Making it through with Hydration and GU

On September 18, 2010 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 8 miles at 9:49 (variable terrain)

I wanted to put in some mileage this morning but I couldn’t face another long run around the local roads. I’ll probably be back on the street tomorrow but this morning I needed a break. I set out for Bethpage early under cloudy skies that felt like they could give way to rain. I decided that was fine because much of the bike path has decent tree cover. By the time I arrived, the skies had cleared but not to the point where the sun came out. I was happy for that. Running with sun is fine in winter but this time of year I prefer cool and dry with gray skies above.

There were numerous walkers on the bike path at the start of my run. I made my way up the short steep hill that gives way to a long downhill section that almost catapults you through mile one. But it’s a little like having desert before your meal. Easy as they are to manage at the start, those hills are a bear to address at the end. Soon enough, I was into the wooded part of the trail, trying to gauge my readiness to complete an eight mile circuit. I brought along my Amphipod water bottle to see how things would go with some in-run hydration.

I’d also brought along a GU energy gel (Mandarin Orange flavor) that I plan to have for next week’s race. My last experience with a gel pack (Honey Stinger chocolate flavor) did not go well but I still like the idea of having restoring carbs during the second half a longer run. I still don’t love the Amphipod bottle because it’s very cold to hold at the beginning (filled with ice) and it sloshes as the water supply depletes. Still, having water made a difference and it made my gel experience much better than last time. I ate the gel at the 4 mile mark and it helped me enough to maintain my first half pace over the last four miles. I took a few side trails that run parallel to the paved path. My turnaround point at four miles went around a small pond that was also ringed by a dirt trail.

There were numerous runners along the way wearing team shirts and on my return leg I noticed mile markers along the bike path. It wasn’t until I was near the Bethpage Parkway circle that I realized the Ocean to Sound Relay routed through this course. I really wanted to participate in that race but I couldn’t get a team together. That’s probably for the best because I’d prefer to focus on the Great Cow Harbor 10K next Saturday. About a mile from my end point I was surprised and happy to see Dave coming from the other direction, one mile into his run of the day.

Later this afternoon my daughter and I did a run around the middle school field. She really ran well and maintained a decent pace throughout our run. I think her training is making a difference. I’m hoping mine is too.

Distant thoughts

On September 7, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I’m back to the office today after being away for almost four days. It felt like a mini vacation as we said goodbye to summer. We put away the pool furniture and the kids did their final preparations for returning to classes today. Over the Labor Day weekend I covered 19 miles, the longest distance I’ve run within 48 hours. When you begin to accumulate distance you start to notice the amount of time it requires. Covering 19 miles took me three hours, plus prep and recovery time. I now wonder how people who train for marathons manage to fit in all the long runs necessary for training. Despite the time it took cover my distance I was pleased by the way I recovered from each subsequent run. No next day aches and pain even though I was running two or three times the length of a normal morning workout.

Running five times a week, averaging 4 miles per run, has been a good formula for building an aerobic base and for keeping me in decent shape. I know now that these shorter runs have prevented me from suffering the injuries that often befall higher mileage runners. I may have stepped into dangerous territory yesterday when I went for almost an hour wearing my minimalist Kinvaras to cap off my weekend of running. A twinge of heel pain revealed how unready I was to cover so much ground, especially when wearing shoes that provided so little impact protection. It was in that moment that I fully appreciated the statistic that 66% of runners suffered a related injury in 2009. I had thought I was somehow immune to common injuries and that my running style or my shoes would prevent them. My heel pain is almost gone today but it’s not forgotten. I’m still going to focus on distance as I train for my next race but I’ll be far more respectful of the problems that can come from higher mileage running.

Need some time for my heel to heal

On September 6, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (street): 5.52 miles at 9:38

Long weekends are always welcome, especially when the weather is as nice as it’s been over the last three days. Today is Labor Day and, among other things, it signifies the spiritual end of summer and the emergence of fall. My kids return to school on Tuesday and they’re ready for anything. I’m back to work tomorrow and looking forward to taking a rest day from running. Between Saturday morning and this morning I’ve covered over 19 miles and I fear I may have pushed a little too hard.

The running plan for the weekend was distance and I think I succeeded with that goal. However, I may have injured the heel of my left foot this morning and I’m hoping that a day’s rest (or even two if necessary) will be enough time to restore things to normal. My morning run started well with an easy loop along the service road that borders my neighborhood to the east before heading west and then south until I re-entered along the eastbound service road. I had no particular distance in mind but two miles went by very quickly so I thought I’d keep going for a while. I reached four miles still feeling fresh despite the 13+ miles I’d put in the previous day. Almost as soon as I checked my distance I felt a pain in the heel of my left foot that I hoped would pass quickly. I knew right away that this was more than a temporary jolt due to a misaligned landing and I thought about walking the rest of the way home, a distance of about 1.5 miles.

The pain remained but it got no worse so I maintained my route feeling surprisingly strong. With about half a mile left to go I experienced an interesting dichotomy — my legs felt tied down with sandbags but my overall energy level was still very high. I forced my speed and picked up my cadence enough to attain my first negative split since mile 1. At the end I still felt fine and if not for concern for my heel I knew I could have gone on for a while. I iced my foot when I got in the house and wore my Brooks with a pair of Smartwool socks for the rest of the day’s activities (today’s run was in the Kinvaras). My heel is feeling much better as a result but I’m going to watch it carefully and continue with ice and rest for the next day, at least. Overall I’m very pleased with my Labor Day weekend running and I think I’ve turned a corner on my stamina issue. This bodes well for the Great Cow Harbor 10K but I still need to do some speed work if I hope to reach my timing goal.

10K morning at Stillwell Woods

On September 5, 2010 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

Today’s run (Stillwell Woods): 6.2 miles at 9:35

As soon as I got up I started debating my strategy for today’s run — go out long again or keep it short and treat it like a recovery run from yesterday’s 7+ mile workout? I decided that length would still work if I ran on a softer surface like the Stillwell trails and maintained a moderate pace. Still, I didn’t intend to run 6 miles, 4 to 5 was more my target, but conditions were perfect and I wasn’t under any time pressure today. I wore my old ASICS 1130’s that I’ve used mostly on the elliptical over the last year because I intended to keep away from the technical trails. The 1130’s did fine over the root-y and rutty sections and it made me realize how well road shoes work on most trails (as long as you don’t mind getting them dirty). Even during some close encounters with fast moving mountain bikers the shoes allowed me to agilely shift to the right without breaking stride.

I reached three miles faster than I expected and felt strong despite the longer distance that I covered on Saturday. Perhaps the spate of 6+ mile runs I’ve compiled over the last few weeks are contributing to my conditioning. It’s all a matter of what you’re used to. The Running Geek, who wrote a great review for Runner’s Tech Review, considers 13 miles a short run. I still haven’t broken ten and when I do, I know I’ll feel it for days. I was rolling along through the woods, not looking at my Garmin, but noting the chirp it provides at every mile. For some reason I thought I was at 5 miles and working on 6 (and deciding whether to go for 7) when I glanced at my watch and it said 4.51 miles. Whoops, delusions of grandeur. No matter, I still felt like I could go for a while longer and I continued on until I reached six miles and added another .2 as I ran out the trail, back to my car.

A perfect trail 10K on a cool and comfortable Sunday morning. I watched a men’s soccer game while I re-hydrated and then headed home to shower. Next weekend BJS, Dave and I are going to do a practice run of the Great Cow Harbor course and this distance training should help me keep up with them. They’ve both run Cow Harbor at speeds faster than I expect to run but perhaps my recent conditioning will make me a little more competitive on race day.

Earl-y day

On September 3, 2010 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

The weather is unsettled and so are my workout plans today. I decided last night to forgo a Friday morning run even if the skies were clear. For my upcoming race, I’m clearly better off doing more longer distance runs even if my run frequency drops to 4x per week (plus one day of cross training). I’ll let the storm decide what I’ll do today. I’m forgoing my usual Friday Central Park circuit but if conditions are favorable this afternoon I may go out for a long run nearer to home. If we are seeing driving rain and 30+ MPH winds I’ll accept this as a rest day and use that recovery benefit tomorrow morning when I plan to go out for an hour or more.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about ways to facilitate longer runs. Routes that put me on a straight path for long periods seem to work better than those that force me to change course every quarter mile or so. You’d think it would be the opposite because change can help fight off boredom but those long straightaways provide an opportunity to “float” and focus on my surroundings. It would be great to live somewhere like Colorado, California or Oregon that enabled long runs that didn’t intersect with traffic. The Bethpage bike path is really the only paved route around here that provides me the opportunity to just run straight ahead. for long distances. Belmont Lake State Park (home of the Dirty Sock 10K) also provides a fairly straight path and it has the extra appeal of being a dirt trail. I’m going to think about my options for longer distance runs over this weekend. Maybe I’ll come up with something new to try.

The incremental distance conundrum

On August 30, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

I covered more than 20 miles last week, putting me about three miles ahead of my normal weekly total. The long run on Saturday accounted for almost a third of my week’s distance and it really underscored the fact that while I run often, I usually don’t run that far. I’ve concluded that the progress I’ve made on speed has not helped to increase my stamina. I really need to improve my endurance if I want to run well at my next race. Looking at my history on Garmin Connect I see that my average run length is about 3.5 miles but my median distance is slightly less than three. This is no surprise because many of my runs happen in the early morning hours when I hit the streets at 4:00 AM and have no more than 25 minutes to get in a run. Best case, were I to push my speed to 8:30 (a reasonably fast pace at 4AM) I would only cover 2.94 miles within that time. I do want to increase mileage and I think it will take some combination of the following:

– Earlier rising to get out sooner, providing more time to run.
– Sleeping in my running clothes to reduce amount of prep time before I run.
– Running faster.
– Giving up some post-run recovery time in favor of more run time.
– Running on my rest day (Monday).
– Running on my cross-training day (Thursday).
– Doing no less than 5 miles on my weekend runs.
– Focusing on adding a mile every week from my prior week’s total.

I’m sure doing these things will help increase my weekly distance total but not every option is practical. In reality, it’s not adding the incremental fractions of a mile that will make a difference, it’s increasing the frequency and distance of my longer runs. My friend FS said that a focus on time running, rather than specific distance or speed, may be the key. That’s good advice. I’m hoping to get three 50+ minute runs in this week. It’s a start.

Two park runs: Central and Bethpage

On August 28, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Yesterday’s run (Central Park): 3.6 miles at 9:07
Today’s run (Bethpage State Park): 7.9 miles at 10:00 (approximately)

It had been over two weeks since I last ran in Central Park and I was looking forward to returning there on Friday. The temperatures in the morning were cool (60’s) but as the noonday sun moved overhead the heat came out with strength. I started my run at the 7th Ave crossing on Central Park South and followed the lower loop, moving along well despite the heat and the hills. Along the way the trees provided occasional shelter from the sun and, as usual, the park provided a broad array of stimuli: sights, smells (good and bad) and sounds. Touch too, if you count the feel of the hilly roads under my feet. I was so distracted by the experience that I continued to follow the lower loop until I reached the western side where I redirected north along the upper loop. I continued around the great lawn and followed that north and then east where I switched to the upper loop going south. That series of maneuvers added almost half a mile to my usual route so I was pleased at the end with the extra distance.

This morning I met my friend Dave at Bethpage State Park with a plan to run seven miles on the bike path at a leisurely pace somewhere between 10:15-10:30. Dave’s Garmin GPS watch and my Garmin FR60 with foot pod differed in terms of measurement. Mine showed us covering about .4 of a mile longer than his. I have a native distrust for GPS measurement of this type after measuring runs using AllSport, MotionX and other GPS apps on my iPhone. When the data from these runs is compared to the actual measurement (via Google Earth or Gmaps) the GPS usually under represents by a little (or often) by a lot. I can see on the MotionX maps why this is the case, the GPS works in straight line vectors that often cut corners that can add up to less distance. My Garmin has actually been under-counting when paired with my Brooks so we may have actually reached 8 miles today and broken 10:00. I wouldn’t be surprised because even though we weren’t burning up the road we were moving along well.

Unlike most of my runs at Bethpage, today the runners outnumbered the bikers, although there were a enough bikers to keep us alert when they came up quickly from behind. Dave ran on the inside lane and kindly took the brunt of the bike traffic. We are both running the Great Cow Harbor 10K next month and Dave provided some insight from his experience with that race. Between Dave and Brian I feel very fortunate to have so much prior knowledge of what promises to be a tough course. I’ll see for myself in couple of weeks when I do a practice run there with Brian. At the end of today’s run I felt very good and took to heart Dave’s advice that the best way to increase my stamina is to put in more distance. Distance first, speed second. I hear that. Tomorrow I’ll do less distance when I run with KWL. I’ve covered a lot of miles over the last few days and I need to be kind to my legs. I hope I have enough energy left for Sunday’s run as keeping up with KWL can be a challenge. I’m hoping his 10K/100 mile bike ride last weekend will even us up in terms of energy levels.

Lesson learned: start focusing on stamina and distance

On August 23, 2010 By Emerging Runner1 Comment

One thing that became clear to me during yesterday’s race was my need to put more focus on distance. The performance gains I had made in prior weeks were seductive and they caused me to think too much about only one dimension of my performance. Four miles run in the mid 8’s was a welcome improvement over the mid-9 minute paces I had been averaging over the summer. With everything I’d been reading about the importance of speed work and tempo runs it seemed logical to work on improving pace, especially when measurable gains appeared. As I faced the last couple of miles on the trail yesterday morning I began to regret the lack of longer training runs over the last month. Sure, I could run a decent pace for three or four miles but what happens to my mechanics when that distance is doubled?

After actively returning to running two years ago I’ve steadily increased my speed and distances to the point where I run mostly in the low 9’s and do weekend distances up to about 8 miles. Due to time constraints I’ve rarely been able to run more than 20 miles per week, with most of my longer runs happening on Saturdays and Sundays. Having a whole hour to run is a luxury and using yesterday’s performance as a yardstick that only gets me about six miles. So finding enough time for real distance running is its own challenge. I’ve really enjoyed the long slow distance (LSD) runs where length, not speed, were the goal. That may be one reason why I prefer trail running; the course and the terrain are so variable that pace becomes less relevant. This weekend I’m hoping to get in at least one long run to help prepare for the Cow Harbor 10K in late September. Distance should help my stamina and once that’s improved I can again start thinking about my pace.

Mid-foot running is great but where’s the speed?

On July 7, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (street): 2.6 miles at 9:32

Stepping out in the Kinvaras for this morning’s run reminded me why real running shoes, even lightweight minimalist ones, serve an important purpose. I did well with my pool shoes on Sunday and had no residual aches or pains after my run but my feet felt far better during today’s run in the Sauconys. The Kinvaras are almost flat between heel and front foot but they aren’t built as low to the ground as some other lightweight trainers. The slightly higher platform allows for a little more cushioning and provides a comfortable ride. My longest run in them so far was 5.5 miles but I have no concerns about doubling that distance (except, of course, for my own limitations). It’s interesting that I’ve lost a lot of speed in the last couple of months. My first runs in the Kinvaras were under 9 minutes per mile. Now I’m averaging closer to 9:30 miles most days regardless of the shoes I wear.

It was 85 degrees and humid when I started my run at 4:05 AM today. With no sun and a slight breeze it wasn’t bad. For some reason the Garmin foot pod always over-counts distance on the Kinvaras, probably due to the flatter angle of the upper compared to my other shoes. This translates to faster paces on the FR60 display and more distance captured. I always check my route against Gmaps to find the margin of error and saw that the indicted distance and pace (2.67 mile & 9:18/mile respectively) were overstated by 3%. I can rarely tell while running at 4 AM whether I’m tracking mid 9:00 miles or high 8’s so I’m often disappointed (and occasionally delighted) when I calculate based on Gmaps. Regardless of pace or distance I got out there in the heat and covered some good ground while reinforcing my mid foot striking style. The speed will come. I keep telling myself that.

Two good runs: Central Park then closer to home

On July 3, 2010 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Yesterday’s run (Central Park): 4.9 miles at 9:20
Today’s run (street): 4.25 miles at 9:40

Things started out very comfortably at noon on Friday as I started my run in Central Park. The temperature was rising about one degree every 20 minutes and by noon it was up to 73. Humidity was relatively low as I set a course that started from the 7th Ave. entrance to the park and then followed the east side of the lower loop. I continued on until crossing to the upper loop at 72nd street where I encountered another set of hills. I felt good having had a few strong cups of coffee earlier in the morning and running before (rather than after) lunch.

When I reached the reservoir I ran up the steps to run the dirt path that runs around the lake. I traveled counterclockwise and was heading toward the point where I usually jump off and return to the running path on the west side. Before that I abruptly reached a barrier that forced me onto the path at 90th street. That disoriented me a little and I headed north instead of south for about two blocks until I saw my error and reversed direction. The route back is more downhill than up (I already had plenty of hills coming north) but even the southern direction has its uphill spots that were harder to breech as the sun got hotter. I got passed by a few runners in my last mile and ended up covering about 4.9 miles without feeling too exhausted.

This morning I went out for a neighborhood run a little later than I’d planned. I woke up with a sinus headache for the second day in a row and waited for the coffee, ibuprofen and Sudafed to kick in before going out at 7:40 AM. It was only 67 degrees when I left and there was plenty of shade on the streets. I let my comfort dictate my stride and maintained a mid-nine minute pace through most of my run. I covered about 4.25 miles without working too hard. I’m saving some energy so I can put in more mileage tomorrow and Monday. I know that if I want to do more distance per run I should take more days off from running and run longer when I do. It’s hard not running on both weekend days because they are my fun runs that are usually not constrained by time. I haven’t decided whether I’ll follow through on my plan to run against a set time this weekend. If I’m feeling ready to start early tomorrow I may just try to do that.