Missed yesterday because my sleep’s out of whack, so I’ll do Tues./Thurs./Sat. this week.

5 minutes walking
3 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking x 4
4 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking x 2

Total time: 32 minutes (took me an extra minute’s walk to get home; knew I shouldn’t have tacked on that extra 30 seconds in one direction!)
Total mileage: 1.67 miles

This is the level I got stuck on twice, and while it was hard today, it was mostly pain-free (save for a little right ankle pain that I’d attribute to the damp cold more than anything). Breathing was labored, but I also added longer stretches than I’ve run in this training stint, as well as 6 extra minutes of total workout time, so it makes sense. Have to get more used to breathing through my nose, lest I become a mouth breather. Friggin’ park turned off all the water fountains, so I need to bring a bottle on Thursday.

See you then, legs and time permitting.

5 minutes walking
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 4
2 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking x 2
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 2

Total time: 25 minutes
Total mileage: 1.27 miles according to my pedometer, which is kinda whack, because I covered the exact same distance as I did on Monday, which was 1.41. Flaky things.

Actually had some shin/calf pain in my right leg today, but it went away about halfway in. Got what I describe as “the heavyfoot” during the last 2 minute jog. This one was, in general, a little tougher than it needed to be (breathing was a little labored, too), might’ve been something with my pacing, but I got through it OK.

Onward to Friday.

5 minutes walking
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 4
2 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking x 2
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 2 (jogged an extra minute by accident on the last rep)

Total time: 26 minutes
Total mileage: 1.41 miles

Warmer today. Minor leg pain toward the end, but nothing nuts. Breathing was fairly normal. Not much to report here, really. We likes it when these reports are boring, though.

Onward to Wednesday.

5 minutes walking
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 7
5 minutes walking

Total time: 24 minutes (more like 24:30; again, I don’t clockwatch a lot when I’m in my ending walk)
Total mileage: 1.31 miles

I was probably off in my estimate on Wednesday. I trimmed mileage off my pedometer because i walked around in my house a bit before i started my workout and forgot to hit “reset”. The number when I got home was 1.33, so that was probably more like 1.32, since I turned around 50-100 feet-ish from where I did on Wednesday. Moving on…

It was 2 degrees warmer than Wed. today, but windier. I still hung in there just fine with the cold. I took it easier, since I had some very light soreness in my left shin as I was starting (it went away, replaced about midway through the workout with that burn you get when muscles are working), and that accounts for the difference in mileage. Writing this about 6 hours after my run, there’s definitely more soreness, so i’m probably going to ice it tonight. Other than that, I’m fine. Breathing was fine, knees were better, and I think my form was better, not as hurried.

Made it through the first week with minimal to no discomfort, save for today. I’ll rest the leg over the weekend and see how I feel come Monday. It’d really help if there was a more detailed metric to measure pain with, just so I’d have some basis for comparison. I’m not in any kind of excruciating pain by any stretch, but it’s still a mild nagging one that starts at my left inside ankle joint and goes up my leg about 4 inches from there, and I’d like to know if that’s just something I’ll have to deal with or if there’s an easy way to rehab it. I’d also like to hear from anyone who’s had shin splints of a similar nature to mine, just to see if, from their experience, I can get a better feel for the severity of what I have going on. The doctor said I’ve got no ligament tears and no fluid buildup that he can see, but as for the rest, it’s always good to have as much information as possible.

Thanks for the words of encouragement on Monday, all. With almost no effects being felt from that run, I’m gonna keep going until I can’t again.

5 minutes walking
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 7
5 minutes walking

Total time: 25 minutes (I wasn’t clock-watching on the last walk)
Total mileage: 1.3 miles

First time I’ve run in 33 degree weather since grade school. I bundled up well, and aside from the bottom half of my face (gonna have to look into one of those Mortal Kombat-lookin’ half masks, I think), I stayed very warm and comfortable. Actually had to take off my $5 St. Mark’s Place earmuffs on the home stretch. Lungs aren’t used to the cold yet, and my left knee did what it’s been doing (very little barking from the usual spot on my left calf, though, just some warming up in the calves from the exertion), but other than that, this was fine. The “I’m working out here” level of exertion kicked in about midway, but I wasn’t close to my wall, and I shouldn’t have been anyway. I’ve done this a few times before. I will say that shorter running times are harder for me to pace myself on than longer ones. I must be built for distance.

Onward to Friday.

Started from the beginning:

5 minutes walking
1 minute jogging/1 minute walking x 6
5 minutes walking

Total time: 22 minutes
Total mileage: 1.13 miles

I’ve taken a bunch of time off, and I’m still in the process of getting my legs looked at, so I figured I’d start easy when I started again. Wasn’t a tough workout at all, although my lungs aren’t used to the cold yet, and I did have some minor twinges in my left knee and calf in the usual spots. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, and proceed on Wednesday, in all likelihood. Good to be out there, though. Missed my park.

Quick links:

Marathon web site | Watch Live In U.S. (3 feeds! Main Feed, Elite Mens’ Pack, Elite Womens’ Pack)
Watch Live Internationally (Definitely free!) | Elite Men Bios | Elite Women Bios
Elite Wheeler Bios | My Quick n’ Dirty Pre-Game Analysis

Well, hi hi hi there, sports fans! It’s time for one of my favorite days of the year, Marathon Day! Ideally, I’m gonna need someone to handle the coverage for this next year (and/or be equipped to do live updates as I’m in the race) but for at least this year, I’m in the commentator’s seat as usual, bringing you the New York City Marathon coverage that hopefully you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing it.

The forecast in New York is absolutely perfect for long-distance running, a partly sunny day with a high of 54 degrees Fahrenheit (or 12 degrees Celsius, to you folks who don’t live in a country where people believe Jesus rode dinosaurs), so we could see some terrific performances today. Admittedly, there may be some weirdness because we’re used to the time change from Daylight to Standard time happening the week before the race, but hopefully runners will just get an extra hour’s rest out of that and not be thrown off by it.

A few late notes about the competitors, mostly gleaned from the NBC marathon page linked above: this is Paul Tergat’s first marathon back, as he took a year and a half off from the distance after London 2007, so it should be interesting to see how the layoff affected him; most of what I’m reading seems to think that it could be Abderrahim Goumri’s day (Runner’s World seem to be sticking with his story in a lot of the pre-race hype, as is NBC); there are a lot of American runners at on the outskirts of the elite packs of both men and women, some young, new names and faces, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare; and, for those of you who follow which celebrities do the race, no Lance Armstrong this year (he’s training for the Tour de France again, and I guess 2 New Yorks and a Boston were enough for him for now), and I don’t think we’ll see Katie Holmes try it with her Broadway run ongoing, but Beth Ostrosky (apparently a supermodel, though I don’t really live in that world, kinda cute in that Christie Brinkley sorta way, and running for North Shore Animal League, which is a great cause…oh, hey, and she’s Howard Stern’s wife, too, as of a month ago! I knew the name sounded a little familiar, but couldn’t place why…) and U.S. Womens’ Soccer champ Brandy Chastain are both running their first marathon tomorrow. There’s probably more celebs in the pack, and they’ll be ferreted out over the course of the race.

NBC’s extended coverage, going over some of the stories of the runners, has just begun, so pull up a comfortable chair and settle in. The RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN is on its way, folks!

8:18 AM: NBC broke for “Meet The Press”, and after about 5 minutes of listening to Fred Thompson out-and-out lie to the audience, I broke, too. TV goes back on at 9!

9:10 AM: OK, we’re underway! Elite women start in 10 minutes, elite men at 9:40 or so. Gorgeous running day in the city. Kerri Strug running with Brandi Chastain today, her 4th time running New York. Experts like Radcliffe just a bit more than Wami for the win. Time for the Elite Women!

9:15 AM: At the starting line now…Wami looks like she’s on a mission today. OK, folks…time for the first shout of the day…RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!! Radcliffe’s at the head of the pack, with American Kara Goucher right behind her on the uphill stretch of the Narrows, and we’re at our first break.

9:20 AM: back from break, and installing the Windows Media plug-in so I can give the live net feeds (yes, they’re free!) a shot, ugh. Man, NBC LOVES Radcliffe.

9:25 AM: Some explanation of the World Marathon Majors series going on right now. Gete Wami and Ndreba are both in play for the grand prize on that. Got that friggin’ Windows Media plug-in installed now, for those wondering, the feed is about 2 minutes behind television right now, but it does work, if your plugins are playing nice. And another break. Sneaking them all in while they’ve only got 30 women running on a bridge.

9:30 AM: Back from break, and the ladies are in Brooklyn, starting to stretch out the pack a bit. Kara Goucher’s still in 2nd, and it’s gonna be really interesting to see how long she stays there. Also: wait, there are wheelers on the course already? They didn’t show the wheeler start? Bad form, NBC! Where the bejeezus is Kurt Fearnley? The Masses are lining up, and hey, now we’re talking about the wheelers. I’m wondering whether they started and are working from tape or not on this. Yep, they went from tape, at 8:35 (damn Meet The Press). Fearnley’s in the mens’ lead, I think they’re pretty deep in, 56 minutes in fact.

9:33 AM: Mike Bloomberg at the starting line, talking about toilets! This is why I tune in!

9:35 AM: …and we’re back! The elite pack is down to 10. Radcliffe is in the lead, with Goucher and Wami right there behind her. Trying to get a bead on the rest of the elite pack, let me check the ‘net feeds after they run through the elite men’s pack. They like Goumri.

9:40 AM: OK, folks, time for the Elite Mens’ pack. Tergat looks really happy to be here. Gomes dos Santos still looks scared of him. Goumri looks confident. None of the pack really stands out as looking great at the gate, though. Abdirahman getting a lot of attention from the announce team, too. National Anthem being sung by an “America’s Got Talent” winner. Big dude! Nice tenor, though! It’s almost time, folks…oh, before I forget, since NBC cockblocked me earlier on the wheelers…WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!!11111

And, now, it’s time for what you all wait for me to say…
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9:48 AM: Women are in mile 6. Lemme flip over to that feed and get you that data….hot damn, while I’ve been waiting for it to load, Kara Goucher pulled into the lead, but missed her bottle (which apparently has a skull and crossbones on it) at the water table! Wami in 2nd now, Radcliffe in 3rd.

9:55 AM: Wow, what a bad U2 cover.

10 AM: Can we stop with the video packages and actually show some running, NBC? It’s like they’ve replaced the New York team with the Boston one. Mens’ pack is headed by an American, get that name for you in a sec. Hey, Kurt Fearnley again! He looks tired, but he’s like 3 miles ahead of the rest of the universe, as expected.

10:05 AM: Problem with the ‘net feeds: none of them have a graphic on them denoting who’s in what place. 5 Borough Challenge finally gets mentioned, and it’s apparently all women this year, working moms!

Having REAL problems with the lack of good leaderboard graphics in the coverage this year, the TV feed sucks for it, too.

10:10 AM: The Elite Womens’ pack are at about a 2:27 pace, still Paula and Kara in the lead. Miles are getting quicker, 5:25 pace over the last mile. Ramaala’s taken the mens’ lead and he’s stretching the pack a bit at mile 6! No sign of Goumri or Tergat in the camera view. Wheelers finish after yet another commercial break.

10:16 AM: Abdirahman has swapped spots with Ramaala now. He is MOTORING. Here’s Kurt Fearnley in Central Park! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!! 1 mile to go for him. Where the hell are the womens’ wheelers? Sloppy. Women at mile 12 about to get out of punkass Williamsburg and go to Queens. Men at mile 6, Abdirahman thinks he’s Usain Bolt right now, and it could end up screwing him later.

10:20 AM: Kurt Fearnley just coasting now. He should pop a wheelie across the finish line. He’s got this thing so pwn3d. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!! 1:44:51 finish! Rough numbers for him, but he just dominated. Nearest competitor is 2 minutes (originally I typed “years”) back. Congrats to the baddest man on the planet!

10:23 AM: Mens’ pack is about 16 at mile 8, lots of movement in it. Women are at the halfway mark, and Kara Goucher’s in the lead now, strying to stretch Radcliffe and the rest. Commentators have finally mentioned Goumri, who’s doing a conservative early race. Also: live sound for this race is a mess, too. they’ve got the mics, and 2 races in split screen with the bands leaking in. It’s rough. Who’s directing this thing?

10:29 AM: Women are on the Pulaski Bridge, Radcliffe in the lead, Wami, Goucher, Petrova’s actually in there, Tune, and Jeptoo. Ndereba is in 7th, but they’re putting her behind them. Mile 14 now. Men at Mile 9.

10:31 AM: Men are switching positions A LOT. Is that Gomes dos Santos in the lead? Rad! Tergat’s in the pack.

10:33 AM: Kirui, Rono, Tergat Abdirahman, Ramaala, Gomes dos Santos, Goumri in the mens’ pack. Edith Hunkeler finally makes it onto TV, 93 minutes into the race. How nice. She’s also blown out the wheeler race, in Central Park now. Hopefully they’ll actually finish commercials before she crosses the finish line. Not in love with the direction this year at all.

10:37 AM: The women are on the 59th St. Bridge now. That was fast. Radcliffe, Goucher, Petrova, Wami, Tune, and Jeptoo in the 2nd pack now. Dead silent on the bridge. Gonna be loud on 1st Ave.

10:43 AM: Men 5 miles behind the women at mile 11, still a chaotic pack, pretty big. Women about to hit the wall of sound, on the downhill. Man, that bridge is a piece of crap. Hunkeler on the camera, just about to finish the race. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!! 2:06:41 for her! Congrats! They’re actually getting her on the mic, which is nice, considering that Fearnley got ignored. Definitely a downer to see the wheelers get such little coverage. Women on 1st Ave. now, and here comes the noise.

10:47 AM: Women at Mile 17, Men at Mile 12. Petrova, if she sticks with the pack, has a chance to hit the womens’ over-40 world record. She’s also got a crazy bleached-blonde buzzcut and scares me. Mens’ pack is still basically the same as they finish up Brooklyn. The amount of commercials on this broadcast is astounding.

10:51 AM: Radcliffe’s bobbing her head. No jokes, please. Nah, she does this every year. The women are starting to labor a little. Wami and Goucher look the best of the 5, I think. Men are heading up to the Pulaski, and hey, look who it is! Goumri!

10:53 AM: It’s Goumri, Gomes, Tergat and Kirui from what I can see right now, mens’ pack is splitting up a little, though. Ramaala with them.

10:58 AM: Abdirahman, as everyone predicted, hurt his pace with that show at Mile 6. Womens’ race just hit a 5:21 mile, mens’ pack was 4:41 in the last mile. Goucher at the back of the womens’ lead pack now. Radcliffe and Petrova leading, Tune, Wami, Goucher behind ‘em. Mile 19. Wami starting to stuff her a little. Gaps in the womens’ pack emerging. Over on the mens’ side, Kirui in the lead now. Mens’ race has been total chaos so far.

11:07 AM: Sorry. Needed a salad. And, while I was making it, Radcliffe and Petrova have distanced themselves at mile 21.

11:11 AM: Radcliffe stretching the last 2 standing, Petrova and Goucher, at mile 22. Goucher about 15 seconds back, looking like she’s getting her second wind. Wami and Tune are gonzo.

11:17 AM: Radcliffe has smoked everyone. Gomes dos Santos is leading the men! Let’s get a look at that facial expression! It’s him, Goumri, Tergat and….the other guy, lemme get a name! Never mind. They’re out. It’s just Gomes dos Santos and Goumri now! This could be GOOD.

11:24 AM: If I were to pick it right now in the mens’ race, I’d have to go with the most nervous man on Earth, Marilson Gomes dos Santos. He looks slightly less nervous this time, because he’s not facing Paul Tergat in his prime, and his stride is really something to behold. He’s got longer legs than Goumri, and I think that’s going to be the difference, provided that nothing weird happens. Womens’ race? Duh. The only question at this point is how far behind Radcliffe the silver and bronze will be, and who they’ll end up being. Can anyone in the pack catch Petrova or Goucher? Which one of them will pull ahead if not?

11:28: Goumri’s pressing and has passed Gomes dos Santos! Whoa there! It ain’t over, motherfuckers! The muthafuckin’ saga continues! They’re on the Willis Ave. Bridge coming back into Manhattan, 5 miles to go. Radcliffe’s got a mile to go, still bobbing her head. God bless ‘er. Goumri’s stretching his distance! Hey, Goucher is surging and trying to catch Petrova! We’ve got ourselves some races here!

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:32 AM: Radcliffe at mile 26, just about to cross the line, 5:13 mile to wrap up! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goumri’s givin’r! I may have spoken too soon, folks!

Paula, can you hurry up and win so we can get out of split screen already?

11:36 AM: I’m just kiddin’, folks, she’s putting on a clinic here and it’s great to see. She’s coming around Columbus Circle!

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paula Radcliffe wins the womens’ prize in the NYC Marathon, with a 2:23:55 time! Damn, she can haul. Congrats to her!

11:39: Petrova still in 2nd! She’s gonna take it! She’s a scary woman, and she’s got a world record for the girls of 40+! Goucher finishes in 3rd, with the best American womens’ debut ever! First American to make the podium in 14 years! 2:25:43 for Petrova, about 10 seconds behind for Goucher! Gutsy performances from both ladies!

11:40 AM: Goumri’s got about 10 seconds over Gomes dos Santos after Columbus Circle, and finally, NBC gets to one of our favorite parts…the other guys!

11:47 AM: Kara Goucher’s hurtin’, in a lot of different ways.

Goumri’s keepin’ on keepin’ on. I jumped the gun on Gomes, as Goumri was sitting on some energy when I made my prediction. About a mile and change left there. Gomes does look really strong still, so it’s not TOTALLY over.

11:49 AM: Gomes dos Santos DID have some more in the tank (he still looks pretty scared, though!), and Goumri looks like he’s hitting the wall! He’s swapped positions entirely now, has about 5-10 seconds on Goumri now! They’re in mile 26! Where is Goumri? He’s way back there now!

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marilson Gomes dos Santos pulls ahead to make me look like a genius, and wins the New York City Marathon for the second time with a time of 2:08:43! Goumri gets to be the bridesmaid again, with a 2:09:08. Poor bastard. He’s gonna win one in time, as he’s got a lot of running ahead of him in his career. Congrats to both guys!

11:55 AM: Daniel Rono takes 3rd, 2:11:22, and amazingly, there are NO Kenyans on the podium!

11:58 AM: Abdi Abdirahman finished 6th as the first US mens’ finisher, which is still a good effort considering how he faded in the middle. 2 more Americans in the top 10 after him.

12:02 PM: Interview with Radcliffe. She gives a shoutout to Grete Waitz, and then sneezes! God bless her.

12:11 PM: Finally, the other people! Rod Dixon, 1983 winner, is running with his daughter, and actually getting to enjoy himself this time, pretty awesome.

Gomes dos Santos being interviewed at the finish line. He’s like “I wasn’t scared”. OK, not really.

Paul Tergat finished 4th after a year and a half layoff, by the way.

12:22 PM: And again, we go to the pack, who are on 1st Ave. now!

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Special Forces guy who lost his sight in a mortar attack is being interviewed. He’s running with a guide, 26.2 miles though New York, blind. Unbelievable.

Womens’ awards ceremony happening now. Bloomberg on again, I wonder if he’ll mention the crappers again? Nope, he’s behaving. Hey, Grete’s there! Awesome.

Kid being interviewed right now, hilarious. “I’m very very tired. Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t far! It’s a really long distance!” and now, he’s proposing to his girlfriend! SHE SAID YES, PEOPLE

12:28 PM: Mens’ award ceremony now. Poor Goumri. He’ll get ‘em next year! I can’t believe Gomes dos Santos won again! He looked like such a fluke in ‘06, and he’s still such an odd runner in his pacing, totally unpredictable.

12:38 PM: they found the Notre Dame runners, who are running as a group to honor their teammate Ryan Shay, who died in the Olympic Trials on Marathon weekend last year. Man, it takes some stones to be able to run, do an interview about a friend you lost, and be able to chant his name LOUDLY while doing all that. Those are some tough guys.

The lady from Queens is winning the 5 Borough Challenge, which is just about forgotten this year. I guess they needed to fit in more commercials.

12:50 PM: RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaand another video package. They’re not doing very much to keep viewers in the race.

Kerri Strug’s wearing an iPod in New York! That’s not very safe! And, of course, when they catch up to Brandy Chastain, they have to ask her if she’s gonna put ‘em on the glass or whatever. Poor woman’s never gonna live that down.

And now, Grete Waitz! We love Grete.

1 PM: World Marathon Majors ended in a tie for the women, between Irina Mikitenko and Gete Wami. The committee is going to put it to a vote in about a half hour. Interviewing Mikitenko (who didn’t run today, and sat in the stands) right now. Wow, can someone really come off as bitchy through a translator? Go Gete!

And ANOTHER video package. Get some reporters out on the course and interview the regular people, for fuck’s sake!

Wow. They just interviewed a lady named Debbie McGee who is running the marathon today with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She’s run 4 marathons since her diagnosis, and she knows that this one is going to be her last. I lost my grandfather to ALS when I was 5, and knowing what it did to him, I cannot even imagine what she must be going through out there. That one hit REALLY close to home.

1:10 PM: They’re finally doing the video package (heh) about the Five Borough Challenge now, with less than an hour to on live coverage. Oh man, the Staten Island entrant is REALLY Staten Island. Susan Moore of Queens won, by the way, at about 2:57-ish.

1:20 PM: Lornah Kiplagat’s on right now. She didn’t run this year (she’s been doing half-marathons lately), but she’s there promoting her foundation, which helps pay to send Kenyan students to Ivy League colleges. Admirable goal, and the girl she had with her that’s going to Columbia University was incredibly well-spoken. It’s great to see people get chances they might not otherwise.

1:33 PM: Hmmm, still no JSRC sightings with a half hour to go.

1:38 PM: Wow, this guy from Foot Locker…not much of a talker.

1:40 PM: Ryan Reynolds just finished. Good on him. Now, if only he or his wife could act.

1:50 PM: Mayor’s Cup won by the Firemen this year. Just about ready to wrap it up over here.

2:00 PM: To close, I think I’m just about done watching this on TV for a while., and it probably showed a bit in my last hour, almost as much as it did in NBC’s, but unlike them, I apologize if it dragged a bit at the end. They really didn’t set the world on fire with their coverage, though there were some flashes of the work they’re capable of.

As far as the race went, no surprises in the womens’ or wheelers’ races (though you really had to squint hard to even see the wheelers), but great performances from the frontrunners in chillier, windier conditions than people were expecting. The mens’ race was a very different animal than we’re used to, perhaps owing to the colder temperatures as well, but had an exciting finish and it was cool to see Gomes dos Santos vindicate himself like he did.

All in all, though, as I said months ago, I think it’s time to stop watching the television, and go out there and experience this.

Next year.

Thanks for indulging me for the 8th straight year, in the meantime, and stay tuned. =)

• I’m going to hold off on running until I see a doctor about the splints, which I’ve finally got an appointment to do in 8 days. I just want a clearer picture of what I’ve been doing to myself here, and how to treat it, before I proceed. At this point, it’s probably a non-issue, but I want to be sure of that. Oddly enough, extreme pain from wearing out my legs didn’t bother me, but very slight, nagging pain in one part of my leg even without any further stress on it, that does. To me, that tells me that lasting damage may have been done, and I want to know, one way or the other, and get some more advice on how to continue my training without continuing to fuck myself up too badly.

• Because I’m nuts, because the economy sucks and because the ad slots aren’t exactly flying off the shelves despite my pretty decent traffic, I’ve slashed prices on text ads to an almost negligible amount. If you just wanna buy an ad for the day, it’s still a buck because AdBrite won’t let me charge less, but if you want a week’s worth, it’s $1.75 now (or a quarter a day), and for a month, it’s only $3.00, or a dime a day! If nothing else, you get the benefit of my still-pretty-solid traffic looking at whatever you’d like them to look at, for less than the cost of oral sex from an Alaskan teen mom on the campaign trail! (Oh, stop. The people in your office are going to ask you why you’re booing your monitor, and then you’re gonna have to explain it to them.) Sign up today!

• Sunday is Marathon Day, folks! I’ll be doing my usual live updates for what I believe is the 8th year in a row. Next year, I’d like to be running it rather than covering it, but we’ll see how my training goes, and also how the application process goes. For those who actually keep track of the athletes in the race: on the mens’ side, my man Paul Tergat (see him while you can, folks, as he ain’t gettin’ any younger!), Henrik Ramaala, Abderrahim Goumri (newer to the marathon than the rest, but threatening a lot in the past 2 seasons), and Marilson Gomes dos Santos (who, despite looking as scared as I’ve ever seen a man look, managed to outrun Paul Tergat and Stephen Kiogora to win in 2006) look like your frontrunners (some solid rivalries there, and 3 past winners, to boot); the womens’ field is overflowing with great competitors, including Joyce Chepchumba, Rita Jeptoo, Tegla Loroupe, Catherine Ndereba, Ludmila Petrova, Paula Radcliffe and Gete Wami (a LOT of gold medals in that pack); among the wheelers, expect to see course record holder and professional badass Kurt Fearnley put in a strong showing in his attempt to threepeat against Krige Schabort and the pack, and watch to see if perennial womens’ wheeler champ Edith Hunkeler can recover from her second serious crash in the past 3 years to repeat as NYC champ against a great field that includes Sandra Graf, Diane Roy and 2006 winner Amanda McGrory.

• The archives are (and have been) down at the moment, but I’m working on resolving that today. Bear with me!

• I might be doing a lot more writing here soon. People keep encouraging me to spout off about everything from sports to politics to entertainment industry business models (all very tired subjects being covered ad nauseum elsewhere) much like I do conversationally, and even though I note to them that talking about these things and writing about them can be very different animals, there’s still apparently some appetite for my “voice”, so we’ll see.

5 minutes walking
4 minutes jogging/1 minute walking x 2
2 minutes jogging

*sound of me hitting wall*

18 minutes walking

Total time: 35 minutes
Total mileage: 1.85 miles

First time out in a while, hadn’t felt right prior to this, the time change has been messing with me too, and I’ve been busy as well. Lotta excuses, really.

What I can say about this time out is that while I’m not in a lot of pain, the little bit of pain I am in doesn’t feel right. It’s really mild, but very nagging pain, so I shut it down early. I’m having a doctor look at me on November 8th, so I’m just gonna have to be careful until then.

Onward to Monday. Gonna stay at the same training level until it feels comfortable.

Update: I got a migraine right after I finished running. That’s new, and probably unrelated to the running but the time was interesting.

Yep, gave it a go today. If all goes well over the next few days, I’m back. Still gonna have to put the 5K on hold, though. Bah.

5 minutes walking
4 minutes jogging/1 minute walking x 2
8 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking
1 minute jogging

*sound of me hitting wall here*

11 minutes walking

Total time: 37 minutes (supposed to be 33)
Total mileage: 2.05 miles

Went with the last workout level I finished strong on. My lungs gave out before my legs did, which is a good sign. Again, though, we’ll see how I feel over the next few days to a week. Will probably try again Saturday or Sunday if all goes well. Good to be back. Let’s hope it lasts.

For those wondering, allergies and a re-aggravation of the splints have kept me out of my shoes since Wednesday. I’m looking to get out there again as soon as it makes sense. Hopefully, this doesn’t mess up my chances for the Deal 5K, but if it does, it does. There are 5Ks every weekend. I was looking forward to getting started, though. Stay tuned to this space for more details.

All kinds of sleep issues and a little bit of fatigue kept me from my usual schedule, so it’s Wed./Fri./Sun. this week.

5 minutes walking
12 of the toughest minutes ever jogging, jeez that first hill in Holmdel is a bitch/2 minutes walking
9 minutes jogging (supposed to be 8, but I dogged it after that first hill so I made it up here)/2 minutes walking (supposed to be 1, but I was still dogging it)
probably about 9 minutes jogging here (made it to the 8 minute mark, kept going a ways to make up some more time, but forgot to check my watch at the end when I stopped to talk to some JSRC folk)/2 minutes walking back to my car

Total time: around 41 minutes for a 37 minute workout (damn, that hill makes my hill look like a speck of dirt)
Total mileage: 2.21 miles

The main course at the Wednesday evening JSRC run (which had about 5 other members that I know of aside from myself participating) is a pretty brutal 5K course, very hilly, and I did about 2/3 of it. I was totally gassed after that first hill, but evened things out so that my breath was actually stronger during the last third of my workout than the first two thirds. Shins took a beating because of all the hills, so I might not do that course more than once every few weeks, unless I make it to Friday with no ill effects.

And with that, we’ll talk more about this whole “running” thing then.

Went to the Sunday JSRC group run, just to see what that was all about. Rather than sticking to my normal day’s training, I freestyled. Ran out with the pack that left around 5 after 8, stayed with them until they were out of sight (it’s interesting how people who look like they’re exerting the exact same amount of effort, in the same form I have to at least my eye, can go so much faster than I can; not beating myself up about it, just observing…), and ran/walked as I felt like it in a loop course back to the park we started at. I’d say that I only ran maybe 15-20 minutes max of the course, but I’m cool with that because my legs have been a little sore this week, and even 15 minutes is way more than I was doing initially.

Total time: about an hour
Total mileage: 2.77 miles, but remember, a lot of that was walking, so don’t get too excited over the 6/10ths of a mile jump in distance.

My legs, while they were a little cranky over the weekend and in a few parts of the course, feel pretty much fine now. I got gassed early, running out with the pack, but finished strong, running a quarter mile to the park entrance at a pretty solid pace.

Stuck around for about an hour afterwards, bullshitting with some running club folks (very different crowd than I’m used to, but decent folks), then headed home.

Onto Tuesday.

5 minutes walking
10 minutes jogging/3 minutes walking
8 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking
6 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking

Total time: 37 1/2 minutes (I got to my door with about 25 seconds to spare on the last walk)
Total mileage: 1.95 miles

This one wasn’t bad, all things considered. I had some soreness before I started, and at about the midway mark of the 10 minute stretch, and I was a little spent on the last 6 (my breathing wasn’t great, but has certainly been worse, and I got some heavy feet on the 2nd to last hill), but this was pretty good, otherwise.

I do have to give a big “fuck you” to the idiot who was treating the big lawn of the park like his own personal driving range, though. Asshole kept teeing off with me and the running path in the direct path of his tee shot. For those of you who’ve ever wondered why I hate golf (really, it’s more about hating the people who enjoy it, kinda like I get with The Smiths), it’s elitist, entitled attitudes like this guy’s that do me in. There’s a reason why I throw the horns repeatedly during the country club scene in “Falling Down”.

That rant aside, we’re onto the next workout, which will either be Saturday or Sunday, depending on how my legs feel (like I said, a little soreness today).

5 minutes walking
7 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking x 2
8 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking
3 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking

Total time: 38 minutes and about 30 seconds (had to stop and tie my shoes once, and some dude stopped me running to tell me there was a deer in the woods up ahead; apparently, I don’t see that same deer in the same area every time I run now).

Total mileage: 2.17 Miles! Pretty sure that’s a new record for me, as I’ve only made it to that part of the course once before, and there was way more walking involved then.

This was a tough one, real tough, but I did it. Not much pain, either, save for the hill at the deepest part of the course. Tough breathing today, but I added a few minutes to my workout and some long, uninterrupted runs, and it’s also humid as all get-out due to the rain.

Onto Thursday (shorter, but more intense workout).