Wednesday, September 16, 2015

The Lions disappoint and I'm running again

Calling the Lions' loss to the Chargers "a tale of two halves" is a bit disingenuous. That phrase is becoming trite, but it is used to refer to a game where a team dominates one half and then falls off in the other. The Lions started falling off well before the end of the first half, so saying they won the first half, while technically correct, doesn't tell the real story.


The Lions' offense AND defense were clicking up until the midway point in the 2nd quarter. They were leading 21-3, thanks to a nice opening drive, a Glover Quin pick-6, and an Eric Ebron 18-yard catch at the end of a short, 4-play drive. The defense was putting great pressure on Rivers and things looked well in hand. San Diego responded with a WAY too easy 80-yard drive during which the Detroit defense looked absolutely hapless, especially up the middle. 21-10. Detroit went 4 and out. San Diego was poised to score again at the end of the half, only Rivers threw a bad ball in the end zone and Slay came down with it. Despite going into the locker room with a two score lead, I did NOT feel good about where Detroit was in this game.

The second half was more of the same. The Lions continued to flounder and failed to get their feet under them until it was too late. Stafford had been pretty crisp in the first half. After taking a hit, which injured his arm and led to an INT, he seemed to be inconsistent and made poor throws. The offense was basically shut out in the 2nd half, save one TD at the end of the game. The defense was so porous it could've been a pumice stone.

This defense NEEDS DeAndre Levy. I don't know what San Diego figured out that limited Detroit's pass rush, but they need to figure out how not to be so solvable. Rashean Mathis and Ihedigbo had terrible games which didn't help, but Teryl Austin never figured out how to turn the pressure back on, how to cover the middle of the field, and how to stop Keenan Allen. With Levy gone, who are the playmakers on this defense? Ansah, maybe Slay and Quin?

I liked what I saw from Ameer Abdullah, on kick returns, in the passing game, and on the ground. If anything, the Lions didn't go to him enough. They CERTAINLY didn't go to Calvin Johnson enough, who only had 4 targets and 2 catches. OC Joe Lombardi continues to not impress me a whole lot with his play calling. I'm sure his scheme could work really well, but the mix of plays isn't very inventive. He needs to figure out a way to get Calvin the ball. I didn't happen to notice if he continued his "run on first down" tendency from last year, which probably indicates that he improved there, but the Lions had serious problems on 3rd down. The fault of that lies primarily with Lombardi.

It's a bit early to start shoveling dirt on the Lions' 2015 season. Maybe Levy returns soon and everything is ok on D. Maybe the offense starts to gel as Ebron (only one drop, but it was a bad one) and Lombardi develop. Maybe too many guys just had a bad game, all on the same day. But there are some legit causes for concern here. The defense needs to figure out how to stop people. The offense has to put more than 21 points on the board. The NFC North is a tough division, and the Lions are in trouble if they spend most of their time patching holes instead of gelling.

***

I ran the Detroit Marathon in 2013, which was a life-long goal. Well, running any marathon was a goal, as long as I finished. Anyway, the plan was to stay in decent running shape and be able to run another one at some point. Unfortunately, I tore my hamstring in 2014 and REALLY got out of the habit of running 4-5 days a week. I managed to get into enough shape to run a 10k and a 5k after I'd healed, but the damage was done. I wasn't living the runner's life anymore.

I decided to sign up to run in a half marathon as a way to motivate me to get into shape. As weeks ticked by, I was still only running about twice a week and making little headway. Recognizing my peril, I knuckled down in the final month. It was awful. I was forcing myself to run longer distances than I was prepared for, just to get the miles in. When I attempted my 8 mile run two weekends ago, I had to stop and walk twice for a total of about 1 mile. Everything changed last week.

Needing to complete a longer run, I ran for longer distances during the week. I pulled off two 5-milers, including one early Saturday morning at Wheatland, which was super hilly. I wasn't able to get the dreaded 10 mile run in until around 8pm on Sunday, after returning from the music festival and getting my daughter to bed. This is NOT an ideal time to run. It's dark by 8pm now, and Hines Drive isn't exactly "well lit" (or even "at all lit"). Anyway, my goal was to run a sub-10min mile pace, but the main goal was to finish the run without having to walk. You get the idea.

The first 4 miles were fine, nothing spectacular, but I got through them. Then somewhere between mile 4 and mile 5, something clicked. I hit a rhythm that I felt like I could keep up forever. I reached the halfway point at right about 49 minutes, which is a 9:48 mile pace for you math-challenged people (Side note - I had left with a full water bottle strapped to my back and two gel packs in a pocket, but I'd dropped and broken the water bottle after 2.5 miles and I had to hold it in my hand the rest of the way).

There was a bit of a hitch around the 6.5 mile mark. I glanced up and saw a skunk right by the path, not 10 feet away. Normally I'm more observant, but it was around 9pm by then and pretty dark. I could tell the tail was up, so I sprinted past before the thing had a chance to spray me. By the 7 mile mark, I had that feeling that every runner dreads more than anything else - the impending need to go #2. After another half mile, I'd resolved that I couldn't make it home and would need to stop in the public restroom located somewhere in between the 8 & 8.5 mile mark. Feeling more and more anxious, I was relieved to see the lights on. Unfortunately, the doors were locked, and my repeated attempts to shoulder past the deadbolt were unsuccessful. I briefly considered dropping trou and expressing my displeasure next to the facilities, but rejected that notion as being super gross. So, I unclipped the belt that was supposed to hold my now-broken water bottle, relieving the pressure on my lower intestine, and continued onward. The whole non-potty break probably delayed me a couple of minutes.

The desire to get home quickly without soiling myself was extra motivation, but removing the belt relieved a lot of the pressure I was experiencing, so I'd like to think I'd have finished at a similar pace regardless. I finished my 10 miles with a kick at the end, clocking in at 1:34:53, or about a 9:29 mile pace. Had I not been delayed by the unsuccessful bathroom break, I might have managed a 9:15 pace.



The big race is this Sunday, and I feel more prepared than I deserve. A realistic goal would be to finish in 2 hrs, 5 min, but I'd like to shoot for under 2 hrs. I think I can pull it off, if my bodily functions don't betray me.


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