Don't worry, these shoes will be well broken into by Sunday. I'm wearing them at work right now, in fact. I've really never had a problem with quickly adapting to new shoes, and the kicks I have been using are fairly shot. Also, I've been wearing long sleeve sweat wickers throughout most of my long runs, and now I have sleeveless versions in case it's warmer out than expected. Speaking of which, for the past five days or so I've been frequently checking the extended forecast. And although there were some early rumors of rain, most reports now agree that it will be partly cloudy with a high of 51 --- virtually perfect.

Saturday, March 1, 2008 NCR Trail Long Run Sunny… Temperature mid 40s, Wind Chill around 40. Gusts of winds up to 17mph (per Weather.com) I found out today that I may have been running at a bit faster pace than I've been giving myself credit for. On most of my pervious runs that weren't measured, I've been crediting myself for 9:00 - 10:00 paces so as to not overstate mileage. However, the NCR Trail provides the luxury of having mile posts along the way. I assume these mile posts are accurate, as they serve as the basis for the annual NCR Trail marathon, which I believe is a BQ event. I started my run at what felt like the normal pace, and reached the first mile at 8:08. I thought to myself, "Too fast..." even though I felt pretty good. Second mile split: 8:08. Strange... The next part got a little tricky, as this run was to build off the five miles I ran the previous Saturday. Thus, I aimed for 5.5 miles today. Therefore, after the second mile post, I ran what I assumed to be 0.75 miles, then turned around to come back. At the pace I was running, that distance would be roughly 6:06. I assumed that I would slow down a bit, so I made a U-turn at 6:20. When I made it back to the second mile post, my split time read 12:40! I had been running at a very consistent pace up until this point. I fell off slightly in the next mile (8:11), but picked up the pace a little bit in the final mile (8:04). I ran the entire out-and-back in 45:55, probably a bit over 5.5 miles. It's notable that the NCR Trail is very flat. I'm told that the trail has a very subtle, gradual incline in one direction that adds up over the course of the run, but I'm not sure. Regardless, aside from hill workouts, I've been avoiding most major hills during the course of my runs. DR and Alden probably have a solid idea of the amount of hills I run, based on when they were up here for my birthday. I'm sure my pace will be a bit slower as I gradually work my way up to truly long runs (it feels a bit strange calling 5.5 miles my long run). However, running this pace today would explain why my 7:20 pace tempo run earlier in the week wasn't entirely draining. I guess this means I should re-evaluate the goal times for tempo and interval workouts altogether... ------ I took off running Sunday and Monday due to studying for the aformentioned Business Law exam. I had only planned to do two maintenance miles on Sunday, followed by the weekly (recently hefty!) gym routine. I'm just going to scrap the two miles, as I feel they would just be junk miles if I threw them in on Wednesday, for instance (they wouldn't be junk miles if run as intended on Sunday, however, as they bridged the two day gap between long run day and track day). However, I've re-scheduled the gym routine until Wednesday. Wednesday night is usually when I view all video lectures for my online Macroeconomics class, but being that it's midterm week, Wednesday night should be more available. But fear not... I should have plenty of time to study for said exam this week without straying from my workouts. Tuesday night (3/4) will be an interval workout featuring 2 x 1600 with half recovery. I'll probably try to run both of these at right around 6:55 - 7:05. The mile time trial for Thursday has been aborted in favor of four miles at long run pace, with six speed hills.

I think I could probably do a sub 9:00 pace for eight miles, as I feel I could have gone another mile or so at the pace I was moving. I was tempted to just make it an even six mile run, but I'm currently limiting "long run" increases to a half mile per week. However, as you pointed out, I am holding to an estimated 10% overall mileage increase per week. In fact, I've been doing this for most of 2008. My knees and shins give me trouble sometimes, but nothing too major thus far. Icing, stretching, and various exercises have gone a long way in keeping me healthy. How cold was it last year, when you ran the marathon relay? Have you become accustomed yet to doing your longest runs in the cold?

I'm doing a kind of flurest progressive thing -- bread and water this afternoon, rice and ice and gatorade now. If this doesn't pass by the weekend, I'll just spectate at the marathon.

Hey guys - I have a question (probably most aimed at Rick)... What do you think of creatine? Benefits of loading/cycling/mixing with juice vs water?

Adubb - It's been years since I've used creatine (probably fall of junior year), so I'm a little unsure of the time frames... but here goes. I definitely got the most benefit from doing a 1-2 week loading period, followed by a period of 4-8 weeks at the normal dosage. I think you should definitely take some time off after each cycle. However, I don't think I got the maximum benefit out of using creatine because I wasn't lifting properly. The amount I was lifting per day was akin to doing speed workouts and tempos every day, with little time off and few maintenance days! If you're smarter about lifting than I was, then I think you can get some benefit from it. It's notable (and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before) that I think I got more benefit from lifting near the end of junior year, when I stopped using creatine and started lifting smarter. Of course, soon after that, I became obscenely busy and stopped exercising with anything resemble consistency until late 2006. As for juice vs. water, I'm not sure if it matters aside from taste. I think I used apple juice, as it was readily available at the dining hall located next to my then-dorm. Sometimes I miss the days of going to the Towson gym and lifting hard for an hour or two, and having that be my entire workout for the day. However, I've found that runners can be far more friendly than your average gym rat. For instance, I share the Goucher College track on Tuesday nights with a marathon training program led by Charm City Run. I chatted with the coach/trainer for a few minutes after I had warmed up. Rather than being scolded as an outsider and advising me to stay out of Lane 1, he was very cordial, and told me about a free program that he'll be doing starting in a couple of weeks! My only issue with that would be they do mileage on Tuesdays and track on Thursdays... recently, I've been doing track/tempo Tuesdays, hills on Thursdays, while is mileage on Saturday. I also talked a bit with the runners afterwards. I'm a bit shamed to say that I pre-judged them as being first timers or newbies... in fact, I was a bit taken aback by their experience and knowledge! If I had any free time on my hands, I'd probably try to join up with one of these training programs, or perhaps even the Baltimore Road Runners Club.

Exercising among the culture of runners is generally more rewarding the exercising among the culture of weight lifters in every way. The folks are so much more friendly. Now, local gyms like SMAC and the World Gym enforce decency policies, but college gyms like the one at SU let disgusting lifter behavior run rampant. I'm talking about the pumped up, potential 'roid-head guys who scream, grunt, and slam heavy free-weights on the floor --- all while vainly indulging their reflections in the mirrors. I definitely don't miss all of that. And no offense to those of us who have traded running shoes for lifting gloves, but I don't think anyone here is about to enter a junior Mr. Olympia contest --- whereas even a novice runner can still participate in large running events all year long, scoring medals if they're lucky. How many members does the Baltimore Running Club have?

I haven't completely turned on running but it is hard when you never get to run with anybody and you in one of the worst polluted cities in the world with equally bad traffic. I could, of course, run on treadmills but I've never been able to do that. Just too boring. However, I do see gains in the gym. And it's exciting! And the secret is eating! I eat so freakin much it's not even funny and now I'm convinced that that is why you never saw the kind of gains you deserved in the gym, DR. I've always just been super frustrated thinking I'd never make any size gains and only limited strength gains. If I eat I have the energy to lift. UVA, military gyms all over the country, the local gyms in Fredericksburg, my gym down here - never had any problems with people. There are the idiots that drop weights and yell but so what? Doesn't affect me any. Everyone is considerate...gym etiquette and all. I'm not looking to make friends. I just want to get in, do my workout, and get out. True, DR, I'll never be a bodybuilder, but I'll also never be a running champion. I'd rather run a 7-8 min/mile 5k at 190lbs with muscle than I would run a 5:30min/mile at 165lbs. Just personal preference. When I got here last July I was 168lbs. Last night I weighed in at 183lbs.