8 Miles on Forbidden Drive this afternoon. The weather was cool but extremely humid. I am really looking forward to the cool dry days in the fall.

It's nice not to be training and following some damn plan. At the start it was an easy run, in the middle I got the pace into the 7 flat range and in the end, headed up Rex, I took my time. The park is beginning to empty out with the deteriorating weather. There will be a big bump in when the fall foliage hits and then I'll have most of the place to myself, especially on the trails on weekday evenings.

I've thought about running with a head lamp when the days shorten. It would enable me to run in the park at least once in a while in the mornings or evenings during late fall and winter. The idea unnerves me and excites me at the same time. The thought of hitting those trails with a shaky narrow beam of light leading the way sounds cool. I do worry about injury and the chance of running into some idiots that are up to no good. I've kicked it around the last couple of years. Maybe this time I'll pick one up.

I am listening to the baby cry... again. It seems that Zachary has colic so the crying times way out number the calm times. This makes running just a little harder because I hate to leave Heather at home long with such a fussy infant. Instead I am running at work and for the 40 minutes when Heather feeds him. He is always quiet then.

So today that is just what I did. 30 minutes on the trails with Boomer. Overcast skies and a cool breeze, it is officially autumn and it feels like it.

On Friday I joined some guys from work for a tromp through the woods. We start in our corporate complex but within 10 minutes were on an old rail bed and then making our way up a horribly steep hill where the trees have been cleared for power lines. It's a meandering trip back down the hill on some very rustic trails and soon were back at work. 60 minutes.

I headed out for a quick run yesterday evening before dinner. Despite the sore legs from a 45 minute session of "Boot Camp" at work on Wednesday, I actually felt good. 4.3 miles in 31 minutes.

Philadelphia Distance Run

PDR was the first race I ever ran in 1999, so today was like my 10 year anniversary. I can remember feeling intimidated by the whole running scene and very unsure about my fitness. It was a beautiful morning, much like today, and it was a great race. I finished somewhere around 1:38 or maybe 1:42. I missed 2 years in the there somewhere so this is my 8th running.

Anyhow, I was excited to race today. I was tired, not much sleep these days. It is amazing how quickly the definition of a decent night's sleep can change once you have a kid. Six hours of broken sleep was decent. I got to the race early, took my time, warmed up with a few miles and took in the scene. I was happy to spot American marathoner Ryan Hall before the start. He and a few buddies were warming up and he stopped to give the Rocky Statue a slap for good like I guess.

When the gun went off I just ran at what felt like the right pace. First mile 6:33. It took a bit to get going at the start so I was happy with that. In mile 2 I bumped into Luke, a guy I ran several long runs with over the winter, we chatted for a bit and I was surprised to see mile 2 go by in 6:16. Great. I was settling in as we made our way through Center City. I felt decent and the pace felt manageable mile 3 and 4, 6:20 and 6:19. Wow. This was going nicely.

We cruised back to the Parkway, passed the Art Museum and onto MLK mile 5 in 6:31. I really didn't think I was going to keep up that 6:20 pace but I felt good and was happy with the way the race was progressing. I almost felt like I was saving just a bit for the trip back down the river and miles 6,7 and 8 went by in 6:28, 6:27, 6:37.

I was now on Kelly Drive, and had 4 miles remaining. I did not however feel like I had that extra gas left in my tank. I could feel my speed slipping away and people slowly started to sneak by me. Not a horde of people but a few here and there, almost nobody had passed me on MLK.

Mile 9 went by in 6:35. I was trying to do the math on the pace I needed to hold to get under my PR but the answer escaped me. I look now and I had 20 minutes. I had run the first 5K of the race in under 20 minutes but I knew this last 5K was not going to be there. Mile 11 in 6:38 and I am starting to hurt, my turnover feels slow and my face was strained. Mile 12 in 6:53. Ugh. The last mile up the hill towards the Art Museum was all to familiar, pushing hard and slowing down. Mile 12 in 6:57. Finished in 1:25:43.

That time is slower than last year. I really wasn't surprised, the runs leading up to this race warned me that I wasn't in the shape needed. I never really felt like my fitness was increasing greatly during all the interval workouts over the summer. I wanted to give speed work a good shot but it just isn't my thing. I need miles on miles with a few harder workouts thrown in. I suspected that in the spring and this result kind of hammers that fact home.

Hopefully I can get a big block of base training in over winter but for now running will take a back seat to Zachary and Heather.

Last night was my first run since last Wednesday. An 8 miler on Forbidden Drive that left my legs feeling much more tired than an easy run of 8 miles should. The big blocks off from running over the last few weeks have not been great for keeping up my fitness as the half marathon approaches this Sunday.

Unfortunately the reason for missing miles this time around was because of a nasty Staph infection that Zachary picked up last week. I thought it would be just a stop at the pediatrician on Friday morning but she sent us directly to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The hospital admitted him, ran a bunch tests and placed him on IV antibiotics. Thankfully the infection quickly started to retreat and it wasn’t an antibiotic resistant bug. By Sunday morning they were sending us home. Zachary is no worse for wear. He never even spiked a fever, we caught it early enough that with a little help his body was able to fight it off. Definitely a scary couple days.

All this time off does mean I’m going to have to scale back my race plans. I can guarantee that a sub 1:23 half marathon is out of reach. I’ll instead shoot for breaking my PR of 1:24:34. But to tell you the truth I am just not feeling it. There is no sense of increased fitness on my runs over the past several weeks. I am curious to see what happens on race day.

It was back to the track last night on legs that were still tired from Sunday’s workout. All the interval workouts in this training program have taught me you can still have a great track workout on legs that are tired from a long run. That was in my head on my way to the track although I was still feeling doubtful.

The workout was 2 x 1200 (400 recovery), 6x200 (55 recovery), 2x1200 (400 recovery) all at 5K pace or 5:47 pace. What the hell is a 55 meter recovery? How do you accurately measure that on the track? You don’t. I just ran the 200 meter intervals for 40-43 seconds and ran the recovery in 30-40 seconds. 6000 meters at 5K pace with limited recoveries.

The workout when like this:

4:23 (2:01), 4:23 (2:12), 39 (30), 40 (33), 43 (43), 42 (33), 42 (43), 39 (1:57), 4:24 (2:24), 4:25

I would have liked to run the 1200’s in 4:21-22 but a couple seconds isn’t bad. Halfway through the 200’s I was already bargaining my way out of the final two 1200’s. I decided to just keep pushing and whatever happened, happened. The last 1200 felt like I was finishing a 5K. Overall a very tough workout that I am glad is in the books.

I ran 15 miles on Sunday. The plan was to run middle 5 at half marathon pace. I decided to run to the bottom of Forbidden Drive from my house and then the length back up to Northwest at 6:20 pace followed by an easy 2.5 miles home.

I didn’t start running until 10:30 am but the day was relatively cool, especially compared to the last couple long runs, so I didn’t mind. I split the first couple miles on Forbidden Drive and although they felt like 7:50 pace my watch kept reading 7:20. I am not normally 30 seconds off on pacing and it was pleasant surprise and a good sign for the real workout ahead.

After 51 minutes and about 7 miles I was ready to hit the gas. I knew 5 miles at this pace was going to be difficult but if I could average under 6:30 pace I would call it a success. I don’t have my watch with me but the first split was in the 6:35-40 range and I was working. The second mile was no better and knew it was pointless. I struggled through a couple more but things just got worse. In fact, I was having a hard time even keeping up the 7:20 pace that was so easy just a few miles ago.

The 2.5 miles back to my house were tough, especially that climb up Rex. I refused to walk and ran at a comically slow pace. I was dehydrated; the thick pasty saliva in my mouth was a sure sign of that.

So what do I take away from this? Does this mean my sub 1:23 goal is unreachable? I still think I have a chance.(Maybe I am being stubborn about this especially after re reading that horrible workout but I really don’t trust the results) This workout was run on a warm morning, dehydration played a big role, my sleep had been poor for 10 days leading up to the run and my legs really are a little out of practice with the week off. I’ll continue with the training program and see if I can get some positive signals.

For now my race day plan is to run the first 3 miles at sub 1:23 pace . In a half marathon I think you have a good idea if the pace is sustainable by then. If not, I slow down to try and PR. If I feel great or decent or a small chance that this is doable then I keep it up. If I implode, oh well, there will be other races.

I am playing catch up on the week I lost in training. I felt that breaking 83 in the half-marathon was on the edge of my fitness. I had a very solid 6 weeks of training and if I can stay consistent over the last couple weeks I still have a shot. Of course I am not in total control of my running schedule any longer so I'll just have to take what I can get and make the most of it. Luckily we have the support of Heather's mom one more week so I can still get most of my runs in.

To catch up on my runs since my last post on August 25th.

A quick 3 miles in 21 minutes on Sunday Aug 29th. Heather was still in the hospital and I wanted to head straight there once I got up in the morning but Heather's mom said she was going for a walk and that I should get out there for a run. So I did. Beautiful morning and plenty on my mind to keep me busy.

Thursday - 3 miles with Boomer and then just under 4 miles on my own. I felt decent and picked up the pace on the trails. I ran a hard 1/2 mile in 5:55 pace once I got back on Forbidden drive and felt good. 6.8 miles in 53 minutes.

Friday - 6 easy miles on Forbidden Drive. Except for the middle two miles I didn't feel great. Once you get out of that running rhythm, even if only for a week, it takes a few days to wake your legs up and get them used to the miles. 49 minutes.

Saturday - I didn't have a ton of time but squeezed in 3 miles before dinner. I expected to feel tired again but had a nice spring in my step and let my body dictate the pace instead of my head. The summer is waning and the sun was lower in the sky, streaking through the trees and making for a scenic run.

I hope to get out for a long run today. 15+ miles. I am obviously not following my normal sleeping routine and I'm afraid it is really going to knock me out in the later miles. We'll see.

Zachary John Wesner

... or, as his close friends call him Z-dubs. Born Friday August 28th 2009 at 9:58 pm. 6lbs 13.7 oz and crying his head off.

He was a long time coming. Heather and I were hoping to have a completely natural labor. We hired a Doula (labor coach) had read books, watched movies and felt we were totally prepared for things. Of course not everything goes as planned and on Wednesday after a routine visit to the OB Heather was admitted to the hospital because of pregnancy induced hypertension. It wasn't horribly high but enough to cause concern and enough to make the docs want to induce labor. Heather and I were tempted to go home, monitor the blood pressure on our own, and hope for normal labor to begin but we decided it wasn't worth the risk.

At 6pm on Wednesday they started induction with a mild drug that is supposed to get things going. 12 hours later, after a night of little sleep for Heather and maybe a couple more hours of sleep for me, they checked how things were progressing and nothing much had happened. It was time for the next step.

We were both nervous. Every intervention they need to perform usually leads to further interventions, less natural labor and a more likely C-section. The staff was very receptive to our requests and took things very slowly so Heather did not have to deal with the extra painful contractions that can be caused by some medications. So after allowing Heather to eat an Au Bon Pain breakfast, a rarity in in the hospital when you are in labor, they took another small step and this got things going.

By 3 pm Heather was 3 cm dilated (the goal is 10cm) and having regular contractions that were becoming more frequent and more painful. We kept in touch with the doula, we used all of the pain coping techniques we practiced and let things happen. Heather was amazing, from the very start she dealt with the contractions gracefully.

By midnight things were really going and we called in the doula to help us out. She had Heather walking, squatting, lunging, bouncing and swaying to try and get that baby moving around into the right position. All the while it was contraction after contraction anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes apart. We spent a lot of time on the Jefferson Hospital bridge which connects two buildings across Sansom street. Right there on the 7th floor. Watching the city wake up, the day proceed, evening rush hour, sunset and then back to night.

I was beginning to tire and can only imagine what Heather was going through. We kept it up all night. We were now 24+ hours in and it was beginning to seem endless. In the morning they checked for progress again and Heather was at 6cm and the baby was further into position. not as far as we had hoped but getting there.

Friday morning was much the same as the night. I could see the fatigue on Heather's face. I was feeling ragged, emotional and a little like this was hopeless without more intervention. I know she was dealing with way more then me and I can't believe how well she held her composure. Never complaining, nothing more then a whimper on the more painful contractions. I seriously was in awe of my wife. I thought I knew what she was capable of but I didn't.

By noon things were slowing down. Heather had been in active labor for 30 hours and in the hospital on little sleep for 44 hours. The contractions were slowing down because she wasn't in natural labor and the inductions techniques used so far were no longer driving labor. It was time to move to Pitocin. A manufactured form of the normal hormone Oxytocin that your body produces to drive labor. It makes contractions longer, the peak of the pain is higher and sharper.

Within minutes of starting the drug Heather was in much more pain but still held her composure. For a few hours she managed to deal with these harder contractions. By 7 pm she was falling asleep between contractions, and just could not take it anymore. We decided to get an epidural to to remove the pain and hopefully get Heather some time to relax. We were both afraid that it would cause labor to stop and she would be forced to have a C-section. They finally placed the epidural at 9:00 pm. Heather was now comfortable in bed but it didn't last long.

Within 20 minutes she was feeling the urge to push. I couldn't believe it. I was elated. This was really going to happen. All the hard work that Heather put in was going to pay off. Minutes later Heather was actively pushing. I can't describe the excitement I was feeling.

From here things moved very rapidly. First the water bag started to emerge, it had never broken and the baby would be born in the bag. A rare occurrence in modern medicine, most of the nurses there had never seen it. I had never even heard of it. It's called being born in caul. And depending what culture you look at it either means the baby will never drown, will be a vampire, or will have prophetic powers. I'll take the first one.

Within 35 minutes after Heather started pushing Zachary was born. A beautiful baby boy. The birth went perfectly and Heather bounced back on a huge high caused by hormones released during birth. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. To go from such a tired low caused by hours and hours of arduous labor to such a high in less than an hour was spectacular.

Heather and Zachary left the hospital on Sunday afternoon and everybody is doing very well. I am losing a lot of sleep and today went for only my second run in the past week but no matter. They'll be plenty of time to run in the weeks and years to come.