Catching Up, Part 1 - May

So did you miss me?  Of course you did.  A good looking, witty, charming guy who is an expert at practically everything suddenly goes silent for 3 months, probably pretty upsetting.  I bet you even cried a little.

What have I been up to in my absence?  Oh, you know, stuff.  Runner stuff.  Engineer stuff.

May started with a bang, and ended with a fizzle.

My training was going really well leading up to a local 15k race (9.3 miles), I started into shorter intervals to prep for a summer of 5k racing, I had a long weekend trip to the beach planned for Labor Day...in short, a very optimistic beginning for what became a pretty dull month.

The race was early in the month, while the morning weather was still chilly and comfortable for doing long runs.  I dislike running in warmer weather, I sweat enough, so if an additional layer of clothing is the price to pay for not needing a hydration plan, I'll make that trade gladly.  Race morning was just warm enough that I couldn't see my breath - perfect.  I went alone, my wife stayed home to make breakfast while I was gone and prep for a trip to Blacksburg for a friend's graduation party.  I still haven't fully formed an opinion as to whether or not I prefer having her at races - it's nice to have her there supporting me, but that breakfast was pretty darn good too...

I trained pretty well in April but March was hit or miss, so I was just looking to set a nice even pace and turn in miles under 8 minutes.  I managed that and then some, starting off around a 7:40 pace and gradually improving to finish with an average pace of 7:32, considerably faster than I thought I was capable of. 

It was one of my best races ever from perspectives of execution, effort, and enjoyment (3 E's, perhaps I'll start referring to this in the future, seems like a useful term when talking about race goals).  I set the pace I wanted early on and ran negative splits, gradually tracking down a handful of runners who were ahead of me one at a time.  In the final mile or so, I picked things up to take one more spot - an older guy (not really old, early 60s maybe, just old when compared to the kind of pace he was running) who could see in the distance from way back, running with a short, peculiar stride that didn't look capable of producing a pace that would put him so far ahead of me..  It took a long time to catch up to him, and a hard push in the final quarter to get away.  Old guys can be deceptively fast.  And I really enjoyed the race, the whole thing from start to finish.  The scenery was nice, the weather was perfect, the course had rolling hills but nothing ridiculous, and my results left me feeling good about the races I had planned for the rest of the summer.  The only real downside was that I didn't know many of the runners there, I haven't raced in quite a while, and the group at this race kind of have their own thing going on, they are local and know one another, I'm an outsider.

I went home to an excellent breakfast, and headed to Blacksburg for an evening of celebration, delicious food, and beer with friends.  A really good day, the kind that only come around a few times each year.  The kind of day that lets you know you're on the right track with things.  Then came the rest of May.

I had to attend a 2 week class to be certified as a Team Leader for bridge inspections.  2, 40 hour weeks of sitting in uncomfortable wooden chairs in a conference room at a local park, fighting to stay focused, learn anything new that I needed (my engineering education and experience covered a lot of it, making it that much harder to avoid zoning out), and hopefully pass the assessment at the end.  After several attempts here, I've given up on fully describing it - I don't have the words, don't have any kind of funny or clever analogy, no poignant picture stashed away on my hard drive, that can accurately express how boring this class was.

Week 1 crept by.  As Week 2 began to ease along, I felt a familiar ache in my left jaw, one I had felt another time in my right...a tooth dying.  One of my teeth was heading for an abscess.  Perfect timing, since 100% attendance was required to pass the class.  Since I'd be taking the assessment exams on the coming Friday.  Since I'd then be driving 10 hours to the Outer Banks right after the test, where there is only 1 hospital, nearly an hour from our house.  Of course my tooth would act up now.  I struggled through the week, using Ibuprofen only when I needed it most, sipping cold drinks to numb and soothe the tooth when I could (the little cans of V8 fruit juice blends are AWESOME, by the way), and made it to Friday. 

Test 1 before lunch, breeze through, take a big dose of medicine, check.  Head to lunch, eat a huge meatloaf sandwich and have a beer, check.  Afternoon, Test 2, challenging but nothing too tough, check.  Pass the course with the highest score in the class, CHECK!  Don't get done with the course until 4, then drive 10 hours to the beach...check.

The beach was nice, my tooth progressed as slowly as the class I'd just finished.  It ached to bite down, it hurt at random times at day and night, and was a general nuisance.  It didn't swell up like the last one (golf ball sized), but it did swell enough to feel tight by the time I got home on Monday evening.  Tuesday, head to the dentist, get antibiotics, schedule root canal, no big deal.  Root canals aren't that bad, I've now had 2, and as long as the tooth has died, you don't feel anything.  The anesthetic needle and holding your mouth open for a half hour are the worst parts - my jaw muscles hurt for a week afterward.

So after such an awesome racing experience to start the month out, how much running do you think I managed to do?  I ran a couple of times the week after the race, then didn't get back out on the road until early June...

Coming Back

I'm coming back to blogging!  Don't expect too much too soon though.  I plan to slowly get back to this over the next month, eventually doing a once-per-week post, hopefully on the same day each week.

So see you soon!