The Fraternity of the Morning Dark

Today, I ran 20 miles with about seven of them before the sun even broke the Eastern horizon. As I was running along in the dark I thought about what I would write.  This is what I started in my head...and ended here.  It is free form; it is poetry -- so feel free to make fun of me. No really.  I totally have it coming but I don't care. However, read to the end. Then make fun of me.

There is a Fraternity of the early morning

The nod across the street in the pre-dawn hours 

Blinking don't-kill-me-lights casting red shadows on parked cars

Lost in thoughts born of dreams still in progress but cut short to an obsession

Miles lost to dodging delivery trucks and old Chinese ladies doing Tai Chi

Rolling over Clement to Sutro down the Great Highway

Flying down hill towards faux Quixotean visions 

Still in the dark and not yet awake 

Something about Jack Kerouac

On the Road. Get it? It was funny. Ok. Sorry.

This weekend was filled with running goodness.  I was asked to cover the Pace Group Leader Duties as Burton was up in Napa for the aptly named Napa Valley Marathon. I was scheduled for 18 miles this weekend so I got in two before I meet up with the club for 16 more.

For the most part the Pace Group Leadership went pretty well.  I had some technical issues with the watch for the 8:1 run to walk beeps but it worked out alright.  Then we got to the Golden Gate Bridge. 

My running chum Susan from New York is terrified of heights.  So I spoke to her to distract her while we ran across the bridge and completely lost track of the pace. We went a bit fast...but after the pace group we passed on the San Francisco side of the bridge as they were using the rest rooms, had trouble catching up with us, we got the message to slow down.

The views were pretty.

The nine minute pace group taking the Southern Tower

View from the back of the group.

The Kaiser Half - A PR on a Perfect Day

Keeping to my new format has been harder than I thought so I figured I would go out first with a tried and true method of a race review.

THIS GUY. (with a heel strike like whoa)

But this review has to start a few years back in Brooklyn. On May 21, 2011 I raced my last half-marathon. I crossed the finish on that kind of warm day in 1:46:59.

This was a great race for me, at the time.  I went out too fast by a few seconds per mile and after I was tired I was only about 25 seconds off per mile at my worst.  It was about 75 degrees when I finished the race and the middle miles were through an Orthodox Jewish community on Saturday morning, so there wasn't much in the way of support on the course.

However, I did get to run a significant portion of the race with a my running chum Ali and I nailed a really solid PR, by over three minutes, if memory serves me correctly.

Fast forward a year and move-cross-country later, I was all set to help my lovely wife pack our house, say good-bye to our friends in New York, and for me to run one last race as a New Yorker.  I was going to PR in Brooklyn.

Then I put down a dust buster and threw out my back.

The once and future blog post

In four days the year will be over.  Thankfully.

While I have discussed that I am happy the year is coming to an end, it is my duty as a blogger to indulge in the self-indulgent review of my achievements.

Movin' Out

We moved. I wish it was as much fun as the musical by Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp.  While it couldn't have been much easier than it was, moving sucks a lot.

We listened to Bill but didn't dance like Twyla

Our new place is about .15 miles away from our old place but it may as well be on another planet.  When I first moved to San Francisco I wanted to live in a place that at least looked like Full House, which meant that it had to be an older building.  I was extremely lucky to find a place that was perfectly located in the middle of a neighborhood that I liked and was convienent to the express bus.  But that was about it.

I didn't live there, or even close. 
But we have friends that live close to it so it is cool

After living there for a few months, it became clear that that place was a one year only kind of place, or two at the absolute most.  The square footage was a few hundred sq/ft bigger than our place in New York but more than 200 sq/ft were wasted, the kitchen was crap, the heat didn't work, the windows were akin to stretched plastic wrap, the walls leaked, and I could go on and on. But I won't.  Instead, after they raised the rent, we moved.

As soon as the wall was leaking we put in our 30 day notice and started looking for a new place.

A step back

It is the end of the year. It is the end of our lease. It is the end marathon training. It is the last time those of us reading this post will ever see a 12-12-12 dateline.  But then again, isn't it a new beginning? (What was that noise you ask? It was me throwing up a little in my mouth.)

The Year: Facebook bombarded me with the Year in Review app that told me what was so fantastic about my year.  Unsurprisingly there were lots of posts about running and missing my wife in the first half of the year and lots of posts about running and living in San Francisco with my wife in the second half of the year.  As I said in my self-review for work, this year was "trying" and to be honest I am glad it is almost over.

The Lease: We are leaving our apartment after dealing with leaking walls, drafty windows, and general disregard for the upkeep of the place.  I will disclose more once I get my security deposit back, but I will say that after living in a place that I took pride in keeping up I was shocked that people don't want to keep their property in top condition.  Abby and I are moving into a place now that is clearly well maintained by a proud owner.  It is smaller but it has a washer and dryer.  And that is the sexist thing I have ever seen.  Abby agrees.

We are both thinking dirty thoughts...that will soon be clean.

The Training: This year's marathon training was insane. I started training on a schedule for New York in July.  I wanted it to be an epic PR.  And I was ready for it.  Thankfully, I didn't waste my training and got to run in the CIM.  It was supposed to be a fun and easier run after NYC, but it turned into a really tough race in the rain.  I am relieved that my training for the year is over.

I will run the New York Marathon, if NYRR ever figures out what they are going to do with the 47,000 of us who got caught up in the wash.  But I will run at least one other major event, what it is I don't know. I have the Kaiser Half on the schedule but nothing else.  An ultra sounds interesting but honestly 26.2 sucks enough. Not sure I am cut out for more mileage. However, I am pretty sure I said that about Marathoning for the first five years I lived along the New York City Marathon route.

I am currently assessing my goals for next year's races, but I am not making any concrete plans until January 1, 2013 (when the prices go up on the Oakland Marathon).

They are very pretty..

12-12-12: I don't care about that.  Some people think it is lucky and others think its just another day.  Others are right.

Over the next few weeks, we will move into a new place, start a new training schedule, and begin a new year. There are other new things too that will start in the new year.   But the best part of this past year has been the new things, especially our new friends here in San Francisco.  I have a pretty good feeling about the new year so here is to it.

Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts:

1. I am running a marathon in 10 days and again in a month and nine days.
Back when I was trying to prove to myself that I was able to do anything I set my mind to, I signed up for the California International Marathon. Mind you I was already registered for the New York City Marathon.  All of my training has been focused on New York. My hill mantra is "5th Avenue" and I visualize my kick starting as we run through Engineer's Gate.

But I have another one to consider...and I think that just hit me, especially as I deal with my shin splint. But in reality, I am ready for both and I am just getting into my head.

2. Being the Bandwagon is fun.
Let's go Giants! My lovely wife is a life-long Cards fan and I am sorry she doesn't get to watch her team in the Fall Classic, but come on!  This is exciting. San Francisco is acting like a normal city with normal sports fans.  We were there for the Perfect Cain so it is clearly our arrival to a City by a Bay that took the team back to the World Series.  One down side: Listening to Joe Buck for another baseball series. I really dislike that man.

#PerfectCain

3. This is my soft launch of asking for money.
I have often coveted those with fantastic facial hair. Due to my impatience and my wife's insistence, I have never sported much more than a week and a half of beard, stash, or anything else. However, now I have committed to raising some money for testicular and prostate cancer as part of Movember, in order to be forced into facial hair.  I will be using this forum as a progress report but I will not go all Armstrong and use Rogaine or Just For Men, no matter what.  I want my contribution without controversy. (I intend to make a lot of jokes at Lance's expense.)

4. This election could be over now. 
I am done. And so are most Americans. Here in California we have all these wacky Props that will most likely not work and I am sick of the ads.  I bet FOX is pretty excited that the election is after the World Series...at least they get the reveune from these interminable ads. I will be voting for the goods guys and not the bad guys. That is all.
 
5.  I am now on the Board of Directors of my running club.
I was honored to be asked to join the SFRRC board and I think based both on my presentation of ideas and my outfit, I got the job. 

A Pro Running Outfit

I am excited to take part in organizational management and help our club be even better. Join us for a run sometime.

6. In one week I will fly to NYC. 
I am excited to see friends and family. Also I get to run the marathon...in case I didn't mention that.

My Bib - 42053

Spectating a Marathon

When the wife and I were walking back to the bus yesterday after watching the Giants loss to the Cards, we were talking about another sporting event that took place in San Francisco during the day.  Not the 49er's loss but rather the Nike Women's Marathon.

She said to me that is nice that I get so excited to watch other regular Joes (or in this case mostly Janes) run for 4+ hours for no good reason.  I said to her, I know the pain these people have chosen to inflict upon themselves and the joy they have created for themselves. I get it. I like ringing my cowbell and showing off my inappropriate signs.  It is fun. And I know it helps.

While I didn't race yesterday, I feel like I spent nearly as long as I will on the course next month, so here is my spectating recap.

Restarting and Finishing at the Same Time

In case you forgot, I am training for the New York City Marathon.  We are currently one month and one day away from the race and I think fall is the perfect time to train for a marathon, and this is why.

This past week included Yom Kippur and a 22 mile run.  Both were important for very similar reasons.  The High Holidays are a way to restart and recharge, and I used them for that.  And that was good.  Sitting in services last week, I had the time to really think about more important "stuff" like family and long-term planning and what my role should be in making the world better.  I did this on a very empty stomach and I believe it was exactly what I needed.

From time to time, it is important for us over thinkers to take that moment to be grateful, and say we are sorry, and start again. Yom Kippur is exactly that. The most holy day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur is a fast day, the final chance to apologize to God and to the people in our lives.  It is also the last day to accept an apology. It is the last chance to restart for a new year. 

Last weekend marked the first of three 20+ mile weekend runs in a row which make up my longest mileage weeks of my training. While I had already had a 20 miler on the books this year, I was still very unsure about this run.  Twenty-two miles is a long way to go.  As I said, I am an over thinker, hence this blog.  But I also know that I was physically ready.  But again, 22 miles is a long way to go.  Running, like most things is just as mental as it is physical.

After fretting about it and making jokes in the pre-dawn hours along Ocean Beach, the run flew by and I felt great.  Each interval (the club runs 8 minutes and walks for 1 minute at my pace) went by extremely quickly, but they were right on pace.  My last three miles were well under marathon goal pace and I was even able to walk up and down stairs without pain. (Grace is another thing.)

This is good.

This too was a restart.

Unlike some of my online running chums, I have been really lucky with my training.  Work and health have cooperated.  I have been able to nurse pesky niggles and stay away from crushing pain.  Work is work and I have been able to get in all of my runs (baring a few days of just not doing it).  However, after logging over a thousand miles this year, it get tiresome.

The High Holidays and the rest of the Fall Jewish holidays call upon people to stop, reload for the winter, and give thanks.  Long runs help me with this process.

Last night as I ran 9 Yasso 800s at the track under a HUGE harvest moon, I smiled and thought how great it was to be alive, to be able to run whenever I want, and how great it is to be a Jew.  Sure, this isn't what most people think about when they are running in circles on the track but I did.

I have been trying to find a reason that running isn't selfish...I still think it is.  However, it helps me be better at everything else in my life. Running also gives you time to focus on nothing but what you are doing.  I believe that to be a Jewish value.

So Chag Semach and Run Strong.

The Power of Egg Salad

1. Boil eggs
2. Peel eggs
3. Place eggs in vessel 
4. Add mayo and Dijon mustard until right
5. Salt, pepper, and paprika, to taste
6. Paprika on top for color

This simple recipe dominated our pre-Yom Kippur preparation for years.  More or less since I left the URJ to move into the private sector, Abby and I have hosted the break-the-fast for our Jewish friend who were stuck far away from family on the holiday. It started small, with about 10 people (a dozen eggs) we collected at services who had no where to go and ballooned to about 35 people (four and half dozen eggs) in our 550 square foot apartment in New York, with the smoked fish sponsored by the CC parental units.  

It was a big deal. We had kuggel and bagels.  We had fish for about 300 people and fruit and cookies and challah, juice, coffee, soda, and every once in a while a few shots of booze.  But for our friend Anna, the egg salad was reason enough to move heaven and earth.  Her break-the-fast was not complete without the consumption of copious amounts of the above listed egg salad. 

This year, we did not make it nor did Anna eat it. And that was strange.

These little town blues

This past weekend included 15 eating and drinking establishments, at least seven different kinds of beer, a lot of Mexican food of varying degrees of authenticity, and that piece of New York Pizza.  It also included a two month-old, old friends, a set of parental units, paint cans, a flee market, 16 miles in Central Park, and mid-town lunch specials. The only place something like that could take place in what amounted to three-and-half day vacation is in the best city in the world: New York City.

Some background:

1. The wife and I have not been on a non-wedding/non-visiting hometown vacation since our honeymoon.  This is not to say that these other trips weren't fun or we couldn't relax during them, but there is something to be said about this luxury of a "real" vacation.
2. San Francisco is a nice town.  There is good food and the people are nice, but it is not a city and it is very slow. Stuff closes too early, it isn't easy to get around, and there are no good bagels. This isn't to say we don't like it here, but we should be honest, it pales in comparison to New York.  Anyone who says otherwise either has not lived in New York or couldn't cut it in New York.
3. Going on vacation to your old home is strange. But at least you don't have to pretend you are getting the inside scoop on the local spots by asking the bellmen where they eat. Right, because those guys aren't told where to tell you to go by the same people providing information (and tips) to the concierge.

Now that I got that out of the way, here is what went down.

My First Music Festival - Outside Lands, a review

This weekend I went to the three day musical bonanza that is Outside Lands, and thanks to very generous connections, the wife, the sister, and I all were VIPs for the weekend.  This afforded us two very important things: seating for the main stage and access to clean bathrooms.  While the seating was nice, the bathrooms made the event.

Music - In the Park

The music was good too.

Mile By Mile

Like raising a child, running a marathon takes a village.  And in some cases a city.

Two weeks ago, my new city hosted its marathon.  It was a well run event.  It started way too early.  And no one was on the streets for these people.

Running 26.2 miles is dumb and yet we continue to do it.  Personally I feed off the crowds.  In 2010 the only reason I crossed the finish line without being dead was because of the people along the route.  The Lululemon team on the final stretch of the Philly Marathon was just the boost I needed to make it through the last 6 miles, even if there were no water stations when I needed them.

But for some reason, this great running/biking/fitness town does not come out to support its runners.

That was sad. I don't have much else to say about it but here is a picture of me cheering with my SFRRC friends, Susan and Laura. 

We were at mile 24 with one other person...WOOOOOO!

Generational Swings

A little over a month ago, I put down the Dustbuster in our New York apartment after cleaning up what seemed like the millionth dust bunny we had found while getting ready to move, and I tweaked my back.  This was problematic for a number of reasons -- chief among them was the fact that our movers were coming in an hour.

I had been running a lot, trying the 100 pushup challenge (I was up to 45ish pushups) and flying all over the country for work.  Oh yeah, and moving.  There was a lot of pent up stress and I suppose the Dustbuster was the straw that broke my back.

Anyway, after about three weeks of letting it get better, I was on the bus coming to work and the bus stopped very short.  The entire bus load of Financial District Bound San Franciscans whipped forward, and hard. I called a chiropractor when I got to the office.

Over the past week, I have been stretched and cracked and such, and I am feeling much better thank you for asking.  But the really wonderful part of this story is that today I was given homework.

True, homework is never fun. But this homework has some history.

The Long Run

A few months ago this ridiculously photogenic guy photo-bombed his way  on the meme and running scene.  I am more of the belief that if you are running a road race and look really good in your pictures, you aren't working hard enough...and I am not alone.

Not to knock the really good looking dude, but races should be hard.  After months (or weeks depending on your distance) of training, you toe the line and push your body to do its best on that day.  That is what makes racing fun.  It is hard, it is challenging, and you may look like that kid who likes turtles, but you run hard and win.  That is the best part of racing.

Before the end of the year I have three important races on the calendar, and while the NYC Marathon is clearly the biggest of my year, the other two might be more fun and, in the longer term, more important.

SFRRC's 1st Annual 5K Race

In August, my running chums with the SFRRC will be hosting a 5K.  This race is filled with local favorites, cool prizes, and a flat course (which is nothing to sneeze at in San Francisco).  But most importantly, it will be our little club's first race.  We are really excited to host the runner's of San Francisco and around the Bay Area.  So, as a member of the planning committee, a SFRRC member, and just a runner, I invite you to join us on August 5th for your opportunity to have really ugly pictures for your race collection.