Spring racing season

With the Gansett Marathon behind me, it is time to start shaping my spring racing season. I find that, thanks to Hal Higdon's Post-Marathon training program, starting from scratch and training for a 5K is the best way to move forward after a marathon.
There is no shortage of spring 5Ks in northern New Jersey, so the pickings should be easy and plentiful. Unfortunately, I painted myself into a corner with all the other activities I planned, so I wanted to begin ASAP.

Five weeks is the standard turnaround time and I had my heart set on Pediatric Angel Network Classic 5K in Madison on May 19. That fell through when I injured myself and then got sick last week. Starting all over again, I decided I would be ready on June 2. I have few other options now, what with the Gogol Bordello show in Montclair that night (ruling out June 3); a family party on Long Island on June 9 (killing that whole weekend); and the Phish shows in Atlantic City from June 15 to 18, Wantagh, N.Y., on July 3 and 4, and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on July 7 and 8.

Take a look at the description of my blog - this is now the conundrum of my life. How do I balance racing with Phish tour? Can I run my best when I am up late dancing at Phish shows? Can I enjoy Phish shows when I am up early for races? During last year's tour, I was marathon training. Now, I want to be short racing.

We shall see how it goes, but one thing is for certain - I need to make a great showing at the Hoboken Catholic Academy 5K on June 2 because it may be my only real shot until June 23.

The "2112" reset button

One of the great things about post-marathon training is that it is like a reset button. For the first time in 18 weeks, I was able to simply run without any regard for time or past performance.

So after four days of rest, I did what I always do on the first post-marathon run of the season - I put the epic 20-minute Rush song "2112" on my Ipod and ran a carefree three miles. 

Knowing I would be a little slow, and having fun with the "year" theme, I also added one of Phish's renditions of "2001"  - the classical piece "Also Sprach Zarathustra", best known for its usage in '2001: A Space Odyssey', but performed in the funk disco mode of Deodato's 1970s recording.

Awesome.

Eli on 'SNL', and why sports stars tend to work well

I know this is not about running or Phish, thus defying the tagline of my blog, but I am a big 'Saturday Night Live' fan and I felt the need to comment on last night's episode. What makes me different from every other idiot on the Internet talking about it?  I am not a sports fan. I could not care less about the Giants or the Super Bowl or football at all. I'm not even sure I know what a quarterback does. The NFL could fold tomorrow and it would not affect my life slightest bit. Paradoxically, I enjoy when sports figures show up to host. There always seems to be an easy, laid-back vibe to the show when these folks host. So even when the show is not particularly funny (last night's "Helga Lately" and "TMC - Cheech and Chong), it is always enjoyable.

I spoke with my friend, Gavin, about this phenomenon while we watched Charles Barkley's episode earlier this season. Barkley nailed the show perfectly, and so did Gavin in his assessment. He said that sports figures are in their element in front of crowds, in pressure situations, on live TV. That's why they pull it off. I'll go even further and add that half of a popular athlete's job (and I'm only talking about the biggies here - the ones even I have heard of) is good PR. These guys take that stuff seriously, but the best ones don't take *themselves* too seriously, so they are game for dressing in drag (Manning's "Miss Drag World" - also not funny, but amusing - and Barkley's "Joann's Announcement") or getting smacked in the face with an old fuddy-duddy reporter's microphone (the great Bill Hader in "Herb Welch - Occupy Movement").

Obviously, comedic and stage actors work in front of live crowds, too, but the dynamic is different. When we saw Ben Stiller, Charlie Day and Daniel Radcliffe this season, we were seeing them work in their element and thus the essence of the performances generated from their own presence. Movie stars without the live background, be it from comedy clubs or theater stages, can be a gamble - as Lindsey Lohan and, to a lesser extent, Jonah Hill - when they rely too heavily on either the cue cards or their own star power to pull them through. Though I must point out that while Hill suffered from weaker writing (it happens - not everything can be gold), Lohan performed reverse alchemy, turning gold writing into a scrap-metal show.

Non-actors, on the other hand, turn the show into a writer's game. Sports stars usually do their homework, so they can be relied upon to deliver exactly what the writers produce, even if their acting is stiff. You can tell Manning memorized his lines and worked hard at it. Wisely, they stuck to the formula for great beloved-sports-figure episodes - making fun of himself (the funny "Motion Capture"), saying outrageous things (the hilarious "Text Message Evidence"), or focusing on a key aspect of his celebrity (the absolutely brilliant "Little Brothers") - and Manning aced it each time. 

He also did a bang-up job as the contestant on his girlfriend's game show, "What Is This?" who gets blindsided into having to answer the titular question, with the "this" being that important catch-all for the girl wanting to know the status of their relationship. Definitely one of the top sketches of the night.

The whole episode reminded me of the 'SNL' glory days of my youth when Wayne Gretzky and Chris Evert hosted. Those sports stars were given solid material by the writers and delivered great shows. Last night, Manning did the same.

Oh, and praise is due to "Weekend Update" for Kristin Wiig's Patricia Krentcil and Sasha Baron Cohen's Admiral General Aladeen with Martin Scorcese (!), too!

A few more things about Block Island

If you want to know why I love going back to the Block year after year (for eight now), here are a few of its attributes.

The island is only accessible by ferry (and only from Point Judith during the non-summer seasons) and small aircraft. There are no chain stores, no Starbucks, and no fast food joints. No building is taller than four stories.

If you ever get an opportunity to visit this quaint slice of heaven, you must stay at the 1661 Inn or its related properties. During the summer it is very expensive, but if you do not mind blowing a couple of hundred bucks per night, you will be very pleased. The rooms are gorgeous and the service is hotel quality in a bed and breakfast setting. The champagne buffet breakfasts are incredible and the afternoon "wine and nibble" is more than worth coming back to the inn for between outdoor excursions.

However, in the off-season, these same rooms are amazingly affordable. My friend, Lee, and I stayed in the Dodge Cottage, just down the road from the main building. For $300, they offer three-night stay at a room in the cottage, round trip ferry tickets, a $75 gift certificate to any of five restaurants, plus the buffet breakfasts (though scaled down a bit). Worth it!

Relaxing (but not resting) on Block Island

After the race my friend, Lee (who accompanied me on the trip for some fun and good cheer), and I hung around the Narragansett area. We went to the beach (though it was a bit windy and chilly) and enjoyed the day. We ate a lot, got a little tipsy, and stayed the night near Scarborough Beach. In the morning, we headed out on the noon ferry to Block Island, my favorite getaway spot, where I have gone on extended weekends once a year for the past eight.

If you do not know, Block Island is a tiny island that sits 12 miles off the coast of the state of Rhode Island. It is so far out into the water that it is only 14 miles from Montauk, the tip of Long Island, New York. It is the smallest municipality (13 square miles) with the smallest population (900) in the smallest state in the country. And it is gorgeous.

We had a great room (the Alice Mae) at the Dodge Cottage, which included excellent champagne buffet breakfasts at the 1661 Inn. We stuffed ourselves silly during those breakfasts and the dinners at the Poor People's Pub and Mohegan Cafe. And, as promised, we consumed more than a bit of alcohol. With the car on the mainland, there was no danger of drinking and driving!

During the days, I was supposed to be resting, it was hard to resist the fun of renting bicycles and tooling around the island for hours, hiking the Greenway trails, and discovering beach areas to which I had not yet been. It was unseasonably warm on Monday and Tuesday, so we totally lucked out for outdoor activity. I am guessing here, but I would say I probably biked about 25 miles on Monday and hiked around 15 on Tuesday. Amazingly, my legs did not hurt a bit.

We returned to the mainland on Wednesday morning and though I had not been physically as inactive as I probably should have been, I felt wonderfully rested.

Gansett Marathon, Part Two

Just as it was at the New Jersey Marathon four years ago, this double-loop race was a tale of two races. The first loop was incredible - fast, exciting, adrenalized. 

The second loop, in this case the last 10 of the 26.2 miles, quickly became disastrous. 

Rounding past the start line once again, I felt good. I knew I had lost a little time (the clock said 1:52, which meant I was still at a sub-7 pace) but I felt strong. However, it was time to tackle that long incline into the wind along Ocean Road again. And this time it was miles 17 through 20. The more I climbed, the more I could feel the energy draining. 

There were markers every half mile and I began to eagerly await my arrival at each, but it seemed longer and longer between them - Mile 17...17-and-a-half.......18..........18-and-half................where's the 19? How much longer?? 

By the time I hit the 19-mile mark, it was over. I knew my race was ruined. I had hit the wall and all kinds of horrible things started happening. For starters, my stomach began feeling uneasy. By the 20-mile mark, it went from uneasy to queasy, then to downright sickly by mile twenty-one. At the aid stations, I could not even think about taking water or Gatorade for fear of upchucking on the spot. 

Everything else seemed to feel OK. My legs did not hurt and my lungs were breathing well. But the nausea and cramps in my tummy were unbearable. Along the woodsy area in mile 22, I went from a run to a trot to a jog. By the time I gave the thumbs down to the photographer near mile 23, I was down to a pathetic shuffle. 

All the while, I was counting down the approximate amount of minutes until I could puke. That was ALL I was thinking about for almost seven miles. 

"48 more minutes, then I can vomit....half hour, then I can vomit..." Finally, unceremoniously, I shuffled to the finish line, beaten, broken and ready to spew. 

 I crossed the finish line at a dismal 3:13, proceeded to the nearest trees, and yakked up rivers of bright yellow liquid. I guess it was the Gatorade, of which I had too much early in the race, mixed with the energy gels and chews I had been taking. It seemed never-ending. 

When the vomiting finally subsided, the crying began, though just a little. It was not like the sobbing I did on Karen's shoulder at the New Jersey Marathon in 2008 (the only other time I hit the wall). It was more like a wave of emotion finally catching up. 

And then, I was fine. Physically sore and exhausted, but mentally OK. By the time I showered and attended the awards ceremony, I was moving slowly, but in a good headspace. I knew what I had done wrong - over-fueled, started too fast - and I knew how to fix it. This will not be my last marathon and I still refuse to believe I peaked in 2009. 

In December, I will run the Mangrove Marathon in Cape Coral, Fla., and test my mettle once again. And I will remember what one of the race volunteers said to me as I shuffled past him in agony: "You can always come back and fight another day."

Gansett Marathon, Part One

Even after the disastrous final 20-mile training run, I regained enough confidence to really think this was the one. I was ready to break my three-year old marathon PR. 

I rolled into Narragansett Friday afternoon with plenty of time to check in to the host hotel (across the street from the start line!), pick up my race packet, and go to the pasta dinner. The race start was 8 a.m. so I could comfortably go to bed at 10 p.m., get up at 6, and still have plenty of time to eat breakfast and stretch before the race. 

Nerves kept me from sleeping too well, but I was rested enough this morning. A weird thought hit me early on, "Did I carb-load enough last night?" and I started worrying that I was not properly fueled. So I drank a little extra soy milk, then had a bagel, then stuffed my pockets with energy gels and chews, and ate half a Clif Bar. I also drank a little extra Gatorade. By the time we started, my tummy felt a little weird. No matter, I thought, I will run it off. 

I set my iPod to play the Phish show from 8/16/2009 because its length is three hours and  three minutes - my goal time. We got the go signal, I started the show, and hit start on the iPod's stopwatch. 

I banged out the first mile in 6:36. Too fast! At the end of the second mile I was in the 13s. The third, 20s. We were running uphill and into the wind on Ocean Road, yet with every passing mile, I was gaining time. By the fifth mile, I was a full three minutes ahead of schedule, hitting that mark at 32 minutes, instead of the planned 35:05 (goal pace was 7:01). 

I kept telling myself to slow down and I kept not slowing down. Through miles six through 10, downhill to the Point Judith lighthouse and Block Island Ferry, I remained three minutes ahead. And damn it, I felt great. 

Along Galilee Escape Road, the wind was at my back and the sun was beating down in front of me. Suddenly it felt like it was 80 degrees and I started sweating heavily. No matter - at the halfway mark, uphill on Point Judith Road, I was still three minutes ahead hitting it at one hour, 28 minutes. 

By that point, I should have long before slowed down, but I kept thinking about how great it was to have such a cushion, so if I NEEDED to slow down, I could. Heck, by that halfway point, I had determined that I could have run 7:14 miles from there to the end and still gotten a PR! 

Instead, a dangerous thought popped in my deranged noggin: if I keep this pace, I'll run a SUB-THREE HOUR marathon. That's the dream! And it was WITHIN REACH!! 

And so I soldiered on, uphill to the turn off of the major roadway and onto a woodsy road that let back toward the Narragansett beach and the start line. 

In the middle of the first song of the second set, my ipod crapped out.  I was not upset about the lack of music - I can run fine without it - but I was pissed that my stopwatch was now gone. I had to gauge it on feel from there to the end. Some folks passed me in the 15th. I knew I was slowing down, but figured it was OK. I had that cushion!  

At the end of the first loop, 16.2 miles, I was in good shape and knew I had my 3:03 PR locked up. The second loop covered only 10 miles of the same ground and I knew I still had plenty of time to do it.