On Being Jewish

When I run, I am always thinking about things other than running.  I think about what I have to do that day or any number of things that come to mind.  Lately I have been thinking a lot about my family and my faith.  I am not really sure why.  But it seems to come into my thoughts more often these days.  What seems to be at the forefront is that while I am Jewish, I am in the minority in my immediate family.  Other than my father, my wife and kids are the only Jewish members of our family.

As I reflect back on the path I took spiritually, I realized that I have always had a deep belief in G-d.  Not the meddlesome G-d some believe in who can solve all my problems and tell me what I should do when I reach a crossroads in life.  Instead I believe in a G-d who gave me a certain set of talents and put me on this earth to make the most out of what I have been given.  Therefore I think it is my job is to strive to always be the best I can be for my wife, children, family and friends.  While I know that I often fail at this, I continue to try and improve learning from my failings.

Recently I read an article written by Brook Wilensky-Lanford about her experience growing up in a mixed religious family.  One quote really struck me.  It was:

"When you grow up half-Jewish, you grow up knowing, viscerally, that it is possible to be more than one thing at time, even if those things are seemingly in conflict.  You always have one foot in and one foot out of the tribe." 

Up until I was 13 years old, I attended the United Methodist Church.  I can remember sitting in Sunday school classes (which I enjoyed) trying to reconcile the concept of the Trinity.  It was a concept that never really made sense to me.  When I look back on that time, I wonder if the Jewish half of me was trying to assert itself (albeit subconsciously).  What I learned later in life is that Jews do not believe in a trinity. The Jewish idea of G-d is that G-d is One and Indivisible. G-d cannot be divided up into separate parts, where each part is unequal to each of the other parts, yet somehow they are one and the same.

When my paternal Grandmother died in 1974, I started to question whether or not there was a G-d at all.  I could not comprehend how the G-d I believed in would allow such a beautiful soul to leave us.  My 13 year old mind had not yet come to understand that G-d doesn't interfere in each person's life.  It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I came to the realization that G-d is an impersonal force.  And that G-d does makes moral demands on us.  G-d is the pattern of nature.  And finally, G-d created the world but does not interfere in it.  Once I reconciled these personal truisms, I was able to finally recognize my spiritual path.

Why then did Ms. Wilensky-Lanford's statement stick with me.  It struck me because I found that hardest part of my decision to become a Jew was the fact that I felt I was turning my back on my Mother's side of the family.  I was worried that my conversion was going to make me into something altogether new.  I wondered whether my choice would force me never to discuss any or all of my fond memories of our family's holiday celebrations again.   Most importantly, I wondered if my Mother would be hurt or confused by my choice.  I did not want her to feel like I was abandoning her branch of our family tree by reconnecting the Jewish branch that had been stunted by my Father and his siblings none of who are currently practicing Jews.

I shouldn't have been worried at all.  My Mother was genuinely happy that I had found my spiritual connection.  I  think that we share the common belief that no one really truly knows the answer to the question of what or who G-d is.  We both see that each person may be following a different path but that we will all arrive at the same place.  I am not certain but I think that both of my parents were happy that I had found a spiritual home in Judaism.  I know that they respected my desire to give my children an unambiguous religious identity.  For my Father, my conversion allowed him to reconnect to his Jewish heritage abandoned so long ago.  Most importantly, both my parents and siblings seem to be  proud that I, my wife and children have lived our lives as Jews quite naturally. 

The one thing I wanted to do for my Mother and my in-laws was to allow them to share traditional holidays with my children.  I tried to make sure that while they might not understand everything the children do for the sake of their Judaism, we would never alienate them because of their lack of understanding of our rituals.  Instead, we included them in our Passover Seders, Shabbat dinners and sometimes even synagogue services.  My wife and I wanted to make sure that since our children will always have relatives that are Christian, they needed to grow up knowing and understanding what that means for them allowing them to be totally comfortable in any religious or spiritual environment.

Ms. Wilensky-Lanford is right.  As Jewish converts who raised our children in an interfaith family, my wife and I were able to infuse into our children the desire to actively choose to be Jewish and to make a conscious choice to share their faith with others.  At the same time they would always have "one foot in and one foot out of the tribe."  In a small way, our family is a microcosm of the changing world we Jews live in here in America.  We are blessed to live in a country where there are no longer social barriers that prevent Jews from being with non-Jews.  If we can open the doors and allow others to truly understand who we are and what we

believe, perhaps anti-Semitism and intolerance can be eliminated in this world.  Hopefully, we can be a light unto the nations showing that even in our differences we have so much in common.

Nov. 3 – 6.10 miles (59:32, 9:46 pace)

Nov. 4 – 6.20 miles (57:30, 9:16 pace)

Nov. 6 – 3.20 miles (29:05, 9:05 pace)

Nov. 8 – 8.10 miles (1:14:58, 9:15 pace)

Nov. 9 – 7.20 miles (1:08:28, 9:31 pace)

Nov. 10 – 5.10 miles (48:33, 9:31 pace)

Nov. 11 – 3.60 miles (39:14, 10:51 pace)

Nov. 13 – 6.20 miles (56:27, 9:06 pace)

Nov. 14 – 6.20 miles (52:42, 8:30 pace)

Nov. 15 – 8.20 miles (1:15:40, 9:14 pace)

Nov. 16 – 7.50 miles (1:13:04, 9:44 pace)

Nov. 17 – 6.20 miles (1:01:04, 9:51 pace)

Nov. 18 – 6.10 miles (56:40, 9:17 pace)

Nov. 20 – 7.10 miles (1:07:10, 9:28 pace)

Nov. 21 – 6.20 miles (58:55, 9:30 pace)

Nov. 22 – 6.30 miles (1:05:39, 10:20 pace)

Nov. 23 – 7.50 miles (1:11:56, 9:35 pace)

Total Miles:  107.0 miles

2014 Total Miles:  1,709.5 miles

The Long Run

As I was running the last half mile of my long run this weekend, I wondered when it truly became commonplace for me to go out and knock out an 8 miler with no trepidation and in fact love the challenge.  It is actually very simple.  I gradually increased my long runs as I moved up in my race distances.  

It wasn't until I decided to run my first half marathon that I started to run 8 to 10 milers regularly as I prepared for the race.  I distinctly remember  wondering if I could really run that far.   To take my mind off of my fear, I adopted the mantra, "one foot in front of the other until you are done."  It seemed to work.  Soon I was running more than 10 miles on a regular basis and started to love it.

Now 16 years later, I know that the the long run is the key work out in any distance runner's training regimen.  It is always my longest workout of the week.  I try to do it on the weekend when I have more time.  I am usually better rested on the weekend as well.  Looking back, I can remember during my training in 1998 how exciting it was to be consistently running further than I ever had run up to that point.  It felt great to go out there and set new personal bests in both time and distance.

At that time, I had learned that the long run should always be done at an “easy” pace.  As most runners know this is the pace where you can easily carry on a conversation throughout the run. My brother and I would do our long runs together when I was living in San Diego and we would talk the entire way solving all of the world's problems.  The time seemed to pass quickly making the runs seem almost effortless.  When I had to do a long run on my own, I would always bring my IPod and listen to music to help break up the monotony. 

Even though the long run is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, there are numerous benefits that you reap by logging those miles.  The biggest benefit is that you build your endurance both physically and mentally.  You learn to set your pace and gain stamina for those late miles.  As long as you run slow and steady you can teach your body to go the distance.  In the end, I have found so much satisfaction when I am able to finish the last mile or so feeling strong and like I could keep going forever.  It is at that point that I know I am well prepared for any race I am scheduled to run.

When my running friends ask me how far they should go on their long runs, I always respond that it depends on what you are training for.  When I trained for my first couple of marathons, I followed the advice of marathon training programs that called for at least one run of 22-23 miles. Once I found the Brooks-Hanson Marathon training program I found out that there was a better way.  (See my blog post dated June 14, 2009).  My longest runs would now be no more than 18 miles.  But I would be doing two longs runs on the weekend instead of one.  Regardless of which program you choose, your longest distance during your training for a half or full marathon shouldn't be more than 80% of the distance.  And remember, your last long run should occur no later than 3 weeks prior to race day.

The biggest mistake I made early on as a new distance runner was that I tried to do my long runs at a good pace close to my goal race pace.  This is about the worst thing I could have done.  It wasn't until I studied various training programs that I saw the consistent message that long runs are not meant to be done fast.  Instead I should have been doing tempo runs and interval training to build my speed. Long runs were to be completed at a slow steady pace.  What I learned is that a good long run pace should be 1-minute-per-mile slower than what I planned my race pace to be.  Alternately, if it is your first marathon or half marathon, you should run your long run 1-1 ½ minutes per mile slower than your current 10K race pace.  By running slow and steady, I was able to stay healthy and keep the risk of incurring an injury low.

Obviously I didn't just go out one day and run 10 miles.  Instead, I built up my endurance over time until I was able to comfortably run 8 miles.  Once I was able to do this consistently, I felt like I was able to take on the training necessary to run a half and then later a full marathon.  I followed the 10% rule.  The 10 percent rule states that to stay injury-free in training, never increase your mileage by more than 10 percent in any given week.  Obviously, you can tweak your long runs to fit your schedule and more importantly your body.  But whatever you choose to do, play it safe, listen to your body and increase your long run mileage slowly.  I have always pushed myself but I am fully cognizant of my limits.

Now here I am 16 years later and I have learned to love the long run. I can assure you I didn't always feel that way.  There were mornings that I would get up and look at my training chart to see the distance and dread the run.  Most of the time now I  am eager to do my long runs because I know that they are bringing me closer to my goals.   I remember reading a quote on another blog about why you should love the long run.  It truly expresses my feelings as well.  It said, "On days when you struggle with the long run, just remember how you will feel about yourself when you are done. I have never regretted going on a long run, or pushing myself to ‘keep going’. When I am through, I just revel in the fact that I did something great, and I am getting closer to being able to compete in an actual marathon race."

So my friends all I can say is run long because you want to and finish because you can. 

Oct. 20 – 6.10 miles (57:57, 9:30 pace)

Oct. 21 – 6.10 miles (56:36, 9:17 pace)

Oct. 23 – 6.10 miles (57:57, 9:30 pace)

Oct. 24 – 5.10 miles (47:55, 9:24 pace)

Oct. 25 – 7.10 miles (1:14:23, 9:11 pace)

Oct. 26 – 3.10 miles (29:37, 9:13 pace)

Oct. 27 – 6.10 miles (56:28, 9:15 pace)

Oct. 29 – 6.10 miles (57:45, 9:28 pace)

Oct. 30 – 4.20 miles (39:35, 9:25 pace)

Oct. 31 – 6.10 miles (56:33, 9:16 pace)

Nov. 1 – 8.10 miles (1:16:00, 9:23 pace)

Nov. 2 – 7.10 miles (1:07:43, 9:32 pace)

Total Miles:  71.5 miles

2014 Total Miles:  1,602.5 miles

Those Bad Running Days

Did you ever head out for a run with the intent to go long or complete a speed work session and find that you simply can't do it?  How frustrated did you feel when you realized that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn't muster up the strength to run well?  Pretty frustrated I would say.  I have experienced this many times during my training and even during races that I know I had prepared adequately for to perform at my peak. 

Like me, I am sure that you too have had a run where you just didn't feel like yourself.  When this happens to me, I almost always feel like I am just plodding along and going through the motions.  I tend to look at my watch more often counting down the seconds until the run is over.  It is tough when you are out there on the road trying to just get through a run.  For me it is truly disappointing when I have a run like that.  It made me wonder why does this happen? 

It could be for any number of reasons.  Is it from overtraining? Did I eat and hydrate properly during the week?  Was I getting enough sleep?  Or am I simply bored with my routes or training routine? My first thought is always that I have been overtraining.  I  stick to my routine religiously which may be hurting my training in the long run.  In the past, I always felt that if I didn't get in my run I was failing in some way.   What I now know is that without adequate rest and recovery, my training routine will backfire and actually decrease my performances potentially leading to injury.

Some common symptoms of overtraining are washed-out feelings, fatigue, drained or lack of energy.  You may also feel mild leg soreness, general aches and pains in your muscles and joints.  You may suffer from insomnia, headaches or become moody and irritable.  Or worst of all you start to lose your enthusiasm for the sport.  And, of course, you will see increased incidence of injuries both minor and major.  As I write these symptoms, I can see that I have suffered from several of these over my months of training.  It must mean I have been overtraining and need to rest.  The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts and I need to rest properly to maintain my level of fitness.

As I think about my diet over the past few weeks, I have to admit that it has not been as healthful as it should be.  Some of it is caused by the fact that I travel for my job.  It is difficult to stay on a strict diet when you are on the road.  I am not always in control of the choice of where to eat.  That, of course, is a bit of an excuse as you can always find items on any menu that are better for you.  When I am able to make the right choices, I normally will have a better training run the next day than when I make poor choices.

What I have learned is that if I properly fuel each day my runs will go as planned.  It should be obvious to any runner that foods with a lot of fat like fried foods, cheese, hamburgers, or bacon are not a good choice.  The reason is that they digest slowly and will feel like they're just sitting in your stomach.  In addition, I have found that high fiber foods will cause me gastrointestinal distress which is undesirable. Instead of these foods, I try to eat more refined carbs like regular pasta, white rice, and plain bagels.  I also focus on eating more low-fiber fruits and veggies.  I find that these are much easier on my stomach. 

I know that lack of sleep has a definite effect on my running performance.  Everyone has different sleep requirements and stress can play a part in how much sleep a person needs. What I know is that as I  increase my training load, I need more sleep.  Without proper sleep, my body cannot recover sufficiently.  When training for a marathon, I require more sleep than when I am just running to maintain my fitness level.   When I am rested, I feel stronger and have no problems finishing my training runs.

What I try to do each morning when I wake up to head out for my training runs, is to review in my head what time I went to bed and calculate how long I slept.  In addition, I try to remember if my sleep was broken, how quickly I fell asleep, and finally how refreshed I feel.  This usually gives me an idea of how hard or easy my training run will be on that day.  I know that good quality sleep will support my running during my normal training regimen.  I also know that a sleepless night before race doesn't mean that I lower my chances of a good race or a PR.  Instead, I do my best to get several good nights of sleep in the days leading up to the race because I know that I will struggle to sleep well the night before the race.

Finally, I have found that when I follow the same routes all the time I become bored and slack off.  I don't push myself as hard as I should.  I have also read that running the same route all the time can actually cause imbalances in your body.  These imbalances can lead to injuries and take you off the road.  The imbalance is cause by the fact that you are training your body to react to that route's particular uneven surface.  So to keep in interesting, I try to switch up my running routes daily both route and distance.

The easiest way I have found that changes my routine is to simply run one of my favorite routes in the opposite direction. However, I have found that it is actually better to have a whole bunch of different routes to choose from in my area.  I run on roads, sidewalks, trails and bike paths.  This allows me to train my body to deal with any type of conditions.  Some days I will run a steep hilly route or a mix of trail and road on the same run.  I have found that by incorporating new routes into my training regimen that I am better prepared both physically and mentally for race day.

What we runners need to understand is that there will be days when things don't go as planned.  It could be a training run that just blows up and you walk more than you run.  Or it could be a bad race day.  When I first started running and racing, I was loving it because with each run and race I was building my skills and confidence as a runner.  It was so exciting to set PRs on a regular basis.  Then there were those times when I had a bad training run or race.  It could have been for any number of reasons like less than ideal weather conditions (Boston Marathon 2012) or I wasn't feeling great or an injury occurred (Boston 2014) or  to be honest with myself I simply didn't do the proper training all of which resulted in disappointing finishes.  

How should you react to a poor performance?  The good news is that it is just a moment in time.  Having a bad training run or race has helped me better appreciate those really big PR days (Boston 2009 and The Phoenix Half Marathon 2014).  I was so pumped up at the finish line of those two races.  During those races  I was feeling invincible and loved every minute of the race.  So my advice is to chalk up that bad day to experience.  Get out there the next day and run again knowing that not every day will be a great run or race.   And whatever you do, don't let one bad run undermine all of your hard work in training.  Just stick to it because I know that consistency in the end will yield positive results.

Sept. 29 – 6.40 miles (1:01:26, 9:36 pace)

Sept. 30 – 6.10 miles (57:37, 9:27 pace)

Oct. 1 – 5.10 miles (48:45, 9:31 pace)

Oct. 5 – 7.10 miles (1:06:51, 9:25 pace)

Oct. 6 – 5.20 miles (49:01, 9:26 pace)

Oct. 7 – 6.20 miles (57:11, 9:13 pace)

Oct. 9 – 6.20 miles (58:50, 9:29 pace)

Oct. 10 – 6.10 miles (58:58, 9:40 pace)

Oct. 11 – 7.00 miles (1:07:03, 9:35 pace)

Oct. 12 – 6.10 miles (58:29, 9:35 pace)

Oct. 13 – 6.10 miles (58:34, 9:36 pace)

Oct. 14 – 6.20 miles (57:28, 9:16 pace)

Oct. 16 – 3.20 miles (27:35, 8:37 pace)

Oct. 17 – 6.10 miles (58:40, 9:37 pace)

Oct. 18 – 10.10 miles (1:33:35, 9:16 pace)

Oct. 19 – 6.10 miles (58:30, 9:35 pace)

Total Miles:  99.3 miles

2014 Total Miles:  1,631.2 miles

Getting Better with Age

When I started running back in 1986, I did it just to stay in shape and to be healthy.  After I had been running for a few years, I signed up for my first race a 5K and loved it.  As time went on, I found that the 5K just didn't seem challenging enough for me.  So I started running 10Ks.  It wasn't until I moved back to San Diego in 1995 that I started thinking about running a half marathon.  With some brotherly encouragement (o.k. it was a challenge), I ran my first half marathon.  After that I became hooked on running long distances. Eventually I wanted to run a marathon.  The problem was that I was fast approaching my 40th birthday.

Finally in 2000, I ran my first marathon.  I had completed it a little under nine months before turning 40.  I can assure you that I had no intention of running a 2nd marathon let alone 8 more.  What I didn't realize at the time is that I had coincidentally set my goal to run a marathon before I turned 40 with my moving into the Masters Division of runners. The Master Division is defined as being for "runners who are over a certain age. Usually the age is 40, but it can vary from place to place. The Masters Track and Field Committee of USA Track and Field (USTAF) requires that masters athletes be at least 40 years old on the first day of the meet."   Since turning 40, I have run 7 marathons (including my sub-4 hour marathon) and set 2 half marathon PRs as a Masters Division Runner.

Why am I suddenly thinking about this?  Simple...research is telling us that over 50% of our age related decline in fitness is not due to aging.  Rather it is due to the lack of continued activity as you age.  In fact, on September 20th, Deena Kastor (41) set the World Record in the Women’s Masters division for the half-marathon with a finishing time of 1:09:39.  While I am not the elite athlete that Kastor is, I was able to set my marathon and half marathon PR at 48 and 52 years old respectively. The science at least in my case has proven out.  If I can continue to run and improve as I age, you can also continue to perform well too.

Now I don't want to paint a rosy picture that you can go out there and just crush it no matter how old you are.  The truth is that after 35 your performance will decline by about 1% per year up until you turn 50.  After 50, the decline rate increases to 2% per year until age 75.  After that you will experience between 6 and 8% per year until you shuffle off this mortal coil.  If I had paid a little more attention to this slight decline in performance, perhaps I would not have suffered my hamstring injury in Boston this year.  I should have gone out slower and then pushed it once I had passed the 1/2 way point.

Coupled with loss in performance, your muscles will become stiffer.  I have noticed that I am simply not as flexible as I was when I was in my 30s & 40s.  I still stretch regularly after my runs.  But according to the studies I have read, my flexibility will continue to decrease by about 6% every 10 years.  Regardless of the inevitable decline, it is a fact that regular exercise including running improves our bodies no matter how old we are and helps us remain more limber than those who do not exercise.  Most importantly, it is the one thing we can do to help prevent disease and sickness as we age.  I guess what I am saying is that regular exercise is what is keeping me young.

As I look back on my training logs,  I have found that since 2008 I am employing an optimal training regimen according to experts on running and aging.  My regimen encompasses easy runs, tempo runs and speed sessions.  People my age should do most of our weekly mileage at an easy and comfortable pace.  Any run no matter how easy it may seem is helping to strengthen muscles, improve our heart and lungs and increase the number of red blood cells in our system.  I typically run 3 times per week in the easy zone.

My tempo runs are runs where I am trying to hit my target race pace for a sustained period of time.  I do one tempo run per week.  Tempo training helps me run comfortably faster.  By running at an even speed I have trained my body to feel the rhythm and pace I will need to reach my racing goal.  Until I started to do tempo runs, I had a hard time with race pacing as evidenced by my Marine Corps Marathon performance.  I simply went out too hard and blew up about 15 miles into the race barely finishing under 5 hours.  Learning what the pace feels like gives me the confidence that I can comfortably run the race and reach my target finishing time.

I also do one speed session per week.  This is always my toughest run because I am usually running in my anaerobic zone.  By doing a speed session each week, I have been able to improve my stride, speed, and stamina.  I am convinced that this once a week workout is why I have been able to run faster with less effort during my races.  My PRs were obtainable because I had learned to tolerate both the physical and mental discomforts of a fast pace during my training runs.  The other benefit of these training runs is that it helps me burn a lot of calories allowing me to keep my "youthful" figure.

I plan to keep running and exercising.  I know that it is the one thing that I can do to live longer and feel younger than my chronological age.  I believe that training for marathons and half marathons is good for me.  It places stress on my heart, lungs and muscles which force my body to adapt and improve.  I can't say that it is as easy to complete these workouts as it was when I was in my 20s and 30s.  Plus I know my body will age no matter how hard I work at staying in shape.  But I know that if I stick with it I can delay the inevitable decline.  Running is my fountain of youth.

Aug. 18 – 6.10 miles (58:04, 9:31 pace)
Aug. 19 – 6.20 miles (56:52, 9:10 pace)
Aug. 21 – 6.10 miles (56:30, 9:16 pace)
Aug. 22 – 6.20 miles (57:51, 9:31 pace)
Aug. 23 – 8.20 miles (1:16:57, 9:23 pace)
Aug. 24 – 7.20 miles (1:08:22, 9:30 pace)
Aug. 25 – 5.20 miles (55:00, 10:35 pace)
Aug. 26 – 5.70 miles (55:38, 9:46 pace)
Aug. 28 – 6.10 miles (58:59, 9:40 pace)
Aug. 29 – 6.20 miles (57:49, 9:23 pace)
Aug. 30 – 8.20 miles (1:16:47, 9:23 pace)
Aug. 31 – 7.10 miles (1:07:40, 9:32 pace)
Sept. 1 – 6.20 miles (57:52, 9:23 pace)
Sept. 2 – 6.20 miles (56:08, 9:03 pace)
Sept. 4 – 7.20 miles (1:07:39, 9:24 pace)
Sept. 5 – 6.20 miles (58:02, 9:23 pace)
Sept. 6 – 8.20 miles (1:16:57, 9:23 pace)
Sept. 7 – 8.20 miles (1:17:41, 9:31 pace)
Sept. 8 – 6.20 miles (1:00:00, 9:41 pace)
Sept. 9 – 3.20 miles (30:00, 9:23 pace)
Sept. 11 – 3.20 miles (28:13, 8:49 pace)
Sept. 12 – 6.20 miles (56:11, 9:05 pace)
Sept. 13 – 4.20 miles (37:09, 8:49 pace)
Sept. 14 – 3.20 miles (32:40, 10:10 pace) - Theta 5K
Sept. 16 – 6.10 miles (57:00, 9:21 pace)
Sept. 18 – 6.20 miles (58:33, 9:27 pace)
Sept. 19 – 6.20 miles (57:52, 9:23 pace)
Sept. 20 – 9.20 miles (1:29:09, 9:41 pace)
Sept. 21 – 7.20 miles (1:09:30, 9:39 pace)
Sept. 22 – 5.10 miles (51:30, 10:06 pace)
Sept. 23 – 4.20 miles (44:36, 10:37 pace)
Sept. 25 – 7.20 miles (1:12:18, 10:03 pace)
Sept. 26 – 6.20 miles (1:00:10, 9:41 pace)
Sept. 27 – 10.10 miles (1:36:39, 9:31 pace)
Sept. 28 – 7.10 miles (1:08:01, 9:35 pace)

Total Miles:  221.7 miles
2014 Total Miles:  1,531.9 miles