Declaration/Marchin' On

"Take this song of freedom,put it on and arm yourself for the fight,our hearts must have the courage to keep on marchin' on and on

There's a young boy standing,staring at the world,you know he can't control his anger you can see it in his eyes,he's gonna smash the windows,he's gonna tear down the walls hey mister you don't understand it take a look at it through my eyes.

These are the kids they're powerless,so you tell them so,these are the kids they're powerful,don't say you haven't been told and we'll go marchin'on hear our sound hear our voice we're growing stronger,we're not alone and we're keeping on we're marchin' on"

Declaration/Marchin' On-The Alarm

If I had a dollar for every time I've sung "Marchin' On" since I first heard it 27 years ago when I first saw The Alarm I'd have a nice pile of cash tucked away by now.

Back in 83 when I was 19/20 I was"the young boy standing,staring at the world" 27 years later at almost 47 I do want to"smash the windows and tear down the walls" where work is concerned.

It was brought to my attention today that "when you're not here the skids don't get taken down to the storeroom".......................oh really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So why am I getting taken for a mug by the powers that be at work,and what you ask does this have to do w/ my running,well I'm getting to that.

Since last Wednesday the aggravation factor at work has gone through the roof and lo and behold since Friday evening I've been suffering intestinal issues to the point where I haven't ran this week,coincidence????

Granted a few days off won't hurt me,runners seldom conform to the "less is more"mindset and w/ my season winding down it might not be the worst thing in the world to ease up a little rather than run myself into the ground.

Of course the catch 22 in all this is when work gets that frustrating a run usually helps defuse all that anger and angst but the last two days my intestinal fortitude has dictated that running wasn't an option,more's the pity as work well and truly did a number on me today.

We'll see what tomorrow brings re work and getting out and running,if it were up to me work would get blown off but I have responsibilities......who'll take the goddamn skids down in the morning if I don't show up???

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You,This Prophecy's Coming True

"After all time building up,comes inevitable knocking down,One by One
Come receivers,liars,gamblers,pickpocket entourage,Two by Two
Selling out is a cardinal sin,sinning w/ a safety net,Three by Three
They say that all things come in threes,where here comes the third degree"
Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?-The Alarm

And so a week fraught w/ bullshit at work{there's always bullshit at work....this week there just seemed to be an extra large helping of it heaped onto my plate!}and having to juggle my training schedule to accommodate the weather and band practice......came to a fitting climax.
On July 5th 08 I ran my first ever set of sub 5 minute 4x1 mile repeats:4.53.6-4.51.8-4.55.4-4.56.8. and periodically through to October 28th where I ran:4.59.4-4.59.7-4.56.1-4.50.9 I was able to make this an almost weekly thing.
In the 22 months since my last 4/4 @ sub 5 I haven't gotten close to those heights what w/ one thing and another but the writing has very much been on the wall since June 11th when I clocked 5.03.7-5.01.6-4.59.4-4.54.7. and thus began a one man crusade by yours truly to rescale those heights I'd been able to dial up week in week out in the 08 season.

I'm not going to front,I wasn't overly confident of my chances yesterday,I was physically and mentally whipped but having notched my first sub 5 decathletes mile{4.59.9.}on Wednesday and my first sub 60 10 miler w/ a 59 min out and back on Cobbs Creek Parkway on Thursday it was there for the taking to begin w/ and having just missed out last week when I clocked 5.00.0. on my 4th mile I wanted it badly enough to erase the mental and physical tiredness from my thoughts and flesh,fortune it is said favours the brave............

It was 11.05am by the time I lined up for my first mile after a mile warm up and 20 mins of stretching,conditions were ideal,sunny but not broiling hot and the track was reasonable free of obstacles,here goes...............
#1 mile,1.10-1.16-1.16-1.13-4.55.5.So much for going out conservatively??? but unlike last week where I went out in 1.10-1.14-1.13-1.12 I had the good sense to back off a tad and remember it was 4 1 mile repeats.

#2 mile,1.13-1.14-1.14-67-4.48.8.Had I done it again? at 3.41 at the bell I was well in control but somehow I managed to drop a 67 second closing lap,I felt the reason last weeks final mile got oh so slightly away from me was not having enough left in the tank and here I was dropping a 4.48.8 on #2.

#3 mile,1.13-1.14-1.15-1.11-4.53.9.So close I could taste it now! take away the back to back 1.16s I'd deliberately eased up on in mile #1 and this was an near clinic in even pacing at a reasonably brisk pace,and now for the sixty four billion dollar question,what did I have left in the tank?

#4 mile,1.12,1.14,1.16,68-4.50.1.GOTCHA!!! I'm not going to front I was huffing and puffing on the second lap and had to really dig deep on the third lap but I knew I was close to a return to the summit and to do it I'd have to suck it up,a wise man once told me"pain is temporary,glory lasts forever" and frankly I'd have the remainder of the day to recovery from going through the pain barrier but I'd be able to bask in in the knowledge I'd done what I set out to do.

What was the difference between today and last week and a fortnight ago? I think today I went in w/ a "one lap at a time"mentality and paid more attention to each lap split as opposed to thinking about the overall mile time.
I also think no pun intended repetition helped,I've noticed it in my 4x400s that the more I run them week in week out the more they become second nature,ditto now for the mile repeats,through different phases of my training this season it's been hard to have week in,week out repeats,this current phase allows me to revisit the same repeats w/in a week of the last one and I feel that helps,physically doing what I do is second nature but now mentally as I proved today I'm better equipped to handle the rigours of these repeats.

What next?if only for myself I want to prove today was not a one off so it's important to come back next week and do it again,it would be nice to get to a stage where I can also run my 4x1 mile repeats in descending order,granted time is ticking on my mile repeats{potentially 4 more} b4 I switch to the next phase of my training but rest assured I'll be looking to try and get there.

..............And That's Why I Wear The Bandanna

I'll spare you the gory details but this morning was a prime example of why I wear a bandanna....it keeps my devil horns hidden and hides the fact I have Welcome tattooed across my forehead.....evidently I must have cos several people w/in my department think they can walk all over me......

I loathe people who"piss in my ear and tell me it's rain" and frankly if people didn't talk shit I wouldn't tread in it and track it all over the hospital,"I'm going to stay till 9.30pm if I have to to get the skids put away so you'll have room to bring them down in the morning"....yeah right!
And my other favourite you want me to do the working and the thinking.....jesus christ.....and yet these same arseholes wonder why I won't join them for lunch or go to Phillies games w/ them.

Somehow I was able to dredge up a 59 minute 9 mile post work,mentally and physically I was beat but in the immortal words of Queen"The Show Must Go On"I'm damned if work is going to bollocks up my running,I just have to hope there's enough fuel left in the tank for mile repeats tomorrow b4 a well earned and well overdue fuck off day on Sunday

Switching The Fundamentals

"I wear an oxygen mask as I ride on the wheels of excess,alcohol is pollution I can watch w/out feeling oppressed
Newspapers used to to be good for scraping the shit from your shoes,now they just write it and sell in truckloads as news"
White Noise-Mike Peters

It's been a while since the "red mist" has engulfed me at work but most of yesterday and nearly all of today saw me fighting an uphill battle w/ it,somehow,don't ask me how I've managed to walk through the eye of the storm but I still have tomorrow to deal w/.
I often talk about how running is a metaphor for life but today I applied the fundamentals of running to get me through work and it paid off.

I won't bore you w/ "on the job war stories"we all have them I guess it's how we deal w/ them,as the day began to get away from me very early on I had to remind myself how I deal w/ my training,sure there are days I'd rather not be out there but I always find a way to throw on my running gear and get out and do what I have to do,I doubt very much I'd be where I am in running if I half stepped my training so using that as a yard stick I applied those principles to work today,get on w/ it,suck it up,deal w/ it,defeat it.own it.....end of
By days end Chris and I had done the work of three people by ourselves and dealt w/ the upheaval of having Hill Rom take over the dock to switch out 50 patient beds and no matter what awaits me tomorrow it'll be off of a clean slate as unlike yesterday nothing was left undelivered from today.

In spite of my butt dragging which it has been all week I not only got out and ran when I got home,I also clocked a 59 min 10 miler,early to mid way through the run I could feel myself pushing the pace,probably a reaction to all the crap from yesterday and today on the job,yesterday I notched a sub 5 mile at the end of my repeats,today I notched a sub 60 10 miler,is this an omen for 4 1 mile repeats at sub 5 on Saturday?.....let's get through work tomorrow and my 10 miler first and then see what Saturday brings

No Rain,No Band Practice,No Worries

After two days of planning to run repeats but being thwarted by rain and band practice....yes I said band practice I was hoping to get on the track this evening to run,if tonite had gone tits up for whatever reason I was looking at either repeats tomorrow and Saturday or just Saturday and then being forced to choose between my 2x150m,4x400m,decathletes mile or mile repeats,thankfully it never came to that,despite grey skies the rain stayed away and frankly after an at times infuriating day at work I was looking to blow off some steam via my repeats.

After my 5 lap warm up and stretches it was time to have at it,I had a feeling tonites repeats may suffer from the fact there were more people on the track than usual which would mean weaving in and out,never an ideal thing on repeats but sometimes it can't be helped,in running as is in life,you play the hand you're dealt.

2x150m-21.55-22.28.Having gotten a pair of 21s in my last two repeats obviously I was disappointed to see that 22.28 in there,of the 4 times I've done this repeat I have 6 21s and a 22 and a 23,at least I'm consistent.

4x400m
#1 400m 62.24. Last time out I had 3 61s b4 my 4th 400m at 62.83,the fact I had to weave between lane 1 and 2 probably contributed to opening in 62.
#2 400m 61.06. Amazing what being able to stay in lane 1 and hug the rail will do eh?this was also my fastest 400m split on these repeats,how long b4 I notch a 60?
#3 400m 61.69. Being able to stay in the 61s was a huge plus,where as last week the conditions and having the track more or less to myself were in my favour tonite I was having to deal w/ what was being thrown at me.
#4 400m 62.89. Again a 62 second split as I had to weave in and out of lanes 1 and 2,that said it's still a long way from week 1s 63.91,63.42,65.02,65.22 and week 2s 63.41,64.13,63.41,63.92.

Decathletes Mile
Week 1 5.15.0. week 2 5.08.1. week 3 5.04.2
Tonite splits of 1.15,1.19,1.18,66-4.58.9. ....BOYAH! I said a sub 5 was coming over the last few weeks and tonite I delivered,ironically tonites splits almost match up w/ Saturdays #4 mile splits:1.14,1.19,1.20,67.

I'm not going to be blinded by the sub 5 and say it was great workout,the 150s and 400s were a little choppy but I'd gotten the repeat in that was the important thing first and foremost,the sub 5 mile was very pleasing and upon arrival home I caught the highlights of Spurs spanking Young Boys of Berne 4.0 to reach the group stage of this seasons Champions League....C'mon You Spurs!

If It's Not One Thing,It's Another

So once again it was all going tickety boo until 3.15pm when it began to rain again.....I swear the Weather Gods must sit around all day playing cards etc etc till 3.15pm and then think"eye eye it's 3.15pm,Forde must be getting ready to run.....start the rain fellas.........'' and w/ that the heavens open!!!
Unlike Monday this was a shower and not the heavier downpour that forced me to switch from repeat to road so after some deliberation and a look at Wednesdays forecast which was calling for Thunderstorms I said feck it track it is,unlike yesterday when there seemed no let up in the rain the shower seemed mild and frankly not an issue,when you're taking 5 minute recoveries in between 400s standing in the pouring rain isn't much of a selling point, a soft shower I can live w/,so w/ that it was off to the track at Temple.......................

I arrived at the track to the sound of a marching band.....no need for a fanfare people,I do this twice a week!!!!
NO,this seemed to be a full fledged band practice and while I might've been able to do what I had to do on the track there was always a chance I would be told the track was off limits,or worse still have to dodge Tuba's Trombone's and other large musical instruments if the band practice became Marching Band practice.

Using Temple's track is all new for me,since 06 thro May of this year I've conducted most of my workouts at Franklin Field but since the powers that be there have made that almost impossible for Jo and Josephine public to access the track I've made Temple's track my home,during the summer it hadn't been an issue but w/ classes about to start maybe the rules have changed,I'll need to check the Temple Track Oracle...........my Celtic Brother Sean to see what he knows about band practice,granted in another 6 weeks time after Syracuse working out on the track won't be an issue as I'll begin doing base mileage for several weeks but till then I still need to get on there once during the week and on a Saturday.

I did however get my miles in,a brisk 60 min 10 miler out and back on Cobbs Creek Parkway,we'll have to see what the Weather God's,Marching Bands etc etc have in store for Wednesday b4 I know if it's another 10 miler or my 2x150,4x400,decathletes mile this evening.

Rainy Days And Mondays Not Getting Me Down

In running as is in life you have to be able to be flexible,it's all well and good having a plan and or a schedule but unless you're willing to be flexible w/ it you'll end up being frustrated.
The plan was repeats this afternoon....however by 3.15pm the heavens opened and frankly standing around in between repeats didn't seem like much fun.
I did try to wait out the rain but it looked and felt like it was in for the afternoon and evening,oh well in running as is in life....plan b
Since a repeat session on the track was out I opted to come home and hit Cobbs Creek Parkway for a 10 miler,running in the rain is not an issue for me,in fact it's almost 38 years since my baptism of fire when my running career effectively began as my rather irate father chased me and my cousin Liam home in the pouring rain one night after we'd lost track of time at a b'day party.

I've told that story countless times,it was the unofficial beginning to my running career and a source of amusement between Kevin and I for several years until his passing in 84,were he still alive I think we'd still be laughing about it to this day,at least these days when it's raining and I'm out running I don't have a towel flicking,shoe swinging maniac running behind me telling me if I stop either his shoe or the towel is going in my arse!!!

The rain wasn't too bad,I've often likened running in the rain to standing under the shower,you can only get so wet and there comes a saturation point where you just can't get any wetter,frankly getting out there this evening and taking care of business in the rain was country mile better than blowing off the run and keeps my preferred Monday-Saturday rotation in tact,fingers crossed the rain will have buggered off by tomorrow so I can try my repeats again,but if showers are still in the forecast it's another 10 miler and we'll try the repeats Wednesday.