Feeling Better Now, But...

Obesity in America

On the day of the Portland 26.2 I weighed in at 174 pounds. Not my lightest recent weight (which I am pretty sure was sometime last October and was not part of any diet plan I would recommend to anyone. The Colleague and I lovingly refer to it as the "Life Sucks Diet Plan") and not quite the weight I wanted for the race, but I felt pretty good.

Flash forward to last week, when my trusting bathroom scale flashed a 185 at me, flesh was rolling around on my frame like some sort of tofu mess, and my favorite pants were digging trenches in my waistline. Fucking scale.



Turns out my Eat-and-Drink-All-I-Want Diet Plan doesn't work when I'm not training 40 miles per week. Duh. With "The First Not-Annual Tropical Christmas" coming up, I need to be at fighting weight sooner than later.

So last week I told The Colleague I was sick of being fat and lazy, made myself a new training calendar (which I ceremoniously posted on the fridge so everyone in the Palace will know when I am dogging it), and started hitting the road again.

Back on the Road

Since that day I have managed the following:

• 6.8 miles @ 9:00 per mile
  
• 10 miles @ 8:50 per mile
• 5 miles @ 8:30 per mile (2 miles on the treadmill and 3 in the driving rain and wind...no GPS data, obviously)
• 7.5 @ 8:07 per mile
• 10 miles @ 8:01 per mile

Not a bad week, mileage wise. Today was the 10 miler @ 8:01. I left Bothell Landing and headed out toward Woodinville, the land of Red Hook, several Wineries and...well, nothing else, really, except road construction and roads with no shoulders.

The way out on the Samamish River Trail was great. Calm day, nice light, and no traffic at all. I hit mile 3 before I saw another person on the trail, and then it was some Professor Frink looking dude on a bizarre home-built, self-powered tricycle thing. I had a brand new shuffle selection on the iPod ("Soul" by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden...try it), and was actually properly dressed for the temperature. Novel concept.

But as nice as the trail is (good surface, pretty scenery, etc) I just can't stomach out-and-back runs on anything over a 5 mile run. It's torture to know exactly where you are on the way back in. Torture. Give me one-way runs or loops please. So at Red Hook I resisted the obvious impulse and actually ran PAST a brewery and looped back toward Bothell on a road that is built to the exact minimum standards. Two lanes for cars, a fog line for...well, cars, two inches of gravel/mud and then a drainage ditch. Awesome. At least the constant traffic watch I was on kept me entertained. The next 3 miles flew by without me noticing.

Back in Bothell (for a day OR a lifetime...you pick) I cruised past what has to be the largest concentration of retirement and assisted living facilities north of Phoenix and down into Blyth Park, the scene of several of my moments of youthful indiscretion back in the day. I hadn't been paying close attention to my splits, but I was pretty sure I was close to negatives the whole way, and I decided to see what I had left for mile 10. When mile 9 clicked by I sucked down a little water and went for it. Mile 10 = 6:47. NOW, I remember what running feels like when it is going well. Ahhhh.

Moral of the story? I need to run more. And more often.

Upcoming: 12 K's of Christmas on December 16th. Who's in?

Tunes Revisited

I have been reloading my iPods lately and thinking about some of my favorite running tunes. I like a lot of different songs for different reasons. Mostly, I need a song to distract me when I need it. I don't get motivated by music, really. But when I catch myself thinking about distance in the middle of a run, I like a good 4 or 5 minute song to make part of a mile disappear. Here are some great ones for you all to try:

• "Pictures of You" by The Cure. This is a great mid-distance song. A better pace than you think and long enough to settle in for a mile. The first time this song shuffled onto a running list was over a year ago when I was running on the Centenial Trail and it started at mile 7 and ended right at mile 8. Creepy. It's been a standard on all racing playlists ever since. It also made it's way onto a mix tape of rather historic note...errrr.
• "Until We Fall" by Audioslave. Not my favorite Audioslave song (that one's a mixtape secret) but a great running song.
• "Movin' On" by Elliot Yamin. This dude should have won American Idol. Yes, I watch American Idol. Leave it alone. Great song. Hip, rhythmic, and wryly funny (for a breakup song, that is).
• "I Alone" by Live. Power song. Pure and simple.
  
• "Jenny Don't be Hasty" by Paolo Nutini. I doubt I'll see Paolo live again anytime soon, but this is a great song with a perfect pace for a long training day.
• "E Bow the Letter" by REM. This is cool ass song, but the reason it is on here is because you can spend the latter part of a torturous run just trying to figure out what the fucking song is about. Anyone? Cap'n Ron and I spent the better part of miles 18 and 19 of a long day arguing this one. Weird.
• "Move by Yourself" by Donavon Frankenreiter. Sure, he's a Jack Johnson spinoff, but this is good song for the early miles when you still think running was a good idea.
• "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse. Get beyond that "Rehab" song and Winehouse's album is great. This story-song has a nice swing to it and is fucking funny if you like borderline domestic abuse/infidelity stories.
  
• "Shapeshifter" by Animal Liberation Orchestra. I love ALO. This song is long, over 6 minutes, and swings just the right amount. Warning, you might get caught singing along as you run.
• "Hard Sun" by Eddie Vedder. Ahh, Eddie Vedder. This is a cool song from the "Into the Wild Soundtrack". Over 5 minutes long and uplifting. It sounds a little too remniscent of some Rusted Root tunes from the late 1990s, but still, it's a good pace song and not too heavy on the instruments.
• "Till I Collapse" by Eminem. Tired? Power song. Pure and simple. This is a better song than "Lose Yourself" from the 8 Mile soundtrack, but with the same basic premise.
  
• "Carolina Blues" by Blues Traveler. I'll admit that this one is on there mostly because it is part of my personal historical soundtrack, but when it shuffled up in mile 7 today, I couldn't have been happier!

Enjoy. As always, please tip your waitress, and be specific in your drink order.

Coming soon: The Learning Factory Term End Reflection Post. This one ought to be good...