October 25, 2012

Army 10 Miler

Last weekend I went to DC for our annual tradition, the Army 10 Miler. I've been doing this with my sister and brother-in-law since 2008 and have only missed one year due to injury. In fact, every year one of us seems to be injured and this year it was my sister's turn to miss the race. So her husband, Phil, and I ran together. A more accurate description might be hobbled it together given I was barely walking all week, let alone running.

After my epic training week things went downhill very fast. A nagging upper thigh pain turned severe and thoughts of a femoral stress fracture clouded my head. I couldn't run without limping and couldn't bear the pain more than 3 miles so I rested all week and muddled through the Army 10 "just for fun." And fun it was. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

Sniper for a moment, Army 10 Expo

Sisters, Army 10 Expo
Black Hawk, Army 10 Expo
Afternoon pick-me-up, Union Market DC
Duck bratwurst, 8407 Kitchen Silver Spring
Fall colors, Virgina wine country
Mile 8.5, Army 10


Post-race pumpkin pancakes courtesy of my sister!

October 13, 2012

Huge Training Week

I'll admit that taking an exotic vacation right in the midst of marathon training might not have been the wisest move, but you have to live, right? My trip to Egypt created a 10 day hiatus from running and a full two week break between long runs. I went from logging 30-35 miles a week to zero for a week, then only 11 miles the week I returned. The jet lag was brutal and my legs were so swollen from the 16 hours of flying that 3 miles was all I could manage at first. I did a handful of short runs, all of which made me ache terribly, and I realized I couldn't go long that first weekend. I just wasn't ready. So Monday of this week kicked off my biggest volume training week yet.

Monday: 18 miles, relatively slow and easy. I expected this to be far worse than it ended up being. It was slower than my 20 miler, but not bad at 3:11:53 considering the time off. I was pretty comfortable until Mile 15, after which every move hurt like hell.

Tuesday: Rest, and boy did I need it. I was so sore I felt like I'd done the actual marathon!

Wednesday: Eased back in with 3.85 miles. It was meant to be a 4-miler, but it was raining and cold so I did 3 at the gym and it was supposed to be a mile home, but I took a slightly different route. Good enough. Interestingly I was still very sore from the long run, but the pain and stiffness went away after this.

Thursday: I flew to Minneapolis for a client event and decided to take another day off running in anticipation of a big miles weekend. I did an elliptical workout instead in the hotel gym.

Friday: Flew back to New York and ran 4.75 miles to and from packet pick-up for the Rock n' Roll 10K, one of my weekend races. I was so tired from the travel and my groin/femur has been bothering me a lot so it wasn't a great run, but I needed the miles.

Saturday: After a fun night out with friends, too many bottles of wine, and another night with less than 6 hours of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed for the Rock n' Roll 10K in Brooklyn. I love the Rn'R races and it was in my backyard so no excuses. It was 38 degrees and I wasn't in my finest race form, plus I have my second long run of the week on tap tomorrow, so I ran an easy pace. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the course, plus the huge breakfast in the VIP tent afterward brought me back to life.

I'll wrap up the week tomorrow with Grete's Gallop, a half-marathon in Central Park. I'm adding an extra couple miles to make it 14-15 depending on how I feel. By the end of the week I will have logged more than 45 miles, my biggest week yet. I'm already looking forward to taper and post-marathon rest!

October 9, 2012

Egypt: Part II

My last post left off on Day 4 of the incredible, but challenging trip to Egypt. I'm thankful to say that the challenges subsided and the rest of the trip was smooth sailing... quite literally, actually, since we spent the final days adrift on the Nile.


We arrived in Luxor late and they wisked us off to the Karnak Temple Sound and Light Show. I'm not the biggest fan of such shows, but it was a goodwill gesture for the travel hell we had encountered. Unfortunately a good portion of the show is set on a lake, which was mosquito heaven. I must be a delicious snack for mosquitos because I got at least 20 more bites. Nevertheless, the temple was beautiful at night.


Day 5 - We had a huge morning with a lot of ground to cover so we departed at 6am. Another reason for starting at 6am is the scorching heat in this part of Egypt, called Upper Egypt even though it's in the south. By mid-morning it was nearly 100 degrees! We went to the Valley of the Kings, an area of mountains that house the tombs of the great Pharaohs. Unfortunately no photos were allowed and I didn't even snap one of the outside because it simply looked like mountains, but believe me when I say it was beyond spectacular. Ancient Egyptians strongly believed in the afterlife and the tombs reflected the journey. Much of the art is relatively intact, even vibrant. I really enjoyed the various scenes depicting the journey through death and ultimately to the new life beyond. We paid the extra $20 or so to see King Tutankhamun's tomb even though we knew there wasn't much to see (all of the treasures are in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), but the tomb still holds his mummy. We had yet to see a mummy on the trip so it was worth the extra few bucks. Pretty incredible.

After the Valley of the Kings we visited the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's only female Pharoah, even if not fully acknowledged. Her story is quite scandalous and fascinating. She essentially shipped her son off to military school so she could rule the country. When he returned, he chiseled her face off nearly every statue and scene in her temple so you can still see the family rivalry thousands of years later.


I really enjoyed this temple and the mountain setting. My favorite part by far was this vibrant falcon on the ceiling in one part. It looks like it could have been painted just recently.


After we stopped to see two very big statues remaining from another temple. I try to imagine what this area must have looked like 3,000 years ago, literally dotted with temples and statues.


We ended the morning at the Luxor Temple, which was most fascinating for its grand Avenue of Sphinxes that once stretched from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple. There is also a mosque built above a portion of the temple so while there we were surrounded by the midday call to prayer. It was incredible. And in the back of this temple there is an area where you can see three layers of history on the walls - the original Ancient Egyptians, then the Romans, then the Christians. Each one defaced the history of the other and tried to make it their own.


The moment we stepped on the boat we set sail to Edfu, which would take around 9 hours. We spent the afternoon on the sun deck watching the small villages and rural landscape pass by. It was beautiful.

We also went through the Esna Lock around sunset, where an 8 meter water level adjustment was made.


And even though we were in an industrial area, the sunset was magnificent.


Upon arrival in Edfu our guide graciously escorted us off the boat to a local shisha cafe. This was a real cafe, unlike the fancy hotel bars we'd been to. It was really great to have a chance to see a bit of a small town, mix with locals, and witness a very lively wedding celebration driving up and down the street.


To avoid making this the longest post ever, I'll wrap up the trip in the next entry!

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