http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCczEZ5yMTY&feature=player_embedded

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This photo kills me.  Gorgeous.  It makes me want to ride SOOOOO much.

Instead, I’m doing the Wedneday night group run at our Pier Village store, and then on Thursday a 33-mile epic run.  Anyone want to join me for some of it?  If you’re up for a long and easy cruise, send me an e-mail.  I’m going to stash some water bottles along my route in the morning, and then run the D&R Canal Towpath out and back from Millstone to Kingston and back.  Soft running surface, nice shade, good scenery, and hopefully perfect weather. 

Aside from this crazy project, I’m going to be at the grand opening of our Sneaker Factory store at Pier Village.  Saturday and Sunday will be awesome, with lots of great prizes and specials, cool perks, great deals, and food and wine and beer.  We’re excited!  The NJ Marathon and Long Branch Half Marathon last weekend was a massive kick-start to our business there.  It’s pretty awesome - we’re so pleased that the store is going to be successful.  Already it’s an anchor destination for the running community.  That’s the best scenario we can ask for.

On another note, Otto and his wife Jennifer just had a baby boy, Zachary.  9 lbs, 9.3 oz - built like his dad, ready for his first UFC bout.  The true endurance athlete here is Jennifer, who was definitely getting impatient with the whole 9 months thing.  Congratulations to you both!

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Easter was brutal.

I keep thinking back to a couple years ago when my friend Mikey T dnf’d at American Zofingen.  He had trained all winter and spring, and he was in invincible shape.  But the week before he ran a half marathon, and decided to go for it.  He ran a personal best, but a week later he had no strength or endurance left when it came time for the big race of his year.  I had counseled him to play it safe, to be conservative, to save the effort for race day.  So I guess I didn’t follow my own guidance.  Sunday I set out to do a solid 30-miler, wisdom be damned.

A week before, I put in a hard effort in running a half marathon.  I won my age group, and definitely put in a good competitive performance.  Three days later, I felt fine and did a decent 5.5 mile run.  One week later, I felt good, but my body definitely was not ready to respond 100%.

I started out just fine, easing into a solid 8:00/mile pace and cranking over the many steep hills on my route.  I felt pretty good overall.  Smooth, no biomechanical issues at all.  It was warmer than I expected, so I was drinking fluids pre-emptively.  I wore a Fuel-Belt hydration system, loaded with two 10 ounce bottles of NUUN hydration drink and 3 Gu gel packs.  The hills were no problem, and I was cruising over them, nearing my threshold pace.  However, the temperature kept rising, and suddenly there was very little shade.  I pushed hard and kept to my plan for the first 19 miles, but I was definitely suffering.

So I made the mistake of heading out again.  I finished up my first loop at home, and then Jenn and I headed out for another 10-mile loop.  I felt slow and stiff, and it wasn’t long before I knew I was in trouble.  My heart rate kept climbing toward my anaerobic threshold, so I would slow down to keep it in check.  Eventually though, I had to slow down and walk, letting my core temperature drop a bit.  Jenn and I stopped at a convenience store and bought a 1.5 liter bottle of ice cold water, most of which I dumped over my head.  Instantly I felt better.

However, I couldn’t run very much.  I made the decision that I was past the point of being able to get stronger from this training, and now I was only doing damage to myself.  I knew that I should have quit before this second loop, knowing that I put in 2.5 hours of very solid training on very hilly terrain.  But instead I was thinking about a stupid number . . . 30 miles.

So I walked it.  The last 3 miles were a stroll.  I told Jenn to go ahead, and I kept moving steady and smooth.  I apologize to anyone who might have seen my fat white belly and sunburned shoulders.  It was a scary sight.  Indeed, I was heckled by little kids at least 3 times in those agonizingly long three miles. 

So here’s the summary:  19 great miles of training, plus another 90 minutes of suffering.  All of it makes me stronger, right?

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OK, so I’ve been a negligent blogger.  I can make plenty of legitimate excuses, but honestly I didn’t want to make EnduranceGuru about business - which has been consuming an unfair amount of my time.  Training has taken up some time too, and so has a little bit of racing, but there’s quite an imbalance that I’m trying to rectify.  But opening up the web editor was a bit startling:  2,485 spam messages had accumulated in my inbox, and I hadn’t written a word since Christmas.  Here goes . . .

Over the winter, we started the process of opening our third Sneaker Factory store, in Pier Village in Long Branch, NJ.  It has been an exciting time, with the store opening its doors on February 25th.  Since then we’ve been gradually building the business up, increasing inventory levels, and watching the sales numbers grow.  In two weeks, we’ll be at the epicenter of the New Jersey Marathon as a headlining sponsor, so our busy season will arrive with a bang.  Then the following weekend (May 5-7) we’ll be celebrating the Grand Opening of the new store with a bunch of events at Pier Village.  Come on down and join us, and check the Sneaker Factory website for details.

The new store has certainly increased my workload, and we’ve experienced some slight growing pains.  But the bumps are getting smoothed out, and the stores are all cruising along.  I’m pleased with the way things are coming together, and finally I’m taking a real day off.  (Well, not completely, as I did drop off some shoes at the Basking Ridge store while I was out running errands with my co-pilot Winston this morning).  Unfortunately, the drizzly weather put the kibosh on the 58-mile ride to Princeton and back that I was planning for today.  So I’m heading to the gym soon to swim, then meet Jenn in the spin studio to help her prepare to teach her very first spin class (at 6:30 on Thursday evening - come join us!) at Lifetime Fitness in Berkeley Heights.  She put together a killer music mix that we want to test out.  It will make a nice afternoon, and honestly I would have been struggling to do a 3-hour bike ride, as I’ve only been on the road 3 times this year.  Yes, shame on me.

So instead, I’ve been running . . . and running . . . and running some more.  My friend Kelly - who we hired to manage the new store - wanted to do an ultramarathon this spring, and she convinced me to join her.  I thought it would make a great winter weight-loss plan.  Interestingly, I have only lost 3 lbs, but I am starting to feel really good.  I have knocked off plenty of killer long runs in the last 6 weeks:  multiple hard 12-17 milers in the snow, a hilly 24 miler in 20 degree temps, and then a great 27-miler on April 9th.  I’ve been trying to fit in a weekly tempo run, and then I’m doing the Wednesday night group runs from the new store every week, during which Kelly and I bang out around 8 or so miles along the ocean with a great group of runners that make up the core of our most loyal customers. 

Nonetheless, I didn’t have big expectations when Jenn and I went down to the shore for last Saturday’s Asbury Park Half Marathon.  We had run it last year when I was still winter-fat and fighting an injury, and we both placed well and had a great time.  It’s a fun race, with a field of only about 650 runners, that takes place mostly on the boardwalk between Asbury Park and Spring Lake.  However, there is a twist:  there are two course options.  At mile 2 there is a turn-off that lets runners cover the 13.1 miles via a 3-loop course that travels inland a few blocks.  I was tempted to try that course, and because it’s unneccessary to choose before the start, I was still kind of undecided.  The wind was blowing HARD off the ocean, and it sounded like a good plan to battle the wind in smaller chunks than be exposed for all 13.1 miles.  But once I hit my rhythm on the boardwalk, I realized that it felt much better to stick to the boards than to absorb the pounding of the asphalt on the loop course.  (Only one week after a solid 27 mile run at 8:00 pace, I thought this was a good plan.  No taper for me, right?)

Such a setup can mess with your mind.  Most of the lead group opted to stick with the standard out-and-back, but it didn’t take long for our pack to get stretched out.  Soon I found myself running steady in 8th place, 30 seconds behind 7th, and at least a minute ahead of 9th.  It was kind of lonely, but the advantage of doing ultra training runs solo is that a half marathon seems pretty brief.  What’s difficult, however, is that no one on the out-and-back course has any idea what’s happening on the loop course.  That motivated me to push harder - that, and the prospect of possibly finishing in the top ten, which doesn’t happen often.  I was having a good day, and at the turnaround only 45:20 had elapsed.  I pushed the pace a little, keeping around 6:40 for a while, but the intensity of the wind was increasing.  By mile ten, strong gusts were blowing my feet around, and I actually kicked myself several times as my right foot was blown into my left calf by the maelstrom.  Sand was blowing across the boardwalk, and it felt like it was about to rain.  The wind killed me in the last 4 miles, and I ended up crossing the line in 1:35:16.  Not a bad time at all, and as it turned out, good enough to win my age group and take 11th place among the men.  It felt great to be able to push that fast.  Without the wind, I think I could have posted a 1:28 or better, which would have been my best half marathon in a dozen years. 

What’s next?  The North Face Endurance Challenge Gore-Tex 50-mile Trail Race near Washington DC.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be doing 30, 34, and 38-mile runs, as well as one day where I run to work in the morning, then home in the evening, 15 miles each way.  My weekly miles will be approaching 80 by mid-May, and then I’ll taper down for a couple of weeks so my body will be recovered and ready.  (If you’re up for a long training run, send me an e-mail.  I’m thinking of doing a group run from home to Princeton on the D&R Canal towpath).

I’m feeling good!  The half marathon has gotten me thinking about racing some more.  I’m thinking about a half ironman in the fall, perhaps the Poconos 70.3 in October.  We’ll see how it goes.  It’s all one big experiment.

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Just imagine the interstate highway system re-imagined for 2-wheel human-powered transit.

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This video clip is probably the closest explanation of what happened.  I opted to swim laps in the indoor pool, instead.

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Ride for the Mission was a success!  It was a huge relief to see so many riders show up on June 19 to support the Streetlight Mission and enjoy a great day on bikes.  Over $20,000 was raised, more than 7,000 miles were ridden, and much great food and music were enjoyed.  The very first Ride for the Mission was a great event, and I am confident that it will be even better next year.

It’s a relief that it’s over, though.  The last 6 months have been a blur of extracurricular work, which has been gratifying but exhausting.  I’m thrilled that Ride for the Mission went well, but since then I’m really enjoying the break.  I has been nice to once again focus on training.  My running has been going well, and somehow I’m staying injury free.  I’m riding to work and back as often as I can, which adds up to an extra 90-120 miles of training per week.

Meanwhile, life has been a blur of work and travel.  I went to Austin for a week to attend the Asics Gold Conference with the other top 100 Asics dealers from around the country.  That was a great experience.  After hanging out with the most successful people in the running business, andI feel assured that we’re doing many things right.  And I see so many ways we can improve Sneaker Factory and make it something better.  The week was filled with creative energy and cool interactions, and I left there psyched about the directions Asics is taking, and feeling positive about the momentum we have at Sneaker Factory.

One of the highlights of the Asics show - and a highlight of my year so far - was meeting and running with elite marathoner and Olympian Deena Kastor.  After she spent the first evening of the conference hanging out with us at dinner, she invited everyone to join her for a 6 a.m. run.  Over 70 people crawled out of bed to run before dawn, but after the first mile I found myself side by side with Deena, cruising comfortably at a 6:45 pace.  We ran together for about half and hour, chatting about training, life, wine, living at altitude, our favorite races, travel, etc.  It was an extremely cool experience, and I was thrilled to spend some time with such an amazing athlete who is also just and incredibly cool person.

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There is always one ride each year that pushes the envelope a bit and beats me up pretty hard.  Usually it’s the first time each year that I really push further than I’ve ridden in the few previous months, and today was no exception.

Otto and Manny met me at my house, and we headed out to preview the majority of the Ride For The Mission century route.  With the ride looming in three weeks’ time, I wanted to get the full experience and do some trouble shooting.  As the ride director, I’m constantly making adjustments and trying to find the safest and smoothest and most scenic roads.  Fortunately, there are no problems with the ride . . . except that it’s just too damned long! (Just kidding!)
My body wasn’t ready for such a long ride, but I’m happy we did it.  It was a gorgeous day, the route was beautiful, and the company was awesome.  Manny is always in amazing shape, and Otto has trimmed down to a super-lean 185 lbs, the lightest he’s been since Marine boot camp.  We cruised through the first half easily, enjoying the long climb over Sourland Mountain and the beautiful stretch along the ridge of the mountain.  Stunning views all around, quiet traffic-free roads, and nice weather made it an amazing day.

After lunch in Stockton we continued on, heading back east into the wind.  My legs were fading, and the heat was rising.  We passed mile 70 and I ventured into “overdistance” territory, going further than I have any time this year so far.  My energy came in waves, and I alternated between hanging on desperately to Otto’s wheel, and then periodically taking my own long pulls.  Working together, the three of us kept a terrific pace into the wind.  I held up pretty well until about mile 85, when the cramps set in.  Tremors deep in my quads kept threatening to worsen, and I had to drop a gear and try to spin them away.  Manny and Otto protected me from the wind until I managed to push through them, and fortunately we were on the homestretch by then.  We rolled in to North Plainfield with 95 miles and a decent average speed.  Great endurance day!

The verdict:  Ride For The Mission is going to be awesome.  If you’re thinking of doing a century this year, this is the one.  It’s a great cause, a wonderful route, and Streetlight Mission is making the investment to do it right and grow it into a premier event.  We have some wonderful sponsors whose contributions will help make it an amazing event.  (Rita’s Italian Ices and Starbucks, plus the kitchen at Evangel Church will be putting out some terrific food).  If you sign up before the end of today (Thursday 5/27) you’ll get a really nice technical training tee with our custom design - which alone is worth the entry fee.
It’s a full moon night, so Jenn and I are heading down to Lambertville for the one night each lunar cycle that Full Moon Cafe is open for dinner.  One of our favorite places:  good healthy food, great service, nice atmosphere.  Enjoy the full moon, the nice cool evening, and rest up for Memorial Day Weekend cycling adventures.

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Jenn and I kicked off our multi-sport season on Sunday morning with our favorite race, the Long Branch Duathlon at Pier Village.  It’s a great sprint-distance run-bike-run event put on by the Sandy Hookers Triathlon Club.  Jenn had a good race, holding 19 mph on the bike over 10 miles, and running sub-8:00 miles, making an improvement over last year’s performance.  I had a surprisingly decent day, collecting 3rd in my age group for the second year in a row. (The new Transition tri bike was fantastic - I passed lots of people in the short 10-mile bike leg.)  Best of all, I managed to push pretty hard without injuring my left knee, which has been problematic for the last few months.

Injuries are a nuisance, to say the least.  What I do all day at The Sneaker Factory is help people choose the right footwear to help them prevent injuries.  So it was kind of silly that I was still struggling with my own injuries after over a year of pain and limited training.  It’s not easy to turn an analytical eye on yourself, but I had to look back through my history of running shoes to find out what worked and what didn’t.  The last pair I had run in successfully were a pair of Pearl Izumi Synchro Pace 3s that a sales rep had given me to test out a few years ago.  I like them a lot, but I didn’t know much about them or even what type of runner they were targeted for.  Back then, I was using lightweight neutral shoes designed for a very biomechanical sound runner with high arches.  For years, neutral cushioned shoes had worked well.  But in January of 2009 I started having pain in my left knee that kept me from running consistently through the winter.  And then in the fall when Jenn and I started training for the Philadelphia Marathon and the LBI 18-Miler, I started having extreme pain deep in my left hip.  That injury kept me from running or cycling most of last fall, and has bothered me continuously this spring.

Thankfully, I’m surrounded by people at The Sneaker Factory who are extremely good at diagnosing running injuries and have seen all sorts of injuries over the years.  Danielle and Kristina (and Sara McElroy from Superfeet) helped me figure out that what I had been told was a leg length discrepancy by several people, including a famous custom bike fitter and frame builder and the top orthopedic surgeon in the country, was actually a functional discrepancy caused by my left foot over-pronating dramatically, while my right foot remained completely neutral.

Once we diagnosed that issue, the solution came only after testing dozens of shoes to find the right amount of stability and cushioning that would accommodate both of my feet.  Three pairs seem to work well:  The Asics Gel Kayano, the Nike Structure Triax, and the Saucony Omni.  All of them bulkier and more stable than anything I had used before, but now a necessity.  Slow shoes are better than a crippled body, and I’m happy to say that for the first time in what seems like an eternity I’m looking forward to racing this year.

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