Gateway to smooth running

On August 28, 2016 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Elderberry winds down smoothly

Today’s run (street): 4.4 miles

I finally got out at a decent time this morning while the sun was still casting long shadows. It was hot, but the shade and a slight breeze hid that from me. At least it did throughout the first mile. I ran through my neighborhood enjoying the favorable conditions, listening to the late summer sounds and appreciating the quiet Sunday morning roads.

At mile one I was barely sweating and I hoped that the humidity was lower than what had been reported. It turned out to be wishful thinking. As I made my way around, I soon began to feel it, especially in the areas with direct sun. I went south towards what we call the “Gateway” neighborhood which has some long shady roads.

I’d stopped running in the Gateway neighborhood a while back because the condition of Ashford Drive & Elderberry Road, the longest of the long streets, had started to resemble the surface of the moon. I had prepared to step carefully through the worst parts, but once I reached Ashford, I saw that the whole span had been repaved. It was smooth and shady and a wonderful surprise.

Today’s route

I wasn’t monitoring my distance, but I’d assumed I’d covered at least three miles by the time I started heading back home. When I was getting closer to my house I heard my Garmin beep, telling me that I’d passed 4 miles. By then I was completely sweat soaked and realized that the humidity was as high as reported. When I mapped my run later with Gmaps, I saw that my Garmin had again under-counted distance, this time by 5.4%.

Getting out really early turned out to be a good thing as it left me lots of time to get things done today. One thing I did was look at DC Rainmaker’s site to see what he currently likes for GPS watches. DCR strongly recommends the FR230/235 (the 235 is $80 more but has an optical heart rate monitor). I’m going to shop around to see how it’s priced.

Cadence increasing, visibility high

On April 18, 2014 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Artist’s rendering using Google Maps street view

Today’s run (street): 3.3 miles

I missed Tuesday’s run and needed to make it up today, although the Higdon plan called for a rest day. I felt ambivalent about today’s workout and whether to go easier this morning after yesterday’s semi-fast run. My motivation for speed was low, so I decided to let my level of intensity play out as I ran. Once I got the door I noticed the cold, but the winds that made Wednesday’s conditions feel like 24°, were no longer a factor.

My Garmin hasn’t performed well lately in terms signal accuracy, making my real-time pace data suspect. I’ve been running by feel and heart rate which seem to provide more useful feedback. The type of workouts that I’ve been doing over the last five weeks have helped me increase my cadence. As a result, I’m finding it easier to hold a decent pace on shorter runs. I kept my heart rate around 85% today and ended up running my distance in the high 9’s. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.

Today’s run was unremarkable, except at one point when I was running down a long road near my house. I spotted my wife’s car heading in my direction. She and the kids were going out to do errands and when they passed me, the windows were down and they were cheering for “The Emerging Runner.” They saw me from a distance because I was wearing a bright orange running shirt. High visibility isn’t just for safety!

It’s JavaScript’s fault that I ran slow

On April 11, 2014 By Emerging Runner3 Comments

What I’ve been staring at

Today’s run (street): 3.2 miles

I have a consulting practice that focuses on digital media business and technology. I’m in the process of expanding my portfolio of services. That involves including more strategic partners and re-branding my website. I’m spending time on the development site whenever I can fit it in. Although I get input from my partners, I’m handling both the web design and the technology. This is fun for me, but staring at HTML and JavaScript code for hours really wears me out.

I’m hoping that will explain the gap between my perceived effort (PE) on today’s run and my actual performance. I didn’t expect to see impressive numbers when I checked my Garmin after my run, but I ended up running over a minute slower than how the run felt. It was a more challenging workout than I’d anticipated. It was also a sign that I haven’t gained back as much speed as I hoped I would by now.

It was interesting to see that the Garmin data showed that my average cadence was up measurably, compared to my last few runs (174 vs. 168 SPM). So my turnover was good. Had I opened up my stride a little more, my pace time would have likely reflected my PE. It’s something to think about on my next run. But I won’t be thinking about it until Saturday, because Hal gives me a rest day tomorrow. Great, more time to code my site.

Technology saves an operational goof

On September 18, 2013 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

XML salvation

Today’s run (street): 4.25 miles

I did the unthinkable after finishing my run today and failed to properly stop my Garmin. While I happily traced the driveway on my cool down walk, my Garmin continued to count the seconds, obscuring the actual time I’d finished. By the time I discovered my error, at least a couple of minutes had gone by, so my calculated pace was way off.

I really envy people who tell me they run without a watch or track their performance in any way. I think about how liberating it would be to run without regard to time. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to do that. On the plus side, I’ve compiled an online record of every run that I’ve done over the last five years. Despite my failure to operate my watch today, I was able to reverse engineer my finish time by reading the XML output file.

The run itself was nothing special, 4.25 miles at around 9:30 a mile. The weather was downright chilly, low 50’s with strong winds coming from the northeast. When I wasn’t heading directly into the wind, it was extremely pleasant. I had considered doing either a long easy run or a short, faster run and I ended up doing something in the middle. I’m not sure what today’s run accomplished or what I’ll do tomorrow. But Wednesday’s run will be the last one I do before Cow Harbor. I hope that one counts.

My Garmin speaks the ugly truth

On August 15, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

It’s a match

Today’s run (street): 3.25 miles

I’m incredibly annoyed with my Garmin today. I did this morning’s run and, as always, recorded my distance using GPS. I always assume the watch will under-count my distance, so I wasn’t upset to see the indicated time and pace. Usually, after Gmapping my route, I’ll need to add about 3% more mileage to the calculation. That often makes the difference between a good and mediocre pace. Today, both the Garmin and Gmaps said exactly the same thing, and what they said wasn’t good. I missed my targeted pace by 23 seconds per mile.

There’s no reason why I ran this slowly today. I’d tried to focus on form and turnover. The weather was perfect, so heat and humidity were not a factor. Perceived effort was on par with my better runs and I even ran the last quarter in a semi-sprint. But in the end, my performance did not match up to expectations. Tomorrow is my last run before Sunday’s race, so I need to make it count.

Zeotrope concept (left), example (right)

I took most of the day to be with the family and we spent it at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The experience was great, and I even got to play with a nineteenth century zeotrope of a man running. But instead of marveling at this 100 year old wonder of technology, I was watching his form and thinking how he should shorten his stride.

Running within a palooza

On March 30, 2013 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Lacrosse day on fields 1-5

Today’s run (track): 4 miles

Today my goal was to increase outdoor running mileage without hurting my recovery from the sore tendons around my hip. That meant another moderately paced workout on a softer surface than pavement. My choices were either to run the trails, or to go to the local high school and run on the track. I chose the track option because I wanted a surface that was harder than dirt, but softer than the road.

When I arrived at the high school, I saw hundreds of parked cars and many more drivers looking to do the same. I almost turned around and drove home, but decided to try a remote lot near the track in case there were any spots. Luckily, I found a space and walked over to the track where I saw hundreds of lacrosse players and their coaches on the field. Adjacent to the main field, baseball games were being held, and lacrosse players from various towns were warming up everywhere.

I saw a single runner and a couple of walkers on the track. I figured that if they were there, it would be okay for me to join them. I set off at a high nine-minute pace, hoping to avoid collisions with parents standing in the track lanes. A few players and lacrosse balls whizzed across the lanes as I went by, but there were no close calls.

As I made my way around, I observed hundreds of players in the surrounding fields and noticed some concession stands that were branded with the NY Lizards logo. That explained the crowds. Apparently today was a Lacrosse-a-palooza, with games and (possibly) a clinic. Later, when I was leaving, I saw many cars parked across the road at Stillwell. After seeing that mess, I was glad I didn’t opt for a trail run today.

I think the players would’ve noticed if I ran across the field

I ran well today. I split my direction halfway, first running counter-clockwise and then reversing after two miles. I suffered no hip pain, although I did begin to sense some tightness by the first mile. I kept my speed moderate except near the end, when I picked it up a step. I couldn’t determine my true pace because the Garmin’s tracking was way off. I knew this because the watch chirped for its first quarter mile a good thirty meters before I’d lapped it. After looking at the run map (above), I could see that it had also recorded me in places I didn’t travel.

I finished my four miles feeling like I could easily go another few. I decided to stop at that point, because I’d achieved my goal of progressive distance. I saw no reason to risk further aggravating my injury. Another run like this will work for me tomorrow, perhaps at Bethpage where I would encounter some hills. I’ll give it a few more runs before I restart speed-oriented training. Right now, it feels great to run, both physically and psychologically.

Fitbits don’t work across the room

On March 13, 2013 By Emerging Runner10 Comments

Ouch

Today’s run (treadmill): 3.2 miles

About halfway through this morning’s treadmill run, I spotted my Fitbit sitting on the guestroom bed. I’m really into capturing my activity through that device, so I was a little nonplussed by the situation. While I was still capturing metrics like time and heart rate on my Garmin, all those steps would be lost to my daily and weekly totals. I considered stopping the treadmill to retrieve the device but decided that it wasn’t worth the disruption.

Years ago, when my first Garmin failed during a run, I felt frustrated and asked myself, “If the run didn’t record, did it really happen?” I know it sounds silly, but I once felt that way. A documented run is a tangible entity. Something that happened. Something to look back upon. A run performed independent of a watch or device doesn’t become part of recorded history. I’ll admit that on the rare times when I’ve gone out “watchless” on a run, I later Gmap’d my route so I could at least capture my distance.

Even without a device, running data on the treadmill is always available via the display. I don’t fully trust the accuracy, but at least it provides ballpark metrics. I maintained a challenging pace through the workout and that took my mind off forgetting my Fitbit. So it looks like I’ll need to wait a little longer to get my next Fitbit badge. Further, today’s totals won’t approach my daily goals. But I got a good run in today, despite the lack of evidence.

This technique may have made me faster

On July 13, 2012 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Does back leg lift = faster running?

Today’s run (street): 4.25 miles

I’m out of the office today and Monday and the weekend will be busy. We’ll have a house full of people starting this afternoon and that will continue through Sunday. The major activity is on Saturday and the day will start early, so I’m probably going to need to skip tomorrow’s run. I tried to make up for that by running a little extra distance today.

Conditions were pleasant when I left on my run around 7:00 AM. I tried to maintain a decent speed and thought about how my default pace has slowed over the last few years. I’d say, overall, that my speed has remained consistent. The difference is that my median pace seems to have slowed by about ten seconds since 2009. It could be that when I used the FR50 and 60 with a foot pod, my times were recorded more accurately (and faster) than with the FR210.

About halfway through today’s run, I looked at my shadow and noticed I was running with a low degree of back leg lift. I’ve noticed that better runner’s legs come up fairly high after toe-off and I suspect that helps their speed by reducing the amount of time their feet touch the ground. Inspired, I worked on bringing up my leg as I ran. I’m not sure if it made me run faster, but I did feel it in my hamstrings.

I’ll look at my pacing across the timeline after I upload my data to Garmin Connect to see if my speed improved after making that change. I did finish with a decent overall pace, so perhaps it made a difference. It would be great if a small change like that could have made a measurable effect on my pace. It almost seems too easy. Then again, it did illustrate my need to do more core work.

Goodbye foot pod, hello Garmin 210

On May 5, 2011 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Not sure what I want more, the watch or the displayed performance

Today’s workout (elliptical): 20 minutes

I’m thinking again about buying a GPS watch. My frustrations with using a foot pod are rising due to accuracy issues and, except for treadmill runs, a GPS solution may be preferable. I started using the Nike sensor back in 2008 to track my performance. It worked fairly well once I got the hang of calibrating it but this technology was only accurate when paired with Nike shoes (that have a well to secure the chip). I don’t like Nike shoes and, besides that, the wristband that captured the feed via RFID link was poorly made. After replacing it twice I asked for a refund and bought a Garmin FR50.

The FR50, and later, the FR60 are a great design. I truly love the watches and their easy synchronization with Garmin Connect. My key issue is with the foot pod that uses an accelerometer and needs to be tuned for every shoe. Since I’m a bit of a shoe freak and often switch between pairs it usually creates issues with calibration. I manage these issues through ad hoc adjustments that never quite coincide with my true distance. I’ve done my share of runs using GPS apps on the iPhone and the results are universally bad, although they offer some good features other than tracking.

With all that I’m reading good things about the Garmin 210, a less complex version of their 400 (and now 600) series GPS watches. The 210 lacks some of the features that the higher end watches have but the 210 does support a foot pod sync (for indoors) and wireless connectivity to a heart rate monitor. I’m going to start pricing out this watch. Father’s day is coming!

Last outside run before the blizzard

On January 11, 2011 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (street): 2.6 miles

Snow is coming. We’re not sure how much we’ll get but estimates for my area are in the 8″-12″ range. I like snow but I don’t like the commuting problems that come along with major storms. My other issue is that snowstorms make the roads and trails impassible and that forces me to run indoors. On the bright side, I can look out the window and watch the snowy scene as I run on the treadmill.

Knowing that tomorrow’s run will likely be indoors, I made sure I got outside this morning. At 3:50 AM the temperatures are usually at their lowest point of the day and I’m often tempted to overdress to prevent the initial shock of transitioning from 68 degrees in the house to 20 degrees outside. I got it right this morning and went out feeling cold, but comfortable, starting slower than normal but picking up the pace by the minute. Unlike Sunday I remembered to start the Garmin and had even adjusted the calibration on the foot pod before my run. After reaching what I was sure was a mile I glanced at the watch that only showed .91 miles and that surprised me. I later mapped my route on Gmaps to see that even after the calibration adjustment I had covered 5% more distance than the Garmin recorded. I was actually happy to see that because it meant my overall pace was in line with the way I felt while running.

Today’s run actually felt very good. I had none of the leg heaviness or low energy response that plagued me on Saturday and at the beginning on my run on Sunday. I’m holding out hope that the snow will wait just long enough to let me get out for another run tomorrow morning. The chance of that happening is low but you never know.