Really, How Bad Is a Doughnut for You? What about Two?

As I feel the surge of sugar flow through my veins after a second maple frosted doughnut of the day -- lunch deserves a dessert, right? -- I'm starting to worry about the effects of two doughnuts today will have on my running. (The first one this morning was cream filled.)

Probably not much.

Chances are I'll burn off these zillion-and-a-half calories in the next month or so, but still I'm thinking about my eventual plan of attack for the Akron Marathon.

Last year, I was bound and determined to break the four-hour mark and dedicated myself to weekly track work. The result was a 17:48 PR, but about five minutes shy of my goal.

[Drunkard's note: Yes, this is the part where you groan and think, "Criminy, are we going to have to go through another seven months of him going on and on about beating four hours in the marathon again?" The answer is yes, it is.]

Sunday, while I was plodding down Quick Road at the beginning of my nine-miler, I had a flash of inspiration.

There were few cars on the road, but everyone of them seemed to be either coming from or going to one of the three or four park areas on Quick Road. These areas are mostly just large fields with giant hills, which are perfect for sledding.

In the summer, these areas are far less populated. And then I thought, "It would be a bitch to run repeats on those hills." Thus, my marathon training plan started to come into focus. Frank Shorter is often credited with saying, "Hill repeats are speed work in disguise."

As many of you know from my past whining, the Akron Marathon is a hilly course. From the Demonic Howard Street Hill at Mile 11 to the Bastard Garman Hill at Mile 22, your thighs will be in pain.

I hoped last year's focus on speed work would give my legs the strength they needed to conquer these hills, while giving me the speed to achieve my goal time. I now believe that I must fight fire with fire. If I want to be beat the hills, I need to run more hills.

When I compose my training schedule for my fourth crack at Akron, I will be including barefoot repeats on those gnarly hills. No ifs, ands or buts -- I will beat four hours in the marathon this year. And these doughnuts will be just a faded memory.

Flashback Friday: Called Bluff, Barefoot Rescue

Almost as if on cue, Martini texted me shortly after I posted yesterday's declaration of war: "Nine after work?"

Was this a trick? I wondered. Was Martini secretly reading my blog and now wanting to put me in my place?

We met at Sand Run. Martini's nine-miler was an eight-miler for me. He lives just a half-mile from the path, whereas I'm about two miles away. I mean, I could -- and have -- run there too, but it would throw off our schedule.

I knew I was in trouble during that first mile. I was concentrating on my form and trying to match Martini's speed. I didn't even have a chance to look at the split, just pressed the button and kept going. It was 7:53.

The temperature was in the upper 70s and the forecast had called for thunderstorms all afternoon, but those never arrived. The resulting humidity pressed down on me like a mid-August run. I felt overheated.

By the time we reached our turnaround point, my feet were starting to blister in my shoes, I was slouching and barely keeping up. At the six-mile mark I'd had enough. "I'm going to leave you here," I told Martini. "I need to regroup."

We'd only averaged 9:34 per mile. I was wrecked.

I was concentrating too hard on keeping up with Martini that I had let me form slip. My back hurt from slouching. My feet hurt from the blisters. I walked a little. Ran a little. I had two more miles to get back to my car. I had no choice.

At the next bench, I sat down and removed my shoes. Sand Run is a crushed limestone path with lots of twigs and pebbles to step on. It was hard to relax and be smooth. I was tired, carrying my shoes was not making it easier. I covered the last two miles in 24:27. My back and shoulders were almost as tired as my legs afterward. Looks like I need to get back to my core exercises.

Martini crushed me last night. Then he went out for another hourlong run this morning just to rub it in. It turns out that he'd been running two-a-days all week. His mileage and pace have been far better than mine over the past few months. He told me that he has already logged a 60-mile week this year. I have a-ways to go before I can challenge him in a footrace.

You may have beaten my this time, Martini. But I'll be back. I'll get you next time!

/Dr. Claw

Back Talk
Wherein, wait, did you say something?

Blogless David says I should have faith in my haircut hill work as my 5-K approaches (and Funnyrunner agrees): "Hill work is speed work in disguise. Put some shoes on and hit the track to open your stride. I believe you'll be surprised."

Answer: Yeah, I know. I already said that. As for opening my stride? I don't think so. Short, fast steps are the keys to victory. Turnover, turnover, turnover! Long strides = death! Or runner's knee.

Happy Hour is nearly upon us teammates. Have a finely brewed weekend. Good luck to everyone running the Cleveland Marathon. Don't fail like the Cavs. Run well and drink well. Cheers!

Oh, Shit! I Should Do One of Those 'Year in Review' Posts Before Someone Else Does

2010 hasn't kicked the bucket yet, but my running year has been dead for weeks. Time to do a postmortem on this corpse before it stinks up the place. 

Once upon a time I had high aspirations for this year. Now, I'll be lucky if I avoid another new low in my monthly mileage. 

My goals for this year were to set new PRs in every distance I raced and to average 20 miles per week for the year. One these goals was a solid success with an asterisk and the other was a laughable failure. 

Let's revisit the highlight reel: 

Tallmadge Memorial 5-K: I didn't have nearly the same training strategy to this year's race that I did in years past. With more of a focus on hill training and totally abandoning interval training on the track, I bested my previous PR by three seconds, finishing in 22:26.

Buckeye Half Marathon: My watch had died, and I abandoned my strategy of running with a pace group. Instead I ran completely by feel and completed what I think was my best ever all around race performance, finishing in 1:44:27. 

Akron Marathon: My race plan went in the shitter when I had to make my first-ever bathroom stop during a race. But that wasn't the only new wrinkle I had to overcome to set a new PR and beat four hours with a 3:58:46 finish.

This year was a very enjoyable racing year. I set three new PRs and finally broke four hours in the marathon. However, I didn't enter as many races as I have in the past. I missed the 15-K I wanted to run, though I did run the course. My usual 10-K was canceled, and I never found a replacement. Maybe next year I can update those PRs left over from 2009. 

As for weekly mileage, I'm sitting at 16.4 miles per week and falling. I was right on track until the marathon, and then October happened. My mileage never recovered. This year will be my lowest total mileage on record, but who gives a rip? I'm over it. I had a damn good year racing, and I feel good about 2011. 

Also-Rans of the Year

Despite not racking up the big mileage I had hoped for, this was a year of revelations about how to run better. A combination of improved form, higher peak mileage, and running on hills resulted in better overall performances on race day. I not only ran faster, I felt better doing it. 

First thing I did was ditch the cushioning. Early on this year, I made the switch to only running in racing flats. When the weather got warmer, I started mixing in barefoot running. By the time I got to the marathon, I had run almost 10 percent of my total mileage without shoes. I believe this approach improved my running form, allowed me to avoid injury, and strengthened my essential ambulatory muscles and ligaments. 

The second change I made was to how much I ran during my training cycle, peaking at a higher weekly mileage (50) and including more 20-mile runs (three) than ever before. Nothing prepares you better to run lots of miles than running lots of miles. 

In addition to the higher mileage, I also changed where I ran. In years past I included weekly track sessions with 400- and 800-meter intervals. This year, I decided to instead run on hills as often as I could. This extra attention to hilly terrain prepared me for the hilly Akron Marathon course, and as Frank Shorter said, "Hill repeats are speed work in disguise." 

Biggest Highlight of 2010

The best thing that happened this year has nothing to do with running. In June, the Enthusiast agreed to marry me. Next year at this time we'll be married. I can't wait. 

The Quest Begins

Buried beneath my get out the vote-for-me campaign yesterday, you may have read that I targeted this week as the start of my buildup for marathon training for the year. As part of my training, I'll also be running a few races, the first being just over a month away.

The Tallmadge Memorial 5-K, May 31, will officially open my racing season, and I have done little to prepare for a PR. Last night, I went out for a quick four-miler, which was actually quickish at 8:13 per mile. The run gave me a little hope that maybe I can hammer myself into sub-7:14 shape in the next 35 days.

If I can keep my legs healthy as I jump up in miles, the intensity will have to ramp up as well. Last year, I started running at the track in March. This year, I've decided to test the theory that hills are speed work in disguise.

After running the Memorial Parkway hill, I believe I found my new training ground. Will a weekly trudge down and up this massive hill make me fast enough to break 22:29 in the 5-K next month?

Polls Are Still Open
Have you already voted for me to win the Last Mile Brewing Virtual Halfathon. Well, what are you waiting for? Vote again. Use a different computer. Go to the library. Sneak onto a coworker's machine. Borrow your son's laptop (and delete his porn while you're at it). I need to win. Vote now!