Motivated to Succeed

8:20 PM - Dusk, Temp around 76 or so. Humid. Mosquito City! I hate mosquitoes, especially when they pick me as their target, their juicy, sweaty, mouth-watering target. Went to the track with Emmy and my sister Su. Emm surprised me by showing up at work yesterday. Her mom drove her from Massachusetts so I could see her. Yay! Su wanted to run at the track so I went there and got a good run in. Did the first 1.7 with them but then changed to the Vibrams to do a cool down. I am not anticipating much in the way of a race finish tomorrow at the 5k as I have done a lot of runs the past two weeks, but all we can do is hope for the best I guess! Total cooldown in the Vibrams was 1.4 miles.

Total Time: 30:10 Total Distance: 3.10 miles Average Pace: 9:43/ mile

6:15 PM -  Temperature was 85 degrees, hot, and humid. It was horrible all day, and I was kind of sore from all the runs the last two weeks. Found that I had run six days in the last week and eleven days in the last two weeks. I feel fine, but fatigued, and my body is still struggling to get used to running again, especially now that I've added Vibram Five Fingers to my training. Emma was here and I stopped by and picked up my friends Jonathan and Jeremy from Jon's house too on the way. We were all excited, and although Emmy had her running stuff, she didn't want to race, despite all of us offering to cover her $4 entry fee.

WARM UP: After getting to the race spot in Wilton and registering, I went on a warm up jog with Emma, Jonathan and Jeremy. My brother Jonny wasn't there today because he had to work at a Coldplay concert at SPAC in Saratoga Springs. We did a half mile warm up in 4:56 (9:52 pace). Felt good. Jogged back to the starting line and stretched. Was getting anxious and wasn't sure how the race was going to go. Jonathan put in his iPod headphones and got ready to zoom off. I kind of knew he would beat me. I am not sure why, but it seems like him and Jonny are naturally gifted. I run substantially more miles than them and am never able to beat them in the 5k. I'd probably hold my own in anything longer than a 5k, but I guess I just don't have the speediness they do. I am hoping that more 800s will help develop my speed.

THE RACE:

MILE 1: (7:23) Got sucked up into race fever. Jonathan hung next to me and we pushed the pace, through the first two hills before settling into a rhythm on the flat sandy part leading into the ninety degree turn. At this point I was in 13th or 14th place, and I could still see the leader heading off into the woods in the other direction. Jonathan stuck by me until the one mile marker and then took off.

MILE 2: (7:27) A long hard mile with several climbs. Went past a kid that was only 13 or 14 with a Boston hat on and he said, "Man, you're fast!" I said. "Nope. I just had a good pace maker that first mile. You are doing great man! Try to hang with me and we'll get this thing done." (He did hang with me until about the road crossing where he faded. He ended up finishing about a minute or two back from me, still a great run for someone so young!). What I have noticed is a lot of younger runners go out way too fast, only to die a violent and horrendous death out there on the course and struggle home. I ran hard and crossed the road. The crossing guard said, "Looking good. Hang in there. You're eleventh!" I also heard someone yell "Good job Benn!" I thought it was my former teacher, but then I found out at the end of the race it was Emmy cheering me on!! I crossed the road and could see Jonathan down the trail about 100 meters. I wanted to catch him, so I kept the pace high.

MILE 3+: (8:21 [7:35 pace avg]) The last mile is gruesome with huge uphills, and bone shattering downhills during the last half mile as the course descends around a pond. I could see Jonathan towards the end but knew I had no chance at making ground on the single track, as there were technical crossings of a couple bridges and divits. I continued to hold the pace, but could feel my legs starting to give out. I was thinking to myself, "Just get to that finish line!" Crossed the line and got the results. 11th place, an improvement of two places from last race, though my time was only 23:12, 12 seconds slower than last time. Jonathan ran a 22:55 and barely beat me. I am going to have to try harder to beat him next time. Jeremy struggled in, and I almost went to look for him, but he got home in 34:55 or something. He doesn't run much and hadn't run since that run last Monday I helped him with. Still a nice result!

COOL DOWN: Emmy went for a cool down with me. She had already done a few miles during the race. We jogged to the car so I could change as I was really sweaty, then we jogged on the road up a little bit, under a narrow bridge and back. On the way back we saw a train pass overhead. Cool stuff! Stretched at the car. (10:19)

After the race I drove Jeremy and Jonathan home and then took Emmy down to Colonie Center to meet her parents. She had to get home so she could rest up for her surgery tomorrow. She has about three days of surgery this week so she needs her rest!

Total Time: 38:27  Total Distance: 4.6 miles Average Pace: 8:21/ mi

9:10 AM - I slept like a rock last night. Was tired from the race for sure. Woke up at about seven and had coffee with my dad and sister on the front porch. Then I got ready and drove to the school. Sunny and Temp was 76 at the start. Very hot and humid and muggy! Ugh! I was going to hit the nature trails and track circuits, but there were a ton of people there. I am not one for really running past people I don't know, and plus I like to get "in the zone" when I run so I decided that it might be a nice change to hit the roads. There was no one out and I wanted to see how the legs felt considering if I do the Marine Corps Half in October it will be on all roads and paved bike trails. Definitely a different pounding then on the trails! Highlight of the run was at about the two mile mark I ran down a hill and this chocolate lab comes jumping out of a bush at me. So I stopped and am talking to it. It was more an attack of love towards me than of hate. It just wanted some affection. A minute later it's chubbier brother/sister came bounding out at me too. Stopped for about three or four minutes before the owner came jaunting down the driveway apologizing. I said no need, we have a St. Bernard so I know what it's like to try to keep control of big puppies. Waved goodbye and said have a nice day. Finished doing the 4+ mile loop down Graves-Alexander-Parkis Mills Roads and then back to the car. Switched into the Vibrams and did a cooldown to the end of Graves Road and back. Noticed a bit of a hotspot on my right foot towards the end of the cool down, but this was a huge plus. Longest run I've done in the Vibrams yet! Oh, and I ran more than half of a half marathon today. Yowsers! Legs are feeling it, but tomorrow is a planned day off! Splits were:

• Mile 1: 9:09
• Mile 2: 8:55
• Mile 3: 9:07
• Mile 4: 8:34
• .32: 2:47 (8:41)
• Mile 5: 8:31
• Mile 6: 8:49
• .73: 5:50 (7:59)

Total Time: 1:01:47 Total Distance: 7.05 miles Average Pace: 8:45

**P.S. Emma's surgery today went very well. Just got off the phone with her. She's going to lay down and get a nap in. She said the bandages on her face make her resemble "The Swamp Thing" or a "Swamp Monster" or something of the sort. I'm sure she's as cute as ever! :D

Today is filled with great news! Emmy is recovering well and she sent a picture in the email last night and she truly does look like a swamp thing, albeit the cutest swamp creature I've ever seen. Ghee!!! I talked to her this morning briefly before she went back to the doctors.

Also this morning, I got the official letter in the mail. I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS FOR MY MASTER'S DEGREE! Now all I have left is student teaching!

Finally, I sat down this morning and started off where I had left off the other day on John L. Parker, Jr.'s Once A Runner, about page 70. I've wanted to read it for the last five years since I first started running and heard of it, though it became increasingly hard to get ahold of. All the copies from the libraries were getting "lost" (aka stolen) and it wasn't uncharacteristic to see a paperback fetch $250 or $300 on eBay. Well thankfully when the sales for the sequel Again to Carthage tanked, the publishers realized, "Oh wait, why would people buy the sequel if they can't get their hands on the first book?! Duh!" And they rereleased it for a modest $24. I picked it up and read it cover to cover this morning. And all I can say is wow. It truly lives up to the quote from Runner's World : "The best novel ever written about running." I just couldn't put it down. It has everything about the long distance runner in it. From the Trial of Miles and Miles of Trials, to the grit, determination, and sacrifices that embody this type of athlete. I highly recommend it to everyone on the running blog that hasn't read it. Simply AMAZING!

Some memorable quotes:

p. 15, "In the world of the runner, as in the ocean, there is a hierarchy of ferocity. In the sea the swift blue runner is eaten by the slashing barracuda, which is eaten by the awesome mako shark. In track, such relative positions are fixed more or less in black and white and are altered only at great and telling expense. Pride necessarily sprouts and grows; a pride that can only come from relentless kneading of unwilling flesh, painful months of gring and burning away all that is heavy, all that is strength-sapping and useless to the body as a projectile."

p. 110, "A runner who could not run was out of his element. He would not even think of himself as an athlete; ridiculously there would be a kind of guilt about it; that was the worst part. He would begin to feel uncomfortable around his training comrades and the feeling would be mutual, like a newly wounded soldier among the embarrassed whole ones, who would not wish to be reminded of certain roll-the-dice aspects of life." This quote I especially took to heart dealing with all my injuries of 2008. It is so tough to struggle with the question, "Am I still a runner?" when you cannot in fact run. But Emma helped me realize the answer which is that running is a part of who we are. Running doesn't go away because of an injury. Yes it will be a difficult and slow recovery, but we are lifelong runners and must remember life is a journey of ups, downs, and side to sides. We're in it for the good, the bad, the ugly for sure. We just have to keep the faith!

At the very least, pick up the book and read the last couple chapters of the final race. Parker has captured the anxiety, the stress, the glory, and the multitude of other emotions that consitute the long distance runner's races. I can't wait to go to work tonight. I am picking up the sequel, Again to Carthage!!

2:00 PM - Very hot and humid outside. Disgusting. I hope it rains to cool things off. It's abotu 85 degrees inside the house! Did 200 crunches, 100 situps and 50 pushups. Free weights afterwards.

4:45 AM - The calm after the storm. After a very rainy day yesterday (some locales reported upwards of 6+ inches of rain!) and closing the store after opening day at the race track, I thought I would sleep well. The house was stifling though, and even with the fan on I didn't sleep well. Took me a good 10 minutes to fall asleep which seems like an eternity when you are used to falling asleep in a matter of seconds! After about 5.5 hours of sleep I woke up, changed into jogging clothes and drove to the track. I took yesterday off and was still feeling soreness from the long cooldown in the Vibrams the other day. It's a good hurt, a strengthening hurt though. I started slow and gradually warmed up and felt great! Drenched in sweat though. Surreal experience running on the track and going round and round lost in my own thoughts watching the sun rise. A couple got to the track just as I was finishing. I might have to start jogging the other way, else I'm liable to get dizzy! Phew! Now off to a long day at work. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 10:58
• Mile 2: 10:25
• Mile 3: 9:45
• Mile 4: 9:23
• Mile 5: 9:15
• Mile 6: 8:44
• Mile 7: 8:47
• Mile 8: 8:31
• Mile 9: 8:12
• Mile 10: 7:42

Total Time: 1:31:52 Total Distance: 10.01 miles Average Pace: 9:10/ mi

Down 1 pound in the biggest loser contest to 187! Also, started reading John L. Parker, Jr.'s Again to Carthage at work last night. What a phenomenal book!! I can already tell I won't be able to put this one down either!

I was going to go running today after work but we had really bad rainstorms and flooding the other day, and there were more storms to follow during and after work today. Instead I decided to scratch the run and rest up. I got 10 hours of sleep last night! Slept from 9pm to 7am. Must have been tired from the run/work. After work today I went to the nearby farmers market and got tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini all for only $7.00 total! Grilled up the squash and zucchini on the grill outside :) Yum! Going to bed early tonight at 9ish again and going to wake up and go running at the track before work! I can't believe tomorrow is August!

4:45 AM - Sky was clear this morning. Temperature was 59 degrees. I could see Venus I believe out in the sky before the sun came up. Drove down to the track. Stretched and then hit the circle. I was quickly able to get in the zone as there were hardly any cars out. Seemed weird considering the amount of traffic I saw this early earlier in the week, then remembered it was Saturday! And that I was the only one crazy enough to get up this early! Did the first 5 miles in my Brooks Addictions, then did a little over one and a half in my Vibrams. I really like the Vibrams. I think it works well wearing them at the end of runs. Soon I will able to do about 2 miles a run in them! I am taking it slow though because I don't want to switch too fast and have too much soreness. You can definitely feel it the day after in the muscles that you don't use the same way when you are in a running shoe! Saw the sun rise and it was pretty, then came home and might take a nap for a bit before work 1pm to 10pm. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 9:09
• Mile 2: 8:41
• Mile 3: 8:14
• Mile 4: 8:03
• Mile 5: 7:28
• Mile 6: 7:24

Total Time: 53:06 Total Distance: 6.55 miles Average Pace: 8:06

This morning my dad came out onto the front porch as I was drinking a cup of coffee and reading Again to Carthage while I iced my knee. He gave me a little plaque and said. "It's about time I passed the torch. I know you'll do me proud." On the plaque in gold lettering is The Jogger's Prayer: Lord help me to remember that the race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on running. We must remember that we should never give up, follow things through until the end and remember to always keep the faith alive!

p. 12 "We never really know what will happen to the scratches we make in this thin dust."

p.  41 "It takes courage to do it, to be a runner. We all found that out a long time ago. Because it's about more than fatigue. It's about pain, and dealing with it for a long time. And it's about resolve. You can't really be much of a runner unless you have courage..." - Quenton Cassidy