Eleven days left

Weekend before last was the Staten Island Half, which I've run four times in a row, now, and I finished with a decent time of 2:23. Decent because I'd run seven miles beforehand for my last long training run of 20 miles. I think I look pretty good in the pictures, actually.



If I were a person prone to panic, now would be the time, with only eleven days to go before the biggest running event of my last couple of years. I'm looking forward to it. Really, I am. Don't let my doubtful tone of voice fool you; I am actually full of enthusiasm. Really. No second thoughts here; none at all.

I managed to screw up training again and did not do this weekend's 13-mile long run. I got a mile out and decided to pack it in. I don't know what made me do that, but it was probably a combination of not feeling well, being dehydrated, having been out drinking the night before and not having had a good dinner, sleeping poorly, the temperature had dropped 15 degrees from my last run, and the wind was very blustery. It was just too much to deal with on a Saturday morning when my presence was also needed elsewhere.

So I spent the weekend out in New Jersey painting one of my sets.

Last night, though, I made up some of those miles and did the ten mile run from work to home. I was having doubts, especially before I got to City Hall, but those evaporated as I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. Exact same pedestrian battle as usual and that served to help me feel good about the run. I finished up a couple blocks short of my house, actually, and picked up dinner from KFC.

Between all of my work and all of the training I've been putting in, I don't have a lot of time for grocery shopping.

Who do I run for?

My god. It's been five weeks since I've posted. I have literally been so busy I've had no time to update this blog. My apologies, but I won't have time to fill in the back story until Saturday. Suffice it to say that my training for the NYC Marathon is in fact going OK. Not enough mid-week running, but getting the long runs done all the same. Injured, but minor and am in sports therapy for it. Keeping ahead of the lungs.

Below is a post I sent to the Google Phidip group. I hope you'll give it a read, and then visit my Team Boomer donations page and support my fundraising efforts. Thanks!

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Cast your iTunes into the Wayback Machine and revisit with me Fdip 135:

"We run for ourselves, for our health, for our family and friends, we run to honor, to celebrate, to achieve, and to accomplish. We run because we can…because at a very basic level we are good animals who were meant to move with purpose. We are runners; no better or worse than those who chose to practice an alternate motion of sport, or dance, or action…but we all have good reasons for being out there…and while we might not always be self aware of why we’re doing it: when someone asks you the inevitable question; you might want to consider what your answer will be…who do you run for?"

For four years, I've worked on entering the NYC marathon. I've earned my number four years in a row - and have cancelled my entry for the last three years, either due to injury or illness. Way back in March, when I heard Steve's words, I thought that this year, I must finish what I start and must do this thing or my pride would never recover.

But in the intervening months, I've realized my run on November 2 will not be for myself at all. I KNOW I can finish 26.2 - have done so once before. This run has to be for someone else - people who will never know I'm running for them.

So I'm raising money for Team Boomer, the athletic wing of the Boomer Esiason Foundation. BEF assists the Cystic Fibrosis community in a number of ways. We have a lot of runners in the marathon this year and we'll even have a table at the expo. You can come by and meet me Thursday or Friday. My run though, is still on my earned entry, not on the "bought" fundraising bib numbers. Those runners HAVE to raise $3,000. I WANT to raise $3,000. So I set up a First Giving donations website:

www.firstgiving.com/crisdopher

More importantly, I want to run with meaning, with purpose. I want something that will help me to stay focused on my task. To that end, I'm encouraging my sponsors to add a name to the list of names I'm inking on my race shirt, to memorialize those who have died of Cystic Fibrosis. Each mile for a different person, many of whom I've known personally.

You don't know me. All you know is that I listen to Phidip and have run the World Wide Half a few times. But I hope you'll drop by either my First Giving donations page or my blog and lend your support, either financially, emotionally, or both. For the dollars mean a lot ("put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind); but the stories and words of encouragement mean just as much.

is a secure website and your tax-deductible donations go directly to BEF.
is my blog. It needs updating, badly, and I'll be getting right on that.

So thank you, fellow runners. And to those of you who will be out somewhere on the race course ahead of me on November 2nd, I say "run long...run long...run long."

Cris Dopher
bib #44510
orange wave 3, corral B
Back of the pack

Two long runs

How is it I haven't touched this blog in two weeks?

Well, the running is turning around these days and I'm happy about that. Last Monday, on Labor Day, I put in 15 miles, running up to Prospect Park and completing four loops. I took my time, walked quite a bit on the way up to the park, walked regularly during the run. I was doing pretty good until the last loop of the park and that became a real struggle. Once again, my only thought was "this is what training's all about."

Today's run was 16.67 miles. I walked to and from the park, so the run was five loops of the 3.35-mile park drive. Due to the storms yesterday, everybody was out in force today and the park was so crowded with runners and bicyclists that reversing direction every other loop would have been more effort than it was worth. I was fairly bored at times, but listening to Pheddipidations on my iPhone helped pass the time.

There are some common themes to both of these long runs. Each run has been preceded by at least two days of rest, which I don't think actually affects things any.

I have been started on Aztreonam trial by by CF doctor and have been on it now for almost two weeks. I think it is beginning to make a difference, as I haven't felt the shortness of breath in these two runs that I'd been feeling for the prior runs. However, I am having some pretty significant wheezing. This clears up after five miles, but still; it's disconcerting.

The big irony right now is that I am NOT having runners' knee problems. Instead, I am having ankle and hip joint pain. Both hips hurt last week, when I as changing directions in the park, and just my right hip today, heading in one direction. Hm... road camber, perhaps? I am also having problems with my calves tightening up and cramping far earlier than I want them to. This is a new problem for me. I think perhaps the joint pains and the calves cramping are both related to my orthotics needing adjustment. I'm going to call my sports doc tomorrow morning.

god help me. I just want to get this fucking marathon done. Then I can go back to being a half-marathoner.

Speaking of God helping people - I finally wrote to Ryan Hall on his blog. I told him what an inspiration he is to me and that I thought his ordeal in Beijing was just about typical of first-time Olympians. That America sent a boy, and China sent us back a man.

I don't have the charts uploaded from my watch to my computer yet. I haven't been hearing beeping from my watch; so I don't know if it IS and I'm just not hearing it over the podcasts, or if it isn't keeping track of the miles correctly.

If nothing else comes of all this running, I am getting a rockin' tan. My last three long runs, I've done shirtless. I'm just more comfortable that way, though the salt crystals that form under my arms tend to chafe after awhile. The result is that I'm getting a nice healthy tan everywhere except my loins and my feet. Yes, my tan ends fairly abruptly at my waist, my upper thighs, and VERY abruptly at my ankles - it's actually a pretty sharp line right there.

Today, I am an Olympian

Been a while since I posted. Quick catch up: Tuesday, I set out to do 11 miles, from work to home and a little extra, but cut the run short at 4 miles (watch says 4.5). It was a hot and humid run, but I think I was just worn out from the weekend. See, I spent last weekend attending a friend's wedding - in North Carolina. 1300 miles on the bike is a little much when you're not trained up for it. My friend Wayne, who went with me, agreed.





Thursday's run was also difficult, but I got in the distance I had in mind for the day, heading up first to the Boat Basin, then all the way down to Chambers street. I was getting pretty tight at the end of that. I stopped in a convenience store and picked up a Heineken to drink on the subway ride home. Hey, it's a recovery drink, right? And if you're drinking it on the subway, then you're not drinking alone, right? Actually, I could make it a real habit ending my once or twice a week after-work runs that way.




So it all came down to today's long run. I had to get in a good workout or risk falling behind in marathon training. I planned for 14 miles. Or 13. Or 12. Or whatever the distance is from my house to Toys R Us and back, which involves going to, and a ways past, the Verazzano Narrows Bridge.

On the outward bound leg, I ran into Jerry Cahill, who was out for a training ride on his bike. He's doing the cycling leg of the Westchester Toughman half-Ironman on September 21st. For a 50-year-old cystic who just got off of IVs, he's looking pretty good. I hope I am as well-preserved at that age.

The run was pretty hard. Getting out to the turn-around was no problem, but coming back was a slog. My legs were not functioning well, it was hot and humid, and I, stupidly, didn't bring enough fluid or any salt tablets. I think it's the latter that really sunk the ship. Still, I got in long stretches walk, some very long walk periods in the second half, and I made it home without having to shorten the run. My legs hurt like hell, and I immediately drew a cold-water bath and dumped all of my ice into it. This was a true ice-bath and I think it drove my heart-rate up higher than any part of the actual run. But I needed it. My legs took a brutal beating today.

But that's what training is all about, right? Train the legs to keep going; train the mind to keep going when all either wants to do is quit. I admit it was extremely difficult to get running again after the last few walks. In fact, I was having flashbacks to the Flying Pig Marathon from a couple years ago, things were getting that bad.

Next time, I'll stretch more earlier in the run. I will also be sure to take Endurolytes with me, as well as start carrying extra fluids. The one bottle wasn't enough. Rationing it was stupid and my urine after the run was dark yellow - not a good sign.

Now, my watch. I can't seem to get the right calibration. My watch claims this was a 15 mile run, but g-maps shows 13.3, which is about what I thought it was.





I should probably explain the post title. You see, Saturday, as I was watching Tropic Thunder in the theatre, the men's marathon was taking place in Beijing. I arrived home in time to see the last fifteen minutes - and to see the US team unable to medal. I'm not surprised - the runners that did well (and a new Olympic Record was set, btw) were from hot climates. The Americans, not so much. But even the medalists were struggling to reach the end, with the silver medalist breaking down to a walk a few feet before the finish line and needing immediate help. Watching the Americans enter the stadium and trot to the finish, I couldn't help but feel rather a lot of empathy. I've been there, where only sheer momentum and the fact your legs don't have a brain of their own are keeping you going. The US Team just didn't have what it takes to haul down some nuggets at the global level - this time. Give Ryan Hall four more years, especially, and we're going to see him shake the world.

So today, as I was struggling along determined to just finish and not cut the run short, I felt fairly connected to theses struggling Olympians. Sure, they're faster, better trained, and gifted by natural ability; but set that aside and they are no different than I when push comes to shove.

I hope I can remember the Olympians' run and this long run today on November 2, when I get to, oh, about the 20 mile mark and start looking at subway stations thinking maybe it's not a bad idea to call it a day.

And finally, though there was a lot of walking in the second half, I did finish running and I finished running at a strong pace.

Things are looking up

Its been a tough last couple of weeks. I haven't been getting much running done, to tell the truth. Last Wednesday, I did get my after-work run in and did 4 miles down to Chambers street, though the run was full of walking. Actually, I ran the first two miles of it well and was quite happy to call it a day at that point, but decided to walk-jog the rest of the way to Chambers. I took the outermost part of the Hudson River path - off the bicycle path and where the pedestrians mostly are - and was quite surprised by how much its all been improved and what kinds of things there are for people who visit the Hudson River Park. It's very nice, actually.

I was wiped out after that 4 miles though, and couldn't understand it. Sure, it was warm out, but not hot and not all that humid. I consoled myself by having a beer on the train as I went home. Hey, it's not drinking alone if you're surrounded by strangers, right?

This weekend's long run didn't go much better. The first four and a half miles went OK. Much less walking than anticipated and I began having that second-wind feeling during the running sections - that feeling where you know you're going just a little bit farther than you've been able to before and all of a sudden it is a little less difficult to do so. I was feeling pretty good about that. Unfortunately, my gut was feeling very good at all. I'd spend the previous day, last Saturday, partying. My bosses had chartered a bus and taken the whole office and shop out to their place in Sag Harbor, where we had a day of swimming, boating, eating, talking, drinking, and (for me) napping. It was nice to meet some of the wives and kids of the other employees. Well, it was a very long day and I hadn't gotten home until after 1 a.m. The next morning, I had the greasies and wasn't feeling very good CF-wise. So when the bowels threatened, I cut my run short and went straight home.

So I had a long run to make up. And I won't get one in on schedule this weekend. It appears to be necessary to shift my running schedule to do the long run during the week for now. So last night, not really knowing I'd be doing it, I left work in my running gear and headed for home. The first three or four miles felt like they usually do, but I could see the walk breaks getting shorter and the running getting easier. I decided not to ditch at City Hall and instead go over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was very crowded, but not too many people were being retards this time. I had to walk twice getting up the bridge, but those were short. I felt pretty good about it. And once I began the descent, walking was pretty much done for the run. My only breaks after that came at traffic islands waiting to cross the roads.

I contemplated ending it at 10K, but as I'd already played stepdaddy to my legs and beaten them into numb submission, I continued my run all the way home. Ten miles by my own reckoning. I'm pleased to say that my watch agrees.




So there's the chart. Look at the green line, especially, which is my pace. Walk breaks are characterized by a low, extended point in the green and pauses for traffic by short spikes downward. Overall, I'd say this was a fairly steady run and - most importantly - at an excellent pace. I surprised myself by my pace and am pleased by my final 10:00 minutes/mile overall pace. THAT is exactly what I want to be running come November. By comparison, here's the chart from the half-marathon - and keep in mind it was measuring miles SHORT, which means the real numbers actually aren't as good as the chart says!




Could I have kept up last night's pace for much longer? No. In fact, you can see my stride length shortening and pace dropping in the last two miles of last night's run. And my legs were beginning to let me know they'd reached their effective limit for the night. But I'll get trained up - am GETTING trained up. I think this run is good evidence of that.

I'll be out of town this weekend and on the road, so no run will happen. But probably Monday, I'll duplicate this run home and tack on an extra mile at the very beginning to make it 11.