translate the lost weight into a faster 5K time.

At sea level

Back in Alabama now and back on a regular running routine (more on which later). The month of June was all about the bike, and I logged several hundred miles riding around the south coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The month of July was all about the trail running shoes, and I spent enough time at 9300 feet and above to build a decent stock of red blood cells.

As I mentioned in a previous post, CGB joined me in Colorado. We ran a couple of times and ascended Quandary Peak, 14,265 feet high:

Here's CGB coming down the mountain, with a crowd going up (it was busy day):

Mrs. Mac and Baby Mac hiked with me every day around Summit County.

Now I have a daily diet of flat, low Alabama. Speed work, anyone?