Put One Foot Forward

Week of Firsts

2010-10-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

Ran a half last week, ran 65+ last week, ran 22 in a day last week. A lovely week of firsts. I imagine that the end of the long run was as marathon specific training as I will get. It hurt. The next day, today, hurt too.

I had the best company on the best route with the best weather I could imagine for the long run. If those were the typical circumstances 22 would come easy.

My legs are sore, and need a rest. Get to take one, too. I'll be sleeping until ants crawl up my pants, then I'll be hitting pavement.

See you on the road,

-- Douglas

My First Half

2010-10-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those fall days that are magic in Central Park. Things hum a bit. Grete Waitz said some nice words from the podium before the race. Grete Waitz, I said! Sometimes I forget the legacy that I'm part of, as a New York Road Runner (if you prefer the lower-case version, that's cool, too).

I had some moments during the race where I felt loose and strong, and was able to enjoy the run. I had other moments, too. One involved a port-a-potty, and isn't fit for print.

Today I got out and turned my legs over for a few miles and felt less terrible than I expected to. Some people use a half marathon as a predictor for the marathon. I predict that November 7th won't be boring.

See you on the road,

-- Douglas

"Looking good! Like a wet rat, but good!"

2010-02-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

Words of encouragement from K. last night as I finished up the final mile of a four mile progression run (start slow, build speed in the middle, finish fast). I did a super easy three for warm up, and a super easy one for cool down. Two months ago eight was a recovery run, two weeks ago it was a dream. Funny how it goes.

I feel good, and hope that with a couple of rest days and yoga under my belt I'll be ready for a run uptown under a canopy of live oak on St. Charles Avenue while we're in NOLA.

And when I get back, I start a job, wheee! I see bridges in my future.

Easy six

2010-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

And I ran, I ran so far away. Hot damn last night felt right, and today I feel good. Because things felt so good I picked it up a bit on the last two. Oh, running. How have I missed you?

Cautiously optimistic

2010-02-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

A. and I ran one mile today, and ran it slow¹. It was a lovely run, I feel good some hours later. I hope that this good feeling continues, and that Tuesday I get to try for two slow miles.

1. Seriously, A. and I ran slow, together. You may not comprehend the restraint that showed, but it stands out to me. Also, Garner agrees that using the adverbial form of slow is acceptable.

Looking forward to Sunday

2010-02-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

A. and I are going to run for one (1!) easy mile on Sunday. Sunday Funday Runday redux. A one mile week is a slightly different goal than some of my previous running goals, but I've learned something while I've limped along these past weeks.

I love to run. I would rather run slow, low-mileage for a long contiguous chunk of time than fast, high-mileage intermittently.

I'm sure I'll forget that at some point, but for now it's on my mind.

My dawgs are barkin'

2010-01-05T09:14:00.000-08:00

Shins are fucked up good
frustrating me to no end.
When can I next run?

Wheee, self-pity haiku! My right shin went from "I can notice that just a little bit after a hard run" to "ouch, it hurts to walk". Time to back off, in a big way. I didn't notice it at all until I took a long rest over Christmas, and a fairly easy first week back. I've obviously been pushing myself, but thought I was resting enough, and thought Christmas break was going to be enough to repair. Clearly I was wrong. It will be interesting to watch what happens with more rest, and more yoga.

Sunday Funday Runday postview

2010-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

On the preview, I ran the loop correctly, showing folks where the Sunday run would be. Today I completely spaced out on Forest Ave and we ended up at Cypress and Cooper during the first loop, adding at least a mile, probably closer to one and a half. The second loop I cut it too short, but luckily K. put us back on track.

I was running with K., M. and O., all of whom could have capably dropped me at any point, all of whom reigned it in which let me stick with. It was a bit of a push to keep up with them during the second loop, especially when M. announced that she loved hills and dropped our pace well below my 5k race pace up a mile long hill. (Note to self. Your 5k race pace has been superseded, it just doesn't know it yet.)

I completely fell apart on the last loop. O. and I stopped to split a sugary sport drink, which helped me mentally, but I was spent. Miles 14 and 15 were completed with some arm pumping and focus on turnover.

Put one foot forward. Then do it again.

Sunday Funday Runday preview

2010-01-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sunday we're doing a 4.4 mile loop through Bushwick and Ridgewood, folks can determine their distance by the number of loops they run. Yesterday after a morning snow Team A. did a preview.

With warm-up and cool down that put me at 6.5. My shins felt fine during the run, and afterward I was able to find the sensitive spot by digging around underneath the medial tibia with my thumbs. I've been massaging the sore spot aggressively, and can notice a distinct improvement already. I hope it's that easy.

Energy to Burn

2009-12-31T06:19:00.000-08:00

Last night I did a fairly easy four mile warm-up, and then pressed Kent Ave to the BQE and back to the park. Running felt great, I felt fluid and relaxed, and pushing the pace felt right. O.'s computer said we ran negative splits that started at 7:20 and ended at 6:17. I'm going to try that in the Fred Lebow 5M race next weekend.

I had some shin pain this morning, on my right shin in the classic medial tibial area. Stretching seems to help it out. I think I'll try doing the standing series from Ashtanga for a couple of weeks, to see if that helps.

It's snowing and sticking, we'll see how my noon run goes.

Ready to Run

2009-12-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

Since Gantry my only run has been 5-6 miles in Maryland while visiting my brother. It was treacherous, no shoulder on the road, patchy black ice and blind corners with traffic. Another word for it would be "stupid".

During my recovery week turned week and a half I developed shin pain, which I haven't experienced before. I hope it goes away soon.

I have a colony of ants in my pants, and can't wait for the club run tonight. Looking forward to a good long run on Sunday as well.

Gantry State Park with detour

2009-12-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a nice group of us ran to Gantry State Park in Queens, and took a nifty detour down 2nd St to the tip of Hunters Point and watched the tugs pushing barges of recycling through Newtown Creek.

We opened it up on the way back, which kind of goes against "recovery week" mentality, but I'm not going to put on a hair-shirt over it, and it felt great. I'm resting again today. If I get a chance (meaning make time, don't puss out because of rain, etc.) I'll move my legs for a couple easy miles tomorrow.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Ted Corbitt 15k

2009-12-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the Ted Corbitt 15k race in Central Park. It was two loops, neither of which included Harlem Hill, but they both featured Cat Hill. I finally managed to run a race with a sub 7 mile pace, which I was super happy with.

During the race itself I felt pretty worn out. I think a string of consecutive 40 - 50 mile weeks were starting to wear on me, so I'm taking a recovery week this week and cutting back to 20 or so, all a light effort. Hopefully that will leave me feeling fresh to start the 18 week cycle in preparation for Jersey.

Had a lovely run this morning, felt great after two days off. Kent Avenue was a bit of a nightmare, but we managed to find a bit of clear ground to run on. M. and I picked up a bit at the end, but kept it conversational and loose. It was 7 total miles for me. I can already tell I'll be chomping at the bit by the end of the week.

Getting out of the comfort zone

2009-12-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

Talking to my middle hermano I said something along the lines of "my comfortable race pace" and was immediately ridiculed. Rightfully so. Because race pace isn't comfortable, of course.

Last night I pushed myself on the mile repeats and ran my four fastest timed miles, 6:07, 6:07, 6:14, 6:09. I was happy with my splits, but made the classic mistake of laying up a bit on the third of four. But I have no room to complain, other than over the lack of comfort.

I coined a new phrase. Long runs give me "runner's high". Intervals and repeats give me "runner's nut-punch".

Rested yesterday, mile repeats tonight

2009-12-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

I took an unplanned rest day yesterday. I was feeling a bit worn out, and wanted to be fairly fresh for tonight's workout. Took a yoga class this afternoon with the incomparable Weena Pauly. It felt good to wring out a bit. Really must remember to do more twists in my home practice.

Tonight are cold-assed mile repeats. Earlier today I baked a pumpkin pie for the party at M.'s afterward. I'm stoked on the repeats, stoked on the party.

Tuesday Tempo Time

2009-12-16T05:31:00.000-08:00

The club run was a four mile tempo run on the track. I warmed up for three miles, ran my pipe dream 15k pace for four miles, and cooled down for another three. I'm not really treating this week like a race week. I'll have three hard efforts in this week by the time Saturday rolls around, without two consecutive easy days. The runs sound too fun to miss, though, and that's why I'm in this. For the fun.

Caroling tonight, running 'round the 'hood spreading cheer. Mile repeats tomorrow, followed by a party at M.'s place. I'll probably rest completely on Friday, and hope by some strange twist that 45+ miles leading into the race this week leaves me with fresh legs come gun time.

Recovery run

2009-12-14T11:02:00.001-08:00

Did a five mile recovery run today after the hard effort yesterday. I think I finally understand what a recovery run is, and that 40 minutes of increased blood flow without pressing too hard is just what the doctor ordered today.

I signed up for the Ted Corbitt 15k in Central Park on Saturday, and I'm pretty stoked. I think this might be the race where my current baby-trend of lowering my minutes per mile as the race gets longer ends. Or maybe not. We'll see on Saturday.

Nice to do this one while awake

2009-12-14T05:38:00.000-08:00

When I first moved to Brooklyn I was a young buck. I liked to carouse, and would periodically wake up in Canarsie, at the end of the line of the L train, lulled to sleep by that beautiful BMT line.

Yesterday A. mapped out a route for the May marathoners that began at the Morgan stop on the L train, and followed its path to Canarsie and back. The route getting to Broadway Junction (a sight to behold from the ground) was well known to us, through Bushwick to the Cemetery of the Evergreens, then crossing Bushwick and the Eastern Parkway Extension. There we picked up Van Sinderen Ave, which is an urban running oasis. Van Sinderen is a one-way flowing south that hugs the elevated "L" line, with few through streets and little traffic. It is dark and creepy, with great views of graffiti in the fenced off areas under the trestle.

We all picked up the pace to a quick clip for the last few miles. On the last mile, the warm-down mile home, I felt absolutely whupped. I'm not sore today, and want to try fueling on the run for our next long run. I think it's possible I was out of sugar.

L Train-ing for NJ!!!
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douglashunter

2009-12-11T04:54:00.001-08:00

Douglas Hunter
6 Sharon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
917.582.2324
douglashunter@gmail.com

Expert technologist looking for an opportunity to solve interesting
problems with a diverse group of colleagues who share a passion for
engaging with their work and each other. Takes instruction well,
learns quickly and plays well with others.

Work Experience

2007 - Current
Freelance Computer Programmer

- (Oblong.com) Architected, built and deployed oblong.com using a
   front-end caching reverse proxy on apache2 built with the event
   MPM, mod_proxy and mod_cache. Integrated backend apache 1.3
   mod_perl site with existing work-flow and intranet tools for
   publishing dynamic content. Handily survived the Slashdottings.

- (allAfrica.com) Built and deployed a successful commenting and
   comment moderation system for allAfrica.com that drove up site
   traffic, increased user registrations and pages visited per site
   visit.

- (Open Source) Maintained XML::Comma, an open source information
   management platform available at http://xml-comma.org. Added
   features, fixed bugs, refactored existing code. Preserved
   backwards compatibility.

2007 - Current
Freelance Charcutier

- Struck a deal with a local farmer to process and cure his
   non-productive sows.

- Held community workshops to teach basic and advanced meat
   processing, curing and fresh sausage making techniques.

2006 - 2007
Line Cook, Blue Hill - http://bluehillnyc.com

- Meat Station: Kept inventory, ordered, prepared (portioned, cured,
   processed sous-vide, butchered) and cooked meats for à la carte and
   tasting menus.

- Pastry: Prepped, cooked and plated desert menu, including soufflés,
   ice creams and sorbets, cakes and fruits.

- Garde Manger: Prepped and plated all cold preparations for à la
   carte and tasting menus. Kept inventory of perishable items and
   made menu recommendations and staff meals that led to 99% produce
   usage.

- Intern: Started at the bottom, picking herbs and pitting cherries.
   Was promoted to Garde Manger and a paid employee before my
   internship was over. Received quickest promotion to the hot line
   of any intern at the restaurant.

2004 - 2006
Senior Programmer, allAfrica.com

- Wrote, deployed and maintained internal and external communication
   tools for progressive political and nonprofit organizations
   including Media Matters for America (http://mediamatters.org), the
   Democracy Alliance (http://www.democracyalliance.org), and
   allAfrica.com (http://allafrica.com).

- Developed Gadgets (http://gadgets.xml-comma.org), a communications
   platform that intentionally blurs the lines between Wiki, Blog,
   Mailing List Manager and Bulletin Board.

2001 - 2004
Founding Partner, Plus Three LLP - http://plusthree.com

- Co-founded Plus Three, a still profitable and growing technology
   startup specializing in delivering reliable, scalable and secure
   internet solutions to U.S. political and nonprofit organizations.

- Built, deployed and maintained the technology for a massively
   successful online fund raising effort for the Democratic party and
   John Kerry for President.

- Helped John Kerry set single day, single month and election cycle
   records for online fundraising by a candidate. Delivered a
   fundraising system to the DNC that outraised the RNC for the first
   time since the mid-1970s.

- Wrote thousands of lines of high-performance Perl code (and a
   little C where it was needed), complying with web and mail RFCs, as
   well as FEC regulations.

1997 - 2001
Director of Technology, Bigfoot Communications - http://bigfoot.com

- Managed team of eight systems administrators responsible for
   heterogeneous server farm of 75 machines.

- Planned and executed migration of 75 computers between data centers
   with zero down time.

1996 - 1997
Technical Support, Seanet Corporation - http://www.seanet.com

- Handled high volume of phone support calls for local internet
   service provider with no customer service complaints.

- Taught self Perl and wrote scripts to automate boring tasks and
   report on system health.

Education

February 06 - July 06
Institute of Culinary Education - http://www.iceculinary.com

- Graduated from ICE's intensive six-month culinary education program
   with top marks.

1994 - 1996
University of Washington - http://washington.edu

- Studied English literature and psychology.

1993 - 1994
Shoreline Community College - http://www.shoreline.edu/

- Completed Running Start program.

Sundry

- Organized the 2009 Vendys, New York's street food vendor awards, at
   the Queens Museum of Art. Headed bar operations and coordinated
   with Queens Museum of Art and Parks Department to ensure logistical
   and legal requirements were met. Managed sound for three bands and
   multiple speakers.

- Organized Africa Source (Namibia, 2001), Asia Source (Bangalore, 2004)
   and Africa Source II (Uganda, 2006). Negotiated with local
   governments to supply power and internet access, built out physical
   power grids, designed and taught computer programming courseware,
   facilitated a tone of appreciation and support.

- Acknowledged in Mark Dominus' "Higher Order Perl" as having stood
   out for contributing a "particularly large amount of concrete
   material" during the advance chapter feedback.

- Primary author of Net::SMTP::IMPP on the CPAN. Contributer of
   upstream bug reports and patches to open source projects.

- Avid runner and yoga practitioner.

- Fermenter of foods.

New kicks

2009-12-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

I'm about 800 miles into my first real pair of running shoes, and am retiring them. For my first pair, the lovely folks at JackRabbit put me in a pair of New Balance 1225s, a klunky stability shoe with a large, stable heel profile. It has a nice roomy toe box, and served me well. My problem with the shoe is that as I worked on my form I found the heel getting in my way. In any other shoe I would have been midfoot striking.

I had my gait analyzed again today at JackRabbit. I asked to see something less klunky, and he put me in a pair of Asics (I forget the model). He was quite surprised that I was running in the NB 1225s, and even asked, "You sure we put you in those?" I explained that I bought them when I first started running, and that immediately after the purchase started focusing on my form. The Asics were too skinny in the toebox for me, and the next pair of shoes was the Mizuno Wave Rider 12s, in a 2E. They fit like a glove, have lovely arch support, a skinny enough heel profile and a roomy toe box. They feel much lighter, and a bit softer than my NBs. Most importantly, the heel profile is low enough that it doesn't force a heel strike on me.

I'm stoked on these shoes, and hope that they carry me through a couple long runs comfortably. If they do, I'll pick up a couple more pairs and start rotating my shoes like a good boy.

It's probably time to buy some technical gear

2009-12-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

Had a club run from McCarren along Kent to the BQE and back. It was way warmer than I anticipated, and I was as usual overdressed in non-technical gear. I sweat buckets and got cold when we stopped to do core. The run itself was lovely, 7 miles at a moderate pace. I definitely felt yesterdays workout, and will be skipping the early long run tomorrow to rest up, and may ditch track work for a recovery run. We shall see.

I'm so looking forward to our Sunday Funday Runday with the first timers crew training for Jersey that I may take extra rest in order to be ready for a good run. The weather is supposed to blow goat dick, which is where a group really helps.

I just three weeks I'm going to be into my first week of marathon specific training. Even though my mileage will back off for the first couple of weeks, I need to resist the urge to over-train between now and then. That said, just because I know better intellectually, I'm not going to beat myself up over a few beginner mistakes.

See you on the road.

Caterpillar run

2009-12-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

A. renamed the "Indian run" to the "Caterpillar Run". This run is structured speed play, where the group runs in a single file line (or a pair of them) at a comfortable pace. The person in back sprints to the front and becomes the pace leader. Then the person in back sprints to the front and becomes the pace leader. Then the person in back...

The term "Caterpillar run" brought back some old memories, which I shared with the group. Now I'll share it with you.

In college I thought of "the worm" (you know, the dance move) as the caterpillar, which physiologically makes more sense to me. I still have a piece of scar tissue that disrupts my feeble whisker growth on the right side of the mental protuberance of my inferior maxillary bone. I picked up this scar when I dropped a tequila induced caterpillar on a group of unsuspecting house guests when "The Humpty Dance" came on the sound system at one of my parties

I put on a lot of miles for me today, between 17 and 18, at least half at a reasonably hard effort. It felt great, and now food and wine taste great.

Run to the hills...

2009-12-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

Took the Tuesday morning NBR crew out to Ridgewood for the Onderdonk special. I'm running out of tricks, though, so it's time to start studying the AIA guide to come up with more runs.

M. took us through a great warm up routine that was geared toward fast feet, then we warmed up for three miles out to Onderdonk and ran a couple hard repeats. On the way back M. and I picked up for two quick miles, then took the last one into the park nice and easy. She also had a nice cool down routine planned out that was more strength and flexibility oriented.

A week of good workouts and good rest days has me holding steady on my mileage with no complaints from my body other than the occasional sore muscles. Oh, happy day.

Little Recovery Run

2009-12-07T11:47:00.001-08:00

I did an easy baby loop 'round the hood today, just a few miles to remind my legs that they like to move. All in all I felt surprisingly good today, which of course makes me think, "hey there, I could have pushed a little harder". I like to think that the voice that says that isn't the self-critical-in-a-bad-way voice, but instead is the nice-but-wants-better voice. My favorite complement from M. while I was cooking on the line at Blue Hill was, "That looks good. Is that the best you can do?"

I think that's a good question to ask.

Joe Kleinerman 10K

2009-12-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Had a blast all the way around at the 10k today, from meeting up with the team on the subway platform at 6:30 to the commute there, the race itself and brunch afterward. It continues to surprise me how much I think of my fellow North Brooklyn Runners as friends.

I'm stoked on my results, especially after looking at them the following way. My first race was a 5k, where I ran 7:19 minute miles. This race was a 10k, where I ran 7:04 minute miles. I'm stoked to drop 15 seconds of my mile times, especially at double the distance. The glory of just starting out racing is that I PR in everything I do. My final time was 43:52 for 6.2 miles.

A bunch of the NBR crew did fantastically well. This race will necessitate a big update to our team standings spreadsheet. Congrats, everyone!

pain := 6 * 400

2009-12-04T05:13:00.000-08:00

I was really glad coach J. cut our 400s short by two last night, as to not put too much wear and tear on us before the Sunday race. I hate 400s. They are by far the hardest distance for me to run, and doing them consecutively brings a special hatred out of me. On the bright side, for the first time I ran them consistently, all 78s with one 80 in the middle. Still not fast, but it's fun for me to look back. When I first started running, I couldn't run a 400 in 78 seconds. Now I can run six in a row with two minutes rest in-between.

Luckily, by the next time this workout comes around I will have completely forgotten how bad it sucks.

Newtown Creek Nature Walk

2009-12-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Three billion dollars of tax money came out of the city budget to furnish the DEP with enough cash to update the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant. To appease the neighborhood the DEP commissioned a small park, on the shores of waters whose banks are home to significantly more spilled oil than spilled from the Exxon Valdez. The plant itself is a sight to behold. It was designed to reduce "odor events" in a neighborhood that makes it hard to distinguish between said events, as 1/3 of the city's land based solid waste is already transferred here.

Now we can handle more than our fair share of shit, as well as trash.

Before our tour of the walk, I put a couple extra miles on, bringing me to eight including this route.

Weds Night Run - 12/02
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Flushing Meadows Corona Park

2009-12-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday the crew training for the Jersey marathon (plus a good number of other folk) ran a sweet out and back to Flushing Meadows. You may know it as the home of the Unisphere, or the location of the alien spaceships from the movie "Men In Black". I wrote about my one way run to QMA previously.

Some of the highlights were grabbing a lemon ice at the Lemon Ice King of Corona (he deserves the self-applied handle), a tour of Flushing Meadows park that included the Queens Museum of Art, the Unisphere and the observation tower/pavilion, and of course Lefrak City. "Live a Little Better", indeed. Words of encouragement for anybody who commutes on the LIE, it was neat to run through the ground level of that monstrosity.

Coach O. and I picked up the last two miles of the twelve miler to 6:15 - 6:30 pace, which I didn't anticipate being within my reach. Slowly but surely.

Monday was a light short recovery jog, and then to the track yesterday for an interval workout with plyometrics for recovery, [laugh]. That workout brought the pain, and not wanting to be totally wiped for both Thursday mornings long run and the race this weekend, I laid off a bit. That left me with too much left in my tank, so I ran a few extra miles on my way home. I'm still trying to figure this out, the continual dance of asking enough of myself and staying healthy. So far I'm pleased with my footwork.

Quick Recap

2009-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

I write here mostly so I can have a training log, and look back at how I've felt at different times in my training. I'm feeling good right now, but my left ankle twinges moved to the top of my foot last week. I started a week of Naproxen, which seems to be doing the trick (with what I assume was tendon swelling causing tenderness). Dr. E told me that the stuff has to be in my system for a week to buildup for the anti-inflammatory part of the drug to work.

Last Saturday I did 6 on the Saturday bridge run, followed up with 12 to the Ridgewood Reservoir and back (using the Knickerbocker/Bushwick loop) on Sunday. Monday was a rest day, Tuesday was 7 with some speed work mixed in, Wednesday M. took us on an awesome bridge route that put me at 9.5 for the day. Thanksgiving was rest, yesterday was 7 with half of that hill repeats, today was the bridge.

Holding at 45 mile weeks with seems to be working for me right now. May 2nd seems way far away, until I realize I don't have a proper training plan in place yet, other than lots of vague ideas. Maybe it's time to get more serious about making a plan.

Brooklyn College Out and Back

2009-11-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to call this "an easy 14". While I may have run the first half of it slowly, that didn't make it easy. Brooklyn College has a beautiful campus. The intact, stand-alone Victorian mansions on Bedford leading up to the college are amazing.

I didn't dog it on the first half of the run, but ran at an easy breathing pace. On the way back I progressively picked it up, and was pushing for the last four miles. I like this training run, the "fast finish long run". Spend some time on your feet getting tired, then try to run fast while you're tired. It's hard. Running a marathon is going to be hard, too, and I'd like to be trained up for it. Send me on my way.

As an aside, in Lefferts Gardens I ran past the offices of the doctor who prescribed me Mefloquine for malaria prevention. He should have his license revoked, and the makers of that drug should all be hung. Luckily my man T. had some extra Malerone in Uganda and so ended my psychotic episodes.

Cooper Park to Brooklyn College out and back
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More Greenpoint Love

2009-11-19T11:32:00.001-08:00

Had a lovely time running the 'point yesterday. Pushed hard for five miles, focused on relaxing, backed off a touch when I started breathing too raggedy. Mostly I would do a quick checklist of muscles and muscle groups I could let go of a bit more, and try to sustain the same speed with less effort, which seems like a nice kata to repeat while I run.

Yesterday's Recovery Run

2009-11-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Before M. had volunteered his rooftop as a viewing site for the Leonids I ran a scouting run, looking for dark places within a mile of McCarren park. It felt great to loosen up my legs after the XC championships, and I ended up running an easy 6 all over Greenpoint.

Running in the 'hood gets me excited about putting on long miles. I'm stoked on taking tours through the boroughs on foot. And the greatest local transit system on the planet guarantees that no matter how far I run, I can get home again, for a two dollars and twenty-five cents.

Besos, NYC.

Leonids!

2009-11-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

Inspired by H.'s run to the piers of Gantry Plaza State Park to watch the Orionids (where all three of us had a successful viewing, where success is defined by at least one claimed meteor sighting), I dragged folks out for a Leonids run.

A couple of things were different about this one. First, daylight savings is over, and dawn comes earlier. Second, we had 100 per cent cloud cover. Sorry, that was pessimistic. It was only 98 per cent cloud cover, and in fact it started to blow over as the sun came up. Which meant we saw Saturn for a hot second.

No meteors were seen, but we got a nice run in. Manhattan Ave is lovely at 5:15 AM. We got to run three wide on the sidewalk with no interference. I finally met C., and plan to start running Thursday mornings as often as feels right. As always, much love to the NBR crew. You managed to turn a disappointment into a wonderful early run.

Besos.

NYRR XC Championships

2009-11-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

Van Cortlandt kicked my ass, and I only had to pay seven dollars for it. Way cheaper than a dominatrix.

This course is famous for good reason: it's really hard. The flats are quick, and the first mile psyched me into thinking, "Oh, yeah. I got this." Freshman hill (named so because when frosh run this course they all make the same mistake, they go out fast and get dropped by the first long hill) is long and hard, and had me at maximal effort 1/3 of the way into the race. Then it's a solid mile of brutal up and downs, where the ups were steep enough to keep me flat out and winded at a tortoise pace, and the downs are quick enough drops I couldn't turn my legs over fast enough to minimize the effort and braking.

When I came out of the woods (yes, I think the phrase, "out of the woods" originated here) I could see the finish, and picked it up. But there was a solid 1200 meters left, and I was spent. The seconds blinking off as the effort got harder and harder weren't much of an encouragement, but I pulled a kick from somewhere. I ended with 22:56 on the clock, and the satisfaction that I spent myself out there today.

So did all of my teammates, who ran great races today. Thanks, NBR. This is the beginning of something for me.

Time to Rest

2009-11-12T18:04:00.000-08:00

I continued to notice my Achilles today. Warm-up felt good, two easy miles, but after 5 x 800 meters it was time to call it, and go easy on the way home. I didn't get to run A. home, which is a routine I look forward to (I like the route, our pace and the company), but need to be true to my primary goal. Stay healthy. Losing sight of that would be ass-holish and counter-productive.

On the up side, all of my 800's were sub 3:00, or ten seconds faster than my previous fastest timed 800. I'm enjoying not having a watch, but having these periodic timed events that show I am making progress. Now it's time to go make progress on resting up. See you in a few days.

Point to Queens

2009-11-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

K. did a great job leading the Wednesday run in M's absence. We had a nice mix of bridges, industrial and residential, hitting the Greenpoint and Pulaski bridges on the way to and from Gantry Plaza State Park. Gantry is where H., M. and I watched the Orionids. I'm looking for less light pollution for the Leonids, on the 17th.

With warm-up and cool-down I got nine in on todays run. Planks are starting to get easier in our core workouts. New twinges in my left ankle, I noticed my Achilles for the first time today. I still don't think I'm working on an injury, this feels like growing pains.

11/11/2009 Route
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Two for the Price of One

2009-11-10T18:36:00.001-08:00

I hit the morning and evening club runs today. The first was an easy seven, hugging Kent along the water down to the BQE and back. I say easy, but I ran it with M., and while she blames me for picking up the pace on the second half, I blame (and by that I mean credit) her. We cruised the last two miles.

The track workout was 400, 800, 400, 800, 400, run in a four person relay team configuration. Person one hammers, recovers while person two hammers, they are recovering while person three hammers, person one waits while person four hammers, etc. I ran A. home and we chatted about New Jersey, and danced around the subject of goal times. My total mileage today was right at 15, and I feel it. Wonder what tomorrow will look like.

Hill Repeats on Onderdonk Ave

2009-11-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

I continued my Bushwick/Ridgewood love fest today, running hill repeats on Onderdonk Avenue between Flushing and Stanhope: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ny/brooklyn/493125778104771782

The repeats fall between two historical interests, the St. Aloysius cathedral on Stanhope (top of the hill) and the Onderdonk House on Flushing (bottom of the hill). The Onderdonk house was built in 1709, making it one of the oldest structures in Queens. Its yard is now home to Arbitration Rock, whose center used to mark the boundary between Queens and Brooklyn.

This is a great route for hills from my front door, with two miles of warm-up and cool-down. I put in a couple of miles of hills as well, bringing me to a nice even 6.

R. putting the months between me and a marathon in terms of weeks brought it home that it's time to start training. Here goes.

Cross Training on the Basketball Court

2009-11-08T09:37:00.001-08:00

Had three games of one-on-one with B. today. He brought it, especially on the last game, which stressed my defensive effort a good bit. My left ankle is doing great, and I'm looking forward to another 45 next week.

Today I spent a good bit of time on the interwebs, trying to find some article that would support my desire to avoid a rest day. Instead I found a bunch of articles that talked about over-training in nonsense terms.

Case in point:

By running nearly at race pace, your body becomes accustomed to running close to its upper limit (though not exceeding it).

How do I exceed my upper limit? Oh, right, I don't. Neither do you. Or anyone else. Sometimes, when I reach really deep and grab for some strength or determination that I've never been able to grasp before, I get closer to my upper limit. Which is my goal.

Saturday Bridge Run and Coffee

2009-11-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

NBR's Saturday crew is swelling, which is wonderful. Between getting to the bridge and running with A. back to her joint, then coming home I managed to get 9.2 miles in. There was a nice break for coffee in the middle, and everything was at a nice comfortable talking pace.

This brings my weekly mileage to 45, with a rest day scheduled tomorrow. I feel great for having my two highest mileage weeks ever in the past two, and plan to stick with 45 miles for the next couple of weeks to give my body time to adjust. Maybe put a 13 miler in there somewhere, but make up for the extra miles on the long run with extra rest. A couple of months into this and I can see that giving my body adequate recuperation time is going to be one of my challenges.

-- Douglas

Bushwick Cemetery Tour

2009-11-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to head in a direction that I normally don't, and did a lovely tour of Bushwick, including some of the cemeteries at the head of the string of them leading into Forest Park. I've spent some time out there on my bicycle, but it was a fantastic place to run.

Here's the map: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ny/brooklyn/497125752890337531

I didn't put my cemetery dwadling on the map, but there are great extravagant mausoleums out there, and giant old trees. Those cemeteries (Evergreens and Cypress Hill) are some of the quietest parts of the city I've found, and they are big and open enough that it's easy to completely avoid any processions. They sit on top of a hill, partly in Queens, partly in Brooklyn, providing great panoramic views of the boroughs.

On the way home I got to run one of my favorite stretches of street in New York; Bushwick Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Myrtle Avenue. The sidewalks are wide, with trees on the street side, wonderful for running. The architecture blows my mind. One passes old Dutch wood frame churches, stand alone mansions, beautiful brownstones and well kept apartment buildings.

The downside is that ultimately one has to cross Myrtle, and has to run Bushwick between Myrtle and Grand, which blows goat dick.

At least the goats are happy, and so am I.

8 x 400m track workout

2009-11-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

Tonight was a tough workout, but luckily I was able to forget how tough each 80 seconds was during the rest before the next 80 seconds. Actually I wish I were that consistent. My first 400 was 74, my last was 79, and my slowest was the 5th, at 88. The 88 kind of hurt my ego, which will hopefully be a good training mechanism to encourage more consistent splits.

Signed up for a Race

2009-11-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

I signed up for my first race, the Joe Kleinerman 10k, which is essentially the big loop in Central Park. I'm stoked to be representing NBR in a club points race, even if my time doesn't score for us.

We did a five mile out and back club run from McCarren along Kent to the BQE and back last night. It was a tempo run for me, chasing the fast pack who were well within their conversational pace. I felt great (well, okay, I was a little raggedy at the end), and am hoping that if I can stay healthy and train well that I can hit 43:30 for the 10k, or a 7 minute mile average.

My left ankle and tendons feel great in every way today, and it looks like I'll have another healthy 40 mile week. I'm going to hold that pattern for another couple of weeks and evaluate my body before increasing the mileage on my long run.

See you on the road.

McCarren to Admiral's Row

2009-11-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

I traced part of yesterdays route with the NBR crew this morning, an out and back from McCarren Park to Admirals row for a nice 6.5 miles. M. was new to the group, and is overflowing with wonderful information on ankle strengthening exercises and drills of various kinds. I'm stoked she's joining us.

Okay, you caught me.

2009-11-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

So I cheated a little bit. I felt good, and ran home from Crown Heights on Saturday night. Sunday was the marathon, and I was pooped after volunteering all morning. So that was another rest day.

Today I felt great, and had a fantastic run, doing a loop through south Williamsburg, past the Navy Yards, over the Manhattan Bridge, up Bowery, out the Williamsburg bridge back home. Nine and a half miles, punctuated with a lovely cup of coffee from Lulu Bean. Ahhh.

Still Resting

2009-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

I rested yesterday and today, and will do so tomorrow as well. It's a little frustrating, but I don't want a recurring problem with my (Posterior Tibial) tendon, and want to be nice to it. Once I'm back, I plan to be more aggressive with my foot and ankle exercises. Especially the one legged stair hop my old man showed me.

Twinges on the Move

2009-10-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

My left inside hamstring area is feeling good, but the combination of miles and speed seems to be too much for my anterior tibial tendon, at the moment. Time to lay off for a couple of days, and hope that doesn't need to turn into a couple of weeks.

On the bright side I did the 5k on the track in 22 minutes flat. I still have no idea how to pace a 5k, and alternated between raggedy breathing and feeling like I was taking it way too easy. I had a lot left in the tank at the end, which makes me think I was just scared of giving too much. I must get over that, and let it all hang out.

Double the Pleasure

2009-10-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Bridge run this morning, form/track work this evening. Missing my lady, loving the miles. And now, back to complete sentences. After the bridge run and cooling off entirely, the back inside of my left knee started bugging me a touch. It isn't tender to the touch, but some leg movements are noticeable where some of the many tendons connects hamstrings to knee/lower leg. If felt fine during our form work on the track, including the sprints during our slinky run.

Now it feels a little warm, which makes me think I've strained it a touch. Maybe in the same way I was straining my hamstrings in Kung Fu, with some of the extending front kicks. For now I have a watchful eye on it, and will continue to run. Maybe two consecutive rest days this week are in order, instead of doubles, but that is yet to be determined.

Another Lovely Bridge Run

2009-10-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

It was warmer than I expected today, and drier. After gearing up for being cold and wet it was a pleasant surprise to be warm and dry, at least until I drenched my super high tech old cotton tee shirt with sweat.

A. baked *awesome* goods for the community composting project at McCarren. I had a piece of vegan spice cake that blew my mind. I never imagined I would be saying that sentence.

M. and I ran a quick 400 on the track after the run. His really was quick, and mine was quick for me. Now I can run one quarter of a five minute mile [grin].

Base + Speed Work = Faster

2009-10-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm still far from fast, but I've been doing some work trying to get my legs to turn over faster, while staying relaxed and maintaining form. At the track last night our NBR coach for the night (thanks, M!) timed our Yasso 800's. I ran fairly consistently, and finished my last two (numbers 7 and 8) with 3:08 and 3:10. On the eight and last, once I heard my time of 1:30 for my first 400 split, I got scared and slowed down. I think if I were mentally stronger I could have pushed the last lap (heck, it's just a 400, right?) Maybe it's time to add some meditation to the mix.

Today I ran a nice tempo run through Greenpoint, and ended up at the track for 8 x 100s, focusing mainly on my turnover speed. I hope that as I learn what it feels like to go faster it will become less scary. I'm sure it will continue to hurt, but I kind of like that. Heck, the fear is kind of cool, too.

Run well,

-- Douglas

3.4 mile Tempo Run at Brother's New Farm

2009-10-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely out and back to the Severn River from my brother's new farm. Asphalt all the way, mostly with a wide shoulder and all on dead end routes (only saw one car). This is drastically different from my Brooklyn runs, and quite welcome.

900 Workman Dr. to Severn River - Out and Back
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Volunteering for the New York Marathon

2009-10-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Just got an email from the volunteer coordinator at NYRR, I'm confirmed for aid station 11 at mile 12, Bedford and North 12th in Brooklyn. I'm really excited about this. Not only will it be a chance to encourage and help the runners, it will be a chance to hang out with a great group of new friends, and hopefully make some more. I love the sense of community that running with a group brings me (don't worry solo runs, I still love you, too).

There is another thing I'm stoked on. Watching Paula Radcliffe run. I love women's marathoning. I watched "Spirit of the Marathon" on Hulu when I first started running a few months back, and watching Deena Kastor touched me. Since then I've watched some race footage and interviews, and Deena Kastor and Paula Radcliffe continue to inspire me. Fierce and graceful, confident and gracious. Oh, and fast as all get out.

Sweet Rest

2009-10-09T03:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I hammered on the bike with Steven, and asked a lot of myself at Weena's yoga class. Today I feel great. My muscles are tired, and a little sore, and I feel like I want rest this rest day, but I'm getting stronger and more flexible. I'll have to remember to look back at this post when I hit a wall, but for now the work is still reward enough for itself, and the improvements are evident.

Slowly Getting Faster

2009-10-08T20:21:00.001-07:00

Ran the "Get to the Point" course last night with NBR, followed it up with a quick power mile and some core work. I was stoked on the mile, one of the fast folks had a watch and called out the times as people came in behind him. I came in at 6:40, which is 30 seconds faster than my previous fastest timed mile.

It's nice to periodically measure my time over a distance, if only to see that the work is paying off. The rule book is still thrown out, these timed runs are either races or someone else's watch. But still, I'm stoked [grin].

-- Douglas Hunter

Home from Crown Heights

2009-10-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Met JT for lunch before he got inked today at a lovely Japanese joint on Washington Ave. Great soba noodles and tempura (whoever handled the fry pot in the kitchen knows their business). Afterward we stopped off for an espresso at Glass Shop, a fantastic little coffee shop on Classon near Sterling. We ran into Kate and Oliver there, which was a pleasant surprise.

I was overdressed and full, and thought I was taking it easy, but even with traffic lights and a Bed-Stuy YMCA pit stop made it home in 30 minutes. Snug microfiber might be my key to success in the chafing battle.

Glass Shop (coffee joint in Crown Heights) to Cooper Park
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Nice Greenpoint Warmup, Mile Repeats on Track

2009-10-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

I felt good today, yesterday was a great rest day after my 10 on Saturday. Went out for a fairly quick 4 mile warm-up to McCarren Park, and followed it up with a couple of mile repeats on the track.

Sometimes I think I'm starting to breathe less raggedy with my quicker foot turnover, learning how to relax into it. The wear on my shoes suggest a combination of heel and mid-foot striking. From what I can feel in my super stabalized shoes, that corresponds to recovery pace and everything else, respectively. My next pair isn't going to be a $140 pair of clunkers.

Tomorrow I'm planning on some 800 meter repeats, timed *gasp*. We'll see if I actually end up wanting to take a watch.

Cooper Park to North Greenpoint, back to McCarren for mile repeats
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Convoluted Bridge Run

2009-10-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

I volunteered to lead the bridge run today for NBR, as the usual fearless leader was running the Grete's Gallop half marathon in Central Park today. My next door neighbor called before the run to see if I wanted to run, and took me on a nice route down to the edge of the Navy Yards. A nice man at a construction office let me use the facilities, as my plumbing woke up a little late, which put me at the head of the bridge in time to stretch a bit.

Only one runner showed up by 9:05, which was cool, nice guy and our pace was well matched. As we crested the top of the bridge we saw two runners, one in an NBR shirt headed out. We joined them, which gave our run a little hill repeat. It looks kind of funny on the map, but was a great run. Nice to be back at it after the wonderful chaos of the Vendys.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ny/brooklyn/573125458000299077"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Cooper park to the navy yards, bridge with a hill repeat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ny/brooklyn"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in Brooklyn, New York&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Another "rest" day

2009-09-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today "rest" mean running around like a wild banshee. How on earth did unemployed come to mean desperately busy?

Part of my business today was talking to Dr. Loretta French. She is wonderfully curious, interesting to talk to, and insightful. We talked about what might contribute to my misalignments, and I think she at the very least made some great assessments. We'll see how the prescriptions work!

-- Douglas Hunter

Beautiful Sunrise

2009-09-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Did the Williamsburg Bridge out and back this morning, just missed meeting up with some new morning running buddies (next time!). The sun coming up over Brooklyn as I hit the bridge coming back home blew my mind.

Tomorrow is rest, Wednesday long?

Home to Queens Museum of Art

2009-09-20T14:33:00.001-07:00

I found myself detoured a couple of times, but it ended up being a great route.

Cooper Park to Queens Museum of Art (with detours)
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The location for this years Vendys is amazing, and I can't believe I've been in New York for 13 years and this is the first time I've stood under the Unisphere.

This run was functional, and was a way better commute than the one I took home, 7 train to 74th, tried to transfer to the G, after waiting 30 minutes on the platform hopped an F to 14th Street in Manhattan, L train to Graham and home.

This week is going to be busy, with a product rollout for work, and lots to do for the Vendys. I'm liking busy right now.

Nice North Brooklyn Park Tour

2009-09-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

My neighbor and friend from across cooper park came out with me today on a sweet North Brooklyn parks tour.

6 mile north brooklyn park tour
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This has my weekly mileage right around 25. I'd like to consistently put 30 on for the next month. If I'm feeling good in October I can add some more. It's also possible that I'll do something crazy this month. We'll see how I feel, and how good of a listener I can be.

Right now my body is saying, "thanks".

Rest Day

2009-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hey now, rest feels good! Most of my stretching today has been restorative poses with a focus on long deep breath. Restorative fish for the win!

Maybe a handful of sun salutations later if I get antsy, or some standing poses (triangle, wide legged forward bend, extended side angle, etc.)

Oh, and most definitely hot tub. I jacked up the temp to 104, and think about Ainsworth every time. Thanks old man, for my introduction to the good good drugs that is an extended soak.

-- Douglas Hunter

Industrial Williamsburg/Queens tour

2009-09-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

Another great run with North Brooklyn Runners, I'm meeting some cool people there. Started at McCarren Park, found Morgan under the BQE, out to Grand, then hugged the other side of Newtown Creek in Queens, past Calvary Cemetery, over the Greenpoint Bridge, then took McGuinness to Driggs back to the park.

Afterward we did some core work, which was slightly uncomfortable on the track surface, but great fun to moan about [grin].

I feel a little twinge in my left psoas when I raise that knee. Tomorrow I plan to do a bunch of slow, restorative Yoga (Ashtanga, I love you, and will see you again sometime, but I feel like I need some time away to appreciate you again). I'm not too surprised about some twinges, I just did standard weekly mileage in two days. This is why we have rest days, if I can just hold myself to them.

-- Douglas Hunter

Speed Work

2009-09-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

It was a fartlek (speed play in Swedish sounds stinky in English) tonight at McCarren Park, four miles of speed play followed by an easy mile. We finished with a fast mile.

I'm not fast yet, but that will come with mileage and hard work (and a few less pounds). It's fun to get better at stuff, and I'm already a much better runner after three months of fairly consistent 20 mile weeks. My main reason for writing here is to track my progress over time, be able to look back at moods and trends.

Speed play is fun. For the fartlek we would run at an easy recovery pace, and then hammer for a specified distance periodically. Nice way to build camaraderie. Someone would shout, "To Lorimer" and set the pace, and we'd all follow.

-- Douglas Hunter

Sustainability

2009-09-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

I just joined the North Brooklyn Runners. One of the organizers included a set of question in her welcome email that made me think.

> 7. Do you have any particular goals or ambitions with being a part of NBR

To which I replied:

I want to stay healthy, increase my mileage and get faster, listed in
order of importance to me. I'm new to running, am really loving it,
and want it to be a sustainable practice.

To me this means actively listening to my body. Today I feel good. I ran an out and back from McCarren Park over the Williamsburg Bridge this morning. I did a mile warmup and a mile cooldown with lots of stretching (yoga). I might feel like a tempo run tonight with NBR. I might not. I may not run tomorrow, but if it works for me, if my body wants it and it could bring me some joy, I might.

The books have been thrown out. No watch, no GPS, no heart rate monitor. At least for now. Who knows, they may serve me later. But for now I'm going to listen to myself, because I think there might be some answers there.

-- Douglas Hunter