Day Twenty Four - "Off Season"

The day began early. With the constant awakening at 5AM during the week, the weekend slumber is hard to come by. I was awake by 4:47AM but decided to lie in bed and enjoy the thought that I had actually another hour of the day before I had to get out of bed. Today, I am running the first half of Bob & Jay’s 20 mile run with them. I usually like to hit the back end of a run with the runners to help them achieve their goal, but time constraints due to obligation prohibited me from running the last 10 of their route.

I was educed out of bed at 5:21AM by my alertness of the morning and headed downstairs. I did not pack my running gear as I made my way in the darkness down the stairs trailing the dog who was guiding me. I wanted to check out the temperature this morning which would dictate the proper running attire I would wear on the run. As I opened the door to let the dog out and check the temperature the porch light illuminated the back deck revealing the remnants of a recent rain. I stepped out on the deck in my p.j.’s and no shoes to get an accurate feeling of the air temperature. As I made my way out of the house to the middle of the deck I looked up into the sky and could see from the porch light that the clouds were low and gray. The air was cool with a slight breeze coming from the southeast corner of the yard. A running singlet was out. A short sleeve technical shirt was in order with shorts. Long sleeve would do the job of keeping me warm, but after 2 miles I would be eager to shed the garment, so I opted for the short sleeve technical shirt.

My goal was to leave the house at 6AM to make it over to the Alpharetta LTF and depart on the run by 6:30AM. I went back upstairs to pack my gear and headed on my journey to Alpharetta.

Yesterday I headed over to Sports Authority to pick up a new pair of Asics Nimbus 10’s. The Nimbus 11’s are on the market, but being the frugal guy I am I always go for the “old” model because of the deep discounts on the shoes that the stores make in an attempt to unload the old merchandise and make room for the “newest and greatest” product. This process of purchasing last years models works 8 out of 10 times for me, except for yesterday. Sports Authority was completely out of size 9.5 Nimbus 10’s. Now what? Leave? If I leave, then I would have to wear my current pair of Nimbus 10’s that has over 500 miles logged. The tread was worn down and the shoes over 5 miles start to remind my feet that it is time for a new pair. Do I purchase another model or manufacturers pair? The risk here is that I have been wearing Asics Nimbus for 5 years and over 12 pairs and have not had any issues, so why change. What dilemma has plagued me over a pair of shoes? In the end, I decided for a change up in the shoe. Since I am in “off season” the pair of shoes does not have to be ideal, but comfortable, durable and reliable. I decided to stay with Asics due to the 3 qualities listed. I browsed the racks and came across the Asics Kinetic. This shoe retails for $169.99, but Sports Authority was again dumping last year’s models and the 2009 Kinetics were on sale for $90.00! With a discount of $80.00 on the top of the line shoe Asics produces, how could I go wrong? The Kinetic is a neutral shoe with a firm heel and roomy toe box, just what this runner ordered.

I made my purchase and taking the toad early did in fact make this a good day.

Arriving at the parking lot of LTF I recognized Bob’s truck pulling in as I was unloading. I gathered my gear and headed to greet him at the door leading into to the lobby. While I progressed across the lot I saw Michele leaving the lobby of LTF heading toward her car. I heard Bob asked her if she was running with us, but she stated she had already run 10 miles and was heading down to “The Columns” to run the rest. She made her way towards her car as she finished her conversation with Bob and disappeared into the shadows of the parking lot. Meeting Bob at the door, he advised me that Michele was running down at “The Columns” with her father.

We hit the locker room and prep for the run, shirts, socks, shoes and the most important item, lube. We each hit the chaffing spots to ward against rubbed off skin from long distance running. After the preparation we were off to the lobby to meet Jay. As we stood by the couches in the lobby it was 6:28AM and we both were perplexed that Jay had not shown? Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark figure in the windows outside waving its arms in the air. I looked towards the entrance and recognized Jay flailing his arms attempting to get our attention. Bob and I headed towards the door and commented that we should have known better that Jay would ever be late for a run. When we met up with Jay he indicated that he had been at the gym for almost 30 minutes. I was not surprised.

We made a few comments about, dinner last night and Bob’s trip back from Las Vegas yesterday and we headed off on the first 10 mile portion of their run a little after 6:30AM.

Leaving the parking lot I was pleasantly surprised that right out of the chute both Bob & Jay were controlled in their stride and did not “kick it”. We ran down Morris Drive towards MARTA road to North Point. This is the first mile and most of the run is downhill. After the first mile the pace was around 8:20/mile but with the first mile on a decline this is to be expected. Both Bob & Jay knew they needed to settle in and adjusted their speed to a controlled pace.

Mile 2-4 Bob & Jay still attempted to settle the pace to 8:30’s which was the goal of this 20 mile run. We cruised down Windward to HWY 9, mostly an incline in elevation, as we made our way towards Academy. Turning right on Academy Bob indicted the first “bottle drop was right past the Corner Deli.

Bob and Jay are not ones to carry fluids on the long runs, so Bob has graciously planted bottles on their long runs in order for them to replenish at certain intervals on the run. On this particular run it was unknown to me that Bob had planted bottles for me as well. Bob’s unselfish hospitality towards his friends is unmatched. I thank you Bob for your actions.

We stopped briefly to pick up the fruit punch flavored Gatorades and let Jay relieve himself on the side of a building. We polished off the 10 oz bottles of hydration and started up the pace again down Academy.

The next set of miles brought us through Bob’s neck of the woods in Alpharetta heading towards Westside Parkway. The pace was still a bit fast but still manageable at 8:25’s or so. Navigating our way to Westside Parkway we hit the next bottle drop as Bob and Jay replenished I told Bob that I was going to leave my bottle for them on the second loop. I had plenty of fluid in me and with me and I would not want them left short or in need of fluid on the second 10 miles.

The pace quickened as we made our way up Westside Parkway towards Old Milton. The pace continued to increase on the inclines as I mentioned this to the Dynamic Duo. They both confessed to the pace increase and stated that they feel that hills slow them down and off pace. In order, in their minds to keep the pace, they would speed up. This makes sense on paper to average out, but on long runs you need to know your terrain and increase the pace on the flats and downhill’s were you expend less energy than trying to maintain pace on increasing speed on a uphill. It is a honest fault that they both are aware of and will continue to work on to fix.

The Dynamic Duo and I continued on the 10 mile journey and as we looped back onto Academy heading the last 2 miles towards LTF. At the turn I knew I was coming to the end of my run and my friends were just starting their journey on the back half of their 20 miler. I had a lot left in my tank and wanted to continue on the quest of the 20 miler with them, but knew that I had important commitments to my family with cheerleading. But even the little running voice in my head spoke up and said, “You need not to run anymore than this. It is the “off season”.

As we made our way to the last .6 miles of the run on Morris Road, I picked up the pace to test my friends in their discipline to “sticking to the pace”. Well, they failed. The Dynamic Duo must have knocked their “Wonder Twin Rings” together and picked up the pace and were stride for stride with me. I said, “Too fast ladies” and they both looked at me and told me it was my fault. Brother… I ran a little ahead of them and started to run backwards to push on them to slow down. While I was doing this I noticed that Bob was diverting his eyes from my view. I moved over, still running backwards, and got in Bob’s view and ask him if this bothered him. With the diverted look he was giving me, I could tell that he was not happy that I was running backwards and in his face. I turned around eased up to complete the run near LTF.

Hitting the LTF lot, the three of us took different courses to navigate between the cars while Jay headed towards his car, Bob bee-lined it towards his and I trailing behind them making my way to the lobby door.

Bob mentioned he need to take a gel and needed more for the last 10 miles. I ran over to him and gave him my gel just in case he was in need.

As they both restocked and started to head out on the challenging 10 miles that awaited them, I high five both of them and they were off.

Bob & Jay have come a long way in the last 9 weeks. They believe in the program and it is showing in their runs. The ended the 20 miler in 2:48:00 which was right on pace.

I will get more on the back 10 tonight at the Craver’s Annual Halloween Party. A time to dress up in costumes, drink beer and more beer, dance and hang out with friends. It will be a great time.

I close with sitting at the Sharon Springs football fields as my youngest daughter, Ellie is cheering for the War Eagles. It is in last quarter and the score is tied, 6 to 6 on a typical autumn day. These kids like my running team have progressed over the last 10 weeks in their disciplines. Progress is a good thing.