Martin Point Run

Michele takes the best pictures.

Considerable consumption of junk food yesterday, the way I managed to largely avoid in North Carolina. Just yesterday afternoon I was reflecting to the wife how some times Doritos feel in my mouth as nothing more than gravel when at others they have the consistency and flavor of the greatest food ever formulated. My affection for Doritos knows no bounds, except for when I curse them and all their fried abuse.

Anyway, I ate a lot of Doritos yesterday. Cheez-Its, too. Dinner, however, was absolutely remarkable, we all teamed together to create loaded carnitas tacos, complete with rice and beans and guacamole and grilled vegetables and everything.

At dusk the girl asked to go kayaking. She's very careful, if she goes out on her own she would prefer an adult at least in attendance on the dock. I asked if I could go out with her and so we did, it was between low and high tide and we headed straight out past the tip of Pa's Island and back.

We left home a week ago today, we leave Flood's Cove a week from today. Much time left to accomplish many things, or not one thing at all.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Route: Martin Point

Previously charted the trip out to the end of Martin's Point Road and back as four miles, in reality it is closer to three and a half. I would give you an accurate measure, but my phone died on the trip. She's right, I need a Garmin.

Passed one of these Down East Characters on my run today:

DOWNEAST CHARACTER: How we doing?
PENGO: Good!
DOWNEAST CHARACTER: Say, you still running since yesterday?

Temperature: 70°
Climate: bright, humid, paradisical
Intake: none
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: sort of

Time for freshly baked blueberry muffins, Here's a little breakfast music:

Z practicing a Bach piece for her audition.
Posted by Michele Kosboth on Thursday, July 30, 2015

Running round. Leaving scars.

Settling down and cutting the internet is hard work. But there were many leisurely hours spent reading and taking notes and greeting friends and also taking a brief motorboat ride (I was the captain, a role which seriously freaks me out) enjoying a mid-afternoon beer and chasing the kids down to the dock.

"For God's sake. It's Flood's Cove and you are a child. Go torture sea animals or set fire to something the way I did." 

Speaking of fond and/or anxiety inducing childhood vacation memories, Michele took it upon herself this winter to personally commission T-shirts and sweatshirts proudly displaying a modified version of the Friendship, Maine logo which was in use in the mid-to-late 1970s.

How cool is that? I mean, seriously. It's like someone handing you an exact replica of that stuffed animal you loved so much that was destroyed by the neighbor's dog when you were seven. 

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:07:30
Avg Pace: 8:26
Route: Rt. 220

First time taking a run on the state road out of Friendship, like exactly the kind of place Stephen King got hit by that truck. Lots of hills, and bugs and even bees.

Took a break on my way back, around mile six, the visit the Roadside Cemetery, for that is indeed its name. Final resting place for those who reside here. Their ancestors rest here in the earth, mine and my children's rest here in the sea.

Last night we had a big crowd for dinner, cousins and friends. My cousin Amy (cousin once removed) who lives and works in Germany was visiting her folks here, she is also in training for a marathon, her first - though she has run several half marathons and in her time has been much more athletic than I.

Our training methods are different, she is being instructed by her supervisors and colleagues at work. She works for the WHO, which endorses workplace health promotion, so within her sphere of influence running this marathon is kind of a big deal. They have a detailed regimen involving not merely distance but pace.

My training by comparison is pretty haphazard, but I guess I always knew that. She did make me think seriously of getting a Garmin to better track not only my miles, pace and time, but also heart rate, a metric I am currently lacking. Last check my heart is pretty healthy but I would be well served to keep it monitored as I run to avoid any unhappy surprises.

Temperature: 66° - 70°
Climate: quite humid.
Intake: yogurt, granola & banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: yes!

The relaxation continues. Would appear to be another remarkably beautiful day laid out before us. The girl came down with a serious summertime cold yesterday and was up half the night unable to breathe, with a raging sore throat and the chills. This morning she is much more sanguine but also exhausted.

What's That Lyric?
Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri

So I run and I run and I run and I run and I run.

Tragedy tomorrow. Bingo tonight.

Our second day in Montreal was better than our first. I am so proud of both of these kids, they are patient and strong. Another big walking day. On our first we went to cultural happenings - kinetic art - on our second we visited to great houses of visual art; the Musée des Beaux Arts and also the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal.

For their patience (and ours) we were all rewarded to obscenely delicious crêpes. The evening was spent devouring reheated poutine and doing crossword puzzles as a family while a thunderstorm whipped through the city. Timing is everything!

Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 49:15
Avg Pace: 8:12
Route: Martin Point

Yesterday we drove clear from Quebec to Maine in a little over six hours, stopping in Errol, NH for lunch at the Northern Exposure (where they also serve poutine) and everyone listening to the audiobook of Ender's Game.

It is interesting listening to that book, knowing what I do now about the author and his beliefs. It's still a good book and if I didn't read an author's work because of their known bigotry and racism I wouldn't get to perform the works of Shakespeare.

One of the first things that happened last evening was that I slipped two steps and hit the arch of my right foot very hard. Very painful, feels bruised. That was unfortunate.

Temperature: 66°
Climate: warm, humid, bright and beautiful
Intake: banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: yes

First run in the cove. A little bit this way, a little bit that way to make six miles. Supposed to log sixteen on Sunday, father says there was a route he would take, a great loop around Friendship that he liked quite a bit. We'll map that and perhaps I will make it.

I have never taken a run a run outside of Flood's Cove/Martin's Point (except for that one 5K) so that will be an experience.

My foot did not bother me, at least not during the run. It may do so for the rest of the day, but no matter I intend to spend most of it sitting on the porch and reading. Dad just happens to have a book here (The Great Silence by Juliet Nicholson) about that period in Britain I am supposed to currently be writing about.

Emil Cioran once said, "a book is a postponed suicide." Perhaps writing one may be, reading one is just postponed writing.

The stretches. Must work on the stretches.

What's That Lyric?
Running Man - Whomadewho 

Montréal (two)

Piknic Electronik

Have we only been in Montreal for one day? Feels like a week. My birthday was chock a block with activity, every step of which involved walking. We are residing in the Le Plateau neighborhood and it is impossible to walk down the street without the wife and daughter wanting to step into a shop. The boy just complains about his legs hurting.

We dug some seriously deep beats at the Piknic Electronik and then an outdoor production of Twelfth Night courtesy of Repercussion Theatre. We were all very glad to get back to the apartment and to take off our shoes.

Distance: 3 miles
Avg Pace: 8:17
Route: Mount Royal

Because we are traveling internationally I have not been streaming music. This is a good thing, I wouldn't have been listening to music while running past the Niagara River anyhow. Usually it's only during races I go without music. I want to hear it all, not something I generally feel when taking my daily route.

I also become very aware of the sound of my breathing.

The wife was surprised that I would want to take a run this morning, after all the walking we did yesterday. That was exactly why I wanted to take a run this morning.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: shiny and humid
Intake: banana & yogurt
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes

 Good run, a little way up the mountain and back. Downhill all the way home. The five or so blocks from the apartment to the park, however, are treacherous. Québécois cyclists are just like those at home, traffic lights do not apply to them.

Montréal (one)

I'm a dreamer ... Montréal?

First day in Montreal, camping in the funkiest apartment I have stayed in for I can't remember how long. Since Chicago, perhaps. Certainly an education for my children. A serious exposure to la vie bohème. It freaks the girl out, just being here, with the potential of anyone speaking French near her. The boy wants to know about all the marijuana imagery on the posters.

Distance: 10 miles
Duration: 1:27:24
Avg Pace: 8:53
Route: Parc du Mont-Royal (Mount Royal Park)

It's my birthday, dammit, and I ran up and down a mountain. Official distance was 9:82 but screw that, I ran up and down a mountain today.

It got a little desperate near the summit, as I kept thinking I was approaching the top. It is a wooded mountain within the city, and I first there was a manor house and then this thing that looks like a cross between a cross and the Eiffel Tower, and then finally the Kondiaronk Belvedere, which is the money shot (see money shot above.)

Week Six Total: 29 miles
Training To Date: 170 miles

Temperature: 66° - 70°
Climate: overcast and humid
Intake: latte and croissants (not joking)
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes!
Stretches: no.

Niagara Falls, Ont.

Mad dash into the homestretch of summer vacation. Sigh. When the wife was at grad school in Vermont, we stopped by Niagara twice, in summer 2006 and again on New Year's Day 2007. So of course, neither of them remember it.

We arrived just before dusk, and neither of us remember it being so crowded. Of course, the Canadian side has been built up considerably since our first visit nineteen years ago.

We dined at Elements on the Falls, which takes the place of that restaurant right next to the falls, only now the food is excellent, using locally sourced ingredients. Our window was right next to the falls as the sun set and the colored lights came on so th kids were even more impressed.

On our walk back to the incline, a number of teenagers implored us to join them in Hungarian dancing. The women were game but I stood back to watch with the boy (who would not, no way) as a circle of visitors and tourists - a circle which grew over the course of two separated dances - were taught basic moves and danced to drum and some type of small reed instrument.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg Pace: 8:22
Route: Niagara Falls, Ontario

This morning the wife and I walked down to the falls to run and there is a bandstand set up in Queen Victoria Park. We saw a contingent of sikhs practicing dances as well. The mystery of the Hungarian dancers may have been solved, we believe, as we made a connection between these events and all the signs we have seen for the Pan Am Games, which are being held in Toronto.

Temperature: 70
Climate: misty
Intake: no
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: water bottle 
Stretches: walking to the falls

Do people run next to the falls? Why yes they do, plenty of them. Before 8 AM is certainly best, we completed our runs just as the crowds started to thicken. I headed off on my own, south along the Niagara River for a mile and a half, past the old power station, away from the tourist plaza, the constant rush of the river, so powerful and strong. The mist was a deeply refreshing rain.

You always run around breaking all the rules.

Courtesy of The Onion

Hey hey! I got profiled on the Twin Cities Marathon 20 Questions Blog!

Late nights do not pair well with early mornings. Just a fact. Lately a certain member of the family can be having a great day, and then when it comes time to rest they simply cannot, fretting over ... something, anything, really. Something that failed to happen during the day. Then comes the reassurance, the calming intervention. It can keep you up til midnight.

I don't care what else is going on or what my schedule is, staying up until midnight no longer works for me, ever, at all.

In other news, yesterday I had lunch al fresco with a former work colleague and the dome of my big bald head is a shiny, deep pink. Now that I put it that was, this former colleague was the first person to so melodiously refer to my head as my "big bald head".

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 8:08
Route: Cain Park Loop

4 Hours Scrolling Through Facebook Before Bed Referred To As ‘Winding Down’
- The Onion, 7/22/2015

The Onion still has this keen habit of just saying things you don't want to admit that are true. Last week I asked the wife to lock me out of my own Facebook account, which has been remarkably successful. However, I have also now become deeply invested in Twitter.

Temperature: 70°
Climate: humid & clammy
Weight: 158 lbs. (-2.0)
Intake: banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: yes

Didn't think I would make that one. Not feeling very strong at the outset, too little rest. Fitful sleep. But I got stronger as the run went on, picking up speed.

Next stop: Niagara!

What's That Lyric?
Comeback Kid - Sleigh Bells

I trip over my shoelaces.

There is nothing wrong with my collarbone.

We've reached that time, the time when running begins to feel selfish. I hope it's a passing phase, brought on by my inability this week to run at dawn. Running in the evening, at night, is time not spent making dinner, cleaning up, spending time with the family.

It's okay. Really, it's okay. It's just tonight I'm feeling like this. We have to pack for the trip and I'm sure my wife would rather have me cook this evening, but she's told me not to worry, they support me. It's important.

So we run.

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 8:07
Route: Cain Park Loop

Delightful pre-sunset run. Not so sweaty tonight. Returning from work this afternoon I was exhausted and immediately took a forty minute nap -- which is a lot. A nap like that can render me delirious for an hour, and I guess it did. But getting out really cleared my head, and I feel much, much better.

Tomorrow is a day off! Whew.

Temperature: 75°
Climate: not as humid
Weight: 157 lbs. (-3.0)
Intake: banana, salted almonds
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Collarbone - Fujiya & Miyagi

Gardening at night.

Today I made my first garlic scape basil pesto, which I am proud of because usually the wife makes it but this time I did and it really didn't suck.

Tomorrow our governor will be making a special announcement which probably means he is announcing a run for president, though knowing him after making all these visit to New Hampshire and designing a logo and everything he'll probably announce that he isn't because he's such a jerk.

Distance: 3 miles
Avg Pace: 7:53
Route: Boulevard Loop

Hilarious. You know that stretch of Monticello I am always complaining about during the winter, because no one shovels their sidewalks?

They did a lot of road work in June, and ripped most of them up. On the north side of the street, there are smooth, recently paved sidewalks. For over a month the side most convenient for me to run upon (the south) are gravel ditches blocked by plastic netting and barrels.

Temperature: 75°
Climate: humid
Weight: 158 lbs. (-2.0)
Intake: yes
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes

A night time run this time of year can be delightful, especially at this time of night. Many young parents walking children, couples holding hands, the odd bike rider, Regnier walking that big-ass dog of his.

But when it's really dark, when the streetlights on the side streets are obscured by trees, it is very disorienting. The absence of sight, the music in my ears, it's delirium inspiring, like a scene out of Altered States.

Killing something ... a goat.
 
What's That Lyric?
Gardening At Night - R.E.M.

Sweat's running down your back.

First solo long run (without the boy) this training season. Fourteen miles, at 160 BPM the entire time, except for the last two miles which I ran at 165 BPM.

This past week I have been exhausted. One day off last Wednesday with longer runs through the week, including that seven mile. I come home from work needing a nap and even then I want to go to sleep before anyone else in the house which is nearly impossible to make happen, each child is so restless and full of thoughts by the end of the day.

Rose at six, no head pain, took my time hydrating, eating, taking care of business. Chose to have a bottle of water in hand, which I believe is the secret to my success. I had no discomfort on this run, a discomfort which feels like hunger but I believe is almost always thirst.

Took the scenic route around Wade Oval (where there is a water fountain) and took in the Anish Kapoor installation outside the Cleveland Museum of Art (see right). Kapoor designed the famous Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park, though no one calls it that. They all call it The Bean.

This piece is entitled C-Curve and will no doubt be referred to locally as that curved mirror outside the art museum.

Thanks again, Rockefeller Park tennis courts, for offering a recently service port-o-john and another water fountain. Made it all the way down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to the lake before heading back, this time heading back up through Lakeview Cemetery for home.

Just nine o'clock. Time to have a day.

Distance: 14 miles
Duration: 1:58:27
Avg Pace: 8:27
Route: MLK to the lake and back.

Week Five Total: 39 miles
Training To Date: 141 miles

Temperature: 79°
Climate: humid and overcast
Weight: 156.5 lbs. (-3.5)
Intake: yogurt & granola
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: yes

What's That Lyric?
Damaged Goods - Gang of Four

I run my feet hurt.

This guy.

Running six days a week suddenly seems like a lot of running, especially getting up earlier these past few days - even Saturday - in order to get it in.

Big theater weekend, saw Merchant of Venice last night, headed to see American Idiot tonight. Did some serious work preparing the boy for the context of the Shakespeare play ... American Idiot (which he's already seen) is about sex, drugs, rock and roll, nihilism and the Iraq War, but Merchant is much more insidious and troubling.

We will be traveling again and soon. As my training runs become longer and longer, I need to find some way to fit them into a traveling schedule. I'm looking forward to this, really. Can I find a good four mile path near Niagara Falls? Ten miles in Montreal? Like so many other things to plan for, I need to do research on this.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg Pace: 8.27
Route: Boulevard Loop

Bad start, I knew it would be a bad start, I didn't want to leave the house. Took me 45 minutes to get prepared. Normally it takes ten, maybe fifteen, to drink, eat, void, dress and roll out (not necessarily in that order.)

Had a headache, no idea why I had a headache. No alcohol yesterday, slept well in air-conditioned comfort. Just one of those pains that makes it hard to lift my head. I do not think I had enough water before stepping out, five miles without a planned water stop. Not good, not on a day like today.

Here is my report on Station Eleven (spoiler alert).

  Cleveland's great for the whole family.
Temperature: 77°
Climate: bright and humid
Weight: 157.5 lbs. (-2.5)
Intake: yogurt & granola
Hydration: yes
Water break: no
Stretches: yes

What's That Lyric?
Insistor - Tapes 'n Tapes

Contestants in a suicidal race.

I'm not in it for the shirts, like I don't seek autographs from famous people or make video recordings of my children performing music. I don't need evidence, I know I was there.

The race shirts that are made of wicking material are at least useful and I keep and use those. There are many race shirts I have received and almost immediately put in the giveaway pile.

However, the shirts the girl and I received for the Independence Day Run are by far the softest garments ever and make the happiest sleeptime wear imaginable and have totally made my summer.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg Pace: 8.10
Route: Cain Park Loop

Difficult morning to wake up. Our perfect summer has hit a wall, each of us engaged in our own anxiety or ennui.

I am trying, very hard, to write. There are a mountain of distractions. I have asked the wife to change my Facebook password to curtail my use. This is successful only to a point, the entire rest of the internet still exists.

Finished Station Eleven the other night. Full report due by the end of the afternoon.

Temperature: 68°
Climate: overcast, cool but humid
Weight: 155.5 lbs.
Intake: energy gel
Hydration: yes
Water stop: yes
Stretches: yes

We finish at 32:00 (on the clock)

What's That Lyric?
Synchronicity II - The Police 

The road just leads to nowhere.

When you pay money for something, and then you apply it permanently to your five-figure vehicle, you are making a statement.

People with this sticker on their car (see right) aren't just saying, "I don't run."

They are saying, "Fuck you, runner."

There those who state that we live in a time of overreaching political correctness, and that people today are too easily offended.

Might I suggest that people today go to great lengths to casually offend people they don't even know.

Distance: 7 miles
Avg Pace: 8.07
Route: Forest Hills-Cain Park Loop

Temperature makes a great difference. So glad I rose early to put in this longer daily run than wait until this evening when it will be twenty degrees warmer. A brisk seven miles and I don't even feel winded.

Something about my run today felt effortless, and as a result I wasn't really listening to the MMR women in my head telling me what my pace was. My pace wasn't something I was thinking about. However, I was going about 160 bpm, which felt ideal.

Last night some friends of ours and we were watching our kids play ball on the fields in Forest Hills, and Marcie mused how odd it was to think we were just standing there, watching a game where the Rockefeller's used to stroll. That is odd to think.

I ran through this same space today, through Forest Hills, the former Rockefeller estate. Had to jog away from the pond near the pavilion as there was a fawn grazing right by the water. No idea whether mother or father was waiting in the pavilion. 

Temperature: 55°
Climate: cool!
Weight: 157.5 lbs.
Intake: energy gel
Hydration: yes
Water stop: yes
Stretches: yes
Upper Body: 160 reps

Three year old energy gel? Sure. Why not.

What's That Lyric?
New Life - Depeche Mode

... or run away from with flailing arms.

Mornings are more challenging when my run is in the evening. Maybe this is a duh moment, but it is worth noting. Waking up with muscles and joints feeling stiff, perhaps hobbling down stairs. Not my favorite way to begin the day.

Thinking of running slower. When, as yesterday, my goal is a swift three miles, I can push it out pretty fast. Longer runs should be more leisurely ... except they are already long and there's thing to do, man. Gotta get home.

Take it easy. This is training. And it's okay.

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 7:40
Route: Cain Park Loop

When it feels good, it is hard not to run fast. This morning the wife expressed concern for me, that may injure myself if I am not careful, that I might push too far. This morning's physical complaints might support that argument, and I do not wish to inflict any permanent damage.

But I am careful, I do stretch. I have been cross-training. I eat and drink well. But I promise to be careful.

The difference between my time in New York (4:15) and Cleveland (just below 4:00) was forty-five seconds per mile. I need to break a nine-minute mile to break a four hour marathon. When the time comes, I cannot be running eight minutes miles back-to-back. I won't sustain that. I will learn, through my long runs, how to go as an easier pace.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: sweaty!
Weight: 157 lbs. (-3.0)
Intake: banana
Hydration: yes
Water break: yes
Stretches: yes
Upper Body: 80 reps

Started feeling ill between the third and fourth mile, and believed that I was hungry. But there was a water break in the park. I drank deep, and the discomfort subsided. Not hungry, thirsty! These things are important.

What's That Lyric?
Eject - Pluto Jonze

I'm in no fit shape.

Everyone, please shut up about the Bloom County thing.

I had a headache, all day. Sorry. But shut up.

Distance: 3 miles
Avg Pace: 7.40
Route: Boulevard Loop

My knee bothers me when I drive. Not my knee, actually, the front of my shin just below my knee. The ligament. Anyway, I hate driving. My legs hate driving, and my feet. But running feels really good, you know?

Temperature: 81°
Climate: humid and overcast
Weight: 159 lbs. (-1.0)
Hydration: after, yes.
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric? 
No Fit State - Hot Chip

MLK Twelve-Miler

Morning, Mahatma.

Pain in my right hip this morning. My right knee has been a little pained. I was concerned that running at night the other night was a mistake. My paths were very dark in places -- that is the problem with running on side streets. During the day its night, at night however the trees can make your path invisible and it is possible to misstep, hit the pavement wrong, and hurt yourself.

I have two bruised toenails on my right foot. No idea how that happened. It may have been due to my ten-mile on the beach, wearing the old shoes. I have been trying to keep my nails trim and neat.

Oh, I'm also reading a book. Like, I am in the zone reading a book that I don't want to stop reading to do anything else, like run or write or eat or anything.

Distance: 12 miles
Duration: 2:27:33
Avg Pace: 12.17
Route: Lakeview & MLK Loop

Team challenge: The boy on the bike, and I running. He remembered not to wear cotton, choosing one of his baseball jerseys. Good call.

It was another epic, this time heading through the cemetery and the Case campus onto MLK to the India Cultural Garden and back, taking time to check out Wade Chapel and the lagoon. The boy, like his mother, loves the water fowl.

We discussed the possibility of his joining me for the 20 miler on August 30. That would be a big deal for a ten year-old, but certainly possible. What an education! Though I do not have as many knowledgeable things to say to him as he does to me.

Week Four Total: 31 miles
Training To Date: 102 miles

Made up for missing last week's twelve mile run by having one today. Just worked out like that.

Temperature: 79°
Climate: overcast and humid
Weight: 156.5 lbs.
Intake: yogurt & granola
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes
Upper Body: 100 reps

You're my number one guy.

Are you ready to go back to Titanic?

Boy Camp 2015 is in effect. Yesterday we went bowling, and I attended his baseball game. We had hot dogs for dinner and watched The Terminator. Oh my God, Bill Paxton is the blue-haired punk.

The wife and the girl attend a feminist retreat in Pennsylvania each July, and have done so since 2010. The boy was five at that time and a little distressed to learn mom was not only going out of town, but taking his sister to do some special thing.

I told him that if they were going to girl camp then we were having boy camp. This piqued his interest, and he asked what boy camp was. I said I wasn't sure yet, but that it probably involved bowling.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg Pace: 7.45
Route: Forest Hills Loop

This one hit the pavement and took an awesome five mile run through the park while the boy slept in after a night that also included a hard-fought ball game, in addition to a super-violent sci-fi adventure. Actually, I think he's seen worse action on SHIELD and that Terminator's R-rating is due entirely to judicious use of the f-word and Linda Hamilton's boobs.

Consensual sex, bad ... pulling the beating heat out of someone's chest, good. Let's have this discussion again.

Tomorrow I am due for a 10-mile run, having missed my long-run last weekend. We will have to make an adventure out of that. Perhaps visit Gandhi.

Temperature: 73°
Climate: bright, clear and cool-ish
Weight: 175.5 lbs.
Intake: bagel w/cream cheese
Hydration: yes
Stretches: a little

What's That Lyric?
Ready For the Floor - Hot Chip

Baby ... we were born to run!

There may be offspring.

Hey! Two of my best friends just had babies! Two babies!

That's it, that's all I got. We're at that point in training I find myself taking six mile runs after 10 PM. Enjoy this funny video.

If People Talked About Other Hobbies Like They Talk About Running
"If People Talked About Other Hobbies Like They Talk About Running" - It's like every other hobby, except not the slightest bit enjoyable.
Posted by CollegeHumor on Monday, July 6, 2015

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 7.53
Temperature: 68°
Climate: humid. dark.
Hydration: yes
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Born To Run - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

You must be looking very old tonight.

How To Run (1657)
from Ask the Past*

Running, if it be vehement, is good for fat and moist bodies, but it is bad for such as are troubled with any kind of headache.

If running be moderate, it excellently warms the body, excites appetite.

Uphill, 'tis bad for the breast and thighs. Downhill it very much affects the head, it shakes the bowels, troubles weak hips.

The body being covered, by moving sweat, it moistens and heats the flesh, but it makes the bodies ill-colored, because the pure air does not come at them, to cleanse the same.

The body being naked, it draws out great plenty of sweat.

- Joannes Johnstonus, "The Idea of Practical Physick in Twelve Books"

Distance: 5 miles
Avg Pace: 7.52
Route: Boulevard Loop

Temperature: 73°
Climate: damp, cooler
Weight: 157 lbs. (-3.0)
Intake: flavored almonds
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes

What's That Lyric?
What Difference Does It Make - The Smiths 

*Thanks to Jim G. for the find.

I'll be back at Echo Beach some day.

Home. That was a beautiful journey, from beginning to end. One of my favorites.

Even better, we were largely packed the night before, making our departure stress-free. Yesterday morning we were drinking coffee on the deck like it was just another day, three hours later we were on the road.

Last night, the crowning achievement, watching the final of the WWC. The three of them were in Ottawa when the series began, and here we were watching the triumphant finale. The weeks peel away, and yet there is still so much summer to enjoy.

Neglected to note: Twenty-one runs in June. Far and away another record. This year is going well.

Distance: 3 miles
Avg Pace: 7.18
Route: Boulevard Loop

Flat out, at 165 BPM. I developed a cramp in my back, because, duh, my posture was for shit. Not worth going so fast. Stay upright, shorter strides.

The sun is so hot in North Carolina ... but the air is hotter here.

Temperature: 81°
Climate: hot and sweaty
Weight: 160 lbs. (-0-)
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes

Yes! I gained weight. A whole week of drinking beer and eating fried food, I gained one pound.

What's That Lyric?
Echo Beach - Martha and the Muffins

2015 Island Independence 5K

2015 Island Independence 5K
Start: 7:30 am

Dad
Official time: 32:00.8
Chip Time: 31:27.7
Overall: 259th
Male 45-49: 16th

Girl
Official time: 32:00.8
Chip Time: 31:27.9
Overall: 258th
Female 14 & Under: 5th

The question was whether I would run with her. More precisely, the question was whether she would let me run with her. I asked if I could, and she had said no. If I was there and the going got rough she wold yell at me and she didn't want to do that.

In my mind I pictured running out ahead of her, worrying about her, and that didn't sound very enjoyable to me. Also, I wasn't in this to score, to make great time, rather just to have a good time.

We rose early, the wife made breakfast of eggs, toast and grapefruit - and coffee, we each had a little coffee. The wife, the boy (who woke with extreme reluctance) and MP headed out to Mile 2 to cheer us on. The girl and I walked to the starting line at Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel.

She was a bit intimidated, and asked if I wouldn't start with her before moving ahead at my own pace. I pictured myself taking off from her, moving out ahead, and that felt even worse. But then I figured, if I don't say anything, and she doesn't either, maybe I won't have to.

We ran the race together.

UPDATE: No long run this week. Several additional short runs, though.

Week Three Total: 22.1 miles
Training To Date: 71 miles

Training run.

We run. The girl and I took a brief trial run on the pavement this morning. Better now than later, it will only get hotter all day.

She did not feel as though she would die. She did not tell me to shut up. I just handed her a bottle of water, said good work. She did not comment. I have registered for the race, I have my bib number. We will see whether I run alone or not.

Perhaps it will rain. 

Distance: 1 mile
Avg Pace: 9.34
Route: S. Anderson Run
Temperature: 79°
Climate: clear and hot

UPDATE: She is registered for the race. Wish us luck.

Running at the speed of light.

Up since 4 AM. Every year there is at least one morning the boy and I try some night fishing. The best part for me is getting breakfast at six from the pier grill. Lousy coffee, great eggs and hash browns. He caught three small fish, which meant the entire endeavor was an overwhelming success!

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 8.23
Route: Topsail Loop (or something)

Spotify gets spotty on the beach, so I thought I would try something new. Yesterday the wife and I had taken a long walk down the beach and I mused about running off the beach one morning and through one of the public passages onto the streets.

That way I could also check how fast I run at 165 bpm on pavement. Never really tested that before. Not much difference, a little, but not tremendously different. It sure felt easier, but I missed the wind off the ocean. And the ocean. The sand, the whole beach thing. Worth the effort.

True, though. The reception was much better. Should have brought my old iPod.

Temperature: 79°
Climate: breezy and hot
Intake: big breakfast
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes

What's That Lyric?
No Lookin' Back - Michael McDonald

UPDATE: Girl Run

Her plan was to run three miles. The wife did not think this was a good idea, but she is a very determined girl. One mile out, one mile back, and then half a mile out and back. Her plan.

As the tide goes out the beach becomes very, very windy. We ran into the wind, for a mile. She did not make an objection nor a sound. We turned around at one mile.

Dad: How are you feeling.
Girl: Horrible!
Dad: You're doing great.
Girl: I want to sit down and I want to die!
Dad: You are breathing very well.
Girl: I hate my hair! I want to cut all my hair off!
Dad: We can cut your hair if you want.
Girl: I want to die!
Dad: I am proud of you.
Girl: SHUT UP.

And so on.

She made it two miles, and collapsed into the sand. By her estimation, it was an utter failure.

There you have every close, personal relationship with every woman in my life.

Distance: 2 miles
Avg Pace: 9.42
Temperature: 82°
Climate: really, really windy

Vacation means indulgence, to be sure. I have been consumed far less than normal, but what the hell did I used to eat and drink on vacay? No idea what I weight, feel I may have put on a bit. Or not. There's no scale here, we'll just wait and see.

Bonus run!

Koona t'chuta Solo?

Day-off run ... with the girl! A few months ago I may have suggested all four of us would be running the 5K this Saturday, though it has appeared more likely to be just me. The wife has been training with Couch To 5K and quite successfully but is not at that point in the program yet, and neither is the boy.

I try not to press the girl to run with me, rather leave the invitation open. It's not as though she doesn't exercise, she's a hardcore soccer player (her hero is Hope Solo, and yes, she knows) but running is different. She has had great difficulty getting past the "stitch" phase and can be very resistant to advice.

I mean, she hears it, it's obvious that she hears it. Today it was apparent to me that she had taken in every suggestion we have made because I could hear hear her using them while running and couldn't wait to tell me about how well it had worked when she had finished.

In fact, it was she who suggested we run a mile today. And just as we were reaching home she said she wanted to run another mile. So we did. And now she says she wants to run the race on Saturday.

But I must be careful. She may try to run tomorrow, forgetting how challenging it was for her today, and become discouraged. Because that's a thing that happens.

Distance: 2 miles
Avg Pace: 9.33
Route: Topsail Beach

Last night the four of us watched the match at Gallagher's - the same place the wife and I watched the men's USA v GER game last year. The women win.

Temperature: 79°
Climate: bright, hot and breezy
Hydration: I think.
Stretches: yes, both of us.