Day 17: The bike

David wants to know: "Does biking with you mean I make it into the marathon blog, perhaps under some clever nom de bloggue that masks my true identity from those not in the know while cloaking me in an aura of mystery?" David, as you now know, yes, and also no.

Early this morning, we set out on a quick bike ride along the Minuteman Bikeway -- 14.6 miles. It felt good to get a few miles in, especially since there are no aftereffects from yesterday's race. It was hard to adjust to NOT biking, since during the bike trip I was known to ride as many as 50 miles in one day; I'd like to get back into cycling something like 20-25 miles at a time, somewhat regularly. It's good cross-training, and I've become pretty good on the bike too (and a dab hand at fixing flats, among other things). This morning, time was of the essence, but I'll try to carve out longer blocks in the coming days.

Day 16: Fine day for a race

It was warm, but not too warm -- humid, but mostly as a refreshing mist. (In fact, a "dense fog advisory" was in effect.) Nice day to go for a little run along the Charles River with more than a thousand of my closest friends.

Hauled the Boneshaker out of the basement to ride to the starting line of the New Charles River Run -- this bike instead of the Roubaix, since I don't need the shoes with the cleats to ride it. Same strategy I employed on April 6 for the five-miler; plus, with the milk crate on the back, I thought I might actually stop at the supermarket on the way home... and indeed I did, although the Whole Foods staff seemed mildly annoyed at me because, even though soaked in sweat and still wearing my bib and finisher's medal, I availed myself of all the cheese samples on offer. Well, what would you have done?

Kevin ran part of the 7.5-mile race with me, and so did Rachael, and I also spotted the redoubtable Mister Roberts. The purpose of today was mostly motivation -- I didn't need to run hard; this was just another long run for me, actually another Longest Run Ever. But I felt good and I was in good spirits, and I couldn't help myself -- I began to speed up after mile 3. My watch says I finished in 1:06:18, but the organizers must have cheaped out because the official results only show my "gun time," 1:06:55. Whatever! I had plenty left in the tank and I didn't reach maximum speed until the finish line.

For the first time during a race, I quaffed some water and Gatorade at the rest stops (spilling most of it on myself, because I didn't want to stop), and I also tried my first "goo," in this case a Hammer-Gel Vanilla. Not too bad, and 90 vital calories. According to my most recent computations (two minutes ago), the marathon will suck up something like 3,500 calories, and since I'm not going to carry 40 packets of goo with me, I guess I'll need to figure something else out. All part of the training.

Day 15: Boat

Either the alarm clock or I failed briefly this morning, but -- probably because of all the running -- I was able to get myself together and out the door in record time. No chance of missing the early fast ferry to Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, to spend a delightful day with Michael Landon, Mary Ann, and Guy. Michael Landon is also training for a marathon, in Louisville in October, and so we got in a run together this afternoon... although I did only three miles, as opposed to his five, since I'm entered in tomorrow morning's 7.5-mile New Charles River Run.

ML was very excited to test out his new shoes. Same as the old shoes, but blue instead of red, and still featuring the highly-touted Nike+ system... which I was not able to see in action, since he had forgotten to charge his iPod.

The evening boat pulled in and JC debarked, so I got to have about two minutes of quality time with him down by the docks, and then I boarded for the evening departure back to Boston. This time we were only about 25 minutes late getting in, delayed a bit due to fog. Last year, one of the two engines failed, so the ride took three hours instead of one and a half. I remember someone quipping on that occasion, "I hope the other engine doesn't fail... then it'll be a four and a half hour ride!"

Tomorrow: Longest. Run. Ever.

Day 14: Recovery

My day began at Camp Dodge, a National Guard base outside Des Moines. The governor's chief of staff told me and a bunch of my federal and state colleagues about the new Rebuild Iowa initiative, which will be the clearinghouse for long-term recovery planning. I've got some work to do, as do my colleagues, and something tells me I may be back in Iowa soon.

Today, though, I flew back to Boston, getting some postcard views of Chicago in the process. Weird to compare the Loop from the air with what's visible taking off from Des Moines -- a lot of the agricultural land around the city is still flooded or just soaked, like wet clothes set out in the sun that haven't dried yet. Really incredible.

Landing in Boston, I noticed that Virgin Atlantic is now using A340s instead of 747s on the Logan run. Hmm!

To distract myself from the many annoyances of traveling, I decided to think of today as my own personal recovery day, and the strategy worked pretty well: everything went smoothly. It's funny: I've never compared myself with a state before (and if I had been asked to, I might not have led off with the Hawkeye State)... but I've been impressed by the Iowans. If I can recover as well as they can -- and it looks like they're on track to do just that -- then I'll be in pretty good form for the marathon.

(P.S. Katie, did you guys ever make it to St. Louis?!)

Day 13: Central Park... and couscous

I am, as loyal readers know, running this race thanks to the Central Park Conservancy, for which I am raising $3,000. (Thanks again to those who have already contributed!) Today's New York Times has a great article about running in Central Park -- it's a good omen, I think. Maybe on one of my next visits to New York, I can try some of these runs.

Anyway, back to Des Moines. One of the good things about a hotel room with a kitchen is that it has a kitchen. This is a great aid to food preparation, especially since eating well while traveling is rarely easy. During this trip I've been snacking on nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, a few pretzels, and the occasional cookie. Monday night, Tuesday night, and tonight, I've been able to actually cook up dinner: couscous, vegetables, and salmon (Mon./Tue.) or turkey (tonight). I had a brilliant insight at the supermarket when I realized that I could put some olive oil from the salad bar in my empty tea cup... just enough to prepare the couscous.

"Couscous" is a funny word.

Three more miles on the 'mill this morning, as thunderstorms of incredible intensity raged outside. Lightning flashed so often, I thought I was at a rock concert. For awhile there was a guy on the machine next to me. When he came inside, he stretched out, very seriously, and then approached the treadmill with a look of intense concentration on his face. He then began to use the machine... at about four miles an hour. Not everyone's training for a marathon, I guess.

Day 12: Lightning!

Enormous thunderstorms here this evening in Des Moines, with more rain predicted. Hopefully it won't result in even more flooding.

I was going to write a little bit about food, and what I've been eating, and the challenges of keeping the stomach happy while training AND traveling, but I spent some time just looking out the hotel window at huge bolts of lightning all around. I'll let one of my FEMA colleagues have the last word: "One point twenty-one jig-awatts!"

Day 11: The treadmill

Hotels all tout their expensive, well-equipped gyms. They must be great for attracting people TO hotels, but once people are actually AT the hotels, they don't seem to come in. That was certainly the case very early this morning. As I merrily got in the day's run (four miles), I had the place pretty much to myself. At one point, a middle-aged man came in, used the elliptical machine for quite a short time, emitted a series of strange breathing (?) noises, and disappeared. I hope he's OK.

I generally prefer to run outside, but in this case, there are two reasons for preferring the treadmill: first, this hotel seems located in a particularly non-scenic, non-running-friendly area; second, the machine's digital display lets me regulate myself a lot better. I'm still new to running and it can be hard to tell how fast I'm going when I'm outside. Very fast, obviously, but you know what I mean. ( ... It occurs to me that maybe you don't.)

Shout-out to my rock-star brother, Jordan, with whom I breakfasted. What a small world, that we should both find ourselves in Des Moines on the same morning, each on our own mission. Faber est suae quisque fortunae.

Day 10: No, I'm from Iowa; I only work in outer space

Here I am, reporting from Des Moines, where I will be working with ESF #14 on long-term flood recovery planning. I've been involved with this kind of thing since Katrina in '05.

No running today, but this hotel has a full kitchen, as so many places on the bike trip did, so I made a trip to a nearby supermarket and cooked up a veritable feast, with leftovers for tomorrow. During my two flights, I tried to keep my legs as limber as possible, so hopefully I'll be ready to cover a few miles first thing in the morning.

As I go through my work e-mails and papers, "The Princess Bride" is on TV. I don't like naming favorites, but this might be close, as films go. "Westley, let's not go into the Fire Swamp -- we'll never survive!" "Nonsense! You're only saying that because no one ever has!"

Day 9: Going the distance (sort of)

Covered 25.3 miles today -- hey, that's nearly a marathon! Sure, 22.1 were on the bike, but still, that ought to count for something.

Rode the Minuteman Bikeway to the end this morning, passing countless bikers, walkers, stroller-pushers, and rollerbladers. At one point in Lexington I realized a guy in a yellow jersey had been drafting off me for a few miles. Well, I didn't cotton to that, so after a street crossing, I kicked it up to 23 mph and I didn't see him again.

At about mile 16, a chipmunk darted BETWEEN the wheels of my bike.

Polished off today's 3-mile run afterward, also on the trail, running to Spy Pond and back. Yesterday, as we passed it together, Kevin asked, "Is that where they used to drown spies?" I could have told him... but then I'd've had to kill him.

Tomorrow morning: off to Des Moines, if my airplane ticket has gone through. Thanks, GovTrip!

Day 8: Longest Run Ever (+ bike!)

Many of my runs have been the Longest Run Ever, including today's: seven miles. Despite what some people think, the human body was probably never made to go that far. Nonetheless, I persevered, and so did Kevin, who slogged through the miles with me. Our reward: a first-day-of-summer pancake party at the Norris Palace, although some in attendance were rather bushed from a solstice-celebrating sunrise bike ride.

I was busy with errands at sunrise today, wouldn't you know, but since the weather was glorious, and the bike is back in my hands, I couldn't let the day go without putting in a few miles pedaling, and so I did that too. May not be able to bike at all next week, as the new plan is for me to head to Des Moines on Monday to be part of the flood-recovery-planning effort now getting started out there. One thing at a time, I guess.

Day 7: The bike is back

Last Saturday, the day after returning from the bike trip, I dropped off my bike for a tune-up and asked for the wheels to be examined. In the front, there'd been a weird noise since I broke a spoke in Fort Wayne; in the back, I'd started to get phantom flat tires.

Today I went to pick up the bike, and when they brought it out, the rear tire was flat. Oops... guess they hadn't checked that out. They replaced the rim strip -- and then noticed that there was something sticking out of the tire. "Hmm," the guy said. "Guess you need a new tire."

Once that was done, I spun the front wheel. Still that weird noise: only present at low speed. The guy shrugged and disassembled the wheel... turns out that the Fort Wayne spoke repair had stuck a "nipple" in the wheel somehow. Whatever. The annoying click I've dealt with since Indiana is now gone. (At staggering expense, of course.)

Now that the bike is ready for action... time for more running.

Day 6: Company

Katie called this morning and asked if I wanted to run after work. Of course I did! We went to Fresh Pond and got in a nice few miles, followed by a long cool-down walk back home. Unfortunately for Katie, she is a super-athlete, much faster than I am, and probably injured herself running slowly enough for me to keep up. Yikes.

I don't have a running buddy or partner, and I'm not part of a group, but I like running with company. Trouble is, most of my running friends are much faster than me! (Carson has run with me many times, without breaking a sweat, and coached me through the five-miler. ... And now that I think of it, I learned that I am, in fact, a little faster than Mike. Sorry, Mike!) To others: let me know if you're ever up for a run! (Kevin, Julie: looking forward to it!)

Clarification: up above, it shows that today I completed run no. 4. This isn't my fourth run ever -- just my fourth since this past Saturday, when I started the blog. I ran 22 times during the bike trip, and from November until April (right up to the bike crash on April 8), I ran 78 times (including two 5Ks and the 5-miler). So "run no. 4" is really run no. 104. I'm green, but I'm not that green.

[Shout-out to "JoshS," first contributor to my Central Park Conservancy fundraising effort: ThankS!]

Day 5: HTML

In 1995, when I arrived at MIT, I created my first web page by typing raw HTML into a Sun workstation. Today, with just a few mouse clicks, I was able to add fundraising information to the blog: check the right side of this page. You can sponsor me on line by clicking "Donate"; funds go directly to the Central Park Conservancy and all contributions, I'm told, are fully tax-deductible. What's not to like?

Day 4: All in the timing

No, I'm not referring to the plays by David Ives... just the general notion that, as location is everything in real estate, so timing is everything in running. Today, for instance, I managed my four miles between thunderstorms. How? Who knows. In the near future I'll probably get inundated.

During the bike trip I ran twice at dusk, but generally I prefer to run during daylight. I don't mind running first thing in the morning; if it's a short run, I can breakfast on returning. I like to take advantage of good weather, or a favorable forecast. We'll see how far this approach takes me. (26.2 miles, I hope.)

Day 3: Blueberries

Supposed to be a swimming day today, but it's the first day of the summer session at the gym and the sign-up line was much too long for my taste. Better to accept a dinner invitation from Erik and Julie, featuring blueberry kuchen. (Erik's done a marathon too!)

First day in the office since Friday, April 25. Although this was the third time I've returned after a long absence (after DC in 2005 and Louisiana in 2005-06), it was the weirdest. Very confusing.

Thunderstorm at the moment, but hopefully it'll clear up for tomorrow's run. For now, "Iron Eagle" is on. Ah, the '80s.

Day 2: Not made of sugar

Raining this morning, but no problem: I put on my old shoes, slapped a plastic shower cap over my earphones to stave off electrocution, and set out for today's 5K. I'm fortunate to live near the Minuteman Bikeway ("America's Revolutionary Rail-Trail"), which is where I do much of my running. It is a great public place, by some accounts the busiest bike/run path in the nation -- but today, in the rain, I passed only one person: a middle-aged runner with an umbrella. Hmm.

Day 1: It begins

As Carson said when Cross-Country Bicycle Trip '08 came to its official conclusion, yesterday: "The adventure is just beginning." Something like that, anyway, and although it sounds a little like a tagline for one of the Star Trek movies, it is, in point of fact and no matter how you slice it, true.

And so, inspired by the amazing experience of the bike trip, I now begin this next Big Thing: running the New York City Marathon, which will be held on my birthday this year. Ridiculous? Incomprehensible? Contemptible? Well, yes, obviously, to those three and many others. So be it. Except for a couple of brief attempts in my earlier years, including two 5K races after college, I never really thought I could run. But last November I began to be serious -- well, as serious as I get. In December and March I ran two more 5Ks; in the latter, though disappointed, I set a new personal best. In April I ran my first five-miler, and a couple of days later decided to dive off my bike, breaking my face, contusing my ribs, and inflicting a snazzy scar upon my eyebrow.

Then, of course, was the bike trip. From April 26 through June 13, I biked over 800 miles... and during the trip, once I'd healed enough from the crash (I could bike sooner than I could run), I started running again. Between running, biking, and a little swimming, I figure that I'm on track to be in the best shape of my life. (Weight is already down nearly 10 pounds just since March, and endurance is way up.) I'll probably never have a better opportunity to do a marathon, and the fact that New York is on my birthday is a strong karmic signal, n'est pas?

I have never run anywhere near that long, so this will most likely be the greatest challenge, so far, in my life. No getting around this one: either I can do it or I can't. I'll have to work hard, avoiding distractions, lack of discipline, and the great scourge for me: shin splints. Carson, Jordan, Rachael, Esther, Katie, Julie, Alisa, Illyce -- you have all helped to inspire me, and I am determined to join your ranks. (When did it suddenly become the case that so many of my friends were marathoners? If you're wondering why you're not on the list, I don't know that you've run a marathon! Or I've forgotten.)

To run the marathon, I've partnered with the Central Park Conservancy, and I will be doing fundraising for them, with a goal of $3,000. The Conservancy is a great organization with a worthy mission: maintaining one of the world's greatest public spaces. It was founded in 1980, at maybe the lowest point in New York City's history, when the park had been all but abandoned; today, it provides nearly all of the park's operating budget, and is responsible for all basic care within the park. You don't have to be a city planner or a New Yorker to appreciate this (although I'm both). Stay tuned for details on where you can send your bearer bonds, precious-metals certificates, and suchlike.

This morning I ran six miles, tied for Longest Run Ever. Here we go.