Two brothers, two milestones, two marathons.
My brother Pete and I will be turning over our respective age odometers this fall
and will be commemorating our birthdays with marathons.
This is our training blog. Run hard, stay young.
 
Edward - Got a 04:15 in Berlin and a 04:27 in Munich, decent times but couldn't get under the magic goal (03:59:59). Next year need to do longer runs, more working out and weigh less and I know I can do it. Running marathons is such a rush -- I don't think I could do a 50K race and 30K is not enough to really clobber you, but a 42K is a very challenging. So Pete, not too many more weeks to practice and you are on! Be the man! Good luck on the sub-four!
| Pete: Both your times are better than my first marathon (4:37) and are very respectable. I'm focused on the sub 4 hour goal and hope to usher it in as the first in all of the marathons we do being sub 4 hours. Everything is going to have to come together on race day but I believe I can do it - and you will too! One more week of hard training and 3 weeks of taper. Looking forward to my last long run of 22 miles (to Plumerville and back!) on 11/11. Looking forward to when the planets align just right and we can run another marathon together. |  | | Edward: I'll be glad if at least SOMEBODY in our family can run a marathon in under 4 hours so I hope you do it, your times on your long runs look good. Take care of yourself up to the marathon: don't get a cold, don't stub your toe, and oh, don't let a 5 year-old sit on your shoulders while you are working on the computer -- my back was out for a week last month. I'll see what I can do with aligning the planets but I think your training plan is rock solid. Enjoy the long run to Plumerville and your tapering! |
| | | Pete: We will both run sub-4 marathons, it's just a matter of time. |
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 04:27:00 | Sunday, October 8, 2006
Munich Marathon 04:27:00
Was a WONDERFUL day to run a marathon, not near as many people as in Berlin which made it more of a marathon and less of a mass-city-party-event as it is in Berlin. Picked the 4:15 pace balloon to stay with during the race and stayed with them (there were two) until 32K when they kept going and my legs didn't want to keep up with them anymore. I had a nice, easy run though, never pushed myself, just had my camera along and enjoyed the day. Met a lot of people along the way, beautiful buildings to look at, and it was very cool finishing in the stadium and then afterwards walking around the soccer field which looked like a war zone, bodies lying everywhere and paramedics coming around regularly to each to make sure the person was still breathing. Oddly they had stack of buttermilk cartons that you could drink (buttermilk after a marathon -- gag me) so I opted for a beer which was being served by two very efficient 8-year-old boys (long live Bavaria) and I lay in the sun for about 15 minutes feeling that exquisite exhaustion in my body and taking in my last day of youth (turned 40 on the next day), and it was sweet.
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04:15:56 | Sunday, September 24, 2006
Berlin Marathon 04:15:56
The first 30K was fast and fun, had a nice, clippy pace even up Rheinbabenallee which usually gets me -- had my splits written out on my arms, four minute lead on my time, sun shining with cool breeze, felt strong enough to keep up that pace to the end, and started to actually believe I was going to run a marathon in under four hours.
THEN... 30K hit me. Crossing the Hohenzollerndamm Autobahn bridge felt like someone turned my energy dial from 90% down to 10%: muscles suddenly felt like jello, legs began to buckle under the pounding, shoulders got tight, mind got cloudy, and people started passing me in droves including the guy clipping past with the 4:00:00 pace balloon.
It was a like one of those bad dreams where you can't move fast enough to get somewhere you need to go. I felt my body automatically shift down into survival mode and the goal was now "minimize the damage". The only "encouraging" thing at this point were the other runners around me who were also clearly hurting, stopping to walk, holding their back with both hands, holding their cramped legs, etc. It was as if there was a thin layer of pain everyone was sharing -- a true marathon moment.
After 35K the cheers and banners in the crowd start to remind you that if you've gotten this far, you are probably going to make it, signs are not so much for individual runners anymore ("Lauf, Ralf, Lauf") but encourage anyone who happens to still be running with signs such as "It would be stupid to stop now" and "You guys smell like champions". It's amazing how many people come out to just cheer the general running crowd on. I noticed a lone American on the side shouting out to all the runners, "You guys look GREAT, you guys are AWESOME!" probably a former cross country coach from somewhere.
Right before 40K (mile 25) I looked down at my watch to see it silently flip past 3:59:59 and so spent the last 2 kilometers getting my aching body cross the finish line. It felt GREAT to cross as always, and 4:15 seemed to be a decent time.
Walking on my wobbly legs through the finishers area I started thinking of the superstars who run the race in just over 2 hours. That is so far out of my league I couldn't even imagine it. I have a far deeper appreciation for people I know who have busy schedules and go out and run a 3:30:00 or 3:45:00 marathon, that is a really fast pace for that amount of time and you realize at the end of a marathon how much more effort you would have to expend to get in the finish line a HALF hour earlier. So next year: same race, same goal. I know I will do it someday. I wish Pete the best of luck for his marathon in December (Memphis) and hope he breaks the family sub-four goal. If you do, you deserve it. Keep up your longer runs and the weight training -- that's what I missed most.
The Berlin Marathon wouldn't be what it is without the fans, there is literally never a point in the whole race where you don't have cheering fans on both sides of you -- an awesome positive atmosphere.
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Pete: Awesome run Ed. Your running is an inspiration to me. Run hard, stay young! 
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01:00:00 | Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Home from work via Südstern/underpass/IKEA
Had to stop by the travel agency today and pick up some tickets so took an alternate route. Had my camera along and got some footage for my 2006 training video. Man did I feel great, stopped and started a lot for filming, taking pictures, etc. but every time I started back up it was like being on a bike, you just get going and then coast, no effort. Will probably run on Friday for the last time before the marathon. Had a nice pace today, couldn't really sprint but could keep a strong pace. Getting excited!
Pete: Sounds like the adrenaline is starting to kick in. Hope it kicks you all the way through the marathon. Lauf, Ed, lauf.
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00:55:00 | Thursday, September 7, 2006
Home from work via IKEA
Saw 4 or 5 good runners out clipping along, ran hard up Templhof hill, up to IKEA and the Bessemerstr. sprint, have a lot more power when sprinting compared to this summer, almost like I remember it in 2004, feet reach out, grab the road and pull it back, like your hands do when your swimming, very nice. Started to rain quarter mile before got home, nice little sprinkling at the end, getting darker when I finish, in two weeks I will probably run my last time training run before the marathon.
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00:52:00 | Friday, August 25, 2006
Home from work via IKEA
Wow, had energy today, slowly but surely passed a serious jogger along the Landwehrkanal, sprinted up the stairs and had to lean into the curve before rounding the corner southward, saw a guy with my green half-marathon-tshirt on, ONE MONTH TO GO for the Berlin marathon and they are all crawling out of the woodwork now. Had some major sprints, arms pumping hard, I have now choreographed my speed with my Jason Jollins mp3 as the whole 7-minute Bessemerstr. sprint coincides with the a wonderful break in the beat, like a flying interlude, then the warm down, and when I break into the Priesterweg sprint the I-dropped-the-bomb medley starts pumping in. Music is so motivating in sports. Got down to 74 kilos yesterday for the first time in a year. I've basically stopped eating anything of substance (except carrot juice, yogurt, bananas for lunch and bread/salami/cheese for breakfast and dinner). Need to be 71 in a month, need to start my situps and pushups, need to do a lot of things, main thing: running is fun again!
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00:50:00 | Monday, August 21, 2006
Home from work via IKEA/Tempelhof
Today was first run in a week, was sluggish, didn't stretch and shins got tight after 45 minutes, stopped and stretched and they felt better, got into the groove toward the end, could run a bit harder, wasn't at 100% but good to run, got marathon packet in the mail, one month to go...
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00:52:00 | Friday, August 11, 2006
Home from work via Tempelhof/IKEA
Ran the quickest way home with plans to meet Gisela and Hannah near the kindergarten, had my Jason Jollins beats going (download the MP3 I run with here, click on "listening booth" then search for "Assorted Elements", a 110MB .mp3 file which plays 1:18 minutes, great for most runs with a 128MB MP3 player, or pick something else out, his stuff is good), very nice, found a way to mount my player with the wire going down my shirt and out the back, player in my running belt, so no skipping anymore. Ran really hard, legs still sore from Monday's run, this was the first week that I really sprinted, had a nice sprint down Bessemer str. again. Met Gisi and Hannah right at the kindergarten and walked home with them. Nice, short, fast run today, will be nice to give my legs a two day rest, they need it.
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00:58:00 | Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Home from work via Tempelhof/IKEA
Another run straight home today, no music, legs a bit sore from Monday, felt that my standard pace was actually quite fast like on Monday, sprinted the stretches and felt good, did the three speeds again, a jogger passed my while I was doing a warm down from a sprint, 5 minutes later I sprinted past him again. These runs are starting to be workouts and not just jogs. One reason is that it is much cooler now, I couldn't imagine sprinting in the heat we had two weeks ago, that's what's good about the Berlin Marathon at the end of September, right at the "break of fall", always a coolness in the air but usally not snowing or extremely cold. Can already discern a hint of fall in the air, exciting.
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01:55:00 | Monday, August 7, 2006
Home from work via Görlitzer Park
Ran HARD for almost two hours today, had my MP3 player on running to the beats of Jason Jollins (DJ from New York), a wonderful house beat, at times really got into the groove. This was my training route the summer of 2004 when I got my 04:04:02, very straight -- basically you turn directions twice -- lots of uninterrupted running where you can concentrate on your stride. I was running through Kreuzberg trying to find Görlitzer Park, asked directions from a young guy munching on a Döner who told me to go down to Finkensteinstr. and turn right, I came around the corner running through an outdoor cafe and saw a waiter carrying out a bong (!) and placing it next to a customer relaxing in a chair, as I ran by the waiter was hooking the guy up to the hose, I felt like I was in a Cheech and Chong movie.
After I got in the park it was straight, straight, straight, I kept my breathing up and my stride strong, got a bit tired at the A113 Autobahn (which they finished since last year), but the music kept me going. Sprinted down to the gas station and got something to drink, which is a necessity on a two hour run actually. Then past the BVG bus barn where a number of bus drivers were getting off their shifts. They all looked happy and were waving to each other. I can imaging inside when they get finished they have punching bags in the shape of passengers, perhaps with recordings asking dumb questions, etc. After running past BVG central and downing the "Storm" flavored sports drink (red), I powered on with my music, I felt my body want to sprint like two years ago but it lacks strength. The day after this run my legs hurt which means there was some good training going on. When I got back I weight under 75 kilos (165 lbs.) for the first time in months, nice.
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01:40:00 | Friday, August 4, 2006
Home from work via Tiergarten and Kudamm
Felt good as soon as I started out, cool, Friday night in the air, had my Champs-Elysees French news droning in my ear, my new cassette player really works well, fits right in the pocket on my belt and I run the earphones up the back of my shirt and into my ears. It's just that with all the bouncing, at the beginning of the tape for about 5 minutes it sounds like they are underwater, anyway, it's good language practice and making me fluent, I understand whole chunks of the news now, very nice, jogging is a great time to listen to something that you can halfway pay attention to, language learning is perfect. Today's Berlin park was Tiergarten, the veritable green lung in the center of the city, I ran in at Potsdamer Platz where a year ago I got to hop into a hole in the bushes like Alice in Wonderland but now they have replace that disorderly, mysterious hedge with a nice row of orderly trees, worthy of a capital city.
As soon as I got into the park I felt an abundance of oxygen in the air, a real burst, that's nice. Ran my familiar route from last year but avoided the path over the nice bridge so as to not pass a mean looking dog, but that detour brought me right back out to the Grosser Stern and I ran on past the zoo and to Zoo train station, which actually seems just as busy as usually even though it lost most of its train arrivals and departs to the new Berlin Bahnhof. After getting on Kudamm I saw Olivaerstr. and turn down it on a whim, which took me to new parts of Berlin I had never seen before, true Wilmersdorf Kiez, restaurants and little exhibition halls. Got a Gatorade drink for old time sakes, very refreshing actually, found Blissstr. where I was two days ago but took a different route, got lost and asked the way again. I never really went slow, had the arms pumping, knees pumping pretty much all the way and finished strong today, a fabulous run. I am going to try to wear my OLD shoes for the marathon which are pretty ratty but they are the ones I got the 04:04:02 and they are coming apart, but they are COMFORTABLE, even for the 1:40:00 run today. Well that was a VERY fun running week, time for the weekend.
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01:20:00 | Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Home from work via Volkspark Schöneberg
Continuing the park theme, I set out to run through one of the longest and thinnest parks of Berlin, Volkspark Schöneberg, apparently formed in the ice age by a glacier. The park cuts right through busy city life so it never really offers a respite from the cars and noise because you never really get "into" it but it has a unique shape (deep and flat), some cool bridges (one has a greenhouse under it and the other arches over a busy street).
I got off to a good chop-chop-chop pace today, kept the aerobic breathing up but never really sprinted (had a company party last night so was still recovering from that a bit), although I did run as hard as I could up the hill at Viktoria Park and did a victory lap around the victory statue--a great view of Berln from up there. It had just finished raining, so the air was refreshingly cool and not too many people on the paths so it was great for running. I saw 5 rabbits in 3 different places during the run -- probably all getting out from their wet homes, didn't know there was that much wildlife hiding in the bushes here. If you ever happen to be in Schöneberg looking for something to eat, Akazienstrasse seems to be the restaurant row. I also ran by where John F. Kennedy said, "Ich bin ein Berliner" back in 1963, and, of course, past the "Kennedy Grill" right across the street. Going through the park I saw groups of people playing Petanque, that French game where you roll large silver balls and try to get close to a small red ball. Then ran across the arched bridge over Bundesallee, going over I noticed I was crossing jogging route home from my previous job, nice. After passing two soccer fields (and a "soccer cage" great idea for not losing the ball all the time), the park threw me back out into the city. I ran South through streets I had never seen before, got pretty lost, asked my way twice, came upon a street sign that was carefully painted over to make it look real, it said "Klinsi Platz", one last burst of World Soccer Championship enthusiasm. Finally to my left I saw a big "Wertheim" sign and knew I was close to Schlossstr., turned down that street and run home pretty hard. Nice, cool, mildly adventurous run today.
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01:10:00 | Monday, July 31, 2006
Home from work via Volkspark Hasenheide
Took off at a good pace through a festive Kreuzberg evening, bikes everywhere, people walking, playing guitars, drums, lots of outdoor restaurants, running down the sidewalk is a smorgesborg of food smells -- Italian, Indian, Thai with a Dönerladen every now and then. The plan was to go straight down to Hasenheide park but I veered off and ended up at the church at Südstern and the cemetary so I ran back down Hasenheide for awhile till I found the entrance. I saw signs for the outdoor cinema so that became the first item on the adventure, to find it among all the trees. I think this park has one of the lowest people-per-square-meter ratio of any I have seen.
It's not that it looked empty, there were a lot of people, it's just that everyone seems to have so much space, saw two guys banging on drums thought it was cool but then awhile down the path came around a corner and there were a group of 12 people in a rhythm drum group, it sounded like deep Africa, a really nice beat, across the pathway from them a man was sitting on a fence looking out over an idyllic pond bobbing his head to the beat. Anyway, I found the outdoor cinema, how fun, they play some good movies, Himmel über Berlin, Wie im Himmel, Da Vinci Code, Taxi Driver, and this Saturday its Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible III. After I check out the movie listings and run on, I see these two, white minarets protuding from over the trees, beckoning me to come investigate. They turned out to be from a Mosque the oldest Turkish cemetary in Berlin, constructed around 1863. Jogging down the road I come past some trees and to my left I see an original C-47 plane that was used to save West Berlin during the Soviet Blockade of 1949. It was flown in by Gail Halvorsen, the pilot who use to tip his wings just as he was coming which meant he was throwing candy out the window with little parachutes on it for the kids. I also saw two baseball fields which looked like they hadn't been used for 50 years. Tempelhof airport itself has a ghost-town atmosphere, like it's still in the past bubble. Peaking in one of the inroads to the hangers as I ran by I spotted one of those old army jeeps. Well, so at this point I'm still pretty much keeping a good pace, felt really good today. After the airport, I took off down Manfred-von-Richthofen-Str. (he was the original German Red Baron from World War I, and go twisted around and dumped back onto Dudenstr. so I took a chance and ran down General Pape Strasse (general from war of 1871 against France) and made it to Sudkreuz and down a little pathway around the station without having to go through the underpass like last time. Ran past two McDonalds withn five minutes (there are 1200 McDonalds restaurants in Germany) and then got to the Bessemerstr. straight away, had a very good sprint, first time I got my arms into it. It was cool today that helped as well, did two more sprints and then was suddenly home. Excellent run today.
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01:05:00 | Friday, July 28, 2006
Home from work via Südkreuz underpass
Was a bit cooler today so I enjoyed it by doing a discover run instead of killing myself with sprints like Wednesday. I took off straight down Kreuzbergstr. instead of turning left to Tempelhof, when all of a sudden the sight of a waterfall (a waterfall in Berlin!) caught my eye to the left which reminded me of a little stream climbing up Mt. Herman when I was a kid and saw what looked like a church steeple at the top. This was begging to go investigate. The climb was mountainous and the tower turned out to be a monument of driving Napoleon back to Paris back in 1813-1815.
The Kreuzbergers were all enjoying themselves, some smoking marijuana, others running around on the grass with their pitbulls, and one guy was wheeling around what looked like a five-foot Swiss Alp horn with little spinning wheels blowing in the wind. Whatever! The building right behind the hill, by the way, is the Schuldheiss Brewery, so NOW you know where that stuff comes from. I ran off the hill and spilled out onto Dudenstr. then cut down an unknown street Naumannstr. I never would have thought this street would get me past the train track and the autobahn, but it goes right down to the new Südkreuz train station (where there is an Edeka open on Sunday by the way) and cut under a whole bunch of new bridges straight back over to IKEA which closed the loop. Running through all this traffic and underpasses I recognized Ashok, a former coworker, approaching me (odd just the other day I met Ofer near Friedrichstr., another former coworker -- this is a city of 3 million people and it feels like I'm in a small town in Iowa). Anyway, Ashok reminded me that this summer was the 5K company race again, where anyone born in 1966 or earlier has to run in the "Oldies" category, ouch! The rest of the run was nice and I took it easy. Coming down Halskstr. I saw two blind people walking ALONE together, arms locked, both of them banging their sticks back and forth the width of the sidewalk, one dominating the right side and the other the left. I jumped up on low rock wall to get out of the way as they passed. It was a awesome display of determination and synergy, together they go places! More power to them.
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00:57:00 | Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Home from work via Tempelhof/IKEA
Pretty hot day again, didn't eat hardly anything today (tomato juice for lunch) and drank a lot of watered down juice throughout the day (about 5 large bottles worth). Still had pretty good energy to run though. Need to lose the extra poundage to be able to run swiftly again. Did sprints again today in the straightaways, usually just to the point where I was out of breath and then would do slow, then medium, then sprint again. One stretch near Tempelhof I took off like a linebacker who just recovered a fumble, high-kneeing it down this really wide sidewalk (high knees really helps), I was really trucking when this guy said something to me as I passed, so I slowed down walked back to him, took the earpiece out of my ear and said, "what?" and he repeated, "Isn't that too fast?" I told him, "I'm practicing for the marathon" and he said, "oh!" gave me a thumbs up and went on. Very nice. I got a new cassette walkman (there were only TWO to choose from at Saturn) so I can listen to my Champs-Elysees while jogging, it fits in the pocket of my belt which is nice. I need to wear an extra bungy cord or something to keep the thing from flapping and I'll be a motorized French learning academy -- it's a nice balance.
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00:55:00 | Monday, July 24, 2006
Home from work via IKEA
Hot day, didn't eat much at all tonight (granola, noodles, crackers, lots of watered down grape juice, NEED to get down from 76 to 71 kilos. I ran strong though, still trying to break out of the sluggishness, can't wait to be able to run strong all the way home for an hour, will be a joy. Need to start doing pushups/situps/squats on off-days.
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01:20:00 | Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Home from work
Found new way to marienfeld...damm, nicer, through park. checked out marienhöhe to see kindergarten where karla played today, its a huge complex of woods and plagrounds, and paths up a hill another muellberg?) came out on corner of attilastr. was disoriented, asked guy how to get to priesterweg, run back all the way there (was close to suedende I think), long way around, very hot today. Old shoes were ok. (make site with login, add pictures).
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01:10:00 | Thursday, May 18, 2006
Kudamm long way home
Nice run, listened to French cassette again, finished strong, still out of breahe on Kudamm but getting better, it rained all day but then was sunny when I ran, nice weather, fresh nice smelling air, feel it in my legs, nice to know that running is back in my schedule.
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