Change of Pace

You'd think, living in a huge urban center, that all that asphalt would be hell on the legs. And I'm sure it is for downtown residents who rely on the paved riverside paths for their daily runs. But for those of us who have Central Park at our disposal, I think we've got it better even than many of our suburban cohorts.

Yesterday was just delicious for tired feets and knees. I don't think there can be many better surfaces to run on than an inch of packed snow over dirt. Maybe an inch of packed snow over sand...but that was out there too. And best of all was snow over dirt with another layer of damp fallen leaves over all of it. Better than any hi-tech rubberized track surface any day, not to mention pretty too.

Today begins an easy week, plus my first article for my new job was posted today, so I'm blissfully anxiety-free and relaxed. It won't last, but I'm enjoying it for the moment.

That's what races tell you...or what you want, or hope, they'll tell you. Most of the time we torture the raw data to death and add in other outside factors and age grade and adjust for heat/cold/wind/illness, to the point where we may end not even being sure what the raw data is telling us anymore.

But now and again, you post something solid and real that tells you that you're pretty much on the right track and I feel like that's how my 10K worked out this morning.

It's not quite as blissed out, make me wanna go run 70 miles next week, delicious as Salty's recent unexpected post-marathon/post-wedding sub-19 5K, but considering I said I'd be happy with anything under 42, a 40:05 suits me just fine.

And, yeah, it was close. I'm trying not to slap myself around too much over that.

If I'd realized I was in that kind of shape, I might have pushed a little more aggressively earlier, but who knows, that could have backfired too. As it was, I ran remarkably even splits: 6:33, 6:27, 6:20, 6:30, 6:40, 6:30 and 1:05 for the .2, and that's something I rarely ever do. And according to NYRR's calculations, that works out to a 6:27 average mile, which incidentally is the same average they figure for the people who actually DID finish in 40 minutes flat.

I know I didn't leave anything out there, because those last two miles really did hurt like a mother and right now I feel like reindeer doo doo. My lungs are gurgling, my legs are cramped up, my tummy is making worriesome noises...I feel absolutely beat. And I actually have a pretty good reason for that - I just came off of two overnight shifts in a row and went straight to the race without sleeping.

So, in the interest of not leaving the data untortured...do I think that running a race right after finishing up two overnight shifts is worth at least 6 seconds? Damn skippy, I do.

Funny, I got knocked on my arse by a cold just about this time last year too, but that doesn't make it any less miserable. At least this year I know better than to go running that midnight 5K in the park while the phlegm still rules the roost. I think that's what really screwed me for the first few weeks of 2007. Though come to think of it, cramming in 27 8-minute treadmill miles in three days two weeks ago is probably what sent me over the edge this time around. Oh, that and working three overnight shifts in a row right afterwards.

You know when you're on the verge of illness and your throat is scratching and the coughing and sneezing is just barely starting to rear it's ugly head? Yeah, note to self: take a day or two off right then and there and save yourself the snot-soaked grief that comes when you don't listen to your body's signals.

Other than that, since I last wrote I was also a little distracted from my primary (albeit unpaid) job as a underappreciated marathon prodigy by the fact that my division at work laid off a third of its employees. Yes, two weeks before Christmas, as is heartlessly often the case. When I heard about a couple of the severence packages I have to admit to a brief twinge of jealousy, but for the most part I think I'm relieved that my job was spared. It's strange though. I've only been in the position in that department for about four months, so it was a bit surprising that I wasn't let go. I've worked for the company for more than ten years, so I guess that might have had something to do with it. It's kind of a mystery though, since one person who was laid off had been there for more than 25 years! It's amazing how emotional an upheaval it's been and it's daunting to try and imagine how we're going to run the office with so many people gone.

As for the running, I'm not sure yet when it's prudent to try and start up again. I'm still coughing and there's still a disturbing level of moisture rumbling around in my lungs. I have the next couple of days off though, so I might try going for a nice vigorous walk tomorrow with my camera. Depending on how that goes, I'm tentatively anticipating an easy 4-6 mile jog to mark the New Year, but I'll leave that one up to my hopefully dried out bronchi to decide. The master Boston training plan was to start off the year with a 70-mile week, but considering the circumstances, we may just have to classify this one as a rest week.

Since there will be no running for me tomorrow, I might as well just go ahead and lay out the mileage numbers for the year: