Do the Math

How fast do you run your first marathon? This question has been bouncing around in my head for the last 190 miles or so. Yesterday I bumped into an old friend and fellow first time marathoner who has been struggling with the same thing. Some experienced marathoners have taken my half-marathon time ("fast") and projected some pretty intimidating targets. And Jordan pointed me to a VDOT calculator which, based on the amount of oxygen my body consumes during a minute of running, speculated that I could run a 5:30 mile. (More on VDOT here. Although I'm not sure I trust anything that doesn't ask me my age first.) The Team Brookline coach also projected a fast time, reassuring me that "I finished my first marathon in under 3 hrs. Well, actually, it was my third marathon, but the first that I finished."

And see, that's the thing: Shouldn't I plan on finishing my first marathon? It's not like a 5k, where I'll probably finish regardless of how bad I bonk. It seems like it's pretty easy to not finish a marathon, and that would be unfortunate since I don't plan to make this (running a marathon) a regular thing. So just take it slow and be conservative, right? On the other hand, I was joking with Jeff the other day that I think I'm 0-for-12 in sticking with my last dozen pre-race strategies. For my last half, I ran the first mile 45 seconds faster than my target pace. Apparently my legs had zero interest in what my brain had previously decided on this topic. But that was my second half marathon and I'd like to think that my legs had some idea what they were getting themselves into. And to their credit, they pretty good job matching the VDOT targets on the fly. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do in April. (Meanwhile my brain will be that kid in the front of the class that the teacher refuses to call, but still frantically waving his hand in the air.)

Speaking of setting goals, when I first kicked off my fundraising, a buddy stopped by my office and laughed: "$5k? That shouldn't take long." He was right. Specifically, it took 17 days, 14 hours. But how was I supposed to know that? $5k is still a lot of money, right? Turns out you guys are way more generous than I gave you credit for. Or, more likely, I was intimidated by the idea of raising money, plus I was too lazy to do a little math. Either way, a big thank you to everybody who has donated so far, and it's time to set a new goal. My initial thought was $8k. Seemed like a nice safe number. But screw that. Let's put a real target out there: $10,000. What's the worst that can happen, right? (Yep, still too lazy to do the math.)

Music

Ever curious what music people are listening to when they run? No? Well, unfortunately that's all I have to offer this week, so maybe check back next week.  But before you go, if you haven't already, how about a donation to support Team Brookline?  Just click the big green banner on the right.

For those of you who are still reading, the following is a sample of what has been loaded into my iPod shuffle for what feels like the last 50 years. Which is odd, because while I don't have "a lot" of music by some people's standards, I still have 700+ hours worth. Yet I keep listening to these same songs. At first I assumed I was just being lazy. But then I bought a new shuffle and, yup, loaded the exact same songs. Note the "comfort in repetition" theme from my last post. Occasionally new tracks will sneak in, and this is not an exhaustive list. But these are the anchors that will carry me through April.

Disclaimers:

1) I watched most of most of these links, but if something inappropriate happens to surface, you know what to do. That's right, dump the nearest hot liquid on your computer.

2) You may not like any of this music.

Without further ado, my top 19, in no particular order:

• Percussion Gun by White Rabbits - "I know which way to run!" Apparently this was on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack? Who knew.

• Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem. Bonus versions featuring absurd street skiing, and Muppets. 

• Atlas by Battles. How is this not the entrance music for an NBA team? (Maybe because the lyrics sound like gibberish.
• Mountains in the Sky by Noah's Arkestra. But this track was featured in an old NBA playoffs commercial.
• List of Demands by Saul Williams. And I lifted this from a Nike commercial a few years back. A lot of overlap with my "good music from commercials" playlist. 
• I Gotta Rokk by DJ Shadow. "Shake yourself alive!"  Must listen with good headphones.
• Stomp by The Roots. I always thought the first 30s of this track was my own little personal "Any Given Sunday" speech. (Turns out it was a Georgia Tech pre-game speech.)
• Escape Velocity / Superflash by The Chemical Brothers. This is probably better suited for a 5k. Also, honorable mention for the rest of the Don't Think album.
• Air War by Crystal Castles. According to Dan this is the only good track this group has.
• Not Even Jail by Interpol. iTunes claims I've only played this song 109 times. I think that's conservative.
• Higher Ground by TNGHT. This post does a much better job of describing these guys than I ever could: "These are beats that are part Star Fox soundtrack, part mad/evil scientist, part synths bigger than the house you grew up in, part snap music that will crack your knuckles in two"
• Middle Distance Runner by Sea Wolf. Not a very clever song. But as a former middle distance runner it's good reverse psychology on the longer runs.
• Heaven by U.N.K.L.E. Atmosphere music for when you're zoning out on a run. Or dead. Either one really. Bonus points awarded for an awesome Spike Jonze skateboarding video. Make sure you get to at least the 2 min mark.
• Unsung by Helmet. Metal circa 1992? I have no idea how this ended up in my walkman, but I listened to this track before every single race in college. Without exception. Hasn't really held up that well, but it always gets the sentimental nod.
• Little Black Submarines by The Black Keys. Helps me start slow. And then blows out my eardrums.
• (Just Like We) Breakdown (DFA Remix) by Hot Chip. A quick lesson in self-hypnosis. Comes in handy when running 26 miles.
• Rock Co. Kane Flow by De La Soul ft MF Doom. This is a pretty obscure De La track from a not-so-great De La album. But coming out of the breakdowns is best summed up by Doom: "He said it made him tougher than a bump of raw medicine."
• Don't Pretend You Didn't Know by Dinosaur Jr. "Waiting on the line, all the people thinking why." Amherst MA natives still rocking 30 years later. God bless Dinosaur Jr.
• Wolf Like Me by TV On the Radio. Live Letterman version linked. Sorry, I need to go for a run. Be right back....

Sorting Skittles

Ironically, after talking up how challenging it will be to train in Boston during the winter, I kicked off my training with two weeks in Puerto Rico. Best way to sum it up is "different." My lungs were a little confused, but at least my body held up better than my watch. Designed to be water resistant up to 5 ATMs, for "dancing in the rain without a worry", it promptly fogged up under the display and died. Never under estimate the humidity in PR. Of course, one of my teammates running back in Boston slipped on a patch of ice and ended up with a broken nose and chipped tooth. And I wasn't in Chicago. So I'm going to stop complaining.

And now it's back to the regularly scheduled program. Mid 20s. (Unless there's a vortex. Or spring.) Hopping snow drifts, dodging plows, and generally just trying to finish with your teeth intact. But a bit gets flipped in my brain after a while. What I start out dreading becomes something else. A craving. Or scratching an itch. This happened back in college as well, training in Northern Virginia in August. (Another environment my watch wouldn't have appreciated.) I would run at the least uncomfortable time of day, which happened to be 2am. Still 90 degrees, humid, pitch black, crushing unsuspecting frogs with every other step. And it was terrible, until it was fun.

It's not a case of "runners high". Sure I like endorphins as much as the next guy, but it doesn't outweigh struggling against headwinds on the Charles. It's closer to runners OCD. Lots of repetition, step after step, day after day. Obsessively count the runs and log the miles. Check the splits. Replay the GPS route. Again. This is the same part of my brain that sorts Skittles. And when my watch drops out during a run, and only records some of the miles, or slashes straight across the map from where the GPS signal was lost to where it was picked up again, incorrectly calculating the pace and throwing off my lifetime per-mile average...

(Deep breath)

Ironically I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to running tech. My dad and brother gifted me my first GPS watch only last year. And I used to think running with a phone was ridiculous. But maybe that was just one part of my brain trying to protect this other part. Did you know I ran 641.0 miles in 2013? I can show you the chart. It's very pretty.

Replacement watch on the way.

Game On

(Kicking this blog off with an email that I recently sent to friends and family. If you already got said email, then obviously no need to read this twice. New content coming soon...)

Happy New Year!

It turns out I made my New Year's resolution a little early this year: I decided it was time to run my first marathon. After putting it off for years, the 2014 Boston Marathon was just too meaningful an opportunity to pass up. So with a couple of half-marathons under my belt, and 16 more weeks of cold Boston winter standing between me and April 21st, training is already in full swing.

As many of you know, an important part of the Boston Marathon tradition has been the official charity program associated with the race. Now in its 26th year, this program allows runners without qualifying times to participate, while raising over $12 million a year for Greater Boston charities. If you've ever had a chance to watch the race in person, and paid close attention to the jerseys being worn by the sea of humanity shuffling by, and realized that so many runners have spent so much time and energy raising money for so many great causes, all for the privilege of running 26 miles... well, it's a pretty amazing sight.

And now it's time to do my part. I will be running this spring as a member of Team Brookline, my town's official marathon team, which supports a number of local Brookline charities. In particular, I'll be raising funds for the Brookline Community Mental Health Center, and my personal goal is to raise $5,000.

If you're willing and able, please sponsor me by making a contribution on my FirstGiving page. Alternatively, you can write a check to Team Brookline and mail it to me. (Let me know if you need my address.)

So what's the plan for the rest of this blog? Not quite sure (but credit to +Jeff Larimer for the idea.) I have a hunch this will be less of a training diary, and more just random stuff. Why the name "Base Work"? This refers to my least favorite part of training when I ran in college. The long, slow miles that you put in day after day, building up a strong aerobic foundation, increasing blood volume and glycogen storage, yadda yadda. I just remember how lonely and tedious these runs were, when meaningful races were still 6 to 9 months away. It wasn't glamorous, but it also wasn't optional, especially if you want to run 26+ miles. So you learn to make your peace with it. And it leaves you with a lot of time to think.

That's all for now. I should be going for a 5 mile run right now, but I think I'll shovel the driveway instead. Thanks Hercules.