Bethpage’s hills didn’t scare me today

On July 10, 2016 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Where bike trail meets dirt trail

Today’s run (Bethpage bike trail): 4.3 miles

I’m discovering that my new approach to eating has yielded some improvement. As I mentioned yesterday, a measurable reduction in processed sugar intake and longer breaks between meals has given me more clarity and energy. Although it has been less than two weeks, I’m noticing positive changes, physically and mentally. It’s too early to know if these changes are producing real results or if the improvements are more of a placebo effect. It may be a little of both.

I got out to Bethpage this morning and parked at Runsketeer HQ off of Haypath. I usually run north to Washington Ave., but today I decided to go south toward Bethpage State Park. Like yesterday, I felt great from the start to the end of my run and I truly believe it has to do with reducing refined sugar and minimizing insulin response. While this change is exciting, my performance hasn’t improved.

Great run despite 88% humidity

Today’s pace was fairly typical compared to what I’d normally run for four miles. The difference is that maintaining that pace is now far easier. I normally grit my teeth to get through my runs and focus on the end result: finishing. There was none of that today, even though I took on some challenging hills between Haypath Road and my turnaround point on Picnic Polo Road.

So what about performance? If I continue to feel the way I did on my last two runs, I can start focusing on speed. That’s something that I haven’t done in a long time. Either way, I’m enjoying, rather than enduring the experience in way I haven’t in quite a few years.

Bunnies, bikers, planes and hills at Stillwell

On June 27, 2016 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Low flying craft over the Field of Dreams

Today’s run (Stillwell Woods): 3.75 miles

It was off to Stillwell Woods for me this morning. I had a great time there a few weeks ago with SIOR and wanted a shady route a this sunny day. I managed to get my gear in gear and hit the trail before 8:00 AM. Conditions were cool (70°) and felt even cooler in the canopied woods.

My one negative about Stillwell Woods is that some mountain bikers ride aggressively without regard to what may be around the bend. I’ve had my share of encounters, near misses and resentful riders who acted like the bikers owned the trail. Today was different. There were numerous bikers and everyone was careful and respectful for my safety.

Also in abundance today were cottontail bunnies. I stopped counting after ten. Some of them were as big as raccoons. There was a lot of stuff to look at besides the fauna, including a group of glider enthusiasts who had assembled in the center of the big field. These gliders have wingspans of 10′ or more and they look huge as they float above you while you run.

I took a couple of detours off my normal loop, one of which put me in front of a very steep climb. I managed it well, and I’ll give much credit to my Brooks Cascadias for getting me over that hill. My detours took me through some rough winding paths that had so many sharp edged rocks it felt like I was running over a herd of stegosauruses. That’s one of the reasons I love Stillwell. If you want scenic, hard packed trails, there are plenty to choose from. If you want extremely technical terrain, be careful what you wish for.

Forty feet to the top

The Emerging Runner family Skyped with Adventure Girl later in the day. She and a friend had spent their afternoon running trails up a 6,000 foot mountain outside Missoula, Montana. Adventure Girl got bitten twice by a dog during that run. As wild as that all sounds, it was just a typical Sunday for her. My run up a 40 foot rock covered hill at Stillwell can’t compare with that, but in the moment it felt like a mountain.

I’m glad I got away from the neighborhood for today’s run and it felt good to be challenged with some difficult terrain. If the summer is as hot as it’s supposed to be, I think I’ll be spending a lot of weekends in those woods.

Feeling low and staying low

On December 6, 2015 By Emerging Runner6 Comments

Declined to incline

Today’s run (street): 4.2 miles

There are days when I know when I’m in for a good run and other days when I strongly consider other workouts. I wasn’t feeling it this morning and my instinct was to explore options such as strength training, elliptical or core. Rather than decide, I took the easier path and ran. Not that the running was easy. It was not.

Yesterday’s difficult run could be blamed on overdressing or overeating (or both). I had a decent night’s sleep and chilly weather in the morning. Both are positive conditions for a good run. However, I lacked my usual energy and that accounted for a change in plans from my original route.

I was going to run to the top of the Bethpage bike trail at Woodbury Road and follow the path to the LIE overpass and back (red highlight on map). By the time I reached that road, I decided that I wasn’t up for that long incline and elected to follow Woodbury Road to Meyers Farm and back. My run along Woodbury Road turned out to be harder than expected as the path was covered in a thick layer of leaves.

Despite lacking energy, I was able to hang in for a couple more miles. Like yesterday, I was pretty worn out by the end. Not a great week for mileage, but I did manage to get in four workouts. I’m hoping I’ll rebound by next weekend.

Hills, heat, humidity and a failure to Triumph

On July 12, 2015 By Emerging Runner12 Comments

The route

Today’s run (Bethpage trail): 5 miles

Yesterday’s track workout inspired me to get out for another “destination” run this morning. By that I mean a run outside the confines of my general neighborhood. Since I pushed my efforts on Saturday, I figured today would be best spent running easy on the Bethpage trail.

ISOs: pretty, but not this editor’s choice

I decided to try the Saucony Triumph ISOs again to see how they perform now that my stride has begun to normalize. While I was recovering from the disc issue, my left foot would mash up toward the front of my running shoes and the ISOs seemed to do it the most of any of my running shoes. These highly cushioned trainers won the Runner’s World Editor’s Award and I had high hopes that they would become my primary shoes. I’m concluding that, for my arch type, lower is better. That’s why I’ve reverted back to using my Vitarras even though they have a sizable amount of wear on the out-soles.

The cyclists were out in force this morning with less runners than I usually see on the bike trail. My hope was that I’d feel energized from yesterday’s intervals. That wasn’t the case, but I said, “What the heck” since I planned for this to be a recovery effort. I cruised along the sparsely populated path and at one point I was passed by a fast moving runner with whom I tried to match strides. No such luck. She quickly disappeared into the distance.

There’s usually a lot of fauna on the trail, mostly birds and bunnies. Today I saw an actual jack rabbit crossing the path about 20 feet ahead of me. In silhouette it looked a lot like the eponymous character in the Jackrabbit Sports logo. Although the humidity was supposedly low, it didn’t feel that way to me. The temperature was 81° and the sun was baking down. The combination of weather and hills on the north end of the trail did me in and I was ready to throw in the towel once I reached 5 miles.

A towel would have been great to have when I finished. When I looked at the Garmin’s stats and saw it report 51% humidity I shook my head. The work week starts again tomorrow, and I hope to get in some type workout before next Friday. I was glad to get away for a couple of non-neighborhood runs this weekend and pleased that I finally worked in a speed workout. As for the Triumphs, I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with them. That’s unfortunate. I could always wear them as weekend casual shoes, but they are a bit too vivid to wear in public unless I’m running.

Post-Thanksgiving Stillwell trail run

On November 28, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

Taking the “More Difficult” path

Today’s run (Stillwell Woods): 3.7 miles

Unless you work in retail, the day after Thanksgiving is like an unofficial holiday. Much of the world went shopping for bargains today but I chose to go out in the freezing cold for a trail run at Stillwell Woods. I’m not sure why runners choose to be uncomfortable, but it’s a factor in every run. You know you’re going to sweat, feel the burn in your legs and (if you did it right) end up both exhausted and depleted.

I thought about that after the first of many close calls at Stillwell this morning. I was running on a muddy trail in 33° weather when my toe caught a root and I nearly lost my footing. I somehow kept upright through that and promised myself I’d pay closer attention to obstructions on the path. Besides the slippery mud, the trails had long sections covered with leaves that hid potential hazards. My Brooks Cascadias provided great protection and traction – far better than any other trail shoes I’ve owned.

Stillwell was almost empty. I didn’t see any mountain bikers until I was taking my last steps leaving the trail head. There was a young couple running briskly toward the woods when I arrived. We crossed paths twice and they gave me big hellos both times. If there were any other runners today, I didn’t see them.

Just for fun, I deviated from my normal route a couple of times and encountered some steep terrain. Due to the grade, I actually did better on the uphills than the downhills. One trail had lots of packed sand and many sharp rocks the size of softballs. Once again I was grateful to have the Cascadias that have both a rock plate and a beefy toe guard.

Today’s route

I tried to be careful but my toe would occasionally catch something on the path, forcing me to prepare to hit the ground. I was fortunate that I didn’t fall once. It would have been a muddy mess. I wasn’t aiming for a long workout today and made my way back after I’d covered about three and a half miles. I finished feeling like I’d worked off some of yesterday’s calories and the ever changing (but forgiving) surface of the single-track made my legs feel energized.

I’m probably going back to the road tomorrow, but I haven’t decided where. Rob’s Run is happening at Stillwell on Sunday. I’m sure that would be fun, but I’ve had my fill of those trails for now.

The Runsketeers provoke a priest

On November 15, 2014 By Emerging Runner4 Comments

We should look a lot more tired

Today’s run (SUNY Old Westbury): 7 miles

This morning the Runsketeers took on the hills at SUNY Old Westbury for an energizing run on a cold morning. We also angered a priest, but I’ll get to that later. SIOR, TPP and I (founding members of our prestigious running club) invited new members JC and KWL to today’s group run. JC is Celia’s coach and paramour and KWL is a good friend of mine who knows SIOR and TPP from our Brooklyn Half adventure.

The plan was to meet in the parking lot of a church that is located diagonally across from the entrance to the Old Westbury campus. We’d then run the (approximately) four mile loop a couple of times. Eight miles was a little longer than I was aiming to cover today, so I figured I’d do my miles independently of the group and catch up with them at the end.

It was great to see my friends since we haven’t run together in a number of weeks. I was wearing my new Opedix Knee-Tecs for the first time and we discussed the increasingly high cost of good running tights. SIOR mentioned that the Knee-Tecs retail for $225 and JC said no running clothing is worth that much money. He may be right, but I liked the Opedix a lot and thought they provided great support, warmth and energy return. If I race again this winter, I’ll be wearing them.

We all started together, but soon split up when KWL and I crossed over to a road that had facing traffic. I don’t like running with cars coming up from behind. We lost sight of the others when they continued on the northern side and followed the road in the other direction. The hills at Old Westbury are plentiful and a few seem to go on forever. KWL was a good sport and he followed my pace, even though he could have gone a lot faster.

Despite the frequent hills, I was able to converse well with KWL and we caught up on a lot of things. As expected, we crossed paths with JC, TPP and SIOR who were running counter-clockwise during our first loop and again as they completed their second. At that point KWL joined the others so he could ramp up his speed. I continued on alone with a goal of covering 7 miles.

I stayed on course and turned around at Store Hill Road and followed the drive back to Cedar Swamp Rd. I crossed the street and ran a loop around the church before returning to my car to wait for the others. Or should I say before not returning to my car. This is the part about the priest.

As I made my way closer to where we parked, I saw a person walking around the cars and thought that my friends had beaten me back. I saw that the person was dressed in church vestments and he was putting flyers under our windshields. Being the brave soul that I am, I continued running instead of risking a scolding. In fairness, I was at 6.97 miles and wanted to make it to seven, so I had an excuse to continue. I ended up at 7.06.

Today’s seven

Once the priest returned to the church I bravely sneaked back to my car and read the flyer:

Forgive me Father, for I have parked

I completely understood that the church didn’t want people taking up spaces in the lot. While I felt badly that we’d broken the rule, our four cars were the only ones in the lot. We weren’t putting anyone out unless their hearts were set on parking in our particular spaces. But the message was received loud and clear and we plan to park at a lot within the SUNY campus next time.

My friends eventually made it back to their cars and we headed over to the Starbucks near Whole Foods in Jericho. Since I wasn’t able to run with everyone today, it was great to spend time relaxing over coffee. JC and KWL are both avid cyclists and triathletes and they compared notes on bike gear and races. The five of us had plenty to talk about. I loved the run, but I loved the post-run just as much.

Running seven miles today was easier than I expected, even with the hills. Although KWL and I maintained a fairly easy pace, I still managed to stay in the 10:00 range overall. Since I’ve already completed 80% of my weekly volume I have a few options for tomorrow. I could go over to the track and run intervals or head to Stillwell for a change of pace on the trails. Even if I end up staying in the neighborhood on Sunday I can still say it’s been an interesting week of running.

Running with pride in the 18th ranked state

On October 19, 2014 By Emerging Runner2 Comments

Greenbelt trail head

Today’s run (street): 5.3 miles

A few years ago we went on a vacation to Colorado Springs, supposedly the fittest city in the country. Except for the Olympic Training Center, I saw scant evidence of that. Even on the trails I saw few other runners, but I did see some fit looking deer. I hadn’t thought much about fitness relative to geography since then, but Runner’s World has an interesting analysis of how each state compares in terms of running.

My home state, Massachusetts, came in first (overall), followed closely by my brother’s adopted state (Vermont) which ranked third after Oregon. New York, where I’ve lived since 1990, came in 18th. At the other end of the scale is South Dakota (48), West Virginia (49) and Louisiana (50). South Dakota’s low ranking surprises me because I’d assume the runners there are fairly hard core. I also expected New York to rank higher given the active running communities on Long Island, NYC and boroughs, as well as the suburbs north of the city.

The route

Doing my part for New York, I got out early today and headed off to the northern end of the Greenbelt bike trail. After seeing people on the trail yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to take on the long hill along Sunnyside. The air was cool and dry and the sun was still rising when I made my way across the middle school field. I quickly reached the Woodbury neighborhood that leads to the start of the bike trail.

Running before 8:00 AM on a Sunday in the fall is a peaceful experience. Almost no cars and just a few people out walking their dogs. I made it to Woodbury Road and followed the path that starts flat but begins to climb after a quarter mile. The section I ran continues on a moderate incline until reaching the apex where it gets somewhat steeper. I took it to the overpass at the Northern Parkway and turned around. It was far easier going the other way, although a 10 MPH wind undercut the downhill’s efficiency.

Once I reached Woodbury Road, I turned right and followed it east for half a mile before crossing the street and switching direction. Along the way I passed Meyer’s Farm that had a sign saying you could buy ears of corn for $0.16. I thought that was a good deal until I realized that I have no idea how much an ear of corn normally sells for. So I continued on cornlessly.

The section of sidewalk that leads to the Woodbury neighborhood is one of my favorite local routes. In fall, the path gets covered with leaves and parts of the walk are unpaved so it’s like being on a mini trail run. I soon reached civilization and did the opposite route through the neighborhood before crossing back toward the middle school and then back home.

Later in the day my son and I retraced part of my morning route (walking, not running) and I took the above picture of the trail head at Woodbury Road. I felt I covered a lot of ground this week, but I only totaled 17 miles. Not too far off the mark, but I do need to stretch my base runs past six miles on weekends.

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.

Great weekend runs despite the hills and rain

On August 17, 2014 By Emerging RunnerLeave a comment

Today’s run (street): 5.2 miles
Yesterday’s run (Bethpage trail): 6.25 miles

It’s been a good weekend for running, starting with Friday’s morning’s fall-like conditions. Yesterday I decided to break out of my neighborhood’s boundaries and headed to Bethpage to run the bike trail. It was a little warmer than on Friday, but very comfortable in the shade. I got a late start and didn’t arrive until 9:00 AM, and the trail was packed with happy looking cyclists, runners and walkers. I picked the northern direction, running towards Sunnyside Boulevard.

It’s been some weeks since I’ve run the undulating hills at Bethpage and I felt every one. The stretch between Washington Ave and Sunnyside was the toughest section of my route and I felt some relief once I reached the top of the last hill. The rest of the run was easy and I was almost sorry to stop when I reached my endpoint.

Later in the day we hosted a dinner for friends and, by the end of the evening, I was ready to sleep where I stood. I worried that I overdid it on my run and that I wouldn’t be able to go long today. I ended up getting an earlier start this morning and took off under dark cloudy skies. Around the two mile point it started to rain, and I thought about turning back home. I decided to keep going in the hope that it would soon clear up.

My gamble paid off, and the rain stopped about ten minutes later. I ran another 20 minutes before completing 5.25 miles. Running only four times a week (these days) requires that I cover at least ten miles on weekends. Less days mean longer distances per run, and his has helped me establish a pretty good base. My speed is still well below target and I think that’s due to an utter lack of anaerobic training on my part. I plan for a speed workout some time next week and try to get that back on track.