T minus 22 weeks, Boats and such

M,W,Sat 15 miles total.

Saturday I went for a long run (9 miles) on hutchinson island, site of a previous post involving  flies and spiders. This time around the bugs were in full force, landing on my head while I was running and biting me whenever I stopped flailing my limbs like a  lunatic. Spiders were less prevelant as the Sasquatching through the woods part was minimal.

I recently bought a handheld chums bottle because it was on sale at The Clymb (email me for an invite so I can get free stuff doodz). Wasn't sure how I would like it, but decided to give it a try. It was great. The extra weight is negligible and on hot days like today, having water makes the run a lot more enjoyable.

Saw two gigantic cargo ships. Again, pictures don't do justice to these. Each of the containers is as large as a semi truck trailer. It's always shocking to see these things gliding up the river because you'll pop out of the trees and there will be a gigantic skyscraper-high ship in front of you that is remarkably quiet.

I settled on an electrolyte supplement (aka dirt from The Great Salt Lake) that includes trace minerals. I figure I'm deficient in something after so much sweating, so I'll go with the shotgun approach. I have a hunch that I have been running deficient in most electrolytes, because I prefer water and sweat like a hog. Some electrolytes, like potassium, are not quickly replenished either, so I reckon it may take some time to get back to normal. Interested to see if this makes a noticeable difference in my energy and/or endurance level. I've been lethargic and sluggish on runs for a long time now (years). Carbs help, but I haven't gotten back to my old spastic energy levels.

I also ran over the Talmadge bridge, one of the few places in Savannah besides stairs where one can experience what is known colloquially as "elevation change" The bridge is named after Eugene Talmadge, a former Georgia governor who supported segregation. The Georgia legislature is debating changing the name because of this. I would prefer it be called "the large cable-suspended bridge visible from various parts of Savannah extending from Georgia to South Carolina, under which pass numerous large cargo ships."

Running Politics

Found this unfinished draft that mostly griped about internet nonsense (I should probably include myself in some of these tendencies.) Touched it up and pushed publish for the world to digest. Enjoy

I read a fair number of running blogs, websites, and articles. I try to stay abreast of what is happening in the running community, mostly as it relates to the barefoot/minimalist movement. There tend to be two camps piping in their opinions: The Veterans & The Inexperienced Zealots. Veterans tend to discount everything that doesn't fall in line with preconcieved opinions and zealots tend to be overly excited about gear and may or may not actually ever run. Arguments between the two camps are 99% anecdotal, which should be expected I suppose, and some research emerging being actively promoted by individuals such as Christopher McDougal and RunBlogger Peter Larson.

Things that thoroughly annoy me about the current barefoot/minimalist community:

• contrived jargon (sans footwear, zero drop, unshod, shod, barefoot/minimalist, clad, referring to yourself as Barefoot Joe, etc.)
• the self-proclaimed "OG," the good ol' days, etc.
• irrational conservatism-unexplainably holding on to the first pair of minimalist shoes you bought and proclaiming every advancement to be a heretical desecration of their infallibility.
• smugness and elitism in general.

Things I like:

• Attention to role of biomechanics in running. Running seems to be more of a learned skill than an instinct.
• Shake up in old running paradigms. No longer are we taking for granted that more protection is necessarily better.
• The variety of products filling new niches in running preferences. Everything from barefoot style to just simple designs.

T-minus 23 weeks

As long as it's not raining (which means about 75% of the time) I well get pretty accurate distance summaries for my runs. I'd prefer not to find out if my Google Nexus 4 is waterproof. I'm tracking everything with run keeper now. Using a neoprene armband to affix said phone to my apparently puny arms, judging by the slack remaining. So far, so good. We'll see how it holds up.

Total for last week: two runs. 7.8 miles. Was going to do a long run Saturday but ended up all day working in the yard, which I would like to think has some positive effect on my running goals.

Ran early one of the days, which was much more tolerable. Pix from AM run at WE Honey park dock on Wilmington River:

If these limbs could talk

It's hard to fully appreciate a live oak tree from these pictures, but you're just going to have to try harder! Some have been around since The Civil War. They get to be enormous. Occasionally I will climb them and attempt to not die. These pictures are from my most frequented running route on a marsh trail not too far from home.

Something else that is not well captured in these photos is the face-melting heat. And the swarms of biting insects. Thank you diphenhydramine hydrochloride.

Low tide, with pluff mud. As a side note, shortly after moving to Savannah we decided to go canoeing in one of these tidal creeks. Not taking into consideration the tides, we went out at low tide and tried to hike through this mud and were transformed into swamp things instantaneously.

Crabs scattering as I daintily attempt to avoid crushing their short, meaningless lives.

Single-track trail through the marsh grass

I took the phone along for another RunKeeper log. I bathed the phone in a good serving of sweat. Will need to find a new way to do this. This run was also in the afternoon; I will need to switch to early morning runs for survival purposes. I'm also considering how to best approach electrolyte replacement with all this sweating. At a minimum I will eat bananas regularly. If I am still cramping with longer runs I may start an oral potassium supplement or Nuun tablets. I would really like to avoid the whole "Robocop legs" situation from previous experiences.

The quick and the dead

I look forward to Saturdays because the cemeteries are open and I'm not at work. There is an abundance of dirt roads and trails through the woods and almost no other (living) people to boot. Today I took along my stupid smart phone to gussy up this blog a bit with pix. I also tried out the RunKeeper app for the first time and plan to use it regularly now.

I am about 1 mile from Bonaventure Cemetery, which is connected to a newer cemetery, Forest Lawn. Catholic Cemetery is also relatively close and has a section which is comparable in age to Bonaventure. Age in this case equates to amazing aesthetics and a diversity of headstones, crypts, monuments, etc. I regularly find random interesting things in the many nooks and crannies. For example, stones from a 17th century Scottish Church:

There are quite a lot of Jewish burials in Bonaventure:

More excellence. Notice The Confederate States of America iron cross:

Even the kids like going! It's like a giant awesome park that no one goes to.

Marathon. Again.

I'm committed to running the rock n roll marathon here in Savannah again. Forked over the dough and felt real accomplished. Now I just have to run it. My training plan isn't very structured at this point. I'm running about twice a week trying to get accustomed to the hellishly hot weather that is upon us in tha durty south. My priority now is to not overdo anything and slowly ease into long runs and more frequent runs. Sticking with the 2-4 mile range after work, alternating trails on the marsh and pavement aka skreets through the ghetto. Some longer runs through cemeteries on the weekends.

As far as equipment goes, using saucony hattoris and new balance mt110s for trails, saucony kinvara 3s for road. I'm very pleased with all of these. Socks-mostly cheap cotton or no socks for shorter runs, speede, swiftwick, and dry max for longer runs.

I plan to keep the training low-intensity until mid July when I return from a 50 mile hike with the boy scouts. Last year this pushed me into a different tier of fitness and I came home ready to push a lot harder than I normally would. Hills have the ability to do that. This is one disadvantage of being in the low country. Flat pancakes everywhere.

Of note, I found 7 freshly spent 45 auto casings while taking a breather the other day. No corpse in sight and seven holes in the ground suggest this was merely someone unloading their 1911 50 yards from the nearest backyard. Raised right, I took them home and added them to my growing heap of spent brass for future use.

Disheartening Namesake Update

Good news! If I were a mere 50 years older, I would qualify for entry in the Boston Marathon! It's official, with my time of 4:43:42, I fall in the qualifying category for participants 80+. At this point I have two options:

1. Maintain my current level of speed and endurance for the next 50 years, or
2. Shave a miniscule 1:38:42 off of my marathon time by November when I run the 2013 Savannah Rock n' Roll Marathon.