Daunted by the howling winds

On November 2, 2014 By Emerging Runner8 Comments

Today’s run (street): 3.6 miles

I cannot believe that tens of thousands of people ran the NYC marathon this morning. It’s not just that the marathon distance (26.2 miles) does not compute to me (it doesn’t, but that’s for a future post). I’m more amazed that people spent so many hours running the course while facing 20-40 MPH winds. I will admit that those conditions were too much for me to deal with this morning. Feeling like I was running into an invisible wall wore me out and I ended up cutting my run short.

The unrelenting sound of wind whipping through the trees prompted me to dress warmer than I normally would for 46°. Things started out well and I had high hopes for getting in my planned distance. I decided to first run the perimeter of my neighborhood that includes Jericho Turnpike and South Oyster Bay Road. I briefly considered crossing one of those main streets to open up my route to different options.

I ended up staying on South Oyster Bay Road and enduring the cracked and buckled sidewalk that was especially scary because it had a layer of leaves that hid potential tripping points. I made sure I kept my step high to avoid any mishaps. By the time I re-entered the neighborhood from the south, I started to get frustrated with the wind that reminded me of the miserable experience I had at last year’s Long Beach Turkey Trot.

I struggled to make it to the mid point of my neighborhood and planned to make a beeline home. Along the way I saw a yellow recycling bin being blown across multiple yards, trash cascading from containers and leaves flying in every direction. Despite that, I decided to take a detour that added another half mile to my distance. I was disappointed to fall far short of today’s goal, but I didn’t see the sense in battling the wind monster any further.

As I ran, I thought about friends who were waiting on Staten Island for their wave to be called. The news showed thousands of people patiently huddling under makeshift blankets trying to remain warm. Once they were able to go, they faced the same conditions that I did, but would need to run over seven times the distance that I covered today.

Congratulations to my friends who braved the weather and the marathon course. You are probably very tired, but you did an amazing thing. Even under perfect conditions, this would be a tough race. I hope the celebrations will far exceed the pain.

Raw, dark, windy, rainy run

On November 1, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Rain puddle running

Today’s run (street): 5.6 miles

Last night the kids hosted a Halloween party and I did my best to avoid all the holiday related food and the tray of candy by the door. This resulted in a late night, but I wasn’t able to sleep later than 5:30 this morning. I only had a small cup of coffee when I got up, because I expected to be out running in short order. I looked outside and saw torrents of rain hitting the deck and decided to wait it out rather than do a long run on the treadmill.

The time went from 6:30…7:30… and on, but the rain continued to come down. When my wife got on the treadmill to start her run I saw that the rain had slowed down. I took advantage of this break and put on a few layers of running gear. Based on the weather report that said 40° temps and 14 MPH winds, I went for track pants and a long sleeve top.

Before I headed outside, I added my ASICS lightweight running rain jacket. I was sure that the rain would return at some point and I wanted to minimize soakage. It took forever to get a signal on my Garmin – the progress bar kept stopping short by a millimeter before dropping back to the halfway point. After 10 minutes of that nonsense, I decided to start without the GPS locked in, since I could capture distance later with Gmaps.

The combination of thermal and waterproof layers worked well and I followed a loop that was never more than a half mile from my house. I figured that if the skies opened up, I could get back in 5 minutes or less from any point. I know my neighborhood well enough to estimate distance without looking at my watch and I noticed that it took longer than expected to record the first mile. I guessed that the problem locking in all the satellites was affecting accuracy.

It was cold, dark and gray and the rain gained intensity as I went on. The jacket’s hood did a good job of keeping me dry, but it kept slipping forward and blocking my peripheral vision. I stepped in a puddle and was glad I wore Smartwool socks which are still thermal when wet. The winds grew stronger and it started raining harder. I was determined to complete at least five miles and ignored everything except the road ahead and any signs of approaching cars.

Looping the loop

I moved along fairly well considering the conditions and debated whether to add another loop to get me over six miles. Instead, I stretched out my last two loops into connected streets and ended up covering 5.6 miles before returning to my warm dry house. I was a little disappointed in my performance. After measuring my true distance and calculating pace, I had hopes that I broke 10 mins/mile but that didn’t happen. I guess I can blame the wind and the rain, but I know it was really my stride and cadence.

According to the weather reports, tomorrow will be cold, but at least the rain will be gone. I’d like to get out earlier than today and do at least six miles. I probably won’t make 16 miles for the week, but at least I’ll be getting in a couple of decent base runs.

I’m sending my most positive thoughts to friends KWL, NL, FS and other friends who are running the NYC Marathon tomorrow. I hope you all have great races and fantastic experiences. Enjoy every moment, stay hydrated and don’t over-layer!

When running watches use German syntax

On October 25, 2014 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Don’t not not change to Yes

Today’s run (street): 4 miles

Things started off badly this morning. I failed to think through a question that was asked by my Garmin running watch, preventing me from tracking my progress. Garmin is a German company and they seem to use German syntax (subject before the verb) in their menus. So instead of saying, “Use GPS?”, my 210 says “Use indoors?” with the default of “No.” All that double negativity caused me to incorrectly change it to “Yes”, which disabled the GPS function.

All attempts to cycle through the menus or otherwise cajole it to turn on the GPS were fruitless. Unless I was willing to do a full reset of the Garmin, I was stuck with nothing but a stopwatch. At least the HRM synched up. I decided to make zitronen into limonade and do the run by time rather than by distance.

My run went pleasantly through the first 20 minutes, but despite maintaining less than a 75% of max heart rate, I started to feel tired. My legs were feeling heavy and it reminded me of how I had some surprising struggles last winter, even on some shorter runs. While I was dealing with that, I crossed paths with a woman who came onto the street a block ahead of me. I couldn’t tell how fast she was running, but I tried to catch up to her.

I made up some distance and remained close until she cut over to another road. Pushing speed when I felt like slowing down added to my fatigue, but I managed to recover after a few minutes. I started feeling stronger and was able to increase my pace for the remainder of the run.

Since I ran by time and not distance, I needed to Gmap today’s route to get my mileage. I would have liked to have GPS enabled so I could see my splits, but I lost my chance by telling my Garmin, “Keine GPS für mich danke!” After 700 or so runs with this watch, I guess that was going to happen eventually.

Oppression of the humid kind

On October 4, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Maybe I need a bigger fan

Today’s run (treadmill): 5.25 miles

Any thoughts of braving the rain to do today’s workout outside were dashed when the skies grew dark and a light drizzle turned into a downpour. With no good alternative, I tried to make the best of doing a treadmill run. I set the floor fan to high and found a decent movie to distract me from the tedium of going nowhere for 50+ minutes.

Running 5-6 miles is a fairly easy challenge for me, especially in the fall when the humidity is low and the temperature is moderate. I never think about time when I’m running outdoors, except when I’m being held to a tight schedule. In fact, outside running minutes almost seem to go by too fast. On the other hand, minutes spent on a treadmill can seem excessively long. I often look at the treadmill’s display multiple times only to find that I’m still in the same minute.

I didn’t count on the day’s oppressive humidity. Had I thought about it, I would have kept a bottle of water nearby and positioned the fan to blast me in the face from 2 feet away. I set the TV to show closed captions since the excessively noisy treadmill overwhelmed the capabilities of the speakers. For the first few minutes, it all came together. Once the humidity rose in the room, things started to get ugly.

Unless you’re having a spectacular run, or your distance is predetermined by route or plan, there’s often some amount self-bargaining that goes on. Today I was promising myself that I’d take down the pace once I reached a certain time or distance milestone. It’s a mind game, but so much of running is mental. I never actually slowed down throughout today’s workout. In fact I ended up increasing my speed over the final ten minutes.

The fan ended up helping, but not as much as I’d hoped. The movie went from being a nice distraction to a major annoyance. Reading captions on a TV is not compatible with the treadmill experience. That’s why I usually just put on the news. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be much improved, so I plan to get out somewhere. Another indoor run like today’s would be hard to take.

Adventure running is where you find it

On September 30, 2014 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Adventure starts here

Today’s run (treadmill): 26 minutes

I used to be an adventurous runner. By that I mean I didn’t do 90% of my runs within two miles of my house. I’m far less adventurous nowadays, because I have far less time and fewer opportunities to try new experiences.

My job used to be located in mid-town Manhattan and that opened the door to my love of city running. At least once a week I’d run in Central Park, across the Brooklyn or GW Bridge or up and down the West Side Highway. I’d often run around cities that I would visit on business trips. I ran wooded trails whenever I could find them, and I found a lot of them. I even did a marathon relay race on Cape Cod as part of a family vacation.

My frequent running partner (Adventure Girl) introduced me to a lot of different running venues. After she moved to Montana (where she does trail running in the woods with real live bears) I was left on my own to run in the city. Although I found other running buddies, I pretty much stuck to Central Park. On weekends I’d venture out to Belmont Lake to run the Dirty Sock race course or to other local but interesting places. Now it’s mostly just Stillwell Woods or the Bethpage Bike trail.

This morning I was able to fit in a short, humid treadmill run before I started my day. As I was taking out my heart rate monitor, my long dormant running headlamp fell to the floor. I picked it up and thought about my daily adventures running the streets of my neighborhood at 4:00 AM. Not an exotic locale, but in the 300 or so runs I did in the dark, I saw a lot of very interesting (and occasionally scary) things on those runs.

This past weekend, my Runsketeer buddies had a Facebook discussion about an adventure marathon that takes place in Utah, with a course that starts at 4,000 feet above sea level. Before I knew it, they were talking about flights, rental cars and accommodations. I think they are serious about doing this race. While that race is not for me, it made me think about broadening my horizons. I think I’ll check the batteries in the headlamp and see where that takes me.

Do you have running amnesia?

On September 7, 2014 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Today’s run (street): 4.3 miles

I think about many things when I run, but I rarely remember the details once I’ve finished. I’ve heard the same from others, that thoughts while running evaporate soon after a run is completed. It may be due to the fact that we aren’t paying attention to our thoughts when we run. It’s similar to dreaming. When we dream we’re actually experiencing a situation, not creating a memory.

Today was no different and the only things I remember clearly were those situations where my attention was disrupted. I was really looking forward to getting out today after seeing the weather report that said the temperature was in the sixties and humidity was way down. I started my run a little after 7:00 AM when the sun was still low in the sky. That created a blinding glare when facing east and I was careful to pay attention to the possibility of cars whenever I turned in that direction.

I had a few surprises. The first was when I reached the top of a street and saw an unleashed dog coming out of the bushes and heading directly at me. People in my neighborhood are generally good about keeping their dogs leashed, so I was a little alarmed when this happened. The dog was not dangerous – just curious – and its owner soon appeared, saying something like, “He’s friendly.” I just looked at her and moved on.

Soon after that, I turned left onto a road where my vision was suddenly obscured by the brightly shining sun. It was like a thousand lumin spotlight and I couldn’t see a thing. Due to that, I missed a large sprinkler run-off puddle that was directly in front of me and my left shoe got completely immersed. That meant I’d have to do the rest of my run with a soaked foot.

Besides those two experiences, I don’t remember much more about the workout and that’s fine. If I ever think of something important on a run, I’m sure it will be memorable. I ended up covering just short of 20 miles this week – something I haven’t done since April. I seems that my running/working balance is improving.

Bethpage running, followed by an assembly

On September 6, 2014 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Avoided the hills on the north service road.

Today’s run (Bethpage bike trail): 5.15 miles

I went out to Bethpage this morning for a change of scenery and a little elevation. Except for a few streets with noticeable inclines, my neighborhood roads are mostly flat. I don’t like running up hills and – despite what some friends have told me – I will never learn to like them. But I recognize that hills exist, so with regular training my hill-bilities may improve.

I don’t actually go to Bethpage State Park anymore to start my bike trail runs. I didn’t purchase an Empire Passport this year and that means I’m subject to the $8 entrance fee every time I go there. I know the money helps pay for the upkeep of the park, but I give back in other ways. Besides, If I park along the trail further north, I’ll avoid the need to run up a big hill.

I knew it would be humid today, but I was not prepared for what I encountered on the trail. My Garmin data said humidity was 94% at the time that I ran. I had my wife’s car today, and did my best to protect the interior from my saturated clothes (I have sweat-proof liners that fit over the seat). However, I forgot about the seat belt. My wife went out for an errand after I’d returned home and was horrified when she put on the still-soaked belt. No one should have to experience that.

My run was pleasant and straightforward. Although the humidity was high, the clouds shielded me from direct sunlight and the temperature remained a reasonable 75°. I dealt with the hills and did better on them than I’d expected. Did my five hours standing as I worked yesterday help there? I doubt that’s the reason, but it didn’t seem to hurt my performance.

Owing to the humid conditions, I limited today’s distance to 5 miles. When I got home I took on the task of assembling my stand up desk and I’m using it now to write this post. With all the standing I did yesterday, the humid and hilly run this morning, and the hour or so of aggravation that comes from assembling an item of furniture from Target, my legs feel remarkably good.

I’m excited about the possibility that standing while working on my laptop could yield some running benefits. It’s too soon to tell, but I think it might.

Memories of an Autumn run

On August 23, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Top of the office park hill

Today’s run (street): 5.6 miles

The gremlins that were messing with my mind and body on Friday seem to have moved on. I was prepared to cover more distance today and looked forward to running some roads I haven’t traveled (on foot) in a while. After starting with a short loop in the neighborhood, I decided to run over to the local business park and follow that loop with a tour of an adjacent neighborhood along a stretch of Woodbury Road.

I wasn’t feeling energetic enough to push pace today, but at least my gait felt smoother than it did yesterday. I got the uphill part of the business park loop out of the way first by running clockwise where most of the elevation happens over a half mile stretch. The park is a pleasant place to run on a Saturday morning if you like industrial landscaping and brick office buildings. To me it’s a perfect place to zone out and run without having to think about my route.

I wasn’t alone during that part of my run. There were a couple of other runners going in the opposite direction and I stopped briefly to help someone who needed directions. I considered doing two loops, but chose to head south instead, and ran through the neighborhood known as “The Knolls” until I reached Woodbury Road.

The section of Woodbury Road between Sunnyside Boulevard and Piquets Lane always reminds me of the fall. A few years ago I had a spectacular autumn run that included that stretch of road. The smell of maple trees, the cushion and crackle of their fallen leaves and the crisp morning air made for a memorable experience. There were no leaves on the sidewalk today, but the spirit was there.

I enjoyed today’s run much more than yesterday’s, and though I could have focused more on performance, I was fine with how I did today. I keep promising myself that I’ll do an anaerobic workout soon, but I tend to default to my comfort zone. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if I decide to compete in September, I’m definitely not in racing shape.

Attitude problem

On August 22, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Today’s run (street): 3.5 miles

I took a step backward this week by skipping my Tuesday morning treadmill run. I’d set up my gear the night before, and fully intended to do the workout. When I woke up, I felt exhausted and decided to skip my run. My schedule didn’t allow for any running on Wednesday and Thursday, so I was excited to get back to it today. I shouldn’t have got so excited.

Although my legs felt heavy and sore before I went out today, I expected to snap out of that once I got going. I headed out through the neighborhood, but couldn’t generate much speed for the first few minutes. My stride was constricted and I felt a little queasy. I was uninspired and it didn’t take long to realize that I was in for a tedious run. So much of running comes down to attitude, and this morning I had a bad one.

The thing that got me through today’s run was knowing that I only needed to cover a few miles. I tried to think positively about the circumstances; the weather was good and I appreciated being back on the road. Yet, when my Garmin chirped at mile one, I didn’t feel like I’d made much progress and I knew I had a lot more ground to cover.

Eventually my form improved and I began to feel better physically. I haven’t checked the data, but I think I ran faster as the run went on. Even so, I was disinterested in the workout and only looked forward to getting back home. There are days when the experience of running turns around a bad mood and provides a great feeling of accomplishment. Today was not one of those days.

Persaid at Stillwell and six miles on the road

On August 10, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Today’s run (street): 6.1 miles

Last night we went out late to Stillwell Woods to watch the Persaid meteor shower. Unlike last year, when it was too cloudy to see much of anything at Sunken Meadow, the skies were clear on Saturday. Stillwell is a lot closer to our house, and its relatively light-free location would normally provide an optimal viewing experience. As luck would have it, the “super moon” lit up the southern sky last night, making it difficult to see any stars. However, facing north, we were able to view some exciting celestial fireworks.

My wife and son saw one that looked like this

SOURCE: NASA

Staying up late to watch shooting stars is fun, but getting up early the next morning to run is far less enjoyable. I downed my coffee, ingested a small amount of carbs, and took off before I could fully realize what I was doing. I didn’t suffer from heavy legs or feel particularly tired as I ran, but a short night’s sleep undercut my interest in pushing my pace.

Along the way, I thought about next weekend’s Dirty Sock run and my decision not to participate this year. My interest in competing is still low and I was glad not to be preparing for that race. I know I could run it for fun and not worry about my time, but that doesn’t work for me. If I’m going to take it easy, I’ll do an easy run on my own. Besides that, my narcissistic side doesn’t want a slow time added to my Athlinks racing stats.

I’d considered driving over to Bethpage this morning, but instead chose to stay local. My route wound all around the neighborhood and I kept my speed moderate. About four miles in, the run began to feel easier and I stepped it up to take advantage of my increased energy. The last two miles were easier than the prior miles and I was happy to get through my sixth feeling energized.

It’s not the first time that I’ve ended up having a good run (or a good race) after less than a full night’s sleep. I read recently that you don’t really pay for sleep debt the next day, it’s more often the day after. That’s good because I’m resting tomorrow. If I can get a good night’s sleep tonight, I should rebound well. There’s supposed to be more of the Persaid shower this evening, but I don’t think I’ll be staying up for it. If you are able to do it, I recommend the experience.